The bridge of CS-8 is the central nerve system of the ship. Computers line the walls, consoles surround the central captain's chair. Holographic starmaps show the vessel's relative location in real time, with all the neccesary
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:13, Sat 04 Mar 2017.

When acting Captain Jennifer Maxwell exits the turbolift, the first thing she notices is the emergency lighting bathing the entire area in a dark red hue. With things hardly visible she manages to stumble towards the forward operations area. Just as she enters, her feet bump into something. Something hard, solid, something that gives way. The sound of something rolling about the floor causes her to stop in her tracks

From: Cryo Chambers

   Acting Captain Maxwell looked at the Bridge area, at least what she could see, which wasn't all that much.  "Marco, increase lighting to normal human level."  She looked down to see what it was that she had bumped into.

Slowly the red lights fade out, being replaced by the bright, cold lights of the ceiling tubes.
The bridge area is small compared to some other areas on the ship, with a central command chair surrounded by a dozen consoles dominating the center of the room. Large duraglass windows provide a look outside and along the ship, it's dark mass nearly invisible against the black of space.

As Jennifer's gaze drifts to the floor at her feet, a cold shock creeps up on her. At her feet there is a mummified body, clad in a standard gray jumpsuit. The floor around it is dark of long dried blood.
The body is missing it's head, having rolled away after being accidentally kicked. It lies a few meters further into the bridge area, at the feet of the big command chair, it's lower jaw crooked in a wry grin. A gaping hole adorns the skull's left temple.


This message was last edited by the GM at 23:42, Tue 07 Mar 2017.

   Maxwell looked at the desiccated corpse.  She began to evaluate the scene.  Most, but not all, suicides place the barrel of their gun in their mouths before pulling the trigger, so the wound placement didn't help her.  She checked the area around the wound for gunpowder stippling, but the condition of the corpse made it impossible without a forensic lab to determine if the wound was a contact wound or had been made by someone who fired at a distance.

   Jen wasn't making a lot of progress in her investigation, but maybe there was a witness.  "Marco, do you know who this person was?  Do you have any records of how this person died?"

   The detective checked to see if the body had anything on it, then checked the area to see if she could find the gun which killed this person.

It seemed to take a moment before the mechanical voice replied.

I cannot comply. Error 127. Playback files inaccessible.

Jennifer quickly scanned the area around the desicated corpse. It had to be dead for at least ten years. Then she spotted a pistol. Problem was it was in the corpse's jumpsuit pocket. A small .22 pistol. There was no way he could have shot himself with that.

Behind Jennifer, the turbolift arrived.

   Jen took a moment to put on the gray socks, tucked the little .22 into the right one, and pulled the pant leg back down to conceal it.  She had examined the wound long enough to know that the bullet hole in the skull was too large to have been made by a mousy little .22 cartridge.  Then there was that whole if you're dead, how do you put your pistol away thing.  Maxwell knew that the person on the floor had been murdered, but she didn't know why... yet.

   Jenni heard the turbolift arrive as she slipped her feet back into the cloth slippers.  The current Captain turned to face the turbolift.

Blake strode onto the bridge.

Marco, is there any chance your date stamp is wrong? Can you tell where...

Blake takes in the scene.

Blake salutes. Sir. What the heck is going on?

Im sorry Blake. My clocks are off by less than point-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-two nanoseconds. So the time and date may assume to be correct.
Again the voice sounds slowly. Lower patched too.

   Captain Maxwell returned the salute.  "I'm Captain Maxwell.  I wish I could tell you what has happened, but like you, I slept through it."  She smiled for a moment, but it vanished quickly.  "This unidentified crew member was murdered, but I doubt that we will find out who did it.  The physical evidence is at least ten years old and the computer's data files have been corrupted."

   "For the Marco Polo to be this FUBARed, I suspect that sabotage was involved.  This poor guy was probably murdered by one of the saboteurs."  Maxwell took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "So, who are you and what is your specialty?"

Incoming transmission from cryo chamber.

"  Bridge?  This is LT Kray Shadow.... i'm a Pilot?...Got  with me   Lance Corp Troy Patterson....and Steve Cornell?...Lift isn't working, Marco says  power is  fading, we need ta replace the bleedin' batteries....who's all up there? "