Alzenai/Jungleblut 0304    B768895-C  S     Rich     League Capitol,  G

Planet: third of twelve in system. Period 378.2 Days, Density 1.01
Standard. Equatorial Diameter: 11,198 kms. Mean Gravity: 8.88G.
Rotational Period 21 Hours, 48 Minutes, 6.52 Seconds. Axial
Inclination 1 degree, 38' 53.5"

Special Features: Free Suns capitol. Imperial Scout Base. Imperial X-Boat nextwork.

020-1108

There were a couple days off.

A couple days after landing, the crew was contacted by Lorrain for a morning appointment.

The group was received by Lorrain in her office in the Archaeology dept. of the Institute of System Studies in Alnezei. It was cramped, full of artifacts, so she met them in a conference room.

"Hello everyone! I have great news. The Institute is willing to pay all of you who signed the contract a finder's fee of Cr200000 for the recovered artefacts. As well, everyone gets a Cr20000 reward for returning the ship.

"It turns out that the ship was hijacked from a Free Suns merchant company, and written off. It's been offered back to the Institute to use for research purposes (and a tax write-off). We need a crew for it.

"Blake, you're being offered the position of pilot.
"Olly, Engineer.
"Linus, Steward and Computer Operator.
"Thomas, Medic and security.
"Mariel, Navigator and Gunner.
"Jaxxon, Gunner.
"Neva and Stanley, Security.

"Ken, I think you would make a good captain for the ship.

"The deal is that you would be allowed to operate the ship as a private commercial venture under lease to you for 3 years, but be available to handle the Institute's offworld transport needs. The ship would remain the property of the Institute. It has a clean registry as the Serendipity."

"If you'd like to do it, then here's contracts. A limited corporation will be set up for liability issues."

"OK, I'm in," said Linus.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 3):

"Me too.  I'm sick of hotels and cheap rooms, it will be nice to have a home for a while." said Walker, with a cup of tea in front of him.

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 4):

Neva muttered "a home" and grinned.  "I'm in.  Like Thomas said.  A home is nice and...and it was nice working with all of you.  Can't say that I'm not glad to have some creds again either."

"I've been led astray... in a strange sort of way I enjoyed our trip, and I don't quite feel like retreating back to my bar quite yet."

Linus had spent some of the downtime putting together instructions for his lawyer back home to sell the bar and forward the proceeds c/o the Institute of System Studies. With a job offer in hand, he felt confident to consign the message to the X-boat service.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 6):

"I don't know if you can go back to your bar, especially if that bastard who shot at us had any idea who you are."

Blake wanders about with a smile pasted on his face.  A ship, the stars & hopefully no pugnacious bureaucracy to deal with.  He disappears for a bender with fellow scouts ...  Perhaps one of them will have a Sky Raiders' tale to pass along ...  He is mum about the recent past, made a good merchie trip that paid off.

Feeling very lucky, he buys a copy of Twight's Peak & eventually slumbers off by page 3 ...  A herculean task by any measure.  Right now, both mysteries are equally lost in the past.

"There's that, too. Hence selling up and hiring on here," said Linus. Maybe he just wasn't as ready to retire as he had thought!

Ken looks surprised and gratified by the offer of payment from the Institute.  "That's very generous Lorain, thanks."  As the discussion moves to the subject of the ship he turns silent. "Yea... I'm in as well.  It's...  I'm speechless.  It's a wonderful opportunity." He laughs; "Captain huh?"  He continues ruefully; "I guess there's not much else I'm useful for on a ship besides sitting in the command chair and looking handsome."

As the situation sinks in he shakes his head.  "I'd guess that a lot of this money will go toward setting up a company to run the ship.  Sounds like we've all got some studying to do."

Olly nods in agreement.

You'll need Olly to keep the engines running.  We know how she runs.

Scratches his head, then

She needs overhaul and how much have I to spend on spares?

Ken smiles without teeth. "I'm glad you are staying aboard with us Olly.  Put together a cost of what is needed."  He turned to Lorain.  "Do you think we can get the Institute to fund an overhaul of their ship to bring her up to standards?"

As Blake lay sunbathing beside the pool at his hotel, his comms started chiming.

He had just enough time to get showered and take a grav taxi to the Institute.

The vehicle pulled up and he realised he would be a few minutes late as he searched for the conference room.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 10):

"Well, I did have some pull with the board on who got offered what position!

"With all the stuff we brought back, I don't know if I will be able to get into the field soon. But it's clear to the Institute that more support will be needed to make sure our expeditions are safe. So that's where you'll come in.

"People are worried about the war. We're just hearing about it now, but it seems it's really happening. Not just border skirmishing but a massive Zhodani invasion. Thing are peaceful but tense, we're an Imperial ally and there have been clashes with Zhodani client states so no one knows what could happen."

She tapped her palm comp screen a few times.

"Olly, sorry, I don't know offhand what your budget will be. Probably, you can charge it to the operating fund of Cr1500000."

Giving Ken a big toothy grin Olly pulls out a Paw Panel* and begins to make a list.  A long, long list of all the goodies he can think of.

Mmmmm, humans have budget, Olly can spend,

* Like a personal computer, but with a more Vargr vibe.

Blake arrives a trifle late but is all ears upon hearing about a shooting war with the Zho's starting.  A good sector reference star atlas would make a good buy right about now.

Flaming Zho's, I get a decent job & will be recalled to duty. he grumbles.  Maybe he can get an education exemption ??  Something to ask Lorain about afterwards ...

He also makes a note to speak with Ollie about parts, tools, maintenance schedules,& a cup holder at the pilot's seat.  A scout & his coffee should never be kilometers apart.  He also makes an effort to recall the stateroom decor situation. Stuffy academics probably would want something conducive to contemplation ...  Vilani opera music in the background ??  Maybe Neva would be some help here.

Post meeting, Blake has a talk with Lorain about detached scout duty requirements.  He will also ask whom he can talk to at the university about projects that would require supply runs.  Time to make a list of who / what / when / where to pass along to the captain.

Ken grins.  "Well, thank you for seeing that we got the shot at crewing up the ship Loraine. This is a great opportunity for all of us."  His face fell a bit although he was expecting the news of her decision to stay planetside.  "It's a shame that you'll be tied up with academics but there is no one more qualified than you to put together a coherent story from what we found.  Is there a plan to go back to the site on Miryan and do more examination?  That might be a job for some minions."

At the news of the war he frowns.  "I hope the war doesn't spill over this far.  Still, it certainly will make things chancy for everyone.  We'll want to arm the ship for sure."  He thinks for a moment.  "That Kalamaru will surely be mad as hell at us for swooping in and not only getting the treasure but taking the ship from him as well.  Let's hope he died in the native attack on Miryan but I doubt we'll be so lucky.  Even so, we'll all want to be extra careful in case he decides to take revenge on us."

Ken's eyes widen at the discussion of a budget.  "Ahhh... that's very generous Lorain.  I'm sure we will use it wisely."  He glances at Olly at this last and winks at the Vargr.

"Oh, how is your father doing Lorain?  Have the treatments been successful?"

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 17):

"Dad is out of surgery and recovering nicely!

"The ship will need an overhaul, no telling when that was last performed. The ship's been armed for protection, I don't know what with."

"I'm glad your dad is doing better.  It sounds like we got him out of there just in time." He nodded as she spoke of the ship.  "The Vargr, Olly is a good engineer.  We'll see that the ship is in good shape.  I'm glad they are arming her what with the tension and war."

He paused.  "If you've got some free time, how about a cup of coffee?  I'd like to hear how things are going with you in the academic side.  I'd sure the scientific world is in turmoil."

Neva nodded in agreement at the "hope your dad is doing better line" and then got thoughtful for a moment.

"Now that I have creds, I'll have to go and see what I might want to learn next and get some new clothes.  Didn't think I'd ever hear myself say that.  Is there any positions on the ship that could use back up?  Perhaps that would be a good place to start.  I know that I'm hired for security but that isn't always a 24/7 thing."

Ken thought about things. "You could help out Olly in engineering.  There is always plenty of detail work to be done that requires a quick mind and hands."

Olly gives a sharp cough

<Blue>If the female promises not to break anything, Olly can find work for her in the engine room.  Start by inventory of new parts on our shopping list!
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:28, Fri 09 Aug 2013.

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 22):

Neva looked over at Ollie and finally nodded.  "Can't promise not to break something but I can promise not to purposefully break something and I will do my best NOT to break something.  I will then start to learn about how to be engineer."

Neva wasn't afraid of getting dirty.  Hell, she had been dirty before at least this time it would be for a better cause.

"I'd love to get a cup of coffee some time. You got 2 weeks for refit, you can't be busy the whole time?"

She sighed.

"It's not the academic or scientific world that's in turmoil. It's the economic world that's been shaken. Stocks took a plunge when the news hit although they're recovered a bit. Trade is down because shipping costs are up, and interstellar tourism is way down."

Ken chuckled.  "I'll never be too busy to get a cup of coffee with you.  We've shared too much over the last few weeks."  His face grew more serious as Lorain continued.  "War, even the rumor of war is a nasty thing.  Even if the Imperial and Zho forces aren't fighting down here you can bet some of our neighbors will use the uncertainty as a chance to settle old scores.  You should be safe here.  As for us," he grew thoughtful, "the increase in uncertainty and shipping costs will make it easier for us to turn a profit.  We'll be more willing to run those risks and go places that might be off limits to the bigger operators."

Blake will follow Ollie about toting the toolboxes & such, doing any maintenance he can. Watching the overhaul progress & generally sticking his nose in everywhere.

Stuff has to be bolted down or it flies all over during re-entry turbulence.  And I got the scars to prove it.  Wink wink, nod nod to the workers.  He chats with them for a couple minutes & moves along.  Inside, outside, up, down & all-around.    Blake starts learning all of the nooks, ducts, crannies of the ship.

He also takes time to do some shopping to fill his personal gear list.  Trades carbines.  And enjoys life dirtside ...

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 26):

Neva was like Ollie's shadow whenever she could be.  She didn't mind getting dirty and actually was having a pretty good time.  She did take some time out to order new clothes and equipment and reading material.  It was a good start.

Linus settled in, finding a place to stay and beginning to build a collection of cookbooks - if he was to be steward, he'd make sure that everyone ate well!

A ship & first class chow !!  I salute you, Chef Linus.

If you ever need a taste tester, just comm me.

Speaking from experience, good chow is the heart of a ship.

034-1108

The crew relaxed for a couple weeks.

They had a chance to explore Alnezei, a pleasant TL 12 world, and the capital of the Free Suns, an Imperial client state far beyond the frontier. Perhaps war was coming, but they had a ship! A chance to trade for wealth! The maintenance went well, apparently, the ship had its annual overhaul not to far in the past. Time to hit the spacelanes in search of trade...

Linus will ensure that the galley gets refurbished and is well supplied both with food and with kitchen gadgets.

He'd better also check that the computer is as good as we can afford and has all the relevant programs (remembering his second hat!).

Ken will buy clothing, armor and weapons for himself as well as the rest of the crew.  He'll see that the ship's locker is well stocked with supplies and basic weapons.  He will get a nice hand comp to use in learning a few new skills.

As well he will take Loraine out for coffee and maybe dinner as promised.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:59, Mon 12 Aug 2013.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 33):

Walker replaced his entire kit [*3], and bought some lifestyle stuff.  A new pipe, music, books to read, a couple of cases of port, sherry, and a two cases of whiskey.  He also purchased some brown sauce [HP Brown sauce/steak sauce type stuff], as well as requisitioned training materials on medicine, piloting, and astrogation, for future studying.

He also went shopping for an autodoc.

Neva isn't used to spending money so she buys what she considers normal:

more clothing including shoes
computer good enough to run engineering programs on
engineering manuals and various books and music
engineering kit for her
new weapons and ammo
new armor

The rest of the money is saved for that rainy day.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:47, Sun 11 Aug 2013.

Olly is happy enough about his shadows, they haven't broken anything and, on occasion, they have even been helpful. He has also taken every opportunity to ensure that everyone knows that while it is "their" ship, it is "his" engineering deck!

He has replenished the engineering stores, check over the tools, laser torches etc and made sure that all the emergency kit is up to spec and working (Rescue Balls, Emergency Vacc Suits, Cold Sleep Births etc)

He has also spent a little time buying some personal kit and equipment, that list to follow.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 33):

As promised, Lorrain accepts the offer for coffee. She even goes out to dinner with him. Although he doesn't get lucky, she does say she want's to see him, next time he's in port. She's not in a relationship at this time, no matter what Sir Drew had implied. (Before his untimely disappearance during the attack on the archaeological base camp.

The ship was finally ready to lift off. All equipment was up to spec, systems were at 100%. Olly was finally happy with the way things had shaped up, broke and desperate he had joined the crew at the last jump before Mirayn without realising most of them (save Mariel) were little better than pirates. Routine maintenance had been a real problem, now it wasn't.

In her quest to get a normal wardrobe, Neva found that many of the sales people were happy to help her shop for clothing, and she was talked into a full makeover.

Unfortunately, this far outside the Imperium auto-docs were extremely expensive as they needed to be imported. They could not be produced locally at TLC except as prototypes.

The Empress Victoria had a new galley after refurbishment, Linus was happy with what he had to work with!

There were several ex-Imperial Scouts on the Institute's faculty, they were happy to talk old times. The Scout base on Alnezar was almost the end of the line, 2 sectors over from the Spinward Marches. A few Scouts reaching retirement age decided to settle on the pleasant frontier world, and were gladly offered positions teaching or researching the Sciences for the Institutes.

Neva returned to the ship with lots of bags and a smile on her face.  She felt different.  The good kind of different but it was still strange.  She remembered the person who looked back at her now in mirrors but it had been awhile.  After her gear had been stowed and her purchases put in her room, Neva went to the common area to see if anybody else was around.  She gave her new hairdo a quick fluff as if to verify it actually was her.

Ken enjoys the brief dalliance with Lorain before turning back to the more serious effort of operating the ship.  He will work with each of the crew to integrate them into the proper positions as well as plan out a route to move passengers and cargo.  One issue is that while they might not have an autodoc he will try to get a more advanced medical kit than TL 7.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 40):

Blake does his buys, as noted elsewhere along with an inertial locator for himself.  Flying is great, but when it comes to hoofing about dirt-side - lets just say he needs to see what is around the next curve, over the next hill & then comes the "How do we get back from here ??" syndrome  - typical scout, lost in the scenery.

Blake also spends time schmoozing with the University scouts, the usual scout tales along with a history lesson of the sector.  Since he is hauling artifacts & such, probably some time with the grad students as they examine stuff.  They can explain matters & decipher the jargon & such.  One might even have an interesting bikini displacement ...
This message was last updated by the GM at 04:14, Wed 21 Aug 2013.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 41):

Blake makes some good contacts with the local Scouts at the uni and IISSB Base Alnezar. As well, one of the instructors recommends a grad student to help tutor him on an informal basis about archaeology.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:31, Wed 21 Aug 2013.

Ken will spend some time as well around the starport bars to gain some knowledge of likely jobs and hazards of going out on their own.

The rest of Blake's $$ goes into different banking accounts.  He doesn't need a lot for daily life.  The piloting itch is starting to develop ...  Been dirtside toooooo long.

It having been just 2 weeks, Linus received word that his instructions were sent about a week and a half earlier. A Jump-2 freighter was passing through and would drop it off. They would arrive in a few days and the reply would have to wait for someone else coming the other direction. It would take some time for a sale and return message, but it was all in good hands.

Olly reviews his purchases;

SMG and 20 loaded Magazines
Cloth
Reflec
Paw Pad Hand Computer (latest model!)
Combo Mask to fit a Vargr

All neatly stored away and clearly marked as "Property of..."

Blake spends time at the scout base, trading stories, adventures & sure-proof strategies to pick up girls ...  Catching up on news & the war situation.  Incredibly he ends drinking with the supply & requistion people ...  Which quickly proceeds to become a contest between the rival IISS field & bureaucracy elements.

Ahhhh, the stories that are told of that night;  shot for shot mixed drinks which descended into rocket fuel mixtures, very loud singing of the IISS basic training songs from the table-tops - a few comparing Her Grace, The Crown Princess' womanly shape to space, the mission & the stars, and the wagering of Blake's confidential scout brew recipes for some equipment ...

I dare-say that security eventually dragged them away, contestants & witnesses.  Many separate stories had to be combed thru to determine the actual chain of events ...  Many hangovers were considered to be in the jump 6 regions ...
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:06, Mon 02 Sept 2013.

The (late) morning afterwards ...


Several black coffees, a cold shower & assorted remedies later.  Not totally sure how a thong & this comm number got in the PRISS pack ...

Linus came by, and a bar tender's practised eye discerned the malady. He got to work concocting a mixture...

"Here, Blake, drink this... in one gulp is best."

The contents of the mixture are a trade secret, but Blake's sure he saw Tabasco, a raw egg, tomato juice and several other items being mixed in. It smells, faintly, of rotten eggs overlaid with cherries.

Ken has finished up stocking up on weapons, ammo and gear for the ship as well as a crash course in ship board operations.  He makes a last call on Lorain before the go, inviting her out to dinner not at a tremendously expensive place but one of those places that just exudes good food and a friendly disarray on the beach at the end of a bumpy road.

Neva sits down in the common area and shares her head.  She has gone over her numbers again and again and it just doesn't make sense.  She knows she needs help but isn't sure who to ask.  She finally gets out her new computer and goes through the figures again.

"Are you all right, Neva?" asked Linus. "Can I get you anything?"

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 52):

Without thinking Neva automatically responded with "No, yes, I don't know."  She then stopped and looked up at Linus and shook her head.  "Have you ever found yourself in a position that is somewhat familiar but still not?  I mean..can I ask you a question?"

Neva didn't stop to wait for permission, perhaps thinking he might say no, and just continued on.  "I find myself in such a situation.  I don't need much but realize I need more than what I am thinking I need but on the other hand I don't want to waste the creds we just got."  Neva curled her legs up on the seat she was on and shrugged her shoulders.

"I think that I need to save or invest part of it but am at a loss of how to proceed or what would be good or bad.  I have "cleaned up" and have food and a place to stay.  I have a job which will bring in more creds and I have found friends.  I splurged on a few new weapons, a new computer and engineering toolkit, clothing, and other miscellaneous things and still have money left over.  I'm not one to trust banks and yet I don't want to carry it ALL with me."

Neva looked up with a quizzical expression on her face.  "Is this making any sense? While I was on the force if I would have said this I would have said I was crazy.  I guess it just takes being on the opposite end of the survival scale to appreciate and realize that all the other stuff you used to have really isn't that important...although if I'm not careful I'm sure I could get back into that mentality even though I'm not sure I want to."

Neva then shut up because she was sure they would think her crazy because SHE thought she was crazy.  Whoever complained about not knowing how to spend creds?

Linus listened carefully to what Neva had to say.

"I am probably not the best fellow to ask. I did not spend much when in the service, saved it all up and bought my bar. Now I have ended up here, like you reasonably well-provided for in terms of day-to-day expenses but likely unable to return to my bar in the foreseeable future. I have sent instructions to my lawyers to sell it - but what I shall do with the proceeds I have no idea."

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 54):

Linus words made Neva feel better.  "At least I am not the only one who is in this predicament so that means I'm not crazy...or at least if I am I have company.  That is good thing, yes?"

She thought some more before speaking.  "<blue>So you trust banks?  More than one bank or only one bank?  If you trust lawyers that must mean you trust banks."

"If you do business you have to trust them, at least a bit. The wise man keeps an eye on things, though."

Linus looked a bit worried.

"I do not really like selling the bar without being there, but it seemed the best option."

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 56):

Neva looked over at Linus.  "You are right about the trust issue.  Why are you selling the bar then if you do not want to?  Is it because you do not expect to go back after this adventure?  Is it not making money?  Why would you sell something that you want?"

"I am selling it because I am not sure I shall ever go back. It seems my retirement was a little premature. When I eventually settle down, it may be somewhere else entirely. I don't want to be tied to going back."

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 58):

Neva nodded at Linus words.  "I'm not sure people ever retire.  I believe it is more like they just change their careers.  It would be a good thing to have something that would earn a nest egg for when you need it but other than that I can see where it would a problem to have.  Thanks for your comments on this.  I have been sort of...retired...before I joined up here.  It's surprising how quickly a person gets used to something."

It was a fine afternoon, warm and fragrant. Alnezar was a beautiful planet.

That day, the cargo of scientific instruments and supplies for a remote Institute deep space research platform was loaded aboard the ship.

It didn't look like Lorrain would be able to meet up with Ken before they lifted, but she sent her regards.

At the starport, Blake received a package, dropped off by a local Scout Base employee. 2 pairs of Scout Service field glasses, aka "PRISS" units. Cr14000, cash only. The rest of the crew and ship gear was loaded aboard and stowed in lockers for launch.

I'm sure we can cough up the cash ...  Blake will pay a percentage of it.  Now then, where we going & what awaits us there ??  Usual grad student camp-out, I mean excavation ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 61):

The courier firmly shook his head. "You have 30 seconds to work this out, but if I don't have credits, Imperial credits and not local, in my hands by then, these are going to take a walk."

In reply to GM (msg # 62):

Walker arrives, with a cup of tea in his hand.

"Credits for what?  How many?  Do you accept Imperial bank transfers?"

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 63):

The Scout looked around nervously before opening his satchel. Inside were 2 hard cases emblazoned with IISS logos. Standard IISS issue for optical devices.

"Cr14000 for 2 pairs of Scout Service PRISS field glasses. Imperial credits only. Cash on the barrel-head."

In reply to GM (msg # 64):

"Let me see if Ken's around.  If Ken's not around, would you mind going with me to the bank?  I don't keep that sort of cash around on hand all the time."

He goes to an intercom.

"Ken, package here for you.  He wants cash, too."

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 65):

The courier looked at Blake and raised an eyebrow. "How about you, chief? You guys aren't the only customers I got. And no, no refund or exchange without the extended warranty. Just kidding, no warranty or refund. These fell off the back of an Air/Raft, if you catch my drift."

Ken sauntered out.  He was a bit irked that Lorain couldn't make it but then such things happened.  He glanced over at what the courier was carrying and brightened.  "Hey there, before we fork over the cash let's see the goods." He holds out a hand.  "Let me try one first."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 67):

"Certainly. The batteries should be all charged up." He handed a pair to Ken and one to Thomas. They seemed to be functioning perfectly.

In reply to GM (msg # 68):

"These work pretty good.  I've never used Scout equipment before.  Got any more?  How about scopes for rifles?  If I know I'm buying something, I can take care of having cash on hand."

Anything else, ahhhh, fall off an air raft ??  Never know when you'll hit some turbulence.

Blake stands back, putting some space between himself & the others.  Any outside monitors nearby ??  Wads of loose cash have dangers of their own ...

Ken tried out the binoculars and nodded.  "They are just as advertised.  Let me go get the payment." He turned and headed to the ship's safe and pulled out a wad of cred sticks.  He'd kept a fair bit of his own reward from their mission on Miryan in cash knowing that they would be traveling away from banks and established planets.  Upon returning he counted out the money.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you.  If you have any other interesting finds we'd always be interested.  We're highly mobile with the ship and are always looking for the possibility of a bit of extra business."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 71):

The Scout accepted the credits from Ken, stuffing them into a pocket.

"Thanks, chief.

"Blake, anything else, happy to let you know. Leave a message for you at the Scout Base if I do."

Addressing Thomas he said, "we don't have any scopes you can't buy on the open market, for cheaper. Scout issue's more rugged, I guess.

"You fellows need anything, Blake knows how to get ahold of my supplier. Guy named "Ali", at the Scout base.

"Now, If you gentlemen don't mind, I gotta get going..."

Ken took the binoculars and nodded to the man.  "Thanks for doing business with us."  He turned to the others.  "We've a launch window in about four hours.  Make any last minute trips or arrangements and be back onboard in two hours."

At the 3 hour mark Blake shows up for the pre-flight walk-around, assuming the ship has not flown during the interim.  Then the interior check-outs, files the flight "paperwork" plans, navigation updates & all that other pre-mission stuff, outbound traffic situation & checks with Ollie about the mechanical stuff "out back."  Destination is ... ???  Cargo & passengers ??

Yes, the new pilot-side coffee holder works just fine.

Linus picks up some fresh produce and is soon busy in the galley preparing a feast for after lift off.

Ken wondered, Maybe we head to Nesbitt next?
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:57, Wed 11 Sept 2013.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 76):

Mariel finished up on her Nav terminal.

"Yeah, looks like the first delivery is for Nesbitt.

"I took the liberty of ordering a few odds and ends from the chandler's. Mainly, there's nine of us now. So another Vacc suit, some extra cold weather clothing.

"Everyone's on board, let's take 'er up!"

In reply to Mariel Migaraa (msg # 77):

"Mind if I stay up here for launch? Plenty of room!"

Unlike most military or Scout ships, the A2's bridge was roomy and had a great view. Plus extra seating in the back.

In reply to Jaxxon Zalvedes (msg # 78):

Stanley also entered the bridge, sat in one of the rear jump seats.

"We are ready for liftoff, my friend. Let's depart!"

In reply to Stanley (msg # 79):

Walker came onto the bridge.

"Mind if I watch liftoff from here?  Is there a seat I can use?  I've always been 'just a passenger' before."

Holy gomping groats, you'ld think this was a maiden flight.  Seats everyone & strap in.    Once satisfied that everyone is comfy & restrained, he gives Miriel a wink & nod ...

A gentle lift-off, brief hover to slowly rotate/turn about so everyone can see the star port & then we angle back, apply thrust & head up the designated travel corridor to space.

Miriel can get us the vectors for the departure traffic lane.  Ahhh the life of a space jock ...

Ollie, how's everything back there ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 81):

There was no real room in the cockpit for observers, but the crew lounge and reception area had large screens for viewing. [OOC: My mistake, looking at the deck plans I see the cockpit itself is cramped and has only 2 stations. But there is more room in the lounge immediately aft. The computer room is where the Navigation station is located.]

It was a gentle lift-off. No one felt so much as a jolt as the inertial dampers cancelled all extra motion. A flock of white sea birds was startled into into the air as their flight path took them over white sand beaches to the south of Alnezei's capitol city. In a little less than a half hour, the blue sky had turned black and stars appeared. Many of those "stars" were orbiting satellites and stations in low orbit. As well, commercial and military ship and small boat traffic were in parking orbits around the globe, or transiting from surface to low or high orbits.

Radars showed clusters of habitats and factories hovering fare "above" in the Lagrange points, as well as the commercial high port and naval base in geosynchronous orbit.

Alnezei's moon rose over the horizon, a bright sunlit crescent was visible but the night side showed the glowing patches or cities and industrial areas connected by a spiderweb of well-lit ground roads.

"Empress Victoria this is Alnezei System Traffic Control. Be advised, you are cleared for Jumpspace insertion on course for Nesbitt. Have a safe Jump."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:43, Thu 12 Sept 2013.

Ken watched from the lounge after giving Blake and Mariel a thumbs up for launch and transition to Jump space.  He watched the ship soar into space with the wonder that he always felt at these times. "Well done Blake.  Let's get her gone."

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 81):

"All good here, be sure you don't bend my engines when we jump!"

ready to fold space Ollie ??

Blake & Miriel aim the ship towards Nesbitt & settle in for the cruise to the jump point.  Their eyes rove back & forth, across instruments & scans, looking for troubles & nearby stuff.  Any interesting comm traffic out there ??  Blake keeps one ear tuned to the intra-ship comm for interesting chatter ...

Ken settles in and pours himself a beer after offering the others refreshments from the very well stocked bar.  He hoists his glass.  "To our mission!"

Linus came out of the galley with some fresh-baked cookies.

"Old Naval tradition for lifting ship," he says, passing them around.

Blake declines the beer, but cookies & milk !!  This job just keeps getting better & better.

Ken takes the cookies and eats a couple with evident relish.  "Beer and cookies, excellent.  Had I known of this naval tradition I would have changed services."  He chuckles.  "Thank you Linus, I'd imagine you have something special in store for our first meal in jump space as well."

"Roast chicken with mash and fresh vegetables. Ice-cream to follow, with summer berries... fresh ones I got just before we raised ship," said Linus.

Ken smiled.  "I'm glad we have exercise equipment aboard the ship.  Otherwise eating like that would have me fattened nicely."  He finished his cookies. "Good work Linus."

Neva grinned and ate her cookies with delightful relish.  "I agree with you Ken.  I can see that my exercise routine will have to be ramped up to counter act all the good food.  Roast chicken?  Oh yummm."

They left the main world and its orbiting moon, ships, satellites, and space stations behind. At 100 diameters out, the Jump drive converted tons of liquid hydrogen into exotic particles lasting only picoseconds. Long enough to "fold" normal space to form a temporary wormhole entrance around the ship. Depending on the mathematics, particle configuration and engine Jump capacity the wormhole could be up to 6 parsecs long in realspace. However long it would collapse in approximately 1 Earth week depositing the ship at its end point.

Six Months Later...

148-1108

They found themselves back on Alzenei. Cargo transport among the Free Suns had been a disaster as war raged 2 sectors over. The Zhodani didn't invade the Imperial client state, but they didn't need to. Economic warfare strangled trade as embargoes were enacted around the Free Suns. Corsairs slipped across the border from Zhodani client space; some were commerce raiders, some were privateers, while others were simply opportunistic pirates. Expensive repairs ate up the ship's operating fund until it was zeroed out, as did exorbitant customs and duties levied on the ship in their unprofitable excursions outside the Free Suns.

At least Linus got word that the proceeds from the sale of his bar had been forwarded to the Institute. And as the wormhole collapsed and deposited them 100 diameters from Alzenei, there was a message waiting for them on Interplanetary Net:

CALL LORRAIN AT THE INSTITUTE ASAP! GOOD NEWS!

"Could do with good news, all the trouble we've had!  Maybe signing on with you crew had brought Olly bad luck!"

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 94):

Neva blew raspberries at Olly's comment about bad luck.  "We're good luck.  You're still alive.  Just think of what could have happened to you otherwise."

She grinned and went back to studying her engineering.

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 95):

"Yes, Olly remembers how lucky he felt when your where pointing guns at him in his own engine room.  Keep your fruit noises till we are turned inside out in jump space cos we run out of money for good maintenance!"

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 96):

Neva grinned, knowing that Olly had a point but he actually wasn't that hard to work with.  "But I didn't shoot you and besides, you made up for it with that cleaning job you gave me as my first assignment."

Ken shrugged at the comments.  "It's a crappy time to be out trying to break into the trading business.  At least we didn't get hijacked or destroyed by raiders.  Anyway, there is still hope." He brightens up at the message from Lorain for a couple of reasons.  "It's Lorain, maybe she has a job for us."

He calls on the comm to her number:  "Lorain, this is Ken.  We're back in the system."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 98):

The call went through, but there was a hiss of static and interference, as well as a couple seconds comm delay.

"To make a long story short, we decided to run the patterns of the Sky Raider artefacts and markings through the database. It took a long time, but we got a hit. Unexpected place, too, a bar in the Nomael system has what looks to be a genuine Sky Raider artefact on the wall as an art piece. I know you guys are pretty broke and I'm sorry things didn't work out better, but I think I can swing a Cr15000 operating fund to keep you afloat to go retrieve it."

At that point they were hailed by a Customs modular cutter, wanting to board for inspection. It had been based on Alzenei's airless moon and directed them into a lunar orbit.

"I'll put the kettle on..." said Linus. His long-standing habit was to play host to anyone wishing to conduct inspections, serving them tea and cakes and generally making nice... an old habit from the bar days, he found it worked better than being hostile and wary around officials.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 100):

"Keep them out of my tea, then.  Customs agents can drink coffee," commented Walker.

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 101):

The cutter escorted them into a cislunar orbit and then docked. A good portion of the Free Suns defence fleet were also in the neighbourhood, mainly ex-Imperial surplus hulls or licenc-built designs too obsolete for service anywhere else but here beyond the frontier.

Unlike usual, the customs agents performed a thorough job. As they are not carrying anything, they scour the rest of the ship as well as the hold.

As they were searching for contraband, the lead inspector asked, "any large amount of hard currency aboard? Could make you a target for thieves, pirates or other criminals."

Ken replied to Lorain.  "Send us the information on the bar and we'll go fetch the artifact Lorain.  15K will keep us running and maybe we can ship some cargo and passengers out there while we're at it."  He pauses; "How have you been?  I hope the reporters have been leaving you alone to get your work done."

As the customs cutter hails Ken will see that they complied with directions and assumed a lunar orbit.  He'll walk with the inspectors and answer any questions that they have. "We've got our operating fund in the safe and I'm sure some of the crew have their personal cash aboard.  I don't think it amounts to more than 30K total."

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 97):

"Yes, you make excellent...scrubber?"

When the Excise men reach the engine room, Olly will following them around, growling every time one of them touches "his" engines.  In fact he dogs their every move.

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 104):

Neva just chuckled at Olly's comment.  She was in the engineering room when the inspectors came and she watched their movements.  She kept quiet though since she was the junior in here and she found it cute that Olly growled when they got too close.  She was careful not to tell Olly that of course but she was starting to think that she had found a good place here.

The Excise men find Stanley in the hold, pretending to drive his Grav Cycle through hordes of Sky Raider Cultists. His efforts are rather hampered by the custom made vacc suit he insists on wearing whenever aboard ship. Usually, he holds his helmet and gloves in his upper hands, ready to seal them at the slightest hint of depressurization, but apparently the Sky Raider Cultists are in some kind of low-pressure environment today. That, or he needed two hands for the steering wheel and the other two for sword wielding.

He purchased the Grav Cycle from one of Blake's buddies nearly five months ago, but he doesn't actually know how to drive it, so he just polishes the thing while listening to music from one species or another.

There is a brief bit of tension as the Excise Officers find his well-loved copy of Zhodhanistics And The Art of Grav Cycle Maintenance next to the tool kit, but a brief scan reveals it to be rather more focused on the "maintenance" part.

By now, everyone is probably familiar with his habit of playing Stupid Sophont in front of authority figures, though he does seem to take a certain multi-faceted glee in the role.

Edit I forgot this is the future, and he has a computer. It's entirely possible that he's playing on some futuristic version of the Wii.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:39, Thu 19 Sept 2013.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 103):

Lorain replied to Ken, "I've been fine. if you can leave right away, that would be wonderful! The bar is on Nomael. 2 parsecs away, within your Jump range if I'm not mistaken? The city, if you can call it that, is Varnov's Landing. Near Nomael Down port. There will be a finder's fee, paid for by the Institute, of course!"

"I'll upload the image that the computer scan got a hit on. It's from some news cast eight months ago and arrived via routine media delivery from Nomael a month ago. Picked it up on the media scan almost by accident, we were specifically checking for academic publications but ran the whole delivery through the computer just in case. It rates 86.91% accuracy of being an authentic SKy Raider artefact, or a close copy of one. Like I said, the image was taped eight months ago, two months before the artefacts we found arrived at the Institute. So it's not a copy of the one we found."

Her image on the comm screen was replaced by that of news program about how the rising tensions with the nearby Hegemony were hurting Startown businesses. The pub wasn't named and looked like any one of countless establishments they'd been in on planets from Far Frontiers to the Marches. In the middle of a pan the screen froze and then zoomed in on a wall hanging off the side of the bar. The plaque was the same size as the small breastplate necklace they found in the Sky Raider tomb on Mirayn, with four raised disks. Data streamed down one side, an analysis based on what little information the computers could glean from the few frames of video.

"As for you, call me when you clear customs."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:08, Fri 20 Sept 2013.

In reply to Stanley (msg # 107):

Once they reached lunar orbit and were boarded:

The customs people thoroughly scour the ship. They know their business are able to locate every single credit that may be stashed about, they miss nothing! Aside from the verbal warning, nothing was seized as they were unable to find anything incriminating.

As the Free Suns is a fair ways from Vargr space, the agents are a little unfamiliar with Vargr and give Ollie a warning to back off. They were not heavily armed but did sport snub pistols and batons.

However, they were a little more familiar with "gogs", as the native Mirayns were typically (if condescendingly) called. They merely smiled at Stanley, assuming he was there for heavy lifting and perhaps comic relief, and went about their business.

The lead agent gave them a clean bill of health and sent them on their way. They were cleared for landing at the starport, Alz Atse Down.

Once the custom officers clear out, Stanley comms his beloved Captain, his familiarity with Basic a sharp contrast to the charade he was just playing. "Change of plans, sir? Should we re-up our weapon permits?"

Stanley knows from previous trips that Law 5 planets allow shotguns, and will have no problem with his "quaint native ceremonial swords." He's certainly filled in the paperwork often enough over the last 6 months.

Stanley, we have to buzz the greenways, feel the wind shriek by ...  Put some serious KM's on this bike !!  And shop for 200 rounds of ammo & a comfy flak jacket.

"That definitely looks genuine Lorain.  It's good that you pegged it right away.  We will get back out in space immediately.  Anyone else could have made the connection and be looking for more Sky Raider loot."  He smiled.  "I'll call when we get land and are clear."

Ken shares the information on from Lorain with the others.  "Lorain has spotted what is almost certainly a Sky Raiders artifact, a chest plate of sorts in a bar on Nomael.  It showed up in the background of a news report.  The Institute will pay our expenses and a fee to go fetch it.  I've loaded the information on the ship's computer."  He pauses; "We've had crummy luck so far but this job will at least keep us going for a bit longer and might lead to more.  We'll land, fuel up, take a quick look around for cargo and head back to space right away.  There's no telling if anyone else made the connection."

He is polite with the customs inspectors.  They have nothing to hide so he's perfectly composed.  Fortunately they don't inadvertently run afoul of any regulations and get off with a clean bill.

When Stanley approaches him he nods.  "A change of plans for sure Stanley.  We're fortunate to get the paying work what with the poor trade and the problems with the trading plan on Miryan."  Ken ponders for a moment.  "Yes, re-up the weapons permits and get ready.  I don't expect trouble here but you never know who we might bump into chasing down these artifacts."

"Blake put us in at the main downport.  Linus, can you arrange food and life support?  Olly handle fuel and whatever maintenance you can do on the inexpensive side." Ken goes ahead and puts out feelers for cargo and passengers.

When they land and things are under control he calls Lorain.  "It's good to hear from you Lorain.  You are looking good.  Do you have some time to meet over dinner before we head out?  We've got a few hours to fuel and get ready anyway."

"Ah, my far-eyed friend, I long for the day. Only yesterday I tried taking it for a short lap around our sadly empty cargo bay. I only needed two hands on the steering wheel, as well!"

He puts down his swords while picking up his bow, and hops back onto the 'Cycle. "Soon, I will be able to drive AND shoot down our enemies! Have you and friend-Thomas thought any further about this bow of mine?" he asks, referring to an earlier conversation about jury rigging modern ammo for his antique weapon. It seems the longer Stanley spends away from his homeland, the more tightly he clings to the weapons and traditions of his people.



When Stanley hears this, he eagerly flips down his ultra-expensive Data Display Visor over two of his eyes, pulls  out his portable keyboard, and starts typing. The typing gives way to smacking a few keys repeatedly. The smacking gets a little violent. "Computer, on?" he tries, apparently to no avail. He tries a few more verbal commands, equally unsuccessful.

Frustrated, he looks over at Linus, and then makes a startled leap back as his eyes finally find the data display. Attempting to regain his composure, he asks Linus (and the rest of the crew), "What do we know about Nomael? Do we know its population of Vargyrs and Miraynese?"

After the initial pow-wow, Stanley will file for the appropriate weapons permits --League permits, which will presumably be easier to get here with our University & Scout contacts, which will in turn hopefully make it easier to get permits on Nomael.

After Captain Jenkins gives out the assignments, Stanley politely reminds him, "Some of us were going to visit those esteemed gentlemen about our mutual friend? Get an update on his activities?"

Ken shook his head in response to Stanley's questions.  "I've never been to Nomael and beyond the very basics I have no idea.  We'll want to download as much as we can find about the place before we leave.  It's one Jump 2 trip away from here so we can be there in a week."

At the mention of the esteemed gentleman and the mutual friend Ken stiffened.  "Oh yes, I do remember Stanley.  Those gentlemen have been helpful in the past with your enterprise as well as keeping track of the former owner of this ship.  See if you can arrange a meeting and I'll be glad to go along.  We should take Neva as this is right up her alley."

"Sure thing..." says Linus, and gets online arranging for life support consumables to be delivered before calling around the catering suppliers to see what's fresh and cheap this time of year.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:53, Sat 21 Sept 2013.

Blake puts the ship down & deals with the port's paperwork.  He takes a serous look at who else is here & wanders about talking with whomever is available - news & stories, scouts & the war, piracy, supplies, etc.  He'll ask Mirial to do the same in the other direction & discuss their findings when they meet back up at the Scuttlebutt Bar & Grill ...

When he has a quiet moment, he checks the public information computer for antique/facsimile weapon shops for Stanley.

The library data on Nomael (Nomael/Jungleblut C767886-B) didn't tell an unusual story. It was a rich planet on the border with the Descarothe Hegemony, a Zhodani client state. There were no major bases or gas giant refuelling.

During the current tension, several League (aka Free Suns) naval squadrons were stationed there, having been transferred from the border of the Trelayn Domain (another Imperial client, but an oppressive one).

The population of Nomael was split roughly between 60% Solomani/Vilani and 40% Zhodani/Vlazhudmecta. Non-humans were less than 1% of the population; this total included several hundred thousand Vargr but no recorded native Mirayns (who were very rare off-world, the largerst offworld community was on Alzenei).

This ethnic division between Zhodani/Vlazhudmecta and Solomani/Vilani contributed to the rift that split the Free Suns from the Domain of Alntzar, the 4th political unit in the subsector. Most worlds in the Far Frontiers were settled 6000 years ago by Zhodani/Vlazhudmecta, and these ethnic groups formed the base of the sector's population. A massive wave of Solomani/Vilani settlers arrived around Year 200-300, part of the main wave of expansion during the early Imperium.

This part of the formerly larger Domain of Alntzar (a Zhodani client state) had a high percentage of Imperial settlers, and they recently split off to form the League of Suns ("Free Suns"), an Imperial client state. Client states settled by Imperials tended to favour the Imperium and those of Zhodani/Vlazhudmecta ethic origin tended to favour the Consulate, but not always.

Otherwise, via the vidcom, Thomas and Neva found their investments doing well. Linus discovered there had been a miscommunication. The money he received from his bar wasn't entirely from its sale; the building had burned down mysteriously and so this was a combination of insurance payout and the sale of the property. Either way, all funds went to the Institute. Blake found a weapon's shop dealing in antique reproductions for Stanley, but no one came up with any juicy rumours!

The weapons permits for Alzenei were easy to obtain. Nomael was a little more restrictive at Law Level 5 (all non-shotguns permitted). Blake's Scout contact was a bust, he'd be on assignment for a couple weeks but should be back by the time they returned from Nomael. (There was no entry visa requirement for Nomael as they were a League member but likely there would be a customs inspection upon arrival.)

On their date at their favourite restaurant, Lorain was very excited about the potential new find, but impressed upon Ken it was important they leave as soon as they could. After all, if they could find a clue via a random image scan, so could someone else!

Stanely examines the UWP Code and associated data very closely, once someone shows him how to load it onto his visor. "Hrm...less than 80% Mirayn Gravity, with air as thin as you all keep on the ship. So much land! And so many people! I hope they do not all patronize bars, or this will take forever..." He'll also download enough information on the Nomael legal code to keep a lawyer entertained for a trip in Jumpspace, and then look up (very slowly) photos of common Nomael clothing -- with so few aliens, he's hoping that he can get away with an outfit that covers his extra appendages and eyes without also sticking out like a sore thumb. He has a feeling that anonymity will be useful.

Maybe something in the Deep Hooded Cloak fashion range?

Looking at the Star Map, he comments once again, "I swear, give me a Jump-3 ship and a base on Mirayn and I would OWN the Free Suns. Why there isn't a fleet stationed there..."

Tangent: Just checked the picture of a Mirayn in Library Data again -- do I have a gorram tail?


As Captain Jenkins leaves for his Not A Date(tm) with Lorrain, Stanley will find Oskar and Neva and suggest, "Perhaps we should leave the rest of ship's duties to our more....law abiding crewmates, and go talk to our friends about Kalamanaru now? Or even just head to the meeting place early and...how do you say it in Basic, smell the wind for weather?"

Ken nodded in response to Lorain's urgings.  "We'll leave tomorrow once we restock and fuel up.  I need to give the crew a bit of time to blow off steam as well as pursue a couple of leads on Kalamanaru here in the starport.  We're tying to keep an eye on him as we don't want to be surprised if he tries to repo our ship or pull another fast one."  He smiles.  "You should publish an update to your father's book.  With the new information on the Sky Raiders you could get a lot of traction and raise the awareness of the Institute."

Duties done, a couple drinks internalized, he heads off to check out antique weapons.    Not sure what he's looking for, so winging it.  Is there any interest in exporting these things ??  Hmmm ...   Any other last minute items, comm him.

Olly spends some time playing one fuel supplier off against the other, looking to shave as much as he can off the bill.

When the departure date is announced, Walker goes looking for Ken.

"Ken, when we're between ports, could you teach me how to use a knife?  I've got this one, but I've never needed to learn to use it on anything smarter than a dead critter or a sapling that needed to be taken down.  I'm guessing that knowing how to use it could come in handy.  At least you don't need to show me how to care for it."

Neva decided that she'd try to see what she could find out anything before they had to leave again.  She looked up the law level restrictions before leaving the ship and took one of the weapons that was allowed.  She made sure that the guys knew she was going off the ship and decided that the first place to see what was happening would be to observe people in a bar.

There was always a bar handy.  After all what kind of starport would it be if they didn't have a bar?  That being decided, she took some money with her (but not all) and set out.

Both Olly's and Neva's information gathering didn't produce a lot of dirt on Kalamanru. He was a respected businessman, although there were rumours that he maintained contacts in Zhodani-allied Hegemony space. Although the crew knew from firsthand experience he was deeply involved in smuggling in and around the neutral World of Mirayn, it seemed the Free Suns government and police had so far declined to launch a public investigation of him or his interests, which all seemed legitimate.

Ken looks up from the computer screen as he tries to make arrangements in the port.  "Sure Thomas, I'd be glad to teach you what I can about knives.  Maybe you could work with me on the rifle basics in return."

While talking to Lorain, Ken asks if she'd heard anything more about Kalamaru.  As well he will suggest that they go out to a club after dinner.

23:03, Today: Ken Jenkins rolled 4 using 2d6. Pumping Lorain for... information.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:06, Thu 26 Sept 2013.

Do I need to roll for this? I assumed I didn't because it seemed like a trivial task.

Stanley takes his Grav Cycle out for a its first actual drive down real streets, possibly with Blake riding along with him.

He heads to the startown of Zlaptop on the outskirts of Zlzenei City (dropping Blake off first if need be), well-reputed to be one of the most cosmopolitan and alien-friendly places on the planet. He finds a biker hangout, and spends his shore leave talking 'cycles and smuggling with a handful of Vilani. He learns little beyond what he already knew: that Kalamanaru is a dangerous man at the heart of much corruption in various neutral worlds (like Mirayn).

Stanley is surprised to learn that Kalamanaru operates on both sides of the Zhodani/Imperial divide, and hopes that this information, at least, will be useful in taking the man down someday and installing a proper government on Mirayn. Though, if he were to be honest, these humans seemed to have strange ideas about what "proper governments" looked like.

From this thought, his conversations with his fellow bikers turned to intergalactic politics, and he passed quite some time with his new fellows gravely criticizing various politicians from the vantage point of their comfortable bar stools.

Back at the ship, he checks his messages one last time before crashing for the night, hoping for some word about the "trading scheme" he had organized.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 125):

"No problem.  Be glad to sit down and spend time on it."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 125):

"I don't know more about Kalamanru than what daddy told me.

"He's doing fine. Went on vacation, I think he earned it. Skiing, I don't think he wants to go anywhere warm for quite a while, if you know what I mean!

"So, with the way things were going with the ship, maybe it's time to settle down? I can get you work here on Alzenei, or in-system."

Ken extends his hand to shake.  "It's a deal then Thomas."

Ken nodded at her response on Kalamanru.  "He's well known but very little is actually known about his operations or history.  We're understandably worried about him attempting to repossess our ship." He smiled. "I'm glad your father has recovered and is doing well.  I have no desire to go back to Miryan and I only spent a few months there."

He considered her offer for a long time.  "I think we take this last mission before thinking about calling it quits Lorain.  I would like nothing more than to be nearby full time but I have a duty to the crew who have committed time and money to the enterprise." He reaches out and takes her hand.  "Maybe just a little longer."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 130):

"Of course! I wouldn't want you to leave your people in the lurch. You did the best you could, all of you, but with the economy the way it is it was just bad timing.

"I don't mind telling you, the finder's fee for this potential Sky Raider artefact will be pretty large. And I don't think any of your crew has blown through their money, so it's not like everyone will be out in the cold."

She decided to get the check. "Let's head back to my place? You got an early start in the morning, so it's your choice."

Ken nodded wryly.  "I'll be honest; my own pride is on the line as well. Most of us still have our own stake intact but no one wants to be a failure."  He considered for a moment.  "The finders fee could keep us going for another few months.  I think the crew will be willing to let me use the money for operations rather than split it up."

He objected to her taking the check but did not make a scene.  Ken rose with her and took her arm.  "Let's go to your place.  I'd like to spend the night with you.  I can sleep in Jump space."

149-1108

In the morning, Ken took the monorail from the Institute to the Starport. The university district was in the suburbs on the far side of Alzenei City, so he passed through the downtown core, then past the Startown of Alztop, the Scout Base and finally disembarking at Alz Atse Down.

This wasn't his first trip, of course, but from the monorail, Ken got another good look at the soaring towers of the capitol city. Massive government buildings were surrounded by parks and green belts, housing was spread out and low key. Lots of bodies of water and green belts, few if any ground roads. This city had been built for and using grav transport and the monorail system for decades if not centuries. Streams of grav vehicles swarmed through the skies.

Everyone else had a quiet night. The startown bars in Alztop yielded few leads for Neva. Although Stanley managed to glean some interesting information about Kalamanaru in his sojourn in the Alztop biker bars, who knew when it would prove useful? At Alz Atse Down, Olly managed to shave a few percent off the rate of fuel, although the Empress Victoria was equipped with fuel scoops and refining machinery, Starport fuel was always better quality and "frontier refuelling" by skimming from a gas giant or body of water always took time and added serious wear to any ship.

Liftoff was scheduled for 0900, flight plan for Nomael. Nomael was a colony world administered from Alzenei. It had a Rich classification but was economically depressed.

Ken had a smile on his face as he rode the monorail.  Things were going nicely with Lorain and if the ship didn't turn out well he could always find a job near her which would not be bad.  Still, it was time to focus on the ship, on their mission and on the eternal struggle to make their way in the universe.  Even if he had a back up Ken was not one to give up.

Reaching the ship he checked in with Ollie.  "How are we set for lift off Ollie?  I'd like to get off on schedule and make all haste for Nomael."
  He would call the rest of the crew together in a few minutes.

OOC: Not that it is a plot point but any luck with passengers, cargo or mail?

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 134):

Conga lines of cargo bots snaked across the tarmac. A shuttle came in for landing, flaring as it slowed for touchdown.

There were a number of cargoes awaiting contract delivery from Alzenei. As well, several passengers were looking for transportation to Nomael. Cargo loading and passenger embarkation could be completed before 0900, although time would be tight.

"My engines are ready, tanks topped off and spares stowed.  Olly's ready when you are."

Ken nodded to Ollie as he stood on the cargo deck.  "If you are going to stay in the engineroom I can double up with Stanley and let us bring aboard another passenger.  We'll leave as soon as cargo and passengers are aboard, say in a couple of hours max.  We'll boost as fast as you can manage to the Jump point."

Blake can always post a hammock somewhere if need be or crash in the airaft -- wouldn't be the first time ...  Or enjoy the jump space scenery from the driver's seat or a turret.  Fortunately, jump ends about the time you start going space crazy ...

Stanley starts his morning with an extra long shower (the only time the humidity ever feels anywhere close to normal for him). Then he gets dressed in what he thinks of as his Security Uniform (his custom vacc suit), including wearing his swords in the on-ship placement that makes it easier to move around on-board. He then stands by the passenger airlock, ready to check any weapons into the ship's locker, and keeping an eye out for potential troublemakers as they board his home.

10:04, Today: Stanley rolled 8 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 4,3. (+ for Int A?) identify troublemakers.

He'd been used to thinking of this procedure as a tired formality that gave him an opportunity to practice discreetly using his computer, but his eyestalks fairly bulged at the stream of people pouring onto the ship. So THIS is why we have been double-bunking all this time! I had imagined those numerous cabins a mere relic of a greater age. He could hear the whine of cargo loaders behind him....making multiple trips, no less!

His tail twitched happily inside vacc-suit as he began to hope that this trip might climb out of the red financial hole that they'd been stuck in.

Blake spends time in the cargo area trying to make sure this "loaded to the gills" run balances out.  A sudden tilt after lift-off is not a good way to start your trip.  Once done, he returns to pre-flighting ...

Ken greets the passengers as they come aboard and then bustles about checking cargo and then looking in on Ollie. "Ready Chief?  We've finally got a full load aboard."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 141):

The 4 high passengers were VIPs of Frontiers Development Inc. travelling from the regional office on Alzenei to Nomael. Frontiers Development was a big economic player in the Far Frontiers sector, especially the Imperial client states. They were currently under contract to administer Nomael for the Free Suns. According to the waybill the cargo was various TLC office and administration equipment and supplies, including furniture and computers. Loading took them right up to the liftoff time of 0900.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 141):

"Engines ready, Engineer ready, that's all you required.  Don't bother checking anyone else, punch it and we leave."

Ken looked around and nodded approvingly.  "You're ok with bunking here in the engine room Olli?  We'll get underway as soon as the last bit of cargo is shifted and stowed."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 144):

Walker comes in and listens to the exchange.

"Where can I hang my hammock, and put my locker?"

Neva comes in and looks at everybody.  "Looks like it's about time for me to go and introduce myself to the passengers.  Where did you say my room was?  After that I'll do a sweep to make sure that they know what is out of bounds and that we have our codes all set up."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 144):

"Best room in house.  Maybe I charge Walker rent for privilege!"

In reply to Thomas Walker (msg # 145):

"Put it where you like, not in way of my engines or controls.  And don't break anything, otherwise hammock not the only thing found hanging in Olly's engine room!"

Ken laughed.  "I'll leave you two to work out the details.  There seems to be plenty of room for both and it frees up another stateroom for passengers."  He turns to Neva.  "Go forward and help Stanley check the passengers in Neva.  We've got a full load this time and I don't want to get a bad rep with FDI. They could be a source of a lot of future business.  Go ahead and do your sweep as we don't want trouble later.  I'm going to look in on the cargo and see that we get off on time."

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 148):

"You got a problem, furball?  I'm asking for guidance, I can't tell important things from unimportant things here.  I've spent most of my life behind the sights of a gun, on distant planets, killing things.  I wouldn't know an engine or a control without a sign to tell me what it was."

Linus hunts up the passengers and enquires about any particular likes or dislikes they have about what they eat.

Neva nodded to Ken and then looked over at Thomas.  "In that case Thomas, while I'm with Stanley looking at the passengers etc, you might want to do a security sweep on the ship.  I'd hate for us to have any surprises once we're in jump."

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 152):

"Yes, Ma'am."

Walker steps out of Engineering wearing his hunting jacket and his knife, but no other weapons.

Ken was about to intervene in the discussion between Olli and Thomas but Neva's comment breaks up the situation.  He looks to Olli and frowns a bit. "Work with Thomas if he wants to bunk back here with you.  You can certainly put him to work with maintenance."

He nods to Neva.  "Let's go forward and get the passengers settled in.  I'm going to get us going."

Olly sorts out a corner for Walker to store his kit, well away from anything he can push, pull or fall into.

Thinks

"Hope Walker is match for Neva, that girl got makings of good engineer.  She does smell funny though"

OOC
Olly speaks in "Blue" and thinks in "Green"

Punch it the man says ...  Blake & Mariel share a pilot's look & glance at the grav controls ...  They do the Tom Selleck raised eyebrows activity followed by the 'I dare you' waving of hands.  Ahhh yes, the days of Scout Service new crew initiation flights ...  Now those were the days ...

We pause this flight for a quick Top Gun carrier fly by with barrel roll.  Followed by a few one liners from Airplane, "Got the vector Victor ??"  And ending with navigations' best flight plan ever, "Second star to the right."

Five minute warning.  All passengers to seats & strap in for lift-off.  Crew to flight stations.  Time to lock the flight deck door & settle in.  With all of these passengers & such, Blake is packing the auto pistol & magazines.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 156):

Upon hearing the launch notice, Walker took a seat in the passenger lounge.

The passengers get settled in. Linus carefully takes order and preferences. These seem like ordinary corporate VIPs. The senior VP, a woman by the name of Ashelar Sheshshazefr, noted the relatively heavy security (and armed merchantman with at least a couple security personnel running around) and seemed to approve.

She said to Linus, "there's been lots of trouble lately with piracy. You folks seem to be well-prepared and professional. Let me give you my card, we might have more work for your crew if things go well."

When the 5-minute warning came through, the passengers strapped in for the trip.

OOC: Blake can post the liftoff and transit to the Jump line if desired.

Usual flight plan then, gentle lift-off followed by the usual process, move to the outbound traffic lane, check with Ollie on the jump engine condition, Woof, woof, barky bark, OK to jump ?? which translates very loosely into the Vagr as "Oh great bushy-tailed one, we are about to call upon your mechanical wizardry during this groat chase to the stars ..."  Well, that's what the all-mighty Google translation program says it means ...  Any responding "Grrr" is followed by Blake's Grrr 8 I am with suitable chest pounding, which does not impress Mariel.

"Thank you, Ma'am," says Linus, taking the card. He checked that everyone was safely seated ready for raise ship, and settled in the galley himself.

Ken finishes a brief greeting of each of the passengers and is sure to mention that he is an former Marine.  He pokes his head in the bridge and gives Blake a quick thumbs up.  "Make her go fast Blake.  She's all yours."  Leaving the passengers in the capable hands of the crew he goes to the galley and straps in.

Neva heard the five minute warning and made it to one of the vacant seats to strap in.  She'd have to finish her meeting the passengers after they settled in.

Liftoff went without any problems. It was a gorgeous day on the fair planet of Alzenei. They left the soaring towers, pedways and green belts of Alzenei City behind.

Following its assigned orbital transfer corridor, the Empress Victoria powered through the various orbital traffic bands outbound to the J-Line. Traffic seemed heavy, some larger commercial vessels and bulk carriers were transiting between the massive factories in the Lagrange points, GSO and Alzenei's moon.

A naval squadron was in-bound to the lunar scout base, which had been upgraded into a naval base. The military forces of the Free Suns was technically a branch of the League Scout Service, which was basically an appendage of the ISS, but with war looming the League Space Forces had become an independent branch with an expanded force. These ships were a mix of indigenous designs and Imperial ships built at the local shipyard under licence, which was unusual for a client state.

Many Zhodani (and Imperial) clients relied on cast-offs and obsolete ships to equip their space and ground forces. This was cheap for the clients who got proved and relatively advanced designs, and a nice revenue stream for the patron state which would otherwise simply mothball or scrap old designs. But old ships were usually worn out by the time they were removed from service and required a serious overhaul if not complete refurbishing to make serviceable again. These tired hulls also required far more maintenance than new ships, which in turn needed a stream of specific spare parts bought from their patrons or manufactured under local licence.

Plus, there were only so many older but still suitable hulls of the right tech level (neither too advanced nor obsolete) to go around for all the clients of a given patron (after all, they weren't making any more). Clients relying on ships from their patrons were often forced to take what they could get, not always what the client thought they needed, and there was a definite pecking order regarding who got what was available. ("You need a cruiser squadron? Well, how about 2 Frigate squadrons and some tankers?") As well, simply importing cheap or free ships did nothing to support or promote a vigorous local shipbuilding capability.

The Free Suns had gone a different route than most Imperial clients. They used only a handful of old ships from the Imperium (mostly Scout ships which were easy to maintain) but instead mainly relied on local designs supplemented by Imperial designs built under licence to local requirement. This way local shipbuilding and design bureaus were kept busy and proficient, the ships were new and little additional logistical support was needed. As well, when an expansion was needed it was far easier to turn up already-working production lines than to completely tool up from scratch.

In any system, the 100-diameter limit was a spherical shell around a gravity source like the main World, the main Asteroid bases, Gas Giants, etc.. A ship could transit anywhere on that boundary but in practice outgoing commercial and private ships used the sector above "polar north" for outgoing Jumps and "polar south" for incoming Jumps to regulate traffic flow. Regulations and coordinates for approved Jump points in a given system were part of the Nav program all ships used, where such regulations and information existed. (Jump points for planets and bodies with anomalous orbits or rotations were usually arbitrarily decided by the local Scout service, if any.) Military ships could (and did) use any part of the J-Line for their Jumps to avoid ambush as they exited Jumpspace, as did merchantmen and civilian craft making Jumps to frontier systems where there was a threat of piracy.

That said, they approached the J-line and all systems were go. The course to Nomael was laid in and the power plant and J-Drive were at nominal function. Passengers were settled and seemed to be engaged in a business meeting in the upper lounge. The scopes showed one Type R merchantman in-bound at the far Jump Point but the signal was faint at this distance and it merged with other system traffic. Alzenei Space Traffic Control confirmed they were go for Jumpspace Transfer.

Prepare for jump.

After the 5 minute warning ...  Scan the boards one last time for anything unusual, which would mean Ollie forgot something ...

Do it Mariel.

Ken glanced at the repeaters for ship course and position as they rode the thrusters into space.  It felt good to be back with a full cargo hold and batch of passengers as well as a mission from Lorain that offered to pay well.  Hopefully this was a sign of a change in fortune as the FDI connection with their passengers could lead to a lot of future work.

Linus was busy playing steward and ensuring that the passengers had everything that they needed for their meeting, including refreshments.

Olly treats Renfield's comment with the contempt it deserves and concentrates on his beloved engines.

Once into jump space & piloting matters are done with, Mariel can take a break while Blake pulls first watch up front.  Another week's passage begins ...

Ken thought through to the cargo they were carrying and the invoices folded in his pocket.  With a single large lot of 30 tons they filled most of the hold.  Then a smaller lot of 10 tons filled out most of the space.  He'd negotiated a deal for a 4 ton and 2 ton lot to give them the full 46 ton capacity.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 168):

Unbuckling herself, Mariel got up.

"Thanks! See you in a bit. Want anything from the galley?"

OOC: I generally play it that only an engineering watch is required, but that this can be covered from the bridge so that shifts can be shared between pilot/copilot and engineer.

In reply to Mariel Migaraa (msg # 170):

Once the seatbelt sign had gone off, Walker got up, and made sure that the customers were settled in their spaces.  Once done with that, he headed off to Engineering to set up his own sleeping space.

OOC:  To Engineering

Once the ship was safely in Jump space Ken relaxed and unbuckled.  He headed back to speak to the passengers again before heading to the galley.

Stanley was taking his Security duties seriously, thinking of the ship in a new way with this load of passengers and a full cargo hold. He hadn't really UNDERSTOOD commerce flights before this trip. He had imagined that the universe consisted of small bright candles of technological might, hoarding their resources and knowledge so that they could keep dominance over the other systems. His law degree and other collegiate experiences had been, he had thought, the wistful daydreams of "Ivory Tower Thinkers," as his favorite professor had been fond of saying.

This trip put it all into a new light. These passengers were employees of an intergalactic corporation, and one that was surprised at a readiness for violence.

Perhaps shipboard combat was a reality as well. Instead of seeing an empty ship filled with daydreamers, he began to consider the tactical implications of the ship's layout. A few days into the trip, he suggests to Ken, "Have you ever thought about running combat drills or training exercises in case of....pirates, or whatever other dangers happen in space?"

In front of the passengers, he keeps up the Simpleminded Alien Savage act unless he sees some sign that it isn't necessary. He has learned by now that it takes extraordinary sophonts to see past the limbs.

 Of course, the fact that he still couldn't bring himself to take off his Vacc Suit while in space wasn't helping. But dammit, the other suits don't FIT him.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 172):

The VIPs were settled into the passenger lounge, trying to make productive use of the time in Jump. They seemed to be veteran travellers, although not necessarily used to what could be considered a tramp freighter. The passengers did seem too like the culinary options and service available.

They had taken a 5th High passenger just before Jump, brought out by high-speed Pinnace which easily caught up and matched courses with the Type A2 Far Trader as it was deccelerating on approach to the J-Line. There was just enough time to get them situated in before Jump. This wasn't an extremely uncommon situation but hardly routine. Now they were in Jump, the new passenger (a young man) made himself comfortable.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:28, Thu 10 Oct 2013.

Linus made the newcomer welcome and got him settled in, inquiring about his likes and dislikes.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 175):

Neva, not happy to have a last minute passenger added to the list, frowned a bit when the transfer was made.  She inspected his papers and stuff and finally showed him to his room and then went around to all the other passengers to make sure they survived the jump fine and didn't need assistance.  It was also a good opportunity to make sure they were all were they were supposed to be.

156-1108

A week later, the starship emerged from Jump into the Nomael/Jungleblut system, no worse for wear. The passengers were reasonably satisfied, if bored. Nomael (C767886-8) was a rich blur-green World with an economy that didn't yet support indigenous interstellar travel. The high port was little more than a minimal work shack, but there was a small starport (Nomael Down) outside the major city of Varnov's Landing. Nomael Down was where the passengers were going and the cargo needed to be offloaded.

In reply to GM (msg # 177):

Being one of the ship's gunners (Mariel being the other, with Blake filling in in a pinch), Jaxxon was manning one of the beam laser/sandcaster turrets. As there was no threat, the turret weapons were on standby.

"Turret #1 manned and at nominal standby function. Safety interlocks on, weapons not hot."

Any comm traffic ??  Nearby ships ??

Ken replied to Stanley.  "We should be rigorous about running drills.  With piracy and commerce raiding rampant it can't help to be vigilant.  Let's just avoid upsetting the passengers too much."

OOC: I assume that Ken being professional military would have drilled fairly hard during the last few months.

When the enter the system Ken is standing at the entrance to the bridge watching over the shoulders of the pilots.  "Anything hazardous on the screens?  Let traffic control know we are here and let's get a shortest time course laid in to land."

He acknowledges Jaxxon.  "Stand by the turret until we are sure everything is clear Jaxxon."

In short order, the Radar scope showed no nearby or approaching traffic. Traffic control used a standard automated IFF type to keep track of vessels. It reported there was an armed civilian merchantman and a Free Suns navy Corvette in orbit around Nomael.

Blake relaxes after hearing what ships are present.  It's the unknown ones that bother him.  Both of them will start gentle course corrections as needed.  With an automated system, I assume every hour or so they will need to make adjustments as they fine-tune the approach process. Both will keep an eye on those two known ships - any radio chatter from them ??

Mariel can send the planetary images to the turret, crew pocket computers & lounge for all to see.

I assume the ship has 360 degree spherical radar coverage ??  Otherwise some fancy maneuvers will be need to randomly sweep the region.  Some radars may only sweep a certain direction ...

Blake will hail the local ships when 30 light minutes out, assuming nothing else appears.  Free Suns are on our side ??

Linus ensured that information about the destination was available in the lounge for the passengers, and provided drinks and snacks for them.

"Does anyone require assistance packing?" he asked.

Seeing that things were clear Ken relaxed.  Still, the most dangerous place in any system was right at the 100D point and he had no desire to be snatched by a sudden raider.  "Keep an alert for the next half hour or so Jaxxon.  Things look safe but it's better to be ready."  He turned to Blake.  "Go ahead and bring us in if you would Blake."

He heads back to the lounge and nods to Linus. "We look to be clear to land Linus.  If you and Neva can get the passengers settled I want to make a few calls on the cargo and possible lots back to Alzenei."

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 182):

Nomael was 7000 miles/11000km in diameter, so the incoming 100-diameter Jump point was 1.1 million km out-roughly three and a half light seconds from the planet.

Coded transponder signals identified the ships as the merchantman Kazarian, registered out of the Descarothe Hegemony and the League of Suns (aka "Free Suns") corvette LSS Chariynn. As the Free Suns (aka "League of Suns") was the local Imperial client and most powerful state in the subsector, they were friendlies. Technically, although the Descarothe Hegemony was antagonistic towards the Free Suns they were not at war. A Hegemony merchantman might not be there to trade, but could at least still refuel.

The Free Suns Corvette answered the hailing signal, the Hegemony merchantman did not.

The ship's radar coverage was spherical so no special manoeuvres were required to scan the nearby volume of space. The IFF/radar transponder was linked directly into the radar display, so as long as the ship's IFF system picked up the other vessel's squawks (automatic hailing signals) the data (course, direction, delta vee, distance and ID/name) would be fed automatically on to the radar's display screen. If the IFF transponder was disabled, then they could still rely on radar, but the 2-way coded signals provided much additional information.

Fortunately, in-course correction was rare, the ship's manoeuvre program served as an autopilot. Barring some kind of emergency, piloting would be a simple matter in Nomael's relatively empty space. Additional scanning revealed some kind of small craft (roughly pinnace sized) on approach to one of the inner planets.

How big is the merchantship ??  A pinnace ?? From the corvette ??

Ken calls ahead to the port to make arrangements for the cargo to be offloaded as well as to warn customs of their passengers.  He also made contact with the various brokerages to scare up cargo.

Walking back he shook his head. "Blake, I'm a little worried about the merchant.  Do you think there is any coincidence that Kalamaru is tied in closely with the Descarothe Hegemony and the relic in the bar?"

The ID transponder for the pinnace identified it as a local charter ship. As the local TL was 8 the local datanet would take some effort to access. It didn't appear to be attached (assigned) to the Corvette. The merchantman was a 400 ton Zhodani civilian design, berthed at the high port (a simple fueling and cargo offloading station) in GSO above the down port.

Nomail Down signalled they were ready to offload cargo and passengers upon landing. The ship passed by the high port, through the orbit of the two small asteroid moons. It was difficult to say if there were any installations or settlements at this diatance. The beautiful blue-green planet itself was young, featuring dramatically tall mountain ranges and several continents. It was also a little cool, so most settlement was on the equator.

The planet had a full GPS and space navigation system, so they were given a guide path down into the Earthlike atmosphere to Nomael Down.

As they neared their reentry point, Mariel checked the scopes. She then had a sip of tea.

"Our approach is looking good. Too bad we can't tell if someone's locking on to us or scanning us, what I wouldn't give for a Navy or Scout sensor suite.

"Should I take 'er down? Time to get paid!"

Interstellar travel was by wormhole through Jumpspace as calculated by the Navigation program in the computer, and in-system was mostly on autopilot as directed by the Manoeuvre program. Where pilots were really needed was during takeoff and reentry.

Ken glanced about at the sensors and the view through the large set of windowscreens in the bridge.  "Go ahead and bring her in Mariel.  We're on a short leash."

Relaxing in the turret gunnery station, Jaxxon had a coffee and tried to keep alert.

"Standing by."

"Roger. Course is laid in. Taking 'er down. Everyone strap in."

She punched a few keys, then checked the course. "Lookin' good. Commencing orbital reentry in three, two, one, mark."

Nomael Down was on the nightside, so they crossed the terminator into the blackness of planetary night. Lightning flashed over a massive storm in the southern hemisphere, a few pricks of light marking the major cities were visible.

Along the horizon above the night side and below space was a narrow glowing band, following the curve of the planet. This was the "ariglow", a faint luminescence glow from the atmosphere seen side-on. Soon, the forward head-shields were glowing and the ship was buffeted a little as they commenced atmospheric insertion.

The Empress Victoria came in for a landing at Nomael Down. Off to the side were runways for the jet aircraft which were the main transportation on the planet, although grav vehicles were beginning to take over. Traffic control indicated there was a jetliner taking off so they were put into a holding pattern, orbiting at 10km out.

Blake make a mental note to check on pinnace rentals later ...  If we pass within visual range of the merchie, max the sensors out for a look/see.  Otherwise a local weather forecast & a night landing.  Make a call for some taxi service for the passengers as well ??

Ken went back to strap in as they commenced entry into the atmosphere.  Once they were down in clear air he moved forward to the bridge again.  "We'll want to head right over to the bar and check out the artifact from the bar tender.  The cargo can be offloaded tomorrow.  The only thing we need to worry about tonight is getting the passengers off if they want and getting to the bar as long as it's not too late in local time."

The Vic' was not a military or Scout vessel, so she had the standard active sensors (Radar and Lidar for navigation, detection and ranging) but no advanced military/Scout sensors like Neutrino detector (nuclear/fusion detection) or Densitometer (mass detector). However, as a former smuggler, she had upgrades to her passive sensors that allowed detection of incoming Laser (communication and high-energy pulse/beams) and Radar (search and targeting) signals (Radar Warning Receiver and Laser Warning Receiver) and they could always monitor voice and data radio comms. Passive sensors also included IR/Thermal imaging, and a powerful optical/digital telescope as a backup navigational aid. They could also alter their "Black Box" IFF transponder to alter their ship ID and registry details, which was very illegal.

The information they could gain on the Hegemony-flagged merchantman via their own sensors was somewhat limited. After all, Radar and Lidar could only tell range. They weren't transmitting high-powered radio signals, although they probably had a short-range radio voice comms link to the High Port's admin section as well as wireless data comm. (The High Port was Free Suns-funded and maintained at TL 12 so the data comm linkup would be high-bandwith, but the planet below had a local TL of 8 (1990s Earth) so local data comm would be primitive and low-bandwidth.)

Looking at the visual display from the telescope, the Kazarian seemed to be taking on fuel from the High Port, not unusual for a system that lacked gas giants. Although her streamlining would also allow for ocean refuelling on the planet below such a variance on standard fuelling procedures would hardly be allowed or go unnoticed by the local Free Suns traffic administration.

Thermal indicated the vessel was at low heat activity, likely the power plant was on standby. When the telescope and when it was focused on the ship revealed a streamlined lift-body design with dark markings in both Zhodani and Anglic script, indicating this ship operated deep in the Far Frontiers sector where the Imperial language of Earth Solomani-descended Anglic was more common.

However, the High Port and the Hegemony merchantman was far behind them now in a GSO. As they orbited (that is, circled at 10km out) the Down port in a holding pattern, ATC advised Blake there were taxis and a limousine service available at the airport, even at this late hour (around midnight local). Licencing for ground vehicles (including the air/raft and grav bike) was included in the starport's berthing fee, as desired. Local traffic regulations were uploaded for reference.

GM Note: the preceding should give everyone an idea of your available sensors, they have been upgraded to somewhere between an armed merchantman and military/Scout vessel but sensors in Traveller are not usually extraordinary. Doing some reading, I have also decided you can detect incoming Radar and Laser signals plus have IR/Thermal (etc.) capability, which is not typical for most civilian ships, but not unreasonable for an armed merchantman operating on the frontier.

I will post links to Traveller TLs, that should give an idea of the "common" world TLs. It should be kept in mind that there will usually be areas of lower and higher TLs. Outlying or neglected/devestated regions might be one or more TLs lower, while government services and installations, especially with regard to ports and space traffic control, would be higher than the common TL, if not at the level of the local interstellar government (the Free Suns is TL 12). Megacorporations and other offworld concerns would also usually be at a higher average TL.

The night's forecast was for cloudy with periods of rain. Temperatures in the low teens.

They taxied (using anti-grav) to their assigned berth. Below, service vehicles approached to hook them up for fueling and power, waste management, etc. A retractable gangway began telescoping out from the jetway. Inside the ship, the passengers prepared to disembark from what had been a pretty decent trip.

Various calls came in over the starport channel. Customs wanted to come aboard for their inspection, baggage handlers down below needed access to the cargo lock in order to unload passenger luggage.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:42, Wed 16 Oct 2013.

Blake deals with the port paperwork for an unknown stay, along with vessel shutdown procedures.  Then it's another round of inspectors & cargo handlers ...

He will do a morning visual ship inspection, by sunlight.  Find out what Ollie wants to tinker with, service, tighten, loosen, etc, etc.

Ken turns to Blake. "Let's get her fueled right away.  I want to be ready just in case.  We're going to head over to the bar immediately if it is still open.  You can stay with teh ship or come with us if you'd like."

He heads aft, catching up to each of the crew one by one.  "We'll get the passengers off and the customs complete and then head to the bar.  The cargo can wait until tomorrow."  Ken then thanked each of the passengers before he headed down to deal with the customs inspectors while Linus and the others dealt with the baggage handlers and passengers.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 198):

All the passengers seemed tired but happy with the trip and service. Ken was given a card and comm code for the local Frontiers Development office.

When the Customs inspectors were done, it was well past midnight, 0400. Dawn was in a couple hours. Routine Jump drive maintenance would typically take about 18 hours.

The bar, "Traveller's End", was not in the city of Varnov's Landing or the startown next to Nomael Down. Instead, it was in a town (Urssolvograd) up in the mountains about 300 km away.

The regulations for air/rafts was no flying (above 1m) within city limits, all traffic laws to be obeyed as ground vehicles. The boundaries were programmed into the World's GPS, which was League funded and supported.

It was late and Ken sighed as the unloading and paperwork took longer than he thought.  It was just as well that the place was 300 km away.  They could travel to the city in the morning after they had a bit of sleep.  He arranged for a 0800 wake up and the rental of an air raft if it could be set up.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 200):

Mariel yawned. "We have an air/raft already. Licencing is part of the berthing fee. As well, Stanley's got his grav bike."

Looking at the planetary business directory, which was available online but in a primitive form, he realised that only ground vehicles were for rent. While local industry could in theory support the manufacture and maintenance of air/rafts, actual civilian anti-grav vehicles were actually rare, so that none were available for hire.

Baja dune buggies ...  ran thru his dreams ...

Ken nodded to Muriel.  "A local model would be best but it doesn't seem you can get them for love or money.  Best to just take ours then as time is important."

You're all quite familiar by now with Stanley's belief that the Descarothe Hegemony are a bunch of nasty blighters who are way too close to Alzenei (the capital of the Free Suns). Clearly, he says, what the Free Suns needs to do is move their capital to Mirayn, and reinforce Winder, thereby keeping the capital well insulated from warmongering empires like the Descarothe. The fact that Mirayn is his homeworld and not actually a part of the Free Suns is....a minor trifling detail that provides no bias to his opinions on the subject. Absolutely none.



"Hmmm," mused Stanley. "Potential business opportunity or three there."

Having spent the trip feeling not merely the usual level of superflous, Stanley had spent the trip learning every nut and bolt of his grav bike, reading and reading the owner's manual, and practicing sword drills in the hallways so that he would be use to fighting in the cramped confines.

Although the financial pressures the crew had been facing these past months were vented by this trip, Stanley only felt more keenly aware of his need to provide value to his ship and his crewmates. On Mirayn, his family connections and familiarity with the world had been worth paying for. These last months, he often felt like his primary value to the universe beyond his tiny home was as a mere curiosity. The urge to prove himself was growing stronger with each passing month -- especially since he had received no word about his little side-venture, and whether it had slipped past Mirayn Customs safely.

157-1108

0800 rolled around. It was a cool day, the forecast was for cloudy periods, with fog in the lowlands.

The post-Jump drive maintenance would normally take 16 hours to complete.

Ken will joust with Stanley by offering up that the League should crush the Hegemony outright rather than pussyfooting around.

He gathered the crew together.  "Who wants to head with me to the bar?  I'd like a bit of back-up if possible."

Sure, once the morning tasks are done.

"Ah, but do they have the strength to do so? No, I misspeak. It is not the strength that the Free Suns lacks. It is the skill. The navy of the Free Suns does not have the discipline or experience that the Descarothe have, and your Imperial naval habits do not instill the same traditions of excellence that the Zhodhani do. Certainly, they could quickly grasp all but Desaaekhe itself in a single push, but could they keep it? Against a Zhodhani client state?"


(Stanley probably has above-average knowledge of the Junglebut political sector, but I'm not sure what that would look like."



Stanley nods. "I assumed I was going, on my bike. I could take one other with me. Who shall take the Air/Raft? We will need it if we acquire the object. <pause> You know, we should name the Air/Raft and my 'Cycle. Why should Empress Victoria  have a name, but these other mechanical steeds do not? Perhaps we should name them after members of Victoria's retinue?"

In reply to Stanley (msg # 209):

Looking up from his breakfast, Jaxxon offered, "I can stay here and mind the ship with Mariel."

In reply to Jaxxon Zalvedes (msg # 210):

"Not a problem." She looked over at Jaxxon and smiled.

Blake can go with either vehicle, both are windy & speedy.  As for names, hmmm, maybe some computer research with Stanley ...  He takes time to orient the inertial locators, checks out the area geography & packs for small battle.

"I'll come to the bar if you like, Ken," said Linus. "Familiar territory, if you know what I mean."

Olly begins the maintenance routine.  At 16 hours tha'ts 2 - 3 days give or take.

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 214):

"So what am I supposed to do to help you?"

Ken shakes his head. "I don't know about the naval side of things but our army and marines are the equal of any polity around here.  The Hegemony has only a handful of backward worlds and could be crushed quickly.  It's probably pressure from the surrounding enemies that keeps us from ending the threat out of hand."  He frowns.  "Leaving these kind of things to fester always results in more trouble later."

As the trip shapes up Ken checks the maps and local regulations.  "Bring the bike Stanley.  Linus or Blake can ride with you certainly.  As for names, I don't have a thought either way.  In the Marines the tank crews named their vehicles."

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 214):

In her effort to learn about the ship, Neva decided to stay on board and help Ollie do some of the maintenance...even if he has her do all the yucky parts.

Stanley pours himself another cup of tea, the dance of honey sticks and serving pots a mesmerizing dance in his many hands. "The Zhodani would object, and they have more stars than we have ships. Our politicians are too reactive, and our systems remember their roots as rebellions. It would take a charismatic leader indeed to turn us expansionist."



Stanley had packed the 'Cycle's small cargo box with carefully considered selections from the ship's stores during the trip. Now he displayed equal deliberation in re-checking the materials, noting his choices on the ship's systems. Then he pulled out his paper manuals and connected his hand-comp and HUD to the 'Cycle's comm gear and other systems, with the painstaking deliberation of someone following arcane rites he understands not at all.

During the trip to their destination, he muses over names for both vehicles aloud over the comms. "The Air/Raft should perhaps be named for one of Empress Victoria's warriors? The 'Cycle is too small a craft to be named after an individual. Perhaps I shall call it the Arrowdrac. What do you think of this name?" It is not entirely clear who he is talking to, or if he is just talking to keep his nerves calms during his first time behind the wheel.

Ken nods in agreement this time to Stanley.  "Oh, I don't think we should be expansionist.  Our size is about right and expansion is fraught with peril.  No... I think we should squash an enemy before he can attack us."

They finished up breakfast at 0900.

There was still lots of work to do on ship, a couple days by Ollie's reckoning. It sounded like he'd have help in that regard, with Thomas and Neva offering to assist.

Those who were going to search for the artefact were free to do so now or wait until later.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 219):

"So skipper, you want me to come with you or stay on the ship? I can't do much to help here."

Ken nodded to Jaxxon. "You're a good hand in a fight.  Come along with us Jaxxon." He called over to the crew.  "Let's go then all who are headed to the bar and the artifact." Ken went down to the cargo bay and climbed aboard the air raft.  He has his cloth armor under his ship suit and has a blade with a pistol concealed in the air raft.

Stanley scoffs. "So we squash them and then what? Shall we begin erecting puppet dictatorships atop our rotting battlefields, or leave the planets to fend for themselves once we deprive them of basic infrastructure? We are the League of Free Suns. We need to look like we are liberating planets from tyrants.

"Now, you want to talk expansionism, now would be a good time to look at the systems Trailing from Price. All those individual star nations, sandwiched between Imperial and Zhodhani interests, without a fleet of their own. These rumors of war really prime the pump for diplomatic overtures. Especially with a fleet like ours."

---

Arrowdrac can roughly triple the speed of the Air/Raft when both are max'd out, making Stanley an excellent escort.

Ken shrugs again.  "If we move to crush an enemy then we have a responsibility to see that they are set back on the path of freedom and prosperity.  Certainly we would not make things worse." He frowns. "It's always a difficult proposition when one goes to war."  Ken considers Stanley's suggestion about the other planets.  "I'd guess that those planets either want to remain independent or political maneuverings keep them as a neutral zone.  But certainly the protection of League membership could save them much bloodshed."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 224):

Deciding to add to the political debate, Mariel said, "pretty much all of the Jungleblut subsector used to be part of the Dominion of Alntzer, a Zhodani client state, until 300 years ago. Then, the majority of Worlds broke away during a civil war. The Worlds with majority Vlazghumecta population became independent, the Solomani and Vilani settled worlds banded together to form the Free Suns. Desaekhe conquered its neighbors to form the Hegemony while the rest stay non-alinged.

"And I think Stanley was dragging on the Free Suns Navy? Well, I hate to say there's some truth to that, the fleet arm was under the Free Suns Scout service until recently meaning there's a lack of tradition, history and experience there. But we've had Imperial help, and unlike the Zhodani clients we're not flying whatever crap our patron wants to give or sell us, e build our own ships. And no one has accused the Scouts of being bad star sailors so its not like we're novices to space."

Are we waiting on anything to move to the bar? Or at least the flight over? I'm guessing we're still waiting for other players to chime in their preferences on whether they're coming to the bar?


Stanley offers Mariel a cup of tea as she joins the conversation. "I'm not actually aware of any reason for us to dislike the Hegemony, mind you. I just don't like our capital being so close to that border. We have a nearly circular empire. The capital, and the home fleet, would be most advantageously positioned at its center.

"I find it curious that Imperial also uses this dragging idiom. Tell me, what animal is assumed to be doing this dragging in your culture? Also, please to be noting that it is not League star-sailing which I have dragged through the Syanniltuk Procreative Fluid, for it is as the young lady says. But while a tribe may send its hunters to prey on small game each on their own, it is only when the tribe learns to act in concert that it may defend itself from the arrowdracs. Ha! I tell you, Mariel, if we could but sit the Descarothe Hegemons at the same bar as friend-Jenkins here, we would not need to invade. They would simply surrender!"

Stanley seems very pleased at his joke, the punch line of which he has ruined by laughing at his own brilliance.

In reply to Stanley (msg # 226):

She sipped her own tea.

"I don't know where the term "dragging" came from. It's lost in the mists of history, from the pre-Anglic language known as "English". The Hegemony looks for external enemies, and due to their ties to the Consulate has always seen us as a threat. That's bad enough, but now we suspect they're sending privateers and corsairs into our territory. They are expansionist, and invaded their closest neighbours only back in 1103.

Since 1105 there's been a detente between the Hegemony and the League, but it's a little frayed. There's been some kind of treaty about the border world of Qarant, allowing both the Hegemony and League access, but like all worlds in the Hegemony's sphere it's not very safe at all.

"Their navy is of better quality than their army, we have a lot of respect for it. But their ships are 3rd hand, bought from the Domain of Alintzar (a Zhodani client and the former power in the subsector). I'd still give the edge to the Free Suns due to newer ships and better Imperial training and doctrine."

OOC: I don't think we're waiting for anyone, I just felt like doling out some information on local subsector politics. If you want to take off at 0900 then let's get it on!
This message was last edited by the player at 10:26, Fri 25 Oct 2013.

Blake has air raft 0, so he can drive that.  He stuffs his duffel with the carbine, magazines, belt, canteens - filled, Zippo lighter, survival knife, 1st aid pouch, compass, flashlight, dagger, 1 roll duct tape, inertial locator & pack.  Also lunches, he can help Linus prepare them.  Oh yeah, better take some cash along too ...  Souvenir $$

Linus comes down with a big basket of food.

Jaxxon arrived at the Air/Raft in a parka, sweater and boots over his ship suit. He was carrying one of the shotguns from the ship's armoury.

"Guys, according to the weather report it's going to be cold up there. Below freezing. Also, remember, anything other than shotguns are illegal on this world."

He loaded up the A/R with his gear.

Ken chuckled and nodded in turn at the political discussion.  He'd made his point but in these kind of talks with friends one was never truly done.  And he had too much respect for Stanley's intelligence and alien perspective to not stay heavily involved.  But now it was time for work.

"Ok, 0900, let's go everyone. Blake you drive the raft, Stanley you take your bike.  Everyone bring warm clothing and if you have pistols keep them hidden.  I don't want trouble if we can avoid it."  He headed down to the raft with his gear and climbed aboard.

OOC: We're off!!

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 231):

Stanley's bow, arrows, and and swords are all nicely legal here. He wears several layers and a cloak which will hide his extra limbs. He doesn't wear the cloak on the 'cycle. He'll put it on after they get there.

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 231):

At 0900, the fog still hadn't lifted but a cold wind was blowing. Tattered mists scudded across the tarmac and wooded lowlands where Varnov's Landing was located.

Jaxxon helped erect the grav bike's aeroshell and the air/raft's collapsible soft top.

From the ship, Mariel performed radio checks to make sure their comms were working.

"Are you taking the backpack radio set? Otherwise, you'll have to use landline communications. Also, be aware the regulations for grav vehicles restricts them to ground use in city limits."

In reply to Mariel Migaraa (msg # 234):

"I just have the system that is installed in Arrowdrac," replied Stanley, blithely referring to the TL 12 Continental-Range Comm Unit on the military-surplus vehicle which possibly cost more than his entire race earned the previous year. "I'm pretty sure my hand-comp can connect to the comm gear, though. Olliver showed me how to...no, wait, that's my email program....hold on, I know it's here somewhere..."

Note that Stanley is wearing a Solmani helmet which uses his HUD visor to screen two of his eyes, and has some LI/IR googles on his other eyes (more for protection than utility in this case). This, plus the rather utilitarian cut of his custom cloth armor, and some extra-extra wide combat boots to cover his webbed feet, AND the two swords, bow, and quiver full of arrows holstered make for....a very particular image. It is possible that Mirayns think this qualifies as "cool." Other sophonts would probably not use that adjective.

In reply to Stanley (msg # 235):

After a moment, they established comms. "Roger. I'm reading you Five-by-Five." The Arrowdrac's comm set had full encryption and frequency-hopping making its signals hard to locate or intercept for less sophisticated geawr, but the ship's comms array was typical merchantman gear and did not have a corresponding capability.

"Ha! Arrowdrac, right! I like it. Did we name the Air/Raft yet? I'm not familiar with Empress Victoria, apparently she was a ruler of the Anglish Empire on pre-starflight Terra. We Imperials speak Anglic or Galanglic as it's called now, and this language is a distant descendant from that old Empire's tongue.

"Not that this matters a the moment. Remember, guys, the local law level prohibits anything other than shotguns and "primitive" weapons!"

GM Note: Is Stanley going to deploy the Arrowdrac's aeroshell to improve high-speed manoeuvre and avoid freezing?

Ken nodded to Mariel.  "We'll use the set on the Arrowdrac to keep in communications.  I'd rather not rely on land lines if we can."  He patted the hood of the air raft.  "How about 'Herbie'?  It's a clever, tough ground car from Terran legend."  He climbed into the front passenger's seat.  "Shotgun..."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 237):

Jaxxon pointed at his bag. "Shotgun? One in there."


GM Note: unless you specifically state you are carrying a firearm, I will assume you are not taking it.

Dressed in her new maintenance uniform, Neva reported to Ollie to see what he wanted done.  It didn't take him long to find something for her to do and she listened carefully to how he explained how to do it.  She knew that listening to him and hands on practice were the way to REALLY learn something knew and she appreciated him giving her a chance to learn the trade.  She even didn't mind, most of the time, his side comments about her abilities how scents.

Linus is not carrying a firearm, just a box of food, as he climbs in the back of the air/raft.

Blake will pick up some local cold weather clothing, first thing in the morning.  A brisk morning, nothing like a stiff breeze to get the blood going, especially a week's being cooped up in a metal air tank.  Yeah, love to fly 'em & then a bit of real air too.

Ken is bringing a blade and a pistol he'll keep concealed in the raft.  As well he'll wear cold weather clothing and his cloth armor.  A hand comm to keep in contact with the rest of the team will round out the equipment.  He'll ask the others to carry comms to talk to one another.

As the crew worked on the ship, the Air/Raft and Arrowdrac exited the locks and alit on the tarmac. The aeroshell on Arrowdrac and the cover on the Air/Raft kept out the worst of the cool weather, and the heaters helped.

Looking at his watch, Jaxxon asked, "are we there yet? Because I think we should start moving at some point. Remember the traffic regulations."

Ken looked down at the map.  "We should be within the city limits by now.  Let's switch to land mode and go find the bar."

OOC: I assumed we had taken off to head to the other city.

In reply to Mariel Migaraa (msg # 236):

He would go by the book.

Bound you describe the shell more? How long does it take to put on and take of? Does it door in the cargo space?

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 245):

The grav vehicles lifted up above the fog layer. The town was in the mountains to the north of the Starport, and they headed in their direction.

Up higher, the fog turned to snow clouds. The mining town of Urssolvograd was in a narrow valley between massive snow-covered peaks. There was a 2-3cm blanket of snow everywhere, and the road was recently plowed. They dropped down to the main highway on the outskirts of town. Large structures, likely mining-related, climbed partway up the flanks of the nearby mountains.

It was clear this community had had better days. Many businesses were empty with boarded up windows and locked doors, houses lay abandoned and falling apart. "The Traveller's Rest" was a small pub just below ground in a 4-story building, reached by going down a short flight of stairs. The surrounding buildings were brick or concrete.

Although the street had been plowed since it last snowed, there were few footprints and no vehicles parked alongside. The windows of the store fronts and businesses in the surrounding buildings were all boarded up or empty. There was a feeling of desolation. Once, this town had several thousand people; some had obviously not left but it seemed few remained.

As they flew at "car" height down the quiet snow-covered streets a light snow was falling.


GM: regarding player actions, I take nothing for granted!

As for the aeroshell, I talked this over with the artist who designed the Scout Bike for the Grand Census book. It would be clear and collapsible memory plastic to keep the correct aerodynamic shape. It probably wouldn't cover the rear cargo bin, so that would not be accessible while the shell is deployed. It would take 30 seconds to fully deploy or fold up, but only a few to pull back far enough to mount or dismount (carefully).
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:03, Wed 06 Nov 2013.

Something about this place gives me a right bad feeling ...  Leftovers & now left-outs.  The real life on the frontier.

Ken turned the heater in the raft up as the snow settled down around them.  "I don't like it either.  Let's get in and out of here fast.  Take us to the bar and we'll see if we can't get the artifact."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:20, Wed 06 Nov 2013.

It's pretty clear there's no one at the bar; there are no vehicles parked in front of the building except one that is covered in centimetres of snow, and no footprints do down the stairs. For another, it's maybe 1130, a little early for the bar to open.

Ken shrugged and walked down the stairs to check out the bar just in case it was open or there were workers there early.  "If it's closed let's go get lunch and come back in a bit."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 251):

Going down the stairs, Ken could see he was the first person to go down that day as the snow was unmarked. It had drifted to a depth of 20-25cm on the steps and more at the bottom. There were a couple of plastic crates filled with empty glass liquor bottles at the bottom landing, haphazardly left beside the door.

A sign on the door proclaimed "CLOSED". Another in the barred window beside the door said the premises were "PREMISES FOR LEASE" and included contact information for what was probably a real estate company.

Ken frowned but jotted down the information on the notice.  He returned to his companions.  "The place is closed and for lease.  I have a real estate company number we can call and maybe get a bit of information.  We need to find our man though and get the artifact.  We'll have to hunt him down to another bar or where he lives."

"Is the artifact there? Let us obtain it now and retrieve permission later." says a shivering Stanley, over the comm. "I can keep watch, or attempt the lock. But I would be poorly versed in any alarms not used on Mirayn...."

They were getting no reception bars in the mountains on their hand phones. The towering peaks around them also blocked radio signals to the ship.

GM Note: Can the Arrowdrac's radio reach orbit?

Blake has JoT & Mechanical, so he takes a look-see at the doorway, windows, etc.  Anyway to look inside ??  How about the ground level walls, doors, etc ??  If dark inside, he tries the tac lite.

Range of 5000 km -- certainly exceeds most atmospheres, but not geo-stationary orbit.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 256):

As the tavern was in the basement of what appeared to be an old crumbling brick 5-story hotel of dubious quality, it was 2m below street level. There was a single window beside the door. Iron bars covered the window, the door was solid wood reinforced with metal and a solid lock. There was a small window in the door, covered with a metal mesh. Both windows were papered over from the inside. Very much a (former) blue collar establishment.

Arrowdrac's radio set scanned the available frequencies. On the VHF bands they were able to pick up some commercial stations from some distance away, they could also reach the ship on VHF AM and Digital but reception was poor because of the surrounding mountains. The set was unable to pick up anything on the UHF bands except for some civilian traffic, likely private radios in vehicles (CB radio).

How about the ground & 2nd floors ??

To Linus's experienced eye (remember, he's been running a bar for a while) does it look like the place is in use just closed 'cos it's early, or has it been shut for a while?

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 260):

Linus' experienced eye picked out the "FOR LEASE" sign. As well, it looked like a number of papers and flyers had collected at the bottom of the stairs in front of the door although it was hard to tell under the snow. He guessed the bar was closed for good, and had been for several months at least.

Looking at the ground floor, he could see some long flat windows behind metal mesh grating. From inside, these would be at about head height. The building above the "Traveller's Rest" tavern was formerly a small hotel. It looked like there was an entrance down the block: four wide steps up to an alcove under an awning with several cm of snow on it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:48, Sat 09 Nov 2013.

Ken shook his head. "Let's go and see if the hotel up above has anyone inside that can tell us what happened here and where we can find our man."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 262):

The hotel's main entrance (if it could be called that) was locked and boarded up.

"Looks to me like the bar has gone out of business. The same may be true for the hotel above. We either find the realtor and pose as possible clients or, um, break in," said Linus.

"So can the rest of the team communicate with me over the comm or do I have to be physically present? I'd prefer to be touring the backside of the building while we chat."


GM Note: My apologies, I altered this post for clarity because this seemed to be an in-character request. Otherwise, posts that have no IC content will likely be removed from the IC thread and moved to the OOC thread as appropriate, and OOC notes appended to IC posts should be in Orange for the sake of clarity.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:50, Wed 13 Nov 2013.

"Stanley, just monitor our comm channel.  We can keep you appraised of whatever is happening.  Just don't go too far or get in trouble."  Ken considered the situation.  "The damn hotel looks out of business as well.  Let's contact the real estate agent first and see if we can get them to let us in for a tour of the place.  As well let's ask around about the guy with the artifact."

Hmmm, this entire place is deserted, whether the mother load ran out or for the oncoming cold season.  We might want to also ask about business prospects out here too.  Worst case, we could use the ship to transport stuff back & forth as a living as well, no pirates to speak of down here ...  We could do a sensor scan of the area, otherwise our inquiry could raise unwanted questions.

Linus notes down the details from the 'To Let' sign.

"Do you want me to go see the letting agent, pose as a prospective purchaser?" he said. "After all, I've done this for real in the past."

The light snowfall continued. The air was cold, once Stanley pulled back the aeroshell hood the heat escaped rapidly and he shivered.

Back on the ship, maintenance proceeded. Ollie made good time, and made a point of showing his two "shadows", Neva and Thomas, the ropes.

Tony

Ken nodded in agreement to Linus.  "Go ahead and contact the agent Linus.  See what you can get in regards to what happened and where that bar tender might be under cover of looking to rent the place.  Let's find a diner or something that will be open this early and find out what we can as well.  I do think it's worth looking for cargo.  This side job for Lorain is a one off type treasure."

He climbs back up to street level. "Did you see anything around when we came into town Blake?"

No, but lets take another tour while departing ...

They had seen a liquid fuel and recharge station on the road into town. There was a diner there, and several large semi trucks were parked outside. These establishments typically had pay telephones, if they weren't made completely obsolete by handheld telecommunications devices.

Ken thinks back.  "Let's head to the diner while Linus is contacting the agent.  I don't intend on leaving here until we've tracked down the artifact.  It's likely at the diner someone will know about our man."  He walked back to the raft and called Stanley.

[Comm]

"Stanley, we are headed to the diner at the refueling station at the edge of town.  We're going to try and contact the real estate agent and look for information on the man with the artifact."

Linus figures out his directions and heads off for the letting agent.

Stanley took a quick spin around to the back alley. The snow wasn't cleared and had drifted a little higher but that was of no consequence to Arrowdrac. There was a rear entrance to both the tavern and the hotel, all locked or padlocked. Some garbage bins were in the loading dock, under a layer of snow. The hotel looked about a hundred years old, and did have metal fire escapes bolted to the exterior. The windows on the lower level of the building were boarded up, the upper windows were intact. It was difficult short of a thermal scan to determine if the building was occupied.

Meanwhile, the air/raft shortly arrived at the diner. There were some large articulated trucks there of the log- or ore-carrier type. As they arrived, a grav unit of the local constabulary pulled out. It was an air/riaft like theirs, with police markings and lights. Going inside, they found a brightly-lit if somewhat shabby establishment, with diner on one side and convenience store on the other.

Linus quickly reached the real estate agency. The agent's name was Kal Glevmirrir (so he was Vlazdhumectan). "Hello, may I help you?"

"Good morning Mr. Glevmirrir. I am Linus Spruance. I've just arrived in town and am looking to set up a bar, maybe a whole hotel. I saw one of your signs outside some premises that might be suitable, maybe you can tell me a little about the facilities and why the place is on the market."

Linus gives the address of the place in question.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 276):

"That sounds fantastic, Mr. Spruance. My schedule is clear due to the weather, you're here in town, you say? I can meet you there in 30 minutes.

"As for why it's on the market, I can show you around as we talk."

"Thank you, Mr Glevmirrir. I look forwards to meeting you."

Linus then called the others to say that the realtor was going to give him a tour in half-an-hour, and had indicated he'd explain why it was on the market then.

Chow time & then take a gander at the store side.

As for the water/waitress, This place always this busy ??  Where's the road go to ?? He points in the wilderness direction ...

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 279):

The waitress was in her 40's, brunette with some grey in her hair and lines on her face. Still, she was pleasant enough and got their orders correct. As she was refilling their coffees she said,

"the highway? There's logging and sawmills up there. More mines. Some ski hills and summer resorts. The highway splits in 100km and goes north tothe Shalal River valley or the Great Bay.

"You boys thinkin' of going skiing? Season's just started."

This should tell me how long those bins have been undisturbed, he thinks, examining the layers of snow on the bins versus the unplowed alley. After making some comparisons visually, and feeling very cold in unusual climate, he tried to use his computer to find recent local weather reports (he's not above asking Ollie to do it for him if he can't figure out the console-free Driving Mode interface).


"Ollie, my brother, can you verify my uh....my findings here? If the last snowfall was....was that date there, and there is the snow on that bin, then it is safe to say there has been no traffic here since then that was not.....yes, no footprints there, you see?" Stanley seems to have skipped saying part of the conversation aloud.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 01:18, Tue 19 Nov 2013.

Ken nods to Linus.  "Good work Linus, we'll definitely want to come along on the tour with you if you think it's ok.  I'd like to see the inside of the place."  He looked up at the waitress approached.  "Yea, skiing perhaps.  We're looking for a bit of diversion from work.  Are there any good resorts up this way?"  He sipped his coffee.  "We'd heard about a bar over by the old hotel but it's boarded up.  Do you know what happened?  One of my friends asked us to pass a message on to one of the bar tenders if we were passing through."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 282):

"There are some great resorts up this way." She named off a few, and their locations.

"The bar? Yes. The "Traveller's Rest", I think. Nothing special. When the molybdbeum mine shut down, the workers staying in the hotel and drinking in the bar went away. Not enough business to sustain it, I guess. There's a roadhouse on the north end of town next to the truck stop where the truckers go. Thing's have been tight here, but we have highway traffic to keep us going but it's not the same as it was before."

Using his comm, Blake radioed Stanley (who was back at the hotel):

Stanley, did you ever fly up & see the roof ??
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:31, Tue 19 Nov 2013.

After a suggestion from Blake, Stanley quietly flies the 'Drac up to check out the roof of the building.

After a thorough investigation in this manner, Stanley will then check a nearby building that ALSO has a posted vacancy on it, in the same careful manner, so that anyone who might be watching his now-super-obvious observations might think he was examining real estate for future purchase.

The hotel's roof was flat and covered with about 35cm of unmarked snow, but it had drifted higher in some places. There was a water tower and a small building with a couple metals doors up a few metal steps, near the centre of the building, plus vents. Icicles hung from bits of ironwork. The neighbouring buildings showed the same details.

Ken made note of the ski resorts as though he were interested.  Actually in a normal situation he would but now time was of the essence. "Thanks, we'll check those resorts out."  He sippped more of his coffee.  "You don't know what happened to the bar keep at the 'Traveler's Rest'?  A friend asked me to look him up if we were here."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 287):

She raised her eyebrow.

"Yep, like I told your friend, the Traveller's Rest went out of business after the mine closed. Like about 90% of this town."

Anything else of interest back in those mines ?? 

He winks at the girl, Ghost stories, unusual finds, the secret of Twilight's Peak ??  Ancients' artifacts ??

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 289):

She frowned a little, wondering if Blake was being serious.

"What's in the back of those mines? A big hole where the molybdenum used to be, I reckon! Until it ran out, and Frontiers Development found an asteroid not too far out they could mine instead

"So, sugar, you want to order something else?"

The waitress waited expectedly, pen poised over the order pad.

Coffee and whatever you recommend as good 'keep you warm' eatin's.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 291):

"I recommend the "trucker's breakfast" from ancient Terra: Steak topped with a curried rice pilaf with a side order of naan bread. Funny, don't know why they call it that. Comin' right up!"

Ken nodded at the waitress' words. "I'll have the trucker's breakfast as well please."  He had decided to stop pressing for specific information on the bar tender.  "So how long ago did the mine close up?"

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 293):

"Uh huh. Comin' up!" she replied as she wrote down the order.

Keeping an eye out for other customers, she replied, "they knew the moly was running out a year back. The miners have a good union, they started to relocate workers immediately. Lots of disruption what with whole families moving out, hardly anyone left. They been running a skeleton crew up until about six months ago as they shut the mine down. Good they all or most got jobs right away, not so good for us who gotta stay here, but most other folks made plans to leave, too.

"News crew from one of the stations down in Varnov's Landding (the capital) came up to do a profile on businesses that were affected by the shutdown. Came in here. Come to think about it, they also had a look at that bar you're interested in, the Traveller's Rest. I didn't watch all of the program, too sad."

Ken nodded sympathetically.  "I'm glad at least some of the people made it out with jobs elsewhere.  We've been hit pretty hard ourselves trying to run cargo from system to system what with piracy and the war scare." He looks interested at the mention of the news crew.  That must be the shot that Lorain found. "That's quite a coincidence.  Sounds like a moment of fame for everyone involved.  Where did they move the miners off to?  Did they go off world to mine the asteroid?"

Blake sits back & drinks the hot coffee, letting others carry on the conversation.  Good coffee or bad as rocket fuel, he takes a second.  A scout has to maintain that 'cast iron stomach' attitude.  If possible, he checks out the air raft, partly to make sure no one is oogling it & also waiting for Stanley to show up.  It would be nice to blast thru the mountains & valleys on that bike, feeling the breeze & scenery flash by ... he thinks ...

Casually breaking several traffic laws regarding in-city Grav usage, Stanley scouts the building top to bottom along with several others. Determining that this entire block is probably vacant, he radios the crew, "This entire city is empty and I am betting that no one has bothered installing modern alarms anywhere. Unless one of you has a way in, I am going to Msha'tar the lock. I would place good chips on the prize moving out with its patron."

Barring any commentary from the others, Stanley will try to break in through the back door, after parking the Arrowdrac In any that would block anyone from seeing.

Note that he just used a non-local tech vehicle to conspicuously scout the area. Not exactly subtle, but he is convinced that the population levels in this area are too low for it to matter.

"Not really fame, a dying moment for the town, maybe.

"I think a few of the highest-skilled miners made it off world with Frontiers Development. Others moved on to other sites around the planet."

She looked outside. "Hmm... wonder where Constable Frank's going so fast?"

Outside, they could see the regional constabulary air/Raft that had earlier been at the diner zoom by. It was flying at about 100m and had its lights going.

Linus' phone rang. It was the real estate agent's number.

Meanwhile, out by the hotel, it was quiet but not silent. A ground vehicle motor could be heard not too far away, but then it left.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:42, Wed 27 Nov 2013.

Listening in on Stanley's frequency and then seeing the police raft streak by Ken opened a channel.  "Hey Stanley, it looks like the police here are pretty active right now.  I know you were curious as to what they used here and it looks like you win the bet.  I saw an air raft just like ours go flying past into the center of town toward the hotel just a few seconds ago.  If you are careful you can catch a good view of it."

He turned back to the waitress.  "That's a nice air raft he's driving though.  A friend of ours is quite the enthusiast for those type of vehicles."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:53, Wed 27 Nov 2013.

The Trucker's Breakfasts had been tolerable and filling. The waitress started clearing their dishes away. Not that interested, she looked up, nodding towards their own parked air/raft.

"Yeah. Just like you boys, I see. They come in for coffee about this time, I guess they left just before you got here. The police switched to them grav cars a few years back. Really helps in the mountains. No washouts, snowplowing, whatever.

"You fellers want some more coffee? The Pie is not to bad, made this morning."

Sure, just let me take a quick walk about the building to make some more room. Blake makes an exit & strolls about the building, letting lunch settle in place.  Outside, he makes a mental note to check on that news documentary.

Ken nodded.  "Pie and more coffee would be great."  He wonders about Stanley and hoped that the police weren't after him.

After fumbling with his makeshift lockpicks in his shivering fingers, Stanley hears the warning over the comms. With one pair of hands, he puts away his tools and with another he quickly pulls out a flask and pours some water on the ground near the door. After putting the flask away, he turns around and pretends to re-zip his jumpsuit as he unhurriedly returns to his bike.

He mounts the bike and goes looking for the ground vehicle he heard a few seconds ago, or at least its tracks. The gear I'm wearing is too expensive for the standard Ignorant Savage routine in this neck of the woods," he thinks.

Over the comms, he replies, "Flushed some kind of ground-predator. Want Iggy to guard the nest or track the beastie?" "Iggy" is his common euphemism for playing the Ignorant Alien Savage angle to confuse and/or agitate situations.

Ken sighs as he hears Stanley respond.

[Comm]

"Glad to hear from you Stanley.  No need to ask Iggy to stir from the couch.  Just go track the beasties as you see fit."

In reply to Stanley (msg # 304):

The police air/raft cruised silently down the back alley, stopping in front of Stanley on Arrowdrac and flashing its blue and white police lights. There were 2 constables inside, dressed warmly for the weather. One opened the gull-wing door and climbed out into the snow. He was armed with a revolver but kept it holstered.

"Stop your vehicle, shut it off and dismount!"

"I had better go to keep my appointment," said Linus. "Anyone want to come along as my business partner?"

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 307):

Linus's phone went to voicemail.

"Argh.."

Belated realising it was ringing, Linus frantically punched buttons to catch the call.

Ken frowned as he worried about Stanley.  He hoped their firm friend wasn't in too much trouble.  "I'll go with you Linus.  Blake, maybe you should check on Stanley?"

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 309):

The message on Linus's phone was from the real estate agent.

"In advance of our meeting at the property, I decided to check it out and make sure no pipes were burst and so on. I saw someone suspicious on the roof, so I called the police to check it out. Maybe we should wait a bit until they contact me. At any rate, call my pager and leave a number or message and I will return your call, or tell me where I can meet you."

Blake, Ken, Linus and Jaxxon were all at the diner on the edge of town. Blake walked out into the parking lot, which was plowed and salted. Several trucks were parked as their drivers were served. Inside, the pie and coffee was good, but they were going to be late as it was for the meeting.

"Linus, let's go ahead to the property.  I have a feeling that Stanley may be in a bit of trouble and we can meet with the agent.  Do you want us all along?"

Blake will take his share to go ...  Fire up the a/raft & head out.

Linus called back "We are on our way there now, please meet us there at the bar."

He nodded to the rest and headed out.

Ken followed Linus.

When the others arrived, they found a silver SUV parked in front. The agent was waiting outside, a middle-aged man in a parka and snow boots. A tow truck with a ploq attachment drove by and turned into the rear alley.

In the back alley, Stanley was being written a ticket for unsafe operation of a flying vehicle. "Sorry sir, you do understand that gravity vehicles are not allowed to operate as air vehicles in city and town limits. You can pick up your... bike... at the impound yard after you pay the fine, Cr500."