To add to the ravages of a brutal civil war The Schaler Trivarium must also now suffer a terrible plague. You have accepted a mission to deliver a vital supply of much needed serum to the system. Delivery of the serum and other much needed medical supplies to an awaiting hospital ship, it should be an easy mission.
Anson mutes his end of the communication while he waits for the reply.
He turns to Boone. "I would rather see proper justice done, at least for Georg. From what we've experienced, I'm not so hasty as to just trust this place's authorities. It would be easier, and lives are at stake, but this deserves at least an attempt to try."
Well, there's at least one picket-ship, in high orbit around the planet. Usual practice is two vessels, in oppositional orbits; so that the whole planet is effectively under scanner at all times.
Picket Ship : Proceed directly to Schaler, make no course deviations. Authorities will be waiting there to take custody of Georg, and the bodies of the others.
Anson: Acknowledged, but this ship does not have enough fuel for the trip and will have to proceed first to the gas giant in this system to scoop hydrogen.
Georg : If gave you a data file, could you deliver it to a friend of mine? It contains some details of the operation, and the people who hired me. It would be my insurance policy.
Fineline deftly maneuvers through the moonlets swarming around the gas giant, while a seriously fatigued Boone struggles to stay awake in front of his sensor console.
"Hey boss...I am still kinda wiped out from all the stuff we did on planet. Can barely keep my eyes open. Mind if I get a few winks? Everything seems kinda quiet at the moment."
Anson continues to proceed as planned, first waking up Boone and checking on Aurora and George, before he prepares himself for the jump to Schaler. He looks at the data on screen, hoping for a smooth course.
Art 0, Carouse 0, Computers 0, Deception 0, Language 0, Life Science (Biology) 1, Medic 2, Persuade 1, Steward 0, Survival 0, Trade 0
Finding Anson, Aurora pulls him aside. "I don't want to surrender Georg to just anyone. He is concerned for his safety and seems genuinely repentant for his part in this. Maybe we could take him on as temporary crew? I can keep an eye on him."
Anson nods understandingly at Aurora's concern. "Well, I'm fine with taking him on, but if the authorities force our hand, there's really little we can do. Not to mention the whole mission has been a political minefield, that the delay has caused a non-negligible loss of lives, and the surveillance we've been put means we have no idea what they know. If I know anything of politics, they'll want a scapegoat. I can't promise anything, but I can try."
Do you want to create some background to give one, or all of you, a patron, or highly-placed figure who owes you a big favor, to intercede on Georg's behalf?
Oh. I do have that Contact named Osimov whose friend Rissa Stenner informed us of a possible attack. Anson can contact her for good current information considering there's a lot of corruption and political things going around, and there's that mole at the station, and if whoever Osimov is highly-placed enough, it'll give us backing and a chance.
Anson breathes a sigh of relief when they finally arrive in the Schaler system. They still have to deliver their cargo but it's one large hurdle reached.
Receiving the encrypted transmission, Anson eagerly starts decrypting it with his familiarity with Osimov's methods.
Fingers crossed.
Comms:2d6 + 2 ⇒ (2, 6) + 2 = 10+1 if Education roll
Osimov message neatly dovetails with what Georg has told you: Osimov is concerned that Georg could have a fatal 'accident' while in custody.
He suggests a plan that is somewhat grim: Dr. Feldspar is to administer a 'lethal' dosage of a sedative to him, then he is to be put immediately into the cryo-chamber (replacing one of the two corpses). The story will be that he tried to commit suicide before his delivery to the authorities.
The lower metabolic rate while inside cryo-sleep will preserve his life, and then he can safely be revived later.
Osimov seems to feel that being in a critical care ward of a medical facility will offer Georg some security until necessary evidence can be collected.
Woot!! well that will be a nice bit of change, but I think most of it will go into ship repairs and maybe upgrades....do we own this ship??? I cannot even remember..lol
Georg : I don't know this Orsimov, but I suppose if they were going to kill me, they'll wait until they have an idea of what I know.
My math sucks 30K+20K= 50 K. I'll assume a 24 hour lay-over in the Schaler system, if you want to do some shopping. We'll assume that the ship is yours. .
Me either....just put the money away for a rainy day....we will need to pay for upkeep to the ship and such...but as for anything extra...unless I can get a set of combat armor....then nothing for Eli
Statements are made, affidavits are signed, the serum carefully unloaded and inventoried (and more forms signed for the missing cases), and the bodies of Thaya, Major Q, and Georg are removed.
Finally, the minions of officialdom depart; and the three of you are left wondering where you might get a good, stiff, drink around here.