Two hours later, a lightly sauced Byron reappears. His clothes are tousled and there's lipstick on his collar.
Near the jump limit, it was involved in an incident with another ship, the Sarcomond, but no-one other than the Sarcomond’s crew know exactly what happened.
Byron flops down into a chair and says generally to anyone who is still around the ship, "I got a name...and there is another ship to look into."
Jerry had been about to venture out when Byron returns.
"Great! Tell me more, if you can," asks Jerry. When Byron has related what he can, Jerry also makes a trip to the entertainment on the station. Maybe he will confirm what Byron has heard, or maybe he will learn something new.
"The scout ship was called Misery's Company. It landed a day before the Argos struck. It was captained by a Vargr named kark...no, it was Krrrsh, yeah Krrrsh sounds right. He sold some strap material to a trader called... Holmer...who knows, maybe he knows something. There was also an incident with the....Sarca..Sar...Sarcomond, another ship that they encountered near the jump limit. But the people I talked to didn't know more. Their crew might be able to tell us something if we can find them around the port." Byron says as he drinks some water.
Jerry's trip to the station includes a light but excellent dinner at Chez Eneri and a bottle of Reaver's Best, 1091. He chats with a few patrons, but learns nothing of use.
Find the Sarcomond. It's a port; you have computers.
Or you can walk around and ask.
"I'll get the information and locations." Steph tips her head and connects with her ever present computer.
Requesting ship designation information, berth location, and leadership names for the Sarcomond.
Requesting ship designation information, berth location, and leadership names for the Misery's Company.
Requesting location of scrap trader Holmer, and his contact information.
She waits for the responses from the data systems.
__________________________________________________
Sarcomond is a 200-ton Far Trader captained by an Asiman (a resident of Asim) named Danel Vlaw. It is an old and battered trader, built in the heyday of the Kingdom of Drinax, but she’s still flying. She is currently docked at the Torpol Downport, undergoing repairs after she was attacked by a scout ship. Captain Vlaw just used his credit chip at Darrien's Delight, a bar in the downport. He's either still there or just left.
Misery's Company is a 100-ton scout ship registered on Montezuma. It purchased fuel and left. The captain is a vargr named Krrsh.
Holmer is a scrap-metals dealer with a yard not far from the downport. Like most scrap-yard operators, he's had many run-ins with the law over the years. He may deal with ill-gotten goods, but there's no real evidence of that. His records show that he purchased a half-ton of computer scrap from a vargr named Krrsh on the same day that Misery's Company left Torpol.
When Jerry hears what Steph has learned, he mulls things over for a moment.
"Byron, do we have some scrap metal to sell? Maybe pay a visit to this Holmer and ask him ... politely, of course ... what he knows about Krrsh and his friends that isn't in the computer database."
"First, though, let's try to catch up with this Vlaw character. Ahhh ... any idea how he feels about Drinax and King Oleb?"
Jerry heads towards Darrien's Delight, hoping to catch the freighter captain.
Ray accompanies Jerry to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble.
Jerry finds the run-down bar, unlikely to delight many Darriens, and after slipping the bartender 20 credits finds Captain Vlaw. He is a big man with a nose broken long ago. He is nursing a beer and watching a holoshow about deep-sea fishing. He looks up as you arrive.
"Yeah?"
As Daneel watches the Captain & Ray head off, he turns to the others. "We should cover all of our bases and check out the depot where Misery's Company fueled up. Anyone want to join me?"
"Captain Vlaw? I am Jerry Smith and this is my shipmate Ray Vogel. I have some questions about that scout ship you encountered a couple weeks back. Can I buy you another beer?"
Jeery signals to the bar and collects another of what Captain Vlaw is drinking.
"So, is there anything that you can tell us?"
Vlaw looks you up and down, then turns back to his own drink. "Who're you and why d'you care?"
____________________________________________________________
Daneel heads off to the fuel depot. Eventually, he finds the foreman. "Can't say as I remember much about it, but there was a scout ship fueled up here. Nothing out of the ordinary, though."
Daneel frowns, then runs his hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face. "Name's Daneel. I'm an investigator-for-hire. Man who's currently paying the bills thinks the crew of Misery's Company took something of his, and he's hired me to track them down. I don't suppose there's any security video that might have captured them while they were here? Or maybe someone overheard one of their crew talking about where they were headed?"
Jerry pulls the other chair back and seats himself at the table.
"Traders, like yourself. Though we sometimes do other work, too. Right now, we are chasing a bounty on some raiders who hit Clarke a couple weeks ago," says Jerry after he sets the beer on the table.
"Word is that your ship was attacked by a scout ship. A scout ship that was seen at Clarke before that attack."
"What can you tell us about the ship that attacked your ship?"
Daneel frowns, then runs his hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face. "Name's Daneel. I'm an investigator-for-hire. Man who's currently paying the bills thinks the crew of Misery's Company took something of his, and he's hired me to track them down. I don't suppose there's any security video that might have captured them while they were here? Or maybe someone overheard one of their crew talking about where they were headed?"
The foreman pushes back a grimy hat and peers suspiciously at Daneel. "I don't know nothing about that. I don't want to know anything about that."
After Daneel shows him a request by Provost Falx to give all due aid, the foreman shrugs. "There's a holo, I guess. You can look at it if you want."
Daneel examines the security video and sees an ordinary looking scout ship being fueled by two men, a human and a vargr. The camera only catches the vargr's face, but Daneel can clearly see the vargr's face on the video. At his request, the foreman makes Daneel a copy of the video.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry pulls the other chair back and seats himself at the table.
"Traders, like yourself. Though we sometimes do other work, too. Right now, we are chasing a bounty on some raiders who hit Clarke a couple weeks ago," says Jerry after he sets the beer on the table
Vlaw looks up, more interested now. "These the same guys who hit Clarke? I hear they killed a lot of people there."
"Word is that your ship was attacked by a scout ship. A scout ship that was seen at Clarke before that attack."
"What can you tell us about the ship that attacked your ship?"
"Yeah, alright," Vlaw says. He downs his ale and signals the bartender for another.
"We came out of Jump and headed for the port. This scout ship starts coming toward us, but she's on a really tight course. She's clearly trying to close with us, not the port. When she came within range, she flipped over, matched velocity with Sarcomond, and demanded our cargo."
Vlaw smiles a cold smile.
"My ship, she has surprises. Two pop-up turrets, you see. She looks like an easy target, but she's not. Bad news for pirates. I burn the pirate amidships, here and here." He pokes Jerry in the stomach and chest, for emphasis. "And she is very, very scared. Over the radio, I hear them calling for the jump. Their captain is Vargr, I think. He orders them to jump for Borite."
"That's everything."
Steph heads to Downport to talk to the scrap trader. She locates his business and looks around quickly as she approaches.
"Hello" she calls out. "My name's Steph, and I'm investigating a ship. I understand you had some business with Captain Krrsh. Did he happen to mention where he was headed after this stop? Any idea where he found the scrap he sold you? I'm trying to determine if he was a ship involved in the piracy on Clark." She grins. "You of course are an upstanding business man, and would have accepted the scrap in good faith. I'm not wanting to make waves for you at all. Just need information."
Holmer regards Steph with obvious suspicion. "I'm a licensed scrap dealer," he says. "I see something illegal, I call the cops. I do that a lot."
Eventually he is mollified and permits Steph to inspect the scrap he received from Krrsh. She is quickly able to determine that some of it matches the computer parts stolen from Clarke.
<GM fires confetti cannon>
Jerry mulls over what Captain Vlaw has told him.
"Thanks, Captain. Any marks or features that would identify that ship. Beyond, of course, the damage that you inflicted?"
"Give me your ident. I'll send you a full log of what we saw."
Later, Jerry looks it over and finds that Vlaw has told him pretty much all the information there was to find.
Jerry is reviewing the log in the captain's chair on the bridge. He looks and keys an intercom to his companions.
"Are all the marines and crew back from shore leave? If so, we should finish fueling and re-provisioning ... we have a destination. Borite. What do you know about that system?"
Within a few hours, the ship's complement is aboard and the ship is fueled.
.
.
.
.
From the ship's computer:
Borite/Sindal (Trojan Reach 2219)
E655796-4
Borite is a double system with one sun-like G4V star and one red dwarf companion (MV8) in a far orbit. It has three gas giants and no planetoid belts.
Some systems were named by their inhabitants, or to commemorate the circumstances of their discovery. Others were named after legends or heroes or myths. Borite was named for the high concentration of boron-heavy compounds in its surface. That is the most interesting thing about this system. From orbit, it looks like a yellow-brown stain of a planet, and it does not even live up to this first impression. The planet is inhabited by several million unfortunate colonists who mine the borite or try to scrape a living out of the soil; it is ruled by the Borite Continuity Authority, a decaying remnant of the old Drinaxian bureaucracy. The BCA controls all trade and travel on and off-world – not that many people come here. The planet’s Class E starport sees only a handful of ships every year, mostly traders trying to dodge pirate attacks on the Florian route.
Like Marduk, Borite is often attacked by the Oghman Clans, who target scientists and scholars. Writing is therefore forbidden on Borite except for the few heavily guarded members of the BCA.
"Borite sounds like a fantastic vacation spot, doesn't it?," asks Jerry.
"Still, that is where this investigation leads. Now that we are ready, make course for the jump limit and plot a jump to Borite. And, make sure that the weapon systems and marines are ready for when we arrive."
"Definitely doesn't sound like a place that gets many visitors. Are we just going to show up and declare that we're hunting raiders? Or do we need to come up with a disguise?"
"In my opinion, we should make contact with this Borite Continuity Authority. It sounds like the closest thing to a government that exists in the system, replies Jerry.
"From the sounds of it, the BCA should have a record of the scout ship transitting through the system. We can look in whether there are records for the other ships, too. If they claim not to ... that bears investigating."
"Sounds like a lovely place. I wonder if we mention we work for the King if they would be more or less interested in speaking with us. They were subjects at one time." She thinks. "On second thought we don't want them trying to take our ship for some old treaty or something. Let's try not to land unless we must."
"We can see the reception we get before we announce our allegiances. For now lets see if we can arrange to meet with someone worth talking to." Byron suggests.
"Let's go in under cover." Josephine sets the course, and waits to be contacted by the planet when they arrive.
A week later, Nemesis drops out of J-Space in the Borite system. The mustard-colored world hangs in space a half million kilometers away. Scans show that you are the only ship in the system at the moment.
Something else.
A weak signal is coming from near the closest gas giant. It is an automatic distress signal.
"That seems suspicious. Shall we go fishing and see what bites?" Byron asks as he frowns down at his terminal.
Jerry stares at his terminal, too. Not really frowning, his expression is a strange combination of pursing his lips and squinting. The sort of expression you would only make if you forgot that other people are around.
"We could sail valiantly to rescue whoever is with that beacon. Can you sell anything about the signal? Or, is it simply what it seems to be?," asks Jerry.
"I vote for cautious exploration. Weapons manned and the marines ready to either repel boarders, or perform a hostile boarding operation themselves."
"Or we could go get a second ship. It might be useful since the people we are going after have multiple ships." Byron says.
Jerry swings his chair around to face his companions.
"Steph, acknowledge the distress call. If there is a response, tell them we are responding to rescue the ship."
He swings a bit in his command chair before continuing.
"Plot a course to the distress call. Something less than full speed for a free trader. Make the ship look like a free trader, too."
"We will respond to the call, but be alert for other ships or any sign of danger."
The transit to Ichi, as the Borite system's closest gas giant is called, takes several days. At 6G, you could make the transit in 36 hours, but at the pokey speeds of a far trader, Nemesis takes almost 90 hours to cover the vast distance (nearly 270 million kilometers).
In all that time, you manage to study your target fairly thoroughly. It isancient space station in orbit. The station is more than two thousand years old, and dates back to the old Empire of Sindal. It was once a High Guard outpost of the Sindalian fleet, protecting ships as they refuelled from the hydrogen-rich world below. Now, it is an abandoned antique, crumbling and punctured by thousands of micro-meteorites. It is slowly drifting down into the atmosphere, and will burn up in another five hundred years or so.
You are now 10,000 kilometers (about 33 minutes at 1G) away from the station.
• The distress call is a low-powered automated beacon, consistent with the sort built into a good quality vacc suit. Someone must have boosted
the signal for Nemesis to detect it. A close examination shows that the suit’s communications system has been removed and wired into the station’s transmitter dish – the suit wearer now has no way of communicating with the outside world unless he goes back to the communications unit.
• Thermal imaging of the station shows at least one heat source on board. From the trace, it is a humanoid, probably a Vargr, in poor health and in a vacc suit.
Byron looks up from his station and says, "It looks like its a vacc suit signal. They are probably running it through the station to get the signal that strong. It doesn't look like we can talk to whoever it is though."
"It won't take too much time to go an investigate," says Jerry.
"Do all of you agree?"
Daneel tries unsuccessfully to confirm Byron's scans.
"Sounds good, Captain. Let's just keep our guard up."
Byron goes to put on his armor and zero g suit along with his cutlass and gauss pistol. He then makes his way with the marines to board the station.
"Did you wish to first try docking with the station?," asks Jerry.
"Helm, can you manueuvre the ship close and try to dock? And, have we been able to find the location of that signal?"
"Actually ... let me focus a bit ... there's a vargr inside the station," says Jerry as he fiddles with the controls on the vewing panel on his command chair.
"And ship debris from a small ship. Like ... maybe a scout ship?," he continues.
"Helm! Maneuver us close and attempt to dock. Let's go 'rescue' whoever that is. And have a talk with him."
Due to its age and fragility, docking with the ancient station is extremely tricky. I'll need a Difficult (10+) Piloting+DEX check.
"Helm! Take us in gently," orders Jerry. "We don't want to break open the station before we get a chance to talk with that vargr."