Byron stabs the creature again to make sure it's truly dead before saying, "If there are more of these here then that would explain why this place is mostly abandoned. We should hurry and get off before we run into more then one of these things at a time."
Byron pulls out some supplies from his kit to tend to his wounds.
Daneel shoots a hail in the direction of Far Trader on tightbeam. "Hi, Sal! Didn't expect to see you again so soon. Delivering more messages?"
Then he calls Jerry on the comms. "Captain, be advised that scans have picked up Far Trader headed our way. Looks like Sal misses us. She's still a ways off - maybe *** hours until she rendezvous with us"
Life Detection
The most elementary form of Telepathy is the ability to detect the presence of other minds. Life detection enables a Traveller to sense the presence of other minds, the number of other minds present, the general type of minds (animal, human. etc.) and their approximate location.
Life Detection is reasonably sophisticated, and can distinguish intelligent beings from bacteria or unimportant animals in the area. It functions best in detecting intelligent minds. Shielded minds are undetectable. If an individual whom the telepath knows in detected using this power, he or she will be recognized.
Check: Easy (4+) Telepathy + PSI (1D x 10 seconds)
Reach: Distant
PSI Cost: 1
Jerry looks cautiously at the remains of the chamax, particularly in case Byron's prodding prompts it to spring into action.
"Good show, folks!," he congratulates his companions and the marines.
"Did I ever tell you the last time i encountered the chamax? It was horrible, just horrible ... and I was the only survivor after one of the creatures ...," Jerry trails off as he realizes that everyone is more interested in Daneel's news. And the strange looks from the marines.
"Have you hailed Sal? Does she have any news from Drinax?'
Steph looks around the station. "If that thing really is dead, let's take a look around. I'd say Sal won't be here for a while yet."
Steph takes some time to examine the room the chamax was in.
"Hi, Daneel. Bringing some passengers your way. Tell you more when I get there. I do not want to know what you're doing on that old station. Why don't you save a girl a few days and come meet me?"
______________________________________________
Steph, this room is just a passageway, but there is an air vent that was obviously the alien's lair. It is covered in resinous secretions. Glancing inside, you see only more resin and the indigestible remains of a victim - a set of false teeth and a cranial implant.
Onboard Sal's Ship with Killian, Marco and Siete
The ship (which not named "Far Trader". It is a Far Trader, which is a class of small starship capable of jump 2.) is small, but adequate for the four people onboard. Sal Dancet is the captain, a small-framed woman with auburn hair and bright eyes. A well-known trader, traveler, explorer, entrepreneur and alleged smuggler, Sal uses Drinax's Floating Palace as a frequent stop on her itinerary and seems to have the favor of King Oleb (who has a well-known weakness for redheads).
But make no mistake, Increase is Sal's ship. You are just passengers. The ship is old but well-loved and she expects it to be kept neat and passengers to stay out of the engine room and off the bridge. You're allowed into the cargo hold for a bit of exercise, but tampering with the containers will get you spaced, or so you have been told. Other than that, she is pleasant if remote.
Each of you has a small stateroom on board, each clearly intended for two or more passengers. It seems that King Oleb did not want anyone but Sal and her crew to know who you were or where you were going.
After the second jump away from Drinax, Sal gave each of you an envelope, explaining about the harrier (now named Nemesis, but usually going by other aliases) and his plan to reunite the Kingdom of Drinax through piracy, commerce raiding and diplomacy. You are to join the crew of Nemesis under the command of Captain Baron Jaramillo-Smith. All you know of their present plans is that they were investigating deadly raider activity on Torpol and Clarke and that their investigations had taken them to the nondescript Borite system, best known for its mining facilities. Now, it seems, Nemesis has travelled not to the mainworld but to an ancient and decrepit Sindalian station orbiting a distant gas giant. Increase is making her slow way in that direction.
"Okay," says Sal as she leaves the bridge and comes into the common room/galley and gets herself a cup of coffee. "Message sent. Not sure what they're doing there, but hopefully they'll wrap it up and come meet us here so we don't have to travel all the way out there. Increase can't use frontier fueling, so I'd need to plow all the way back here before I could jump out of system."
"Looks like we're going to be shipmates for a few more days. Who's up for some cards?"
"Lets go around. I doubt whoever sent the signal did if from in here." Byron puts the first aid kit back into his bag and says and prepares to find a way around this room on the station.
"Cards sounds good. I'm sick of the Doc beating my ass in Drinaxian Chess" Says Siete while fixing dinner in the galley. Increase's protein re-sequencer was an old abomination. The first stop they made, Siete bought fresh food. He liked to cook and didn't mind sharing.
The aroma permeated the entire ship, as his meat sauce and pasta were ready for consumption. He took a portion and left the rest so that the others could serve themselves Family Style.
The scout was wearing his armored suit. The helmet was fully retracted into the suit. The armor plates on his vacc suit were in the same style as his bike. The others saw that he was out of his armor only when he slept.
"I was hoping we'd get to go planet side. Says Siete while addressing Sal. "So you could ride me." Siete squeezes his eyes shut. "Ride with me." Siete glances up at the captain with a naughty boy look.
Killian directs his grav-chair to the gallery and helps himself to the prepared food.
"Great as always Mr. Siete."
He moves over to watch the card game between the captain and scout and is about to comment on Siete's style of play when he feels a slight 'nudge' intrude on his conscience.
"Umm...Captain, was there anything special about the group we are going to meet with? What are they like?"
"Lets go around. I doubt whoever sent the signal did if from in here." Byron puts the first aid kit back into his bag and says and prepares to find a way around this room on the station.
Byron finds it easy enough to move past the Chamax lair. He either return to the Promenade and move forward or he can move further to starboard. Electing the latter, he finds a barely functioning door that leads to a short hallway. The doors to the right(aft) is labelled "Crew Quarters" and the door across the hall (starboard) is labelled "Lounge and Recreational Facilities". The door to the left (forward) is labelled "Authorized Personnel Only." The readout on the Crew Quarters door shows hard vacuum beyond the hatch.
"I was hoping we'd get to go planet side. Says Siete while addressing Sal. "So you could ride me." Siete squeezes his eyes shut. "Ride with me." Siete glances up at the captain with a naughty boy look.
Sal glares at Siete. "I've been chartered to deliver you, Mr. Siete. Nothing in the charter said it had to be on the inside of the ship."
Killian directs his grav-chair to the gallery and helps himself to the prepared food.
"Great as always Mr. Siete."
He moves over to watch the card game between the captain and scout and is about to comment on Siete's style of play when he feels a slight 'nudge' intrude on his conscience.
"Umm...Captain, was there anything special about the group we are going to meet with? What are they like?"
Sal turns her attention to the wheelchair-bound doctor. "Hmm... Well, they're a mixed bag. Captain Jaramillo-Smith is a good leader and a decent man. He's baron of something-or-other like you all are on that flying museum. Ray is a Vespexer, and tough as nails. She's got a potty mouth and bare knuckles to back it up. When Lord Manden required her to wear a dress to see the King she came close to beating the man. Steph is a sweetheart. At first glance she's sort of the den mother to band of misfits, but then you notice the big damned pistol on her hip and you remember she's a former scout and not a woman to be crossed. She's from Asim, I believe."
"Byron is a Marine, through and through. I saw his service jacket once and it was just planetary assault after planetary assault. Plus he's got some sort of connection to Princess Rao I can't figure out. He's a hard partier and really good with hand-to-hand fighting. No surprise there. Then there's my buddy Daneel. He's the ship's engineer and he's really good with computers, too. Also from Asim. He's kind of quiet unless you screw with the engines. I'd steal him away to work on Increase, but he's got bigger plans I guess. Like you."
Sal glares at Siete. "I've been chartered to deliver you, Mr. Siete. Nothing in the charter said it had to be on the inside of the ship."
"So I guess strip poker is out then?" Siete retorts to the Captain's over reaction.
Siete says to Doc. "If they like museum pieces, They're gonna love me."
Daneel broadcasts to the boarding party, "Just getting the one lifesign now. It's somewhere forward and to the right of you. And don't take too long tracking him down, Sal's hoping we'll meet her halfway and save her some time."
Jerry takes a last look at the remains of the chamax before turning to continue exploring the station.
"You heard Daneel - forward and to the right. Same order as before - and keep an eye for more of those things ... there often are more than one."
Jerry takes position in the middle of the group.
Byron opens the next hatch leading forward, the one labeled "Authorized Personnel Only" and opens it. Beyond he finds a large office, likely the remains of the station administration gone these fifteen centuries. A single hatch leads forward from there. The readout shows vacuum on the far side of that door.
"Easy, Sal" Marco puts in, "we were all young and dumb once. Siete's kept at it longer'n most - way longer! - but it's the same thing. He'll learn, I'll make sure of it."
Marco has lines from stress which make him look older, but he doesn't have any actual years of experience on the time-displaced scout.
"Ray, huh? I knew a couple people with that name back at the wrong end of the gravity well. Hope she doesn't have a grudge on me." He looks worried for a moment.
Byron moves forward to the next hatch and readies his zero g suit as he calls back to the others, "It looks like we lose atmosphere from here on so prep for it." When they are ready he will open the next hatch.
The self-sealing resins in your suit have you covered. For now.
"Ray, huh? I knew a couple people with that name back at the wrong end of the gravity well. Hope she doesn't have a grudge on me." He looks worried for a moment.
"If anyone holds a grudge, it's Ray. She's a wild child. I think she grew up outside of even Vespexer society and somehow survived. All I know is that she's close to Chieftain Gralx and loves to drink and brawl."
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Killian chuckles at Siete's poor attempts at flirting with the Captain.
"If you are not careful she will put you back into stasis...this time for medical reasons!"
Siete scoffs. "I'm livin' rent free right between her ears. It's called sexual tension. She's in love and doesn't realize it yet my friend." Siete flashes a smile.
"Maybe Marco can show me 'how it's done' with Ray?"
Jerry follows Byron into the next room, but does not go up to the door.
I will be going on vacation from tonight until Monday. I will try and check in, but feel free to post for me as needed.
Jerry fingers the seals on the vacc suit that he drew from stores, hoping that whoever last maintained the suit had done the task properly.
Moving into the hard vacuum of the ancient station's forward section, you come to a choice of ways. The hatch leading forward says "Station Control" and signs on the curving wall to the right say "Maintenance Bays". The Marines press in around you, guarding your flanks and rear.
Marco shakes his head slowly "Siete, Siete, if'n you try to live rent-free in a Vespexer woman's head, we're going to run out of medical slow drug. No police here to stop her, and she's harder than Captain Sal. Least if that's the Ray I think it is."
He turns back to Sal. "We close enough to hail these people yet?"
Sal waves her hand over the table, producing a hologram of the system showing just how far away Increase is from Nemesis. "There's currently a 76 minute time delay each way on messages," she says. "It'll be another hour before I hear back from my first hail. But if you've got something you really need to say, be my guest."
"Otherwise, we'll be there in three days of hard burn, unless they wrap up whatever they're doing and get to use earlier. That's the fastest ship I've ever seen."
"The fastest ship you say. I wonder, do you have her schematics on hand? I would love to get an idea of what we are going to be living on for the foreseeable future!"
Killian maneuvers his chair over to one of the computer stations and awaits the Captains clearance to examine the files (if there are any)
Sal snickers. "Nope. Those are state secrets and I am but a lowly hired messenger. But trust me, it's fast. They knew how to build them in those days."
"Trust me Doc, Harriers are awesome." You can see a sense of pride swell within Siete. His time, his culture made the best music, holo-novels, food, and the finest technology. "The computer core is large enough to run several AIs. Theoretically, with AI controlled repair robots, drives and weapon systems, a crew is redundant. Siete leans back and says. "It's the state of the art."
Killian smiles as he listens to Siete speak of the "good old days".
"Well I cannot wait to see what their medical bay is like!"
Daneel sends another tightbeam back towards Increase, "Roger that, Sal. I'll do my best to hurry the Captain along so we can meet you halfway."
To that end, Daneel continues to help guide the boarding party towards the presumed sender of the SOS.
"As Daneel said, 'forward and to the right'," repeats Jerry.
"Once the marines are providing cover, open the door, Byron."
You move through the failing station, looking for the Vargr who sent the message. In one chamber you find mad ramblings scrawled on the wall. The messages speak of ‘the ghost’ and ‘the voice on the radio’, but mostly just repeats ‘it’s coming’ over and over again. Nearby, you find the acid-scorched remains of a vacc suit – something melted through the chest and devoured everything within.
In another chamber, you find a vast artwork frowning over the station's bridge. The wall here is decorated with an ancient painting, preserved by the vacuum. It depicts some long-dead Emperor of Sindal, wearing the traditional crown jewels of the Sindalian Empire – the lanthanum-alloy crown, the Thalassan Pearl, the diamond-encrusted rings of Kether and the fabled Eagle of Sol.
In the forward Comms station, you find an old vacc suit wired into the comms system, endlessly broadcasting a distress call.
Finally, in a far corner of the station, you find a trembling vargr in a vacc suit, the oxygen in his suit nearly depleted. This is Krrsh, the pirate captain who attacked the Sarcomond at Torpol. Desperately grateful and not that bright, Krrsh is willing to answer all your questions if only you get him off the station where he was marooned.
Jerry orders the Marines to take Krrsh into custody and they escort the erstwhile pirate onboard Nemesis, where he gapes in open-mouth astonishment at the opulent, Captain Nemo-like decor. Nemesis then departs the Sindalian station and down the gravity well towards Increase and the new agents of Drinax. Captain Jaramillo-Smith sets his speed to a reasonably quick 3G's and begins the interrogation of Captain Krrsh.
Sal, Marco, Siete and Squire Killian watch the proceedings on a tight-beam communications link, but are still a light-hour away and so find it difficult to participate.
This was Siete's kind of entertainment. He grabs some snacks and a drink and sits in front of a monitor. He waves Marco and Doc over. He shares his popcorn. "So what did fluffy do?" He comms over. The racial slur 'Fluffy' was acceptable during his era. Modern ears may take offense.
Daneel accompanies Captain Jerry to the interrogation. He smiles at Krrsh and tries to put him at ease. "Feeling better now that you are away from that place? Is there anything you need?"
Telempathy:The communication of emotions and basic feelings is accomplished by Telempathy. This ability serves well in the handling of animals and beasts of burden, but may also be applied as a psychological weapon against people. Sending of emotions such as love, hate, fear and others may influence other beings (although not necessarily in the manner desired). The Effect of the Telepathy check is used to judge the strength of the emotion projected.
Telempathy also allows the emotions and feelings of others to be read by the Traveller.
Other telepaths will always recognize when someone is using Telempathy to bend their emotions, but non-telepaths will not. The change in mood may be dramatic and inexplicable, but most will simply ascribe it to the mercurial nature of emotions.
Check: Routine (6+) Telepathy (1D x 10 seconds, PSI)
Reach: Long
PSI Cost: 1
Given how he thinks this is supposed to go, Jerry glowers at the vargr while fingering the ornate handle of his sword.
"So, we hauled your sorry ass off that derelict station. Why shouldn't we simply send you back there after what you and your friends have done?"
The vargr captain looks malnourished and exhausted. He keeps his head bowed and his shoulders bunched. He looks like a whipped dog. He gratefully eats a bowl of soup and tells you whatever you want to know.
"I was the captain of Misery’s Company, and part of the retinue of a human pirate called Ferrik Redthane. My crew abandoned me at the station. They turned on me after I ordered an attack on a freighter that turned out to have more guns than expected. One of my crew was killed in the attack. I was also part of the raiding party that hit Clarke."
"Don't put me back, there mister. I'll serve you loyally and I'll tell you a secret about Redthane and pirates."
Steph hits her navigator station and plots a course for the Increase. "Sal we're on our way. Enjoy the show." She tunes her screen into the interrogation.
Jerry hears in his hear, and Steph communicates with him. "We need to know EVERYTHING abut the pirate, but a secret would be a good start." She's entering the data to do searches for any names that are named and other pertinent information.
"Ooo. A pet fluffy." says Siete as he watches the interrogation. "Do you think they have electric collars on board?"
Killian looks at his companions with a neutral look.
"The use of violence to gain information has been shown to be untrustworthy. There are better ways to gain information. Such ideas as torture are most unbecoming of supposed 'civilized' people...would you not agree?"
"We were civilized...and we got annihilated. In my experience, people are only as civilized as circumstances allow." says Siete with dead eyes. The circumstances of his freezing during the destruction of his home world, was something that Siete never talked about. Killian knew from the archaeological evidence that he read; the end was very ugly.
Siete's blank face fills back up with his spirit. "You'll notice that I didn't ask about an explosive collar...Ya see, I'm evolving."
"Fine. Fine," says Krrsh. "Do you have any ale? I could really use a drink."
He launches into a long and rambling story, of which this is the mere summary.
"Ferrik Redthane was formerly part of the pirate gang commanded by Admiral Darokyn, one of the pirate lords of Theev. I don't know what happened, but Ferrik and Darokyn quarrelled, and Ferrik now has a price on his head. Theev? It's the Pirate Planet. Every pirate ship pulls in there sooner or later. Good place to hide. Bad place to misbehave."
"Anyway, Ferrik needs the protection of one of the other pirate gangs. He launched the raids on Torpol and Clarke to show how dangerous and competent he is. Ferrik doesn't dare to set foot on Theev, so he’s probably sent his trusted lieutenant Miria Silverhand to negotiate with the other gangs on his behalf. She's a real...ummm... we don't get along."
He pauses for a long swallow of ale, then continues, looking a bit nervous.
"Here's the, uh, secret. I know the secret routes to Theev. And I'll share them with you if you'll take me on! Not only do I know a safe landing code (you'd die without one of those!), I also know something just as important: The location of a refuelling station in an empty region of space approximately one parsec from Theev. This station means you can use a jump-2 ship to get to Theev."
He grips his glass nervously and looks up at you.
"Why would you want to join us? You know nothing about us? Why not just ask to be let off somewhere along the way?" Byron asks.
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"It's a trap!" Yells Siete at the screen. "He wants the Harrier!"