Traveller T20: Tales of the Bray Keaven [Updated 12-20-05]
Shadowdancer
First Post
Chapter X
Date: 113-993Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Alief.
After a relaxing and easy–going morning, the crew settles down in the lounge to listen to Saro’s biohazard preparation class. There is a good–natured bit of joking, particularly in reference to what the characters in that "Andromeda Strain" remake did or didn’t do, but the crew is quite attentive, given the stakes, and the time passes pretty quickly.
" . . . So, that about wraps it up," concludes Saro. "We basically will be spending time in sealed suits, taking decontam showers frequently — in and out of the suits — and washing everything."
Vasilii thinks to himself, "Oh great, spending hours in hazard suits, and I thought this mission was going to be easy money."
The doctor continues, "We don’t know if the pathogen is airborne or not, so we'll assume that it is. I expect that we’ll get orders regarding the specific role we'll be playing once we arrive. I do know that the Wellorn Light has some of the best infectious disease researchers on Sentry onboard, so I expect that they’ll be taking the lead role in making an identification and coming up with a cure.
"I think that we’re in the clear here, even with the Star Flower, but I expect that all of you will notify me immediately if you have the slightest symptom of any disease."
Nodding to the doctor, Argent says, "OK crew. So, we’ll have to be extremely careful. I’d rather not lose any of you to this stuff.
"Now, to our afternoon activities. Darishun, Ian, and Saro, please head downstairs to finish inventorying the cargo.
"Vargas, Vasilii, Martha, and Swann, would you please come with me to look at getting that safe open. Vargas and Vasilii, I realize that you’re not experts at this sort of thing, but it occurs to me that you might have some previous experience that may be helpful.
"Let’s get to it, crew."
With that, the meeting breaks up and the crewmembers head towards their afternoon activities. Darishun, Ian, and Saro headed downstairs to finish the inventory. The rest of the crew troops off en masse to the captain’s quarters.
Entering the captain’s cabin, Argent has the good grace to look a little embarrassed at the gaudy decadence of the furnishings that are completely counter to the austere, credit–pinching evidenced elsewhere, and comments, "Er, remember that I didn’t decorate this cabin. My own tastes run a little more subdued."
Swann and the others cluster around the safe. Oh joy, thinks Swann, it’s got an electronic and mechanical lock. This will be fun. . . .
Martha follows somewhat behind the group, but brightens up a bit when she catches a glimpse of the safe. "Hmmm, electronic and mechanical locks," she observes softly under her breath. A little louder, "Umm, do you mind if I take a closer look?"
Once she moves closer to the safe, she turns her attention to the details afforded her by the closer view, looking for possible access panels, code interfaces, power jacks. Almost absently, she flips open her handcomp and begins skimming the ship’s schematics, trying to determine alternate approaches to the safe besides her current head–on view, as well as potential sources of power that could be cut off to the safe proper, in the event that such might prove necessary. She hazards a soft smile as the fugue of solving a puzzle begins to overtake her, and she starts working on the problem in earnest. . . .
"I’m not sure I will be of any help here, Captain Argent," Vasilii begins as he stares at the safe with a perplexed look. "I would recommend a locksmith once we arrive in system. But let’s remember our lesson that Dr. Talbek gave us on airborne pathogens. Do we really want to expose ourselves to the air contained inside the safe? It could be fatal. If fatal, then we would not complete our mission. If we don’t complete our mission then we wouldn’t get paid and THAT would be a loss."
Vasilii looks at Argent. "Captain Argent, permission to return to my cargo duties. We have 66 percent of the inventory done, there still remains 34 percent." Vasilii waits for an answer.
Swann considers what Vasilii just said. "He makes a good point. Maybe we should put on our vacc suits before proceeding."
As the others consider this, Swann inspects the safe and its lock the best he can, with an eye toward what tools and equipment he will need to open it. He has a lockpick set for the mechanical lock; he is trying to determine if the proper tools and equipment are on board, or can be made, to open the electronic lock.
Argent looks momentarily taken aback by Vasilii’s comment. "Er, yes. Well, Vasilii, you make a very good point. Yes, please return to the cargo bay to continue inventory, but will you please ask Dr. Talbeck to come here to examine the safe?
"Swann? Could the safe be pressurized or at least have a seal such that it maintains its pressure during the vacuum exposure?"
After a brief period of inspection, Swann concludes that he has the tools to defeat the mechanical lock (with a bit of work), and that there are probably tools onboard to defeat the electronic lock. It’s still going to take a bit of work. The safe looks like the type that maintains pressure during vacuum, but he isn’t sure.
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Shadowdancer
First Post
Vasilii enters main cargo and sees the rest of the ship’s crew hard at work. Vasilii approaches the doctor, smiles and says, "Dr. Talbek, your presence is requested in the captain’s quarters." Thinking a few seconds, Vasilii realizes the request may sound weird, so he quickly adds, "It’s regarding the safe. They’re worried about airborne pathogens and the like."
Saro glances up upon hearing Vasilii’s proclamation that the Captain needs him. "Safe? What does a safe have to do with me?" he thinks.
Ian turns away from the pallet he’s inspecting to pipe up. "Hey Doc! If in doubt, just get Martha to rip the whole thing out of the floor with a laser, stick it in an airlock, and open it in there whilst depressurized. Better the safe and sorry about the decor, if ya know what I mean."
At this, Darishun looks up and softly says, "Ah, good doctor. Please let the captain know that I would be most happy to help move the safe if he needs a bit of help. Perhaps placing the safe in an airlock and then depressurizing the airlock before opening might be a good idea."
Nodding, Saro leaves the cargo bay and makes his way to the cabin.
"Oh yeah," Ian calls as the doctor leaves, "and mention to the Cap’n that he might want to detail someone to check the air raft — his unlucky predecessor had to have some way to transport contraband and he might have been using that.
"Sorry Darishun — What where you saying? Oh, yeah three flow cytometry instruments, two confocal microscopes and six extracellular matrix angiogenesis biocompatible implant packs. No I don’t know what they look like. They are supposed to be in that pallet though. Look on the bright side, if it was a box of Marine toys it would just say ‘6 EMABIP’ and we'd be wondering if someone really had packed a half dozen furry rodents from Bashbu in there."
Cocking his massive head to one side and drawing it back a ways, Darishun looks puzzled (at least, that's what Ian hopes Darishun’s expression means), and asks, "Really? Why would Marines pack half a dozen furry rodents from Bashbu? What are the Bashbu rodents like?"
Vasilii inquires, "S.O. McConnell, have you ever encountered rodents from Bashbu? I've not heard of them . . . interesting. Well, the cargo isn’t going to sort itself, so we better get back to work. S.O. McConnell, has that container been inspected yet? It has? Then perhaps we can get Mr. Darishun to move the container over there with the others. No, Mr. Darishun, I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just trying to keep the inventory in order. Yes, I understand. No, you can finish with that pallet you were inspecting, then we’ll worry about that container. I’m going to finish these three containers here."
Saro glances up upon hearing Vasilii’s proclamation that the Captain needs him. "Safe? What does a safe have to do with me?" he thinks.
Ian turns away from the pallet he’s inspecting to pipe up. "Hey Doc! If in doubt, just get Martha to rip the whole thing out of the floor with a laser, stick it in an airlock, and open it in there whilst depressurized. Better the safe and sorry about the decor, if ya know what I mean."
At this, Darishun looks up and softly says, "Ah, good doctor. Please let the captain know that I would be most happy to help move the safe if he needs a bit of help. Perhaps placing the safe in an airlock and then depressurizing the airlock before opening might be a good idea."
Nodding, Saro leaves the cargo bay and makes his way to the cabin.
"Oh yeah," Ian calls as the doctor leaves, "and mention to the Cap’n that he might want to detail someone to check the air raft — his unlucky predecessor had to have some way to transport contraband and he might have been using that.
"Sorry Darishun — What where you saying? Oh, yeah three flow cytometry instruments, two confocal microscopes and six extracellular matrix angiogenesis biocompatible implant packs. No I don’t know what they look like. They are supposed to be in that pallet though. Look on the bright side, if it was a box of Marine toys it would just say ‘6 EMABIP’ and we'd be wondering if someone really had packed a half dozen furry rodents from Bashbu in there."
Cocking his massive head to one side and drawing it back a ways, Darishun looks puzzled (at least, that's what Ian hopes Darishun’s expression means), and asks, "Really? Why would Marines pack half a dozen furry rodents from Bashbu? What are the Bashbu rodents like?"
Vasilii inquires, "S.O. McConnell, have you ever encountered rodents from Bashbu? I've not heard of them . . . interesting. Well, the cargo isn’t going to sort itself, so we better get back to work. S.O. McConnell, has that container been inspected yet? It has? Then perhaps we can get Mr. Darishun to move the container over there with the others. No, Mr. Darishun, I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just trying to keep the inventory in order. Yes, I understand. No, you can finish with that pallet you were inspecting, then we’ll worry about that container. I’m going to finish these three containers here."
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Shadowdancer
First Post
Swann rubs a hand across his face, thinking, as he watches Martha examine the safe and her hand computer. He turns to Argent and the others.
"I’m not sure, but I believe this safe maintains an airtight seal. Which means one of two things. One, if the former captain didn’t open it after the bug got on board, the air inside shouldn’t be contaminated and it should be OK to open.
"Second, if the former Captain did open it up, then if the bug got inside, it’s probably still in there. The decontamination process probably didn’t kill it.
"Once Doc gets here, I’ll ask his opinion on whether the bug could still be alive in there. But to play it safe, I think we should be wearing sealed vacc suits when we open it up."
He glances at all the others’ faces and smiles. "It’ll give us a chance to practice those decontamination protocols Doc taught us this morning."
Saro walks into the cabin in time to catch the last bit of conversation.
"Yes, indeedy it will. Since we have no solidly reliable information on this bug, we can’t be sure if it would or would not survive inside the safe, if it got inside at all."
Doc thinks for a minute, "If we can close off this cabin and route the outbound airducts through a filter, then only the people inside the cabin will have to don their suits, and that would greatly reduce the chance of the bug getting loose on ship. Otherwise, we should only attempt to open it in a vacuum, which does seem to kill it, whether it be in the airlock, or by opening the entire ship to vacuum."
Martha’s examination does reveal that the safe is securely welded to the floor. The safe could be removed with tools onboard with about a day’s work.
Argent seems to be weighing things carefully. He looks at Vargas and asks, "Vargas, what are your thoughts here?"
"Other than blowing it out the airlock, you mean?" he asks, cracking a grim smile. "I think all the bases have been covered; get the Doc to weigh in and then crack it while in vacc suits. I tell you, this Kraven Lines must be some operation if this ship is any sample."
Argent pauses as if in deep thought for a moment, looks from Saro to Vargas, and finally says, "I think that, all things considered, we might as well play it safe on this one, if you’ll excuse the pun. We’re in no rush to open the safe.
"Unfortunately, Doctor, this ship is a tramp far trader. This cabin is not pressure tight at all, and I think that we’d be violating the hell out of all of the procedures that you taught us if we open it in here.
"Martha and Swann? My guess is that you can, perhaps with Darishun’s help, get this safe unwelded from this floor and into one of the cargo locks. We can then evacuate the air from the lock and open it in the lock. It would mean quite a bit of time in vacc suits for you, between the time to get the locks open and then enough time to make sure that the vacuum has had its effect on any possible spores.
"Then after we have a look inside, we can see about blowing it out the airlock, Vargas.
"I still want to see inside this thing. I don’t want any more surprises if I can avoid it. With our luck, we’ll find a bottle labeled ‘ACME Death Pathogen: Use sparingly’ inside the safe," he adds with a rueful smile.
"Meanwhile, why don’t we see if we can help the others with that inventory."
"I’m not sure, but I believe this safe maintains an airtight seal. Which means one of two things. One, if the former captain didn’t open it after the bug got on board, the air inside shouldn’t be contaminated and it should be OK to open.
"Second, if the former Captain did open it up, then if the bug got inside, it’s probably still in there. The decontamination process probably didn’t kill it.
"Once Doc gets here, I’ll ask his opinion on whether the bug could still be alive in there. But to play it safe, I think we should be wearing sealed vacc suits when we open it up."
He glances at all the others’ faces and smiles. "It’ll give us a chance to practice those decontamination protocols Doc taught us this morning."
Saro walks into the cabin in time to catch the last bit of conversation.
"Yes, indeedy it will. Since we have no solidly reliable information on this bug, we can’t be sure if it would or would not survive inside the safe, if it got inside at all."
Doc thinks for a minute, "If we can close off this cabin and route the outbound airducts through a filter, then only the people inside the cabin will have to don their suits, and that would greatly reduce the chance of the bug getting loose on ship. Otherwise, we should only attempt to open it in a vacuum, which does seem to kill it, whether it be in the airlock, or by opening the entire ship to vacuum."
Martha’s examination does reveal that the safe is securely welded to the floor. The safe could be removed with tools onboard with about a day’s work.
Argent seems to be weighing things carefully. He looks at Vargas and asks, "Vargas, what are your thoughts here?"
"Other than blowing it out the airlock, you mean?" he asks, cracking a grim smile. "I think all the bases have been covered; get the Doc to weigh in and then crack it while in vacc suits. I tell you, this Kraven Lines must be some operation if this ship is any sample."
Argent pauses as if in deep thought for a moment, looks from Saro to Vargas, and finally says, "I think that, all things considered, we might as well play it safe on this one, if you’ll excuse the pun. We’re in no rush to open the safe.
"Unfortunately, Doctor, this ship is a tramp far trader. This cabin is not pressure tight at all, and I think that we’d be violating the hell out of all of the procedures that you taught us if we open it in here.
"Martha and Swann? My guess is that you can, perhaps with Darishun’s help, get this safe unwelded from this floor and into one of the cargo locks. We can then evacuate the air from the lock and open it in the lock. It would mean quite a bit of time in vacc suits for you, between the time to get the locks open and then enough time to make sure that the vacuum has had its effect on any possible spores.
"Then after we have a look inside, we can see about blowing it out the airlock, Vargas.
"I still want to see inside this thing. I don’t want any more surprises if I can avoid it. With our luck, we’ll find a bottle labeled ‘ACME Death Pathogen: Use sparingly’ inside the safe," he adds with a rueful smile.
"Meanwhile, why don’t we see if we can help the others with that inventory."
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Shadowdancer
First Post
A few hours later, the crew reassembles in the lounge. It’s been a long afternoon, but with everyone pitching in, the cargo has been inventoried. Nothing notably unusual has been discovered, though Saro does note that quite a few various anti-viral meds have been included while very few antibiotics have been.
Argent briefly addresses the crew. "OK, people. We’ve had a long but good day. Let’s get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, I’d like Martha and Swann to get that safe unwelded. We’ll worry about getting it open the next day. Darishun, if you would be so kind, would you help them move the safe if they need it?
"Martha and Swann? I'm sorry that the bulk of this work will fall on you two. I promise that you’ll get a break for the rest of the time that we’ll be in jump space.
"The rest of you, please familiarize yourself with this ship and get what rest you can. I think that we’ll be short on rest once we arrive."
Martha seems distracted as figures and calculations dance in her head. "Sure . . . that’d be nice." Her eyes close for a moment, and she breaths deeply. When they open, she looks back at the Captain, her eyes more focused than before. "I’m sorry, sir, what did you say?" Without letting him answer, she continues. "I think we can get the safe out of your cabin fairly easily. After that, I imagine that Swann and I could crack the box inside one of the airlocks or something . . . this, of course, means that I won’t be able to get to the turret until we’re done. Which would you like me to take care of first, sir?"
Darishun cocks his head to the side, looks quizically at Martha, and says, "Er, Martha? Did you not repair the turret yesterday? If memory serves, you and Swann got the iris valve repaired yesterday, and the turret checked out ready for weapons installation, which will have to wait until return to normal space. Perhaps the good doctor should take a look at you before you rest tonight?"
"Sorry about that. Just tired, brain’s workin’ overtime." Martha quickly gathers up her plate, to put it away. "Nah, I don’t think I should disturb the Doc. All I need’s some sleep."
Before Darishun can say more, Martha excuses herself and briskly walks to her room. "Nope, no drugs for me. The dreams are bad enough with the freedom of waking up. I don’t need to be trapped in them," she thinks to herself. She is exhausted, and it is obviously beginning to show. Yet still, she is wary of sleeping, lest the dreams come again. So, the young engineer curls up with a good technical manual, determined to make the best of it.
The hours pass, and finally Martha’s head settles for the last time onto the pages of the hardcopy she had been reading. And once again, visions in red emergency lighting came to her on the wings of dreams. . . .
Swann cleans out the air filters for the Star Flower smuggling system, in case he won’t have a chance to do it the next day. Then he gathers some tools together that will be needed for the next two days to work on the safe. After that, a quick supper and off to bed.
In the lounge that evening, over a steaming plate of Vilmic sausage and mashed quagto, Ian remarks to the Doc. "You know Doc, if we open the safe in the airlock under pressure and there is a pathogen inside, then it would give you an excellent opportunity to collect a live sample and do some preliminary tests. Assuming that the guys who emptied this crate out when it arrived to Sentry found nothing, that is."
Argent briefly addresses the crew. "OK, people. We’ve had a long but good day. Let’s get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, I’d like Martha and Swann to get that safe unwelded. We’ll worry about getting it open the next day. Darishun, if you would be so kind, would you help them move the safe if they need it?
"Martha and Swann? I'm sorry that the bulk of this work will fall on you two. I promise that you’ll get a break for the rest of the time that we’ll be in jump space.
"The rest of you, please familiarize yourself with this ship and get what rest you can. I think that we’ll be short on rest once we arrive."
Martha seems distracted as figures and calculations dance in her head. "Sure . . . that’d be nice." Her eyes close for a moment, and she breaths deeply. When they open, she looks back at the Captain, her eyes more focused than before. "I’m sorry, sir, what did you say?" Without letting him answer, she continues. "I think we can get the safe out of your cabin fairly easily. After that, I imagine that Swann and I could crack the box inside one of the airlocks or something . . . this, of course, means that I won’t be able to get to the turret until we’re done. Which would you like me to take care of first, sir?"
Darishun cocks his head to the side, looks quizically at Martha, and says, "Er, Martha? Did you not repair the turret yesterday? If memory serves, you and Swann got the iris valve repaired yesterday, and the turret checked out ready for weapons installation, which will have to wait until return to normal space. Perhaps the good doctor should take a look at you before you rest tonight?"
"Sorry about that. Just tired, brain’s workin’ overtime." Martha quickly gathers up her plate, to put it away. "Nah, I don’t think I should disturb the Doc. All I need’s some sleep."
Before Darishun can say more, Martha excuses herself and briskly walks to her room. "Nope, no drugs for me. The dreams are bad enough with the freedom of waking up. I don’t need to be trapped in them," she thinks to herself. She is exhausted, and it is obviously beginning to show. Yet still, she is wary of sleeping, lest the dreams come again. So, the young engineer curls up with a good technical manual, determined to make the best of it.
The hours pass, and finally Martha’s head settles for the last time onto the pages of the hardcopy she had been reading. And once again, visions in red emergency lighting came to her on the wings of dreams. . . .
-----
Swann cleans out the air filters for the Star Flower smuggling system, in case he won’t have a chance to do it the next day. Then he gathers some tools together that will be needed for the next two days to work on the safe. After that, a quick supper and off to bed.
-----
In the lounge that evening, over a steaming plate of Vilmic sausage and mashed quagto, Ian remarks to the Doc. "You know Doc, if we open the safe in the airlock under pressure and there is a pathogen inside, then it would give you an excellent opportunity to collect a live sample and do some preliminary tests. Assuming that the guys who emptied this crate out when it arrived to Sentry found nothing, that is."
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Shadowdancer
First Post
Chapter XI
Date: 114-993 and 115-993
Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Alief.
For most of the crew, the third day in jump space passes fairly quickly and without much incident of note. Most of the crew does take a bit of a break, but much to Argent’s satisfaction, they also spend time familiarizing themselves with the ship or otherwise honing their edge, as it were.
For Martha, Swann, and Darishun, the day is a bit harder. Martha and Swann decide that taking the easiest route to remove the safe probably isn’t the best idea given that the removal would end up gutting a good part of the furnishings in the cabin. So, there is a laborious process of dismantling the furnishings around the safe before getting to the process of cutting the safe free in such a way that it can be restored again. Finally, around dinnertime, the safe is free.
Darishun spends quite a bit of time moving ration packs out of the port airlock and into the cargo bay as well as making a large stack in the lounge. Rather inexplicably, cases of certain types of ration packs (mostly stews/casseroles rather than the simu-roasts/steaks) seem to have more of a chance of ending up in the lounge.
Once the safe is free, Darishun nonchalantly and easily moves it down the corridor and places it in the port airlock, ready to be opened.
-----
The next morning, Martha and Swann enter the port cargo lock, evacuate the air, and begin working. The safe has a combination of a mechanical lock and an electronic lock. The electronic lock seems to have its own internal battery (or possibly other power source) and doesn’t seem to be affected by the safe’s removal from ship’s power. After a number of false starts, Swann and Martha are able to defeat the electronic lock by resetting the lock using a handcomp. Both think that the lock can be reset later.
The mechanical lock seems to be much simpler in comparison, and Swann decides to break for lunch.
-----
Upon hearing the progress that Martha and Swann have made on the safe, Vasilii listens intently about how they defeated the locks. "I guess we didn’t need a locksmith after all," he thinks. "What a resourceful crew we have aboard. Sigh. Another Terran program on the vid."
Martha and Swann talk about opening the safe after lunch and asking if anyone is going to join them to watch.
"I am interested to know what is in the safe, perhaps trade contracts?" Vasilii thinks. "I better complete my work in cargo. After all, that’s why I’m here."
"Although I am intrigued, I must complete my work in main cargo," Vasilii says aloud. "I’m sure you’ll be willing to talk about the safe and its contents at supper time. See you then."
"Yo, same goes for me, guys," Ian adds. "We are on the downslope and I’d really like to get it all squared away and ship shape. Give us bell in the cargo bay if you find something thrilling. Like the Cap’ns little red book — someone will have to console all those women."
Dr. Talbek asks if it would be possible to capture a sample of the air inside the safe as it is opened.
Martha pauses while eating her authentic imitation shepherd’s pie to ask, "Eh? What’s that, Doctor? Are you sure that you want to do that? Hmm, I suppose that I could rig some sort of bag or containment system to try and catch some of the air when we open the safe. We’ll have to defeat the lock first, but we might be able to leave the door closed so that we can get the bag in place to catch the air when we do crack the seal. I’ll probably need about an hour to throw together the bag."
At this, Argent looks up. "Doctor. If you feel that you can safely examine the air sample, you have my blessing to do so, but you’ll have to work in vacuum in the airlock."
-----
After finishing lunch, Martha rigs up a system for Dr. Talbek to capture an air sample, and then she joins Swann at the air lock, ready to open the final lock. Argent and Saro decide to also suit up and join them.
-----
Observing via remote camera from the lounge, Darishun is struck with the parallels to a long–running and much–maligned series of "Opening the Ancient Sites" series of vid specials on the Solomani Fox News Network that usually had a few hours of "build up" to opening a tomb or ancient site that almost always just contained destroyed and decayed junk and dust.
-----
Swann looks around the crowded airlock. He starts to rub his hand across his face, then stops when he remembers he is wearing his vacc suit. He sheepishly lowers his hand back to his side. "I don’t think I've ever had this big an audience before for a safe cracking, not even that job inside the gem exchange on Capitol," he thinks. "We had a big crew on that job, but most were busy elsewhere. It was just me and Babaji cracking the safe itself. At least we had plenty of room to work in. Not like here."
He notices that Martha and Doc seem to be finished with their preparations for catching some of the air inside the safe for testing. He turns to Argent. "Captain, if you would be so kind as to hold the vid recorder to document the momentous occasion. I’ll get started on the lock, and I believe Martha and Doc already have their hands full."
Swann then reaches into a cargo pocket on his vacc suit and pulls out a waterproof case. "My lucky lockpicks," he says, laughing. He unwraps the case and lays it out on the floor, next to the safe. He uses some small magnets to anchor it to the floor. "Now, let’s see what we can see." After another close examination of the lock’s mechanism, he selects some tools from the case and sets to work.
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Shadowdancer
First Post
With an odd mixture of trepidation and curiosity, Martha, Swann, Argent, and Saro assemble in the port airlock in their vacc suits. Argent carries a portable vid cam to record events. Saro has his collection bag, a microscope, and some study equipment/tools.
Disabling the lock in a vacuum was a bit more difficult for Swann and Martha, but they manage to get the lock disabled after a bit more effort than originally planned. After retrieving her scratchbuilt air collection apparatus from Saro, Martha places the contraption around the door seal and then quickly steps back to the far end of the airlock, as far away as possible from the safe.
Shaking his head a bit, Swann then steps in, glances at Argent (who points a thumb up), and turns the handle to open the safe door. A puff of air is caught by the collection apparatus and funneled into a safety jar as planned. Judging by the amount of air in the initial collection bag, about a quarter of the air was successfully captured. The rest escaped to the vacuum in the airlock.
Saro steps forward quickly to swab a few of the surfaces inside the safe for samples and then steps back.
Swann looks in the safe. Inside are:
Five metallic tubes sealed with screw tops.
A hip flask.
A small funnel.
A silicon spatula.
One small plastic box marked "50 Erasu Snub Pistol Rounds, Liquid Delivery."
Eight credit chits for a total of 133,000 Imperial credits.
A small, paper notebook.
A body pistol.
Two body pistol magazines.
One small plastic box without markings.
A small (white) furry object of some sort, about 1 cm by 7 cm.
Swann finishes making a mental inventory of the safe's contents. He turns to look at the others. "I call dibs on first pick," he says, then bursts out laughing. Then he looks at Doc. "Doc, can you take a look at the small, white, furry thing? Is that, or did that used to be, an animal?"
Carefully putting the bagged samples into a locker located in the airlock, Doc turns at Swann’s question. Squatting down to get a closer look, he examines the object in question. He then laughs as Swann holds it up. With a chuckle, Saro comments, "I believe that’s a rabbit’s foot. Of course, the real question is why it’s in the safe!"
Argent steps forward to pick up a the metal tubes, commenting, "Hmm, two seem to be full and three seem to be empty." Opening one, he finds it to be almost full of some yellow–gold powder. After muttering a barely–heard curse, he says, "Oh great. More Star Flower pollen. Seems like it’s about as much as was collected from the air filters after about two weeks."
Argent continues with a rueful grin, "Swann, I’m afraid that you don’t quite get first dibs, in spite of opening the safe. Of course, if the Marines in Alief find the Star Flowers and pollen, you’re welcome to have it all."
Disabling the lock in a vacuum was a bit more difficult for Swann and Martha, but they manage to get the lock disabled after a bit more effort than originally planned. After retrieving her scratchbuilt air collection apparatus from Saro, Martha places the contraption around the door seal and then quickly steps back to the far end of the airlock, as far away as possible from the safe.
Shaking his head a bit, Swann then steps in, glances at Argent (who points a thumb up), and turns the handle to open the safe door. A puff of air is caught by the collection apparatus and funneled into a safety jar as planned. Judging by the amount of air in the initial collection bag, about a quarter of the air was successfully captured. The rest escaped to the vacuum in the airlock.
Saro steps forward quickly to swab a few of the surfaces inside the safe for samples and then steps back.
Swann looks in the safe. Inside are:
Five metallic tubes sealed with screw tops.
A hip flask.
A small funnel.
A silicon spatula.
One small plastic box marked "50 Erasu Snub Pistol Rounds, Liquid Delivery."
Eight credit chits for a total of 133,000 Imperial credits.
A small, paper notebook.
A body pistol.
Two body pistol magazines.
One small plastic box without markings.
A small (white) furry object of some sort, about 1 cm by 7 cm.
Swann finishes making a mental inventory of the safe's contents. He turns to look at the others. "I call dibs on first pick," he says, then bursts out laughing. Then he looks at Doc. "Doc, can you take a look at the small, white, furry thing? Is that, or did that used to be, an animal?"
Carefully putting the bagged samples into a locker located in the airlock, Doc turns at Swann’s question. Squatting down to get a closer look, he examines the object in question. He then laughs as Swann holds it up. With a chuckle, Saro comments, "I believe that’s a rabbit’s foot. Of course, the real question is why it’s in the safe!"
Argent steps forward to pick up a the metal tubes, commenting, "Hmm, two seem to be full and three seem to be empty." Opening one, he finds it to be almost full of some yellow–gold powder. After muttering a barely–heard curse, he says, "Oh great. More Star Flower pollen. Seems like it’s about as much as was collected from the air filters after about two weeks."
Argent continues with a rueful grin, "Swann, I’m afraid that you don’t quite get first dibs, in spite of opening the safe. Of course, if the Marines in Alief find the Star Flowers and pollen, you’re welcome to have it all."
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Shadowdancer
First Post
Argent looks around for a moment, chuckles to himself, and then comments, "Well, in any case, we now know what is in the old captain’s safe. And, we’re not any more dead than we were before given the discovery of more Star Flower. Saro, how long should we stay in vacuum before it's safe to leave this lock?"
Saro looks up from his sample transfer and replies, "I believe that a couple of hours should do the trick. That’s the amount of time that they used when they initially decontam’d this ship."
Argent sighs and then says, "OK. Get comfortable, people, we’ve got a couple of hours to go." He then sits down himself and starts thumbing through the notebook. The notebook had just a few pages of notes in it, mostly a ledger of some sort of payments spaced out every couple of weeks. Interestingly, the ledger lists payments of about 10k Cr a pop to all crewmembers except to Martha.
Swann examines the contents of the small boxes. The first one contains the listed rounds for the snub revolver. Interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be any sort of tool to insert liquids into the rounds. The second box contains regular rounds for the body pistol.
Saro picks up the flask for examination. As she sees it, Martha comments, "I think that’s the captain’s brandy flask. He was pretty possessive about it." Saro glances up, and then mutters, "Here’s a waste of some good brandy, then," and opens the flask. A puff of air followed by some sublimated liquid issues until Saro caps the flask again. Glancing up at Swann ruefully, he explains, "Sorry, couldn’t take the chance that some of the air inside might still have some of the contagion. The remaining liquid should be alright if it’s brandy, though."
After the foursome finishes the decontamination procedures, emerge from the airlock, and remove their vacc suits, they assemble for dinner with the rest of the crew.
Placing the collected contents of the safe on the table in the lounge, Argent sits back and says, "Well, what shall we do now? This matter affects all of us, and it’s outside of the relief mission, so I think that we ought to decide what to do together. I am going to put the Star Flower pollen and empty tubes in the chamber with the Star Flower plants. If anyone does find them during inspection, at least we can try to claim that everything was in that room and that we weren’t involved."
Swann looks around the table. "Well, I suggest Doc run some tests on the contents of that flask, to discover what’s in it. And I suppose we should put the safe back where it goes — it's not our ship, after all. We can reset the electronic lock, but I don’t know what we can do about the mechanical lock without a key. I can get into the safe, but it takes some time — an occasion might arise when someone needs to get into it quickly, and I might not be available."
"Well hey, Swann, just lock the electric lock and leave the mechanical one open," Ian says. "Or can’t you do that? Not to worry, it’s not that important right now. Let’s just have a look at what we got here, shall we?"
Ian thumbs through the notebook, searching in vain for the names and contact information of female sophonts.
Bravely sniffing the flask, Saro concludes that the contents (much evaporated now), are brandy, possibly a rather expensive one at that.
Saro looks up from his sample transfer and replies, "I believe that a couple of hours should do the trick. That’s the amount of time that they used when they initially decontam’d this ship."
Argent sighs and then says, "OK. Get comfortable, people, we’ve got a couple of hours to go." He then sits down himself and starts thumbing through the notebook. The notebook had just a few pages of notes in it, mostly a ledger of some sort of payments spaced out every couple of weeks. Interestingly, the ledger lists payments of about 10k Cr a pop to all crewmembers except to Martha.
Swann examines the contents of the small boxes. The first one contains the listed rounds for the snub revolver. Interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be any sort of tool to insert liquids into the rounds. The second box contains regular rounds for the body pistol.
Saro picks up the flask for examination. As she sees it, Martha comments, "I think that’s the captain’s brandy flask. He was pretty possessive about it." Saro glances up, and then mutters, "Here’s a waste of some good brandy, then," and opens the flask. A puff of air followed by some sublimated liquid issues until Saro caps the flask again. Glancing up at Swann ruefully, he explains, "Sorry, couldn’t take the chance that some of the air inside might still have some of the contagion. The remaining liquid should be alright if it’s brandy, though."
-----
After the foursome finishes the decontamination procedures, emerge from the airlock, and remove their vacc suits, they assemble for dinner with the rest of the crew.
Placing the collected contents of the safe on the table in the lounge, Argent sits back and says, "Well, what shall we do now? This matter affects all of us, and it’s outside of the relief mission, so I think that we ought to decide what to do together. I am going to put the Star Flower pollen and empty tubes in the chamber with the Star Flower plants. If anyone does find them during inspection, at least we can try to claim that everything was in that room and that we weren’t involved."
Swann looks around the table. "Well, I suggest Doc run some tests on the contents of that flask, to discover what’s in it. And I suppose we should put the safe back where it goes — it's not our ship, after all. We can reset the electronic lock, but I don’t know what we can do about the mechanical lock without a key. I can get into the safe, but it takes some time — an occasion might arise when someone needs to get into it quickly, and I might not be available."
"Well hey, Swann, just lock the electric lock and leave the mechanical one open," Ian says. "Or can’t you do that? Not to worry, it’s not that important right now. Let’s just have a look at what we got here, shall we?"
Ian thumbs through the notebook, searching in vain for the names and contact information of female sophonts.
Bravely sniffing the flask, Saro concludes that the contents (much evaporated now), are brandy, possibly a rather expensive one at that.
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Hatchling Dragon
First Post
Oh yah, he's got them well trained alrightyShadowdancer said:
Hatchling Dragon
Shadowdancer
First Post
Date: 116 through 118-993
Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Alief.
The rest of the days in jump space are actually pretty relaxing for the crew of the Bray Keaven, particularly after the excitement of the first part of the trip. Martha and Swann get their promised rest and relaxation, though — with Darishun’s help — they do place the safe back into its spot and weld it down. The safe’s return took far less time than the initial removal and opening. The safe’s electronic lock is reset, and the contents returned (except for the Star Flower tubes, which are placed with the Star Flower trees).
Saro checks on his growth medium daily. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?), he doesn’t seem to have cultured any of the hemorrhagic virus.
Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Alief.
The rest of the days in jump space are actually pretty relaxing for the crew of the Bray Keaven, particularly after the excitement of the first part of the trip. Martha and Swann get their promised rest and relaxation, though — with Darishun’s help — they do place the safe back into its spot and weld it down. The safe’s return took far less time than the initial removal and opening. The safe’s electronic lock is reset, and the contents returned (except for the Star Flower tubes, which are placed with the Star Flower trees).
Saro checks on his growth medium daily. Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?), he doesn’t seem to have cultured any of the hemorrhagic virus.
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