“Episode 12 – The Core of the Problem ” - First Session
Synopsis of 11/27/06 session -subtitled The Calm Before the Storm
The scene opens in a dimly lit ship corridor. As the ship rocks from impact, the emergency lighting flickers and a woman stumbles into view. She is a tall woman around thirty years old dressed in a brown coat with her blonde hair cropped short for efficiency. She has a larger built with most of the extra weight being muscles. She puts one hand out to brace herself against the bulkhead as the ship rocks, keeping a tight hold on the rifle in her other. As she continues on down the corridor, a caption appears at the bottom center of the screen.
The Skirmish of Hayden’s Bay – Eight Years Ago
As she passes through the doorway into the engine room sparks rain down from overhead. A man in a brown coat scurries about between two engines as they whine and groan. It is difficult to hear him shout over the engine noise.
Engineer: Sergeant. Report!
Sergeant: The Knight is having problems too. She started to report a malfunction, but someone is jamming communications. From the look of it they’ve got engine problems too. I thought that kid gave us a thumbs up.
Engineer: He did. Stunk it up in here for a couple hours with that foul smoke while he went over everything with a fine-toothed comb. Some genius he is.
The engineer stops what he is doing as a small electrical fire lights up near him. He picks up a fire extinguisher and blasts it out.
Sergeant: The Lincoln and the Decoy are getting away, but that Alliance ship is almost on top of us. If you don’t get those engines back to full power we’re going to make nice prisoners for those bastards chasing us.
Engineer: I’m looking, Betsy. I can’t find the ca…
They are both thrown to the floor as the ship rocks violently. The left engine groans before making a loud grinding noise and slamming to a stop. The noise from the right engine gets louder as it starts spinning faster. Seconds later the sound of metal, tearing, scraping, and compacting as the ship collides with something. Brief screams can be heard from farther forward in the ship as the screen goes black.
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There was much discussion among the command crew what they were going to do with the money and how they were going to pay Logan. Eventually Daniel brokered a deal with Logan in which he got all twenty thousand of the Alliance credits. For that amount of money, they were able to pay Logan his share, clear Campan’s debt to him, pay for some forged papers to get them on Sihnon, and gain access to a ship repair yard owned by a corrupt comrade of Logan’s. The rest of the credits were given to Logan as a gift to get them in his good graces. Nothing buys bygones better than cash, after all.
The papers stated that the Bigg’un, captained by Ezmerelda Glass, was visiting Sihnon for the business of guild negotiations with a time window of two weeks. They had briefly entertained the possibility of Captain Campan, but Mort stated that, in that cause, he would exercise his right to shoot Campan.
Mort sent a wave to a forger friend on Ezra asking about good false Ident cards. He was able to put Mort in touch with a forger on Sihnon named Louie who was a little expensive, but very good.
They decided to take the direct route into the Core, since that was the most unpredictable thing for them to do. The three week journey was mostly uneventful, thought they were a little jittery about passing so many Alliance patrol boats. They transmitted their permit to land and docked where told. The crew was showing their paranoia, since things were going a little too smooth.
Daniel and Mort wandered off to go find Louie, leaving the others behind. Though Louie asked for twelve thousand platinum per card, Daniel was able to haggled him down to eleven thousand. They made the agreement to pay half now and half when they received the cards. They had decided that Asta, Campan, and Ezmerelda didn’t need new Ident cards, so Daniel handed over pictures of himself, Mort, and Take to Louie.
Ryan: A new ID would just say Campan on it anyway.
Paul: Right. And that would be a waste of money.
Louie explained that the Ident card held all of the information, but it was not connected to any database anywhere. So, they’d be perfectly fine unless someone ran a background check on them. They paid Louie half of the thirty three thousand and headed back to the ship. Louie told them it would take eight days to finish the cards.
After having the concept of Currency Exchange Buildings explained to him, Campan wandered off to find one. Once he got there, he realized that he had no money and wandered back to the ship. He wandered up to Take and asked for some money.
Take: Campan. Your debt has been paid off. Stop begging for money.
Campan: Oh. Right away, sir! (looks in pockets)
Nope, they’re still empty.
Daniel walked onto the bridge.
Daniel: Everyone? No. Logan.
Campan: Oh. That’s good.
Daniel: I didn’t like the idea of Logan owning part of the ship. (pause)
You owe us.
Campan: I owe you?
Asta wandered in.
Asta: The doctor does not work for free!
Daniel: I paid you recently!
Asta: Yeah, but I bought medical…
Daniel (cutting her off):
I don’t care if you spent it, I paid you for our last job.
Alex: No, your last job was the heist. You haven’t paid her for that.
Gabe: Yeah, but she didn’t ask me for money yet.
Daniel went into a explanation how no one was getting paid and that the thirty three thousand that being spent on the command crew wasn’t pay, but was being spent on the ship. This confused everyone. Asta storms off back to the med bay during this.
Paul: This is why he gets to be the one who cooks the books. He’s deranged
Campan: Damn it, dad! Give me a thou… a hundred platinum.
Daniel handed Campan the money. Campan looked at it in shock.
Campan: Holy cow! Asta! Plan B Now!
Liz: No. Asta is already on plan D. That involves selling the ship and everyone on it to the Alliance and retiring somewhere.
Campan: Give me a hundred platinum for Asta too.
Daniel: Why can’t she ask me? (Daniel hit the intercom)
Asta?
Jenny (over comm.):
Uhh, you probably don’t want to talk to her now. Uhh, her face is red.
Daniel (over comm.):
Asta, can you come up here please?
Asta begrudgingly returned to the bridge.
Daniel: I’m told you were complaining that we haven’t paid you. Why didn’t you ask.
Daniel handed her a hundred platinum.
Asta: Wow. I have a telepathic XO.
Campan: Don’t be sarcastic. Just take the money and we can run!
Campan pushes Asta out of the bridge and towards freedom.
Ezmerelda found this entire exchange very strange since she still has money of her own.
Asta, Campan, Jenny, and Ezmerelda all went out together to head to the money exchanger. Asta gave Jenny a few platinum. Asta explained to Jenny that they were rather snobby here about platinum and they needed to use credits.
At the exchange office, Campan gave them his one hundred platinum and he received thirty eight credits in return (the equivalent of ninety five platinum).
Campan: What? You’re missing some!
Asta had to then explain the concept of an exchange fee.
Back on the ship, Daniel explained to Mort that if those that wandered off screw things up for them so that they can’t get or use their fake IDs, he doesn’t feel that he owes them money, because by the current economic model the money is already theirs. Mort looks very confused by this logic.
Daniel: You see you learn these things when you’re a corrupt sheriff for years and how to make the economic models work for you.
Mort (Smiling and nodding):
Yes. Sir.
Mort then wandered off to go polish his guns.
Paul: Oh, I’ve known for a long time he’s been cooking the books. He owned the least of the ship and always seemed to get most of the money. I’m just waiting for things to go horribly, horribly wrong.
Campan explained that he wanted to go to a doctor to have his leg properly checked. After agreeing Asta could watch, she led him towards where she felt a doctor’s office should be. Jenny decided she didn’t want to be there for that and wandered off.
When they got to a doctor’s office Campan wandered over to the receptionist and asked to see the doctor.
There was a brief discussion about how many credits Campan had.
Ryan: I need lighter fluid. Dan is not on fire enough.
Campan (to receptionist):
Hi!
Receptionist: Do you have an appointment?
Campan (meekly):
I’d like to make an appointment. Do you have any openings today?
Receptionist: We could fit you in in January.
Campan (puppy dog eyes):
What time is that today? I have a bionic leg and I need someone to look at it cause I’m poor.
Gabe: But we just paid off your debt for the leg.
Alex: No. You paid off his debt for the ship.
Paul: He still owes money for the leg.
Ryan: Yeah. I can start paying her back for that again now.
Paul: He is in a 
load of debt. Do not do it by borrowing from other loan sharks. If you do I will off you.
Ryan: That’s not a bad thought.
While Campan was trying and failing to sweet talk the receptionist into giving him an appointment someone said Asta’s name. Turning, Asta saw Diane Lass, a woman she had gone to med school with. She had taken a lot of classes with Diane and was very friendly with back in school. Diane had always been a rather perky, energetic woman in school. She wasn’t a genius like Asta, but she tried hard and did well. Asta had lost touch with her not too long after graduation when Diane pretty much dropped off the radar. Diane looked a lot different now. She was very pale and looked rather sickly. She was dressed in a white lab coat and wore a blue surgical hat on her head.
The two exchanged small talk. Asta said that she had had some bad times during the war that she didn’t like to talk about. Diane said that she had some bad times then too.
Asta: You’re looking a little tired.
Diane: Yeah. An unfortunate side effect of the treatment. Problems in the war.
Campan was standing off to the side waving at Asta and pointing at his leg.
Asta: Uh, this is my shipmate who came in to get his leg looked at. It’s actually kind of shiny. But he needs a checkup and I’m not up on all the latest stuff.
Diane offered to take a look at it and started to lead them back towards an office.
Campan: Come on Ezzie. You can come too. It’ll be fun. I can show you my stump.
Ezmerelda (gesturing to some magazines):
I think I’ll stay here and catch up on my fashion.
Once back in the office Diane asked Campan to take off his pants.
Ryan: Okay. Pants come off. Bow chicka bow bow.
Alex: Campan has no underwear on?
Ryan: What? That’s not right. Of course I have underwear on. Always wear underwear in space.
Paul: But you’re not in space right now.
Campan then took off his leg and handed it over to Diane. Diane chattered with Asta for a while, asking what she had been doing.
Asta: Mostly I’m just doctoring for the ship’s crew. There is a wide range of personalities you have to deal with.
Campan: Like mass murderer.
Asta (trying to cover that up):
You are so silly.
Paul: In a dead sort of way. If I ever hear about that.
Ryan: The excellent thing is there is absolutely no communication between Asta and Mort.
Paul: Just you wait. One of these days I’ll get Asta drugged and she’ll tell me everything.
Asta: All the different planets are interesting but some of the poor people out there, it’s really sad. I mean, there’s just no doctors out there. I suppose I could have come back, but…
Diane: That’s why I joined the war.
Asta explained that she was hoping to hook up with some discount medical supplies so she could help more people. Diane told her who her office dealt with. Asta explained that they were on planet for guild negotiations.
Paul: Yeah! Someone remembered the cover story!
Ryan: To cover up for the mass murderer.
Liz: I tell her stuff that I feel I can safely tell her without incriminating myself.
Alex: Well, that takes up five minutes. What do you say for the rest of the fifty minutes?
Asta asked for the tech manual for Campan’s model of leg. Diane transferred it over to Asta’s databook.
Diane: The leg looks in good order. It could go in to the factory for a tune up, but I made sure it was properly tuned.
Before they left Diane invited Asta to dinner. She even said that she could bring someone if she liked. Asta knew Diane had never met her family, so she felt it was safe.
Campan put his peg back on.
Campan: Ooh. Feels all tingly.
Diane: Oops. Loose wire.
She took the leg back and fixed it.
Campan: Damn. Kind of liked that.
After leaving they wandered around for a little while before heading back to the ship. Asta researched the prices of medical supplies from the distributors Diane gave her. She then talked with Daniel and Take about getting some medical supplies at discount rates. She listed off several high priced items.
Daniel: Did we have them before?
Asta: No. A Dermal Mender would be nice.
Take: That’d be nice but not necessary.
After much discussion Daniel gave her money for medicines and emergency supplies, but no new equipment.
Ryan: I kill Mort abstractly.
Paul: Okay. We both die.
Ryan: Yeah!
Asta headed off to dinner alone, deciding no one would be interested in it. She got back from dinner late.
Liz: I start reading my tech manuals.
Paul: I start waiting for the cops to come.
Daniel looked at Asta funny, unsure if someone did something to her. She didn’t look any more uncommunicative and socially inept than usual, so he nodded.
Asta: It was an old school buddy, but don’t worry. She’s not in touch with anybody else I know.
Mort: Want her taken care of?
Asta (definite look of disgust):
No! I like her
Ryan: I buy booze! I buy good booze.
Gabe: I drink it.
Campan glared at Daniel.
Jenny got back even later than Asta finding her reading in the med bay.
Jenny:: Umm. Do you have a lock box or something… that no one else has a key too?
Asta thought about that for a while.
Jenny: I just want someplace to put my money…. (pause)
I don’t trust it around Campan or…
Asta: I can put it somewhere, then.
Jenny dropped about three hundred credits onto the medical bed.
Asta: Wow. That’s pretty good. Should I ask?
Jenny: I found a casino.
Asta wrote down the amount and put it away somewhere.
The next several day came and went. Campan sat on top of the ship a lot and drank. Mort revved the engines a lot in hopes Campan would fall into them.
Ryan: I wave to the world. Every damn person that wanders by. I pretend I’m Texan. ‘Hey! Ho! Heh!’
After the eight days had passed they collected their Ident cards and paid Louie the rest of his money. As soon ad Daniel and Mort got back to the ship Asta immediately bombarded Daniel with a list of things to spend money on. She managed to talk him into getting a Jabberwocky Signal Jammer and a good hacking software aid.
Having completed their business, they departed Sihnon and left on a direct route out of the Core towards the shipyard.
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Fade to Black*
