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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ptolemy" data-source="post: 9386861" data-attributes="member: 1412">We heard movement from the next cabin. Access to the stern cabins was obscured from view by another internal door. We pushed Yenaffi in the direction of our friends and moved toward as quietly as we could in our bulky vacc. suits. Lily kicked it open to reveal two people, a man in what looked like a business suit and another in some kind of body armour. The one in the armour had one arm grasping the man in the suit and a laser carbine shoved under his captives chin.“Please do as he says. He’ll kill me, I know he will” - the captive“Just put your weapons down and no one need get hurt” said the figure in armour.Both Lily and I slowly crouched down to place our weapons on the floor. The kidnapper was only a few metres away but too far to risk a sudden rush. We could probably get to them unscathed but the victim would die. So I reached out with my mind and pushed: “let him go and put your weapon on the floor”. The kidnapper slowly let go of his captive and began to unbuckle the power pack for his weapon from where it was clasped to his armour. The captive looked utterly astonished and asked “What the hell are you doing” before snatching the carbine from the others hands and turning it on us. Lily fired the laser built into her suit, missing both of them. The “captive” fired at us clumsily and then dragged his one-time captor to his left, out of sight. We knew the other had moved to check on the forward lounge and were effectively the other end of the ship.Lily and I sprinted as fast as our suits allowed. We cautiously glanced around the corner and came face-to-face with another iris valve. Lily fumbled in her pouch for the captain’s multi-pass, opened the door and stared down the empty corridor. This was the one we had first entered when we left the engineering section. Had our assailants gone up to try and get out the way we came in? The iris valve at the far end of this corridor was open as we moved slowly, weapons ready. I had my stunner ready, Lily still had her gauss pistol trained on the exit facing us. Suddenly a shape approved in the entrance, both Lily and I fired as it threw something at us! I hit the ground at the same time as the grenade went off. We had taken our helmets off when we met Giovanna in the bar. For a moment I lost focus and the world spun. A stun grenade! Someone fired on me with a laser, cutting through the vacc. suit and badly burning my right shoulder. The pain was excruciating. I was aware of Lily, who had managed to avoid some of the effects of the grenade by diving into the side corridor which led to the bar, as she returned fire. Lying still I focused my psionic awareness and started repairing my shoulder and lung. I must have blacked out as the next thing I knew Lily was bending over me and pinching my ear painfully.“Comi, you there, say something”“naughty word, ok. Let go. I’m ok, let go”My shoulder was still stiff but I could move it ok. Lily helped me up and we went to investigate the hatch the hijackers had used. Hurgen told us it led to the cargo hold. I had only been out for a few seconds and my healing had gone well so the stiffness was fading, but I wasn’t going the able to use any more psionics anytime soon. We used the multi-pass and opened the hatch. Helena and Peter were still trying to get the door the forward lounge open, which was apparently blocked in some manner. Lily went first, dropping down to the hold quickly. I followed a little more slowly. We heard a shout and dived for cover. A chaotic fight broke out as we each moved around crates and storage equipment. We had our helmets on and while that slowed us down a little it did protect us from the other stun grenades thrown at us. Lily took the gamble that that was the only type they had so when the next time a grenade was thrown she used it as an opportunity to rush forward while the enemy cowered from the blast of their own weapon. Lily killed one of the armoured kidnappers and took a hit herself, but it hardly penetrated her suit. By then we had seen one other in armour and the guy in the business suit. I rounded a crate and came on the other armoured kidnapper waiting to ambush Lily. A burst from my stunner took that one out. We couldn’t find the other, who we assumed was Suwa. I couldn’t risk trying to search for him psionically and Hurgen wasn’t getting clear readings. I checked on the one I shot and did some very basic first aid while Lily guarded me.We found Suwa shortly after Helena joined us. She was able to “ping” the area. He was hiding in the launch! He surrendered when he realised we had found him. At this point the captain, Saress, the medic, Penter the engineer, Yenaffi and Giovanna had all been taken to the GR1. Adhza put anyone who didn’t need medical treatment in the brig - keeping Yenaffi in a brig on her own - and was keeping an armed watch on the injured in the medical bay. This included Stev and Alix Gvaegloen, a couple of passengers who had taken refuge in the hold and had been scared witless by the fight down there. We had Gunthorp Jay (the hijacker I stunned) in a low berth as was Paul, the noble who we found outside. We decided that getting back to the station was our priority, before Derisson has a chance to skip the sector. Helena put a secure call through to Gabe and let him know what we had found.“Those are pretty serious allegations, you have strong evidence?”We did. We had the evidence of the captain and the data chips from the Amishi to prove Derisson’s link to the whole thing. Helena was particularly pleased to have found out why naval intelligence had been so interested in the system that they sent her, an ex-agent, to investigate. We sent enough data to the station via our link with Gabe to enable him to place Derisson under arrest. I needed time in the med-bay when we got back - I wasn’t able to completely heal all of my shoulder wound when it happened and I didn’t want to mysteriously heal the rest after the others saw how much blood was on my clothes.Gorram 364-1080Three days found us back at the Amishi doing salvage work. We couldn’t leave her on the planet for the locals to find. Because of security arrangements it was harder and longer work than it could have been but we didn’t mind. It was nice to be planet side for a few days and it was distracting work. It took us the best part of a week to run checks and make sure the Amishi wasn’t going to break up during the process, then pull her into orbit and away to the station. Salvage rights were going to be disputed and we didn’t expect to get anything.Gorram 011-1081A message had been sent the day after we picked up Amishi’s distress call and 16 days after the rescue/fight the Arbellatra jumped back into the system to take custody of the survivors. Well, almost all. Helena had kept Paul in a low berth for a couple of days until another liner had jumper into the system and up in to the station. She was apparently able to arrange for records to show that Sir Paul Ramaeda, who we had found on the wrecked sail boat, was a passenger on the Lusitania, and had never been on the Amishi at all. We all objected to this until Helena pointed out that Sir Paul Ramaeda was a distant cousin of the Duchess of Mora and how would we like to be involved in causing her even the slightest embarrassment? And having a friend in Sir Paul wasn’t going to hurt, either. So Paul was woken up and moved the the Lusitania’s medical bay and some money changed hands. Sir Paul was very appreciative. He told us the rest of the story, how his bodyguard has noticed something funny going on, had been injured in the bridge after confronting the captain. How he, Sir Paul, had tried to get all the passengers together and to safety when Suwa, posing as an innocent victim, had revealed his true colours and shot him from behind. He managed to get away and decided to save the family honour by throwing himself into the water. He was washed up on the wreck and he can’t remember anymore.Captain Wright from the Arbellatra assumed command of the station until a replacement could be found and we worked out the rest of our contract, which technically ended on the 16th of the year but we were kept on until the 27th and left 028-1081 on board the Arbellatra.</blockquote>

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