T20 Traveller - The Kursis Charter (complete Aug 8th 2005)
Morte
Explorer
Act VII: The Pay Off - Kleister Beta
Date: 266-993 to 269-993 Imperial.
Location: Kleister Beta (uninhabited far binary companion white dwarf), 069-526 System (0721).
“Right, we’re into polar mapping orbit. Scans ready?” Silea shot a glance at Sir David.
“They’re working away. The system should squawk when it finds something. I’ll watch it for a while, make sure it’s tuned right.”
“OK, I’m going for a kip. I think Maelcum’s next on comm watch.”
…
Maelcum looked out at the lonely gas giant, known as Lisiik Gara, and compared it to the one that hung over Liar’s Oath. “It’s pretty calm compared to home. Most of the storms are just big enough to lose a planet in. You couldn’t get the moons in with them.”
“If you want storms, the sensor log’s got some real biggies” replied Sir David.
…
“We got a ping. There’s something dense on radar down there.”
It was two and a half days into the search, two thirds of the way around the planet, and Fish was doing a turn on the bridge when the sensors triggered their alert. The rest of the Avaricious joined him quickly, Sir David taking the sensor console.
“That pings like superdense. It’s a ship hull.”
“How big is it?” Fish asked.
“Pretty big. Bigger than us. Hard to say without characterising the gas for radar absorption. But it’s of the right order for Vraidercalt, certainly.
“And how deep?”
“Deeper than we’d skim, but we can operate down there if we fly slowly.”
“We’ll have to treat it as atmospheric flight rather than vacuum ballistics” mused Silea. “It’s on the equator, so it’s probably on an equatorial flight path. So we’re crossing that path at right angles. If we can plot its vector on this pass, I’ll set up an approach for the next time around.” Silea was already playing with wire frame orbital projections on the astrogation suite.
…
Four hours later they were ready to dive into the gas.
“There’s some mucky weather coming” said Sir David, looking at his plots. “But it should pass us by unless it veers.”
“Alright, lets go have a look. You folks prepare for boarding.” Silea hit “go” on her de-orbit program and the Avarice Rewarded, which was flying upside down for better sensor visibility, arced in towards the dim blue gas giant.
They picked up a transponder signal halfway in. “It’s definitely Vraidercalt”, Silea sent over the ship’s comm, “and it’s got enough power for a transponder.”
…
Avarice Rewarded closed within a kilometre of the abandoned ship. Fish and Maelcum got ready at the airlock in their heavy environment suits and other boarding gear. Sir David clomped back to the bridge to finesse the sensors. Luan put her normal suit on, minus helmet and gloves, and set up med lab. Silea made minute corrections in the shifting winds.
“Let’s see if this thing works.” Sir David fired up their upgraded phased array radar and got a picture of the Vraidercalt, which was still invisible to the eye. He spoke a running commentary to the rest of the crew.
“Affirmative, picture is clean and clear, unlike the Malfeasant… I can see combat damage on the hull. Must be from the pirate attack before they misjumped. I’ve also got a wobble, looks like their contragrav is not too stable. OK, Silea, let’s do that ring around it…”
“Loading bay on this side looks undamaged, but we’ll have to go EVA for that. Over the top we go… There’s a dorsal airlock. Geometry is OK, we could dock to that. The bay for the launch is empty; there’s probably an intact airlock in there but it’s another EVA job. Other side now… Oh, that looks nasty. Big hole in the lower port side. I’ve no idea what made that. Underneath… Well. Now that’s downright weird. You got any ideas on that Silea?”
“No. It’s like something dissolved the bottom of the ship.”
“I hope that’s not where the loot was” Fish muttered to Maelcum.
“Let’s come back around to the top and dock” Sir David decided. “Are you OK with that, Silea?”
Silea eyed the 1000 dtons of wobbly freighter, and said “let’s do this nice and slow.”
…
* CLUNK *
“We’re docked. Attitude thrusters are moving us in time with Vraidercalt. Hang onto your lunch when you get through that airlock, guys, the deckplates may not be working on the other side.”
Sir David made his way back to the airlock. The expedition team checked all their suit seals and cracked the hatch.
Date: 266-993 to 269-993 Imperial.
Location: Kleister Beta (uninhabited far binary companion white dwarf), 069-526 System (0721).
“Right, we’re into polar mapping orbit. Scans ready?” Silea shot a glance at Sir David.
“They’re working away. The system should squawk when it finds something. I’ll watch it for a while, make sure it’s tuned right.”
“OK, I’m going for a kip. I think Maelcum’s next on comm watch.”
…
Maelcum looked out at the lonely gas giant, known as Lisiik Gara, and compared it to the one that hung over Liar’s Oath. “It’s pretty calm compared to home. Most of the storms are just big enough to lose a planet in. You couldn’t get the moons in with them.”
“If you want storms, the sensor log’s got some real biggies” replied Sir David.
…
“We got a ping. There’s something dense on radar down there.”
It was two and a half days into the search, two thirds of the way around the planet, and Fish was doing a turn on the bridge when the sensors triggered their alert. The rest of the Avaricious joined him quickly, Sir David taking the sensor console.
“That pings like superdense. It’s a ship hull.”
“How big is it?” Fish asked.
“Pretty big. Bigger than us. Hard to say without characterising the gas for radar absorption. But it’s of the right order for Vraidercalt, certainly.
“And how deep?”
“Deeper than we’d skim, but we can operate down there if we fly slowly.”
“We’ll have to treat it as atmospheric flight rather than vacuum ballistics” mused Silea. “It’s on the equator, so it’s probably on an equatorial flight path. So we’re crossing that path at right angles. If we can plot its vector on this pass, I’ll set up an approach for the next time around.” Silea was already playing with wire frame orbital projections on the astrogation suite.
…
Four hours later they were ready to dive into the gas.
“There’s some mucky weather coming” said Sir David, looking at his plots. “But it should pass us by unless it veers.”
“Alright, lets go have a look. You folks prepare for boarding.” Silea hit “go” on her de-orbit program and the Avarice Rewarded, which was flying upside down for better sensor visibility, arced in towards the dim blue gas giant.
They picked up a transponder signal halfway in. “It’s definitely Vraidercalt”, Silea sent over the ship’s comm, “and it’s got enough power for a transponder.”
…
Avarice Rewarded closed within a kilometre of the abandoned ship. Fish and Maelcum got ready at the airlock in their heavy environment suits and other boarding gear. Sir David clomped back to the bridge to finesse the sensors. Luan put her normal suit on, minus helmet and gloves, and set up med lab. Silea made minute corrections in the shifting winds.
“Let’s see if this thing works.” Sir David fired up their upgraded phased array radar and got a picture of the Vraidercalt, which was still invisible to the eye. He spoke a running commentary to the rest of the crew.
“Affirmative, picture is clean and clear, unlike the Malfeasant… I can see combat damage on the hull. Must be from the pirate attack before they misjumped. I’ve also got a wobble, looks like their contragrav is not too stable. OK, Silea, let’s do that ring around it…”
“Loading bay on this side looks undamaged, but we’ll have to go EVA for that. Over the top we go… There’s a dorsal airlock. Geometry is OK, we could dock to that. The bay for the launch is empty; there’s probably an intact airlock in there but it’s another EVA job. Other side now… Oh, that looks nasty. Big hole in the lower port side. I’ve no idea what made that. Underneath… Well. Now that’s downright weird. You got any ideas on that Silea?”
“No. It’s like something dissolved the bottom of the ship.”
“I hope that’s not where the loot was” Fish muttered to Maelcum.
“Let’s come back around to the top and dock” Sir David decided. “Are you OK with that, Silea?”
Silea eyed the 1000 dtons of wobbly freighter, and said “let’s do this nice and slow.”
…
* CLUNK *
“We’re docked. Attitude thrusters are moving us in time with Vraidercalt. Hang onto your lunch when you get through that airlock, guys, the deckplates may not be working on the other side.”
Sir David made his way back to the airlock. The expedition team checked all their suit seals and cracked the hatch.
Last edited:
More great updates, Morte. You sure have picked up the pacing quite a bit. Which is fine, but I did chuckle when you went to warp speed (er, stutterwarp?) with this bit:
Silea eyed the 1000 dtons of wobbly freighter, and said “let’s do this nice and slow.”
* CLUNK *
“We’re docked."
Silea eyed the 1000 dtons of wobbly freighter, and said “let’s do this nice and slow.”
* CLUNK *
“We’re docked."
Morte
Explorer
Act VII: The Pay Off - Vraidercalt
Date: 269-993 Imperial.
Location: abandoned freighter Vraidercalt, Kleister Beta (uninhabited far binary companion white dwarf), 069-526 System (0721).
“For a place with artificial ‘gravity’, it sure is hard to stay on the ground.” Maelcum enjoyed a rare opportunity to bitch instead of acting unperturbed in front of the troops.
Vraidercalt’s contragravity system, which was meant to null the 4.7g external pull of the gas giant below, was fluctuating between 4.4 and 4.7g every 20 seconds. Meanwhile the ship’s deckplate box, which should set 1g internally and compensate for pull from manoeuvres, was dead altogether. So the Avaricious were moving around in the fluctuating 0-0.3g from the planet that made it through contragrav. And the whole ship was bumping around in time with the turbulent atmosphere, with no deckplates to cancel the motion.
“I never liked gravity” said Fish. “I usually wish somebody would uninvent it. But an extra half gee would be quite handy right now.”
“I shouldn’t have made chilli” said Sir David.
…
They were on the upper deck of three, which appeared to hold crew quarters and ship systems plus a galley and canteen. Junk lay around like a hurricane had recently been through, though there was thankfully no hurricane – not on this deck, at least. The red emergency lighting was still working, augmented by their torches and helmet beams which jolted around in time with the motion. The lights mixed eerily in the blue gas.
The plan was to take a look round the ship, identify priority salvage, and then return to Avarice Rewarded for trolleys etc. They’d also evaluate the possibility of salvaging the whole ship at a later date.
“First, the bridge” Sir David declared. “Let’s see if we can get a log, or a cargo manifest, or a deck plan.” He pointed to his left “It should be that way.”
They passed the canteen. “Oh man, that’s weird” said Maelcum, as a fore-aft lurch synched with a contragrav peak and a set of loose knives and forks flew past his faceplate.
The team moved on, and didn’t see the cutlery fly back the other way a minute later.
…
“OK, you’re the spacers. So tell me why there’s a big hole with wavy edges in that door.” Maelcum spoke first as the trio faced the armoured, anti-hijack door to Vraidercalt’s bridge.
“And why does it show smooth edges, no impact deformation, and no surrounding paint bubbles from conducted heat?” Fish got down on his knees to peer at it.
“Any claw or teeth marks?” asked Sir David.
“No, of course there aren’t any claw or…”
“Well, it’s not giant space hamsters then. Can you squeeze through it and get the door opened from the other side, instead of spending twenty minutes overriding security?”
…
Fish opened the bridge door from inside and waved the others in. “Now this place is really creepy” he said.
Vraidercalt’s bridge was capacious, with six consoles plus a conference table, fresher and drinks machine. The fittings looked soft, almost ghostly in the red lighting and blue mist. They jumped out hard and sharp as the team played their white lights around.
It only took a few seconds to find the first body parts. A minute later, they’d spotted quite a few, mostly wedged in corners or under chairs. They added up to about one person, but they came from three or four original owners. Fish did a lot of hard swallowing and said “This is not good.”
Maelcum looked things over. The remains were down to bones and scraps of flesh, ligament or clothing. “I think they died before they were cut up. Their hearts must have stopped, there’s not much blood around. Or maybe it evaporated at this pressure…”
“Am I imagining it, or is that hand holding an electric carving knife?” Sir David put in.
“Yes,” said Maelcum, and the blade has sort of melted. Look at this, Fish.”
Fish gave Maelcum an evil look and came over to get a better look at the severed arm. “That’s an acid or solvent splash. Something sprayed a powerful solvent around here.” He stood up, and turned to face the other two.
“We’ve got critters here, haven’t we.”
There was a general readying of weapons.
…
Fish had a go at the computer and control systems, and found insufficient power to do anything. Sir David went looking for visible clues and found a set of neatly framed deckplans for Vraidercalt decorating one wall. Maelcum watched the hole in the door.
Sir David studied his deckplan. “There’s a secure area off the main cargo hold on the lower deck, at the aft end, beside the engineering space. I think that’s us.”
Fish came and looked. “Yeah. The cargo bay could be jammed with cargo, and it might have shifted. Also there was that big hole we saw from outside. Why don’t we drop a level and walk aft along the passenger deck, so we’ll get a look at that, then drop again and we should be at the rear end of the hold.”
“Let’s do it.”
…
Another deck, another corridor. This one was a relatively empty, long corridor between long rows of passenger staterooms. They winched a few doors open and found the staterooms empty, with no signs of passengers. Apparently Vraidercalt had not found many passengers on its last voyage. At the aft end they found opposing large doors with signs reading “Low Passage” and “Gymnasium”.
There was nothing of note in the gym.
“I suppose we ought to check.” Fish hooked a thumb at the low passage area and they went in. It was filled with rows of low berths, the vertically oriented type. Most of them were empty but there was a cluster of six that contained humans… …or parts of them. Four looked like they’d been eaten away, eroded, or as Fish put it “as if they were made of chocolate and somebody poured a vat of boiling water on them.” It was pretty much like the damage on the bridge.
The other two looked intact, and their indicators said they were functional and contained live sophonts.
“Uh oh,” said Maelcum, “I thought that log said they got everybody who was alive into the launch. Looks like somebody lied.”
Sir David asked “Fish, can we power those back on the ship?”
Fish played his torch over a few power connectors, throwing bizarre shadows. “Yeah, no problem. I can get the tools to uncouple them when we go back for the cargo sled.”
“I’ll warn Luan they’re coming then. We’ll take them back later.”
…
They came to the bulkhead door that isolated the stairs and lift shaft. Fish eyed it carefully. “It looks sealed. With the breach on the lower hull, we might start a gale when I open this. I’m going to pop the needle valve first.” He opened a small valve by the door, which was there to check for smoke or unequal pressure on the other side. He shone his torch across the valve, looking for turbulence. “No gas flow. Opening her up.” The door dilated.
“Right, let’s have a look at that secure cargo store”. Sir David rubbed his hands together and stepped through the hatch onto a steel mesh spiral staircase, where a cross between a giant jellyfish and a cloud darted down from above and tried to swallow his head. It whipped tendrils down to lash at him, incidentally clipping the doorframe and leaving a smoking gouge about 1cm deep. Fortunately, his Cr 140,000 hostile environment suit was made of sterner stuff. The tendrils only left surface abrasions.
Maelcum was first to react, raising his shotgun and pumping a couple of rounds over Sir David’s head. He calmly reported the contact back to Avarice Rewarded between shots.
Sir David started to move, then saw Fish pointing a gun over his head and stood very still. Fish got one useful shot off. Like Maelcum’s, it punched a tight hole through the cloud creature and tore the covering off the wall behind it. The effect on their new enemy was about the same – not much. Diaphanous flesh (for want of a better term) closed over the holes in its midriff, while the creature’s business end finished swallowing Sir David’s head. A ring of very scary green liquid slid down his neck towards the seal, raising a wall of steam as it tried to cut through the suit.
A stray tendril whipped out and took the tip off Fish’s shotgun barrel. Maelcum took two paces backwards. “Everybody stand still” he said over comm, in a voice that brooked no argument.
There were three darker green nodes in the mass of cloud over Sir David. Each was about the size of a fist. None were stationary. Maelcum took slow aimed shots, leaning into his shotgun as the gravity waned on its 20 second cycle. The first and fourth hit nodes, and when the second node went the cloud suddenly decided it wanted to be somewhere else. Maelcum barked “David, step out. Fish, close the bulkhead and then reload.” He reloaded his own shotgun.
By the time Sir David was through the door Maelcum had a suit diagnostic and repair kit out. “Let’s have a look at you” he said, plugging in a probe.
“Well, that’ll be what the shock prods were for then” said Fish.
“Oh, that’s it” groaned Sir David.
“We’ll go back and get them once I’m sure you’re not going to leak” said Maelcum. “Then we can finish this.”
Date: 269-993 Imperial.
Location: abandoned freighter Vraidercalt, Kleister Beta (uninhabited far binary companion white dwarf), 069-526 System (0721).
“For a place with artificial ‘gravity’, it sure is hard to stay on the ground.” Maelcum enjoyed a rare opportunity to bitch instead of acting unperturbed in front of the troops.
Vraidercalt’s contragravity system, which was meant to null the 4.7g external pull of the gas giant below, was fluctuating between 4.4 and 4.7g every 20 seconds. Meanwhile the ship’s deckplate box, which should set 1g internally and compensate for pull from manoeuvres, was dead altogether. So the Avaricious were moving around in the fluctuating 0-0.3g from the planet that made it through contragrav. And the whole ship was bumping around in time with the turbulent atmosphere, with no deckplates to cancel the motion.
“I never liked gravity” said Fish. “I usually wish somebody would uninvent it. But an extra half gee would be quite handy right now.”
“I shouldn’t have made chilli” said Sir David.
…
They were on the upper deck of three, which appeared to hold crew quarters and ship systems plus a galley and canteen. Junk lay around like a hurricane had recently been through, though there was thankfully no hurricane – not on this deck, at least. The red emergency lighting was still working, augmented by their torches and helmet beams which jolted around in time with the motion. The lights mixed eerily in the blue gas.
The plan was to take a look round the ship, identify priority salvage, and then return to Avarice Rewarded for trolleys etc. They’d also evaluate the possibility of salvaging the whole ship at a later date.
“First, the bridge” Sir David declared. “Let’s see if we can get a log, or a cargo manifest, or a deck plan.” He pointed to his left “It should be that way.”
They passed the canteen. “Oh man, that’s weird” said Maelcum, as a fore-aft lurch synched with a contragrav peak and a set of loose knives and forks flew past his faceplate.
The team moved on, and didn’t see the cutlery fly back the other way a minute later.
…
“OK, you’re the spacers. So tell me why there’s a big hole with wavy edges in that door.” Maelcum spoke first as the trio faced the armoured, anti-hijack door to Vraidercalt’s bridge.
“And why does it show smooth edges, no impact deformation, and no surrounding paint bubbles from conducted heat?” Fish got down on his knees to peer at it.
“Any claw or teeth marks?” asked Sir David.
“No, of course there aren’t any claw or…”
“Well, it’s not giant space hamsters then. Can you squeeze through it and get the door opened from the other side, instead of spending twenty minutes overriding security?”
…
Fish opened the bridge door from inside and waved the others in. “Now this place is really creepy” he said.
Vraidercalt’s bridge was capacious, with six consoles plus a conference table, fresher and drinks machine. The fittings looked soft, almost ghostly in the red lighting and blue mist. They jumped out hard and sharp as the team played their white lights around.
It only took a few seconds to find the first body parts. A minute later, they’d spotted quite a few, mostly wedged in corners or under chairs. They added up to about one person, but they came from three or four original owners. Fish did a lot of hard swallowing and said “This is not good.”
Maelcum looked things over. The remains were down to bones and scraps of flesh, ligament or clothing. “I think they died before they were cut up. Their hearts must have stopped, there’s not much blood around. Or maybe it evaporated at this pressure…”
“Am I imagining it, or is that hand holding an electric carving knife?” Sir David put in.
“Yes,” said Maelcum, and the blade has sort of melted. Look at this, Fish.”
Fish gave Maelcum an evil look and came over to get a better look at the severed arm. “That’s an acid or solvent splash. Something sprayed a powerful solvent around here.” He stood up, and turned to face the other two.
“We’ve got critters here, haven’t we.”
There was a general readying of weapons.
…
Fish had a go at the computer and control systems, and found insufficient power to do anything. Sir David went looking for visible clues and found a set of neatly framed deckplans for Vraidercalt decorating one wall. Maelcum watched the hole in the door.
Sir David studied his deckplan. “There’s a secure area off the main cargo hold on the lower deck, at the aft end, beside the engineering space. I think that’s us.”
Fish came and looked. “Yeah. The cargo bay could be jammed with cargo, and it might have shifted. Also there was that big hole we saw from outside. Why don’t we drop a level and walk aft along the passenger deck, so we’ll get a look at that, then drop again and we should be at the rear end of the hold.”
“Let’s do it.”
…
Another deck, another corridor. This one was a relatively empty, long corridor between long rows of passenger staterooms. They winched a few doors open and found the staterooms empty, with no signs of passengers. Apparently Vraidercalt had not found many passengers on its last voyage. At the aft end they found opposing large doors with signs reading “Low Passage” and “Gymnasium”.
There was nothing of note in the gym.
“I suppose we ought to check.” Fish hooked a thumb at the low passage area and they went in. It was filled with rows of low berths, the vertically oriented type. Most of them were empty but there was a cluster of six that contained humans… …or parts of them. Four looked like they’d been eaten away, eroded, or as Fish put it “as if they were made of chocolate and somebody poured a vat of boiling water on them.” It was pretty much like the damage on the bridge.
The other two looked intact, and their indicators said they were functional and contained live sophonts.
“Uh oh,” said Maelcum, “I thought that log said they got everybody who was alive into the launch. Looks like somebody lied.”
Sir David asked “Fish, can we power those back on the ship?”
Fish played his torch over a few power connectors, throwing bizarre shadows. “Yeah, no problem. I can get the tools to uncouple them when we go back for the cargo sled.”
“I’ll warn Luan they’re coming then. We’ll take them back later.”
…
They came to the bulkhead door that isolated the stairs and lift shaft. Fish eyed it carefully. “It looks sealed. With the breach on the lower hull, we might start a gale when I open this. I’m going to pop the needle valve first.” He opened a small valve by the door, which was there to check for smoke or unequal pressure on the other side. He shone his torch across the valve, looking for turbulence. “No gas flow. Opening her up.” The door dilated.
“Right, let’s have a look at that secure cargo store”. Sir David rubbed his hands together and stepped through the hatch onto a steel mesh spiral staircase, where a cross between a giant jellyfish and a cloud darted down from above and tried to swallow his head. It whipped tendrils down to lash at him, incidentally clipping the doorframe and leaving a smoking gouge about 1cm deep. Fortunately, his Cr 140,000 hostile environment suit was made of sterner stuff. The tendrils only left surface abrasions.
Maelcum was first to react, raising his shotgun and pumping a couple of rounds over Sir David’s head. He calmly reported the contact back to Avarice Rewarded between shots.
Sir David started to move, then saw Fish pointing a gun over his head and stood very still. Fish got one useful shot off. Like Maelcum’s, it punched a tight hole through the cloud creature and tore the covering off the wall behind it. The effect on their new enemy was about the same – not much. Diaphanous flesh (for want of a better term) closed over the holes in its midriff, while the creature’s business end finished swallowing Sir David’s head. A ring of very scary green liquid slid down his neck towards the seal, raising a wall of steam as it tried to cut through the suit.
A stray tendril whipped out and took the tip off Fish’s shotgun barrel. Maelcum took two paces backwards. “Everybody stand still” he said over comm, in a voice that brooked no argument.
There were three darker green nodes in the mass of cloud over Sir David. Each was about the size of a fist. None were stationary. Maelcum took slow aimed shots, leaning into his shotgun as the gravity waned on its 20 second cycle. The first and fourth hit nodes, and when the second node went the cloud suddenly decided it wanted to be somewhere else. Maelcum barked “David, step out. Fish, close the bulkhead and then reload.” He reloaded his own shotgun.
By the time Sir David was through the door Maelcum had a suit diagnostic and repair kit out. “Let’s have a look at you” he said, plugging in a probe.
“Well, that’ll be what the shock prods were for then” said Fish.
“Oh, that’s it” groaned Sir David.
“We’ll go back and get them once I’m sure you’re not going to leak” said Maelcum. “Then we can finish this.”
Morte
Explorer
Act VII: The Pay Off - All Over Bar The Looting
Date: 269-993 Imperial.
Location: abandoned freighter Vraidercalt, Kleister Beta (uninhabited far binary companion white dwarf), 069-526 System (0721).
The clouds didn’t like electric shocks one bit. They didn’t like being sprayed with a paint gun loaded with bleach from the cupboard under the sink in the galley, either. The alkali pretty much exploded on contact.
The avaricious met three more of the creatures, driving two away and dropping a third to the deck. As they examined the body, it seemed to regenerate. Maelcum fairly shredded it to make it stay dead.
And then they were through the last door into the cargo bay, on the bottom deck. It still seemed in fairly good order – the cargo was all in standard 4 dton shipping containers, and they were properly bolted down. There was some wind gusting around, presumably from the hull breach which was out of sight behind containers, but not the hurricane they’d feared.
Everybody clipped on a safety line (and hoped the clouds didn’t eat it) as they made the short transit to the secure hold. Fish opened it with thermite bricks and extreme prejudice.
“Property of Ling Standard Products. Machine tools. Precision equipment. Handle with care.” Sir David read the stencils off the stack of completely non-standard boxes that filled most of the room.
“Is that valuable?” asked Maelcum.
Fish walked up for a closer look. “It is when it’s assembly and test rigs for their current model anti-gravity nodules. They’d be worth a fair bit to Ling.”
“And a lot more to their competitors” added Sir David.
They loaded the first few boxes on a trolley and headed back.
…
It took four trips and about forty minutes to get the boxes out of the hold, up the stairs, and onto Avarice Rewarded. Two clouds hit them on the stairs on the third trip, a near-perfect ambush while they had their hands full, and they lost one box. Everybody thought the ambush was a bit clever for gas-dwelling jellyfish, but nobody wanted to say the word “intelligent” aloud.
Then they back went to the bridge and blew the safe in the captain’s office, recovering the holocrystal which held the captain’s log. The eighty thousand credits in cash and assorted passenger jewellery were, of course, incidental.
Sir David recapped the remainder of the plan. “Alright, next we get those low berths off. Then we can go and start stripping fittings. We’ll do the computer and the turrets first, then survey the power plant and drives in case it’s worth bringing a proper salvage vessel back for something. I don’t think this hull is going to be worth the cost of recovering it.”
…
Fish was hanging upside down from the strut work around the low berths, while the others kept guard. He yanked on a wrench and complained “These bolts go on forever. Anybody would think they’re supposed to hold the thing in place.”
“Could you use another thermite brick?” asked Maelcum.
“I’m not sure how well it will mix with a freezer system. Besides, I’ve only got four left and we might find another safe that needs…”
“Bridge to away team, we have a contact. Do you copy?” Silea’s voice broke through on comm.
“Go ahead” replied Sir David.
“It’s just broken out of that storm that was passing and it’s coming right at us. It’s big but faint. The other sensors don’t work in the gas.”
“How big is ‘big’?”
“Ten to fifteen kilometres across. It dopplers, like it’s not quite making a constant speed.”
“That’s the big granddaddy cloud,” Maelcum cut in.
“How long do we have, Silea?” asked Sir David.
“About twenty minutes.”
Fish pushed himself away from the back of the low berths, looked at the other two, and said “so it’s thermite time after all?”
He got very busy.
…
“Lock sealed” yelled Sir David as he pushed the second low berth into the corridor and went slamming into the far wall with it.
“Undocking.” Silea’s voice came back, followed by a minute lurch. “Mains in five, four, three, two, one, we’re go. Pulling away, two gee. OK, you’ve got ninety seconds to come to the bridge and watch that thing swallow Vraidercalt. Or chase us.”
“Record it for me” panted Fish, who was lying flat on his back in the corridor with his suit oxygen turned up, “I’ll get my breath back first.”
…
Silea put them into a fast orbit. The next time they came around, Vraidercalt was gone.
Date: 269-993 Imperial.
Location: abandoned freighter Vraidercalt, Kleister Beta (uninhabited far binary companion white dwarf), 069-526 System (0721).
The clouds didn’t like electric shocks one bit. They didn’t like being sprayed with a paint gun loaded with bleach from the cupboard under the sink in the galley, either. The alkali pretty much exploded on contact.
The avaricious met three more of the creatures, driving two away and dropping a third to the deck. As they examined the body, it seemed to regenerate. Maelcum fairly shredded it to make it stay dead.
And then they were through the last door into the cargo bay, on the bottom deck. It still seemed in fairly good order – the cargo was all in standard 4 dton shipping containers, and they were properly bolted down. There was some wind gusting around, presumably from the hull breach which was out of sight behind containers, but not the hurricane they’d feared.
Everybody clipped on a safety line (and hoped the clouds didn’t eat it) as they made the short transit to the secure hold. Fish opened it with thermite bricks and extreme prejudice.
“Property of Ling Standard Products. Machine tools. Precision equipment. Handle with care.” Sir David read the stencils off the stack of completely non-standard boxes that filled most of the room.
“Is that valuable?” asked Maelcum.
Fish walked up for a closer look. “It is when it’s assembly and test rigs for their current model anti-gravity nodules. They’d be worth a fair bit to Ling.”
“And a lot more to their competitors” added Sir David.
They loaded the first few boxes on a trolley and headed back.
…
It took four trips and about forty minutes to get the boxes out of the hold, up the stairs, and onto Avarice Rewarded. Two clouds hit them on the stairs on the third trip, a near-perfect ambush while they had their hands full, and they lost one box. Everybody thought the ambush was a bit clever for gas-dwelling jellyfish, but nobody wanted to say the word “intelligent” aloud.
Then they back went to the bridge and blew the safe in the captain’s office, recovering the holocrystal which held the captain’s log. The eighty thousand credits in cash and assorted passenger jewellery were, of course, incidental.
Sir David recapped the remainder of the plan. “Alright, next we get those low berths off. Then we can go and start stripping fittings. We’ll do the computer and the turrets first, then survey the power plant and drives in case it’s worth bringing a proper salvage vessel back for something. I don’t think this hull is going to be worth the cost of recovering it.”
…
Fish was hanging upside down from the strut work around the low berths, while the others kept guard. He yanked on a wrench and complained “These bolts go on forever. Anybody would think they’re supposed to hold the thing in place.”
“Could you use another thermite brick?” asked Maelcum.
“I’m not sure how well it will mix with a freezer system. Besides, I’ve only got four left and we might find another safe that needs…”
“Bridge to away team, we have a contact. Do you copy?” Silea’s voice broke through on comm.
“Go ahead” replied Sir David.
“It’s just broken out of that storm that was passing and it’s coming right at us. It’s big but faint. The other sensors don’t work in the gas.”
“How big is ‘big’?”
“Ten to fifteen kilometres across. It dopplers, like it’s not quite making a constant speed.”
“That’s the big granddaddy cloud,” Maelcum cut in.
“How long do we have, Silea?” asked Sir David.
“About twenty minutes.”
Fish pushed himself away from the back of the low berths, looked at the other two, and said “so it’s thermite time after all?”
He got very busy.
…
“Lock sealed” yelled Sir David as he pushed the second low berth into the corridor and went slamming into the far wall with it.
“Undocking.” Silea’s voice came back, followed by a minute lurch. “Mains in five, four, three, two, one, we’re go. Pulling away, two gee. OK, you’ve got ninety seconds to come to the bridge and watch that thing swallow Vraidercalt. Or chase us.”
“Record it for me” panted Fish, who was lying flat on his back in the corridor with his suit oxygen turned up, “I’ll get my breath back first.”
…
Silea put them into a fast orbit. The next time they came around, Vraidercalt was gone.
Morte
Explorer
Act VII: The Pay Off - Onward Bound
Date: 283-993 Imperial.
Location: a nice restaurant, Sentry System (0921).
Six days on Sentry, back from the salvage, and it was time to touch base with each other. The swapped stories and laughter over dinner, and then it was time for business. Luan reeled off the figures.
“We sold the machine tools back to Ling in the end. They offered 15,000 a box and a 20,000 exclusivity fee, if we swore an affidavit saying that last box was destroyed during the salvage. We got them up to 17,000 for the boxes. So that’s 411,000 for the boxes, plus 91,000 in cash and sundries. Take off 8,000 for suit repairs, 18,000 lost reselling the two suits we bought for the salvage, and 1,000 in legal costs. The gross was 485,000.”
“We agreed on 50% to the ship and split the rest between us, so we’re all 48,500 richer.”
“And the ship’s part pays for the fuel purifier…” put in Sir David.
“… leaving a decent trading fund in place for continued business” finished Luan.
Everybody nodded and smiled. It was a fraction better than they’d reckoned on the way home.
…
“So, are you two going to spend it how you thought?” Sir David looked at Silea and the Fish.
“Yes,” said Silea. “It’s Daramm for us. We’ll get the gene splicing and I’ll put a few ova in the freezer. Then off to my family – who’re down to twenty-five or so at the moment – and I’ll bear the first child, or maybe two.”
“Sorry to leave you without the crew…” started Fish.
“No worries,” said Sir David. “I can fly Avarice Rewarded if I stick to easy stuff, and Sentry’s so busy I’m sure we can hire an engineer. I met this Ursa from Rising who might be interested…”
…
“And what about you two?” Silea looked back at Luan and Sir David.
“Well,” said Sir David as he took hold of Luan’s hand on the table and shot her a smile, “Luan did say she wanted to see sunrise on Gateway Station. It seems like as good a direction to trade in as any. We can get there in a year, near enough.”
“We’ll need good security, of course, out there in the wilds beyond the empire.” Luan gestured at Maelcum with her other hand. “I wonder if a certain Major Maelcum Rivers is available?”
Maelcum took a sip from his drink. “I think the Star-Merc business can wait a couple of years, Miss Derhayenne.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Well, I think that’s in the bag.” Sir David stood, and raised his glass.
“To Avarice, which has Rewarded us with love and children and more stars to wander.”
Date: 283-993 Imperial.
Location: a nice restaurant, Sentry System (0921).
Six days on Sentry, back from the salvage, and it was time to touch base with each other. The swapped stories and laughter over dinner, and then it was time for business. Luan reeled off the figures.
“We sold the machine tools back to Ling in the end. They offered 15,000 a box and a 20,000 exclusivity fee, if we swore an affidavit saying that last box was destroyed during the salvage. We got them up to 17,000 for the boxes. So that’s 411,000 for the boxes, plus 91,000 in cash and sundries. Take off 8,000 for suit repairs, 18,000 lost reselling the two suits we bought for the salvage, and 1,000 in legal costs. The gross was 485,000.”
“We agreed on 50% to the ship and split the rest between us, so we’re all 48,500 richer.”
“And the ship’s part pays for the fuel purifier…” put in Sir David.
“… leaving a decent trading fund in place for continued business” finished Luan.
Everybody nodded and smiled. It was a fraction better than they’d reckoned on the way home.
…
“So, are you two going to spend it how you thought?” Sir David looked at Silea and the Fish.
“Yes,” said Silea. “It’s Daramm for us. We’ll get the gene splicing and I’ll put a few ova in the freezer. Then off to my family – who’re down to twenty-five or so at the moment – and I’ll bear the first child, or maybe two.”
“Sorry to leave you without the crew…” started Fish.
“No worries,” said Sir David. “I can fly Avarice Rewarded if I stick to easy stuff, and Sentry’s so busy I’m sure we can hire an engineer. I met this Ursa from Rising who might be interested…”
…
“And what about you two?” Silea looked back at Luan and Sir David.
“Well,” said Sir David as he took hold of Luan’s hand on the table and shot her a smile, “Luan did say she wanted to see sunrise on Gateway Station. It seems like as good a direction to trade in as any. We can get there in a year, near enough.”
“We’ll need good security, of course, out there in the wilds beyond the empire.” Luan gestured at Maelcum with her other hand. “I wonder if a certain Major Maelcum Rivers is available?”
Maelcum took a sip from his drink. “I think the Star-Merc business can wait a couple of years, Miss Derhayenne.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Well, I think that’s in the bag.” Sir David stood, and raised his glass.
“To Avarice, which has Rewarded us with love and children and more stars to wander.”
THE END
Mishihari Lord
First Post
I've enjoyed your story hour. Thanks for the ride.
Any chance you'll do another T20?
Any chance you'll do another T20?
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