Shadowdancer
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[cornholio mode]"The streets will run with the blood of the nonbelievers."[/cornholio mode] 
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Traveller T20: Tales of the Bray Keaven [Updated 12-20-05]
- Thread starter Shadowdancer
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Shadowdancer
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Thanks, and glad you are enjoying the story hour.Burocrate said:
Shadowdancer
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Chapter XIII
Date: 166-993
Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven and the Oser, Sentry system
Outside the Bray Keaven, Martha continues patching the hull underneath the bridge. After she is finished (probably in another 30 minutes or so), the Bray Keaven should be patched well enough to make a jump or enter an atmosphere though the patch isn't a permanent one at this point.
-----
On board the Oser, Swann starts to inspect the portacomp. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a data storage device on him. So he erases one of the romance vid disks in order to store any information he may find and want to copy. While setting up the portacomp, he notices it has an external attachment of some sort, possibly an antenna. He knows portacomps normally come with a built–in, short–range antenna for wireless networks. If this attachment is an antenna, it is something else entirely.
The portacomp has a security system installed, but getting through the system isn’t a problem for Swann. He pokes around a bit and discovers an application that displays a long pair of characters, each followed by a distance in meters and a heading. The distance and heading are near identical and correspond roughly to the starboard smuggling hold aboard the Bray Keaven. Swann shuts down the application and then proceeds to copy anything that looks like it might be interesting to the romance vid disk for later inspection.
Vasilii watches over Swann’s shoulder as he works the portacomp, out of curiosity as much as to be a witness to corroborate that no changes were made to the portacomp, should it be legally necessary. After noticing the unknown antenna attached to the portacomp, Vasilii says in a low voice, "Is there something in this thing’s operating system that describes, or at least lists, all the peripherals that are plugged into it?"
"Next on my to–do list." Swann checks the OS for a list of peripherals, and anything else that might indicate what the antenna-looking attachment is.
Ian and Saro continue discussing trying to drug Guderin for information. At this point, Eric wakes up and starts trying to squirm around until Ian kicks him.
On board the Bray Keaven, Vargas leaves the bridge to go check on Aidan. He finds Mr. Silver calmly reading a copy of "Imperial Law Review: Diaspora Sector" on his bunk with an annoyingly innocent look on his face.
Seeing the look on Silver's face, Vargas breaks into a big goofy grin as if to say "Yeah, I got your number and I’m not going to let it bother me."
-----
On the bridge, Kevon communicates with the SNS Fallow’s Knife. He is still getting an audio–only signal through the patched communications link. "Thank you, Bray Keaven, for powering down your weapons. What is your status?"
Kevon relays the current status including that the prisoners are secured, though one is in need of medical attention.
"We’re glad to hear that you’re still in control of your vessel. Our ship’s boat will dock with the Oser’s rear airlock. Be aware that our Marines will be lethally armed. When we are in the airlock, we will announce that the Marines are onboard. At that point, we expect your people to lay down their weapons and step away from them. The Fallow’s Knife will take up a guard position until our boarding party has secured the Oser. Lieutenant Darlow, my XO, will be commanding the boarding party. Docking ETA 20 minutes."
"Understood. Bray Keaven out," the lieutenant commander answers, immediately switching to internal comms and relaying the CO’s instructions. "Stay sharp and keep your ear out for their arrival. Don’t give them a reason to be concerned. Concerned Marines are shooting Marines."
Using passive sensors only, Kevon notes that the SNS Fallow’s Knife is a Timberhawk-class patrol cruiser displacing 400 dTons. A Timberhawk typically carries 13 Navy personnel and eight Marines.
-----
"Kevon, this is Martha. Hull under the bridge is repaired enough for a jump, but I haven’t checked out the damage to the hull outside your cabin. Do we have enough time for me to at least check it out? Or should I start coming inside?"
-----
"Stay out there, Ms. Smythe. I’ll advise them that we have a crewmember on an EVA," Kevon responds.
Vargas returns to the bridge and the pilot's seat. To no one in particular he says, in a light, conversational tone, "I think our passenger is a smart ass." He flips a few switches and looks at any readouts. "I like that in a person. Normally."
-----
After downloading the contents of the portacomp, Swann considers Ian’s earlier comment about the pirates being after contraband aboard the Bray Keaven. Swann looks at Guderin lying on the floor, considering. After Eric wakes up — and receives a kick from Ian — Swann rubs a hand across his face and says in a low voice, "Maybe they don’t have to know what these guys were after, at least not right away."
Swann sets down the portacomp, and drags both Eric and Guderin back near the portal leading from the lounge to the rear cargo compartment so they will be the first people encountered by the Sentry Marines.
Then Swann kneels down and says to the two men, "OK, the Sentry Marines are going to be here in a few minutes to take you into custody. We’re going to let you live, and let them sort this out. But if you cause any trouble before they arrive, there’s still time for us to shoot you and make it look like you tried to escape.
"Since the mastermind of your little caper is unconscious, and on the verge of dying, my suggestion to you two is to keep your mouths shut and don’t say anything to anyone until you get back to Sentry and have the opportunity to talk to a lawyer. That would be the smart thing to do — you wouldn’t want to talk yourselves into more trouble, or make matters worse for yourselves by saying something stupid. And I also suggest you use your quiet time to pray that your patron doesn’t regain consciousness, so you have someone to pin everything on — someone who won’t be able to dispute your stories."
Swann then places the portacomp, the fake IDs, the two shotguns, and the ammo on the booth tabletop in the lounge. He says to the others, "Better add all of the handguns and other weapons we confiscated from them to the pile."
He then asks, "Ian, what are relations like between the Sentry Marines and the Imperial Marines? Any hard feelings or resentments that you know of? I thought at first it would be best if you were our ‘faceman,’ since you speak their language. But if these guys have a problem with their Imperial counterparts, maybe you should stay in the background and not show them your medals."
As Ian adds the confiscated weapons in his possession to Swann’s pile, he replies, "Hmm, good point, Swann."
Ian can’t recall anything specific about dealing with Sentry Marines, but he does know that it’s usually a question of attitude when dealing with planetary Marine forces. Be decent and professional, assume that they’re well trained — even if they aren’t — things go pretty smoothly — usually. Treat them like yokels who don’t know what they are doing — even if it’s true — then they tend to get pissed off.
As Ian finishes answering his questions, Swann suddenly looks at Saro. "Excuse me, Ian," he says. "I just thought of something."
Swann walks over to Saro and leans close to speak softly, directly into the doctor’s ear. Ian also leans in close so he can hear. "Doc, have you got something you can give our two friends to knock them out? I’m not asking you to do anything that would hurt them, just put them under for a good, long time, so they won’t cause any problems when the Marines arrive."
"I like that idea," Ian says. "Let’s put ’em to sleep."
Glancing disdainfully over at the bound captives, Saro replies bitterly, "In my experience a sharp tap on the temple with a nice, heavy rifle butt usually does the trick."
After a pause, he continues, "Let me see what I have in my little bag of tricks."
Saro rummages through his medkit looking for something that will put the men out for about an hour.
Vasilii approaches Swann and Ian with a concerned look on his face. Still in a low voice, he says, "Swann, at some point these guys have to say something about those boxes — it’s the entire reason they came out here in the first place. If they do say something about the boxes, and we don’t, that’s going to look bad for us.
"On top of that, Aidan Silver also knows about those boxes, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave the door open for him to blackmail us later, which means that if we are going to say something, we gotta say it first before any of them do.
"Besides, I’m kinda liking the idea of Mr. Silver sitting in the hot seat, having to explain how he knows about the boxes without being part of the Oser crew."
Swann says in a low voice, "Yes, the Oser’s crew probably will say something about the boxes eventually. But if they are unconscious when the Marines arrive, they can’t say anything now. We don’t want the Marines asking questions and searching our ship for ‘mystery boxes,’ or forcing us to go back to Sentry so this can all be sorted out. And we don’t want them asking Mr. Silver any questions about these boxes, either. While his actions during the attack were bothersome, and a little curious, I don’t think he was working with the Oser."
"I agree with Swann on this," Ian says. "Let’s not mention the actions of our troublesome guest to the authorities. Besides, I’m looking forward to a long conversation with Mr. Silver during jump," Ian adds with a half grin.
Vasilii nods as he listens to Swann and Ian with a look, at first, somewhere between exasperation and mental exhaustion, and then slowly turning into one of acceptance: "Hmm. Yeah, I suppose I owe Martha at least that much to avoid going back to Sentry," he says, then shrugs and adds, "Hades, I owe the whole crew that much for bringing that damn blonde on board."
Swann looks at the Vilani merchant and says, "Vasilii, you have some legal training, so maybe you know the old lawyers adage ‘Never ask a witness a question you don’t already know the answer to.’ Well, we don’t want the Marines asking us questions about the boxes if we don’t know the answers to those questions. We don’t know what those boxes are, and Silver apparently does. We should find out from him what he knows first."
Vasilii stares blankly at Swann for a moment, almost in mild disbelief, briefly lost in a thought. "You ever think about becoming a trial lawyer? We should start our own practice: Hellenic and Kugiikishshi, Attorneys to the Stars," he adds with a chuckle. "Alright, nix the report on Aidan to the Sentry people.
"But back to the subject, I think the whole crew should have a sit-down to talk about Aidan before we talk to him. Get a plan together, that sort of thing. Frankly, I’d rather just search his stuff and his stateroom than talk to him, but we’ll iron that out later."
He pauses for a brief moment. "Then again, I could keep him talking about Imperial law somewhere while you and Ian toss his stateroom," he adds with a grin. "I get him talking about himself, that should buy you a day and a half right there."
"I think our best course of action is to let the Marines take the pirates away unconscious so they don’t say anything and cause any unnecessary delays," Swann says. "We tell the Marines what happened, leaving out the part about the Oser’s crew wanting the boxes, so they can file a report and let us be on our way. We jump out of here. Then we all sit down with Mr. Silver and try to get some answers."
Vasilii nods in agreement as Swann talks. "OK, sounds good. But we need to make sure Emile, Kevon, and Martha are up to speed with this. If we say anything over the radio, the Sentry people might hear us. Someone should go back to the Keaven and fill them in."
"No time for that," Swann says. "Besides, our suit comms should be safe enough."
After a moment of silence, Swann continues. "I’ve been thinking about this ‘Imperial warrant’ Silver mentioned. I don’t think it’s an arrest warrant or anything like that. I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard some talk about Imperial warrants before. They supposedly allow the bearer to bypass a lot of Imperial bureaucracy and red tape. I always figured it was just spacer static. But if they do exist, and Silver does have one, it means he’s probably some sort of Imperial agent on a special mission or assignment. An assignment that apparently has something to do with those boxes."
"Not to get off the subject," Vasilii says, "but I think we should probably tell the Fallow’s Knife that we haven’t gone into the cargo bay or the engine rooms yet, just in case they find any surprises."
"I agree with that," Swann says.
-----
Vasilii comms the Bray Keaven to inform them of the plan, and to advise them of his intentions to radio the Fallow’s Knife.
"Just for consistency’s sake, Mr. Kugiikishshi, I think I should be the only one on comms with the Fallow’s Knife, especially considering I’m the most recently removed from active duty and still have the authority of my rank," Kevon says.
"Sounds good. You know the NavySpeak better than anyone else here, I’m just the humble but greedy merchant on this run," Vasilii replies. "And at this point, just call me Vasilii. You’ve officially been shot at with the rest of us, so I’d say you’ve earned that much, at least.
"Tell them we’ve secured the bridge, staterooms, and common area, but haven’t checked out the other sections yet. If they want, we’ll check them for any surprises, or they can have the first look, their choice."
"I’ll let them know, Mr. Kugi—err, Vasilii," the young officer says.
"Also, if they want, I should be able to bring the Oser under more stable control and bring it to a standstill, again their call.
"The comm system looks to be in pretty good shape over here. I’ll start transmitting vid feeds from the Oser’s onboard cameras so they can have a look before they get here. That should make them happy."
"Roger that. Stand by."
Switching back to external comms, Kevon says, "Fallow’s Knife, Bray Keaven. Be advised that our engineer is effecting repairs on the outer hull at this time. Also, our crewmembers have not investigated the Oser’s engineering section or cargo bay, and we do not know what, or who, might be in there."
He also relays Vasilii’s offers to start a vid camera feed and to stabilize the Oser’s drift.
Shadowdancer
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The next 20 minutes passes by fairly quickly for the crew. Onboard the Oser, Swann and Vasilii arrange their finds and the captured "non"–pirates. Saro looks in his medical bag, finds an appropriate, short–term anesthesia, and injects Eric and Guderin with the anesthesia after reassuring the briefly panicked Guderin that the hypo just contains a sedative.
Once the fellows are out, Vasilii then goes to the bridge to send the limited vid–cam feeds to the Fallow’s Knife.
"Bray Keaven, Fallow’s Knife. Thank you for the vid–camera feeds. Our ship’s boat is away and will be docking with the Oser’s rear lock momentarily. The boarding party will let you know when they are on board."
Swann looks at the portacomp a bit more trying to figure out what the antenna is. There is a peripherals list that lists "Transport Transponder Antenna." The entry indicates the manufacturer is DBU, IC, but that’s about it. Swann doesn’t recognize the name "DBU, IC."
Swann has a bad feeling about this, but doesn’t say anything at the moment.
Vasilii thinks for a moment, then looks at Swann quizzically. "Hmm. Just a guess, but they might be inventory control transponders used in manufacturing."
He leans back for a moment, looking off into space. He lets out a sigh, seeming somewhat relieved about something, but then seems to have a change of mood as he apparently has another realization as he looks back down at the portacomp. "Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually kinda glad that it’s transponders that gave them away to this bunch. But if that little antenna can pick them up — I can only imagine there's tech–13 avionics on that cruiser and launch. I’m just hoping they're not picking up the transponders, too. I guess we’ll find out soon enough."
Vasilii tries to recall what he knows about Imperial warrants and remembers that they do exist. In fact, he is quite sure that, since an "Imperial warrant" could cover just about anything, Aidan could have a warrant that allows him to seize not only the boxes but also the Bray Keaven, its crew, draft the SNS Fallow’s Knife (with crew), and appoint Martha as Duchess of Sentry. On the other hand, the Imperial warrant could also just allow Aidan to walk naked through the public areas of Imperial starports without fear of official reprisal or censure.
Vasilii shudders, then shakes his head as though trying to shake the thought out of it. "There’s a visual that’s gonna keep me awake all night," he mutters to himself.
Outside, Martha receives Kevon’s message along with an acknowledgement from the Fallow’s Knife that she is outside and cleared to continue repairs. So, she continues patching the hull underneath the bridge enough that the jump field integrity is maintained for at least one jump and an atmospheric re–entry.
The long day is getting to her, though, and she doesn’t make as much progress as she’d like working by herself. It will take at least another 45 minutes for the patching job. She does start getting a little concerned that there is some small chance the patching job will cause some problems. She quickly runs a remote diagnostic of her patch job, taking the few minutes to rest and refocus as the computer completes its analysis.
Reviewing the data, she resumes her patching job, seeking to increase the Bray Keaven’s chances of successfully emerging from jumpspace both when and where they intended.
Up in his stateroom, Aidan continues innocently reading his Imperial Law Review.
Vargas returns to the bridge of the Bray Keaven, and he and Kevon monitor the Fallow’s Knife’s guard position, the departure of its ship’s boat, and the ship’s boat’s final approach to the Oser’s rear airlock.
"Bray Keaven and Oser, Lt. Darlow in the ship’s boat. We are now docking with the Oser. Please inform your crew that we are docking."
A few minutes later, "Bray Keaven and Oser. Lt. Darlow of the boarding party. We are now in the aft airlock. Please lay down all weapons. We will be leaving the airlock momentarily."
The members of the Bray Keaven’s crew on board the Oser all place their weapons on the deck and take a step back away from them.
About 20 seconds later, the iris valve to the cargo hold opens, and a pair of Sentry Marines in combat armor and carrying gauss carbines at ready step into the scout/courier’s lounge. They sweep the area visually — noting weapons locations and the prisoners — and then take up guard positions to either side, with carbines pointed slightly to the side, but ready.
After a moment, a man in a tailored naval vacc suit with second lieutenant bars steps through. He seems a bit old for a second lieutenant (in his early 30s), but he has an affable face. "I’m Lieutenant Darlow. So, what happened?" he asks as a medical corpsman steps through and immediately goes to Mark’s side (the injured and knocked out ringleader) to examine him.
Ian uses his "official/professional' voice." "Sir, my name is Ian McConnell, Security Officer of the Bray Keaven. As you are aware, the Oser was transmitting a Signal GK, requesting assistance. We responded being the only ship in the area. Upon boarding, two crewmen were lying on the floor and one sitting in that chair," he nods at the lounge area. "All were covered with blankets, concealing weapons. The crewmember that welcomed us aboard proceeded to the bridge upon our entry. When our medic went to check the supposed injuries, the patients all drew weapons, and all hatches closed and locked. We quickly drew our weapons as well. A conversation ensued with the pirates making demands concerning the possession of our cargo. When the ships began firing upon each other, a firefight ensued here as well, which, luckily, ended in our favor."
Lt. Darlow requests a deposition from everyone and inquires as to exactly what each person did and his perspective of the events that transpired. He also wants identification cards, but understands that’ll have to wait until he continues his investigation onboard the Bray Keaven.
Once the fellows are out, Vasilii then goes to the bridge to send the limited vid–cam feeds to the Fallow’s Knife.
-----
"Bray Keaven, Fallow’s Knife. Thank you for the vid–camera feeds. Our ship’s boat is away and will be docking with the Oser’s rear lock momentarily. The boarding party will let you know when they are on board."
-----
Swann looks at the portacomp a bit more trying to figure out what the antenna is. There is a peripherals list that lists "Transport Transponder Antenna." The entry indicates the manufacturer is DBU, IC, but that’s about it. Swann doesn’t recognize the name "DBU, IC."
Swann has a bad feeling about this, but doesn’t say anything at the moment.
Vasilii thinks for a moment, then looks at Swann quizzically. "Hmm. Just a guess, but they might be inventory control transponders used in manufacturing."
He leans back for a moment, looking off into space. He lets out a sigh, seeming somewhat relieved about something, but then seems to have a change of mood as he apparently has another realization as he looks back down at the portacomp. "Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually kinda glad that it’s transponders that gave them away to this bunch. But if that little antenna can pick them up — I can only imagine there's tech–13 avionics on that cruiser and launch. I’m just hoping they're not picking up the transponders, too. I guess we’ll find out soon enough."
-----
Vasilii tries to recall what he knows about Imperial warrants and remembers that they do exist. In fact, he is quite sure that, since an "Imperial warrant" could cover just about anything, Aidan could have a warrant that allows him to seize not only the boxes but also the Bray Keaven, its crew, draft the SNS Fallow’s Knife (with crew), and appoint Martha as Duchess of Sentry. On the other hand, the Imperial warrant could also just allow Aidan to walk naked through the public areas of Imperial starports without fear of official reprisal or censure.
Vasilii shudders, then shakes his head as though trying to shake the thought out of it. "There’s a visual that’s gonna keep me awake all night," he mutters to himself.
-----
Outside, Martha receives Kevon’s message along with an acknowledgement from the Fallow’s Knife that she is outside and cleared to continue repairs. So, she continues patching the hull underneath the bridge enough that the jump field integrity is maintained for at least one jump and an atmospheric re–entry.
The long day is getting to her, though, and she doesn’t make as much progress as she’d like working by herself. It will take at least another 45 minutes for the patching job. She does start getting a little concerned that there is some small chance the patching job will cause some problems. She quickly runs a remote diagnostic of her patch job, taking the few minutes to rest and refocus as the computer completes its analysis.
Reviewing the data, she resumes her patching job, seeking to increase the Bray Keaven’s chances of successfully emerging from jumpspace both when and where they intended.
-----
Up in his stateroom, Aidan continues innocently reading his Imperial Law Review.
-----
Vargas returns to the bridge of the Bray Keaven, and he and Kevon monitor the Fallow’s Knife’s guard position, the departure of its ship’s boat, and the ship’s boat’s final approach to the Oser’s rear airlock.
-----
"Bray Keaven and Oser, Lt. Darlow in the ship’s boat. We are now docking with the Oser. Please inform your crew that we are docking."
-----
A few minutes later, "Bray Keaven and Oser. Lt. Darlow of the boarding party. We are now in the aft airlock. Please lay down all weapons. We will be leaving the airlock momentarily."
The members of the Bray Keaven’s crew on board the Oser all place their weapons on the deck and take a step back away from them.
About 20 seconds later, the iris valve to the cargo hold opens, and a pair of Sentry Marines in combat armor and carrying gauss carbines at ready step into the scout/courier’s lounge. They sweep the area visually — noting weapons locations and the prisoners — and then take up guard positions to either side, with carbines pointed slightly to the side, but ready.
After a moment, a man in a tailored naval vacc suit with second lieutenant bars steps through. He seems a bit old for a second lieutenant (in his early 30s), but he has an affable face. "I’m Lieutenant Darlow. So, what happened?" he asks as a medical corpsman steps through and immediately goes to Mark’s side (the injured and knocked out ringleader) to examine him.
Ian uses his "official/professional' voice." "Sir, my name is Ian McConnell, Security Officer of the Bray Keaven. As you are aware, the Oser was transmitting a Signal GK, requesting assistance. We responded being the only ship in the area. Upon boarding, two crewmen were lying on the floor and one sitting in that chair," he nods at the lounge area. "All were covered with blankets, concealing weapons. The crewmember that welcomed us aboard proceeded to the bridge upon our entry. When our medic went to check the supposed injuries, the patients all drew weapons, and all hatches closed and locked. We quickly drew our weapons as well. A conversation ensued with the pirates making demands concerning the possession of our cargo. When the ships began firing upon each other, a firefight ensued here as well, which, luckily, ended in our favor."
Lt. Darlow requests a deposition from everyone and inquires as to exactly what each person did and his perspective of the events that transpired. He also wants identification cards, but understands that’ll have to wait until he continues his investigation onboard the Bray Keaven.
Shadowdancer
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This story hour is now one-year old. Thank you to all the regular readers.
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While Swann and Ian are giving their depositions, the corpsman comments, "Lt. Darlow, sir? These two fellows are out cold, and this man is severely injured. I’d like to get him back to the Knife immediately." Darlow nods, and the corpsman heads back to the ship’s boat to retrieve a grav stretcher. With a Marine’s help, he loads the man onboard the stretcher, and takes Mark to the ship’s boat. A Marine drags Eric and a moment later, another Marine comes to drag Guderin off.
Swann gives Lt. Darlow his deposition:
"We received a Signal GK from the Oser. They said they had some sort of fire in the engine room and that some of their crew was injured. We responded, since we were the only ship close by, and docked with them.
"I was part of a four-person response team that went onboard the Oser, along with Ian, our security officer; Doc Saro, the ship’s doctor; and Vasilii, our cargo officer.
"As soon as the air lock opened, we saw one of the Oser’s crew, who directed us to the lounge where three men were lying down or sitting. He said the other men were badly injured. He then went back onto the bridge, saying he had to keep sending out the distress signal, which I thought was odd. I also noticed that the smoke in the air didn’t smell like what you would expect from an engine fire. Something about it just wasn’t right. The whole situation was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I’ve heard stories of pirates and hijackers who pose as a ship in distress, then jump the responding ship’s crew when they come aboard. I was starting to wonder if that was what was happening here.
"Well, I told Vasilii to wait by the airlock, just as a precaution, in case someone from the Oser tried to get aboard the Bray Keaven while we were distracted. Then the rest of us went into the lounge to check on the injured crewmen. All of a sudden, the three men pulled out weapons that they had been hiding. Two had pistols, and the other had a shotgun. Also, the guy on the bridge had locked down all the iris valves, trapping Vasilii inside the airlock.
"So we were all standing there, staring at each other for a second, then one of the men told us if we turned over our cargo to them, we wouldn’t get hurt. I radioed our bridge on my vacc suit’s comm channel and told them what was going on. Our bridge crew decided to try to fire on the Oser with one of our laser turrets. So I pretended that we were going to comply with their demand to turn over our cargo, so the Oser’s crew wouldn’t get suspicious.
"When our ship fired, it caught the Oser’s crew off guard. And it shook the ship pretty violently. While they were distracted, I took the opportunity to shoot one of them with my snub pistol. My tranq rounds put him right out. Ian also started shooting with his pistol, and took out the man with the shotgun. Then Ian and I both started firing at the remaining crewman. He seemed to be the leader; he was the one who had done all of the talking. Anyway, he wounded Ian before we were able to put him down. I guess we were lucky none of us were seriously injured.
"After that, we told the guy on the bridge to surrender, and he did. Doc started checking on the injured while I rounded up weapons. Then I went on the bridge to power down the Oser’s turret, and to try to get Vasilii out of the airlock. After I got him out, we restrained the Oser’s crew and checked them for additional weapons. Then I made a quick check of the cabins to make sure there wasn’t anyone else on board, and to see if there were any more weapons. I found a shotgun in one cabin. In another cabin I found several IDs, all with the same picture — the guy I think is the leader — but with different names on each one. I brought those into the lounge, along with a laptop computer I found in the same cabin.
"Then we just waited until you guys showed up."
The affable Lt. Darlow listens to Swann’s and Ian’s description of what occurred. After Swann’s deposition, he looks a little puzzled and comments, "It seems that they undertook quite a risk just to get at a part of your cargo, particularly since their cargo hold seems about half full already. Were they looking for something specific in your cargo?"
"I thought their choice of ship was a little limiting, too," Swann says. "But they were pointing guns at us at the time, so I wasn’t going to debate it with him. The one man said they wanted some of the boxes we were carrying. I assumed he was talking about the cargo containers."
For a brief moment, the Sentry Navy lieutenant looks fairly skeptical at Swann’s tap dancing around the issue of "boxes."
Vasilii clears his throat and says, "Um, well, if I may, sir, I had a chance to think about that while we were waiting for you to arrive. I make my living buying and selling cargoes for the Bray Keaven, and while it IS deplorable, there are certain economic realities about piracy. I mean, that’s why some people do it.
"What I mean is, I’m sure you can appreciate the economics of selling higher–tech goods from here to pretty much everywhere else in the Linkworlds. But look around you; they’re operating from the perfect pirate ship, at least to start with. The Scout Service handles all their repairs, maintenance, and even fuel. They have no operating costs!
"And if you throw into the mix that they stole those higher-tech goods they’re looking to sell, and didn’t pay anything to get them, so everything they sell them for is pure profit, well . . . even if they don’t have much cargo space, it wouldn’t take much cargo to turn a pretty crisp credit working out of a ship like this.
"Of course, ALL of this assumes that the cargo was what they were really after in the first place. They may have just been using that as a ploy to get aboard our ship to ‘look over’ our cargo, then either kill all of the crew or just dump us overboard to leave us with their ship, and then take off with ours, with our cargo," Vasilii concludes with a shrug.
After Vasilii adds his explanation, the lieutenant seems ready to drop the issue of what the Oser’s crew was after.
The Vilani merchant continues. "My name is Vasilii Kugiikishshi, sir. I’m the ship’s cargo broker and usually the navigator. I’m afraid my take on the activities here on the Oser is somewhat limited. My perspective, as Swann has pointed out, is largely from the point of view of the airlock, which was closed and locked during most of the action.
"However, shortly before we lifted off from Sentry, we were contacted by a Mister Hil Seirl, or so he called himself, to purchase a passage for himself and a ton of cargo, an offer we had opted to decline based on the particulars he had outlined with regards to picking up his cargo, which involved us making a rendezvous with another craft near the jump point and transferring the cargo to our ship before going to jump.
"The arrangement was a highly unusual one and left us feeling rather suspicious of the whole affair, and thus we declined his offer. As I recall, when I met with him to inform him of our decision, he had inquired in passing as to whether we would be leaving shortly, to which I responded that we weren't sure exactly when we would be leaving. He politely thanked me for our consideration and left.
"After that, we lifted off, and everything was fine. We were approaching the jump point when we got their fictional distress call, and changed course to meet up with them. The group of us came on board, and I stood watch at the airlock over here to make sure no one snuck aboard the Keaven while they dealt with the casualties who were in the lounge. I should have gone with them, I would have recognized the man calling himself Hil Seirl immediately; he was the man your corpsman took back to your ship a few minutes ago.
"But as it was, one of them yelled ‘freeze!,’ which caught me off guard, so I jumped into the airlock figuring to use the side of the iris valve for some kind of cover, just before all the iris valves closed and locked behind me, leaving me stuck in there.
"So about the time I heard gunfire over the comms from inside the ship, I’m getting up close and personal with a laser in our weapon turret closest to the Oser just outside the airlock. One of the shots grazed the bulkhead and sent some fragments flying, managed to dodge most of them," he says, showing the Lieutenant the patch in his suit. "I took out the cameras in the airlock to keep them from seeing how bad off I was, so they wouldn’t get any bright ideas about threatening to space me in my damaged suit to get the upper hand in here.
"Well, by the time they got me out of the airlock, the shooting was over and the guy on the bridge had surrendered. Saro patched up me, I patched up my suit, Swann did a quick sweep of the staterooms to secure the common area, and then we all waited for you gentlemen. I figured you might want a quick look inside before you got here, so I set up the vid feeds while we were waiting. And that’s about it."
After Vasilii’s deposition, the lieutenant then turns to Saro and asks, "And you, sir? Your name and your perspective of what happened?"
"Lieutenant. I am Saro Talbek, MD, ship’s doctor aboard the Bray Keaven. I’ll be glad to tell you what I saw. Anything I can do to ensure these vermin get spaced is my pleasure.
"We, the Bray Keaven that is, were heading out to the jump point when we received a distress call from the Oser. Determining that we were the closest vessel that could respond, we made contact with them and were told that there had been an explosion aboard and that a number of crewmembers were badly injured.
"I grabbed my medkit as we approached the Oser and when we docked with them myself, Ian, Swann and Vasilii boarded the ship. One man greeted us and showed us two people on the deck moaning and groaning, both of them covered by a blanket or tarp. Another man was sitting in the room, claiming to be injured but not seriously. As I knelt down to check on the ‘injured,’ our guide slipped out of the room. When I started to remove the covering to get a better look, the men all whipped out weapons. One pulled a shotgun and the others had autopistols, one was pointed directly into my face. Then the airlock was closed, trapping Vasilii inside it.
"There were some tense words and threats from the Oser’s crew demanding that we surrender some of our cargo to them. Then the Oser suddenly shook, which turned out to be the Bray Keaven firing upon the Oser, whose guns were turning to aim at the Keaven. In the jolt, Ian and Swann managed to fire upon the Oser’s crew and we gained the upper hand.
"One of the Oser’s crew was killed outright and one seriously injured. One was knocked out with tranq rounds without damage. I managed to stabilize the injured man and then tend to the injuries on our side. While I was tending to the injuries, Swann went around the rest of the Oser and brought back the guide who had left the room earlier.
"In order to ensure that there would be no further trouble until you arrived, I treated the Oser’s crew with a mild sedative which should wear off shortly.
"I hope that you come to the conclusion that these ‘men’ deserve nothing less than the direct application of cold hard vacuum. Preying on the good will of others and perverting the time-honored Signal GK — pah, they disgust me."
After Saro’s deposition, one of the Marines comments, "Yeah, there’s lots of creative things that we could do to these fellows. I’ve had to clean up after pirates before, and spacing them would be a mercy compared to what I’ve seen pirates do."
Lieutenant Darlow replies, "Sergeant, thank you. As tempting as that may be, and as much as I might agree with Dr. Talbek, we both know that there are laws that we must follow, even with what most obviously seem like pirates to us."
Swann gives Lt. Darlow his deposition:
"We received a Signal GK from the Oser. They said they had some sort of fire in the engine room and that some of their crew was injured. We responded, since we were the only ship close by, and docked with them.
"I was part of a four-person response team that went onboard the Oser, along with Ian, our security officer; Doc Saro, the ship’s doctor; and Vasilii, our cargo officer.
"As soon as the air lock opened, we saw one of the Oser’s crew, who directed us to the lounge where three men were lying down or sitting. He said the other men were badly injured. He then went back onto the bridge, saying he had to keep sending out the distress signal, which I thought was odd. I also noticed that the smoke in the air didn’t smell like what you would expect from an engine fire. Something about it just wasn’t right. The whole situation was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I’ve heard stories of pirates and hijackers who pose as a ship in distress, then jump the responding ship’s crew when they come aboard. I was starting to wonder if that was what was happening here.
"Well, I told Vasilii to wait by the airlock, just as a precaution, in case someone from the Oser tried to get aboard the Bray Keaven while we were distracted. Then the rest of us went into the lounge to check on the injured crewmen. All of a sudden, the three men pulled out weapons that they had been hiding. Two had pistols, and the other had a shotgun. Also, the guy on the bridge had locked down all the iris valves, trapping Vasilii inside the airlock.
"So we were all standing there, staring at each other for a second, then one of the men told us if we turned over our cargo to them, we wouldn’t get hurt. I radioed our bridge on my vacc suit’s comm channel and told them what was going on. Our bridge crew decided to try to fire on the Oser with one of our laser turrets. So I pretended that we were going to comply with their demand to turn over our cargo, so the Oser’s crew wouldn’t get suspicious.
"When our ship fired, it caught the Oser’s crew off guard. And it shook the ship pretty violently. While they were distracted, I took the opportunity to shoot one of them with my snub pistol. My tranq rounds put him right out. Ian also started shooting with his pistol, and took out the man with the shotgun. Then Ian and I both started firing at the remaining crewman. He seemed to be the leader; he was the one who had done all of the talking. Anyway, he wounded Ian before we were able to put him down. I guess we were lucky none of us were seriously injured.
"After that, we told the guy on the bridge to surrender, and he did. Doc started checking on the injured while I rounded up weapons. Then I went on the bridge to power down the Oser’s turret, and to try to get Vasilii out of the airlock. After I got him out, we restrained the Oser’s crew and checked them for additional weapons. Then I made a quick check of the cabins to make sure there wasn’t anyone else on board, and to see if there were any more weapons. I found a shotgun in one cabin. In another cabin I found several IDs, all with the same picture — the guy I think is the leader — but with different names on each one. I brought those into the lounge, along with a laptop computer I found in the same cabin.
"Then we just waited until you guys showed up."
The affable Lt. Darlow listens to Swann’s and Ian’s description of what occurred. After Swann’s deposition, he looks a little puzzled and comments, "It seems that they undertook quite a risk just to get at a part of your cargo, particularly since their cargo hold seems about half full already. Were they looking for something specific in your cargo?"
"I thought their choice of ship was a little limiting, too," Swann says. "But they were pointing guns at us at the time, so I wasn’t going to debate it with him. The one man said they wanted some of the boxes we were carrying. I assumed he was talking about the cargo containers."
For a brief moment, the Sentry Navy lieutenant looks fairly skeptical at Swann’s tap dancing around the issue of "boxes."
Vasilii clears his throat and says, "Um, well, if I may, sir, I had a chance to think about that while we were waiting for you to arrive. I make my living buying and selling cargoes for the Bray Keaven, and while it IS deplorable, there are certain economic realities about piracy. I mean, that’s why some people do it.
"What I mean is, I’m sure you can appreciate the economics of selling higher–tech goods from here to pretty much everywhere else in the Linkworlds. But look around you; they’re operating from the perfect pirate ship, at least to start with. The Scout Service handles all their repairs, maintenance, and even fuel. They have no operating costs!
"And if you throw into the mix that they stole those higher-tech goods they’re looking to sell, and didn’t pay anything to get them, so everything they sell them for is pure profit, well . . . even if they don’t have much cargo space, it wouldn’t take much cargo to turn a pretty crisp credit working out of a ship like this.
"Of course, ALL of this assumes that the cargo was what they were really after in the first place. They may have just been using that as a ploy to get aboard our ship to ‘look over’ our cargo, then either kill all of the crew or just dump us overboard to leave us with their ship, and then take off with ours, with our cargo," Vasilii concludes with a shrug.
After Vasilii adds his explanation, the lieutenant seems ready to drop the issue of what the Oser’s crew was after.
The Vilani merchant continues. "My name is Vasilii Kugiikishshi, sir. I’m the ship’s cargo broker and usually the navigator. I’m afraid my take on the activities here on the Oser is somewhat limited. My perspective, as Swann has pointed out, is largely from the point of view of the airlock, which was closed and locked during most of the action.
"However, shortly before we lifted off from Sentry, we were contacted by a Mister Hil Seirl, or so he called himself, to purchase a passage for himself and a ton of cargo, an offer we had opted to decline based on the particulars he had outlined with regards to picking up his cargo, which involved us making a rendezvous with another craft near the jump point and transferring the cargo to our ship before going to jump.
"The arrangement was a highly unusual one and left us feeling rather suspicious of the whole affair, and thus we declined his offer. As I recall, when I met with him to inform him of our decision, he had inquired in passing as to whether we would be leaving shortly, to which I responded that we weren't sure exactly when we would be leaving. He politely thanked me for our consideration and left.
"After that, we lifted off, and everything was fine. We were approaching the jump point when we got their fictional distress call, and changed course to meet up with them. The group of us came on board, and I stood watch at the airlock over here to make sure no one snuck aboard the Keaven while they dealt with the casualties who were in the lounge. I should have gone with them, I would have recognized the man calling himself Hil Seirl immediately; he was the man your corpsman took back to your ship a few minutes ago.
"But as it was, one of them yelled ‘freeze!,’ which caught me off guard, so I jumped into the airlock figuring to use the side of the iris valve for some kind of cover, just before all the iris valves closed and locked behind me, leaving me stuck in there.
"So about the time I heard gunfire over the comms from inside the ship, I’m getting up close and personal with a laser in our weapon turret closest to the Oser just outside the airlock. One of the shots grazed the bulkhead and sent some fragments flying, managed to dodge most of them," he says, showing the Lieutenant the patch in his suit. "I took out the cameras in the airlock to keep them from seeing how bad off I was, so they wouldn’t get any bright ideas about threatening to space me in my damaged suit to get the upper hand in here.
"Well, by the time they got me out of the airlock, the shooting was over and the guy on the bridge had surrendered. Saro patched up me, I patched up my suit, Swann did a quick sweep of the staterooms to secure the common area, and then we all waited for you gentlemen. I figured you might want a quick look inside before you got here, so I set up the vid feeds while we were waiting. And that’s about it."
After Vasilii’s deposition, the lieutenant then turns to Saro and asks, "And you, sir? Your name and your perspective of what happened?"
"Lieutenant. I am Saro Talbek, MD, ship’s doctor aboard the Bray Keaven. I’ll be glad to tell you what I saw. Anything I can do to ensure these vermin get spaced is my pleasure.
"We, the Bray Keaven that is, were heading out to the jump point when we received a distress call from the Oser. Determining that we were the closest vessel that could respond, we made contact with them and were told that there had been an explosion aboard and that a number of crewmembers were badly injured.
"I grabbed my medkit as we approached the Oser and when we docked with them myself, Ian, Swann and Vasilii boarded the ship. One man greeted us and showed us two people on the deck moaning and groaning, both of them covered by a blanket or tarp. Another man was sitting in the room, claiming to be injured but not seriously. As I knelt down to check on the ‘injured,’ our guide slipped out of the room. When I started to remove the covering to get a better look, the men all whipped out weapons. One pulled a shotgun and the others had autopistols, one was pointed directly into my face. Then the airlock was closed, trapping Vasilii inside it.
"There were some tense words and threats from the Oser’s crew demanding that we surrender some of our cargo to them. Then the Oser suddenly shook, which turned out to be the Bray Keaven firing upon the Oser, whose guns were turning to aim at the Keaven. In the jolt, Ian and Swann managed to fire upon the Oser’s crew and we gained the upper hand.
"One of the Oser’s crew was killed outright and one seriously injured. One was knocked out with tranq rounds without damage. I managed to stabilize the injured man and then tend to the injuries on our side. While I was tending to the injuries, Swann went around the rest of the Oser and brought back the guide who had left the room earlier.
"In order to ensure that there would be no further trouble until you arrived, I treated the Oser’s crew with a mild sedative which should wear off shortly.
"I hope that you come to the conclusion that these ‘men’ deserve nothing less than the direct application of cold hard vacuum. Preying on the good will of others and perverting the time-honored Signal GK — pah, they disgust me."
After Saro’s deposition, one of the Marines comments, "Yeah, there’s lots of creative things that we could do to these fellows. I’ve had to clean up after pirates before, and spacing them would be a mercy compared to what I’ve seen pirates do."
Lieutenant Darlow replies, "Sergeant, thank you. As tempting as that may be, and as much as I might agree with Dr. Talbek, we both know that there are laws that we must follow, even with what most obviously seem like pirates to us."
Shadowdancer
First Post
After finishing the depositions aboard the Oser, Lt. Darlow turns to one of the Marines. "Sergeant. I’m going to take these gentlemen to their ship and continue my investigation there. I’d like you and Petty Officer Simmons to stay here. I’ll take Sergeant Garcia and Corporal Uedi with me."
With that, Darlow turns to the Bray Keaven crew and says, "Please come with me. Corporal Uedi will carry your weapons for you." The Naval lieutenant then leads the Bray Keaven crew to the returned ship’s boat. The ship’s boat undocks and heads towards the Bray Keaven’s starboard airlock.
"Bray Keaven, Fallow’s Knife’s ship's boat. We will be docking momentarily on your starboard airlock. Please muster your crew just inside the airlock so that I can interview them and continue my investigation."
Outside of the Bray Keaven, Martha rests for a moment before continuing her patch job. The long day is seriously getting to her, and the figures are starting to swim before her eyes. On the bright side, at least she knows that the patch job isn’t quite right yet. She is about to start again when she gets a message from Kevon asking her to return inside.
When the ship’s boat docks (the boat waits until Martha enters the airlock first), the Sentry Naval and Marine personnel enter before the returning crewmembers. Meeting Kevon, Lt. Darlow says, "Thank you for your professionalism, sir. If we could, perhaps, go to your lounge, I’ll take your depositions there."
Kevon volunteers to make the first statement:
"For the record, my name is Lt. Cmdr. Kevon Holland, Imperial Navy Reserve. We observed a Hullen class scout/courier pass by at approximately 2224 hours about 10 thousand kilometers distance, on a course of 1-1-6-mark-8 at nearly 90 k-p-s," he begins. "We received the Oser’s distress signal two minutes later, and determined that it was the same vessel.
"We immediately decided to render aid, as per Imperial law, and I broadcasted a general alert to all Imperial ships within the (paltry) range of our communications," the lieutenant commander continues. "RA-133 responded, indicating that they would relay our message to the Sentry authorities. We received a second transmission from RA-133 at approximately 2233, stating that the Fallow’s Knife was getting underway, with an ETA of two hours.
"We decided to approach cautiously, keeping the Oser’s turret on the opposite side of our vector. Matching the scout’s tumble, we were easily able to dock without incident. Docking time was noted at 2235.
"We made contact with the Oser’s crew shortly thereafter," Kevon explains. "While they briefed our people on the extent of injuries and damage, I noticed an intermittent reading on our sensors. I began to investigate the contact, whilst keeping an ear on the goings on across the deck.
Kevon pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts and continues, "Mr. Vargas and I determined that the intermittent contact was an EVA trying to traverse the distance between the two ships. Almost immediately after our discovery, we heard someone from the Oser’s crew yell ‘Freeze!’ over our comms.
"At this point, I acted as if the Oser’s crew were enemy combatants, as per Imperial Regulation sections IV-A-vii-cc-17 and 18," he states. "I fired the port turret on the EVA, vaporizing the combatant and cargo. The resulting flash indicated that the cargo was some form of explosive.
"I then brought the port turret to bear on the Oser itself, but held fire as the two crews appeared to be negotiating," Holland adds. "After listening in on the discussion over comms, I decided that the Oser’s crew was going to resort to violence and decided to act. I had a shot at broadsides, and took it, after providing a brief warning over suit comms.
"We traded laser fire with the Oser, both vessels taking damage, including our external comms," he reports. "I was able to score hits to their sensors and maneuver drive before the Oser’s crew surrendered. While the crew secured the vessel, I maintained a lock on the Oser’s engines and maintained comms with the Fallow’s Knife.
"I hope that helps, Lieutenant."
In the lounge, Martha awaits her turn to give her deposition. When Lt. Darlow gets to her, Martha’s statement is reasonably short. "Sir, I don’t think I can add any more to what my comrades have already said. We were about halfway to jump or so when the Oser sent out her falsified Signal GK. We arrived, and they began to make overt aggressive maneuvers against the Bray Keaven and her crew. Sensors indicated someone was taking a walk over to our vessel, carrying what later turned out to be a large explosive device. The conversation turned ugly inside, based on what I could hear over suit comms, so I started sending the feed back to your ships, which they in turn tried to jam. Next thing I know, everyone’s shooting and my ship is damaged. By the time the dust had settled, my work was pretty clear cut: fix the comms and then the hull. I’ve been working pretty hard on both, with limited success. I’m sure you probably have specific questions, but I can get you a copy of my diagnostic reports and the sensor data to confirm times and such.
"What’s the penalty for sending a false Signal GK in this system, by the way?"
Lt. Darlow takes depositions from Kevon, Martha, Vargas, and Aidan. He seems to be very respectful and pleased with Kevon’s recounting of his actions. Martha gives her depositions, and the lieutenant is pleased by the offer of sensor data and logs. He copies this information over to his handcomp to include in his report.
Lt. Darlow does comment, "Transmitting the comms to us was a very clever thing, Ms. Smythe. We weren’t able to receive all of them clearly, but we could tell that pirates were attacking you, and it certainly makes clearing the Bray Keaven of any suspicion easier.
"Oh, and the penalty for sending a false Signal GK is a significant fine and possibly imprisonment for a year or two. Not that it matters if these fellows are found guilty of piracy."
The lieutenant also takes depositions from Vargas and Aidan. Vargas’ description of the events backs up Kevon’s statement.
Upon hearing that Aidan armed himself and tried to go over to the Oser to help, Lt. Darlow scolds Aidan. "Sir. That was a rather noble, but foolish action upon your part. The crew of this good ship could have assumed that you were acting in conjunction with the pirates, and they would have been justified in taking hostile action against you. In fact, they can charge you with violating laws requiring compliance with crew instructions during an emergency if they so choose."
Turning to Kevon, Lt. Darlow asks, "Sir? Would you like to charge Mr. Silver with not complying with crew instructions during an emergency?"
His eyes falling directly on the lawyer, the lieutenant commander replies with a mischievous grin, "Mr. Silver would benefit from spending some time in the brig. However I think we have come to an understanding concerning his conduct whilst on board. Right, Mr. Silver?"
Doing his best to look thoroughly chastened, Aidan says, "In reviewing some pages of the Galactic Legal Review I’ve come to understand the seriousness of my actions and will seek to refrain from such actions in the future. I shall be duly following all guidelines for my personal safety as laid down by the crew, as long as said actions do not endanger my person and are not illegal under the International Spacefaring Pact of . . . " Aidan trails off as the lieutenant’s eyes start to glaze over. "Errr, yes, well, let us just say that I’ll be doing my best not to get out of line."
"That would be in everyone’s best interest, MISTER Silver," Ian interjects while maintaining an unusually expressionless, stone face.
After verifying identifications and checking cargo manifests, Lt. Darlow concludes with, "Well, the evidence is pretty conclusive that the Oser transmitted a false Signal GK in order to trap you and relieve you of some of your cargo. I find the issue of exactly why to be a little curious still, but given your reputation following the Alief incident, I’m inclined to let things pass.
"You are free to go. I could urge you to return to Sentry for repairs, but that’s up to you. You may be required to attend criminal proceedings against the pirates, and you’ll be notified if you’re needed when you return to Sentry.
"By the way, if the Oser turns out to be stolen, you will receive a finder’s fee if the proper owners can be found. If the Oser belongs to one of the pirates, the ship will probably end up being yours after certain fees are paid. You’ll want to check with the Sentry Navy Office of Salvage and Prizes when you return."
With that, Lt. Darlow motions to the Sentry Marines who return the crew’s weapons to them — unloaded. The lieutenant then gathers his group and departs the Bray Keaven. Shortly after the ship’s boat returns to the Fallow’s Knife, the patrol cruiser heads back to Sentry. A prize crew has evidently boarded the Oser since the damaged scout/courier also limps back towards Sentry.
With that, Darlow turns to the Bray Keaven crew and says, "Please come with me. Corporal Uedi will carry your weapons for you." The Naval lieutenant then leads the Bray Keaven crew to the returned ship’s boat. The ship’s boat undocks and heads towards the Bray Keaven’s starboard airlock.
"Bray Keaven, Fallow’s Knife’s ship's boat. We will be docking momentarily on your starboard airlock. Please muster your crew just inside the airlock so that I can interview them and continue my investigation."
-----
Outside of the Bray Keaven, Martha rests for a moment before continuing her patch job. The long day is seriously getting to her, and the figures are starting to swim before her eyes. On the bright side, at least she knows that the patch job isn’t quite right yet. She is about to start again when she gets a message from Kevon asking her to return inside.
-----
When the ship’s boat docks (the boat waits until Martha enters the airlock first), the Sentry Naval and Marine personnel enter before the returning crewmembers. Meeting Kevon, Lt. Darlow says, "Thank you for your professionalism, sir. If we could, perhaps, go to your lounge, I’ll take your depositions there."
Kevon volunteers to make the first statement:
"For the record, my name is Lt. Cmdr. Kevon Holland, Imperial Navy Reserve. We observed a Hullen class scout/courier pass by at approximately 2224 hours about 10 thousand kilometers distance, on a course of 1-1-6-mark-8 at nearly 90 k-p-s," he begins. "We received the Oser’s distress signal two minutes later, and determined that it was the same vessel.
"We immediately decided to render aid, as per Imperial law, and I broadcasted a general alert to all Imperial ships within the (paltry) range of our communications," the lieutenant commander continues. "RA-133 responded, indicating that they would relay our message to the Sentry authorities. We received a second transmission from RA-133 at approximately 2233, stating that the Fallow’s Knife was getting underway, with an ETA of two hours.
"We decided to approach cautiously, keeping the Oser’s turret on the opposite side of our vector. Matching the scout’s tumble, we were easily able to dock without incident. Docking time was noted at 2235.
"We made contact with the Oser’s crew shortly thereafter," Kevon explains. "While they briefed our people on the extent of injuries and damage, I noticed an intermittent reading on our sensors. I began to investigate the contact, whilst keeping an ear on the goings on across the deck.
Kevon pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts and continues, "Mr. Vargas and I determined that the intermittent contact was an EVA trying to traverse the distance between the two ships. Almost immediately after our discovery, we heard someone from the Oser’s crew yell ‘Freeze!’ over our comms.
"At this point, I acted as if the Oser’s crew were enemy combatants, as per Imperial Regulation sections IV-A-vii-cc-17 and 18," he states. "I fired the port turret on the EVA, vaporizing the combatant and cargo. The resulting flash indicated that the cargo was some form of explosive.
"I then brought the port turret to bear on the Oser itself, but held fire as the two crews appeared to be negotiating," Holland adds. "After listening in on the discussion over comms, I decided that the Oser’s crew was going to resort to violence and decided to act. I had a shot at broadsides, and took it, after providing a brief warning over suit comms.
"We traded laser fire with the Oser, both vessels taking damage, including our external comms," he reports. "I was able to score hits to their sensors and maneuver drive before the Oser’s crew surrendered. While the crew secured the vessel, I maintained a lock on the Oser’s engines and maintained comms with the Fallow’s Knife.
"I hope that helps, Lieutenant."
In the lounge, Martha awaits her turn to give her deposition. When Lt. Darlow gets to her, Martha’s statement is reasonably short. "Sir, I don’t think I can add any more to what my comrades have already said. We were about halfway to jump or so when the Oser sent out her falsified Signal GK. We arrived, and they began to make overt aggressive maneuvers against the Bray Keaven and her crew. Sensors indicated someone was taking a walk over to our vessel, carrying what later turned out to be a large explosive device. The conversation turned ugly inside, based on what I could hear over suit comms, so I started sending the feed back to your ships, which they in turn tried to jam. Next thing I know, everyone’s shooting and my ship is damaged. By the time the dust had settled, my work was pretty clear cut: fix the comms and then the hull. I’ve been working pretty hard on both, with limited success. I’m sure you probably have specific questions, but I can get you a copy of my diagnostic reports and the sensor data to confirm times and such.
"What’s the penalty for sending a false Signal GK in this system, by the way?"
Lt. Darlow takes depositions from Kevon, Martha, Vargas, and Aidan. He seems to be very respectful and pleased with Kevon’s recounting of his actions. Martha gives her depositions, and the lieutenant is pleased by the offer of sensor data and logs. He copies this information over to his handcomp to include in his report.
Lt. Darlow does comment, "Transmitting the comms to us was a very clever thing, Ms. Smythe. We weren’t able to receive all of them clearly, but we could tell that pirates were attacking you, and it certainly makes clearing the Bray Keaven of any suspicion easier.
"Oh, and the penalty for sending a false Signal GK is a significant fine and possibly imprisonment for a year or two. Not that it matters if these fellows are found guilty of piracy."
The lieutenant also takes depositions from Vargas and Aidan. Vargas’ description of the events backs up Kevon’s statement.
Upon hearing that Aidan armed himself and tried to go over to the Oser to help, Lt. Darlow scolds Aidan. "Sir. That was a rather noble, but foolish action upon your part. The crew of this good ship could have assumed that you were acting in conjunction with the pirates, and they would have been justified in taking hostile action against you. In fact, they can charge you with violating laws requiring compliance with crew instructions during an emergency if they so choose."
Turning to Kevon, Lt. Darlow asks, "Sir? Would you like to charge Mr. Silver with not complying with crew instructions during an emergency?"
His eyes falling directly on the lawyer, the lieutenant commander replies with a mischievous grin, "Mr. Silver would benefit from spending some time in the brig. However I think we have come to an understanding concerning his conduct whilst on board. Right, Mr. Silver?"
Doing his best to look thoroughly chastened, Aidan says, "In reviewing some pages of the Galactic Legal Review I’ve come to understand the seriousness of my actions and will seek to refrain from such actions in the future. I shall be duly following all guidelines for my personal safety as laid down by the crew, as long as said actions do not endanger my person and are not illegal under the International Spacefaring Pact of . . . " Aidan trails off as the lieutenant’s eyes start to glaze over. "Errr, yes, well, let us just say that I’ll be doing my best not to get out of line."
"That would be in everyone’s best interest, MISTER Silver," Ian interjects while maintaining an unusually expressionless, stone face.
After verifying identifications and checking cargo manifests, Lt. Darlow concludes with, "Well, the evidence is pretty conclusive that the Oser transmitted a false Signal GK in order to trap you and relieve you of some of your cargo. I find the issue of exactly why to be a little curious still, but given your reputation following the Alief incident, I’m inclined to let things pass.
"You are free to go. I could urge you to return to Sentry for repairs, but that’s up to you. You may be required to attend criminal proceedings against the pirates, and you’ll be notified if you’re needed when you return to Sentry.
"By the way, if the Oser turns out to be stolen, you will receive a finder’s fee if the proper owners can be found. If the Oser belongs to one of the pirates, the ship will probably end up being yours after certain fees are paid. You’ll want to check with the Sentry Navy Office of Salvage and Prizes when you return."
With that, Lt. Darlow motions to the Sentry Marines who return the crew’s weapons to them — unloaded. The lieutenant then gathers his group and departs the Bray Keaven. Shortly after the ship’s boat returns to the Fallow’s Knife, the patrol cruiser heads back to Sentry. A prize crew has evidently boarded the Oser since the damaged scout/courier also limps back towards Sentry.
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Broccli_Head
Explorer
Great recap from the crew's perspective.
