Traveller T20: Tales of the Bray Keaven [Updated 12-20-05]

[Shadowdancer]

Great recap from the crew's perspective.

Yeah, I thought it was neat that the characters' personalities came through in their depositions, especially what details they thought were important to make known to the authorities.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I'm looking forward to Mr. Aidan's "debriefing."

In jump space, no one can hear you scream.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter XIV

​

Date: 167-993​

Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven, Sentry system​

After the Sentry Marines depart, the sophonts left aboard the Bray Keaven begin to break up into discussion groups.​

Swann asks Martha, "What needs to be done to get the ship ready to jump? If you need to go back out to finish up, I will be happy to go along to assist any way I can."​

"I definitely could use some help, but you have to promise me something," Martha smiles tiredly. "No reading while we’re out on duty, OK?" She hopes that Swann catches the joking reference to the EVA incident from back when the ship was in orbit around Aleif.​

Swann smiles and says, "That’s OK. I only look at the pictures anyway."​

Martha continues. "Suit up. I’d rather go forward than back, so let’s see what we can do to make this a safe jump. Sentry’s been a lot of trouble."​

Then Martha turns to Kevon. "Sir, may I request that you address Mister Silver’s earlier actions? If it were up to me, I’d space ’im for his criminal actions, so I’m not the best person to work his madness out."​

She pointedly ignores Aidan’s presence in the room as she continues. "But if anything like that happens again, I already know my vote regarding how we should handle it."​

Kevon nods slightly. "Noted and understood," he replies in acknowledgement. He doesn’t add that he feels much the same way, or that he almost shot Silver in the airlock earlier, just on principle.​

Turning back to Swann, Martha says, "Meet you in the airlock shortly."​

"It’s a date," Swann jokes.​

-----​

Martha leaves the lounge, heading back to engineering to run another diagnostic from the comfortable confines of port engineering. After running the diagnostic, Martha evaluates what she can do to make the ship jump worthy.​

-----​

"Mr. Silver, unless the crew comes to your defense and can convince me otherwise, you shall be confined to your quarters until further notice," Ian says.​

He then continues, "I know I am the security officer, but I would appreciate it if someone more skilled than I would see what can be done about our apparently dismal computer security situation." As Ian finishes, he looks in Swann’s direction.​

Aidan says, "Yes sir, I shall remain humbly in my room, catching up on more back issues of the law review. Naturally, I’d be happy to show you the various back doors into your system, but only if you wish it. I shall keep away from the computer terminal otherwise."​

Ian levels a steely gaze upon Aidan while he is speaking, trying to discern the truthfulness of his reply. "Very well, Mr. Silver," Ian says once Aidan has finished. "I appreciate your cooperation. We need to get the ship back in order and on its way, and we do not need distractions. Good day, sir." Ian ends with a note of finality.​

"Well, while I’m not the sharpest computer person around, and since everyone else appears to have their tasks for the moment, I could take Mr. Silver down to the computer room and take some very thorough notes on what he’s done to the computer, for Swann or someone to look into later," Vasilii offers.​

"Oh, while I’m thinking about it," he continues, turning to Ian and lowering his voice, "do you think you could get the chance to look into that project I mentioned earlier, especially if Swann could give you a hand? Shouldn’t take long if you think you can, and I think it would be one less thing on our minds before we jump."​

-----​

Swann approaches Ian and Vasilii, and overhears the latter portion of Vasilii’s statement. "Since getting the ship ready to jump again appears to be the highest priority right now, I’m going EVA to help Martha finish up so we can get the frell out of here. If you two want to proceed without me on that little job, go ahead. Or if you want to just sit on Silver until jump, we’ll have plenty of time then to sort some things out. Including the computer system."​

-----​

Since he’s already suited up, Swann goes to his cabin to drop off the downloaded computer data and the credits he got on the Oser. He then returns his snub pistol to the ship’s locker. Then he runs a diagnostic on his vacc suit to make sure everything’s ready and charged up for his trip outside.​

-----​

After Swann leaves the lounge, Ian scans around the room, looking at each remaining crewmember while he speaks. "I would rather Mr. Silver be confined to his quarters until after we’ve entered jump. We have a good bit of work to do and need no more distractions. Captain Holland." Ian’s eyes stop on Kevon. "What is your decision?"​

"Captain Holland?" Kevon thinks, puzzled. "I thought I was just the pilot."​

"Very well, Mr. McConnell," he responds aloud, giving no external reaction to his surprise.​

Turning to the lawyer, he adds, "Mr. Silver, you are confined to quarters until further notice, and are not allowed onto the deck unless escorted by a member of the crew. Further, your computer access privileges are suspended. Since Mr. Kugiikishshi wishes to discuss your computer intrusion, you will accompany him for the time being. Dismissed.​

"Vasilii, if he so much as breathes on you, shoot him."​

Flashing a broad, mischievous smile at Aidan, Kevon turns and heads for his quarters.​

Aidan dashes off his best salute. "Aye, aye, Cap’n! The prisoner shall make his best attempt not to breathe!"​

-----​

Ian catches up with Kevon outside his cabin. "Captain Holland," Ian addresses Kevon, with a sly grin. "Thanks for playing along back there. I figured that Mr. Silver needed an authoritative figure to help quell his, ummm, mischievous tendencies? That a good way to put it? After his witnessing your conversation with the Marines, it seemed natural for him to assume you as the captain. In actuality, the issue of leadership has not been addressed by the crew since our personnel changes on planet. Just thought I’d clear it up a bit, didn’t mean to confuse you."​

Glancing at the door to Kevon’s quarters, "Hope you still have a place to sleep," Ian says with a big grin as he turns to walk away.​

Nodding, Kevon replies with a genuine smile, "I’d rather not have a place to sleep than have to spend Cr1,500 to replace my dress uniform."​

-----​

Ian then seeks out Vargas on the bridge and has a similar conversation. "So you see, it was a ruse straight off the top of my head designed to try and keep Mr. Silver in line for the rest of the trip. I had no intention of superceding any existing authority, assuming there is any. Speaking of which, who does carry the ‘Captain’ title now, or is this a democratic ship?"​

Ian raises an eyebrow. "Don’t recall the crew making any decision," he says as he rubs his stubbly chin with his hand. "Ah well, fatigue is taking its toll. Hell, I’ll just be glad to get the frell away from this system!"​

As time permits, Ian explains his "ruse" to the rest of the crew.​

-----​

"Mr. Kugiikishshi, please allow me to accompany you to the keyboard," Aidan says. "By preference, I’d appreciate the occasional breath while speaking, but naturally, being quite well schooled in the arts of lengthy exposition, can try to hold on for as long as possible."​

Aidan is lightly playing the clown, with visits to the royal court having represented an excellent training ground in looking harmless.​

"Now, Mr. Kugiikishshi, please allow me to discuss with you the back doors into your current system. Version 3786.A of Galaktix, which you have running on this computer, has a number of documented security holes, if you would allow me to pull up the documentation on my reader."​

"Mister Silver," Vasilii says to get Aidan’s attention. His arms are folded in front of him. His tone is not outwardly hostile, more like a detached calm, even somewhat muted, and very matter-of-fact. "It’s entirely possible that you’ve done more damage than you realize. But setting that issue aside for a moment, I’d like to make the observation to you that, for the time being, you are entirely in the care of this crew. A crew, I might add, that’s having less and less regard for the Imperial legal code, since it seems to be doing less and less for us, certainly nothing to prevent us from having to deal with pirates and other sundry criminal elements on the one planet we were hoping to call ‘home.’​

"That being said, your treatment on this ship, as with any other ship, will depend heavily on your cooperation with the crew. At the moment, I think I can say that in that regard, you’re operating at a pretty large deficit, and have hardly earned any right to be dishing smug antics to the same crew that’s been charged with your welfare. And a week can be a very long time, depending on how others might want to see it spent for you.​

"But enough on that subject. I think we can summarily dispense with repairing the ‘holes,’ as you describe them, in our computer’s security program. Frankly, I’m pretty certain you’d just be wasting my time, because I’d have to trust you to tell me about all of them for the effort to be worth anything, and I wouldn’t trust you to tell me the color of the sky at this point.​

"However, I do have a few issues I'd like to address with you, not least of which is your cargo. Shall we have a closer look at it?" he says, extending his hand toward the lift.​

Looking, for the first time, genuinely contrite, Aidan follows Vasilii. "Truly, Mr. Kugiikishshi, I do most sincerely apologize. Having, perhaps one could say, ‘lost’ my home and having spent the last decade running around the galaxy without one, I tend to forget that there are others who are seeking a home. I suppose my wanderings have led me to maintain a veneer of inanity that borders on insanity at times." Aidan ruminates for a moment.​

During the pause, Vasilii shrugs with a nod of agreement. "Yes, I suppose I can sympathize with you there. It wasn’t too long ago I lost what I considered ‘home.’ It was all ‘just business,’ as they say, but then that’s what I signed on for at the time. If only I knew then." He trails off.​

"I shall endeavor to shed my defenses," Aidan says. "I cannot guarantee that it will be easy for me. But I acknowledge that I have made things during this bit of misadventure rather harder than they should have been. I rather imagine you’ll be rummaging in my cabin to establish my credentials after this. Certainly, I understand that. You’ll find nothing but clothes and some objects of sentimental value. Please allow me to say that the actions of the crew during this bit of piracy demonstrated utmost professionalism, and I imagine that your dealings with regard to the cargo shall be the same."​

"Thank you for your candor, Mister Silver. From the crew’s point of view, the case against you is largely circumstantial, but then, there is a large amount of circumstance involved. Perhaps it would help your understanding of the situation if I was to fill you in on the specifics that have us concerned.​

"While we were on Sentry, we were approached by a man we just discovered was a member of the Oser’s crew, who wanted to purchase passage with us in much the same manner as you. Specifically, passage for himself and a small but supposedly urgent cargo. We had declined his offer because of the circumstances surrounding his cargo, which he said would be waiting on a ship out near the jump point, and all we would need to do was transfer his cargo to our ship and continue on to the jump. This was a highly unusual set of circumstances that raised a few flags for us, and as I said, we declined him because of it. But from the Oser's crew’s point of view, it would have been the best case scenario if we had accepted that offer, so they had nothing to lose in asking.​

"However, it would not be beyond reason if a second member of that crew were to approach us with a slightly different, more normal proposal, as a backup plan in case the ‘ideal’ proposal failed to be accepted. If you were to put that together with the fact that you had bypassed our ship’s security, armed yourself, and then seemed insistent on coming aboard the Oser while this crew was fighting theirs, well — I’ll say the overall picture carried a small weight of suspicion with it. And I concede that it may all just be general paranoia on our part, but paranoids tend to not be easily surprised," he finishes with a more genuine smile as they enter the cargo bay. His tone has gotten more relaxed as he’s been talking. "Which brings us to the last circumstance counting against you," he says, pausing next to one of Aidan’s cargo containers.​

He opens the latches and lifts the top open with a look of some confusion on his face as he looks at the contents. "I mean, look at this stuff," he proclaims, picking up a circuitboard with a thick layer of dust on it. "To be truthful, most of this looks like no one’s even laid eyes on it since probably before I was born," Vasilii pauses as he blows a small cloud of dust off the circuitboard, "let alone checked any of it to see if it still works. Most of this doesn’t even have any packaging of any kind.​

"Don’t take this the wrong way, I understand the realities of buying on speculation, but this — you have to admit, this is a pretty unusual cargo," he concludes, giving Aidan a mildly dubious look.​

"Errr, yes, I’m afraid the cargo was a bit of a ruse," Aidan admits. "Purchased it cheap. Surprisingly, some of those components could probably be unloaded I’d bet — there’s always a lower tech level around somewhere.​

"For the real cargo — well, let’s say I have a line on 50,000 creds for the delivery of a certain set of cubes. I also have a guarantee that the cubes, undisturbed by intrusion, are harmless, certified by the Imperial authorities. I’ve been playing errand boy for several aristocratic types and so my name came up when this little matter arose.​

"So, as we’re moving on in the right direction anyway, perhaps I could contribute a cut of the fee to the crew? Might that, in some small way, make up for my actions? I realize that the circumstances lie against me, but honestly, I really know nothing about the contents of the cubes. Although I must confess to a profound curiosity and will be inquiring of the patron on the delivery end."​

As Aidan talks, Vasilii raises an eyebrow and smiles at the mention of the credits. He also seems to make some form of mental note at the mention of the Imperial authorities. However, after Aidan mentions "moving on in the right direction," the Vilani merchant briefly closes his eyes as if in pain or some kind of angst. He continues to listen, though apparently with his mind on something else.​

"I see," he says when Aidan finishes. "I presume, then, that your — ‘patron’ I suppose is the word — is therefore looking for this particular vessel to arrive in orbit? What I mean is, do they have the name of this ship, and are they expecting you to arrive on it, with the cubes?"​

"That was the general idea, yes. That is, I sent along that I had obtained passage on this ship. I made no mention of the cubes being in the possession of the crew."​

​

​

 

[Shadowdancer]

Martha goes to engineering to gather her bearings and run a diagnostic on the systems. She picks up some ideas on how to repair the hull below the bridge and below Kevon’s stateroom, so that the jump field grid holds — at least for one jump. She also notices that there appears to be a slight pressure drop originating from Kevon’s cabin. There must be a microscopic hull breach — or at least pretty darn small — because nothing showed up earlier. Still, eventually, the hull breach could start to cause problems.

Martha dutifully notes the diagnostic report for her next repair job, and so that she’ll have a baseline for further damage assessments. She pings Kevon on his personal comm, so as not to alarm Mister Silver. "Kevon, sensors indicate a mild pressure drop in your cabin. Not enough to worry about for a bit, but I’ll need to isolate it and slap a patch on it before too long. I think it’ll hold long enough for the work outside to get done, without any issues. I’m bringing along an external patch kit anyway, just in case. Could you monitor the situation for me?"

-----​

Kevon heads towards his stateroom. He doesn’t notice the slight pressure drop, and since the door to his stateroom is just a standard, non–pressure–rated door, there are no controls to check to see if atmospheric integrity has been maintained. On the bright side, the iris valve that he passed through earlier opened without a bleep, so that means the pressure differential between the transverse corridor and this section of the ship must be within spec.

Kevon opens the door and curses mightily. The once opulent stateroom is in considerable disarray because of spall knocked loose by the laser hit. The bed — a real bed rather than a proper starship bunk — appears to have a large section of the middle knocked out of it. The fresher has been destroyed, and there is a small stream of water shooting from it to pool on the floor. Most of Kevon's possessions appear to be intact, though some are wet. However, his second favorite dress uniform and his third favorite duty jumpsuit now have large (10 cm) holes in the middle of them. The captain’s safe appears to be intact.

The lieutenant commander quickly grabs his favorite dress uniform, his two undress uniforms. and his other two duty jumpsuits first and gets them out of the wet room. Stopping at the nearest comm panel, he taps it on. "Mr. Vargas, Holland. Can you shut off the fresher water supply to my cabin from the bridge? We’re losing potable water in the cabin."

"Roger that, I’ll shut it off at the engineering panel." The former Scout moves over and makes the necessary adjustments.

"And is there an open passenger cabin that I can borrow for the jump?" Kevon asks.

"We should have something available. I’m going to help out Martha with repairs. Looks like there’s more than enough to be done around here."

"Right. I’ll head back to the bridge after I salvage everything I can out of my cabin."

Kevon grabs his things and moves his possessions to the unoccupied crew cabin just aft of Saro’s improvised sickbay. The door to this cabin is across the hall from the port airlock. Kevon then goes to the bridge to redo his jump calculations based on the Bray Keaven’s new position.

-----​

Martha and Swann head outside to have another go at patching the hull underneath the bridge. Vargas joins them outside. Having a bit more information helps Martha, and she manages to get the hull patched within spec — for a field patch.

The EVA trio then moves to the portion of the hull underneath Kevon’s cabin and attempts to patch this section. Though really tired, Martha, Swann, and Vargas manage to patch the hull enough to stop the pressure loss and repair the jump grid, for at least one jump.

Over the suit comms, Martha reports, "Swann, Vargas, looks like we’re done. Let’s head in, and see whether we need to get some shuteye or some caffeine. Man, am I beat!"

Martha, Vargas, and Swann return inside the ship.

-----​

Aidan and Vasilii, after their heart–to–heart talk, return to the lounge for a late night snack.

-----​

Vargas returns to the bridge in order to slow the ship down to a near stop for jump.

-----​

Swann heads to the starboard turret to keep watch until the ship enters jump. He finds the gunner’s seat rather comfortable and has to fight sleep.

-----​

Martha heads to engineering to check the drives for jump. Everything looks green board.

-----​

Saro and Ian hang out in the lounge trying to stay awake until jump.

-----​

Shortly after 0300 hours, Kevon dims the lights, and announces that the Bray Keaven will be entering jump space. A beat or two later, the jump grid energizes, and the ship smoothly enters jump. The crew checks systems and then heads off to a well–deserved rest.

About seven hours later, far too early for most folks, the crew gathers in the lounge for breakfast.

 

[Broccli_Head]

Good stuff. Can't wait until the next adventure

 

[Burocrate]

Almost as good as actually being "in" your game, thanks for the continued entertainment and inspiration. Know it has been asked before but: do you have any plans to consolidate this into a single document (.pdf format perhaps)?

 

[Shadowdancer]

Good stuff. Can't wait until the next adventure

Thanks. But this adventure isn't over yet.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Almost as good as actually being "in" your game, thanks for the continued entertainment and inspiration.

Thanks.

Know it has been asked before but: do you have any plans to consolidate this into a single document (.pdf format perhaps)?

I hadn't thought about it, honestly. Do you mean doing this as a way of selling it, or just of making it easier to distribute?

 

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter XV​

Date: 167-993​

Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Fonnein​

Dressed in a crisp and pressed duty uniform, Kevon is the first to reach the lounge. He is awake and alert — clearly more used to shorter sleep periods than the rest of the crew is — as he brews a pot of regular coffee in the traditional naval fashion: strong. He greets the rest of the crew as they enter, spending the rest of the time reviewing a military technology journal on a portable viewer.

-----​

Aidan walks into the lounge early, dressed in a gray silk morning suit, crisply pressed, with a white shirt and a darker gray bow tie. Of course, the pain wrinkling the corners of his eyes belies his appearance. Aidan nods to Kevon and heads straight for the drink dispenser, draws a large mug of black coffee, cradles it in his hands, and sits down at the table waiting for the crew to arrive.

-----​

Martha stumbles into the lounge, her short mop of hair disheveled from the previous night's rest. Her coveralls aren’t fully zipped, revealing the pink belly–shirt underneath it and part of the slogan "Queen of Kingsland." She shuffles over to the dispenser and punches up a steaming cup of Bitterstouts, her homeworld's equivalent of coffee. As the hot red fluid fills the Engineer’s mug, she absently straightens her hair somewhat with one hand, and looks around the lounge at the others. Though some greet her, she simply mumbles something unintelligible back, waiting for the dispenser to *ding*.

When the mug is full, she shuffles to the table, mug in both hands as if to warm them, and blows gently on the liquid's surface. She sits down, sips once from the drink, wracks her face into a contorted mask of bitterness, relaxes, then proceeds to down a good portion of her mug. "Ugh, I hate this stuff!" are the first intelligible words she speaks, and to no one in general, but takes another gulp before saying anything else.

"Whew! Good morning, all!" Martha puts the mug down in front of her, becoming a bit more animate. "Hey, Doc, how are we looking? Think we’re on course?" Although she is young, Martha knows well enough that the first signs of a misjump are jump sickness.

Hearing his name, Saro laboriously lifts his head off his chest and slowly opens his eyes, the lids almost audibly scraping across his bloodshot corneas. Blearily, he squints as he focuses in on the voice.

Looking around the room at each person present, he smacks his mouth a couple times to clear away the dry, fuzzy sensation before he responds. "Well Martha, based on my exhaustive visual examination, I’d say we are all lacking our daily recommended dose of Vitamin Sleep. But other than that, we are all doing as well as can be expected."

He stretches a bit and cracks his neck loudly. "Hmm. On second thought, it is my professional opinion that I am suffering from a severe lack of scalding hot caffienated liquid nourishment. I think I’ll prescribe myself a 750ml dosage of said medicine, to be ingested immediately."

With that he stands carefully and wobbles over to the drink dispenser.

"Hey, Doc, we’ve got some limited resources in regards to the Bitterstouts, but I think it’s got a better kick than java," Martha says with an innocent smile.

With that, she turns her attentions to Vasilii, interested in hearing about his conversation with Mr. Silver and their discussions in the cargo hold.

-----​

Ian arrives freshly shaved, wearing clean ships cloths, and walks over to retrieve a mug of hot java and breakfast. "Good morning lady and gents." He makes eye contact with Vasilii, raising an eyebrow in a questioning look. He finds an empty spot opposite the table from Mr. Silver.

"So Vasilii, what did you and our passenger discover in the cargo hold?" Ian asks as he takes a gulp and proceeds to consume his meal.

-----​

Swann walks into the lounge just as Ian is sitting down. He prepares himself a big bowl of oatmeal, with lots of sweetener, and carries it and a cup of coffee to the table.

-----​

Vasilii doesn’t seem to respond to Ian’s questioning look or to his inquiry. Instead, the Vilani Merchant appears absorbed in thought, absently looking down at the table, while almost unconsciously eating spoonfuls from an entree pack from one of the military rations in storage. About the time Ian notices the entree pack, his nose tells him what’s on Vasilii’s breakfast menu: the only ration uniformly rejected by nearly all sophont military forces in the Imperium, even by near–starving K–9 units — the greatly–vilified Blue Cheese and Burrowarg Loaf. Vasilii seems oblivious to its taste.

After a lengthy moment, Ian is about to write off the attempt at small talk when Vasilii finally iterates with a tone of futile optimism: "Maybe we can get out in three years with good behavior."

He finally looks up at Ian and holds up the entree pack to him, his voice registering increasing amounts of panic. "Here, you want to try some of this? I heard these rations sorta taste like prison food, thought I’d try and get used to it. Do you think I would look good in those orange jumpsuits they wear in those prison colonies? Do you think it might be a bad thing to look good in a jumpsuit in a prison? My cellmate will probably be some big, burly Aslan named ‘Cuddles’ or something."

Swann overhears this as he sits down. He looks at Vasilii with a smile and says, "Oh, you’ll like Cuddles. He’ll keep you warm on those cold, lonely nights."

"He wouldn’t last three months in a real prison," Swann thinks. "Not without a real Cuddles to protect him, in exchange for ‘services.’ "

"You’re not helping here," Vasilii says to Swann, shaking his head with a smile.

Turning to Ian, he says, "To answer your question, well, let’s see. We lied by omission on our depositions, so there’s the *first* charge of obstruction of justice involving a capital crime. A seasoned prosecutor could make the argument that the depositions were given under oath, thus adding perjury to the mix. Regrettably, we ran off with only two of the three key pieces of evidence in said crime, so there’s the second obstruction of justice charge along with evidence tampering involving a capital crime. And since we didn’t turn in the boxes right off when we found them, they’ll probably add receiving stolen goods to the list, just to make the point.

After briefly glancing at his wrist chronometer, he continues. "By now, the Oser’s crew’s been awake for several hours worth of interrogation, and the Sentry people have had enough time to look at what’s left of the evidence, and have inevitably arrived at the conclusion that we didn’t tell them everything, and have probably sent a message a few hours behind us telling the Fonnein authorities to detain us.

"All things considered, I think we were doing better getting shot at on Aleif. Any votes for going back to King George’s Land?" he asks, raising his hand.

-----​

Vargas walks into the lounge area with his beaker, Rusti, on his shoulder. "I think I’m glad I missed most of that, didn’t sound wholesome." The former Scout wanders over to the drink dispenser and draws a cup of Kevon’s paint thinner/Navy coffee.

"My suggestion is that we all plead insanity, but only after calling each other as character witnesses. No jury, Noble, or . . . anyone else would convict us." He waves vaguely about before next wandering over to the opened military ration pack.

"Now this, this is a different story. Clear violation of the Imperial Rules of War. Lucky we haven’t been nuked from orbit by Marines. Now then, how are we all this morning? Mr. Silver?"

Aidan looks up at the sound of his name. With a somewhat ghostly, but recovering, semblance of his usual voice, he says, "Ahh, you would like to hear about my antique computer parts, sir? In addition, I have an old freighter I’d like to sell, plus some black globe generators from — never mind, shouldn’t be flip this soon after jump. Although after that reference to Cuddles. . . . Hmm, where was I? Ah yes. Perhaps instead you’d like to hear about a certain set of cubes?"

Aidan looks around to see if ears have perked up at the mention of the cubes. He then proceeds. "Vasilii mentioned last night that there was a large amount of circumstantial evidence tying together everyone with an interest in the cubes. The one thing I can tell you for certain is that I know nothing about them, other than certification that they are not dangerous if they stay sealed. I was approached by a particular patron who is well placed in, well, let’s just say some upper circles of society, with ties to ImpSec. Naturally, I respected her opinion and request, as it seemed the healthiest thing to do. Fortunately, I can report that her description, at least when last seen, does not match that of any of the people described to me as having been involved in your, umm, adventures.

"So, what I can tell you is that I was commissioned to see the cubes delivered to another patron, unopened, for a certain sum. I have to say that my curiosity is particularly aroused by the mayhem around the cubes. But I think this is a situation where the discretion for which I am counted on as a courier should be exercised.

"I think that, perhaps, this small mission of mine may be a nice clean way for you all to dispose of the cubes without backlash — and perhaps earn a little good will in the right circles. So, I leave it to you."

"To be honest, Mr. Silver, we owe you no such courtesy," Kevon says. "We can just as easily space these cubes of yours while in jump. And nobody gets what they want.

"And there’s another thing: possession is nine-tenths of the law, and we have the cubes," the lieutenant commander continues. "You, as facilitator, are only entitled to the standard broker’s fee. I’ll be generous and offer you 15 percent, and since I control whether the cargo is released to your prospective buyers, you’d be best advised to accept."

"Well sir, you certainly speak the truth on the release of the cubes. Of course, I’m simply acting as, hmm, yes, ‘facilitator’ is the correct word. If you choose to not allow them to be delivered then I’m out my fees so far, but no more. How about this instead — waive my fees for transport of the old electronic parts and my passage, make it a 10 percent commission, and I’ll introduce you on the other end as a resourceful crew with the wits to carry out special courier services?

"My pardon, please allow me to get some more coffee." Aidan does so, then returns to the table.

"Now, your thoughts, sir? Certainly, you could also space my person and I’d be hard put to resist. But the investigation might be messy."

Swann pauses in eating his oatmeal, says, "I’m in favor of keeping spacing a viable option," then takes another spoonful.

"So let me get this straight," Martha says, interrupting. "You broke into our ship once before, planted these damn cubes, then broke into our ship’s computer again during contact with someone who’s obviously working against your employer, and now expect us to just take some cash to forget all the crap you’ve done to us." Martha scoffs. "And you don’t think we’ll space you or the cubes, or indeed, turn everything over to the local government once we arrive back in normal space?"

Martha turns to the others. "That’s two! I know my vote! I’m tired of us being treated like — well, like Mr. Silver here is a Cuddles in fine clothing."

She then turns to the whimpering Vilani. "Vasilii, stop your blubbering. You should know as well as any of us here that we won’t get in too much trouble on this run, trust me. We were duped by Mr. Silver here, and if we turn over the cubes and Mr. Silver to the locals on the other side, we’re free and clear."

The Engineer then turns back to Mr. Silver. "Sir, is there anything else you might want to consider mentioning, now that you’re coming clean about all of your illegalities? Kick any puppies in our cargo bay? Rape any small children in our staterooms? Any other violations you care to add to what you’ve already done?"

Martha is obviously upset, feeling particularly violated by Aidan’s actions which have put her friends and comrades in danger, as well as destroying Martha’s concept of her ability to maintain any sense of protection, security, or privacy aboard the Bray Keaven.

"Everyone in favor of duct taping him like a mummy and throwing him to the puppies in the cargo bay, raise your hands," Vargas attempts a weak joke.

"If he doesn’t follow orders, I have no problem with it. Where we gonna find puppies out here?" Ian says with a smile.

"Right. Sorry." Vargas stares at his boots for a moment.

Aidan sits back, looking rather stunned. He clears his throat. "My pardon madame, I don’t quite know what to say. My first contact with your ship was when I requested the hauling of those electronic parts. My contact on Alief indicated that the cubes were on board and wanted me to find them, extract them, and deliver them. Circumstances precluding that, it seems better to work with you and the rest of the crew."

His voice regaining some smoothness, he continues. "As to my other illegalities, I regret to say that it would be better that they not be mentioned, although let me assure you that they run to helping revolutionaries and getting kicked out of society rather than anything violently sociopathic.

"My deepest apologies on your feeling of violation over my entry into your ship. However, I deemed it wise to first find out somewhat about the crew before mentioning knowledge of the cubes. You have rather a reputation for, shall we say, rough actions, developed back planetside.

"But Mr. Vargas, the Cuddles comment aside, I’m not really into that sort of thing."

Swann listens to the discussion with a sense of amusement, until the mention of Alief jump–starts his paranoia. Having finished his oatmeal, he leans back from the table and focuses intently on Aidan.

"I suggest you keep our well–deserved reputation for rough actions in mind. After what just happened with the Oser, I daresay none of us are in the mood for any Noble foolishness or games of one-upmanship. And after some of the stunts you’ve pulled — however justified you feel they were in the name of completing your mission — you have built up very little good will with this crew. In fact, your good will account is pretty much overdrawn.

"So why don’t you start at the beginning and tell us everything. Start with the name of your contact on Alief and who that contact works for. I’m sure you know, there are some governments and factions on the planet we probably don’t feel like helping out. Then tell us about these cubes: what are they, what do they do, where did they come from, and why are they wanted on Alief?"

"I think we deserve the full story, Mr. Silver, if you wish to remain on this side of the airlock for the remainder of the journey," Kevon warns.

"Rest assured sirs, that your reputation is very much in mind," Aidan replies. "Nor do I indulge in games of one-upmanship. Noble foolishness I will perhaps admit to.

"So. The whole story from my perspective, although I think you’ll find I know nearly as little as you. Nonetheless, I swear upon my honor that what I’ll tell is true."

Silver switches into storytelling mode. "My patron contacted me, through the rather obscure, but certified channels, with a request to get a certain pair of cubes delivered. My patron, although not directly a member of ImpSec, is associated with them. I thus pay some respect when I get a call for a job. My patron is not to be the recipient of the cubes, merely the conveyor of the arrangement.

"The cubes are to be delivered to 069-256 and Adukgin. The previous captain of the Bray Keaven was the original assignee for this contract, but his untimely death led to the mission going astray. I did not originally know that the shipment was on the Bray Keaven and have spent some months tracking the disposition of the cubes, running through approximately KCr150 so far of my available expense account.

"After discovering that the cubes were on the Bray Keaven, I tracked the ship to Sentry, found out about the plague emergency, made passage back to Alief, found out that the Bray Keaven was still there, then followed when the Bray Keaven left for Sentry. I avidly followed your adventures in the news journals. I must say, they brought back some old memories for me.

"Hmm, yes, well, I am to be paid KCr50 for each cube eventually delivered, this will come delivered into a numbered account. If I deliver the cubes myself, then that goes up to KCr150 per cube. The delivery is arranged in the form of a person contacting the ship at each destination system. The person is to use the name ‘Sare de Salui.’ That person will know the tracking numbers on the cubes. There is a passphrase they will also know. They will also then immediately hand over KCr100 for the delivery.

"As to the nature of the cubes? I am certainly curious, and have researched that as well, but have found no reference. I do have this warrant indicating that the cubes are not inherently dangerous. Beyond that, I know nothing about them. Although I have some small knowledge of my patron, I have no knowledge of the recipient of the cubes either.

"You may find it curious that I do know so little about these. Believe me, in the jobs I’ve had recently, that is frequently the healthiest way to operate. As to why you were attacked at Sentry or by the Oser? I have no knowledge.

"Now, as an offering of some assistance. I would be happy to use the expense account for this mission to assist in repairs to the Bray Keaven. KCr75 may go some way to helping with that.

"There is also, potentially, KCr300 more if you choose to see the cubes all the way through. Although I have no way of guaranteeing that the encounters along the way will be any safer than your experience so far. Given your capabilities though, you seem quite capable of handling anything thrown at you."

With great gravis, Aidan concludes with, "Upon my honor, this is the whole of the story as I know it. I leave it to you to decide what to do with it."

Ian finishes his breakfast while listening to the story. "Mr. Silver, why should this crew ever trust you again? As Martha said, you have violated our ship’s security numerous times, which is a direct attack against this crew. We owe you nothing! IF we decide not to space you and your cubes, you will be confined to your quarters for the duration of the trip. When allowed out of your quarters, you will have a constant escort. I will accompany you during meals to the lounge and back. If you feel you need to exit your cabin, you may contact me through the comm and we will discuss your reasons."

Turning to Swann, he asks, "Is it possible to mechanically cut off his access to our ships computer from his cabin so that he couldn’t even wire in his personal computer for access?"

Swann considers the question as he eats a couple of spoonfuls of oatmeal. "I can disconnect his terminal, sure. I don’t know if I can keep him from accessing the system using his own computer without yanking the fiber optic cable out of the conduits for that cabin. We could do that, no problem, but if we ever want to hook it back up in the future, I’m not sure if even Rusti could get in there to rerun the cable. The cable’s usually already in the conduit when they install those cabins during construction."

"Additionally, it’s possible to rig a connection into the comm," Aidan says. "Please be assured, I will not use your shipboard computer equipment again without supervision until given leave to do so. Although I would beg that someone do some tuning of the software that’s producing this coffee."

"Hey, that’s good coffee, Mister!" Kevon protests.

A much more serious Vargas chimes in. "How about disconnecting the terminal’s fiber on the system router end, air gap it? Or is the whole thing on a single BUS?"

"Cutting off the connection that way works if each cabin is individually wired to the MUX, but that’s somewhat unusual I would say," Aidan responds "You’ll also need to remember to cut off the wireless reception and broadcast as it might be possible to tap in that way. Not that I shall. Just a note for your future use."

-----

Standing by the coffee dispenser Saro takes long swallows of coffee, refilling his mug several times while he watches the participants in the morning’s "love–fest." He takes in Martha’s outburst, verging on the edge of hysteric. Kevon and Ian both angry, although trying to restrain themselves. Vasilii upset, yet enticed by the chance for profit.

After Aidan reveals his story, the Doc waits for a moment of silence, then coughs softly to get the attention of everyone.

"Now it may seem a bit incongruous for me to be giving this bit of advice, giving my little outburst aboard the Oser, but I think we may all benefit from a bit more calm."

Turning, he addresses Aidan. "Mr. Silver, you may not be aware, but your activities and those of the Oser’s crew are not all we've had to contend to lately. The past few weeks have been most stressful — recent events have just been icing on the proverbial cake."

He turns back towards the others. "We still have a week or so until we exit jump space, so I think we can afford to take another day to relax, calm our nerves, and regain a more objective perspective on recent activities.

"This is not to say we won’t come to the same decisions, but at least we’ll do so from a more grounded state of mind. I’d suggest that we confine Mr. Silver to his cabin and restrict his access to the computer, at least until tomorrow morning. The rest of us should catch up on our sleep and/or engage in the activities that each of us finds relaxing and calming.

"Tomorrow morning we can reconvene and discuss our plans of action. How does that sound to everyone?"

"That’s fine with me, Doc," Swann says. "But I think tomorrow’s meeting should initially only include crew members."

Vargas indicates the ship’s only passenger with a nod of his head and says, "We could lock him up with the puppies."

"I stand ready to return to my cabin," Aidan says. "I believe Mr. McConnell offered an escort back."

-----​

After all discussion is completed, Ian escorts Mr. Silver to his cabin.

 

[Burocrate]

I meant for wider distribution, you make it a .pdf (or whatever format you like) and submit it to any of several Traveller specific sites. These sites will then provide even greater exposure for your work, if you can get money for all this work, so much the better. Please don't ask me for business ideas, its bad enough I foist them on you unsolicited.