Broccli_Head
Explorer
Shadowdancer said:
Tha'ts not good. I don't know what it is, but I know it's not good.
Traveller T20: Tales of the Bray Keaven [Updated 12-20-05]
- Thread starter Shadowdancer
- Start date
Tha'ts not good. I don't know what it is, but I know it's not good.
Shadowdancer
First Post
Pyske said:
Where can these rankings be found? Just curious -- I've never seen them before. I'm assuming it's one of the new functions of the recent site upgrade.
Shadowdancer
First Post
Chapter XXVI
Date: 174-993
Location: Fonnein Orbital
"Yes, the process has been completed smoothly and as planned. Is there a problem?" Ian quickly glances around during the conversation, looking for any signs of trouble.
"Damn! Uh, alright, it's kinda hard to explain right now,” Vasilii says. “The Keaven's responding to an emergency out here, there's been a collision between a couple of ships, one of them's a liner. We're going to try evacuating passengers off of it.
"But that's not your concern right now. Right now, you guys need to track down that guy you delivered the package to. See if he's still at the hotel, and if he isn't, start checking any passenger manifests you can find in the computer, or start calling any ships scheduled to depart soon. Don't approach him, just find him, and then get back to me.”
Vasilii's tone changes a bit, and he speaks more deliberately. "I want you and Swann to do the work on this. Nothing against Aidan, but I think you guys have more experience in this sort of thing. Hurry!"
After a beat, Ian replies, "Affirmative. We will see what we can find out. Let me know when you get an ETA for the ship yard. Y'all be careful out there! Ian out."
Swann looks at Ian, with a concerned look on his face. Over the comm, he says, "Understood, Vasilii. Now listen carefully. Put the special cargo back in its original location. Get someone to help you because it's very heavy. Do this before you do anything else. Do you understand?"
Meanwhile, Aidan is politely wandering about twiddling his thumbs just out of hearing range. Swann and Ian look about, but they don't see anything that triggers any alarm bells other than a fellow trying to juggle too many cups of some morning drink and two bags of some pastries -- there is just normal light morning traffic in the corridors.
Ian glances at Swann. "Looks like we have another item on our 'to do'
list. Maybe you can check into Vasilii's request while Aidan looks for info on No. 2. We'd better get going."
The ex-Marine walks over to Aidan. "The ship has been diverted to assist in an emergency situation. A couple of ships have collided and they are going to help evacuate personnel. I have asked them to let us know when they get an ETA for the ship yard. Wonder if we can find some more info on the news networks on what is going on out there? Let's make a point to check it out when we sit down for the intel tasks. Shall we continue?"
Ian turns and heads down the corridor.
“Agreed” Aidan says. “I’ll add it to the list. If you all need to check out things with regard to the ship, that’s fine. Just let me get ensconced in a defensible corner somewhere so I can investigate and be able to keep a good eye on things. Fortunately, Sare No. 2 doesn’t know me.”
"Aidan, I would prefer we stay together. Until we get more info on No. 2 and his capabilities, I don't want us taking any unnecessay risks."
Speaking to both Swann and Aidan, Ian says, "Let's do the intel research first. I want to know what's going on out there with the ship."
After receiving Vasilii's odd call, Aidan, Swann, and Ian head over to the Numoc Diner rather than going on their shopping expedition as originally planned. As the three walk in, they see quite a few of the diners watching a large video wall intently. The video wall is apparently running a live feed plot from outside. From what the trio can tell from the feed and from diner comments, some far trader rammed into a shuttle and a Tukera Lines long liner at full acceleration. The long liner is currently headed towards Fonnein's upper atmosphere with a far trader and a cutter in pursuit. The station is scrambling emergency response crews.
The three get a table towards the back where Aidan connects his handcomp to the wireless network, Swann borrows a public terminal, and Ian keeps watch. The trio does order morning drinks and some rolls as cover.
Aidan attempts to find out anything that he can about Sare No. 2. Given that he doesn't have much to go on other than a picture and two sydites, his 10 minute search doesn't reveal much. No one matching Sare No. 2's picture appears on any wanted lists. Attempting to access arrival/departure information is possible, but will take some time and could trigger an Imperial Starport Authority response since their countermeasures are generally quite good and they tend to like to keep the integrity of their systems intact.
Meanwhile, Swann attempts to find out information about Sare de Salui No. 1. His task is made a little easier since he has the assistant's name Worin Tahashima (from the Fonnein Orbital Hotel registration). The hotel's computer still indicates that Mr. Tahashima is checked into the hotel.
There is no "Sare de Salui" listed in the hotel computer nor is there a station comm call name or box registered for that name.
Swann also could attempt to check arrival/departure information for the Starport Authority, but feels that doing so is risky.
There are a number of small craft and starships that have departed or are scheduled to depart. The ones that are scheduled to depart are under a hold order. Anything that has departed and is still in the neighborhood is holding in place.
Ian keeps watch and doesn't notice anything of note. Most diner patrons are still watching the video feed and muttering.
While attempting to do further research, Swann attempts to contact Vasilii. When the Vilani merchant answers, Swann says, "I checked, and the person you asked about is still here. What is this all about?"
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Shadowdancer
First Post
Chapter XXVII
Date: 174-993
Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven
Vasilii takes the long-range radio with him and runs down to port engineering. He grabs the cube and Kevon’s squawk suppressor, puts them in the smuggling hold in that section, and buttons up the fuel processor compartment.
As he works, he has a concerned but focused look on his face. Also as he works, he starts talking to Martha. “Those cubes! Did it ever strike you as kind of odd that with all that high tech gear and highly-skilled personnel the Marquis had at Alief, they never found the smoking gun, the off-world source of the virus?”
"Nope, but we do know it was shipped in inside large multi-ton containers and mixed into the soda pop at that one factory,” Martha replies. “Don’t you remember? Must have been a semi-regular supply line. The Imp Navy-boys were looking into the cargo manifests last time I heard.”
“How much you wanna bet we were carrying it in the starboard smuggling hold all along? Because right now, I’ll wager you a million credits on the idea.”
Martha rolls her eyes. “Vasilii, we’re in the middle of an emergency! Can’t this wait?!?! Get your proof first, before you start freaking out.”
Vasilii doesn’t seem to hear her. He just continues talking, as if he’s in his own little pocket universe. “I’ll grant you, it’s circumstantial. And it’s not that I really think I’m right about this. But those cubes are starting to fit the circumstances to the letter, and I can’t take the chance that I am right, and do nothing.”
Martha glances over at the feverish Vasilii. Thumbing a comm button, she opens a private channel to the doc. “Hey, Doc, Vasilii has a theory, and you might need to take a moment to talk it over with him. He seems -- in need of something to calm him down.”
-----
Saro listens to Martha’s description of Vasilii and shakes his head wearily. “I swear that man would drive me to drink -- if I didn’t drink already, that is. When this ordeal is over I am going to tie him down and make him recuperate if I have to keep him sedated.”
-----
Once he finishes loading the cube, Vasilii says, “Martha, depressurize that processor compartment, and don’t open it for love or money. And pray that I’m wrong.”
He stops to wipe off his brow, then says, “You keep working to save those passengers, I’ll deal with this. Somehow.” He turns and is gone out the iris leading into the main cargo bay. He heads to Aidan’s stateroom to search it.
-----
“By Saint Elvis' blue suede shoes, that man is losing it. I sure hope the Doc can take care of things before he does something stupid and hurts us all.”
Martha then returns to her work, conversing with Doc as needed, being a little clearer that Vasilii is in dire need of medication.
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Shadowdancer
First Post
Watching the Marellia Landing with its slight rotation headed towards Fonnein's upper atmosphere, Kevon sees two main options. The first is to attempt to directly dock with the long liner either at its engineering airlock (easy) or its passenger airlock (difficult). Docking at the engineering airlock will be relatively easy, but runs the risk that the passengers can't be brought out that way due to damage on that level. Docking at the passenger airlock will be difficult (and Vargas thinks the idea is too difficult at least for his skills) since the Bray Keaven will have to constantly be adjusting its vector to stay docked.
The docking tube isn't a hard connection, so any significant stress/strain will cause it to break.
Either docking maneuver will take about 10 minutes from this point.
The second main option is to attempt to arrest the long liner's slight rotation by using the Bray Keaven. The Bray Keaven would need to essentially find a place to push against the long liner as the Marellia Landing rotates. The main difficulty would be in performing this maneuver without causing significant hull damage to either ship. Also, setting up for the pushing maneuver and then docking will take about 20 minutes or so.
The lieutenant commander assesses the situation for a moment, then straps himself into the chair. “Everyone strap yourselves in; I’m going to adjust the Marellia’s vector and see if I can bring her to a near stop outside of GSO,” he says. “Mr. Vargas, contact the Marellia, Cutter C13 and Fonnein Orbital and tell them that we’re going to go hull-to-hull to gently direct the Marellia away from the planet.”
"Roger that" says Vargas as he goes to toggle the comm.
“The fighter jocks used to call this ‘rubbing bellies.’
“I’ve been running calculations in my head on how to redirect this thing,” Kevon says as he sits down. “But I don’t know if the docking tube can take the strain. What do you think?”
After a moment of contemplation and analyzing vectors, Kevon decides to go for a fairly risky maneuver of trying to angle the 1,000 dTon Marellia Landing away from the upper atmosphere with the 200 dTon Bray Keaven. The lieutenant commander quickly plots and studies the vectors involved. He decides that angling the long liner away from the planet should be doable (but rough). Bringing her to a complete stop probably would be very damaging to the Bray Keaven.
Vargas dutifully advises the accompanying cutter and Fonnein Orbital. Fonnein Orbital Traffic Control responds, "Heavenly Father help and bless you. Emergency response teams are ETA 15 minutes."
Cutter C13 replies, "You're crazy! Thank you, but you're bloody crazy! We'll stand by to assist if we can, but I don't think that we can do much."
While Vargas warns the cutter and Fonnein Orbital, Kevon keys internal comms and warns the crew to strap in and prepare for collision. Amidst getting ready to receive survivors, Martha and Saro look at each other incredulously for a moment, and then scramble for the nearest acceleration couches. Saro dives for the one the improvised medical bay, and Martha goes for the one in Kevon's new cabin (the spare one next to the medical bay).
Meanwhile, after having retrieved the long range communicator from the ship's locker, moving the cube, and making Martha worry about his stability with his odd actions/request with regards to the cube during the approach, Vasilii runs to the lift, keys it, and charges towards Aidan’s stateroom.
The Vilani merchant hurriedly, but somewhat methodically searches Aidan's stateroom looking for Aidan's handcomp. Aidan's suitcases are unlocked and unpacked. Inside one of the suitcases, he finds an Imperial Standard ID for Aidan Silver. The other suitcase is empty. All of Aidan's clothes are hung or packed away. Vasilii quickly and clumsily paws through them and finds nothing of note other than a very expensive taste in clothes in general and undergarments in particular.
"Hmmm, note to self: booby-trap Aidan's underwear later," he mumbles as he scans Aidan's ID into his handcomp. The ID indicates that Aidan’s home world is Galir/Ikhnaton. It gives no address or place of issue (usually the home world). There is no mention of being part of a Noble family -- no Imperial IDs indicate this unless they also include the rank (which is usually how it is done).
On the desk, Aidan has placed six models of various warships. In a desk drawer, Vasilii finds a very well-crafted writing kit containing writing utensils, wax, a seal, and sheets, notes, and envelopes of various sizes of real vellum (i.e., very expensive). Scattering the sheets on the bed, Vasilii sees a half written note of some sort.
The note appears to be a half-written letter to an old friend named Catherine. The note mainly inquires about her son's health and sports practice as well as gives mini reviews of what sounds like three of the finer restaurants near Sentry Downport.
Vasilii makes some quick notes on his handcomp. Catherine's son's name is Montague. The restaurants are Bistro de Paris, Artist Point, and Brown Derby.
The seal has a smooth cylindrical handle with the seal at the end. The seal is simply a heavily stylized A. There is also an archaic melter for the wax -- looks like one of those 21st century Terran blowtorch cigarette lighters.
He does not find Aidan's handcomp or anything that he thinks is an interesting electronic gadget.
As the long liner hurtles towards the planet, the Bray Keaven comes up from underneath the much larger ship, turns its belly to the Marellia Landing at the last minute, and crashes into the long liner. The Bray Keaven strikes the long liner with its forward belly. The crash is much harder than Kevon intended, and terrible grinding and crunching noises reverberate through the ship. The lights momentarily dim and almost everything that isn't properly secured flies about. Luckily, Vargas, Kevon, Martha, and Saro are properly strapped in and are only knocked about a bit.
Unfortunately, Vasilii is turned into a grav ball and bounces off two walls, the ceiling, another wall, and the floor before coming to rest. Moaning on the floor, the Vilani Merchant feels like he has badly thrown a shoulder as well as possibly reopened some of his shrapnel wounds.
Noticeably wincing, Vargas says after the controlled collision, "That's going to leave a mark." The Scout starts running whatever diagnostics he can to determine just how much damage the ship has taken, and whether or not something vital has failed.
A brief exclamation -- "Elvis!" -- escapes Martha's lips as the Bray Keaven slams into the ship, and the damage is done. Already, Martha's mind begins imagining a wide range of catastrophes affecting the ship.
Saro dives for the accel couch and manages to strap himself down just as the Bray Keaven rubs against the liner. Slamming back and forth against his restraints as the ships caress each other, Saro grunts and curses several times. When the ride settles down, he gingerly releases his restraints and tests his limbs' functionality. His chest, shoulders and hips cry out in protest but he determines that he came through the ordeal intact, although he'll be incredibly sore later, and sporting a brilliant set of bruises.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Kevon growls mentally at his miscalculation. “If these people ever pay me, I’ll be surprised.”
Vargas says, "Kevon, it occurs to me that a lot of our problems would be solved if we scrapped this poor thing and bought ourselves a well armored long-range tug."
The lieutenant commander allows a short chuckle to escape through his grimace. “I’d prefer a 150-ton armored patrol combatant, if you’re offering,” he quips. “I saw an old Carnahan-class converted into an armored merchantman in Jump Space Technology Magazine a couple years back going for only Cr12.2 billion. Jump 2, 2Gs with 36 tons of cargo space. The article said something about the pirate-infested backstretch of the Kaufur Sector.”
The Scout lets out a low whistle. "I wish I had one to offer, sounds sweet -- oh, that looks like it used to be a high gain antenna,” he says as he points out a chunk of debris whizzing by.
“Oh, hush.”
"Kaan-el's Left Testicle," Saro moans softly to himself, "wasn't that a load of fun? Of course this type of thing is rapidly becoming commonplace," he muses.
Over his comm he calls out, "Saro here, I made it through our little maneuver intact. How's everyone else doing? Anyone hurt badly?"
In spite of being knocked about a bit in his seat, Kevon does manage to keep the Bray Keaven in contact with the much larger long liner, and his course plots and approach appear to be true. After a minute or two of more grinding, Kevon's plot shows that the Marellia Landing should now just miss the upper atmosphere. The new trajectory isn't a proper orbit, but the Bray Keaven has just bought the long liner at least two more hours.
"Well, it's an improvement at least,” Vargas says. “Hey, can we bill the locals for damages?"
Kevon quickly plots out the chances of further moving the liner and decides that there just isn’t much more to be gained by further mangling the ship. “Martha, do we have hull integrity?” he asks. “I’m about ready to break away.”
Martha grunts, "Let me see -- one moment." Struggling to get out of the acceleration couch, Martha moves to the nearest workstation to check the system. At the workstation, she starts to check the hull integrity.
While he is lying on the floor bruised and battered, Vasilii's comm rings with an indication that a call is coming in from Swann. Vasilii answers the comm and hears Swann say, "I checked, and the person you asked about is still here. What is this all about?"
The docking tube isn't a hard connection, so any significant stress/strain will cause it to break.
Either docking maneuver will take about 10 minutes from this point.
The second main option is to attempt to arrest the long liner's slight rotation by using the Bray Keaven. The Bray Keaven would need to essentially find a place to push against the long liner as the Marellia Landing rotates. The main difficulty would be in performing this maneuver without causing significant hull damage to either ship. Also, setting up for the pushing maneuver and then docking will take about 20 minutes or so.
The lieutenant commander assesses the situation for a moment, then straps himself into the chair. “Everyone strap yourselves in; I’m going to adjust the Marellia’s vector and see if I can bring her to a near stop outside of GSO,” he says. “Mr. Vargas, contact the Marellia, Cutter C13 and Fonnein Orbital and tell them that we’re going to go hull-to-hull to gently direct the Marellia away from the planet.”
"Roger that" says Vargas as he goes to toggle the comm.
“The fighter jocks used to call this ‘rubbing bellies.’
“I’ve been running calculations in my head on how to redirect this thing,” Kevon says as he sits down. “But I don’t know if the docking tube can take the strain. What do you think?”
After a moment of contemplation and analyzing vectors, Kevon decides to go for a fairly risky maneuver of trying to angle the 1,000 dTon Marellia Landing away from the upper atmosphere with the 200 dTon Bray Keaven. The lieutenant commander quickly plots and studies the vectors involved. He decides that angling the long liner away from the planet should be doable (but rough). Bringing her to a complete stop probably would be very damaging to the Bray Keaven.
Vargas dutifully advises the accompanying cutter and Fonnein Orbital. Fonnein Orbital Traffic Control responds, "Heavenly Father help and bless you. Emergency response teams are ETA 15 minutes."
-----
Cutter C13 replies, "You're crazy! Thank you, but you're bloody crazy! We'll stand by to assist if we can, but I don't think that we can do much."
-----
While Vargas warns the cutter and Fonnein Orbital, Kevon keys internal comms and warns the crew to strap in and prepare for collision. Amidst getting ready to receive survivors, Martha and Saro look at each other incredulously for a moment, and then scramble for the nearest acceleration couches. Saro dives for the one the improvised medical bay, and Martha goes for the one in Kevon's new cabin (the spare one next to the medical bay).
-----
Meanwhile, after having retrieved the long range communicator from the ship's locker, moving the cube, and making Martha worry about his stability with his odd actions/request with regards to the cube during the approach, Vasilii runs to the lift, keys it, and charges towards Aidan’s stateroom.
The Vilani merchant hurriedly, but somewhat methodically searches Aidan's stateroom looking for Aidan's handcomp. Aidan's suitcases are unlocked and unpacked. Inside one of the suitcases, he finds an Imperial Standard ID for Aidan Silver. The other suitcase is empty. All of Aidan's clothes are hung or packed away. Vasilii quickly and clumsily paws through them and finds nothing of note other than a very expensive taste in clothes in general and undergarments in particular.
"Hmmm, note to self: booby-trap Aidan's underwear later," he mumbles as he scans Aidan's ID into his handcomp. The ID indicates that Aidan’s home world is Galir/Ikhnaton. It gives no address or place of issue (usually the home world). There is no mention of being part of a Noble family -- no Imperial IDs indicate this unless they also include the rank (which is usually how it is done).
On the desk, Aidan has placed six models of various warships. In a desk drawer, Vasilii finds a very well-crafted writing kit containing writing utensils, wax, a seal, and sheets, notes, and envelopes of various sizes of real vellum (i.e., very expensive). Scattering the sheets on the bed, Vasilii sees a half written note of some sort.
The note appears to be a half-written letter to an old friend named Catherine. The note mainly inquires about her son's health and sports practice as well as gives mini reviews of what sounds like three of the finer restaurants near Sentry Downport.
Vasilii makes some quick notes on his handcomp. Catherine's son's name is Montague. The restaurants are Bistro de Paris, Artist Point, and Brown Derby.
The seal has a smooth cylindrical handle with the seal at the end. The seal is simply a heavily stylized A. There is also an archaic melter for the wax -- looks like one of those 21st century Terran blowtorch cigarette lighters.
He does not find Aidan's handcomp or anything that he thinks is an interesting electronic gadget.
-----
As the long liner hurtles towards the planet, the Bray Keaven comes up from underneath the much larger ship, turns its belly to the Marellia Landing at the last minute, and crashes into the long liner. The Bray Keaven strikes the long liner with its forward belly. The crash is much harder than Kevon intended, and terrible grinding and crunching noises reverberate through the ship. The lights momentarily dim and almost everything that isn't properly secured flies about. Luckily, Vargas, Kevon, Martha, and Saro are properly strapped in and are only knocked about a bit.
Unfortunately, Vasilii is turned into a grav ball and bounces off two walls, the ceiling, another wall, and the floor before coming to rest. Moaning on the floor, the Vilani Merchant feels like he has badly thrown a shoulder as well as possibly reopened some of his shrapnel wounds.
-----
Noticeably wincing, Vargas says after the controlled collision, "That's going to leave a mark." The Scout starts running whatever diagnostics he can to determine just how much damage the ship has taken, and whether or not something vital has failed.
-----
A brief exclamation -- "Elvis!" -- escapes Martha's lips as the Bray Keaven slams into the ship, and the damage is done. Already, Martha's mind begins imagining a wide range of catastrophes affecting the ship.
-----
Saro dives for the accel couch and manages to strap himself down just as the Bray Keaven rubs against the liner. Slamming back and forth against his restraints as the ships caress each other, Saro grunts and curses several times. When the ride settles down, he gingerly releases his restraints and tests his limbs' functionality. His chest, shoulders and hips cry out in protest but he determines that he came through the ordeal intact, although he'll be incredibly sore later, and sporting a brilliant set of bruises.
-----
“Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Kevon growls mentally at his miscalculation. “If these people ever pay me, I’ll be surprised.”
Vargas says, "Kevon, it occurs to me that a lot of our problems would be solved if we scrapped this poor thing and bought ourselves a well armored long-range tug."
The lieutenant commander allows a short chuckle to escape through his grimace. “I’d prefer a 150-ton armored patrol combatant, if you’re offering,” he quips. “I saw an old Carnahan-class converted into an armored merchantman in Jump Space Technology Magazine a couple years back going for only Cr12.2 billion. Jump 2, 2Gs with 36 tons of cargo space. The article said something about the pirate-infested backstretch of the Kaufur Sector.”
The Scout lets out a low whistle. "I wish I had one to offer, sounds sweet -- oh, that looks like it used to be a high gain antenna,” he says as he points out a chunk of debris whizzing by.
“Oh, hush.”
-----
"Kaan-el's Left Testicle," Saro moans softly to himself, "wasn't that a load of fun? Of course this type of thing is rapidly becoming commonplace," he muses.
Over his comm he calls out, "Saro here, I made it through our little maneuver intact. How's everyone else doing? Anyone hurt badly?"
-----
In spite of being knocked about a bit in his seat, Kevon does manage to keep the Bray Keaven in contact with the much larger long liner, and his course plots and approach appear to be true. After a minute or two of more grinding, Kevon's plot shows that the Marellia Landing should now just miss the upper atmosphere. The new trajectory isn't a proper orbit, but the Bray Keaven has just bought the long liner at least two more hours.
"Well, it's an improvement at least,” Vargas says. “Hey, can we bill the locals for damages?"
Kevon quickly plots out the chances of further moving the liner and decides that there just isn’t much more to be gained by further mangling the ship. “Martha, do we have hull integrity?” he asks. “I’m about ready to break away.”
-----
Martha grunts, "Let me see -- one moment." Struggling to get out of the acceleration couch, Martha moves to the nearest workstation to check the system. At the workstation, she starts to check the hull integrity.
-----
While he is lying on the floor bruised and battered, Vasilii's comm rings with an indication that a call is coming in from Swann. Vasilii answers the comm and hears Swann say, "I checked, and the person you asked about is still here. What is this all about?"
Shadowdancer
First Post
Chapter XXVIII
Date: 174-993
Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven
Vasilii lets out a groan of pain. "Ohhh, that hurt. Uh, he’s still there? Hmph. Well, that puts a perspective on things out here.
"Well, right now Kevon is smacking our hull into the liner. I suspect it’s because he got outvoted on the idea of continuing to the shipyard, and got volunteered into making this rescue attempt instead, but that’s just my take on it. I’m no engineer, but I’d say we just did some pretty nasty damage to the hull — I’d be amazed if we didn’t have a breach somewhere.
"Alright. I’m not sure we should talk about specifics on this channel, this could be a party line. At some point soon, I think we’re going to dock with the liner and take on some of its passengers, which means that we’ll have to put in at a berth somewhere to drop them off. As soon as we get a berth number from traffic control, I’ll let you know, and you can try to meet up with us there. We can talk specifics then.
"Look, I’ll be honest with you: This isn’t a crew thing, this is more my thing. I could be wasting your time for nothing. And it’s not that I think I’m hot on some trail — point of fact I’d actually be happy to be wrong."
Swann cuts in. "Then let it go for now. If you’re not hot on a trail, then let it go for now. Help with the rescue — that has to be your top priority right now. The rest of the crew needs you, and the passengers on that liner need you. Whatever you’re chasing after will still be there when this crisis is over."
The Merchant continues as if he didn’t hear. "I just can’t afford to be right this time. Vasilii out."
After picking himself up and answering Swann’s call, Vasilii cuts the lining on Aidan’s two expensive–looking suitcases. He doesn’t find anything unusual in the lining of either suitcase. The Vilani Merchant doesn’t think that his shoulder is dislocated — he can still move — but he is in significant pain.
Vasilii then heads down to the ship’s locker. He reaches the main deck as Saro is preparing to receive visitors through the starboard airlock. He passes by the doctor on his way to the locker. Saro looks at Vasilii oddly, particularly since he can see Vasilii wincing in pain with every move, and then goes back to checking his medical supplies and preparing to receive survivors.
Vasilii opens the locker and looks for Aidan’s weapons. Aidan has a locked fancy rifle case, an auto pistol in a shoulder holster with four magazines, and two heavy, gray plastic boxes. Both have the words "Uruukishi, ILC" in flowing script on them. One has "5.56mmx64mm" also on the box while the other has "9mm" on the box in small block numbers/letters.
Pulling the auto pistol out of the shoulder holster, Vasilii gets the impression that the weapon is extremely well–made though not flashy. Looking at the magazine well of the pistol, it looks like the well of almost every other pistol that Vasilii has seen in his limited weapons experience. The magazines look like auto pistol magazines filled with what are between 10 and 15 rounds of ammunition The magazines all weigh about the same, and the top round in each magazine is the same — full metal jacket.
-----
Martha dashes back to port engineering to run damage control diagnostics. She detects a depressurization in the forward cargo lock and a slight pressure drop in the main cargo bay. Luckily, any iris valves and doors to those areas are currently closed and locked. The jump grid appears to be damaged also.
-----
On the bridge, Vargas runs a similar diagnostic and comes up with a complete pressure loss in the forward cargo lock only.
-----
Martha touches the screen with an almost motherly caress, her face wrinkled in a pained look of concern. "Kevon, I think we’ve lost some integrity in the forward cargo lock, and the main cargo bay is suffering a slight pressure drop as a result. Probably a leak; I can fix that quick, once I know where it’s at. Both are contained for now.
"A side note: the jump grid is damaged." Martha's voice is a mix of relief and concern. "Good thing we’re getting our maintenance started today," she adds with a half-hearted chuckle.
-----
At the controls, Kevon backs off from the Marellia Landing. The collision and boost appears to have almost completely arrested the rotation, and Kevon sets up an approach for the passenger airlock on the second deck. Docking proves to be simple compared to the previous maneuver.
-----
By the starboard airlock, Saro can see that the docking tube has extended and has green lights indicating a pressure–tight seal.
-----
"You need help herding gomers, Saro?" Vargas asks. "I could get my shotgun and meet you down there."
-----
"Doc, only passengers in vacc suits go to the main cargo bay. We’ve sprung a leak. If I can fix it shortly, we can move more in there, but keep that in mind while taking on passengers, OK?" Martha informs Saro. "You got this, so I can try to locate and fix that leak so we can get more people on? Or do you need me to help with crowd control?"
-----
As he quickly works at donning his vacc suit, Saro responds to Martha’s comm.
"Roger that, Martha. Since Vasilii has gone and disregarded me and gotten himself banged up again, he’s in no condition to help me aboard the liner. See if you can get him to direct people into cabins or any other space we can pack them into. Go ahead and work on that cargo bay leak. I’ve got a feeling we’ll need every cubic centimeter we can get to pack the survivors in. I’ll take Mr. Vargas with me to the liner."
Contacting Emile, Saro says, "I dunno how much help a shotgun will be, but if you want to," Saro shrugs to himself. "But get your butt in gear, I want to head over now, if not sooner."
-----
"Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the concept of panic? I'm not saying a shotgun is a good solution but it makes me feel better. On the way." Along the way Vargas stops at his cabin behind the bridge for his vacc suit.
-----
Inhaling, Martha starts shouting, so as (hopefully) to be heard throughout the ship, in case Vasilii has turned off his comm unit and is hiding and freaking out in some closet somewhere. "VASILII! WHERE IN THE HELL ARE YOU? WE NEED YOU UP HERE, NOW!"
-----
Vasilii startles at the sound of a shouting Martha coming through the comms. He turns and glares at the comm panel for a moment with a look that could freeze water. "Oh, for the love of," he curses under his breath. "Just trying to save another planet from what happened at Alief, but nobody seems to care!" he mutters to himself.
"They’re not going to give me a moment’s rest until I jump for them," he thinks to himself. He lets out a sigh of exasperation. "Fine! Fine, whatever! I’ll just have to come back to this." He puts Aidan’s guns back in their cases and holsters, pushes them aside, throws up his hands in frustration, and turns back to the comm unit, about to pound it with his fist to give Martha a piece of his mind in kind, but then stops himself.
"If I yell at her, she yells back at me, then we’re yelling at each other, and nobody’s getting much done," he realizes. "If I work with them, they’ll work with me. If I work with them, they'll work with me. But I don’t want them frellin’ walking all over me, either. Not feeling very cordial after being yelled at, certainly."
He takes a deep breath to calm down and focus. "Alright, then. Passengers. Let’s deal with passengers. They’re going to be panicking; they’re not going to be reasonable. We need to be able to make them listen."
He looks around the locker, spots the shotguns sitting in their racks on the wall, boxes of buckshot ammo on the shelves under them. He steps over Aidan’s weapons, grabs one of the boxes, slides it out of its sleeve and tosses the sleeve over his shoulder. He lifts the nearest shotgun out of its rack, then steps back over to the comm panel. Setting the ammo box down on a shelf next to the comm, he thumbs the magazine release and slides the pump forward to open the chamber so he can load the magazine. He cradles the gun in his right arm, then reaches for the comm with his left. He pauses for a moment to consider his next words, then pushes the call button. He speaks as he’s loading rounds into the gun.
"Martha, Vasilii. Just a thought. When you yell at people, they tend to want to yell back at you. And all the yelling usually ends up pretty unproductive after that. So rather than starting down that road, I’ll just assume you’ve got a lot on your mind right now like everyone else. I mean, this is the only ship I’ve ever actually worked on, but — well, I’d have to say I’m pretty impressed with what you’ve been able to do with it, and I suppose you’re able to do all that because you’re damn well intelligent, you’re on top of your game, AND you can juggle all the details in your head, probably much better than I’ll ever be able to.
"But whatever you might think of me or whatever I might be doing at any given moment, you can be certain that I’m doing it because I believe in what I’m doing, no less than you believe in what you’re doing at the same moment. And I’ll, I’ll leave it at that."
-----
Martha breaks in. "You don’t leave an emergency to run around doing whatever and risking our lives by your neglect! That’s how you get killed, and that’s how you get others killed. I don’t know your experience in space, boy-o, but you always help a wounded ship, because next time, it could be you! I should know!"
-----
Vasilii takes a deep breath, lets out a short sigh. "Alright then, I’ll assume that little tussle the ship had a couple minutes ago didn’t do us any good, so I’ll ask the question this way: What don’t we have now?"
Martha tells him about the cargo bays losing pressure. Vasilii thinks for a moment on the problem. "Alright. You’re the engineer, I won’t presume to tell you anything, so I’ll say that I would like to pitch the idea to you that for the sake of time, we forego trying to use the cargo bays for now. Point in fact, I’d like to suggest that you finish depressurizing them yourself and try to conserve what air you can from them, because in a few minutes we’ll be taking on several times the number of passengers our life support system was designed for, and I don’t think it will do anyone any good if the passengers and the crew pass out from lack of oxygen on the way back to the high port. I’m no expert, but I suspect that could get messy."
-----
Martha responds. "We’re freshly loaded, and so we have the capacity to carry 140 people for the two-hour trip back to the high port without even touching our reserves. Heck, probably double that, so set your mind at ease, Vasilii. The life support systems will be taxed, yes, but we’ll have the air to make it."
-----
"For now, we could use all the common areas and staterooms to take on more passengers," Vasilii says, "and pack them in, sitting on the deck, until there’s no more floor space left. And those are my thoughts on the issue, for what they’re worth."
-----
"Acknowledged. Now, you gonna help us out here? Or do you want to stand around and make suggestions all day long?" Martha asks tersely.
-----
"Alright, then. I’ll start putting passengers in the staterooms and common areas until there’s no more room left. If you haven’t patched the leak by then, how about we disengage from the liner, let the cutter pick up some passengers, and we start heading back with what passengers we have while you keep working on the leak?"
-----
Martha heads towards the cargo hold and begins the necessary location and repair of the pressure leaks, in anticipation of taking on the passengers and crew of the liner.
-----
When Vargas reaches the starboard airlock, Saro looks at him and says, "I’m assuming as a Scout you’ve had at least rudimentary med training, so take these. I think you need them more than your shotgun." Saro holds out a handful of doses of Medical Slow Drug. "Save them for the really bad cases. Those with broken bones and such will have to do without until we can determine how many folks are in a very bad way, and how much stuff we have to go around."
"Right. Alright, let’s do it." The former Scout tucks the Med Slow Drug in a big suit pocket and readies himself to move out.
"Ready? Let’s go." Saro takes a deep breath inside his suit and opens the tube.
Shadowdancer
First Post
Chapter IXXX
Date: 174-993
Location: Nupoc Diner, Fonnein Orbital
Ian splits his time between keeping an eye on the patrons — who are all watching the video display — and the video display itself. There is a collective gasp as the crowd sees the much smaller far trader dive underneath the long liner and then crash into the long liner, belly to belly. Then the crowd cheers as it realizes that the maneuver was intentional and the far trader is now thrusting hard, trying to alter the long liner's course enough that it will no longer hit the upper atmosphere.
Ian slowly shakes his head in disbelief when he sees the Bray Keaven muscle the big liner away from the planet.
The far trader continues thrusting for a minute or two and then breaks away.
-----
Meanwhile, Swann tries to identify the ships involved in the original accident. He manages to identify the Marellia Landing, a Tukera Lines long liner arriving from Weston; the Markov’s Daughter, the far trader that caused the original collision; FS-37, a freight shuttle that Markov’s Daughter clipped before colliding with the Marellia Landing; and the Bray Keaven, the far trader which appears to have just redirected the long liner's course.
The Marellia Landing is registered out of Weston to Tukera Lines. Captain is listed as Shara Zaruuks. The Marellia Landing is also listed as due to dock at outside berth OB-123 in 30 minutes. That information is obviously out of date.
The Markov’s Daughter is registered out of Liar’s Oath to a Niles Markov, who is also the captain. The Markov’s Daughter was docked at outside berth OB-115. The berth is reserved for another three days.
The FS-37 is registered to Boris Cargo Transfer.
Swann attempts to track crew or passenger information from the Starport Authority Customs system. Swann makes it into the system, but is not able to find the information before he loses access.
-----
Aidan tries to find out more information about Sare No. 2. Aidan first creates an anonymous user account to help mask his tracks. He then manages to access the Starport Authority system. From there, he goes for the law enforcement system. Once in, he runs Sare No. 2’s picture against any watch lists. A hit comes up on the lists of suspected Solomani agents. There isn’t much information available in the entry other than the usual "considered armed and dangerous" and the aliases of "Francis Mott" and "Cyrus Feigen."
-----
"Swann? How are you doing with your research?" Aidan asks.
Swann replies, "I was doing fine until the frellin' custom’s system kicked me out."
Swann leans back from the terminal and rubs a hand across his face. "I was trying to get a passenger and crew list for the runaway far trader, the Markov’s Daughter. I’ve got the registry info. There probably won’t be a passenger list filed since they left in such a hurry with three days left on their docking berth. You might check to see if they filed a flight plan. Probably not, but maybe there’s something on file regarding where they came from, and who and what they were carrying. And see if you can find anything on the owner, Niles Markov."
Aidan says "Alright, I’ll take a shot at that. Be interesting to check the police lists, too. Hmm, wonder if there’s any smuggling or such that’s prevalent around here, might as well take a look in a couple of places." Aidan trails off into muttering to himself about databases and dives back into the computer.
He looks for the items as suggested by Swann and also checks into recent police and other activity to see if there’s anything active in the way of crime rings and such.
-----
Swann tries to get back into the Starport Authority Custom's system to find the crew list for the Markov’s Daughter, and any services billed to the ship or its berth during its stay. He also looks for any records of cargo offloaded, loaded, or declared during inspection.
-----
Ian sees the Bray Keaven break away from the long liner and then line up on the starboard side of the crippled ship in order to dock. Most of the diner crowd appears to still be intently watching the live feed and the breathless commentary. Ian does see one tall, dark–haired man in gray spacer coveralls who seems to be spending most of his time watching the vid panel, but occasionally glancing over to where the Bray Keaven trio is sitting.
Ian steps closer to Swann, points at the vid screen and nods. Speaking discreetly he says, "The dark–haired man in the gray spacer coveralls seems to have an interest in us. He keeps looking in our direction. Could be nothing, just an FYI." He goes back to his watch.
-----
Eventually, the vid panel splits into a live–feed portion showing the rescue in progress and a portion showing an interview with Niles Markov who says that some unknown person or persons departed with his ship. Niles says that his two transit passengers and Ielishev and N’Shelairsh were the only ones on board when he, Barbara, and Huji left for a breakfast meeting.
-----
Swann makes a second attempt to get back into the Starport Authority system. He succeeds and then starts hunting for information on the Markov’s Daughter. He finds a crew declaration that indicates four crew besides Niles Markov:
Ielishev Rigolson: Engineer
Huiji Ge: Astrogator
Barbara Stannis: Steward and Medic
N'Shelairsh ap Dhorich: Gunner
Swann finds a relatively normal looking list of services billed to the ship (berth fees for a week, refueling, and minor maintenance). Swann attempts to access the customs declaration for a list of cargo offloaded or loaded, but is not successful in finding the information.
-----
Aidan first goes after any crew and passenger list information. He finds the same crew list that Swann finds. He doesn’t find a list of passengers inbound, but he does find a list of outbound passengers. Two passengers are listed: J’nesh Fulip and Natalie Shu.
Aidan then attempts to find any information that he can about the Markov’s Daughter’s movements. He finds that Markov’s Daughter arrived from Sentry four days ago. Aidan then looks for a cargo customs declaration. He finds that almost the entire cargo load (60 dTons) was shipped for Worel Industries. The remainder of the cargo is listed as sealed transit cargo owned by Natalie Shu.
-----
Swann watches the news broadcast for awhile, and calls up any news information available online regarding the crash and the rescue. He starts looking for photos of any of the participants — the Markov’s Daughter’s crew and passengers.
Shadowdancer
First Post
I will be out of town on vacation this weekend, so there probably won't be another update until March 14.
