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

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter V​

Date: 110-993
Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, at the relief fleet jump rendezvous, at the 100 plantery diameter limit from Sentry.


The Bray Keaven hangs in space at the rendezvous point with the other ships. Shuttles finally undock from the other ships, fleeing the immediate area; some with cargo there hadn’t been time to unload. The Keaven is a noticeable area of calm; the first loaded, the crew had even worked a fair way through the inventory confirming cargo. Warning sirens sound aboard all the ships.

-----​

Half an hour earlier Captain Anderson, the Squadron Commander, had accepted a direct call from Captain Argent of the Bray Keaven.

"So how is it going, Argent? Is the thing really a crate unsafe to fly?"

Argent smiles a little when replying. "If I boarded it and did a safety inspection, it would get shut down within three minutes. It's unsafe, unsanitary and unspaceworthy."

"I can hear a ‘but’ coming up."

"Well, if it’s understood that I may abandon the jump if the drive doesn’t stay green, I’m game to try a jump. The engineer you picked for me has worked wonders, and the rest of the crew has the sense of urgency you hope for when lives hang in the balance. Yes, we’ll ship with you. If we don’t come out the other end, tell everyone we died with our helmets on."

"Good man. I’ll talk to you after the jump. Co–ords will be over in about 10, my chippie is having a hissy fit, he hasn’t done a squadron jump for a couple of years and he’s a little nervous. Everything’s fine, but it’s exactly what you’d expect for a scratch crew. Anderson out."

Argent turns from the comm. Well, it wasn’t Navy discipline, but as long as the job was done right, that was all that mattered. He glances at the jump co–ords he had worked out earlier. If the ones sent over didn’t match fairly close, he would send a warning; an hour’s delay to check figures would be much better than taking a walk to nowhere.

He hits the shipwide comm. "This is your Captain speaking. We expect jump in three zero minutes. I would like everyone at their stations and battened down five minutes pre. I don’t expect anything special, but I’ll feel happier fully manned. Argent out."

He triggers the half–hour timer on the jump drive and watches the row of green build up: Time to do some work.

-----​

Swann steps out of his fresher shower and starts throwing on some clothes. "I hate being late for a party," he says to himself, laughing. After pulling on his boots, he leaves his cabin and heads to his jump station -- the starboard gun turret.

-----​

Darishun shakes himself awake, glances at the comm panel, and then briefly considers going back to sleep. He then remembers that he isn’t on a Scout Service ship and decides that being up might be the better course of action. After checking his vacc suit and turning the atmosphere pressure and gravity back down to human standard, he waits a moment and then plods to the cargo bay to see if anything needs to be secured before jump.

-----​

Martha looks over at Vargas. Both of them had sealed their vacc suits five minutes ago as the hydrogen release dropped the temperature past human sustainable levels. The overpressure waves from the pump throbbed through their helmets, making normal communication impossible. He leans his helmet against hers and shouts. "IT’S OK?"

"YES."

Vargas looks over at the counter -- another minute to go before jump. The situation didn’t seem to be getting any worse. He looks longingly at the kill switch. Damned if they would jump again till he had given the pumps a solid workover. This was ridiculous.

Spang!

Another relief valve blew and resealed, making the chamber ring like a bell.

"It just isn’t natural," Vargas thinks. "Someone must have installed a part backwards." He looks again at the counter -- was the blasted thing stopped?

-----​

Argent sits in quiet splendor on the bridge and triggers the 10 second warning -- green lights flashed across the monitor. Starboard guns manned, engines green, astro tracking, everything was go. The engine room had been responding to questions with green/red lights, but maybe that was Bray Company policy when jumping. He looks over at Vasilii as the counter ticks down. "Where would you like to go today?" Not waiting for an answer, he flips a switch, dimming all the lights aboard the ship. He flips another; a warning siren sounds throughout the ship. Then he unlocks the cover over the button to engage the jump drives. Crossing the fingers on his left hand, he pushes the button with his right.

-----​

Space-time tore and the ship left the known universe.

-----​

Five minutes later Argent leans back from the console, another smooth jump on his record. He thumbs the intercom. "This is Argent. The Bray Keaven has successfully entered jump space. Thank you, crew, for a smooth transition. Once we are secured from jump stations, I think we should all catch up on some sleep. Crew meeting in 12 hours to work out a timetable for the cargo inventory and restacking. Till then, good night all."

-----​

After the successful jump, Darishun boards the cramped lift once more, grabs another couple of Marine rations for snacks (Mmmm, Artosian Stew!), and then plods back to his cabin for another long nap

-----​

"Great, I just woke up," Swann thinks. "I’m not going back to sleep just yet. I'm too hungry for that." He heads toward the lounge to get something to eat. He also decides that the crew meeting in 12 hours will be the opportune time to inform the others about the smuggling compartments he found.

-----​

Vargas looks up at the speaker. They were still cinching a hydrogen line but everything seemed in control. Martha assured him that that the overpressure and throbbing was perfectly normal for the ship. The Captain seemed happy with the jump itself, but there was a definite problem. He couldn’t look at it until they emerged, but it wasn’t something they could brush over.

Finishing up the hydrogen line, Vargas turns to Martha. "If you don’t mind watching things here for a few minutes, I’m going to talk to Argent. If I’m not mistaken, that was our last jump until we can pull some serious maintenance."

 

[Shadowdancer]

Date: 110-993
Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Alief.

Prior to jump, Doc Saro had stationed himself in the lounge with a medkit, just in case someone was injured. After jump he starts to wander around chatting with everyone, getting a feel for their conditions, making sure that no–one is suffering any ill effects from jump. Jump sickness was one of the first indications of a misjump. Although everyone is very tired, most of the crew seems to be in decent shape. But the Doc is a little concerned about Swann.

Pulling Swann aside as discretely as possible Saro says, "Mr. Hellinic, I’m not one to give orders lightly, so consider this a strong recommendation by your friendly neighborhood ship’s doctor. Get some sleep. Now. If not sooner." He pauses and looks Swann steadily in the eyes, "You’ve done a great job so far, but this long day is starting to catch up with you and it’s not going to get better until you get some rest. I’d say at least six hours; more if possible."

Swann looks at Doc, a smile on his face. "Doc, I like the way you think. I’m just going to grab something to eat, and then I’m going straight to bed. And thanks for your concern. You’ve been hard at it, too, and have done a great job organizing and sorting all those medical supplies. You should take your own advice and get some rest, too."

Doc nods his head. "You are right about that. I'm headed to the Land of Nod soon myself. Doctor’s orders, don’t ya know." Grinning, the Doc heads off to his cabin. He places his medkit where he can grab it quickly if need be and then sets his personal comm to wake him up in six hours. Settling back on the bed he closes his eyes and lets the velvet darkness envelop him gently.

After a quick snack, Swann also returns to his cabin and goes back to sleep after setting an alarm to awaken him in eight hours.

-----​

Vargas walks onto the bridge, vacc suit helmet in hand. "Argent, assuming we make it out of jump OK, there's no way we can do this again without a lot of work on the J-Drive. There is no reason I know of why anyone needs to bathe in hydrogen or have their eardrums raped on a regular basis. Martha and I can start work as soon as we drop out, if that’s alright with you."

Argent replies, "Not my idea of fun either, Vargas. I would have rather had the ship go through maintenance first personally. We hopefully should have the necessary downtime once we reach Alief, so plan on doing so. We need to make sure fleet command knows not to designate us as a jump–capable ‘ambulance’ while we do the repairs, though."

"Also, do you plan on setting a watch up here while we're in jump ’cause I can cover it since I’ve gotten some rest."

"I’ll set up a more formal watch schedule at the meeting later. Go change and grab something to eat. Come relieve me when you’re ready, sometime in the next two hours."

Vargas nods. "Right, got it." The former Scout was soon back in his cabin, vacc suit plugged in for charging. Rusti clambers up onto his shoulder, then he heads out in the direction of the galley.

-----​

Back on the bridge, Argent looks at Vasilii. "I think you can be relieved as well. Go get some rest and something to eat before the meeting."

While waiting for Vargas to relieve him, Argent spends the time going over every gauge, monitor and readout, making sure everything is OK aboard the ship. Once Vargas returns, Argent then starts wandering the ship to check on everything, making note of what needs to be where and what other problems can be worked on during the week in jump. After those two hours, he grabs a meal from the lounge, then retire to his cabin for some more sleep and then some exercise in the confines of the ship. In the last few hours before the meeting, Argent continues his review of the ship, then has another meal.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter VI​

Date: 110-993
Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Alief.

Vasilii lies in his bed digesting his snack and staring at the wall unable to sleep. Something was wrong and it was nagging at him. Something offended his sense of order. He was tired and should be able to just close his eyes and drift off, but he couldn’t settle.

Eventually he gives up the struggle to sleep and staggers upright. He may as well put the time to something useful.

Everything was as it had been left. The small clear space in the front that they had been using as a work area. Small cargo he had stacked waiting for one of the medical people to go through was port side. Large cargo that couldn’t be moved elsewhere was off starboard, the three imaging tables looming over the other large goods. Hard to pack around, they stuck out.

And they were what were bugging him.

He walks over to them thoughtfully and looks at them from different directions. Now that he was looking, it was obvious. Two of them had a single supporting pillar; the third had an additional leg at the front. "Oh well," he thinks. "Just a design difference, nothing to worry about." He kicks the leg lightly as he turns away and feels it splinter under his shoe.

Leaning down he sees the plastic of the leg has shattered from the contact, revealing the interior. The inside of the leg seems to be made of pliable putty. It has deformed from the contact. He prods it; it has a texture like a child’s play dough. Something was very wrong. The leg wasn't a support, the covering was fragile. The extra leg is 50cm in cross section and 80cm high.

"What is this stuff? Sculpture clay? Well, I better check the owners manual for this cargo container."

Vasilii walks over to a computer console. He checks the ships library and searches for the cargo container manufacturer’s site and looks for that particular cargo container model number. He troubleshoots through the site to determine if this is a manufacturer’s design on this specific container or any of its container variations. He takes his time.

"Hmmm, that's interesting."

After a couple of minutes he looks up from the console. BioGen Technologies was the supplier of all three imaging tables. They had also supplied a fair selection of the other cargo, and they had been shipped aboard in four containers from the factory.

Nothing seemed too unusual about the shipping. One of the airvans had a power fluctuation and spent an hour undergoing road–side repairs. The delay meant that its cargo was in a later shuttle flight than the others. On arrival, the container numbers matched up. No indications of any problems.

After some thought he browses through the records a little further and finds the serial numbers of the supplied items. It appears the tables had sequential serial numbers: 2178–0039, 2178–0040 and 2178–0041. He searches for a little while and finds the numbers on builder’s plates on each table. These were definitely the tables sent up, 0040 had the extra leg.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Vasilii is perplexed. "I hate to raise an alarm about what this substance is without knowing what it is. Captain Argent has enough problems without me giving him a new one. Perhaps Dr. Talbek can do a chemical analysis on the putty. If the substance is of any danger I better notify the Security Officer as well."

Vasilii walks to the comm console. "Dr. Talbek and S.O. McConnell, this is Kugiikiishshi." Vasilii waits for a response.

-----​

"What the hell, we’re in jump space, aren't we?" is Ian’s first thought on interpreting the merchant's accent. "If it were something serious, we'd probably be dead already."

He keys the comm unit. "What’s up. Mr. Kugiikiishshi?"

-----​

Through the thick veil of sleep that covers him, Saro faintly hears his name issuing from the comm speaker. Groaning, he considers turning over and pretending he didn't hear it but a moment later he rolls himself up on the edge of his bed and answers the page in a voice thick with sleep.

"Mmm. Doc here. Wha’s goin’ on?"

-----​

"Can you please attend main cargo. I would like you two to have a look at something."

-----​

Doc stumbles his way towards the cargo bay, rubbing his eyes, wishing for a nice refreshing cup of caffeinated beverage — or better yet, another day or two of sleep. Finally waking up enough to put on a more professional front as he walks into the bay, he sees Vasilii standing by one of the imaging tables.

"Good morning, noon, or night, whichever it is, Mr. Kugiikiishshi. What is it that you need me to take a look at?" Saro nods towards McConnell as he sees him enter.

-----​

Ian makes his way down to main cargo, straightening his tunic as he goes. Entering the bay, he sees Vasilii standing by one of the imaging tables and Doc Saro looking quizzically at him. "The Doctor has certainly looked better." McConnell thinks, surmising too much caffeine and not enough sleep. "Got to keep an eye on him. Can’t have him crashing when things get tough."

Vasilii addresses the two men. "Please have a look at this cargo container," he begins. "I noticed this container has an extra leg. Inside the leg is this substance. Can either of you help me find out what this stuff is? Dr. Talbek, I was hoping you could do a chemical analysis on this stuff before we remove all of it from the container. S.O. McConnell, in your service have you ever come across such materials?"

Doc bends over and looks at the substance. Reaching into a pocket of his utility coverall, he pulls out a hygienic disposable glove and pulls it on over his hand. As Ian waits for Doc to pull on his gloves, he takes a close look. He searches his memory to see if anything rings a bell. Doc reaches for the substance, about to dip two fingers into it in order to pull away a sample.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Staring at the table, a couple of things immediately spring to Ian’s attention. The joins where the facing was added are very poor; the materials are clearly different. He peers closer. The rest of the device it was installed into is well made; only this one brace showed the shoddy workmanship.

The striations in the putty also trigger a memory and he hunts through his mind for where he has seen it. The closest thing he can remember is a child’s toy called plasticine, a modelling clay that the corporals used in basic training to represent explosives.

He freezes. The doctor pulls his gloves on and reachs to take a sample. McConnel restrains his arm. "Doc, I don’t think that’s such a good idea."

What could they do? The more he thought about it, the more likely explosives seemed to be the answer. "Mr. Vasilii, was this device delivered here straight from the factory?"

"Yes, Security Officer. There was a small delay when the vehicle needed some repairs but it was only an hour late in arrival."

McConnell’s training and experience have him convinced it is a terrorist device of some form. He doesn’t have any real demolitions experience, but if the entire leg is filled, it seems like a lot of explosive. He informs the others of his concerns.

Vasilii says, "As this may be an explosive, it would be advisable to inform the Captain as it is a threat to the ship. I hope someone on board has the know-how to deal with this stuff. I’ll contact the captain straight away."

Vasilii walks over to the comm. "Captain Argent, this is Kugiikiishshi." He awaits a response.

-----​

Argent wakes with a start from the sound sleep he was in to the whine of the intercomm chime and the message from Kugiikiishshi. After taking a few moments to adjust to his surrounding's again, he answers the intercomm, stiffling a yawn. "Argent here."

"Can you attend main cargo, we have a problem that will interest you. Please come as quick as possible. Kugiikiishshi out."

"On my way. Be there in a few moments." Argent shuts down the intercomm and quickly puts on his flight suit and boots. After swallowing a couple of glasses of water — and splashing some in his face — he heads out for the cargo bay.

-----​

Vasilii checks the computer data banks for information on explosives. He tries to find information useful to determine if the substance is an explosive and what can be done (if anything) to disable it.

-----​

When the Captain arrives, Vasilii explains his findings and Ian’s suspicion that the substance is an explosive. Argent mumbles a few curses while Kugiikiishshi speaks.

"I would recommend blowing the crate out the airlock," Vasilii says, "however with us in jump space that may no longer be an option. Captain Argent, do you know if any of the other crew are trained in the use of explosives?"

"As hastily as this mission was put together, we may be doing some in-house training," Argents says. "Don’t move the equipment; the moment it was put down it could have triggered some sort of pressure–sensitive trigger similar to a land mine."

Argent moves to the intercomm. "Mr. Hellenic, Ms. Smythe, to the cargo bay immediately."

As the two crewmembers arrive, Argent starts speaking. "Mr. Hellenic, as an ex-belter, at some point you should have had some experience with explosives. Dr. Talbek has found something that isn’t quite right, to say the lease. We need you to see if you have any ideas on what it is and how to disarm it. Ms. Smythe, assist him with whatever you can do to disarm it. If we can’t disarm it, see if we can move it to the airlock so we can eject it as soon as we leave jump space and find out when it will blow if we have to minimize impact."

He then turns to McConnell. "Mr. McConnell, we need to find out if there are any other surprises now. You, Mr. Kugiikiishshi, Mr. Darishun, and if you need him, Dr. Talbek need to go through everything else we have and locate any other possible problems.

"Doctor, I want you to assist Mr. Hellinic and Ms. Atkins if you have any knowledge on the workings of the table to which the device has been attached. That should be your top priority. Assist Mr. McConnell when we get the device disarmed.

"Mr. Vargas and I will search the rest of the ship.

"Everyone, needless to say the meeting we have scheduled later is postponed for the moment. Top priorities are to disarm this device and find out any other surprises we might have waiting for us. If we can discern from the search who did this, fine, but we need to make sure we survive first. Any questions or comments?"

 

[Broccli_Head]

It makes me wonder who would want to blow up the ship.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Swann rubs a hand across his face, considering the table. "If it didn’t explode during handling and the shifting of the cargo, that should rule out any type of proximity fuse or inertial trigger. The biggest concern is if it is set to some type of timer. As far as searching for more surprises in the remaining cargo, I suggest starting with anything that was shipped with this table."

No one else says a word. Argent looks around at those gathered in the cargo bay, then says, "I’ll be on the bridge or searching the ship. Mr. McConnell, I want hourly progress reports. Mr. Hellinic, I want reports as time and progress permits." With that, Argent heads for the bridge.

Swann walks over closer to the table, his mind racing. He kneels down close to the fake leg and starts looking at it from all angles. His first priority is trying to determine what type of explosive
it is, and if there is some sort of timer and/or detonator connected to it.

Still rubbing his tired eyes, the Doc yawns again. "Explosive, huh?" he thinks. "It better be . . . if this turns out to be nothing more a chewy candy center, I'll laugh myself silly. Say, I wonder . . . "

Doc picks up his handcomp and starts scrolling through the double-checked inventory, looking to see if a chem sniffer/detector was packed on board. As he searches his comp, he calls to Vasilii, "Mr. Kugiikiishshi, can you run through the manifests that we haven’t double-checked yet? Look to see if we’re supposed to have any sort of chemical scanner in our cargo. If we find one, we can use that to check what this stuff is, and to help search the rest of the ship for any more."

Vasilii thinks for a few seconds then mentions, "We do have image scanners listed on the cargo inventory one of which is in working order. Is it possible to use this device on the substance? Perhaps with a little modification we can determine the chemical composition. Can we use the image scanner for that purpose?"

Swann, without turning from his examination of the device, says, "A chemical sniffer would be good, if we have one. But I wouldn’t want to run it through any type of scanner, except as a last resort. The imaging process might detonate the explosives."

Swann continues his examination.

Vasilii, although extremely tired, gets to work on the inventories and the cargo examination.

The external casing, where it is cracked open, doesn’t appear to be connected to the "putty" itself, Swann observes. He recognizes the mottled gray color: it’s standard low–yield explosive used for mining and demolition. It’s common wherever people dig holes in the ground and easy to get hold of.

As to how it might be set off, he can’t tell. There is no indication from the opening he can see whether it is some way of transporting explosives or a bomb itself, whether it’s a pressure trigger, timing device, booby trapped or what.

The trigger could be absolutely anything. There may be a chip/microphone waiting to hear a special word/conversation. There might be a tamper switch. It could be time triggered. There may be time–delayed motion triggers.

Sweat starts to pour down his face. This much explosive would probably be enough to wreck the Keaven and kill all aboard if it went off inside. His choices boiled down to three: would he try and defuse it in position, try and minimize the effect then defuse it, or just minimize the effect? Was it a decision he could make alone? Someone else might know a good way of dampening the blast.

He triggers the intercom, "Captain, may I talk to everyone." He thinks about the possible speech recognition trigger. "In the crew lounge, please."

 

[Shadowdancer]

A few moments after leaving the cargo bay, Argent arrives on the bridge, surprising Vargas.

"Vargas, we have a problem. Vasilii has discovered a possible explosive device attached to one of diagnostic tables in the cargo bay. The rest of the crew will be searching the cargo bay for other surprises and disabling the current device.

"We get to search the ship. You start aft, I’ll start forward. We need to find anything that seems would be out of the ordinary and try to identify it. Don't try to disarm or move it, just note it and let me know what and where it is. Mr. Hellinic as an ex-Belter appears to be our demolitions expert and should be the one to disarm it. Any questions?"

"Not so much a question as an idea. If there’s a way to move the device, I suggest moving it into an airlock and taking it down to vacuum. Without an atmosphere, the device can’t create the concussion required to damage the ship. Probably should put some shock isolation between it and the deck also; landing gear chocks, cargo pallet, something like that. What do you think?"

-----​

McConnell almost snaps off a salute and replies "Aye aye SIR!" when Argent leaves. After a moment to see that Vasilii and Talbek were already starting to look at their manifest lists and other containers, particularly for any scanners/snifters, Ian heads toward the comm to rouse the Virushi/

Keying the comm, Ian says, "Darishun! Please report to the cargo hold immediately. We have an emergency that requires an examination of the cargo."

After a few beats, a sleepy sounding, and oddly deep and resonant voice that was entirely at odds with the voice that Ian remembered coming from the massive sophant responds. "Yes? Mr. McConnell is it? What seems to be the problem?"

Stifling a curse and a fervent desire to be back on a ship where people simply followed orders, Ian responds, "Darishun, there appears to be a possible bomb in one of the imaging tables. We need to inventory the cargo for other possible problems."

Surprisingly, Darishun simply replies, "I will be down shortly, Mr. McConnell."

A few minutes later, the Virushi’s massive head pokes around the corner. Strangely, Darishun’s voice has returned to its normal soft and barely audible tone/level. After asking a few questions and briefly examining the table from a distance, Darishun remarks, "I lifted/moved a couple of the tables earlier without any problems. I did not notice anything at the time."

Darishun continues. "I sincerely hope that none of the other ships have received similar cargos. I do not understand this sort of behavior, and this sort of thing sincerely makes me fear for the continued existence of your species and the Third Imperium."

 

[Shadowdancer]

Chapter VII​

Date: 110-993
Place: Aboard the Bray Keaven, in jump space between Sentry and Alief.

After everyone assembles in the crew lounge, and after Captain Argent gives him the floor, Swann faces the group. "Well, the substance inside the imaging table leg is indeed a type of explosive. There are two possibilities I see.

"First, it could be a bomb meant to kill one of us, or all of us, or at least to stop the medical supplies from reaching Aleif. This, of course, provides the greatest immediate threat to us, and it’s probably prudent that we proceed under this assumption.

"However, it could be intended for someone, or some group, on Aleif. The system is interdicted to keep the various countries from importing high tech weapons to use to wage war against each other. I don't know if this type of explosive is banned, but it probably is. Someone could be using this little relief mission as an opportunity to smuggle some banned items onto the planet. That’s why I think we need to check any other equipment that was shipped with this imaging table. Whoever attached the explosives to the table may have added some other surprises to the rest of the shipment.

"But as I said, for now I'm assuming that we have a live bomb on board, and we need to take steps to disarm it and to minimize any damage it might do if it goes off before it can be disarmed.

"We should move it, if we can, to an isolated area. I know that won't be easy since we are in jump. And we need find some way to dampen the effects of any explosion. The first thing I will try to determine is if it can be moved without triggering it. I’ll look for a triggering mechanism and a detonator. But they may be hidden inside the leg containing the explosives."

Argent says, "Agreed. Let’s ascertain if we can safely move the machine first before attempting to disarm. Vargas has suggested moving it into the airlock, which should, hopefully, give us some more protection. If we can, we should also look at reinforcing those doors as well.

"If/when we can get it safely moved to the airlock, let’s get it disarmed if we can. If not, as soon as we exit jump we'll jettison it from the airlock and hope it doesn't blow too close to any of the fleet ships.

"As to if we are covertly smuggling anything aboard, that could be taken two ways. The fleet could innocently be smuggling similar items and needs to be warned after we emerge.

"Another option could be the whole plague on Alief could be a fabrication by some group or groups known or unknown to cover the opportunity to move in a large amount of interdicted equipment and weaponry to the factions on the planet. We could be 'mules' to display an air of innocence. Control the information getting out of a location and you can do anything."

Looking in Darishun’s direction, Argent continues, "Unfortunately, regardless of the high ideals the Imperium strives to display, the ugly truth is that even the Imperial government isn’t above using 'dirty tricks' to gain control of a situation. They just layer it in so much bureaucracy that it is almost impossible to prove it. With 11,000+ worlds and countless client states under its influence, anything is possible. That, and true human nature in the millennia that we’ve been considered 'civilized,' has barely progressed past the primate stage when you get right down to it.

"At this point, all we can and should do is focus on the situation at hand. One, let’s get the device moved if possible and disarmed. Two, get a list of all other little surprises in the rest of the cargo and on the rest of the ship."

Darishun cocks his head to one side as if in thought, and then softly says, "Perhaps, we should also visually and audibly record everything we do to disarm the bomb along with our subsequent searches. Then, we could place the recordings in a very resilient container along with an emergency beacon from one of the spare vacc suits. If we place the container far away from the cargo hold (as practical), there’s a chance that the container will survive and be found if we are not.

"Also, the recordings may prove helpful to the other ships of the relief fleet even if we do survive as they may need to know how to discover and disarm similar bombs.

"On another thought, perhaps we should all put on any protective clothing that we may have. Such clothing may help provide some protection against shrapnel from a small blast — assuming that the ship survives."

Turning to Swann, "Good Belter, I would be honored to help you with the table if you need it. I know nothing of such devices, but my arms are at your disposal."

Vargas raises his hand. "You might want to consider the fact that the imager has been moved any number of times already, including by me while orbiting Sentry, when looking for booby traps and detonators. Too many gimmicks increases the chances of a premature detonation, assuming the real target is on Alief, so whoever did this likely kept it simple. Just a thought."

Dr. Saro speaks, "I’m not that familiar with explosives, so let me ask this. If we determine the composition of the compound, would it be possible to render it inert by exposing it to counter compound, so to speak?" Swann indicates that it might be possible.

Darishun looks at the captain pointedly and comments, "Perhaps, we should move to disarm the bomb with some alacrity: the bomb may have been set to detonate shortly after jump.

"If the bomb detonates now, there will be nothing to arrive at Alief within a reasonable time period, and the fleet may just think that we misjumped badly. Also, the crazed individual who placed the bomb may have had the foresight to set a relatively short timer on the theory that the longer the fuse, the more of a chance that the bomb will be discovered."

"Agreed, Mr. Darishun," Argent says. "If there are no more comments, we all have work to do. Let’s get on with it. Keep me appraised on a regular basis."

Vasilii quickly adds, "I agree that our main concern will be the disarming of the device and finding any new devices. I’ll get to work on checking all the other cargo containers right away. I’ll need a hand though, who can assist me? I’ll be in main cargo in 15 minutes."

Vasilii goes to his stateroom and puts on his flak jacket. "Wearing a flak jacket with an explosive on the ship in jump space," he thinks. "It couldn’t possibly get any worse."

Darishun plods off to his cabin to retrieve his flak jacket, which he believes may provide some protection from shrapnel, assuming that the bomb (or any booby traps) doesn’t destroy the ship. He then moves to assist Swann with disarming the bomb in any way possible, mainly by providing muscle to move things or a dexterous pair of hands.

 

[Broccli_Head]

Nice speech by the Captain. Is that a player? Did he really say that?