The Professor's Charter

During our recent gaming weekend I was finally able to run another Mongoose Traveller game featuring the crew of the Imperial armed packet Starjammer. The following summary details the session.

At the start of this adventure the Starjammer has been in dock on Wu for eight months. During this time the crew had picked up several odd jobs. Sonny, Wayne, and Howard smuggled several worker-caste Wuans off-world. Boone, Brogue, and Ronald got into a brawl with some rowdies from a big Solomani merchant freighter and ended up spending several weeks in Wuan detention before Captain Cryo got them bailed out. Wuan security paid several unannounced visits to the Starjammer, driving Cryo and Richy crazy with picayune licensing and documentation demands. Most of the travellers have blown their remaining savings on the Resort Islands in Wu’s Great Outer Ocean, and the ship’s account has begun to dwindle precariously.

Ship’s Log

Ship Name Starjammer.

Port of Registry Kline (MAGY 3012 A642987-E).

Ship Type U-CA33 Armed Packet.

Registration # 338-C-2725.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 077-1104

Dr. Zimon Sun (588BC8).

2005. In the orbital city of High Nara, far above the Wuan main world, Sonny and Brogue met with a man who introduced himself as Dr. Zimon Sun, a research professor appointed to the Imperial University of Daibei at Warinir. Dr. Sun, a slender, dark-haired man of early middle age with a pinched and deliberate demeanor, wished to charter the Starjammer to take him and two associates to the Desolation system.

Sonny calculated that this trip would take six weeks to complete and will cost Cr800,000. Dr. Sun said that while he did not personally have the funds, he could arrange for the financial megacorporation Hortalez et Cie to issue a letter of credit on behalf of the University, payable upon completion of the charter.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 078-1104

0800. Officers of the Starjammer met to plan out the upcoming charter. Wayne recommended a route that would require five jumps to cover the 13-parsec distance between Wu and Desolation. The itinerary would traverse a series of backwater systems, most with low population main worlds and all with poor or nearly nonexistent starports, requiring the ship to refuel from gas giants. Sonny and Captain Cryo approved Wayne’s route.

The captain noted that prior to departure he will need to obtain an exit visa from the Wuan authorities as well as renew the ship’s Passenger Transport License.

Library Readout on Desolation (Magyar 1506).

The captain then briefed the crew on the Desolation system, calling up Juno’s library entry. Located only three parsecs from the Imperial border, Desolation is widely known in Beta quadrant as a haven for smugglers and pirates. The main world is as bleak as the name suggests, a vacuum rockball tide-locked to a dim red star. The political data showed a permanent population of only a few hundred, no formal government, no law level, but a Class B starport.

Chief Engineer Richy declared the ship to be spaceworthy and recommended deferring the monthly maintenance until they reach Desolation, since the Starjammer will not visit a decent starport between Wu and their destination. Sonny and the captain agreed.

Howard recommended advancing the crew their next month’s salary before leaving Wu, as the next port of call would not be reached for over a month—and some crew members may need to settle debts in High Nara before departing. Sonny agreed.

1200. Howard paid the crew their monthly salaries.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 081-1104

0630. Captain Cryo informed all crew and passengers that the necessary paperwork was complete and the flight plan approved. All crew were to be aboard the ship tomorrow by 0700, all passengers by 1000.

Wu (MAGY 0203 B66A99A-E) 082-1104

1041. On board the Starjammer Daren and Howard met the three passengers for the charter in the guest lounge. Dr. Zimon Sun was joined by his research assistants: Aaro Hardi—a glum, wary man apparently in his late thirties—and Rahim Devi, a tall, athletic man in his early thirties. Rahim came aboard with a personal vacc suit and a Solomani gauss rifle, both of which Howard secured in the ship’s locker.

After a barrage of questions from Daren, Dr. Sun explained that he is a tenured historian plagued with a great many petty and jealous rivals in his field of interest. The professor was travelling to Desolation because he believed he had identified the location of a historically significant starship lost during the Solomani Rim War. As his unscrupulous rivals would be all-too-eager to poach this major discovery, he and his researchers were forced to travel with great dispatch and utmost secrecy.

Daren gave the three men a full tour of the Starjammer, including areas normally off-limits to passengers. Dr. Sun was especially interested in the ship’s primary on-board computer, Juno, and asked many questions about Juno’s Vegan architecture and capabilities. He also asked if the passengers might be able to access the computer to aid their research. Howard explained that all passengers have consoles in their staterooms that will allow access to the ship’s library and entertainment net.

Neither Aaro nor Rahim spoke much during the tour, and only shrugged or mumbled when asked questions, letting Dr. Sun speak for them.

Howard provided the standard safety review for the passengers before he and Daren left them in the passenger section.

1230. Howard briefed the other officers about the tour, noting Dr. Sun’s line of questioning about Juno.

Suspicious, Ronald increased Juno’s security settings. He ordered the computer to continuously monitor the passengers and to immediately report any attempt to access her systems.

1401. The Starjammer decoupled from High Nara and made for the New Sol jump point.

1556. The Starjammer jumped out of the Wu system.

Jumpspace 087-1104.

0400. Uda, the ship’s backup computer, awakened Ronald to report that the passengers had used their stateroom terminals to access Juno. Uda claimed that, although she did not want to be a tattle-tale, she was aware of Ronald’s orders and concerned that Juno did not immediately report this intrusion.

0440. After briefing the other officers, Ronald had Uda inspect Juno’s logs. Uda discovered that Dr. Sun had hacked into a secure part of Juno’s operating system and unsuccessfully attempted to install a back-door program. He was successful in erasing all of Juno’s activity logs around the intrusion.

Ronald decided against altering Juno’s programming. He verified that no attempts had been made to access Uda, and ordered the backup computer to carefully monitor both Juno and the passengers.

New Sol (MAGY 0503 D501956-7) 089-1104.

2056. The Starjammer exited jump space in the outer system of New Sol, approximately 10.7 million km or nearly 36 light-seconds from Hfoileiiau. Captain Cryo piloted the ship toward the green-and-gray banded gas giant.

Ronald reported that warning beacons in the inner system confirmed that the main world remained under interdiction by the Solomani Confederation.

New Sol (MAGY 0503 D501956-7) 090-1104.

0703. The Starjammer commenced hydrogen skimming from the upper layers of Hfoileiiau.

1400. Skimming complete, Captain Cryo piloted the Starjammer toward the 100D limit.

New Sol (MAGY 0503 D501956-7) 091-1104.

0004. The Starjammer arrived at the Hfoileiiau 100D limit and held there while the onboard processor finished refining the raw hydrogen into fuel.

0500. With the fuel processed, the Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Jumpspace 092-1104.

0200. Uda awakened Ronald to report another incursion into Juno, only this time Dr. Sun managed to insert a new script package into her executive function systems. Uda also volunteered that her monitoring of the passengers revealed Aaro casing out the engineering section, and Rahim trying to access the ship’s locker as well as technical schematics of the Starjammer’s weapons systems.

Ronald asked Uda if she could run the Starjammer by herself, and the secondary computer almost gleefully explained she was more than up to the challenge. Ronald then ordered Juno to transfer all controls to Uda and shut herself down. Juno argued that such measures were unnecessary, but Ronald insisted.

Once shut down Ronald ordered Uda to do a hard reset of Juno and then restore the primary computer to her last backup prior to leaving Wu. Uda almost cheerfully complied.

Daren ordered his security robot, Tech-9, to patrol the area around the ship’s locker.

Jumpspace 093-1104.

2100. Daren ambushed Dr. Sun and his associates with his holocam, explaining he wanted to document the entire trip to Desolation. Pressed to further explain the nature of his work, Dr. Sun eventually sputtered out the following narrative. Near the end of the Solomani Rim War, a hundred years ago, Imperial forces under the command of Admiral Miiri Elixabeth Kemper drove into Magyar sector with three separate battle fleets and orders to reduce as much Confederation infrastructure as possible.

Kemper’s forces left a trail of destruction in their wake, attacking starports, shipyards, factories, and power plants. One priority target was the industrial world of Austa. As Kemper’s fleets drew near, high level Solomani Party officials and wealthy industrialists on Austa packed their families and all the wealth they could carry onto a liner bound for Tralp, a well-defended Confederation world deeper inside the Solomani Sphere. The evacuation ship never reached its destination and was assumed destroyed.

Dr. Sun explained that he believed the ship actually misjumped into the Desolation system. Daren, wildly excited by the commercial potential of this dramatic tale, asked about the name of the lost ship; Dr. Sun replied it was the Speedwell.

Jumpspace 094-1104.

Chairman Meow, the Starjammer’s J0NZ-E model robotic cat.

1131. A manic Daren shared his recording with the rest of the Starjammer’s crew. Sonny checked the ship’s library and discovered that a Confederation ship named the Speedwell, a Type M subsidized liner, was declared lost near the end of Rim War. The ship and its fate were subject to a series of post-war lawsuits and insurance claims, many never fully resolved.

If the ship was truly bound for Tralp, a misjump into the Desolation system would be possible, as far longer misjumps had been recorded. Howard asked if a manifest was available but Sonny noted that records from that period of the war were sketchy, particularly in Magyar. Howard wondered aloud if any of the passengers could still be alive in low berth, and if so might they have any living relatives?

The crew debated what the professor was really up to. Ronald suggested that maybe the whole Speedwell story was simply a cover, and that the passengers really intended to hijack the Starjammer, or perhaps lure the ship into a pirate ambush. With a law level of zero and no government, Desolation would be the perfect place to stage either a hijacking or ambush and to unload a multi-megacredit starship like the Starjammer.

Ronald, Daren, and Sonny rigged up Chairman Meow, the ship’s robotic cat, to spy on the passengers and learn more about their scheme.

Jumpspace 096-1104.

1327. After two days of monitoring Meow’s datafeed, the crew discovered that the cat was able to access every part of the ship, including the areas that were supposedly secure. Meow had been evicted from the passenger area twice by an exasperated Rahim, but on its third attempt the cat slipped into the ductwork leading to Dr. Sun’s stateroom. There the robotic cat covertly recorded Dr. Sun and his associates reviewing a holomap of the Desolation system, pointing out areas in the outer system where they thought the Speedwell might be.

Bupaj (MAGY 0804 E420267-9) 097-1104.

2100. The Starjammer exited jump space approximately 6.89 million km from the gas giant Mejal.

Bupaj (MAGY 0804 E420267-9) 098-1104.

0430. The Starjammer commenced hydrogen skimming from the upper layers of Mejal.

1130. The Starjammer got underway to the Mubark jump point.

1523. The Starjammer made contact with the Nascopie, a Type SA Solomani free trader arriving from Opoyama with passengers. Captain Osamu Castilla warned Captain Cryo that Desolation was a rough port: the steep markups on goods and services were nearly as dangerous as the inhabitants.

Bupaj (MAGY 0804 E420267-9) 099-1104.

0213. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Jumpspace 099-1104.

0300. Howard informed the bridge that most passengers and crew were experiencing ailments consistent with a bad jump. Ronald, Boone, Sonny, and Rahim reported nausea and severe headaches, while Captain Cryo, Dr. Sun, and Howard himself felt irritable, nervous, and jittery. Wayne, Richy, Brogue, and Daren all reported both physical and psychological symptoms. Only the passenger Aaro seemed completely unaffected.

Chief Engineer Richy, one of the worst afflicted, reported that all engineering systems were reading in the green and that Juno had recorded no anomalies during the transition to jumpspace. From within jumpspace there was simply no way to confirm whether these symptoms were merely the result of a bad jump or were indicators of a much more serious condition: a true misjump. The only thing to be done was to wait it out.

Howard announced that he could provide pain relievers, anti-nausea meds, and sedatives upon request. The medical officer warned that if the various symptoms were caused by a bad jump, the effects would likely be felt throughout the entire week in jumpspace. He offered Fast Drug doses to the passengers, which would slow their personal metabolisms down to a ratio of approximately 60 to 1, making subjective time appear to move much more quickly. Recipients of Slow Drug are extremely vulnerable while living at such a slow rate, but a week in jumpspace would only feel like less than three hours. None of the passengers opted for being dosed with Fast Drug, though Daren did.

Jumpspace 105-1104.

1813. As the Starjammer passed the 160 hour mark in jumpspace, Chief Engineer Richy reported the first indication of a misjump.

Jumpspace 106-1104.

1413. The Starjammer passed the 180 hour mark in jumpspace without any signs of emergence, confirming what everyone aboard had long suspected: the ship had misjumped. But how badly could not be known until the Starjammer re-entered normal space.

Mubark (MAGY 1106 D401250-A) 106-1104.

2216. The Starjammer finally emerged from jumpspace.

2220. Wayne scanned the local star positions and announced that the ship had fortunately emerged in the Mubark outer system, approximately 11.27 million km from the small gas giant Yamella—over 3 million kilometers off target. As misjumps went, this one had proven fairly benign.

2300. Richy reported no serious damage to the ship, but indicated he would need at least 48 hours to recalibrate the jump drive systems.

2330. Howard reported that the effects of the bad jump were wearing off on all passengers and crew, though Daren had continued to request additional pain meds and sedatives.

Mubark (MAGY 1106 D401250-A) 107-1104.

0908. The Starjammer commenced hydrogen skimming from Yamella’s atmosphere.

1610. Hydrogen skimming complete, Captain Cryo piloted the ship toward the Yamella 100D limit.

Mubark (MAGY 1106 D401250-A) 108-1104.

0021. The Starjammer reached Yamella’s 100D limit and held there while the fuel processor refined the raw hydrogen and Richy recalibrated the jump drive.

0520. All hydrogen had been processed into refined fuel.

2150. Richy reported that all systems had been recalibrated and cross-checked, and declared the ship ready for jump.

2200. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Cueball (MAGY 1305 D55156A-7) 115-1104.

1400. The Starjammer emerged 877,000 km from the Cueball mainworld, a poor planet controlled by Chorus, which was itself under direct military control of the Solomani Confederation.

1702. The Starjammer arrived in orbit around Cueball.

1721. The Starjammer landed at the starport on the planet’s surface.

2151. The ship was boarded by Solomani Confederation military police, who performed a cursory inspection before declaring the Starjammer cleared for entry. Brogue noted that the three passengers seemed very wary of the authorities. While the ship began fueling with unrefined fuel from the starport tanks, Howard arranged to have the life support supplies renewed.

2308. With the fueling complete, the Starjammer’s processors began refining the fuel.

Cueball (MAGY 1305 D55156A-7) 116-1104.

1944. With the fuel processing complete, life support renewed, and flight plan approved, Captain Cryo signaled Cueball Control that the Starjammer was ready for departure.

2000. The Starjammer took off from the surface of Cueball.

2019. The Starjammer achieved orbit and made for the Desolation jump point.

2314. At the Cueball 100D limit, the Starjammer activated its jump drive.

Jumpspace 120-1104.

0700. The crew met on the bridge to form contingency plans for when they entered the Desolation system. Ronald and Brogue felt confident that the ship’s computer systems were secure, and Boone, a former Imperial marine, was certain he could repel with force any hijacking attempt by the passengers.

Sonny noted that the Starjammer would still have enough fuel upon emerging from jumpspace to make a one parsec jump out of the system if confronted with multiple pirate ships. Captain Cryo noted that the Starjammer’s armor and weapons should buy the ship enough time to initiate a second jump.

Sonny suggested that the nearby Goodhurst system, with a Class A starport and a Confederation military base, would make for an excellent fallback. As soon as the ship exited jumpspace Wayne would plot a jump route to Goodhurst and Richy would begin recalibrating the drives for an emergency jump.

Desolation (MAGY 1506 B401200-E) 122-1104.

1514. The Starjammer exited jumpspace almost exactly at the 100 diameter limit of Dross, the Desolation system’s dim red primary star. The planet named Desolation was jump-masked by Dross, as it orbited just inside the 100D limit of the star at 0.24 AU, or 35.9 million km.

Ronald performed a sensor sweep but did not detect any other ships in the vicinity.

Wayne plotted a course and Captain Cryo began piloting the ship toward the system’s main world.

2033. The Starjammer arrived in orbit above Desolation and was hailed by a very casual system control operator, who invited the ship to land at Downport Royal on the planetary surface.

2054. The Starjammer touched down at Downport Royal. No customs officers were waiting, only starport workers ready to refuel the ship and various hospitality representatives eager to direct crew and passengers to their affiliated establishments.

2130. Howard paid the crew their monthly salary.

2200. Captain Cryo, Richy, and Wayne undertook the deferred monthly maintenance routine on the ship. Richy reported that the Desolation shipyard specialized in repairing and modifying small ships and that almost any equipment could be installed, up to and including military grade weapons and sensors. Technicians at the yard could also undertake highly illegal transponder modifications. Richy reported that the warnings about prices on Desolation were true: the replacement parts for the Starjammer were averaging twice the normal cost.

2240. Dr. Sun and his associates stayed aboard the Starjammer. The professor met with Sonny to request transport to a specific position in the outer system of Desolation, where he believed the wreck of the Speedwell might be found. Dr. Sun noted that he still had remaining time left on his charter and Sonny agreed to make the necessary arrangements.

2300. While Boone stayed aboard to monitor the passengers, Howard, Brogue, Ronald, Sonny, and Daren ventured into the settlement around Downport Royal. This mazy warren of underground passages and structures radiated outward from a central core beneath the landing pads and hangars of the port.

While the listed population of Desolation was only a few hundred, these numbers were always augmented by a few thousand transients and travellers. Most permanent inhabitants appeared to work in either the shipyard or the hospitality industry, staffing numerous restaurants, bars, brothels, casinos, and hotels.

The entire economy of Desolation was cash only and no questions asked, with enormous sums changing hands without any associated taxes or recordkeeping. Imperial credits were accepted at par with Solomani credits, and were freely exchanged alongside Aslan Yahai and Khaukhi and even more exotic local currencies.

Although Downport Royal offered many seedy dives and flophouses, tremendous wealth clearly passed through the settlement. Several establishments catered to high rollers, and luxury accommodations and entertainment were available for those who could pay. Several ship captains were said to maintain lavish underground villas onworld.

The settlement featured a bustling bazaar where pursers hawked their ships’ wares, which ranged from cultural artifacts brought from low tech worlds on the Savage Main to cutting-edge electronics or biologics straight from the Solomani Rim. These goods might be shoddy, counterfeit, stolen, or illegal on most worlds, but all were marked up to at least twice the normal asking price.

Brogue appeared surprisingly familiar with Downport Royal, and so quickly located an old smuggling contact, Milos Zientek, and met him at the Anchorhead, a dive bar near the bazaar. Milos immediately recognized a holoimage of Dr. Sun, but identified him as Hendrix Knox, a notorious con artist who had swindled a criminal organization out of tens of thousands of credits. Brogue asked if the organization would be interested in finding Hendrix, and Milos estimated that such information would be worth at least Cr1000, and he proclaimed he would be glad to help for a modest finder’s fee of Cr200. Brogue said he would need to confer with his friends but asked Milos to spread the word that Hendrix had been located.

In the bazaar Brogue helped Howard find a dealer selling Alethiate, a powerful psychoactive drug outlawed in the Imperium but considered highly effective as a truth serum. Howard purchased three doses and also found a merchant selling TL12 stunner pistols and bought himself one.

Desolation (MAGY 1506 B401200-E) 125-1104.

0600. The Starjammer departed Downport Royal bound for a position in the distant outer system nearly 12.81 AU, or 107 light-minutes, away. Even with constant 3-G acceleration, such a trip would require almost six standard days of travel.

1920. Howard slipped doses of Alethiate into the evening meal allowing Boone and Ronald to easily subdue the drugged passengers.

1951. Howard, Sonny, Brogue, Ronald, and Daren interrogated Dr. Sun, who under the powerful influence of Alethiate readily admitted he was actually Hendrix Knox. Hendrix explained that he believed the Speedwell, if intact, to be loaded with valuables, including material from the FirstConfedBanc of Austa. His plan was to loot the derelict, then utilize a compromised Juno to lock out the crew and steal the Starjammer. Hendrix explained that he had met the real Dr. Sun by chance and then killed him once he learned the supposed location of the Speedwell.

2044. Sonny ordered Hendrix and his conspirators to be locked in their staterooms for the remainder of the voyage. Daren ordered Tech-9 to patrol the passenger section.

2100. Captain Cryo recorded the Starjammer’s position as approximately 42 million kilometers, or 143 light seconds, from Desolation, en route to the outer system. Current speed was 1,588 km/second.

Desolation (MAGY 1506 B401200-E) 128-1104.

0448. The Starjammer reached the halfway point of the journey to the outer system, traveling at 7,507 km/second, or 0.025 c. Captain Cryo ordered the ship to begin deceleration.

Desolation (MAGY 1506 B401200-E) 131-1104.

0307. Ronald reported sensor contact with an object nearly 100,000 km out. Wayne adjusted the heading to intercept and reported the Starjammer’s speed as 77 km/second. Captain Cryo ordered all crew to stations and authorized Chief Gunnery Officer Boone to unlock the weapons systems.

0329. Ronald said the object was roughly consistent in size and shape with a Type M subsidized liner. The estimated distance was 25,000 km. The Starjammer had decelerated to 38 km/second.

0346. Ronald reported that Juno had identified the object as the Speedwell with 96% confidence. The distance to the ship was less than 1,200 km, and the Starjammer was traveling at 8 km/second and continuing to decelerate to match the target.

0350. The Starjammer came alongside the Speedwell, which was adrift and without power.

Schematic of a Type M subsidized liner.

0400. Sonny called up the schematics of a Type M from the library files. Twice the size of the Starjammer at 600 displacement tons, the Speedwell would have been capable of Jump-3 and 1-G acceleration. Such ships were built for carrying well-heeled passengers and cargo along lucrative routes.

Based on the library data, a Type M’s central core consisted of two decks: the upper was crew quarters and controls; the lower was a cargo deck. At the rear of these decks were the drives. On a single level around this core were the passenger cabins, while the saucer-shaped passenger lounge was placed by itself, forward of the main ship body.

0425. A visual inspection of the Speedwell’s exterior revealed that much of the upper engineering deck, including the power plant and jump drive, was simply gone—with no signs of an explosion or weapon fire.

Captain Cryo said this looked like a classic jumpspace intrusion, which could occur during a very bad jump. When a ship’s jump field becomes unstable, pockets of jumpspace can enter the ship, destroying any matter encountered. If this damage had been caused by an intrusion, this was easily the worst he’d ever seen: intrusions had apparantly holed the Speedwell, opening much of the interior to vacuum.

0600. Sonny, Howard, Ronald, Brogue, Boone, and Daren all suited up and prepared to cross over to the Speedwell. Captain Cryo maneuvered the Starjammer so that the cargo bay doors on C deck were 20 meters from the remains of the Speedwell’s upper engineering deck. Brogue depressurized the cargo hold and opened the bay doors. The experienced marine Boone launched himself across the gap to establish a cable line between the two ships.

0621. Once the rest of the crew had used the cable to cross over to the Speedwell, Boone returned to the Starjammer to monitor their progress from the cargo bay.

0633. The team descended through the upper engineering deck to the lower engineering space on the quarters deck. Sonny noted that both the maneuver and jump drives appeared destroyed, probably by the same jumpspace intrusion that affected the upper engineering deck. The team moved forward to the crew deck.

0641. The team passed through an open iris valve into a dark common space where their vacc suit lights revealed a blizzard of drifting debris. The compartment had evidently been packed with luggage, large pieces of furniture, plastic boxes and chests, and small personal effects, all now slowly floating in hard vacuum. Amidst the detritus were the bodies of two crew members, likely engineers.

0658. Howard opened a sliding door in the starboard wall that led into a dark chamber where twenty low berths lined the walls. His inspection confirmed that each berth contained a perfectly preserved corpse, long dead.

0701. The team moved through an open iris valve in the forward bulkhead to enter the dark crew lounge, which also appeared to be filled with slowly wheeling clouds of debris and two more crew bodies, probably stewards.

A Stellar-class liner operating in the Solomani Rim.

0709. Sonny opened a sliding door in the forward wall and entered the Speedwell’s bridge, an area of relative calm. The bridge was topped by a transparent observation dome, through which could be seen the blinking running lights of the nearby Starjammer. The area was ringed with control stations. The bodies of the pilot and the astrogator were still strapped into their command chairs.

0720. Sonny and Ronald attempted to access the Speedwell’s Model/3 computer, but could not establish emergency power. Ronald was able to pull a data crystal that could be read by Daren’s hand computer. The crystal contained a manifest for the Speedwell’s last flight.

The details on the passenger manifest were sketchy and clearly hurried, with several identities anonymized as “Stateroom 19 | Passenger C | Solomani Party Donor | 3 Dependents,” and so on. Likewise the cargo manifest was vague: “Lot 12 (1 ton) | Aft Hold | Personal Belongings | Ms. Addison and family.”

One entry, though, stood out: “Lot 47 (5 tons) | Forward Hold | Secure Vault | FirstConfedBanc of Austa.”

0800. Brogue opened a hatch in the bridge floor that led down to the forward hold, which was packed from bulkhead to bulkhead with cargo containers and large items, including several antique luxury gravcars, crystalline chandeliers and ornate furniture, and even a small log cabin. Brogue quickly located Lot 47, which was an imposing black plastisteel container. The vault door was locked and although Brogue was able to restore power to the electronics, the door would not open without a keyfob.

0827. After another review of the manifest, Daren identified the likely holder of the key: “Stateroom 12 | Director Galilea Mandik | FirstConfedBanc | Wife.”

0833. Brogue guided the team back up to the bridge and toward Stateroom 12.

0853. Juno notified the team that she had been monitoring considerable wide-band radio chatter in the outer system. The communications indicated that several inbound ships were converging on the Speedwell’s position, and she estimated the first ships would arrive in approximately eight hours.

0922. The team finally reached Stateroom 12 after passing through dark passenger areas that were a jumble of personal belongings, luggage, and the corpses of family members and their pets. After a methodical search Brogue found the vault key on the body of Director Mandik.

0949. Back in the forward hold, with Daren holofilming everything, the team successfully opened the FirstConfedBanc vault, which was filled with plastisteel strongboxes containing Confederation credits, stock certificates, insurance policies, data crystals, and other materials.

1021. After completing a cursory inventory of the vault, the team debated how to bring this loot back to the Starjammer. Brogue pointed out that a Type M normally carried a 20-ton launch, a small craft used to shuttle passengers and cargo between the ship and starports. Such a launch could probably just fit inside the cargo hold of the Starjammer.

1243. The team successfully restarted the power plant on board the Speedwell’s launch. Sonny piloted the small craft to the Speedwell’s forward cargo bay.

1405. The vault was loaded onto the launch.

1425. The launch was secured inside the Starjammer’s cargo hold.

1520. Boone forced Hendrix, Aaro, and Rahim to don vacc suits, then escorted the three men at gunpoint over to the Speedwell to leave them stranded on the derelict, despite Hendrix’s pleas and offers of bribes.

1533. Ronald reported he detected three ships on approach, the closest over 65,000 km away.

1540. Ronald broadcast a message informing all listeners that Hendrix Knox was waiting on board the Speedwell, then transmitted the appropriate coordinates.

1545. Captain Cryo began maneuvering the Starjammer away from the Speedwell.

1558. The Starjammer entered jumpspace.

Clown (MAGY 1807 B431975-E) 139-1104.

0007. The Starjammer exited jumpspace in the Clown system.

0242. The Starjammer arrived at Clown Highport.

Copyright Information

The image of Dr. Zimon Sun was found on Generated Faces. The image of Chairman Meow was generated using DALL-E2. The Type M schematic and rendering of an Ad Astra-class liner were created using images from GDW's CT Adventure 13, Signal GK (1985).

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2023 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Far Future Enterprises’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.