Traveller: Session 52

 

 

This session was run on January 4, 2024.

212-1118

 

One evening, while in jumpspace en route to Hewes, Zarf noticed a ticking sound coming from the briefcase "Mr. Johnson" hired them to transport from Gyration to Westfir. Aryanna ran some tests on it and could not detect any radiation, electronic or otherwise, coming from the case. She also noted that the surface of the briefcase was at ambient temperature. They briefly discussed pushing the briefcase out of the airlock, but decided that it might be some

kind of test and settled on monitoring the case to see what developed.

 

213-1118

 

At 1 AM, Hal, who was on briefcase watch at the time, heard one, single beep from the case. He alerted the others, and they gathered to watch the camera feed they had set up of the case.

 

At 2 AM, the case beeped again.

 

At 2:50 AM, the case beeped again.

 

At this point Aryanna and Simmi grew concerned that the beeps seemed to be getting closer together, perhaps as some kind of countdown.

 

At 3:30 AM, the case beeped again.

 

Now convinced that the case was in fact counting down, Aryanna convinced the others to put the case in the airlock where they could quickly eject it, if necessary.

 

At 4 AM, the case beeped again.

 

At 4:20 AM, the case beeped again.

 

At 4:30 AM, the case began emitting a continuous beep. They debated jettisoning it at this point, but Simmi, who was convinced it was some kind of test, prevailed and they did not.

 

The beep continued for an hour before falling silent. They heard a click come from the case and, upon investigating it in the airlock, they discovered that it had unlocked. They taped it shut and went to bed. They left the briefcase in the airlock for the rest of the trip.

 

218-1118

 

The Prismatic Ray dropped out of jumpspace in the Hewes system to discover a small imperial fleet. A quick count revealed 57 jump capable warships of various classes, about three squadrons worth. After doing some library data research, they determined that the ships had all been assigned to the 297th Fleet. At the start of the war, the 297th had been a full-strength, 10 squadron fleet. The ships here had been assigned to a variety of squadrons and all showed signs of battle damage, some quite heavy. They surmised that the fleet had seen heavy combat against the Solomani forces that had been pushing forward since the start of the Rebellion.

 

They docked at the highport and spent 17,000Cr refueling. Simmi began a frustrating search for a broker willing to deal in their cargo of crystals and gems. The search tied her up for five days,

but she was able to sell the lot for 210,000Cr.

 

M'han made his way to the Dry Dock and found D'ay'uwo, the aslan Abraham Neville hired him to deliver a message to. He noticed that the bar was full of Navy enlisted personnel. He approached D'ay'uwo and said, "Walk red through green falcons." The aslan woman nodded

in response and walked away. As he headed for the door, M'han found his way blocked by a group of drunk sailors.

 

"I heard your spy talk," one of the sailors said, "Are you working for the Solomani or is it Dulinor you are selling us out to?"

 

M'han attempted to calm them down, reassuring them that he was a loyal imperial citizen. When they remained belligerent, he resorted to buying them drinks, which quickly cleared up the confusion. He retreated to the ship as soon as he could get away.

 

A brief scan of the patron postings revealed three jobs they were interested in:

 

1) A man named Ihoal Boven was offering 17,000Cr. for the recovery of an escape pod.

 

2) Gerald Masters, a reporter, was looking for people willing to ask highport residents about the impact of the Navy's stay in Hewes for 200Cr. an interview.

 

3) A pianist, Bradley Smiles, sought dancers for his show that night and was willing to pay 200Cr. each. Free drinks were included.

 

M'han and Marvin jumped on the chance to dance for cash and drinks and made their way to The Secret Yo-Yo. Once there, they were provided with "uniforms" that consisted of thin strips of fabric to wear while dancing. They fearlessly took the stage and quickly fell into the groove. Marvin found himself especially popular with a group of fairly senior naval officers in the front row. When they were done dancing, one of the women, Commander Riggs, invited them to come sit at their table. As they knocked back drink after drink, they learned that the Navy had been routed by the Solomani and had been on the run ever since. They stopped at Hewes to take advantage of the repair capability but expected to be on the move again soon.

 

As the night began to wind down, Marvin noticed that Commander Riggs was quite drunk and insisted that he walk her home. She invited him upstairs, but he politely refused based on her

inebriated state and wished her goodnight.

 

In the morning, they cast off from the highport and began scanning the system for the escape pod. After a few hours, they found it drifting and pulled alongside. As they drew near, they could see that the escape pod as from a prison ship. They carefully docked with the pod and were ready for trouble in the airlock.

 

They were surprised to see a four-armed, blue-skinned, humanoid emerge from the pod. The alien, who introduced himself as Xeelit, did not seem aggressive and claimed that he had used the pod to escape from a prison ship bound for Opheim. He had jettisoned the escape pod right before the ship made the leap to jumpspace.

 

The travellers contacted Boven and asked him to explain what was going on. He told them that he belonged to a group made up of the families of those imprisoned on Opheim. After he mentioned Kresh, they decided they could trust him, brought Xeelit to the highport, and collected the 17,000Cr. they were owed.