S33 Two Good Deeds

Mille Falcs/District 268/Spinward Marches/Third Imperium, 296/1106

With the collapsible fuel tanks stowed, the Long Walk jumped out of Mille Falcs to the carefully saved co-ordinates where the Polixenes had been left. 

Nowhere/District 268/Spinward Marches/Third Imperium, 303/1106
Captain Volt

Polixenes
After several hours’ EVA and cabling work, the tanks were set up in the cargo bay of the Shortnings’ ship and filled from the Long Walk’s tanks. Nevada then transferred to the smaller ship, leaving Feng to practice her piloting by taking the Long Walk back to Mertactor. A couple of hours after she had left, the Polixenes jumped after her.

Mertactor/District 268/Spinward Marches/Third Imperium, 311/1106

When the Long Walk arrived, Wombat immediately made contact with the Scout base, identified himself, and explained that the Cats With Guns had a salvaged starship that they wanted to register to their organization - again. The IISS were generally receptive but wanted a clear idea of the ship’s origin. Improvising, Wombat told them that it was found drifting and crewless. 

Two days later the Polixenes arrived after a pretty shaky Jump. The Scouts wanted her logs, but were told that these were blank when she was discovered. After some discussion, the computers on the Polixenes were carefully backed up and scoured of all data before the setup and execution of the last Jump - which, being impossible without a working computer would have been very suspicious - and sent copies over. 

While the Scouts considered the claim, the Polixenes was booked into the shipyards and work started on replacing her fuel tanks. Eventually, the claim was confirmed and the Polixenes was then sold to the Shortnings for the KCr100 it had cost to register her. The two ships made sure to exchange communication information, before the Long Walk set out again, leaving the Shortnings to their own devices. 

Egypt/Glisten/Spinward Marches/Third Imperium, 322/1106

Egypt is a nonindustrial fluid world.

A fluid world has an oceanic geography consisting of heavily contaminated water or a substance such as ammonia, methane, hydrocarbons, or other exotic liquid. It requires extensive imports of outside technology to maintain a modern, star-faring society. Having to import most manufactured and high tech goods drives the price up for these items at this world.

This is a cold world with an overall climate that is at the lower temperature range of human-congruous sophont endurance. Egypt is a Big World between 15,200km and 16,800km in diameter. The world has a standard gravity between 1.1G and 1.5G. The horizon will appear about 5.7km away. Vessels with only 1G of thrust should avoid landing on this world. Egypt has an Insidious Atmosphere which requires the use of a Hostile Environment Suit or Vacc Suit, but extreme conditions cause the corrosive effects to defeat any personal protective measures in a few hours. TL–10 or more advanced survival gear is required to settle this world. It contains very high levels of hydrogen. It experiences extremely high atmospheric pressures and very low temperatures

This world toils under the control of a military government with conditions reflecting that situation including curtailed civil rights and limited freedoms.
This world has an Imperial Naval Base, capable of handling warships.

Egypt has been selected for a Ministry of Colonization training base (Cantor Rhea); it has domes containing simulated environments, with the final test being survival on Egypt's surface with its insidious (hydrogen) atmosphere.
Vespasian
During the next Jump, Feng and Feaysen ran their usual entertainments and when the Casino nights came up, Vespasian joined the table. He proved good company for a robot, finding acceptance from all but one of the passengers and winning and losing in roughly equal amounts. 

On arrival at Egypt, the passengers and cargo were offloaded at the Highport, after which the ship descended to the Downport. Vespasian disembarked for his usual rounds, and the crew then contacted the Cantor Rhea research base, part of the MinCol operation on Egypt, to tell them that their shipment of samples from Judice had arrived. 

A few hours later, a large grav vehicle entered their docking bay and - at their request - landed inside the Long Walk‘s large rear cargo hold. Three people disembarked, two clearly porters guiding a grav floater carrying a very similar crate to the one being delivered, and a woman in a lab coat. She introduced herself as Dr Vincenza Denning, Senior Researcher (Atmospheres), and thanked the Cats for bringing the Judice crate over. The return crate, agreed as part of the arrangement and docketed accordingly, was lodged in the same place as the original and some data crystals of notes and messages attached to it. It had, slightly reassuringly, around a quarter of the ICOSHH stickers on it that the Judice one did.  
Dodgy BioChem Dealer
Once this was organized,  Dr Denning then asked if any of them were exposed to Judice’s atmosphere during the encounter with the crabs. As they were not, she seemed to relax a bit. “We’ve better facilities for atmospheric analysis than Theta here,” she explained. “These samples will hopefully confirm it, but we are fairly sure there’s some sort of contagion in the mix over there. Two of Theta’s personnel died unexpectedly after relatively minor accidental exposure to the atmosphere a couple of years ago, and we think this is why. When you go back – keep your hat on!”  She explained how to test for the symptoms they’d projected for the contagion - without any actual cases to work on - and Wombat each crewmember as well as the data he’d collected on the Shortnings. Everyone seemed to be safe.

The crew suggested strongly that she send messages to warn the base on Judice by any other vessel going that way, as they were heading on to Glisten before going back. Dr Denning spread her hands apologetically; “Few ships stop here,” she said, “and fewer at Egypt. Neither are very pleasant places. But we’ll try.”

Back at the downport, Nevada and Timo went looking for cargoes. They were approached by a shady-looking individual, who offered to sell them a very small consignment of biochemicals extracted from the planet’s atmosphere. It was clear that their origins were not legal, and despite his assertions that certain parties on Overnale would pay many times the asking price, the offer was declined in favour of a much less controversial cargo of electronic products, likely to do well on agricultural Overnale. 

Overnale/Glisten/Spinward Marches/Third Imperium, 029/1107

Overnale is an Balkanized agricultural world. Local conditions allow for riotous growth of flora, including several varieties of cereal and other staples, exotic fruits and their byproducts. The extensive harvest of cereal grains provides a surplus for livestock feed, and considerable herds are supported in numerous feedlots across the world.

Farmers support of the government was wavering prior to Griffin Island annexation due to high priority given to military equipment manufacture. The G.I. factories have since been retooled to provide farm equipment, and support for the government has been increasing.

Unlike many Balkanized worlds,  Overnale is remarkably peaceful, mainly because of the very strict laws banning, among other things, any form of weapon or armour. 

The usual New Year celebrations took place during the next Jump. 
The Biochemical Molecule
Once down on the planet and while Nevada was doing his usual trading, Timo set off to try and work out where the biochemicals from Egypt might have been traded. The local information systems were of a very basic technology, and once he’d navigated PAN to get to them, he found he could burrow quite deeply into the darker side of the planetary datanet. As he’d suspected, he discovered that the end product of the process was some quite horrific ‘recreational’ drugs. Unlike the other Cats, he did not have the aversion to such things that the breaking of the Bluey network had given the others. He made cautious contact, finding himself connected anonymously to a representative of what he later learned was the Canedo, a powerful organized crime syndicate. He offered to sell them details of the man trading the stuff on Egypt, and received a paltry offer until he added helmetcam footage not only of the man’s face but his displayed schematic of the compound itself. At this point the price was increased and Timo made the deal. Disconnecting, he felt a degree of satisfaction but also a sliver of worry that he might have made himself noticeable to some pretty bad people.
Jesus! Jarvis Gin
Feng, meanwhile, had gone looking for booze. Agricultural worlds normally produce a good range, and Overnale wasn’t disappointing. She’d had the foresight to check and find that while alcohol was perfectly legal here, being publicly drunk would end very badly, and so she did the testing back aboard ship. Two stood out; a dark, nutty ale called Hogansen’s Sauce and a gin sporting a startled butler on the label and called Jesus! Jarvis.

Wombat had gone to see if they could claim on the bounty for the three scammers who’d attempted the heist on Talos. This led him to the Imperial Agency of Criminal Acquisition (IACA), the arm of Imperial Justice that contracted out the location and capture of difficult-to-find individuals. They took down the details he provided, but pointed out that two vapourized and one in jail on a non-Imperial world was hardly “bringing them in”. They were prepared to register a provisional claim for Baver Logan, and would start the machinery to get him extradited, but until that happened they could not pay the bounty. As for his comrades, if Logan was prepared and able to prove their presence on the Mephistopheles at the time of destruction, then any bounties on them would become claimable. 

GM Note:
The herbs are
Tefamric (a tea)
Oxeoder (source for analgesic gel)
Usholic (irresistable to cats, super-catnip)
 
Balliomeric
Duzumisa
White Quassia
Feng and Wombat then headed out to Griffin Island, headquarters of the Farmers’ Association, in search of seeds for the ecosphere in Botany Bay on Collace. There, they met several rather porky men dressed in business suits tailored to give the air of farmers’ overalls while being no such thing. The most senior - and porkiest, one Milo Dansbury made some enquiries and listed half-a-dozen herbs matching her desire for medical or pharmacutical use. Three of them were available on-planet, and she obtained the seeds for a very good price. 

As they walked back to their air/raft, both noted a man behaving in what their combat-trained reflexes reacted to as very suspicious. Two more of the FA executives, these younger, were standing next to a rather flashy air/raft chatting. The man they’d spotted was moving surreptitiously up behind them, one arm held straight down at his side - dead giveaway for a sleeve knife.

Wombat jogged up to the two executives and slapped one on the shoulder. “Hey, Eneri!” he cried amiably, “How are you, old chap? Not seen you in ages” and so on, much to the bewilderment of the attacker.  After a moment’s confusion his shoulders bunched to drive his weapon into Wombat’s back - and he felt Feng’s bio-implant blade tip firmly pressed into his back. “Don’t move!” she hissed in his ear. “Drop it!” There was a moment’s pause and then the knife hit the road.

Meanwhile, Wombat’s attention had been caught by the second of the executives whose eyes had widened at the sudden violence before he had clutched at his left arm and keeled over onto the ground. Trusting Feng to handle the attacker, Wombat leaped over and snatched his medikit off his belt. With the high-tech equipment it comprised, stabilizing a heart attack patient was reasoably straightforward and by the time the local police arrived, Wombat was certain he would live. 

As the two burly policemen - armoured and equipped with stun batons and shotguns - came up, Feng’s prisoner tried a desperate appeal of “Officer! This crazy woman attacked me with a knife!” Feng - who had quietly retracted the blade as the law arrived - looked innocently up at the policeman, who looked at the hijacker, down at the knife on the floor in front of him, and back up. Without a word, the copper stunned him down.

Accounts from the projected victim and other bystanders exploded his defence, and the police hauled him away. Wombat and Feng were cautioned not to leave Overnale until they heard back, which caused Nevada some mirth when they got back. In the end, however, a note of thanks for their good citizenship was all they heard, and they were free to Jump for Glisten.
Session Date: Aug 6th, 2024