Today Mike vanishes into the aether, leaving the rest of us somewhat diminished. Paul (Bob the Saurk), Tim (Kraid Naiben), Chris (Caleb Kagan), Ernest (Elizabeth Blessing), Bruce (Goat Gulgusskun) and Chuck account for the group in evidence.
The characters are still on Aetna, still almost totally traumatized by the damage inflicted upon their beloved Salt Witch. To compound the problem, Chuck announces that he has finally gotten around to making lemon rolls for the ship. Bob the Saurk curses to find out that the Salt Witch is afflicted by:
The discovery that the Salt Witch's FTL drive requires a lot of custom parts puts paid to the existing plan to strip parts off the Presidente to repair the damage.
The way the current rules are set out, it is extremely expensive to add armor (or any other components) to an existing ship, but it is almost free to repair or maintain existing systems. Everyone agrees that this does not make a lot of sense, though it is the way the Silhouette rules tend to work out. There is general agreement that the actual cost of adding armor should be something like a difference of squares, possibly multiplied by a size factor depending upon how overdesigned the vehicle already is.
The characters review the surviving records from their encounter with the strangely well-armed ship that shot the Salt Witch to bits. They determine that the basic hull was nothing more than a common Mako-class luxury sport yacht. It doesn't take much to deduce that it was a Mako with some after-market modifications.
A bit of investigation in town uncovers another troubling bit of information. Someone (wild-eyed speculation suggests that it might have been the folks on the ship) looted the medical records from the Aetna City Memorial Hospital. Caleb Kagan investigates further and decides that the thieves used the hospital records to identify children with psychic potential and then abduct them. He thinks they had a load of psychic children in cold sleep when they left the planet (and haywired the Salt Witch).
During their time on Aetna, Liz Blessing makes sure that the characters take advantage of their status as Big Men on Planet to get invited to lots of state dinners. They mooch off the Minister of Snack Foods as much as possible. When it isn't possible, Goat Gulgusskun learns to cook and buys local foods.
The characters spend some time complaining to each other about how hard it is to hit soldiers with anti-aircraft rockets if they aren't riding in technicals. Caleb does some asking around and discovers that he could improve the Salt Witch's ability to hit personal-scale targets with a software upgrade. He arranges to get targeting software from a shattered defense force VERTOL and installs it on the Salt Witch. By the time he's done, the two PDS turrets could hit a hummingbird without a problem.
The next upgrade is on the cargo deck. The deck has two vehicle ramps (one forward and one aft) to allow roll-on/roll-off operations, and two smaller side doors with airlocks. Caleb and Bob the Saurk install a 6mm LMG next to each door on a movable harness.
| Weapon | ACC | DM | RNG | RoF | Ammo | Cost | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6mm LMG | +0 | 30 | +100/200/400/800 | +2 | Belt | 1800 | 7 |
Bob the Saurk lumbers up from the engine room with a list of the parts he will need to make the Salt Witch right. The turrets are easy: they can be fixed with a bit of solder and duct tape. The FTL drive needs a new hyperspatial quantum capacitor. Bob claims that these normally cost about Cr 150 at Radio Shack. The secure-release detachment bolts on the ejection system are broken. Typical replacement cost is Cr 40. The reaction-control relay in the maneuver system is fried; the parts to repair the damage would normally be Cr 70. Finally, the feedback-relay GUI chip in the sensor suite is broken. Anywhere except a ghastly backwater this would be a Cr 10 part.
Caleb the "electronics whiz" joins with Bob to see if these parts can be found on Aetna. He manages to come up with a set of secure-release bolts without any trouble. Unfortunately, the rest of the parts prove more elusive: the local Radio Shacks have pretty much been looted down to the shelves. A dispirited clerk tells Caleb that he should try the TV station.
Caleb heads over to the TV station looking for a feedback-relay GUI chip. The people at the station make Caleb wait in the lobby until a reporter named Ace Buckley recognizes him as one of the guys who chased the rebels out. Caleb agrees to give Buckley the story if he can do a couple of things in exchange. First, Caleb wants that feedback-relay GUI chip. Second, Caleb wants to see Buckley sleep with the demlux space-biker. Buckley is disturbingly willing to agree to this offer, until he realizes that Caleb wasn't kidding about the "sleep with the demlux" part. He quickly modifies the deal to include only the chip.
Caleb calls ahead to the ship, giving Liz Blessing an opportunity to prepare to interview well. He then follows Buckley to the station's tech room to pick up the chip.
Liz Blessing takes the lead in the interviews, thanks in large part to the undeniable fact that she is the only character suitable to put in front of a camera. She guides Buckley's questions very carefully, telling the story of a group of honest free traders moved to come help liberate the people of Aetna. Remarkably, her story even has a few similarities to the characters' actual experiences. The other characters hold as close to this line as they can. They spend most of their time trying to not mention anything that would be actionable in a possible future war-crimes tribunal. Kraid Naiben breaks from this conservative mold to spend his time bitching about his ex-wife. Caleb comes across sounding like a football player describing a victory, except that instead of saying "coach" he says "god". After the interview, Liz asks him if he is feeling okay. He declines to answer. The other characters can see from his expression that Ace Buckley is completely convinced that Caleb is not, in fact, all right in the head.
The characters drive their SUV over to Flaviu's Excellent Junk to look for starship parts. Bob the Saurk takes the lead in demanding parts. Flaviu has a reaction-control relay, but he doesn't have a hyperspatial quantum capacitor. The part he can provide is enough to get the maneuver drive back, but not the FTL drive. In a sign of desperation, Liz Blessing even tries her unique powers on Flaviu, but to no avail.
However, Flaviu does offer one thin strand of hope. He says that there is another junk dealer across town, a fellow named Walton ("Sam Walton?" "No, just Walton.") Walton should have a hyperspatial quantum capacitor in stock. Flaviu says he'll turn over the relay if the characters can bring him a hydro-servo link from Walton.
The group drives over to Walton's shop. He has the hydro-servo link Flaviu wants, and a hyperspatial quantum capacitor as well. He wants to charge Cr 500 for both parts, but will give over the parts for free if the characters will agree to do a little task for him. In addition to selling junk, he also operates a grocery distribution company. He needs to bring a truckload of Noyno root ("onions") into town from an agricultural kibbutz about 300 km away. Unfortunately, his normal drivers are all unavailable: some of them are in hiding, and others have run off to join the revolution. He asks the characters to bring in his noyno root in lieu of cash payment.
Sensing the opportunity to engage in some random gunfire, the characters quickly agree to his offer. He tells them to head over to his warehouse across town, where his foreman will provide them with a truck and a map.
The characters decide to take two vehicles: Walton's 10-wheeler van and one of the local Yugos they requisitioned last session.
| Vehicle | AR | Size | Man | Max Spd | Range | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-Wheeler Van | 8 | 6 | -4 | 18 | 1300 km | kCr 90 |
| Yugo Runabout | 2 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 400 km | kCr 7 |
From the map, it is clear that the kibbutz is out in an unsettled area still plagued by insurgents, so appropriate preparations are made. The Yugo does not have enough range to make it there and back without refueling, so the truck is loaded up enough spare fuel to refuel the Yugo. Bob and Kraid spend a half-hour converting the Yugo into a technical by mounting one of the 6mm LMG's onto the back. Liz, Kraid and Caleb travel in the Yugo (with Liz at the wheel and Kraid on the gun). Bob and Goat take the truck, with Bob driving.
Given that Liz drives very much like a bat out of Hell, it doesn't take long before she pulls far ahead of the truck. By the time she spots two guys barricading the road and seven more hiding in the bushes along the sides, the truck is so far behind that Caleb can't even see it.
The insurgents make gestures that to them probably mean, "Please stop so we can extract appropriate war bounty from your cargo and your persons." As far as Liz and Kraid are concerned, these gestures actually mean, "We are clueless victims, but our weapons will bring a good price on the interstellar market. We would be insulted if you didn't have to first pry them from our lifeless fingers." Gunfire quickly ensues.
Within seconds, the Yugo is shot so full of holes that it becomes undrivable. Liz crashes it to a stop in the ditch while Kraid opens fire with the LMG. The goons struggle to move back into LoS of the Yugo as Kraid trims away at their numbers two and three at a time. Surviving goons send a hail of bullets back towards him, though none of them actually manages to connect. Caleb finds himself struggling just to wrench open the car door.
Back down the road, Bob deduces that the Yugo is under attack based upon the sounds of psychotic gunfire emerging from his radio. He steps on the accelerator and zooms forward. Moments later, the truck arrives on the scene and Goat promptly freezes up. Bob pulls up the truck in front of the Yugo to protect it from the small cluster of wounded goons on the other side of the street.
Caleb finally manages to get out of the Yugo and promptly blows away one guy across the street with his combat shotgun. Liz leans out of the window and takes a shot at another goon with her snazzy silver-plated Desert Eagle 50-caliber Compensator Goon-Smasha pistol... and misses. Kraid pays them no heed as he continues hosing down survivors with the LMG.
Seconds later, there are only two survivors left. Caleb strides out and wings the first one twenty times with the decapitator auto-shotgun. The remains of the guy fall into bits and gibbets. He sees Bob the Saurk eyeing the one survivor and yells, "Take him prisoner, Bob!" Bob steps out of the truck cab with his ninja sword and grumbles, "Seriously..." He falls upon the man, chopping him and his rifle in two. Go ninja swords!
Liz gathers up some wire, a bit of chewing gum and a spare pair of nylons. With these resources, she is able to get the Yugo to run well enough to get it back to the warehouse. She enlists the other characters to push it back onto the road.
On closer examination, the goons look like rebels turned to banditry to support themselves. Looting the bodies gets:
Liz notices that Goat is being very enthusiastic about looting and warns him, "Lay off on the boots there, Goat. I don't think we're that hard up." Goat responds, "This is important! Where I come from, you need this stuff." Liz answers him, "Where I come from, ya don't."
The loading process at the warehouse goes well. The local employees are expecting the characters to show up, and don't make a fuss about loading up the truck with lots and lots of noyno root. The characters give them a shot-up Yugo as a bonus, warning them that it needs a new engine. And several other things.
There is only room in the truck cab for two people. Liz and Caleb get to ride up front, while Kraid (as the biggest), Goat (as the most culinary) and Bob (as the smelliest) ride in back with the noyno roots. Kraid and Goat pass the time on the ride back by eating raw noyno roots. It turns out that they are sweet and pleasant.
The characters return to the city without incident and give Walton his roots. He provides the parts and a bag of noyno roots as a bonus. Flaviu gets his hydro-servo link and hands over the capacitor as promised. Bob installs everything, and then patches the holes in the hull with duct tape and expando-foam. The Salt Witch is now back to normal, at least as long as nobody sticks a hand through one of the repaired sections of hull.
Liz stops by at Stitches place of bidness to check in with him. It turns out that he is very pleased: everything is going well. Liz tells him that the Salt Witch is bound for New Saigon, and asks if he has anything that needs to be shipped. He doesn't have anything for New Saigon, but he does need some cargo shipped here from Earth. He explains that a guy out that way chickened out on him and welshed on a deal. Liz explains to Stitches that the trip will take 80 days round trip, plus turnaround time, so he'd better be willing to pay a lot. Bob the Saurk points out that Earth isn't a very safe place either.
| Departure | Destination | Travel Time(port-to-port) |
|---|---|---|
| New Saigon | Earth | 29 days |
| Earth | Aetna | 54 days |
The characters eventually work out a deal with Stitches. His cargo consists of ten containers, ten containers that the characters shouldn't let the ICPA search. Each container is 2m x 1m x 0.5m, about coffin-sized.
With this deal in hand the characters look around for other things that could be taken to Earth. They quickly find out that shipping in cargo to Earth is a problem: they need a lot of stuff, but they can't afford to pay for much. Earth is a horrible post-urban cesspool with a strong cultural and economic resemblance the final days of the Soviet Union. Earthers emigrate to Gaulden because it looks good to them.
The characters conclude that it wouldn't be hard to export people from Earth, and that the Earther elite would be willing to buy medical supplies on the black market. The plan is for Goat to buy medical supplies on New Saigon, and then to sell them on Earth. On Earth the characters will recruit economic refugees to bring back to Aetna. And Hector will incorporate a company and write up work contracts for the migrants en route. If necessary, Caleb will forge ID records saying that the Earthers are residents of New Saigon. Kraid estimates that the whole triangle trip route is 127 days long. Liz listens to this and decides that she needs to talk up Stitches on raising the price. She manages to get him to agree to a 10% bonus if the characters can make the run in only 17 weeks (119 days).
Goat finds an out-of-business restaurant and arranges for the huge walk-in refrigerator to vanish into the Salt Witch's hold. He fills it with fresh local foodstuffs. Caleb points out that the refrigerator could also be used as an impromptu brig. To support this plan, Bob installs it with the temperature controls out the outside so the characters can freeze out any troublesome prisoners. Caleb buys a lot of games (chess, checkers, etc.) in Aetna City to ensure that the characters don't kill each other over the four months they're in jump.
Liz says goodbye to her mercenary girlfriend, then the characters blow out of town. She and Bob manage to make the jump from Aetna to New Saigon in only ten days rather than 15. It still takes seven more days to get to the port once jump is done.
The landing on New Saigon goes well. The instant after the airlock opens, the characters send Capri Paolo off with a cheery wave goodbye.
Liz and Goat stop by to talk to Nicki to pass along messages from Stitches, and to ask if he can hook them up with someone able to sell cheap drugs that Earthers would buy. In exchange for "a favor" he agrees to set them up with a guy. And to show his generosity, Nicki says that he won't even charge a cut on the deal.
The guy seems to be just what Nicki promised. He can sell Fastheal and Panimmunity for Cr 10 per dose and other drugs for similar prices. Caleb thinks that if we can find the right guy we can probably clear a 100% profit on Fastheal and Panimmunity, but we might need to take something in trade - there isn't a lot of hard currency circulating on Earth. The characters dip into the Cr 200,000 "finder's fee" they got from the Bank of Aetna to buy Cr 30,000 in drugs (3000 doses). The remaining money is divided into one Cr 20,000 share per character and a Cr 50,000 share for the ship.
Liz makes a little side deal with the pharmaceutical dealer for some additional goods for "personal use." Liz goes on to spend her one day of free time on New Saigon hanging out in the sort of club frequented by the idle rich, drinking like a fish and consuming various controlled substances. She is pretty happy with the world by the end of the evening, but not so happy as to be useless.
Goat walks into New Saigon Electric Happiness and tells the clerk, "I want one of every computer game you've got. I expect to be sitting on a ship for the next hundred days." The clerk nearly falls over in mercantile happiness. Goat walks out with Cr 1000 in computer games. Then he stops by at the Port Chandler's to buy 2000 man-days in unflavored Gloop in the convenient 20-liter tubs. This costs another Cr 2000. The salesman at the Chandler's throws in a Gloop Still for free.
Caleb spends Cr 5000 on a fancy printer, cardstock and laminating and embossing supplies for forgery. From there he heads to Central Freight and shows off his bonded courier's permit. They give him a couple of small packages bound for Earth, and tell them that successful delivery will be worth Cr 700. Finally, he spends some time checking recent arrivals for signs that the Mako-class luxury yacht that shot up the characters arrived at New Saigon. He finds no evidence of it.
Hector goes down to the City Hall at New Saigon Plaza and incorporates Aetna Human Redevelopment, LLC, a labor services company. He makes himself CEO.
The characters leave New Saigon on Day 25 of their journey.
Bob does really well with the FTL drive during the jump to earth. He cuts the travel time down to 13 days (from 39 days). The characters make it to port on Earth by day 52, with only a mild rebuke from Mars Customs for exceeding safe passage speeds to show for it.
The Salt Witch touches down at the Omaha Municipal Spaceport next to the beautiful crimson waters of Lake Michigan. The customs service transmission suggests that Earth is sensitive about people carrying weapons around, so the characters take most of their personal weapons and lock them up in the armory, expecting to be weapons-free for a while.
It develops that the reality is a bit different. There are a lot of laws about carrying weapons, but the officials in charge of enforcing them have taken a rather careless attitude towards the subject. A Streetwise (PSY) roll is all it takes to smuggle a pistol through starport security. A knife is even easier: +1 bonus. Kraid and Goat leave the starport carrying knives. Bob the Saurk gets stopped by the guard, but finds out that he can spend Cr 100 on a "permit" to carry a knife through the security checkpoint. Nobody even cares about non-lethal weapons (including the characters). The characters leave Hector locked in the refrigerator in the ship while they go out about their various business.
Liz places a call to her contact to inform him that the Salt Witch has arrived and that he needs to get the trucks rolling. He seems to know that the characters were coming. He seems willing to do business. His representative is a guy named Skinny Pete. On the way to the meet, Liz and Goat discuss possible tourist attractions to visit. "We could go see the Mutual of Omaha building!" "No, that was blown up by terrorists." "How about the famous Nutria Ranches?" "Or we could see the Kudzu Plantations!"
The actual meeting goes very smoothly. Skinny Pete asks, "Which berth?" Liz responds, "23A" Skinny Pete deadpans, "It'll be there tonight." Goat breaks in, "By the way, you want some meds?" Skinny Pete agrees to buy the characters' cargo for double the standard prices, for a total of Cr 60,000.
Liz also tells him that she will pay him a Cr 250 finders' fee for each of up to 20 people interested in going to Aetna. The price for passage will be Cr 4000, with loans available for those who cannot pay up front. Anyone who needs a loan will need to sign an employment contract with Aetna Human Redevelopment, LLC. Skinny Pete 32 candidates in an hour. Seven of them have cash and get first dibs. Several others have antiques and various family heirlooms. The characters pick thirteen and let them pay 2000 Cr in kind, with only a Cr 2000 loan (at 20%). The characters' current balance sheet looks pretty good:
Goat spends Cr 1000 for portable toilets for the emigrants.
While the other characters are off doing exciting bits of business in and around the spaceport, Bob the Saurk is just standing around minding his own business. A fellow in local dress suddenly steps up to him and tells him, "I'm late for a flight, but I just found this briefcase. Could you please take it to lost & found for me?" He gives Bob a briefcase and rushes off. Bob takes the briefcase, but is suspicious and follows the man. He notices that the guy doesn't head towards the departures area. Actually, the guy heads to the taxi stand and steps into a waiting taxi. Bob watches helplessly as the taxi pulls off into the distance.
A couple of minutes later, Bob sits down in a bathroom stall and takes a look at the briefcase. From the outside, it looks like a normal briefcase. He very carefully slits the case open and looks inside. He sees glowing numbers that are counting down, with about 20 minutes to go. It is obvious that the thing is a bomb, and that he isn't much of a demolitions expert. He sets to work disarming it, finally realizing that he doesn't know about explosives, but he does know about electronic timers. He switches it off and debates his next move...
The session ends with Bob the Saurk in a restroom in the Omaha Municipal Spaceport, staring at a disarmed bomb. Each character gains five experience points.