On the Way to Canan
There were worlds on the route to Canan, but they needed to stop on New Florida to send a report to the CEP. That is also where they could acquire tracking devices to plant on the illicit cargo for others to collect later on. Once they knew what the cargo was they would decided what to do. They wold also arrange on New Florida to be boarded on their return and either “talk their way out of it” or “get arrested.”
First came Loranis, which was a new colony, so therefore it needed just about anything. But they needed to jump to Terc first. Terc was an uninhabited world whose sole habitable planet was in a preliminary evolutionary state, so it there was no intertest in colonizing it. However, there was a science ship cataloging the life forms. Apparently there were no no changes to the catalog and they were preparing to leave. They traded news and the scientific data from Estra for credits.
In the Loranis System
Then they jumped to Loranis. After a brief stopover at Rente, the barely habitable staging are for preparing the colony planet, they shuttled down to the Loranis-9 with their trade goods. Bletherin and Grendel went to the gun shop and made a good deal for the guns and ammunition. Grrr went to the saloon, where he ordered the beef-like meat and what passed for Garlan beer. Then Bletherin and Grendel went to the hospital, which was desperate for supplies, and made a good deal there. Grendel noted the need for medical supplies.
The others joined Grrr in the saloon and had just started eating when there was a commotion outside. They went out to find two six-legged bare like creatures marauding through town. Grendel subdued them with mace, and the locals were impressed. He noted their need for mace-like substances to subdue the creatures. They returned to the saloon and finished their meals.
They made arrangements for the delivery of the cargo and acquired some foodstuffs for the ship. Grendel identified that this world would be one that people came to as tourists to hunt. They perused other shops and found cheap wood and leather products. Most of the stores sold pioneering supplies. They stayed overnight, breakfasted, loaded the supplies, and returned to the ship.
The Dark Point
The jump between Loranis and New Canan was a dark point. It was a dying system with a dwarf star. There were no signals, but there was a derelict ship. They investigated. It was a big freighter usable favor colonists or colony supplies. Alex scanned the ship. It was a Collective ship and had been there for a while. He found the name and registration of the ship and searched the databases. The ship disappeared from the Collective registry five or six years ago, but it had only been in the dark system for about a month. It was believed stolen.
The ship had a large hole in it. There were no signs of life or life support. There were no life pods in the system. Grrr, Grendel and Alex shuttled over to check it out. He flew through the beach into the cargo hold. They noted crates of agricultural machinery in the hold. Grrr did not sense any danger. They opened a create to discover a brand new tractor.
They searched the ship. The escape pods were not present. There were no signs of bodies. The bridge sensors indicated that the ship had lost atmosphere when it collided with an asteroid, but not fast enough that the crew could not escape. The logs indicated unsuspicious activity, so it was possible that the crew did not know that the ship had been stolen.
The captain’s log indicated a mixed crew as well as some passengers. The log ended when they jumped into the dark system. It appeared that something hit the ship a few minutes after it jumped into the system. Searching the ship revealed a lone dead Antar in engineering.
They compared the crew manifest with the wanted database. Almost all were wanted for minor things and the logs indicated skillfully avoiding places where they would be sought. The passengers were not in the database.
Another Ship
Another ship jumped into the system and headed for the freighter. Bletherin spotted hit, and Alex identified it as a free trader similar to them carrying more weapns than would be normal. The ships hailed each other and the newcomer stated that it belonged to them. Bletherin replied that the ship was abandoned when they found it and the possessor was the one who first boarded it. The newcomer attempted to bargain. They had a tow ship coming.
Grrr and Grendel searched for hidden compartments. They found one containing jewelry and another containing smokable herbs. They took both. Alex determined that the engines were functional, but the ship might lose structural integrity. It could probably jump, but might lose structural integrity.
Bletherin bargained for a price to leave the ship to the newcomers. He negotiated a good price. The away team returned to the Alex Murphy and jumped to New Florida. The herbs turned out to be marijuana, and some of the jewels were on the stolen property log.
Chain of Command
- Bletherin – Garlan (scaled hexapeds, with the front set of limbs equating to arms with four fingers, and
the second and third having cloven hooves) Captain of the CEP Alex Murphy - Grrr (aka Snarl) – atypical Harth (furred mammals that resemble semi-anthropomorphic dogs) Head of Security on the CEP Alex Murphy
- Alex – the CEP Alex Murphy AI
- Grendel – Heffulump (alien with multiple tactile appendages) Engineer of the CEP Alex Murphy
- Kovak – Human Pilot of the CEP Alex Murphy