Prison Pit
- Characters
- Prison Library
- Logs 1
- Logs 2
- Jailbreak
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jumpspace koutala-bucroth, 10:02 shipboard time 113/1106
 DM Note: Quite a few of the things that 'had been done in jump' appeared at the table later than they should have; I have shuffled them into their correct chronological positions to make it look like the characters really did remember them at the time... |
Experienced interstellar travellers all, the cons settled into jumpspace downtime activities. Alice went over her kit, repairing and cleaning it, fed her pet swarm spider with considerable care, and compiled an inventory of the group's equipment. Martha, still unable to believe that the immense profits of the slaving operation were not hidden aboard somewhere, continued to scour the ship. Manx and Alice continued to spend time with Kimii Mruaak, who was now fairly comfortable with her situation, although she still gave Scarrow, Martha and especially Hurker a wide berth.
| DM Note: Much of what's referred to as Library Data in the game appears in the Library Data section of the website, accessible from the Prison Library menu item, fankyew. |
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Manx continued to practice and study communication systems with the aid of Hurker as well as digging into the ship computer's library. He was convinced that there was going to be someone out there who would pay big for the secret of Terbium hull grids, and his research collected some likely candidates; business rivals of Maximillian Industries operating in similar territory and interests
-"But how do we go about selling something like this - information?" asked Alice. "Sell them a sample," suggested Burkins.
Martha stamped onto the bridge. "I don't believe that that money isn't aboard," she snarled. "We're waking the captain."
jumpspace koutala-bucroth, 10:40 shipboard time 113/1106
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Half an hour later, Captain Bailey sat, dripping with conductive fluid and still shaky from his sudden revival, tied to a chair in the hibernaculum. Martha stood facing him, toying with a gauss pistol, while the others gathered around. Kimii left the room shaking her head, not wanting to witness what was going to happen.
"Are we there yet?" Bailey asked hopefully. Martha brandished the book they'd found in his safe. "There's a lot of money listed here," she said casually. Bailey nodded. "Business has been good," he agreed. "So tell me where it is," she snarled, thumbing off the safety and jamming the weapon against his forehead, "or ten 4mm needles - your choice!" Bailey gulped but his voice was steady. "If you kill me you'll never find it. The one place in the galaxy that information is stored is the head you're threatening to ventilate. Let me offer you a deal." Martha looked innocent. "Who said anything about killing you?" she asked, "I'm a crap shot with this thing."
"There's four cons still in the freezer," said Bailey. "I'll buy the lives of myself and my crew with them." Martha snorted. "Why do we need you to get the money?" she sneered. "We can sell them anyway." Bailey shook his head. "If you stump up to Bucroth Nexus and pretend to be us, you'll be arrested before you can indent for fuel much less trade the goods. If we're with you, we'll dock, resupply, do our usual deal for the merch - proceeds to yourselves, natch - and be gone and no-one the wiser. You can get off wherever you want, here or somewhere else. You don't want us to talk about you, and we don't want you to talk about us - so everybody wins."
Gripper thought for a moment. "What if we keep this ship?" he asked. Bailey lifted an eyebrow. "Possible," he admitted, "of course I'd prefer you didn't. But it'll be tracked down in the end. I can say you took over and forced us to take you - true after all - if I'm still here. You lot need to disappear - change ships, change names, vanish into some city somewhere until the heat dies off."
"Why do we need the money?" put in Alice. "It's a high-risk piece of business, and I don't agree with it on principle." Martha looked around the group present. "There's eight of us," she commented. "That's Cr16,000 resupply per jump, and we'll probably have to buy fuel here too. Taking passage would be even more - and I don't like being a passenger; I don't feel safe. If we're going to keep running, we need money. Fifty grand for the frozen merch will keep us going for a bit. The money this scumbag has salted away somewhere would be much better but it looks like we won't get that."
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X-659678-1 Ni R G Im The Imperium maintain a small military base on VIb, Kicgpe, from which occasional rescue missions are launched for people in trouble on the mainworld who are important enough to bother with. Other inhabited bodies in the system are connected with systems defence and not with the stroppy residents of the mainworld. Gravla/Flavin B-496588-8 M Ag Ni G Im |
After Bailey was safely tucked up in his freezer once more, Alice renewed her opinion that there were several prisoners in their own party she didn't trust either. Gripper suggested they should sell the ones they didn't need. There was a pause as each considered their reaction to this idea. "It seems to me," said Alice pointedly, "that each of us wants different things out of this escape." Manx nodded. "We shouldn't lose track," he said, "of the thing we all want and need; to get away!" Martha gathered the question up: "OK - what're your morals? Who feels we should and shouldn't do what?" It emerged that everyone except Alice was comfortable selling the frozen cons - 'we don't know them' - and everyone felt Bailey deserved a taste of his own medicine and should be added to the deal, but that unpleasant as Hurker was, he was one of them, had helped them all get away, and deserved better. "He's a scumbag; but he's our scumbag.". Gripper had private reservations; personally he wanted to put a bullet between Hurker's ears straight away - but he didn't disagree with the consensus. Alice felt they should sell all the Exismolia's crew instead of the frozen prisoners, but went with the majority verdict.
That settled - assuming they managed to contact the buyer of course - they turned to considering where to go after Bucroth, where no-one suggested they should stay at one hour longer than necessary. The Exismolia had a jump capability of only one, which left them exactly two possible next stops after resupplying; Lyrar and Gravla.
Nobody liked the sound of Lyrar, leaving Gravla more or less their only choice. "That only leaves what we do when we come out of Jump at Bucroth," said Martha. "Go with the flow," suggested Manx, "and see what happens." No-one could better that as a plan, and so they settled into their assorted jump-time activities. Among other things, this included fixing the internal cameras and reviewing the ship's rather stupid anti-hijack system.
100 diameters from stugarden, bucroth system, 18:26 shipboard time 118/1106
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The grey nowhere punctured, shredded and trailed away to be replaced with the stars of normal space. The slight, strange internal lurch of a normal jumpspace transition announced the end of their journey.
A hundred thousand miles ahead of them was the small disc of Stugarden. From this distance, they couldn't see the trade nexus space station but the ship's sensors told them it was there. About a quarter of an hour later, a radio call came in. "This is Stugarden TrafCon calling 400-ton vessel exJump co-ords 0810, 040, 110. Please state your identity, business and destination?" The voice was casual, almost bored, showing no suspicion. Gripper clicked the mike, and thought back to the improbable event that had freed them from the prison. "This is free trader Hand of God, inbound for refuel, maintenance and onward jump," he responded. "Do you have cargo or passengers?" Gripper glanced at the others; Alice shook her head. "No." he answered. "travelling empty." There was a pause. "Transmitting your flight plan now," came the response, "please dock at the pax hub, cargo's a bit full." Gripper released his breath. "Thanks, TrafCon," he acknowledged and cut the call. The astrogation systems told them it would take them around an hour to reach the nexus, and Gripper took the helm, lit up the sublight engines, and turned them onto the course.
At this point, it occurred to the cons that the ship still had Maximillian Industries' insignia and its' real name painted on, ships' papers for a Maximillian franchise vessel owned by Captain Bailey, and a crew whose ID would soon be read-hot alarm sounders in this part of space. Slightly belatedly, they turned to Benkin the Forger and asked him if could do anything to help. With a grin, Benkin reminded them that forging ships' papers was why he'd been on Odegra in the first place, and not because they'd been detectable. "It'll take more than an hour," he said apologetically. "No reason to rush," said Alice, "Gripper; fly casual!" The wrestler chuckled and adjusted the throttles. "Five hours be enough?" he asked. "Grand," said Martha. "Let's go redecorate."
Suiting up in vacc suits they found in a couple of the staterooms, she and Manx airlocked out through engineering and took a can of paint around the hull to the logo and name on the nose. A couple of coats provided a squarish patch which would have looked suspicious on any other ship; but the whole rest of the ship was a patchwork of repairs and scars anyway; this fit right in.
While they were EVA, Gripper stopped by the stateroom where Benkin was working away. "When you're putting down the captain's name," he said, "put 'Gripper Tee'" Benkin shrugged. "OK," he said. "This will go much better with a decent computer; the ship's thick as pigshit. Can I borrow Minion please?" Alice didn't object, and soon Benkin was working away aided by the very expensive hand computer.
Maximillian trade nexus, stugarden high orbit, bucroth system, 23:30 shipboard time 118/1106
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Gripper slid the battered, ugly vessel into the designated docking cradle with a slick elegance that deserved a better ship, and the SPA docking crew clamped the docking tube onto the hull around the starboard side cargo door. Looking at the outside monitor, Gripper could see three SPA workers in boiler suits and a man with a clipboard waiting outside the hatch. Martha had already changed into a crewman's jumpsuit, and went out to deal with them.
"Evening," said Clipboard in matter-of-fact voice. "You requested fueling and resupply? Standard food-water-toilet-air refill? How many heads please? Refined fuel?" he rattled off, clearly for the thousandth time. "Eight heads, standard refill, cheap fuel," she answered in kind. "Twenty thou," said Clipboard, pulling an SPA cashcard off his pad. "Discount for cash?" asked Martha persuasively. Clipboard considered for a moment. "I'll knock the fuel off," he said, "sixteen thou." Martha peeled off half of Bailey's cash and paid up. The techs plugged the various feeds into the ports on the ship's hull and all four went away.
"The purifiers will have the fuel converted in 24," announced Manx. "I'm going to give the drives their going-over," he added, and headed down to the stern with some tools. "Right," said Martha, "shopping time!" The trade nexus had quite a large passenger terminal with attached shopping, and a couple of other cargo vessels were docked here and there, so there was some scope. As no-one wanted to wander through the mall in prisoner coveralls - or at all if there were cameras - the next step was to connect to the port's datanet.
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The commonest planetary datanet in the Imperium Planetary Area Network - Also referred to as the Datanet, this is the global network of data and comms that envelopes all worlds of Low Stellar or better tech, integrating local knowledge systems, maps, global directories, news, current affairs, libraries, forums, messaging and advertising (optional for premium customers). There are several types but the most common is that marketed by PANGEA LIC, an imperial megacorporation specializing in deploying the 'net as a finished product. The rental charges are very reasonable, but multiplied across most of the imperium the revenues are truly epic. Subscription updates travel along the x-mail network but can also be carried on a citizen's cashcard. Their 'Pan' avatar presents a personalized face to the interface, accepting input and returning information by means of normal spoken conversation. Others are available to suit the user's taste. |
The largest datanet supplier in this part of space was PANGEA, and their PAN network was the familiar face of planetary data to all the cons. Once Martha had connected and paid for a couple of days, the holographic face they knew so well appeared, smiled its' AI smile at them and asked what they required.
Martha had never liked the default. "I don't want you," she said. "I want fairies," she added on an obscure impulse. The holo flickered and a small, winged female replaced Pan, fluttering slightly. "What can I do for you?" it asked with the inhuman patience of AI.
They ordered a wide spread of little luxuries sadly lacking on a prison world; pizzas, beer, soft bog paper, music, a big-screen holovideo player, movies, a small RealVision VER game console and a pile of games, and some porn for Hurker to keep him quiet; he'd been looking a bit twitchy for a couple of days. Each also chose clothes to their taste. Personal weapons they were reasonably well off for, though Martha ordered a case of 50 clips for gauss rifle and one for pistol, and Alice, on discovering that the bladesmith chain Rivis Rightby had a branch here, ordered a pair of matched and beautifully engraved kukris. She also took a download of four years' news headlines to catch up on.
Maximillian trade nexus, stugarden high orbit, bucroth system, 16:10 shipboard time 119/1106
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Nearly eighteen hours of the twenty-four had passed, when the outside monitors alerted the crew of the Hand of God - or HOG as they had begun referring to her - that there was someone waiting to see them. A glance at the monitor showed two people waiting outside the hatch; a hulking, square-shouldered thug with bulges under his badly-fitted suit, and a skinny, weaselly man in a ragged suit that didn't fit him properly and a dusty bowler hat. Martha and Gripper picked up gauss rifles and headed out; Martha to cut the deal, Gripper to act as her 'muscle'.
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When the hatch opened, this individual appeared slightly surprised, though he covered it well. Tipping his hat cockily, he made a little bow. "Good afternoon, madam," he said cheerfully. "I was expectin' someone else, I 'ave to say. My name is Everett Steel, and I 'ave - 'ad - a business arrangement wiv the owner of - welllll, a ship lookin' a bit like this one, shall we say? If this is the same ship under new management, and you're interested in picking up the business, then we can do some; otherwise, I'll bid you a good day."
Martha haggled with Steel, probing carefully as she went, trying to worm some information about the final destination of the "meat" as Steel referred rather worryingly to the cargo. "Four years ago?" said Steel, shaking his head in insincere regret. "You won't find them, darlin', more than likely they 'as been ... consumed, is the best word I fink." Once more, Alice introduced the suggestion of 4mm needle bullets as a bargaining point of a business negotiation, and once more found it less than overwhelming. "Oh, come on," said Steel, sounding a little disappointed. "You honestly think I'd'a come here without no post'umous contingencey? If I disappears, fings will get interestin' for whoever I was last going to visit, I can assure ya." Martha backed off a bit. "We're interested in one last deal," she said, "five, er, items of cargo. As we're shutting down the arrangement, these'll be a little more; hundred thou each." She was playing by ear here, but it was worth a try. "If you're packing the game in," said Steel, "I'll need to maximize my profits on this one, maybe my offer's gone down to forty." Martha chuckled. "No sale at that price," she said, "and you'll be out of business." Again, Steel delivered the slightly pitying look. "I have other lines of business, you know, darlin'" he said. "Sixty, and that's cos I likes yer." Martha folded her arms. "Seventy-five," she said. Steel laughed. "Deal!" he said. "Shame for ol' Bailey that he din't 'ave you to cut 'is deals for 'im sooner."
"So what happens next?" asked Martha. "We'll be along in the mornin' to pick up the meat," said Steel briskly, "Cash on delivery -" Martha interjected, "Actual cash please," she said. Steel chuckled. "Ol' Bailey always preferred 'ard cash too," he commented. "We docks to yer spaceward side door, you bring the meat down in the freezers and we lug em aboard and checks 'em - I 'ates dead meat at the ovver end - and shifts 'em to our freezer, and I 'ands yer the cash right there wiv the empties. You don't 'ave to let us aboard, ol' Bailey never liked that either. Nice and easy." Martha and Gripper nodded to him, and returned to the HOG.
Alice, Manx and Burkins were waiting inside the hatch, and looked expectantly at Martha. "Sorry, lads; they'll only give five for 'em," she joked.
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