¶ Scene #0002 – The First Jumpspace
008-1106 to 015-1106: Martja and the crew of the Kalitá navigate their first Jumpspace, tending to the passengers and the ship alike and keeping an eye on their cargo. They ready themselves for the exit of Jumpspace and arrival at their destination of Beck's World.
On board the Kalitá, in Jumpspace between Kinorb and Beck's World. Martja and the crew of the Kalitá need to keep their passengers happy, keep their cargo safe, and keep themselves as crew motivated.
Chaos Factor: 5
Threads List
| Description | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | 1-2 | Martja must get the Kalitá safely to Beck's World |
| 1-2 | 3-4 | Martja must try to keep the passengers happy on their voyage |
| 1-2 | 5-6 | Martja must try to keep the cargo safe on the voyage |
| 1-2 | 7-8 | Martja must try to keep the crew motivated on their voyage |
Characters List
| Description | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | 1-2 | Otto Flowers (Crew) |
| 1-2 | 3-4 | Annie Wilson (Crew) |
| 1-2 | 5-6 | James Bourgelat (Crew) |
| 1-2 | 7-8 | The Kalitá (Ship) |
| 1-2 | 9-10 | Dragomir Bernheim (High Passenger) |
| 2-4 | 1-2 | Gebke Schnell (High Passenger) |
| 2-4 | 3-4 | Pekka Zuo (High Passenger) |
| 2-4 | 5-6 | Lamiya Kimball (High Passenger) |
| 2-4 | 7-8 | Saime Cousins (High Passenger) |
| 2-4 | 9-10 | Sieds Gentile (High Passenger) |
The Jump Entry Meal
JumpspaceJumpspace
On board the Kalitá, in Jumpspace between Kinorb and Beck's World. (008-1106 @ 1900 IST)
Dinner was expected at 2000 IST so I had a couple of hours to get myself ready and to continue some of my early research into Beck's World and see what our passengers were like.
From the rough data I could gather from the ship's library it appeared that he colony on the planet's surface was small, the residents eking out a simple existence under pre-fabricated domes. There was a small local military force known as the Thanes, keeping law and order in the town. Although there was an Imperial consulate listed in the Beck's Town, which was the name of the domes surrounding the downport, there was no note of the name of the consul or mention of their administration. A little further out from the town there were living quarters for some of the archaeologists and scientists from the University of Regina that were attending an Ancients' dig further afield. Quickly scanning the passenger list I tried to guess why my guests wanted to journey to such a desolate rock and started to form questions to use in small talk across the dinner table.
As the time for dinner approached I headed to the passenger lounge which took up most of the front of the upper deck. Annie had been hard at work preparing the Jump Entry meal and everything was laid out ready. After a few minutes the first passengers came from their staterooms and we engaged in idle chit-chat. When we were all there we sat down to eat.
A seated dinner gave me more time to play the role of what I thought a captain of a merchant ship should be and tried to keep the passengers entertained in conversation, trying to show an interest in them. I will check with Annie whether my strategy worked well later.
Fate Question: Is the passenger Dragomir joining the Thanes on Beck's World?
Odds: 50/50 (could be muscle), Chaos Factor: 5, Chance: 50 (10/91)
Fate roll of {1d100: 84} results in a No.
Dragomir is not joining the Thanes, so the likely reason for his travel to Beck's World is to join up with and provide protection to the archaeologists at the Ancient dig site.
Fate Question: Is the passenger Gebke starting their new life off world on Beck's World?
Odds: Unlikely (not much at Beck's World), Chaos Factor: 5, Chance: 35 (7/88)
Fate roll of {1d100: 79} results in a No.
Gebke is not starting their new life on Beck's World and is likely getting away from Kinorb in the same manner as Martja. Perhaps Gebke will need travel further on when the Kalita goes beyond Beck's World?
Fate Question: Is the passenger Saime joining the dig?
Odds: Very Likely (scholar), Chaos Factor: 5, Chance: 75 (15/96)
Fate roll of {1d100: 33} results in a Yes but also a Random Event.
Random Event:
Random Event Focus roll of {1d100: 64} results in Move away from a thread.
Random Thread roll of {1d8: 3} results in Martja must try to keep the passengers happy on their voyage.
Saime is unhappy with some aspect of the dig or Martja's questioning. She is likely unhappy about the pressure the local Thanes are putting on the archaeologists and may believe that Martja and the crew are supporting the Thanes.
Fate Question: Does Saime think the crew are helping the Thanes?
Odds: Likely, Chaos Factor: 5, Chance: 65 (13/94)
Fate roll of {1d100: 13} results in an Exceptional Yes.
Saime believes that the crew are definitely helping the Thanes. It could be something to do with the crew, one of the other passengers, or even the cargo they are carrying.
Fate Question: Does Saime think the link is with the cargo?
Odds: Unlikely (based on the types of cargo, raw materials and computers), Chaos Factor: 5, Chance: 35 (7/88)
Fate roll of {1d100: 10} results in a Yes.
The problem appears to be something in the cargo that is being carried. Perhaps by one of the passengers or the cargo or freight that Martja picked up on Kinorb.
The rest of the passengers have stowed the following in the hold: Gebke's statue, Pekka's furniture and cases of jewellery, and Lamiya's pressure tent. The cargo and freight consists of: computers, food-grade vegetation, refined metals, ores, pharmaceuticals and currency.
The obvious candidates, therefore, are the pharmaceuticals and the currency. The currency, as it is unusual due to the flammable and perishable warnings, is the most likely, so we will use that.
I asked Commander Bernheim, who despite his years looked resplendent in his dress uniform, if his intent was to assist or train the Thanes on Back's World with his military insight and training but I was rebuffed on that suggestion, as he told me that it was the University of Regina that had commissioned him to provide his services to the dig team. Whether that was for his military knowledge or another skill of his I could not fathom. The most elderly of our passengers, an old Scout called Pekka Zuo entered the conversation to ask if that was to provide protection to the archaeologist, to which Bernheim tried not to answer but I assumed it was so, though protection from what I did not understand.
As Mr Zuo kept the commander busy I began to talk to Gebke Schnell, asking if they were heading to Beck's World to start afresh away from the growing conflict on Kinorb. It didn't appear so, however. She was a little guarded, but it sounded like she may be wanting to travel further on from Beck's World and I could already see Annie making a mental note as she attended to the table and overheard our conversation.
With Bernheim joining the dig I asked the same question of Saime Cousins, who had indicated that she was a scholar and was visiting the dig. As I asked further I must have accidentally mentioned something sensitive as Saime's demeanour switched. She became a little aggressive, suggesting that I was working for the Thanes, supplying them with information and collateral and even went as far as mentioning that she had seen the cargo crate of currency being loaded into the hold when she had arrived and knew, just knew, that it was to be delivered to the Thanes who would use the money to hire more thugs and shut down the dig site.
Despite my protestations she became very upset and headed back to her stateroom. The other passengers mostly appeared sympathetic, but Secretary Kimball (who I assumed was visiting the consulate, but had not had time to ask) and Sieds Gentle both retired to their rooms very quickly. I fear that Annie and I may have a lot of work to get the passengers happy again and ensure that the reputation of the Kalitá is not tarnished.
#0006 (008-1106) Ω