Run Synopsis
Lyle Norg, captain in StarCorps, Special Catering division, is vacationing with family and friends at his home in the Asteroid Belt of the Sol system, when he receives a page from StarCorps. A shipment of sensor equipment is due from one of the manufacturing facilities out in the Belt and there's been a snafu in the pick-up-and-delivery schedule. Lyle is to proceed to Ceres, the only major city out in the Belt, to pick up transport and crew to go and rectify the situation.
Lyle reaches the assigned berth to find that the ship he seeks is an ore tug - at least 50 years old and looking like it was cobbled together out of bits and pieces scavenged from all periods of Man's exploration in space. It must take a miracle every time the ship takes off --- and Star Corps must be really tied up if this is all it can find to do the job. At the entry ramp is a tall and wiry young woman with close-cropped blondish hair in a spit-and-polish uniform of a StarCorps sergeant. She takes his badge and gives it a thorough scan. Then she smiles and salutes. "Welcome aboard, Capt. Norg. I am Rook Bradley, security." Bemused, Lyle thanks her and is amused to be "sirred."
Entering the bridge, Lyle is further astounded to see a pair of feet poking out from under a panel - which for all the world looks like it was re-cut from a Mercedes Benz hood - underneath the short range navigation monitor. Lyle introduces himself with a "Lt. Johansen, I presume," and is answered by a thump and sparks and some swearing as Daniel Johansen [Will], age 35 and dressed in the greasiest coverall in the universe, emerges. It becomes clear that the skipper of the SmudgePot is used to jury-rigging with chewing gum and bailing wire and, despite Lyle's expertise, is almost unintelligible in his explanations of what is not working and how it must be fixed
There emerges from the hold area what must be the engineering crew: Zeno Bushwhacker [Steve], who can't possibly be as young as he looks - which is about 15. His pockets are crammed with more bits and pieces than can be named and his hair looks permanently mussed. He claims to be a mining engineer and definitely shows signs of a predilection for explosives.
Last minute preparations/repairs (and Dan Johansen warns Lyle to let him know if those 3 amber lights turn red) while Rook lounges in, straps down and plugs in a walkman. Dan grins and warns Lyle that the ship's entertainment system only plays one kind of music. Take-off commences. When Dan actually remembers to radio for clearance before actually taking-off, the security chief commends him. Momentary excitement is provided by an NAF fighter "playing chicken" on an intercept course at 1.6-G. The engineers are jealous: the SmudgePot can't reach that type of acceleration no way no how.
The trip: 14 hrs @ 1/3-G, 6 days coasting, 11.5 hrs @ 1/3-G. It becomes clear to Lyle that Dan and Zeno's major occupation and entertainment is in tinkering with the craft (although Zeno does do a good bar-b-que down in sickbay where the fire-control system does not work). Lyle joins Rook in workouts in the basically empty hold, and she quizzes him about his past and about Star Port while occasionally bouncing him off a bulkhead.
As they near Asteroid #550, Lyle remembers to ask Dan to radio for clearance. No reply to the hail. After a thorough check of the intricate and non-standard system, the team decides that the problem is not in the SmudgePot's systems; Asteroid #550- controlled by Vasale Koshonioff and family - is just not responding. Its beacon, however, is working - but Dan notes that the asteroid itself is a few meters off of its normal co-ordinates. He knows that his ship could have arrived off co-ordinate ... but an asteroid? No! Speculation on how it could have moved out of position ends when the dome hoves into view. There is definitely a hole in the top of the dome - and no patch. The asteroid has experienced atmospheric propulsion. There is also no evidence of radar scan from the asteroid. Deciding not to try docking, the team space-walks over - after Zeno has left an antique reel-to-reel tape recorder operating as ship watchdog.
Checking the dome hole, Zeno and Lyle determine that it was blown outward by a very close explosive. Entering that way (as it is possible that someone might be holed up in the air remaining in the door lock) it is clear that the place has been blown apart. Rook notes that someone in the vicinity of the door lock was shooting a blaster; Zeno observes that a second explosive was set off at ground level at about the same time the dome was blown. Six bodies are located and Rook can tell that at least one of them had had a chance to try to fire back; all were apparently dead of blaster burn before the dome decompressed. The trap door leading to the underground living areas is buried under rubble; it is damaged enough that it is clear that there is vacuum on both sides. Estimate time of attack: not as much as 24 hours ago. The usual survival bubbles only last for a couple of hours so the only way any of the missing 6 people will be found alive here is if they managed to keep another section powered and intact. Shipping & receiving is empty.
Rook starts clearing away the underground entrance. Dan heads towards the power dome. Lyle and Zeno set up a sealer dome around the door lock before cycling it open. No one inside although there are signs of blaster fire and blood. Lyle takes a sample. Meanwhile, Dan notes signs of a power surge along the cables to the power dome - and an odd cable running across all the others. In the power dome he finds that access to the control panel is restricted by a large box set on stabilizers and topped with a keypad. He radios back asking Zeno what he'd make of this: they agree that it sounds like a bomb.
Lyle orders Dan and Rook to proceed on to the living quarters while he and Zeno work on defusing the bomb. (Lyle has learned enough about Rook's security skills not to want her looking over his shoulder and wondering how he acquired his skills.) Working carefully - and with a probe cobbled from optical gear Dan finds in SickBay - Lyle manages to defanged the bomb. Zeno is thrilled to find apparently a couple of hundred pounds of explosive - labeled in Russian - therein. Apparently the 2 bombs in the main dome created a power surge which burned out the connecting signal that should have triggered the power dome bomb.
Down in the living quarters, Dan determines that there were indeed 12 residents of this base and 4 more bodies are discovered, all dead to blaster fire. It is noted that in the computer lab there are fewer backup tapes than one would normally expect. Rook continues exploring the area of the original mine, and before she moves out of transmission range, Lyle coaches her via radio in simple Russian phrases. She finally reachs a dead end at asteroid center --- in an open room that still has power - and sensor machinery operating on battery backup. But no survivors and no indication that the attackers reached this far. She rejoins the others and makes her report. The sensor records are then examined. It reveals that apparently a stealth ship made a drop of 8 troops. 2 returned to their ship supporting a third. Later 7 more people returned the ship - and quite a few boxes. Calculations revealed that it left on a course from Senta to Tsulka. Question: were the 2 extra people prisoners or traitors?
EPs: 1 each
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