One Crowded Hour - Part 1

As the Skylark heads toward Mora, they encounter a mis-jumped passenger liner in distress.

This chapter is based on Carl and Kay‘s notes from our May 8, 2021 session. Since we are scattered around the country, we use Discord for voice communications and the Roll20 online virtual tabletop to connect with each other.  The image was created using Sketchup, Blender and Gimp.

Continued from: The Last Flight of the Amuar – Conclusion.

Location: The Bendor system in Glisten Subsector, The Spinward Marches.

Date: 305-1109

On Bendor, doing our normal stuff. Sam makes one of his largest sales ever and we celebrate the 13 MCr he made from selling the drones we bought on Glisten.

312-1109 2300   
We jump out for Burtson.

319-1109   
We arrive in the Burtson system.

As we start the journey in towards the planet, we encounter a 100-ton Scout ship, the Eagle Claw. They were launching a new navigation beacon. We say “hi”.

We detected a 20-ton launch about 2 diameters out from Burtson, the Comet, an artist is making a laser holographic sketch.  Some sort of light show with a lot of smoke and cameras floating around, nearly 2 km across. They were easy to avoid and we resisted the urge to LASER him.  But if it had been a mime...

Once on the ground, we buy fuel. Sam sells the cargo and buys some more.

We ask whassup with the war (at least as up to date as this far out can be), but learn nothing new, nada.

326-1109   
Lets blow this popcorn stand for Edenelt... But WAIT!!!

On our way out to the jump point we get a distress call from the 1000-Ton Ore Carrier, Glisten Enterprise-63. It is a medical emergency, their doctor is ill!

They are not far off of our course and it only takes us 10 minutes to match course with them.
Medicus and Kip go over in vacc suits.

Medicus took one look at him and knew exactly what it was, Cyanberries disease; we’ve been inoculated but some people get it on Cyan – where it originated.

Medicus treats the Dr. and stabilizes him for travelling back to Burtson where he could be hospitalized.
Good deed done, we headed on our way.

327-1109   0145  
Jump for Edenelt.

Edenelt has been declared an Amber Zone due to an extremely high law level and the paramilitary dictator that runs the place. Update: An uprising recently overthrew the long-established Lord High Marshal, replacing him with a council of environmentalists.

0645
There is still a lot of turmoil on the surface so we decided to stick with docking at the high port and stayed close to the ship.

Finally some updated news on the war!! Major battle at Rhylanor!! No further information, but almost certainly it is done by now.  Stand by for more updates:


 
As we pulled in, the 400-Ton Imperial Navy close escort Arbitrator was pulling out. It looked like it was heading toward the Burtson jump point.

Over the next week, we do the usual refuel, buy and sell cargo, listen for rumors and news.

337-1109
A news flash arrived.


 
Sword World fleet is all mopped up in Lanth.

338-1109  
Leon, fresh off a good lunch, saw a public argument between a Scout and a man in formal clothes.  It was not clear just what they were arguing about but it was going strong.  Leon avoided the encounter and didn’t get involved.

342-1109
Cargo and gas all set, off we went.

We were made aware of an abandoned space station in our path by traffic control on the way out to the Katarulu jump point. Tempting, but in a potentially hostile area we did not want to tarry. It was a warehouse complex abandoned by Peoples Union Weapons Company a few years ago and we decided that it was probably swarming with pirates, revolutionaries or maybe both.

2000
At the jump point, jumping for Katarulu.

349-1109   1700
Out of jump in Kararulu.

Even though this was an intersection of three different X-Boat routes, there was no new information about how the war was going.  Hopefully that did not mean that all the systems had been destroyed.

As we get to the station, we see an X-Boat tender leaving with two X-Boats.

There is not much here. The B-class starport, a Scout service way station mostly used for training and an Imperial Naval Base are the main employers.

The planet below is mostly uninhabited with an unbreathable, thin atmosphere.

2000
We get a little news, just that the Imperial Navy and the Zhodani are still fighting in the Rhylanor system.

357-1109  1700
With a new cargo loaded, we jump for Palique.

Sam and Fig double check the astrogation numbers. Palique’s orbit is perpendicular to its primary’s elliptical plane and suffers a series of planetary impacts around twice a year.

363-1109  1845
We arrive in Palique system just after the major rock season.

The 1200-Ton Imperial frontier cruiser Sun Tzu warns us that an unidentified ship has been seen in system.

The planet is tidal-locked and heavily cratered, with all of the ground settlements on the trailing side.

There is only a trace atmosphere and has no native life.

2345
We dock at Palique High and find that the port is nice and well maintained.   

The news from Rhylanor is the fighting is still heavy with Imperial Reinforcements pouring in from Deneb Sector.

Over the next we refuel and sell/buy cargo. We spend a lot of time listening for rumors in bars.

1110-001
We greeted the New Year watching a spectacular fireworks display in space outside of the station from a bar with a large window along one side.

005-1110  1800   
Our cargo was loaded and we were ready to head to Maitz, the moon of a gas giant with an A-class starport at the junction of three X-boat routes.

On our way out to the jump point, we passed the Derby 2, a 500-ton merchant. They were inbound toward Palique at 1G and did not respond to our hail. We pressed on and jumped for Maitz at 2300.

011-1110  2030   
Into the Maitz system 100 diameters out from the gas giant that the main world orbits.



012-1110  0140
Just after turnover, someone came out of jump ahead of us. They had plainly mis-jumped and we navigated to avoid them, it is not unusual for a ship to explode after a mis-jump, especially this deep into a gravity well and we didn’t want to be inside their fireball.

Their transponder said that they were the Duchess Selene, a 600-ton passenger liner. They immediately started broadcasting a distress call.

Sam entered the transponder information into the Skylark’s database:

Library Data: The Duchess Selene is one of Maxos’ liners. She is by no means new but is in excellent condition. Her fittings are as smart as the uniforms of her crew and her cuisine has received very favorable reviews in all the appropriate journals. In short, traveling on the Duchess Selene is a pleasure and a privilege.

The nominal crew of a liner if this type is eight; a pilot and an astrogator, two engineers, a medical officer and three stewards. However, Duchess Selene also carries three gunners to operate her weapons (and fill in as extra technicians and stewards), plus the captain. Normally the captain takes either the pilot or astrogator slot, but not aboard Maxos ships! Here the captain is available to ensure the safety and comfort of all passengers, and will not be distracted with mundane duties best left to a dedicated crew member. The crew mostly share staterooms, with only the captain and the first officer (the astrogator) having a cabin to themselves. Thus the crew takes up seven of the ship’s staterooms.

The liner mounts three dual turrets, one equipped with a pair of missile racks, one with beam lasers and one with a pair of sandcasters. This is more than enough armament to see off an opportunist pirate, and since the ship operates on a regular run with naval patrols, nothing more is needed. The threat of hijack is taken seriously, however, and suitable precautions are taken.

First, all passengers and luggage coming aboard are thoroughly screened for weapons, and all weaponry is stowed in the ship’s locker until planetfall. Heavy bulkheads are secured by a sophisticated anti-hijack program run by the ship’s central computer, restricting access to sensitive areas of the ship. The crew does have weapons available in case of a serious incident. These include snub pistols and batons for the most part and are located in the ship’s locker, the bridge and engineering. No weapons are stored in the passenger sections.
 
Maxos has never lost a ship or a cargo to piracy, privateering or hijack, and intends to keep things that way.

Maxos Shipping
A fairly typical ‘Interface’ shipping line, Maxos operates a handful of small courier vessels, two Subsidized Merchants and four six hundred displacement ton Subsidized Liners. The larger vessels are all assigned to regular runs, hauling passengers, mail and cargo between fixed destination points. Personnel are often recruited from among ex-Navy spacers or those who have left the larger shipping lines. Typically, Maxos’ captains are ex-corporate First Officers who have left the big shipping lines to take up their command much sooner than they otherwise would. This does not mean they are incompetent; far from it. Maxos only recruits the best personnel available, headhunting high fliers and giving them an opportunity to show what they can do.

Maxos also maintains a strict command review policy, whereby captains are rotated into ‘shore’ administrative posts to allow regular retraining. As an officer gets older, he or she will sooner or later receive a promotion to ‘Line Commodore’ and a few years in an administrative job before departing for a very comfortable retirement.

As rotation time comes up, competition can be fierce as each captain tries to ensure that he or she gets another command. This has led to some undignified internal politics at times, but Maxos’ policies are strictly honest and based on a rigorous and fair evaluation – the best officers get to keep their jobs. Everyone else goes into admin or retraining until they once again qualify as one of the best.
Thus while the crew are friendly and accommodating, they are always watchful and never compromise the safety of the ship.

Earlier, aboard the Duchess Selene:

Tonight is the final dinner on ship, the passengers have been on board for a week, excellent meal, final meal, it will be 12 to 16 hours until jump emergence. It should be a pretty good time.

Sitting together was:

• Mvita Mambo, a former manager and corporate troubleshooter traveling to a new job with McClellan Factors in District 268.
• Jaime Karweiden, a freelance pilot moving on between jobs.
• Helen Montmorency, a famous singer travelling to Glisten for a new start after a series of scandals made her unemployable on Mora.
• Anders Miracru, a field researcher traveling to pick up a contract doing surveying work for one of the mid-level mineral corporations.
• Shesa Kerekou, a free trader traveling to find another berth, possibly with Maxos Shipping, owner of the Duchess Selene.
  

We have developed friendships over the last week while traveling together. There was a bunch of chit chat and then the dinner bell.

The Captain is present at the high table, there are polite and civilized conversations, suddenly, one passenger is violently sick and others beginning to vomit, and everyone is queasy. Mix of reactions to that, and then several other folks started manifesting different degrees of being sick.

Every spacer knows the feeling of coming out of jump space suddenly, this was a mis-jump, and it’s a BAD one.

The Captain asked everyone to go back to their rooms, and even some of the crew was affected and needed assistance.

The Captain stood and told the passengers to go to their rooms and while the stewards helped the ill, the ship shuddered and the decompression warning sounded.

We were still in jump.  That meant jump space was intruding into the ship, that was bad. The Jump Field was FAILING.

The bad feeling went to worse feeling, and as suddenly as it began the feeling was gone.  Plenty of alarms blaring, but at least we were out of jump.

All passengers were directed to return to their staterooms and don soft suits or enter rescue balls, then await further instructions from the crew.

Shesa got into the first stateroom available and found a soft suit for herself and then helped others into theirs. She then went to her assigned stateroom to wait.

She heard someone running along the corridor, and then the sound of a lot of tools being used.  The Chief Engineer, Karghazz Sezrhk, was in the hall, half in and out of a vacc suit. He was carrying an emergency case (Hull Patch Weld Kit, though not everyone knew that). He was ripping into the floor, trying to get to somewhere on the ship not otherwise reachable conveniently.

Shesa tries to help get him in the suit and he says he needs to get into the electrical crawl space; she follows his instructions while get he gets into the suit. She locates the hole and succeeds in patching it as the air pressure drops in the compartment.

Karghazz got his suit on and sat down and howled in celebration, then quickly grabbed the sealer kid and sealed the patch down and finished the repairs.

Another passenger, May Cambra Slein started peppering the Engineer with questions as he’s going back to engineering and the gunnery officer, Bar Gurlphen, intercepts her and escorts her back to her room.

Shortly afterward, the first officer, Andrea Tarkei has a word with Shesa and escorts her to the dining hall where Jaime, Helen, Mvita, Ander and another passenger, Chrysa Endinelli have been taken aside.

Andrea tells us that the ship has suffered hull and systems damage, and they are looking for people to help some.

Chrysa, who is an experienced spacer, asks her several questions. The first officer says that the ship mis-jumped and hasn’t re-established location, we’re in a system but don’t know where yet.

They are looking for volunteers to help with damage control and to help out with awakening passengers from failing low berths.

Jaime, Ander and Mvita went to the low passage bay.  Shesa, Helen and Chrysa joined the damage control team.

The ship’s medical officer was Hargz Enver, a Vargr with a gunshot scar on his arm. The fat, lazy and good-natured Hargz that we had met earlier seemed to have disappeared, replaced with someone who was all business.  He greeted us with, “Help or get out!”   

The low berth area was a mess; a power surge has damaged much of the equipment and disabled the rest. The crew was doing what they could, but there were not enough hands. Two passengers were still alive, and needing to be brought out immediately, the others had already expired.

The equipment could not be fixed soon enough, so the CRASH WAKE procedures were started on both.

The chemical flush/blood warming process took just a couple of minutes, during which time the patients were still in hibernation. However, once it was started the process could not be interrupted or the patient would die.

Jaime, who apparently had some previous medical training, was successful at the process with no trouble at all.

Mvita and Jaime then used makeshift equipment to restart the patient’s heart and stimulate her nervous system. They had some trouble at first, but eventually got a normal heartbeat.

Much to our surprise, both of the remaining low berth passengers were brought out of cold sleep. We suited them up, a precaution against further decompressions.

Ray Jarness, a 19-year old soldier right out of basic training and Talia Avange, a 22-year old student returning to University to study for a Masters Degree in Architecture were saved.

Meanwhile, Shesa, Helen and Chrysa worked with the damage control team dealing with some small fires, communications disruptions, some more small hull issues. 

Silven Uutami, who was leading the team said, “There is no such thing as a small hull issue on a spaceship”.

Silven assigned Shesa to work on some power relays in an awkward corner of the ship.

Helen was able to get a hole repaired and Chrysa was able to get a fire out that turned out more serious than expected and got some serious burns in the effort.

Shesa succeeded; the relays were burned out but repairable in about two hours.

By this time it was 20 minutes after emergence from hyperspace.

Silven gave Helen a deck plan and access card and sent her to check out the launch.

Helen checked out the launch and found that it was not damaged.

There was a hideous CRUNCH! Not the best sound to hear, EVER, on a ship. Something just hit the ship and some hull plates buckled near Shesa, behind the fuel purification plant. There was also damage near Helen, something hit the launch bay door and warped it.

There is panic among the passengers and Keven Umali-Dupree, the slightly famous entertainer, bursts into the low passage bay screaming, grabs Hargz, and asks for an explanation from the medical officer.

A panicked passenger.  What else did this situation need???

Jaime tells him, “We mis-jumped and are all going to die, go back to your stateroom”.

That didn’t help.  

Anders grabbed him and slapped him. Which strangely enough, seemed to help, he then got him calmed down by reasoning with him. He escorted him to the hallway where Silven took him back to his stateroom.

Anders heard someone calling for help and went to check. One of the passengers, May Cambra Slein, was out of her room at the wrong time, and was wrapped in some (at least currently) not live electrical wires.  He got her loose, but her semi panic state persisted.

25 minutes after emergence

Granzh Jen’Gourrh, the Vargr big-shot, suggested that he and Anders check out the launch, in case they needed to escape.  He said didn't feel that the crew was telling us everything. He looked like he was planning something.

Anders asked the medical officer if there was a launch, to put the two low-berthers for now in case they would need to evacuate. Jaimie offered to assist.

Helen was already there at the launch, when the first ‘berther was carried down.  Jaimie took his valuables to be with him as they went back for the second ‘berther.

Helen said that there was damage to the hangar bay door. Jaime, with the look of alarm on his face as something continued to bang on it, said, “It sounds like something is trying to get in”.

It would not open now regardless of the reason. Anders and Jaime tried to notify the captain, but the intercom was down.

Helen said that she thought she could get the door open if she has time.

Right after that, Silven showed up and had everyone go to the dining hall.

The Captain had decided to level with the crew and passengers. He is flanked by Bar and Silven (who were now holding shotguns), and explained the situation.

The short version is that the ship was not answering the helm and was crashing through the ring system of a gas giant world at some speed. The vibration and collisions are small fragments of ice and rock striking the hull. A distress signal has been sent but radio interference is strong in the area. Captain Warner thinks a reply was received but it was too broken up to make any sense of.

He said that the real problem was that the ship will skim the atmosphere of the gas giant on its present course, which would lead to destruction. The only chance was to change vector, but the ship was not answering the helm. The engineer thinks that the main control pathways for the drive have been severed and access to the backups is blocked by a warped bulkhead. There wasn’t time (nor equipment) to repair it, so the only answer is to send a crew out on the hull to gain access that way. This is extremely risky, but Karghazz has already volunteered. Captain Warner has requested Silven and Eugenie to go with him.

As a backup in case power cannot be restored, the Captain wants to try to free the launch bay doors so that at least some of the passengers can escape. Since not everyone can get into the launch, the Captain feels it only fair to warn the passengers that the crew will be armed from now, and will shoot if they must. He will not permit a mad scramble for the boat to destroy their remaining chance for salvation.

If everyone remains calm, there is still a chance – however desperate.

Bar and Simon are detailed to guard the launch. Both are armed with shotguns, and Bar has a cutlass.

The people who have helped are being treated as part of crew, though weapons are not issued to anyone but the original crew members.

Captain Warner and Paul was to preflight the launch then return to the bridge to do what they could, whilst Andrea readied the engineering team.

Hargz is busy with the low berth patients in the launch. Kim, Ohtorm and Janice are keeping an eye on the passengers and striving to keep them calm.

Chrysa volunteers to help get the launch door open. Shesa, Helen and Mvita join her.

Suddenly there was an almighty crash, followed by a spin on all three axes. The deck gravity plates more or less compensate for the forces involved, but there is still enough corkscrewing movement to make people queasy and unsteady on their feet.

We started getting calls for help from the engineers outside, but they are garbled. (Comms have been messed up since this mess started).

Kim Feldermann, the chief steward, called for help in the passenger section.

Anders and Andrea were in the crew area when the crash hit. The readout next to the bridge iris valve showed it depressurized where it hadn’t been earlier. She used her card to depressurize the crew compartment and open the iris. The sight that greets them was terrifying; a chunk of ice and rock had clipped the bridge section and smashed in the front of the ship. Paul died instantly, crushed at his post. He had the panels off his console and was apparently faultfinding at the time of the impact. The controls are wrecked; the ship will never be conned from this room again.

Captain Warner was alive, though he had a couple of broken ribs and was badly stunned by the impact.

He was under the Astrogator’s console at the time of impact and was partially protected. The Captain apparently remained conscious long enough to close his helmet. He is unconscious when Anders and Andrea arrive but revives as they investigate.

Through the ripped front bulkhead of the liner, the gas giant and its ring system could be seen. It was very big and very close.

Andrea repressurized the crew section as Anders helped him to sick bay and called Hargz.

The Captain says he may be able to steer the ship from engineering if he could get there.

As Hargz helped the Captain, Andrea and Anders go to the launch bay to talk to Helen and see if there has been any progress.

Continued in One Crowded Hour - Part 2.


See Also: Dramatis Personæ, Skylark 2, Campaign Starts, The 2nd Adventure, The Chamax Plague, Horde, Shadows, Research Station Gamma, Twilight's Peak, Prison Planet, Leedor on Aramis, First Call at Zilla, Trade War, The Bloodwell, ANNIC NOVA, The Kinunir, Kesser's Return, Justice, Mission to Mithril, Outback, Skylark and the Pit and Last Flight of the Amuar.