Listen! Can you see something?

The story continues on Theev.

Ready for a night out where some intel may also be gained, the party make their way to The Empress, a bar they had noticed earlier.

The Empress has a modernistic theme; bright lights, mirrors and holos make it an interesting place to eat and be seen. Settling at their table, a moderately good meal is served which comprises dishes that are not unfamiliar. The atmosphere at the table is rather subdued as everyone strains their ears to listen in to other peoples conversation.

Time passes, with the listening only picking up a loud industrialist boasting that he can get anyone anything they want for considerably less that normal people have to pay.

The meal over there is talk about returning to the hotel or continuing. The decision is made to look at some other restaurants, bars and clubs to see if there is anything interesting.

Within a small radius the following places catch the eye:

• Shambles - an old style bar with leather armchairs and old wood furniture with rich patina.
• Shazam - specialising in chemical gastronomy (which seems to equate to odd food in odd containers)
• The Narrow Mission - appears to be a standard no frills bar where spacefarers might find themselves.
• Parlay - a mock pirate bar, with waitresses dressed with eye patches and speaking in supposed pirate accents.
• The Imperial Angel - which specialises in the cuisines of the Third Imperium. Graffiti on walls near this restaurant indicate that not all in wall in the relations with the empire.
• Ace - another straightforward no frills bar. Apparently named for the famous former sportsman owner.
• Blueprint - nearer to the Industrial zone this restaurant has an exposed almost inside out approach to its interior, with exposed beams and machine workings visible.

After some debate the Shambles bar is chosen as the next venue.

Inside the party take up a nice table somewhat near the middle of the room but not in too exposed a position. Drinks are drunk and again the focus is on listening in on the conversations of others. Little success is gained in this until a loud person at the bar raises their voice, demanding of the barkeep "Everyone knows me, I'm Orlan!". The exclamation seems to be in response to not being served a drink due to an inebriated state.

Again the party finish up and this time Lady Nitrane and Silent Unter decide that enough is enough and they return to the hotel. Captain Slaid on the other hand decides that this Orlan chap might be worth at least talking to.

Orlan is a jovial drunk. Slaid, after checking with the barkeep that it would be ok, buys Orlan a drink and they start talking. Orlan works at a fancy office building for someone called Nirgal. The line of business seems mundane - checking on cargo and shipments - but it seems that Orlan has been doing it for some time.

At this juncture Orlan suggests that they head to Ace, which is a bar where he is more at home. Captain Slaid accepts this suggestion and to Ace they head.

Upon arrival the people sitting at the bar shout "Orlan", and it seems that he is well known - at least in some parts. The talk continues but not a lot is forthcoming that seems to be interesting, so Captain Slaid says his farewells and returns to the hotel.

A night passes.

The next morning see the party heading to the ship where Krrsh and Dr Cheese greet them. The plan today is to head to the Lower City and check out some bars there.

Discussing the previous night and the plans for the day, it appears very unlikely that Ferrik will be on Theev. He is too much the wanted man (apparently) to risk being killed on sight. Instead his lieutenant Mira Silverhand is much more likely to be trying to gain access to the pirate lords. All except Admiral Darokyn with whom Ferrik had a terrible falling out.

Secondly, it seems likely that Mira's ship is on the Skull, as Ferrik's ship would be well known, and landing with it would be a dangerous thing for whoever tried it.

Krrsh advises that it would be foolish to head to the lower city unarmoured and unarmed. The party check their gear and find a need to hit the armorer to get more suitable gear. If the armour they buy is second hand then all the better.

Just as they are readying themselves to leave Dr Cheese pipes up that a colleague he was talking to in a bar the previous night let slip that a laboratory ship that he was working on until recently has just experienced a bioweapon accident, with the colleague fleeing to save his life. It would appear, at least to Dr Cheese, that there is a lab ship that only his (guilty) friend knows about, just ripe to the taken over, moved to a better location, and set up as a robotics lab. 

Intrigued, but otherwise distracted by the day head, a number of the party buy improved cloth armour and torso protectors. Some slug pistols are also purchased. The prices are just this side of extortion, but time is of the essence, and who's to say this isn't a good price on Theev where everything is imported.

So the party head to the Lower City.

The first bar they come to, called "bar" (or so it would appear) is a dingy and dirty place, but that's what they came to experience, so they go in. This time they enter singly. Lady Nitrane, done up in workmans gear and carrying a blade, enters first and takes up her place. Captain Slaid enters five minutes later, followed another two later by Unter.

The modus operandii of listening to other people is in full force, but again it seems that either the people here are not up to speed with what's happening to Ferrik, or don't care, or are talking about him using euphemisms, or are just not interested in talking about him. Regardless the party don'e pick anything up at all.

That is until a grubby lady called Vii Lon approaches Captain Slaid at the bar. She is, she says, in desperate need of passage off the planet. She is, she claims, a member of a trade delegation from Torpol but her colleagues were killed in the Lower City. She appears to be entirely genuine, or at least Slaid cannot detect any semblance of insincerity about her. He buys her a drink which she takes as a bottle of water which goes directly into her bag. She then proceeds to start weeping hunched over the bar. Slaid agrees that if he is able to get her passage he will contact her in this bar or one of two others that she has been frequenting.

Lady Nitrane leaves the bar but rather than heading somewhere else finds a vantage point near the entrance to "bar" and waits for Vii to come out. Slaid and Unter head to other bars in the meantime. Eventually Vii comes out and Nitrane talks to her. Again all seems to be genuine: Lady Nitrane checks to see if she's wearing anything that might give away a lie, but they appear to be good clothes that are now very grimy.

While this is happening Slaid goes to the next bar (also called "bar") and Unter heads further up the steet to another ("Bar Bar Bar"). The listening is even more difficult and eventually the entire party returns to the ship.

Luck was not on their side today.

DM NOTES: Because your characters are smarter than you :)

• It appears that the policy of passively listening and hoping to catch something interesting has very long odds of succeeding. Bribery, threats, intimidation or just asking nicely might all have better odds. If nothing else the party might find out who is the best person to listen to.
• Also, some form of mind map might be useful. Vii is from a trade delegation and Orlan works for someone in the same line of business. Perhaps one knows about the other. Also the loud industrialist may be just the person to ask about Transponders. Or not. But without linking pieces of knowledge the linkages will not be picked up on. There are many other clues (in the above text too) that might benefit from mapping out.

Wretched hive of scum and villainy

We begin having just arrived in the Theev system. Considering his options, Captain Slaid asks Krssh for some information, which is gladly given.

The HighPort is located on (and in) a moonlet called The Skull. It has this name because of its appearance. The moonlet is in geosynchronous orbit above the only city on Theev, which is called Blacksand. Without the right codes the closest you can fly is to the Skull. If you attempt to land on the planet with out codes, the missile batteries on the moonlet will blast you to dust.

As knows the codes earlier, and not wanting to show any timidity or to be considered overly cautious the decision is made to go straight to the planet. Communication made with the controllers, and the appropriate codes given, they are directed to a landing pad.

Blacksand is built in, around and on a canyon system on the dry planet. The Upper City consists of tall skyscrapers that are connected via covered walkways. The Lower City exists on the canyon floors, which are covered by protective domes, and underground in tunnels linking canyons. The DownPort is located on the upper canyon heights, and from orbit appear to be black scarab beetles as each pad has clam shell doors that close to keep out the atmosphere and also to provide privacy.

Upon landing, and after the doors have closed, a delegation from the starport authority approaches the ship. Fuel and life support supplies are purchased, and a monthly maintenance check is also requested. Customs procedures are handled with no ceremony and within an hour the party are heading away from the pad.

The tunnel makes its way past other pad entry doors and eventually reaches a small nexus. Progressing further a central hub is reached, where the party decides to do some research into Theev, and to see if the goods brought from Palindrome can be sold.

First Pilot Sparrow chooses to research the planet more using library terminals. What he finds out is located on the Theev page.

Lady Nitrane searches for an armorer to repair her armor which was damaged in the fight against the Chamax. One is found not far from where the party currently find themselves. She heads off immediately.

Captain Sparrow locates buyers for the cargo. Good prices are obtained for all goods, and a quick tallying up shows that the party have sufficient funds for minor expenses, but not for new turret weapons of computer software for the ship.

Lady Nitrane reaches the armorer. Upon entering she is sees some bruiser types and a wizened man in a protective cage. Upon requesting the repairs the wizened mad calls out a shuffling figure who examines the armour and then returns to a back room, whereupon the old man declares that the armour can be fixed. A price and collection time is agreed. In addition to the repairs some armour suitable for wearing under clothes is obtained, and the suit under repair is augmented with a medkit. The price seems quite high, but no haggling is entered into and Lady Nitrane agrees to return in two days to pick up her repaired and updated armour.

In an effort to ensure that there are crew available while maintenance is being performed, and also to sweeten crew who might be thinking of leaving the ship, the Captain gives a bonus of 2,000 Cr to each crew member. Krrsh offers to take a watch at the ship as the crew are light on engineers.

On the subject of crew, an appointment is made with two brokers who deal in providing crew to pirates and anyone else who finds themselves in Theev. The appointments are in the morning to pfind an engineer, so it is decided to have a meal and drinks and ask around.

Rather than spend the night in the ship the party decide to take a room at a good hotel. Not The Grand, but still quite good. After getting rooms Lady Nitrane decides that suitable clothing will be required if they are to hit the town to find out more on the whereabouts of Captain Redthane . Appraising the fashions on display Lady Nitrane thinks she has a good idea of what's required, and after finding suitable attire the party are ready to party.

To be continued.

A dog, skip and a jump

The story continues...

This episode starts at the old decrepit space station in the Borite system, and moves on to uncharted space, and then the Palindrome system.

As the party regroup after the fight with the Chamax, Lady Nitrane slaps on medpacks and administers first aid. With two crew dead, two seriously injured, and others wounded, the sickbay is very busy.

While the ship's doctor performs surgery on Ben Parr and Silent Unter, another ship is detected jumping in. The sensors indicate that it is a small freighter, but with two marines dead and another two under the knife, it is decided to stay quiet and keep a careful eye on what the other ship is doing.

After a couple of hours skimming fuel, and with the other ship apparently minding its own business doing the same, the tanks are full. As the fuel purification will take two days a decision is required on what to do or where to go. There are no large moons to land on, and returning to the ancient space station is not considered wise, so Senior Pilot Sparrow carefully navigates into a large cluster or rocks win the debris field around the giant in order to hide the ship.

Krrsh at this time is being carefully watched by the other members of the party. They do not entirely trust him, but he is cheerful, responsive and helpful. He has latched on to Captain Slaid as the alpha male and has clearly joined the crew of the ship as his pack.

As promised, Krrsh provides the coordinates to a fuel dump in deep space, which allows vessels with jump-2 capability to jump from Borite across to Palindrome and Theev. This is apparently the direction that Ferrik Redthane has taken, so a course to the fuel dump is set with Krssh's help.

After another week in jump space the Phoenix emerges into deep starry nothing. Krrsh explains that the fuel dump is very hard to locate on sensors as it's the same temperature as the vastness of space (ie very cold). The way to find it is to broadcast an encrypted message which will cause a low powered beacon to turn on for a short time.

Silent Unter, Krrsh and Ramsay Grog suit up and start loading fuel cannisters into the cargo hold, from where they transfer the fuel into the ships tanks. The small size of the hold and the amount of fuel required mean that there is a lot of back and forth. Not wanting to be caught by another ship jumping in there are some minor mishaps arising from their haste, but nothing life threatening. Eventually they are done.

Krrsh recommends purifying the fuel as some fuel in the cache is likely to be 'poisoned' with a chemical that will cause a misjump. This means another two days of purification so the decision is made to head off in a random direction away from the dump in case another ship arrives.

When purification is complete a course is plotted to Palindrome, which is one parsec over from Theev. By taking this approach one week is added to the journey but with the benefit of arriving in Theev with jump-1 worth of fuel in case a quick escape is required. With that another seven days pass in jump space.

Palindrome is a small planet with a very thin atmosphere. There is no HighPort so permission is requested to land at the small DownPort. The port is adjacent the small domed city of Astrogo - the population of the planet is only around 1,000 - and Senior Pilot Sparrow lands the ship at the designated landing pad. Once the ship is down a ribbed framework automatically erects and a transparent dome closes over the ship. On the wall around the ship large glowing red letters proclaim that the air in the dome is being made safe.

Once the lettering turns green and the air is breathable the party disembark and are met by a handful of disinterested looking port officials. The formalities are short and not particularly thorough. The docking fee is paid for two days, and a full tank of fuel and full refilling of life support are requested. Robot cleaners are also admitted.

The party heads into the central starport building which is clean but simple. Lady Nitrane heads to the only bar to find out more about this place, while Captain Slaid looks for a buyer for the medical supplies that they have been carrying since Torpol. A good price is obtained and the party doubles their money on that cargo.

Before Lady Nitrane has even formulated a plan of attack she is approached by a smartly dressed port official who respectfully asks if she would be so kind as to meet with a certain Lady Yemar, who it transpires is the ruler of this city.

Lady Nitrane graciously accepts, and is led through a concealed door and up a wide spiral staircase to an upper floor. The room that she enters is large and has a magnificent view across to the domed city and of the surrounding countryside. The room is opulent, with luxurious floor coverings, ornate and beautiful furniture, expensive wall hanging, and behind a desk a elegant woman who rises up and extends a hand in welcome.

Lady Yemar is a pleasant and gracious hostess. Noting that Lady Nitrane was a passenger on the Phoenix she decided to entertain her personally. After all it is not every day that someone of the nobility visits Palindrome. Lady Nitrane is on top form. Initially the conversation is precisely diplomatic. Cups of tea are shared, small talk is made, and fine food served. But it becomes known that Lady Yemar is in fact a former pirate who became very wealthy, and setting herself up on this planet. Smoothly changing gears, Lady Nitrane brings all her skill as a carousing hell-raiser to play, sealing the deal. The two ladies hit it off spectacularly.

As this is all happening, Captain Slaid considers the possibility of taking cargo from Palindrome to Theev. It is decided to get some cargo which could be passed off as being either lawfully traded or unlawfully pirated with no significant loss of money should the latter appear to be appropriate. Some electronics, cybernetics and raw materials purchased the ship is loaded and preparations made to depart the next day.

Back in the opulent surrounds of Lady Yemar's rooms, the evening closes in and the drinks become more colourful and more alcoholic, Lady Yemar opens up about her considerable health troubles. Some years ago, in her pirating days, a raid went wrong and she was exposed to a biochemical weapon. She now needs extensive and expensive medical support to stay alive. Indeed, most of her body has been replaced more than once She mentions that she has finally tracked down the imperial chemist who devised the weapon and surmises that, short of some Ancient artifact miraculously being found, the man may be the only means of obtaining a cure.

Lady Nitrane's ears prick up at this. As well as disrupting trade there is a diplomatic element to the task that the King of Drinax has given them. She cautiously raises the idea of a newly expanded Drinaxian empire; surely someone such as Lady Yemar would thrive in such an environment. Should the cure be found then the planet of Palindrome would willingly pledge allegiance. This is agreed, and the two friends agree to meet up for lunch the next day before Lady Nitrane departs.

With that, the ship jumps uneventfully to Theev. Seven days pass.

To be continued...