The Journals of Ashton Frost - Part Thirteen
[Begin a Session: (54) Important character is put in danger or suffers a misadventure. +1 Momentum (6)]
We left Volition's sanctum and headed back to our room. That encounter was the most fascinating, yet disturbing, thing I had ever witnessed. And I have outrun a balefire storm. Even Breaker looked shaken. We didn't talk about it.
When we got back to the room, Juliana stood up and looked at us in surprise. "What. the HELL. was THAT," she said.
I didn't have an answer. I had no frame of reference by which I could compare. What could I possibly say? A sentient, immortal, electronic hyper-mind has tasked us to save Amity, in return for the information we need?
So I said exactly that.
Juliana shook her head. "Well, I sure can't say my life has been uninteresting since i met you. Maybe I should have just had Cassidy shoot you after all, and spared myself all this." She gave me a wry grin and a wink so that I knew she was kidding... I hope she was kidding.
I reviewed the list of components that Volition required. "This may be cutting it close," I said. "Including the empty vehicle bay, we've got room for 13 tons of cargo. We may need to offload those trade goods at Altair if it's looking like a snug fit."
Juliana frowned. "Volition has what we need, we've got no choice but to get it what it needs."
* * *
We took an inventory of the cargo, determined what we needed to keep, what we could trade or sell, and what we could leave behind if necessary. We were fully fueled and provisioned, so we undocked and set course for Altair.
[Set a Course: +Supply: 4+5 vs 5/1. Strong Hit. +1 Momentum (+7)]
[Milestone: "Obtain Components for Volition". Mark Progress+2 (2)]
Giauzar was about a thousand times the diameter of Minhar, the yellow star that warmed my birth world of Vesper. Its "ring" was a massive belt of ice asteroids at a distance so far from the star that it would be interstellar in any other system.
Unlike ramshackle Amity Station, Altair looked very high-tech. Their name was painted on the hull in letters fifty meters tall. "Wow," I said, "they spared no cost."
[Gather Information: +Wits. 4+2 vs 1/2. Strong Hit. +2 Momentum (9)]
Blake came up into the cockpit with us. "You know," he said, "what you're seeing there is the corporation name. 'Alt Air'. The station is named after their product. Gorram, Ash, doesn't this make our little operation look like a side hustle?"
I laughed. "You mean it isn't a side hustle? Neither of us has actually even seen that asteroid since you staked it. All we see is the money trickle into our accounts like water." I transmitted our credentials, got authorization from Traffic Control, and guided the Acheron into the docking bay. They extended the gangway to our airlock and we stepped out.
"Welcome to AltAir," said the dockhand. "Mind your step."
[Face Danger: +Edge +2 for Kinetic, 6+3+2 vs 4/9. Strong Hit. -2 Momentum (+7)]
Juliana stumbled, reached out for the railing... and nothing was there. I reached out with my hand, and our fingers barely brushed each other as she began to pitch forward. I reached out with my mind, and pulled her back from the edge and onto her feet. She might have fallen five or six meters if I hadn't caught her. She smiled feebly and thanked me.
[Gather Information: +Wits. 1+2 vs 3/ 6. Reroll for Sidekick (6). Strong Hit. +2 Momentum (+9)]
I looked around, and began to see where they did spare expense. Occupational safety was absolutely non-existent here. I resolved that we'd be boarding and exiting the ship from the cargo ramp for the rest of our stay.
When we reached our quarters, Juliana staggered into the fresher and locked the door. Honestly, I was as shaken as she was. "You'd never forgive yourself if she'd fallen, would you?" asked Blake.
I tossed my duffel onto a bunk. "Good thing I had a little practice on Arrakoth. If I can move a rock too big to lift, I can catch a girl, right?"
I could have sworn I heard Blake mutter "would you even know if you had" under his breath.
* * *
After we were all settled in (and settled down), Blake and I made our way down to Engineering, while Juliana logged into the network to see if she could find any information on missing persons.
We found a shop that sold components for life support systems, and I swiped the parts list to the terminal on the counter. "We need these parts for maintenance of water and air purification and reclamations systems, please."
[Compel: +Heart, 6+3 vs 7/7. Strong Hit with a Match! +1 Momentum (10)]
The clerk checked the on-site inventory against our request. "You're in luck, Sor. We have all those components in-stock. I'll transmit the invoice. It'll be ready to load in the morning."
He swiped the bill of lading to my handcomp. Breaker took a look and grunted. "Good news and bad news - unless we find somewhere for the extra tonnage, we'll be overloaded, and unless we can move those trade goods, some of this will be out of pocket. Thankfully, we can kill two gratch with one stone... I hope."
We headed to the bazaar. According to Breaker, nearly every station had one, whether legitimate or seedy. This one looked more on the "legitimate" side.
[Gather Information: +Wits, 2+2 vs 4/0. Reroll for Sidekick (5). Weak Hit.]
We found a likely stall where we might be able to barter some of the merchandise that the grateful crew of the Ultraviolet had gifted me for rescuing them at Nyx. The merchant greeted us. I noticed he wore a pistol prominently on his hip, no doubt to ensure fair transactions. He said his name was 'Hush" and asked for the manifest.
[Compel: +Heart, 2+3 vs 4/7. Reroll for Sidekick (6). Strong Hit.]
I swiped the manifest to him and he looked it over. He nodded and did some mental arithmetic, then swiped an offer to my handcomp. Breaker checked and nodded. I tapped my handcomp to the merchant's and grasped his hand. "If it suits, you can pick it up first thing in the morning. We'll be loading up some cargo then, it will help us make some room."
"Well-bargained and done, Sors. I'll see you then." He bowed and stepped away.
"Well, that was easy enough," Breaker said. "I thought we'd have to try a little harder. I guess you've got a little charm in you after all."
* * *
[Gather Information: +Wits, +1 from Connection. 1+2+1 vs 6/10. Burn 10 Momentum (reset to +2). Weak Hit. +1 Momentum (+3)]
When we got back to the room, Juliana seemed to be in better spirits. "I've discovered a couple of things. Bad news is, there's a report of a missing youth here on AltAir as well. Good news is: I found out what happened to Cole Shepherd!"
We headed to dinner in the dining district. Cypher was clearly excited about her research. "So, despite what Sira Shepherd said, the kid did run away. He lied about his age and signed on to a freighter that runs water and oxygen. But, he has a contract and we're going to need to find a way to talk him out of it."
"What about this other kid?" Breaker asked. "Do we know where they went?"
"I couldn't say for sure," she replied. "She might have left on her own, like Cole did. Perhaps heading for Amity, or Redhaven, or even to the 'verdant valleys of Vesper'," she giggled. "Best thing we can do is to correlate it with whatever data Volition provides to us when we get back."
"So how about we turn in early and get a head-start on tomorrow morning's work?" I asked.
"Well," Cypher said, "One little problem... Cole's shipping out on the Trithia Six... first thing tomorrow morning."
[Milestone: Mark Progress on Vow "Find out What Happened to Cole", +2 boxes (4)]
* * *
Breaker and I headed down to the section of the station where AltAir ratings were quartered. We found the cabin and rang the door panel. The door was answered by a young man.
[Ask the Oracle: Is it Cole? 50/50. (99). No.]
The kid didn't look like the boy in the picture Sira Shepherd gave us. Must be his roommate. I asked, "Hey, is Cole here?"
The kid looked at me and said "Who wants to know?"
[Compel: +Iron. 4+2 vs 4/9. Weak Hit.]
"I'm Wraith," I said. "This is my partner, Breaker. Would you like to learn how he got that handle?" Breaker flashed him a wicked grin and cracked his knuckles, and the kid went a little pale.
[Ask the Oracle: Is Cole available? Likely. (83) No.]
"He's not here. You can come in and see for yourself if you like. He said he was going out to have a few drinks with a couple of the other guys before we ship out."
"We'll go find him," I said. "It's an important family matter." I swiped him my comm code. "If he comes back before we find him, you'll let us know, right?"
"Aye, Sors. I'll be sure to let you know. I really hope you find him." I was sure that he truly meant that.
* * *
[Gather Information: +Wits, +Sidekick, 3+2 vs 2/2. Strong Hit with a Match! +2 Momentum (+5) +1 tick to Bonds Legacy Track]
Breaker led me to the dockside district where we'd find the spacer bars. We looked around until we found one with a younger clientele.
Cole was seated with a couple of other young spacers wearing AltAir jumpsuits. They looked up as we approached. "Hey, Cole, got a minute to talk?"
[Ask the Oracle: Initial Disposition (07) Friendly.]
"Sure," Cole said. "What can I do for you, Sor?"
"Your mother's worried sick," I told him. "I swore I'd bring you home."
[Compel: +Heart. 3+3 vs 4/7. Weak Hit.]
"But Sor... but I have a contract. Unless you can get me out of it, I'm due to ship out in the morning. You'd have to talk to my boss, Chief (31) Kaan. He's probably still at the office." He gave me the location code.
"We'll go have a talk with the Chief," I told him. "Don't go anywhere. Unless it's your quarters."
* * *
We found Chief Kaan's office and rang the panel. He invited us in and we had a seat. "What can I do for you this evening, gentlemen?"
"We're here regarding the contract for Cole Shepherd," I told him. "He ran away from Amity Station and I've been sworn to recover him. We were told to see you about nullifying his contract."
[Compel: +Heart, +Sidekick. 3+3 vs 4 /7. Reroll (6). Strong Hit.]
"Be advised that Cole contracted with AltAir of his own volition," he advised us. "So we'd need a legally justifiable reason to invalidate his term of service. And that would be?"
""He's 14 and legally unable to consent to this contract," I warned him. "He lied about his age to sign up."
"I see," said Chief Kaan. "We'd need an affidavit to that effect, or AltAir would have legal recourse for breach of contract."
"If necessary we can produce testimony from the Overseer of Amity Station," I advised him. "Its legal authority supersedes Covenant law We're shipping out first thing in the morning as well. See that he's waiting by the Acheron with his release in hand, or we may need to see about that 'legal recourse' after all."
[End the Session: In the next Episode, the crew of the Acheron will reunite Cole with his family and complete their task for Volition. +1 Momentum (+6)]
[Ending Stats: Momentum +6 Health +5 Spirit +5 Supply +5 Fire 3 Fugitive 1]