CT Solo - Part 4 : Being useful

"Lock the door!"

"I did lock it!"

"Obviously you didn't."

"I tried!"

"Try again."

"I am trying."

"Then you're not doing it right."

"I think I know how a door works."

"Then prove it!"

Ortance has been sat on the bed staring helplessly at the two squabbling starship crew trying to lock her in a stateroom for several minutes before a third voice in the corridor barks at them to stop.

The captain appears in the doorway looking peevish. "What now?"

"The door doesn't lock."

"At all?"

"Maybe from the inside, but..."

"Lluyd, any ideas?" says the Captain, addressing someone behind him.

"It's probably the anti-hijack programme glitching again. I did warn you not to buy software off the back of an air/raft."

"Hmmmm."

"Excuse me," says Ortance, "but I might be able to help with the computer. That's part of my job at the lab. Was part of my job. If I can fix it, maybe you won't space me. Deal?"

[I'd asked the Oracle--
Q: Does Ortance overhear anything useful to her predicament? unknown d6=5; O6 C2 - yes, and...

The Captain's reaction roll (spaced on 6 or less!): 2d=7, non-committal]

"Huh," says the Captain. "Sure, OK. Why not? But you're to be under armed guard at all times. You two, escort her to the bridge."

"Er," says Ortance turning to her captors," might I have that shower first?"

. . .

Ortance feels like a new woman after a quarter of an hour in the fresher and a clean change of clothes (she'd been saving it for planetfall). The elation lasts precisely until she opens the stateroom door to see the short woman with closely-cropped hair aiming a pistol at her chest.

"Let's get this over with," sighs her captor, and marches her forward to the bridge. "Sit at that workstation. Do you need a toolkit?"

"I shouldn't think so. I will need the password to access the system, though."

"It's written on the sticker on the terminal."

"Of course it is."

The ship's computer is somehow less sophisticated than Ortance's hand computer. Indeed, the green CRT terminal can only display text [both are Model/1, but it's TL5 vs. TL11]. But if she can find the error in the programming, it should be easier to fix than she'd feared. The creeping sensation of having a gun aimed at her back, however, is quite a source of distraction.

[8+ to fix, DMs +computer, +1 INT > 10, -1 nerves: 2D+1=9, OK]

Within the hour, Ortance has isolated the bad lines of code and before a second hour has gone she's re-written them properly. "There!" she announces triumphantly, "you may now lock me in my stateroom!"

[So, what does the captain want to do with her now that spacing is off the menu?

2d6 result
--- -----------------------------------
2-5 dumped on Whanga
6-9 allowed to work off debt (cr10,000)
10+ offered normal working passage

2D=7]

The Captain seems pleased enough with her work. "You'll be happy to know I've made up my mind about you. We could use someone to look after the computer, but as the conditions of our subsidy contract don't allow for a computer technician, we'll need to take you on as a steward. The pay's not bad -- cr3000 per month -- but we're going to withhold 75% of your salary until you've paid us back for this little 'high passage' it seems you've booked with us. Otherwise we'd need to throw you off the ship at the next port and forget we'd ever heard of you. What do you say?"

"A steward, you say. I can probably manage that."

"Welcome aboard, then."

[Q: Do they need a medic? doubtful (6): O5 C1 - no, and... Steward-0, cr3000/month (actually pays better)
Q: Anyone's uniform fit her? 50/50 (4+): O6 C2 - yes, and... 2d3= both Gzo & Lluyd are about her size (hal Ushsh is much shorter & stockier)
Q: Any guns on the ship? unlikely (5+): O6 C3 - yes, but... only one double turret

Crew is 6 [5 required +1 gunner]. I hadn't rolled much more than the Captain's personality until now, though I included a few snippets about the crew in the narrative above after the fact.

For simplicity, the ship's locker is identical to the one in the Chamax Plague, but includes breathing apparatus (x8) for all the planets on the ship's route (Regina to Efate).

Q: Anything unusual happen for the rest of the trip? unlikely (5+): O5 C3 - yes, but.. just the usual crew infighting

9+ to pick up on the simmering problems: 2D=5, no idea as of yet.]

Ortance spends the next two days of the jump getting a tour of the ship and its systems and becoming acquainted with her new shipmates, who are all surprisingly sanguine about the new addition.

There are six other crew aboard the Issaries, [1d6=] four of whom have spent their entire careers in the merchant marine. Most of them are around Ortance's age.

Captain Rov seems much older than his 38 years. He's prone to fits of melancholy and apathy, and his thoughts are often parsecs away from anything that's happening round him. He alternates between by-the-book captaining and extreme negligence -- he's the one who keeps the ship's computer password written under the display on the bridge.

Captain Otchter Rov
977C89 Age 38 Merchants 5 terms
Pilot-1, Vacc-1, Cutlass-2, Body Pistol-2, Electronics-2, Steward-1
cr20,000

The 2nd officer/gunner (the captain keeps intending to promote everyone a place, but never files the paperwork) is Ardriss Adpl, who is not very well liked, and may be after the captain's chair. He tells Ortance he's from Regina too, but she doesn't believe him.

2nd officer Ardriss Adpl
B78756 Age 30 Merchants 3 terms
Steward-1, Navigation-1, JoT-1, Blade-1, Vacc-1, Gunnery-1, Carbine-1
cr10,000
carbine

The navigator is 3rd Officer Listria Gzo. Her perfectionism borders on obsessiveness, and how she can serve under Rov is a complete mystery, as she brooks no deviation from the rule with those under her.

3rd Officer Listria Gzo
7466A5 Age 26 Merchants 2 terms
Blade-1, Laser Rifle-1, ATV-1, Navigation-1
Cr21,900

Rawwan Lluyd is the 4th officer and engineer. It was she who first discovered Ortance in the crawlspace, and has since apologised for whacking her in the foot with a spanner. Lluyd is a Solomani -- not just descended from Solomani settlers in the Marches hundreds of years ago like Ortance, but an actual, born-and-raised on Avalon/ Reaver's Deep 3238 Solomani. She comes from a family of dissidents, which explains why she's so far coreward of her homeworld.

4th Officer Rawwan Lluyd 
89B857 Age 34 Merchants 4 Terms
Vacc-1, Mechanical-2, Engineer-1, Gunnery-1, Air/Raft-1, Autopistol-1
cr5000
autopistol

Nifuim hal Ushsh did a tour of duty in the army to avoid prison[Soc 2], where she ended up in the medical corps. As the ship's medic, her bedside manner is far too military. Her final rank was captain, and she and Rov have a running bit where they both salute each other as 'Captain' (though not in times of stress).

(Cpt.) Nifuim hal Ushsh 
6885A2 Age 22 Army 1 term
Rifle-2, SMG-1, Tactics-1, Medic-1
cr17,200

The pilot, Lt. Stantil, is ex-navy. He's the most welcoming of Ortance's new shipmates, and she has a feeling that he may just be the glue that keeps them all together.

(lt.) Srdonottorviu Stantil
777C89 Age 34 Navy 4 Terms
Pilot-2, Admin-1, Vacc-1, Revolver-1, Ship's Boat-2
cr9100
blade






040-1105
Whanga E-676126–7 Ni

Ortance is rudely awakened by the entire world pulsing and shifting sideways -- apparently no one remembered to wake her up when they came out of jump. She steadies herself for a few minutes, then decides to get cleaned up and head to the bridge. There's a message light flashing on the panel when she emerges from the fresher. It's from Lluyd, apologising that they forgot to warn her about jump exit.

When Ortance stumbles onto the bridge, she finds only Stantil and Gzo present.

"Oh!" she exclaims. "So empty. I thought the bridge would be full."

"Why?" says Gzo, looking up peevishly from her instruments.

"Because... well, because we came out of jump."

"It's 6 hours until planetfall. I'm only here checking the route, then I'm going back to bed."

[no ship encounter

Q: Welcoming party upon landing? doubtful (6): O4 C4 - no, but... captain has radioed ahead and someone is expected in about 8 hours
+Event: PC positive - Gratify / Dispute - they've all basically forgiven her for stowing away. though she still owes the money]

The ship sets down on the flat rocky field near the nav beacon. "I've radioed ahead," says the captain, "Someone'll be here in eight hours to pick up the freight. Mister Adpl, hand out the philtre masks, then organise the work detail." Ortance is unsurprised to find herself on it, along with everyone else save the captain and 2nd officer.

The next eight hours are an endless haze of using grav pods to unload all the cargo crates onto wheeled flatbed trailers that were lined up for them in advance. They're almost finished when six enormous internal combustion vehicles roll up on their steel treads.

The people who emerge from their cabs treat the ship's crew like old friends [reaction=12], and have even brought gifts -- a knitted jumper for (d6=) the captain, plus sweets, pastries, and half a dozen bottles of some sort of fruit liqueur for the whole crew to share. They're excited to meet the newest member of the team. They help with the rest of the loading, then come into the ship for an hour or so for tea and cakes -- the Captain and 2nd officer have set out the galley in readiness. The Captain also hands over a box with a spare holo projector and some of the latest films out of Efate for their friends on Whanga -- their old one is getting worn out and they can't manufacture replacement parts on-world (TL7).

When the Whangans leave, the crew retire for the evening.


Next post: the primitives