The latest Traveller writeup!
May. 30th, 2008 07:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
realsorienIts done!
Okay, before we get back into the tales of the crew of the Ardith's Silhouette, I have to mention this- between runs there was a bit of a disconnect, so there is a kind-of overlap in the events- the last run ended at the Psi Institute, the crew just having talked with Doctor Lanyier on several matters. In the next run, we started up back at the landing of the Silhouette after the joyride! So, At the start of this writeup I'm going to have to construct a suitable interfacing between the two- I'll not be inventing off the cuff, just trying to make a proper 'dovetail' between them. After all, both events were played out.
When Last We Left Our Intrepid Heroes...
Deyn and Maddox had just been called to meet with Keisha at the Psi Institute, where they got some good news- Keisha's condition was found to be treatable, but it may take a great deal of time to get her psi capabilities back on track. Deyn also asked the doctor about whether anything was known about 'Pelinobok' and explained what had occurred on Bonn after the pirate corvette was destroyed. The doctor was VERY concerned about that level of psionic activity, and said that he would most definitely look into the matter. Shortly thereafter the trio part ways.
That evening, as planned the previous night with Professor Yourvin Helix ("Call me Yorv, my friends do- Just not in front of the students!"), Deyn and Maddox meet up with 'Yorv' for a night on the town. They're picked up with the Professor by the SAME taxi driver as before, which is starting to feel just a little bit weird. "Do they CLONE him?" Deyn asides to Maddox, who shrugs as an answer.
Their planned destination is the Mainstreeter's Bar. The driver seems rather nervous when he glances back at his passengers; he recalls Maddox and Keesha's discussion of the other day, which included Maddox talking about vacc'ing people! Yorv invites the driver to join them (small community!) when he goes off-shift, and he agrees, saying that he'll be available in a few hours.
After they're dropped off, Deyn asks about their frequent driver- Yorv explains that 'Gimp' aas he's nicknamed, is an ex-Navy man who came to this world to live the quiet life running a farm. However, as there is very little to do on a high-tech farm after the planting is done, he runs a taxi service. There is one other service, but its student-run, and most aren't willing to trust their lives to the student body.
Yorv insists on putting the night on the University expense account; Deyn and Maddox both protest to differing levels; after all, neither is even remotely lacking for cash. Yorv tells them to go along with it; "Part of the Enrollment Process" he says.
Meanwhile, Keisha has had another VERY long day. The constant psionic bombardment is wearing her down physically as well as mentally. She doesn't feel as if she's really progressed, but she is assured by Dr. Lanyier that she IS making some headway. He suggests as well that she take the evening and simply enjoy herself- the town is an open community, and welcomes nonhumans for the most part. "We even had a Hiver here once" He says. "Really? A student?" Keisha asks. "Yes," he replies, "but it didn't turn out too well- our learning methodologies are too different."
Keisha gives Maddox a call; he and the others have just reached the bar. He tells her where they are, and they arrange a taxi (Gimp again) to deliver her... Despite it being all of a three block walk!
After Maddox gets the call and the arrangements made, he and Deyn head inside with Yorv. Deyn mutters "A Vargr, an Engineer and a Professor walk into a bar..." And the three head to the bar rather than being seated. Maddox gets a beer, Deyn a Navy grog, and food is considered.
Keisha is dropped off out front shortly thereafter. Gimp says "Tell the Professor that I'll be in sooner, in about an hour." Keisha says she will, and he drives off. She takes the time to look around her and take in the scene. It seems the typical college town, with most of the restaurants and bars being of the 'beer and burger' style. The Mainstreeter seems to be the hangout of the non-collegiate locals, or at least its not the student hangout- that is across the way, the music blasting loudly even through closed doors.
The area is very well lit, and there are a lot of people walking about- humans seem to be in a slight majority overall, maybe 60% of the people she sees. The rest are of a multitude of races- Aslan, Vargr, and she even sees a few Siddites! She finds it to her liking, and a comfortable place to be. She then heads into the bar.
Deyn has seated himself so that he can see both the room as well as the entryway, while Maddox has deliberately placed himself back-to-the-door. "Ah, there she is." Deyn says, and waves Keisha over. Introductions are made, and the professor stands and greets Keisha formally; the others had told him that she was Captain, but not that the structure was more informal than not! Maddox comments to that effect, and people take their seats again, ordering meals.
The shipmates are all looking forward to one particular facet of this night- the prospect of REAL food, as opposed to shipboard stores! Serious consideration is given to getting said Real Food into ships stores. When the food finally arrives the conversation dies a sudden, rapid death as the gathered group dig in with gusto. While the gorging goes on, Maddox sees a man approach the professor. Before he can say or do anything, the man draws a gun and presses it into the professor's side! "I told you ONCE, Helix!" he says, but before Deyn or Maddox can do anything, Yorv says "Put that pea-shooter away, Bruce!" Its the local constabulary, just messing around... How... Reassuring.
Bruce joins the group at the bar, declining Yorv's offer of a drink; "I'm still on duty! Say, anyone heard anything about a Syddite causing trouble?" Maddox rolls his eyes and Deyn just cradles his head. "Why does this seem to be going in a direction we won't like?" Deyn moans. "Because its Alphaunze" returns Maddox. "You know him?" Asks Bruce. "Yes, he's our crewmate. Ex-Marine out for a good time," Maddox tells him. "Well, there's been property damage..."
The decision is made to go and 'collect' Alphaunze. He was last sighted at a pit party in a nearby gravel pit out in the fields. Maddox and Deyn REALLY want to use the Silhouette, but Bruce wants to use his patrol car. Keisha and the professor are remaining behind, in the likely-vain hope of the others returning to continue an until-recently pleasant evening. In the end, the patrol car is the transport of choice, though a stop will be made at the Silhouette to fetch a stunner for Deyn and Maddox' trank pistol, as well as their grav belts.
Just as they're about to get in the car, who should pull up but Gimp. Bruce says, "Hey Gimp! C'mere. Get in." "Why?" He asks. "Because there's an ex-Marine Syddite causing trouble." Gimp hesitates, then says "Okay." After the stop at the ship, they head off driving through the fields via farmroads. After a good half-hour or so they start seeing people and parked vehicles, and a glow beyond- Its one hell of a bonfire in the gravel pit!
They park, and the group of Bruce, Deyn, Maddox and Gimp head into the scene. People don't seem all that upset at the sight of the sheriff, waving to him as they get out of the way. Winding their way down they catch sight of their quarry- Al is next to the fire, a tankard of beer in each upper hand and a girl to is side, held by one of his lower arms. He's puffing away on a cigar as usual, and seated on a decidedly overloaded lawn chair!
Maddox separates from the others and circles to get behind Al. The remaining three, led by Bruce, approach the Syddite. "Alphaunze, is it?" Bruce starts. "Yeah, what of it?" I need to have words with you." "Well, speak!" Snaps Al, who isn't happy to have his fun interrupted. "You caused some property damage and knocked the tooth out of the mouth of Fredrick Von Schludt" Bruce continues. "Well, he had a stupid name!" Retorts AL. "You I think owe restitution in the amount of 2233 credits." "Okay, fine." Says Al, who takes out a credstick and pays the fine. Bruce accepts the payment and makes a note. He then says, "I don't want you to cause any more trouble in my town." Al glares at the much smaller human and growls, "I'll do WHAT I want, WHEN I want!" At which point Maddox, who is in an ideal position, tranks him!
Al hesitates for a moment, then the first arm drops, the beer dumping from the mug. The second arm drops, but is caught by the girl, and the beer doesn't spill. Thereafter, Al sort-of slumps forward, out cold. "Okay, lets get him back to the ship," says Maddox, and he and Deyn strap the grav belts around the massive Marine to aid in moving him. "Wait! What are they doing?" Says the girl who was on Al's arm. "We're taking him back to our ship," says Maddox. "You can't do that! Its kidnapping!" "Oh, come on, Tammy..." Bruce sounds resigned as he speaks. Tammy then cites the specific laws and statutes pertinent!
Knowing that they have a situation once again, Maddox calls Keisha for legal help- She decides that she needs to be there, NOW. And Tammy is right, this is Imperial law, not just local jurisdiction! At that, Maddox has himself arrested for assault, as he tranked Alphaunze! Keisha gets there fairly rapidly, and with the situation fully explained to her agrees that yes, it WOULD be kidnapping, and yes, Maddox being booked for petty assault is correct as well. So instead of Al being dragged off to the Silhouette for a long-term date with a low-berth, he gets hauled to the drunk tank. He'll be asked if he wants to press charges when he comes to.
After Bruce, Maddox and the unconscious Al head off to the local jail, Deyn and Keisha head back to the professor at the bar. With all the 'fun' of the evening, Deyn WANTS a drink. Or three. They end up having a quiet evening from then on, the professor retiring before Deyn and Keisha. He states that he as a project that he wants to work on in the morning.
Bruce and Maddox get the unconscious Alphaunze processed (bioscan and retinal scans) and dump him in the drunk tank. Maddox is also processed, and thereafter he and Bruce talk and swill coffee. Finally, after several hours he stirs. Once he's moving, He's told what happened and is offered the opportunity to press charges against Maddox. "Why? He's a dick sometimes, but this is nothing." he and Maddox soon thereafter head back to the Silhouette, Maddox calling and letting Keisha and Deyn know what's up.
Keisha and Deyn end up getting in the ship before Maddox and Al. Once everyone is there, a discussion is held. Alphaunze says that he's been inactive for far too long, and NEEDS a release. he wants action or combat, and sitting around an agrarian world isn't helping his temper, especially when he isn't being allowed to even raise a LITTLE hell. After each have their say, he asks for an hour to mull his options, and goes to his cabin.
Eventually, he calls them all down to the cargo bay. he has a large duffel with him and the case for his ACR. "You can get ahold of me when you're ready to go, or if you need me. I'm headed north. There's some kind of crabbing industry up there- Its supposed to be dangerous and pays pretty well. You can just pick me up when you're ready." Keisha tells him that the 'contraband' equipment like the FGMP-15 and the Battle Dress stay with the ship, and he states that he knows. All he's taking is his ACR, which was a mustering-out benefit from the Marines. Goodbyes are said, and he takes his leave of the ship.
After Alphaunze takes off (He leaves the Grumbler behind), things settle down for the most part, other than the bad feeling that the entire sequence of events has left with everyone. Maddox spends the weekend working on his engine modification project and looking at the course lists while Deyn works on the basics of placing the point-defense antipersonnel weapons that they've meant to install for some time. He also applies for a course on grav vehicle operation... 'Sears Driving School'... Keisha, for her part heads back to her treatments at the Psi Institute.
With the arrival of Monday, Maddox and Deyn are off to register for classes at the University. Maddox goes first and asks about testing out of a number of classes; he's at first told that he needs to talk to the department head- he has the student aide running registration call, and of course Professor Yourvin clears the way for him. Deyn comes next, and encounters a similar situation, but he needs to talk to Professor McNallay. The call is made: "Professor McNallay? I have a Deyn... What's your last name?" "You can't pronounce it..." "Can you tell me anyway?" Deyn says his last name, which is an unpronounceable canid sound, and the student continues on the phone: "... Vargr here, who wants to test out of some of the courses... Yes, he's with someone else... Why it IS a Thomas Maddox..." He hangs up shortly thereafter, telling Deyn that he's through with a good deal of the preliminaries due to the earlier 'test flight', but he needs to take some tests today.
Maddox has class starting almost immediately after he's registered, and heads off. Deyn goes to the indicated administrative offices for the required tests, knowing he's got an appointment at 3:15 PM local to start his grav training. He is met there by Professor McNallay- An older man, long-faced and scarred; obviously ex-Navy. He talks briefly with the professor, then begins the tests. He does exceedingly well until the end... Though HE doesn't know that there were problems. Once finished, he heads rapidly to the driving class.
Its just about everything that he feared it would be. Almost all of the people there for the course are young teens, with a little old human lady as the instructor! She goes through the spiel about 'learning the responsibilities of driving,' then calls in Officer Bruce from the other day to run people through the basic rights, rules and such. He gets about three or four sentences in before starting to laugh, seeing Deyn grinning at him! "Deyn, what are YOU doing here?" "Learning to operate gravitic vehicles," is the response. Bruce composes himself, finishes his speech and the class views the futuristic versions of 'Red Asphalt!' and 'Blood on the Highway.'
Back with Maddox at his class. He enters slightly late, but this doesn't make much of a stir. The class is a ship construction and design course, and when the TA describes the particulars of a design procedure referring to the differences between pressure vessel designs, i.e. the differences concerning ships that deal with vacuum and ships that deal with external pressure, Maddox makes a comment that almost completely throws the TA for a loop, especially when he runs the formulas that Maddox puts up on the board and finds that Maddox is right! Class is adjourned for 15 minutes, and Maddox and his 'teacher' have a little talk.
The TA is more impressed with Maddox than angry, and once he finds out why Maddox is in the course, he tells him that while right now he's operating well above the class, later in the course there WILL be new knowledge for him. He shows the TA the blueprints of the Silhouette, where the formulas he came up with were actually used, and is asked to allow them to be used in the class- he agrees, and when they reconvene the class runs stress-simulations on the projected model of the ship; gasps are heard as it handles accelerations over 20 g's without buckling! In fact, the simulation goes out of parameters and can't get an upper limit!
Now, Keisha isn't having anywhere NEAR as good a time as Deyn and Maddox; instead, she is going through batteries of tests for the entire day, and is utterly exhausted by the end of the day. In essence, Doctor Lanyier and his support staff are projecting massive amounts of psionic force at Keisha's mind, trying to wear down her hyperactive defenses! This will be going on for some time.
As the week goes by Maddox makes the point to visit Keisha daily at the institute; each day he finds her more and more exhausted, and by the end of the week she's just out cold at the time of his visit.
During the free time he has (there's a fair bit- both he and Deyn have relatively light course-schedules) Maddox is working on homework as well as his hyperdrive-enhancement ideas. During this, Deyn comes up to him. Maddox braces himself for what he thinks may be another bout of Deyn prying into his life, but instead Deyn has had a bit of a brainstorm! "Commander, I think I've figured something out concerning our pirate problem. Our biggest difficulty is in locating them, correct? Well, I've realized something. They're not a cult, nor are they simply a scattered bunch if pirates. Pelinoboc is one of the Lost Worlds!"
"A what?" Maddox asks. "One of the worlds lost during the Long Night. My world was one as well- it was rediscovered about 200 years ago. But consider this: A world like that, that managed to get a hyperdrive craft working again. They realize that they're not alone, and that they're unknown- they'd have a perfect base of operations, and as they're human they have ready-made deep-cover agents! But they'd have to have made contact somewhere at some point, and those records should be out there." Maddox thinks on this for a while, and agrees that it may be a possibility, with reservations. "There is of course the possibility of Zhodani involvement too," Deyn comments grimly. He makes plans to use the University archives to see if there have been any recorded 'mystery ships' that have appeared and then disappeared in the not-so-recent past.
In class, Maddox has been assisting the TA a lot, mostly behind the scenes. Many of the sessions are intensely boring for him, but especially when they get into the larger ship-structures he finds the class fascinating. Unfortunately, on this particular day its dull as hell, involving the modification and maintenance of cargo bays into weapons-bays. While he fights the tedium, he sees Professor Helix motioning him out of class.
"I was wondering if you'd be interested in a bit of extracurricular activity? I and Professor McNallay have a side business that we run, and we need to get a certain amount of a unique ore mined from the asteroid belt, and we need a competent, experienced pilot. We have a mining vessel for the job, and you'll have two of the students from the Geological Studies department taking part as well. We need to find an astrogator too." "Can Deyn take that spot? He's a more than competent astrogator..." Yorv agrees, and Deyn will be asked. Maddox asks a bit more about what's going on, and Yorv explains: "Well, we run a bit of a side business producing esoteric munitions; nothing illegal. We've an unusual order for 200 rounds of an archaic projectile weapon, and the material is only found in the asteroid belt. It was ordered by someone offworld by the name of... Greg... Putley? I can't pronounce it. They also wanted some primitive weapons- some kind of fork, and a sword."
Professor McNallay calls Deyn out of class soon thereafter; for him, the class is a lot more interesting than what Maddox is going through. The pitch is made to him, and he agrees as well. They're to leave as soon as possible, so he and Maddox head to the Silhouette to gather what they think they might need. Both get armored vacc suits and grav belts, while Deyn gets a sidearm and his electronics kit. Maddox calls (via the number given him by Doctor Lanyier) Keisha and lets her know what's going on, and she has no problem with it. Once they get to the mining ship (the same one they saw when they first landed), they meet their charges, who will be doing the actual mining. William and George, both in geology.
They say their goodbyes to the professors after some last minute instructions, and board. Its an old ship, and it is NOT built for comfort. For crew quarters it has deployable pallets in the bridge, and to reach the mining systems and drives you go through a crawlshaft. Everyone straps in and they lift off... Slowly. Ponderously.
"This thing is a PIG." Deyn comments. "Yeah, I know," replies Maddox, having second thoughts about the whole experience. "This brings back memories of Naval training... Mostly bad memories." Mutters Deyn. "I grew UP working on ships like this." "My sympathies, Commander." "I liked it.." Says Maddox.
The flight upwards continues, and they both feel a flutter in the drives. "You feel that, Commander?" "Yeah, take the helm, I'll go check it out." With that, Maddox heads down the shaft to the drives, admonishing the students to stay put. He looks over the drives, and they are a discontinued model. He and Deyn discuss the matter over a live comm, mentioning the drives, how bad they are, what they did when they inevitably failed... "Didn't they used to slice people in half when they failed?" Deyn says at one point, with Maddox saying back "Yeah, but that was AFTER they cut through the midsection of the ship!" With that, George and William BOLT for the bridge!
"Why are you up here?" Deyn asks. Neither really give a good answer. At about that time the drives cut out completely! Deyn calmly calls down to Maddox, "Commander, are we all right?" Maddox affirms that they are, and the drives come back on, sans flutter. They're providing better thrust too! Once on course for the asteroid belt, Maddox does a bit more work and ups the efficiency some more; however, the gravs are seriously overdue for a refit.
Eventually they reach the Belt and hunt down the asteroid selected for their project. George and William get to work at the controls of the mining beams, with Deyn providing coordinates. The beams are lined up, and fire- Maddox has seen all of this before, but its a new sight for Deyn- "Gods. Why don't they use these as weapons?" "I was just thinking the same thing," replies Maddox. "Likely its a range-and-targetting matter. But maybe..." And Maddox starts thinking. Eight hours later, with Deyn and Maddox approaching the limits of tedium the bays are full of ore and the composite crew can head back in.
However... Deyn has been running periodic sensor sweeps, just in case. He's used to being in situations where the dangerous and unusual occur on a frequent basis. This time, its of the latter type- he detects something out in the asteroid field that registers significantly different from the rest of the rock! He refines his scan, and locates it again, this time getting a solid 'fix' on the object. Its around 5' in diameter, and unusually dense. He lets Maddox know, and Maddox says "Oh, we HAVE to get it."
Deyn is of the opinion of 'No, really, we don't', but he goes along with Maddox's desires here. The students are roused and a course laid to the object. "What's going on?" George asks. "That," indicates Deyn. "Wow. That's real unusual..." "We're gonna go get it!" Says Maddox. "We're going for a walk!" A little discussion about who is actually going out, and Maddox wins. Deyn will be at the helm while Maddox takes the pair out to retrieve the object, tethered. Neither have spacewalked before!
The trio exit the ship and move to the object- they're within meters of it, and reach it without problems. Its nearly spherical, and of a golden color. It seems to be a unique crystalline growth, something like an inside-out geode. It also turns out to be VERY massive. They maneuver it to the side airlock, then inside. Once its in, Maddox slowly brings the cabin gravity up. The thing lands on the deckplates, still moving from the imparted inertia, and gouges scars into the deck as it settles. They foam it into place in the lock-chamber, then head back towards the main lock, George walking on the hull while William sticks with the tether. "I think we should call it Maddoxite," speculates Maddox. Deyn fires back with "Deynite. I FOUND the bloody thing..." Maddox gets an invite to a party that evening, with the condition that he not mention how scared George was when Deyn and Maddox were messing with them.
Everyone gets back to their positions and Maddox takes the helm once again. He fires up the engines, and moments later... EVERYTHING goes dark! "Commander?" "I know. I'm heading back now." "I've my kit along if you need it." "Good!" And with that Maddox heads to the engine room to see what happened. Deyn in the meantime checks systems in the bridge. They have forward motion, but nowhere near enough to bring them home in anything approaching a reasonable timeframe.
Maddox reaches the engine room, and checks the systems. Everything seems to be stone dead. He tries to reprime the capacitors to charge the system, then hits the starter... For a moment, there is power, but it rapidly fades to black once again. They look for other power sources, and what they've got is far too little to even try using. They end up calling for help, and through planetary control they first contact Professor Yourvin, then Keisha.
Once the situation is fully explained (in truth, its not that dangerous a situation for experienced spacers, especially in an occupied system), Keisha heads to the rescue in the Silhouette with both professors in tow. Maddox has discovered that their problem is that they've blown several not-so-expensive but critical relays- these will need to be replaced, which can be accomplished by recreating the parts with the Silhouette's fabricator. While the stranded crew wait, Maddox starts pulling the remnants of the relays out in preparation for replacement- he has William to assist him. Deyn, at Maddox's suggestion takes George out on the hull for an 'integrity check.' This isn't necessary, but it gives George more time in space, and its in the grand Naval tradition of busy-work. Surprisingly, George DOES find a minor problem, some hull damage at one of the landing legs.
Eventually, the Silhouette and the rescue crew arrive. While Keisha piloted her on takeoff and the initial flight, Professor Yourvin is at the helm for the rendezvous. He brings the Silhouette in on a picture-perfect intercept-and-dock, showing that he is quite the pilot himself! once the docking is complete, repairs are begun and cables run from the Silhouette's overpowered capacitors to supply the initial jolt of power required to restart the mining ships' drives.
Amazingly enough things go well and soon the mining ship is up and running. Maddox is going to pilot the pig back with Professor McNallay, while the rest will follow in the Silhouette. Keisha is once again at the helm, getting some much-needed time at the controls, Deyn is in his usual post.
The trip is exceedingly slow, especially for those aboard the Silhouette- she is barely capable of staying behind a vessel as slow as the miner! Maddox and McNallay spend the time talking shop- McNallay tells Maddox that "Mining ships have incredible sensor packages. They have to, given the kind of detail they need to get in preparation for blasting into an asteroid. And because they have systems of this caliber, they can do things like this:" And he remotely jams all of the Silhouette's sensors! Deyn is more than nonplussed by this, especially since he KNOWS that he's being jammed- He manages to penetrate the jam briefly, but can't get a solid break from it.
Eventually, Deyn gets told what was done and has his sensors restored. He grouses about it, and Keisha tries to get him to let it go. Notably, this doesn't help. For him, he just had his abilities face a SERIOUS test, and he failed it. At least from his perspective.
Once they finally get the Silhouette and The Pig back planetside the unloading of the ore begins and Deyn gets a plasma cutter for a little cathartic cutting- he's aiming to free the strange pseudocrystal they found. Maddox stops him and points out the techs using catalyst to break it free with almost no effort- so much for frustration relief! Our of Deyn's hearing Maddox admits to Professor McNallay that Deyn DID find the thing, and Deynite does sound better as a name for the material, IF its a new substance.
And its Friday night. Party time! Maddox already was 'invited', and Deyn has the offer extended to him as well. Its at one of the frat houses, with a 20 credit cover; neither Deyn or Maddox have a problem with that! Deyn gets cash (about 200 credits) and one of his expensive bottles of rare scotch- the Temultin. Scotch is meant to be enjoyed with others after all, and it seems a good time to enjoy it. He and Maddox park the Silhouette back at Pad 3 (they landed at the University ship-bays where the Pig was to be unloaded), and head off on grav-bikes for a good time.
... Things are not so fun for Keisha. Pretty much as they exit the ship she is called and informed that, while the emergency was understandable, she is once again due for more psi-sessions. She heads back to the Institute for a far less enjoyable time than what her shipmates are off to.
At the party, there are few if any other grav vehicles. Maddox and Deyn park and head in, Deyn paying the cash-only cover. The place is packed, students of multiple species dancing, talking, playing cards and all thoroughly having a good time. Maddox is hoping for a little 'one on one' recreation, while Deyn is just out for an enjoyable evening. The pair split up, Deyn heading for one of the poker tables and Maddox heading out back to the wet T-shirt contest. Deyn makes an attractive ante at the table- He sets the scotch down in full view and says, "Am I in?" "Hell yeah!" is the response!
Maddox, outside is looking for companionship, poorly. For the most part he stands and watches, making no real overtures to any of the attractive members of the student body present. He does enjoy the show at least. Eventually, despite his efforts he IS approached by a classmate. Her name is Barb, and she's definitely had a few. "Hey. You're in my class, right? You've got a big brain. But your calculations are wrong." He says "What?" "Your calculations are wrong. I can prove it!" He argues for his position, and she inadvertently insults the Silhouette! This pretty much eliminates any carnal desires he has, but it also drives him to talk with her further, to figure out what she knows!
Deyn is having a wonderful time losing at poker and drinking fine scotch with entertaining companions. His beret gets borrowed by one of the other players- he makes a mental note to retrieve it before he leaves. Maddox and Barb are both hip-deep in their argument- she claims that with her formulas the Silhouette could pull 25.2 gees acceleration, but that nothing carbon-based could survive that, even with grav-compensation; Maddox, for his part keeps saying that he can 'overrack' the grav systems so that it COULD be survivable! Barb asks/demands to be taken to the Silhouette before she'll tell anything... And after some of his patented pigheaded resistance, Maddox agrees.
Back at the poker table, the scotch has died as all brave soldiers eventually do, and with a salute from all gathered the empty bottle is put in a place of honor on a high shelf lining the walls. Deyn bites back a bit of a reaction to the 'saluting the dead,' as its something that he's had to do too many times for real. The girl with his beret turns out to be named Lindsay, and much to his surprise she propositions him! He has to think about it at first (she's human, and he's old enough to be her father), but as he's no xenophobe and she's old enough to make her OWN choices, he takes her up on it.
Before this though, Maddox and his 'date' have headed out to the grav bikes and are ready to go to the Silhouette. They get on Maddox' bike, and... the lifts burn out! Not being choosy (and not caring if he pisses Deyn off), Maddox takes Deyn's ride and the pair swoop away to the ship.
Once there, Barb's backhanded compliments continue to fly. After she gets somewhat stunned by the obscene amount of power possessed by the Silhouette, they take a short flight, Maddox showing her what it can do. By the time they land at the pad, Maddox is damn near ready to throw her off when she finally asks for something to write with. She sits on the floor of the cargo bay, and writes out a standing set of formulas. "So where are your over-racking plans?" She asks. "I can manage it," he replies. "You don't have any plans drawn up, do you..." In the end, Maddox takes her home, then sits and stares at the formulas; soon, he has a grease pencil and is scrawling his OWN formulas all over the bay, trying to break her conclusions!
Deyn and Lindsay also leave the party, relatively soon after Maddox and Barb- However, Deyn is nonplussed to find his bike gone and Maddox' burned out one remaining! He grumbles a bit, but Lindsay as a groundcar. They head off to her apartment, and the night is spent in advanced studies of xenobiology...
Late the next morning Deyn finally returns to the Silhouette; he called for a taxi, getting Gimp again and retrieved the burned out grav bike as well. On arrival, he finds Maddox in a fugue of sleep-deprivation sitting in the hold surrounded by scrawled formulas, numbers and notes! "Ah, I see. You've finally snapped and will be killing us with an axe soon..." he says. "Why would I use an axe?" Maddox distractedly replies, still looking at the formulas. Deyn makes a not-quite-successful jab at Maddox concerning his luck with Lindsay, but gets no reaction from the zoned-out Mad Engineer. "I can't break her formulas!" is about all Maddox will say, so Deyn cleans up and crashes after a night well-spent.
Keisha's evening and night aren't nearly as entertaining. More testing, more attempts to break through her out-of-control defenses and still no solid progress. There are moments when things seem to have improved, but for each success there seems to be an equal failure of some sort. They attempt the opposite tack from stressing her defenses to break through and attempt the use of hallucinogenic drugs to get through. This also has mixed, indefinite success. She's comforted by Doctor Lanyier somewhat when he tells her that this IS progress, but it will take time, and is then told to relax and take the rest of the weekend off. She heads out with the intent of relaxing aboard the Silhouette, away from the rigors of the Psi Institute.
The scene she is greeted with is not quite what she expected or wanted- Deyn is watching Maddox, both of them surrounded by Maddox' and Barb's formulas, with Maddox cutting loose one of the ships main support beams! "What the hell is going on here?" She asks. Deyn replies, "He's cutting out the main supports. Gods know why..." "We'll be able to pull 25.2 gees if I do this right!" Maddox says. "Just out of curiosity, Commander, how much could we pull now, with that cut away?" Maddox thinks a moment, then says, slightly sheepishly, "About 2.5 gees... But When this is done we'll be incredible!" Deyn just shakes his head. Keisha for her part looks at the madmen she willingly travels with and changes her plans. She gets some things from her stateroom, drops it off at the Institute then goes shopping!
She finds a shop that caters to nonhumans and goes inside. It turns out to be an 'all-natural' store, specializing in natural fibers and textiles. She orders and pays for several outfits made of gene-modified spider-silk, which she'll pick up at six that evening.
Monday once again comes, with Deyn finding Maddox asleep at his work. He wakes him so that Maddox can make his class, and heads to his own. Maddox finds Barb and talks to her again, and once again screws his chances with her, He DOES get an 'I told you so' from her though.
Deyn's classes for the day involve targeting and target-acquisition, both in terms of weapons-locks and sensor-operations. There is an emphasis on the differences between civilian systems (like the high-end systems aboard the Pig) and military suites (like aboard the Silhouette). For this, Professor McNallay is teaching rather than relying on a TA. He questions Deyn as to the standard military protocols for certain sensors-ops and targeting solutions, then explains the differences between military and civilian solutions, as least as far as he can. Thereafter, he gets into what can be done with civilian systems, and Deyn gets some answers about how he was jammed, and what he can do about it!
After classes, Deyn talks to Maddox about what is being done to the Silhouette. Maddox is, of course, up to his eyeballs in moving struts and supports. Deyn is about to help when Lindsay calls! Deyn is torn between helping Maddox (and keeping an eye on what's going on) and enjoying the company of Lindsay... In the end, Maddox and Lindsay by turns convince him to get together with her. His evening passes wonderfully, ending with him asleep in Lindsay's bed.
This week finds Keisha in a new situation: As a new tactic, Doctor Lanyier has taken her out to the wilderness to see if the disconnect from her normal surroundings might help her get past the blockage. The area chosen is an almost-idyllic forested area near a lake, with a beach, campfire and some walking trails. He is able to finally get into her head psychically, and they have a psionic conversation where he comments that this is only the second time he's been able to 'see' into her mind!
He asks Keisha about what happened when the blockage first appeared. She tells him about the breakfast-attempt to reach Maddox's mind for a private discussion, the uncontrolled and spontaneous burst of power she apparently unleashed and her passing out almost directly thereafter. He thinks about this revelation, then tells her that it isn't surprising- an attempted offensive contact with a 'stubborn and pigheaded' friend can cause such problems. They continue psychically talking until the connection simply fails.
The next day Doctor Lanyier is once again able to contact her mind- this may be a breakthrough! While they talk, he has her pick a direction and walk. They maintain the conversation, but eventually, once she's passed a mile or so in distance the connection finally drops. She's finally making progress!
Meanwhile, Deyn and Maddox are in their respective classes. Maddox is bored to tears as his class is going over cargo-bay refits for larger vessels. Deyn isn't much better off- His course is going over transponder modification! He knows a LOT more than the instructor in this case, but can't say a word at all.
Out of nowhere, they (and everyone else for that matter) hear sirens outside- Air defense sirens! People are confused and uncertain what to do, but Deyn and Maddox both have ugly, sinking feelings about his. The fire-systems in the buildings start going off, and Deyn calls Maddox via their comm-dot implants- "Commander? What is our flight status?" Maddox's reply is "I'm on my way."
To be continued...
Okay, before we get back into the tales of the crew of the Ardith's Silhouette, I have to mention this- between runs there was a bit of a disconnect, so there is a kind-of overlap in the events- the last run ended at the Psi Institute, the crew just having talked with Doctor Lanyier on several matters. In the next run, we started up back at the landing of the Silhouette after the joyride! So, At the start of this writeup I'm going to have to construct a suitable interfacing between the two- I'll not be inventing off the cuff, just trying to make a proper 'dovetail' between them. After all, both events were played out.
When Last We Left Our Intrepid Heroes...
Deyn and Maddox had just been called to meet with Keisha at the Psi Institute, where they got some good news- Keisha's condition was found to be treatable, but it may take a great deal of time to get her psi capabilities back on track. Deyn also asked the doctor about whether anything was known about 'Pelinobok' and explained what had occurred on Bonn after the pirate corvette was destroyed. The doctor was VERY concerned about that level of psionic activity, and said that he would most definitely look into the matter. Shortly thereafter the trio part ways.
That evening, as planned the previous night with Professor Yourvin Helix ("Call me Yorv, my friends do- Just not in front of the students!"), Deyn and Maddox meet up with 'Yorv' for a night on the town. They're picked up with the Professor by the SAME taxi driver as before, which is starting to feel just a little bit weird. "Do they CLONE him?" Deyn asides to Maddox, who shrugs as an answer.
Their planned destination is the Mainstreeter's Bar. The driver seems rather nervous when he glances back at his passengers; he recalls Maddox and Keesha's discussion of the other day, which included Maddox talking about vacc'ing people! Yorv invites the driver to join them (small community!) when he goes off-shift, and he agrees, saying that he'll be available in a few hours.
After they're dropped off, Deyn asks about their frequent driver- Yorv explains that 'Gimp' aas he's nicknamed, is an ex-Navy man who came to this world to live the quiet life running a farm. However, as there is very little to do on a high-tech farm after the planting is done, he runs a taxi service. There is one other service, but its student-run, and most aren't willing to trust their lives to the student body.
Yorv insists on putting the night on the University expense account; Deyn and Maddox both protest to differing levels; after all, neither is even remotely lacking for cash. Yorv tells them to go along with it; "Part of the Enrollment Process" he says.
Meanwhile, Keisha has had another VERY long day. The constant psionic bombardment is wearing her down physically as well as mentally. She doesn't feel as if she's really progressed, but she is assured by Dr. Lanyier that she IS making some headway. He suggests as well that she take the evening and simply enjoy herself- the town is an open community, and welcomes nonhumans for the most part. "We even had a Hiver here once" He says. "Really? A student?" Keisha asks. "Yes," he replies, "but it didn't turn out too well- our learning methodologies are too different."
Keisha gives Maddox a call; he and the others have just reached the bar. He tells her where they are, and they arrange a taxi (Gimp again) to deliver her... Despite it being all of a three block walk!
After Maddox gets the call and the arrangements made, he and Deyn head inside with Yorv. Deyn mutters "A Vargr, an Engineer and a Professor walk into a bar..." And the three head to the bar rather than being seated. Maddox gets a beer, Deyn a Navy grog, and food is considered.
Keisha is dropped off out front shortly thereafter. Gimp says "Tell the Professor that I'll be in sooner, in about an hour." Keisha says she will, and he drives off. She takes the time to look around her and take in the scene. It seems the typical college town, with most of the restaurants and bars being of the 'beer and burger' style. The Mainstreeter seems to be the hangout of the non-collegiate locals, or at least its not the student hangout- that is across the way, the music blasting loudly even through closed doors.
The area is very well lit, and there are a lot of people walking about- humans seem to be in a slight majority overall, maybe 60% of the people she sees. The rest are of a multitude of races- Aslan, Vargr, and she even sees a few Siddites! She finds it to her liking, and a comfortable place to be. She then heads into the bar.
Deyn has seated himself so that he can see both the room as well as the entryway, while Maddox has deliberately placed himself back-to-the-door. "Ah, there she is." Deyn says, and waves Keisha over. Introductions are made, and the professor stands and greets Keisha formally; the others had told him that she was Captain, but not that the structure was more informal than not! Maddox comments to that effect, and people take their seats again, ordering meals.
The shipmates are all looking forward to one particular facet of this night- the prospect of REAL food, as opposed to shipboard stores! Serious consideration is given to getting said Real Food into ships stores. When the food finally arrives the conversation dies a sudden, rapid death as the gathered group dig in with gusto. While the gorging goes on, Maddox sees a man approach the professor. Before he can say or do anything, the man draws a gun and presses it into the professor's side! "I told you ONCE, Helix!" he says, but before Deyn or Maddox can do anything, Yorv says "Put that pea-shooter away, Bruce!" Its the local constabulary, just messing around... How... Reassuring.
Bruce joins the group at the bar, declining Yorv's offer of a drink; "I'm still on duty! Say, anyone heard anything about a Syddite causing trouble?" Maddox rolls his eyes and Deyn just cradles his head. "Why does this seem to be going in a direction we won't like?" Deyn moans. "Because its Alphaunze" returns Maddox. "You know him?" Asks Bruce. "Yes, he's our crewmate. Ex-Marine out for a good time," Maddox tells him. "Well, there's been property damage..."
The decision is made to go and 'collect' Alphaunze. He was last sighted at a pit party in a nearby gravel pit out in the fields. Maddox and Deyn REALLY want to use the Silhouette, but Bruce wants to use his patrol car. Keisha and the professor are remaining behind, in the likely-vain hope of the others returning to continue an until-recently pleasant evening. In the end, the patrol car is the transport of choice, though a stop will be made at the Silhouette to fetch a stunner for Deyn and Maddox' trank pistol, as well as their grav belts.
Just as they're about to get in the car, who should pull up but Gimp. Bruce says, "Hey Gimp! C'mere. Get in." "Why?" He asks. "Because there's an ex-Marine Syddite causing trouble." Gimp hesitates, then says "Okay." After the stop at the ship, they head off driving through the fields via farmroads. After a good half-hour or so they start seeing people and parked vehicles, and a glow beyond- Its one hell of a bonfire in the gravel pit!
They park, and the group of Bruce, Deyn, Maddox and Gimp head into the scene. People don't seem all that upset at the sight of the sheriff, waving to him as they get out of the way. Winding their way down they catch sight of their quarry- Al is next to the fire, a tankard of beer in each upper hand and a girl to is side, held by one of his lower arms. He's puffing away on a cigar as usual, and seated on a decidedly overloaded lawn chair!
Maddox separates from the others and circles to get behind Al. The remaining three, led by Bruce, approach the Syddite. "Alphaunze, is it?" Bruce starts. "Yeah, what of it?" I need to have words with you." "Well, speak!" Snaps Al, who isn't happy to have his fun interrupted. "You caused some property damage and knocked the tooth out of the mouth of Fredrick Von Schludt" Bruce continues. "Well, he had a stupid name!" Retorts AL. "You I think owe restitution in the amount of 2233 credits." "Okay, fine." Says Al, who takes out a credstick and pays the fine. Bruce accepts the payment and makes a note. He then says, "I don't want you to cause any more trouble in my town." Al glares at the much smaller human and growls, "I'll do WHAT I want, WHEN I want!" At which point Maddox, who is in an ideal position, tranks him!
Al hesitates for a moment, then the first arm drops, the beer dumping from the mug. The second arm drops, but is caught by the girl, and the beer doesn't spill. Thereafter, Al sort-of slumps forward, out cold. "Okay, lets get him back to the ship," says Maddox, and he and Deyn strap the grav belts around the massive Marine to aid in moving him. "Wait! What are they doing?" Says the girl who was on Al's arm. "We're taking him back to our ship," says Maddox. "You can't do that! Its kidnapping!" "Oh, come on, Tammy..." Bruce sounds resigned as he speaks. Tammy then cites the specific laws and statutes pertinent!
Knowing that they have a situation once again, Maddox calls Keisha for legal help- She decides that she needs to be there, NOW. And Tammy is right, this is Imperial law, not just local jurisdiction! At that, Maddox has himself arrested for assault, as he tranked Alphaunze! Keisha gets there fairly rapidly, and with the situation fully explained to her agrees that yes, it WOULD be kidnapping, and yes, Maddox being booked for petty assault is correct as well. So instead of Al being dragged off to the Silhouette for a long-term date with a low-berth, he gets hauled to the drunk tank. He'll be asked if he wants to press charges when he comes to.
After Bruce, Maddox and the unconscious Al head off to the local jail, Deyn and Keisha head back to the professor at the bar. With all the 'fun' of the evening, Deyn WANTS a drink. Or three. They end up having a quiet evening from then on, the professor retiring before Deyn and Keisha. He states that he as a project that he wants to work on in the morning.
Bruce and Maddox get the unconscious Alphaunze processed (bioscan and retinal scans) and dump him in the drunk tank. Maddox is also processed, and thereafter he and Bruce talk and swill coffee. Finally, after several hours he stirs. Once he's moving, He's told what happened and is offered the opportunity to press charges against Maddox. "Why? He's a dick sometimes, but this is nothing." he and Maddox soon thereafter head back to the Silhouette, Maddox calling and letting Keisha and Deyn know what's up.
Keisha and Deyn end up getting in the ship before Maddox and Al. Once everyone is there, a discussion is held. Alphaunze says that he's been inactive for far too long, and NEEDS a release. he wants action or combat, and sitting around an agrarian world isn't helping his temper, especially when he isn't being allowed to even raise a LITTLE hell. After each have their say, he asks for an hour to mull his options, and goes to his cabin.
Eventually, he calls them all down to the cargo bay. he has a large duffel with him and the case for his ACR. "You can get ahold of me when you're ready to go, or if you need me. I'm headed north. There's some kind of crabbing industry up there- Its supposed to be dangerous and pays pretty well. You can just pick me up when you're ready." Keisha tells him that the 'contraband' equipment like the FGMP-15 and the Battle Dress stay with the ship, and he states that he knows. All he's taking is his ACR, which was a mustering-out benefit from the Marines. Goodbyes are said, and he takes his leave of the ship.
After Alphaunze takes off (He leaves the Grumbler behind), things settle down for the most part, other than the bad feeling that the entire sequence of events has left with everyone. Maddox spends the weekend working on his engine modification project and looking at the course lists while Deyn works on the basics of placing the point-defense antipersonnel weapons that they've meant to install for some time. He also applies for a course on grav vehicle operation... 'Sears Driving School'... Keisha, for her part heads back to her treatments at the Psi Institute.
With the arrival of Monday, Maddox and Deyn are off to register for classes at the University. Maddox goes first and asks about testing out of a number of classes; he's at first told that he needs to talk to the department head- he has the student aide running registration call, and of course Professor Yourvin clears the way for him. Deyn comes next, and encounters a similar situation, but he needs to talk to Professor McNallay. The call is made: "Professor McNallay? I have a Deyn... What's your last name?" "You can't pronounce it..." "Can you tell me anyway?" Deyn says his last name, which is an unpronounceable canid sound, and the student continues on the phone: "... Vargr here, who wants to test out of some of the courses... Yes, he's with someone else... Why it IS a Thomas Maddox..." He hangs up shortly thereafter, telling Deyn that he's through with a good deal of the preliminaries due to the earlier 'test flight', but he needs to take some tests today.
Maddox has class starting almost immediately after he's registered, and heads off. Deyn goes to the indicated administrative offices for the required tests, knowing he's got an appointment at 3:15 PM local to start his grav training. He is met there by Professor McNallay- An older man, long-faced and scarred; obviously ex-Navy. He talks briefly with the professor, then begins the tests. He does exceedingly well until the end... Though HE doesn't know that there were problems. Once finished, he heads rapidly to the driving class.
Its just about everything that he feared it would be. Almost all of the people there for the course are young teens, with a little old human lady as the instructor! She goes through the spiel about 'learning the responsibilities of driving,' then calls in Officer Bruce from the other day to run people through the basic rights, rules and such. He gets about three or four sentences in before starting to laugh, seeing Deyn grinning at him! "Deyn, what are YOU doing here?" "Learning to operate gravitic vehicles," is the response. Bruce composes himself, finishes his speech and the class views the futuristic versions of 'Red Asphalt!' and 'Blood on the Highway.'
Back with Maddox at his class. He enters slightly late, but this doesn't make much of a stir. The class is a ship construction and design course, and when the TA describes the particulars of a design procedure referring to the differences between pressure vessel designs, i.e. the differences concerning ships that deal with vacuum and ships that deal with external pressure, Maddox makes a comment that almost completely throws the TA for a loop, especially when he runs the formulas that Maddox puts up on the board and finds that Maddox is right! Class is adjourned for 15 minutes, and Maddox and his 'teacher' have a little talk.
The TA is more impressed with Maddox than angry, and once he finds out why Maddox is in the course, he tells him that while right now he's operating well above the class, later in the course there WILL be new knowledge for him. He shows the TA the blueprints of the Silhouette, where the formulas he came up with were actually used, and is asked to allow them to be used in the class- he agrees, and when they reconvene the class runs stress-simulations on the projected model of the ship; gasps are heard as it handles accelerations over 20 g's without buckling! In fact, the simulation goes out of parameters and can't get an upper limit!
Now, Keisha isn't having anywhere NEAR as good a time as Deyn and Maddox; instead, she is going through batteries of tests for the entire day, and is utterly exhausted by the end of the day. In essence, Doctor Lanyier and his support staff are projecting massive amounts of psionic force at Keisha's mind, trying to wear down her hyperactive defenses! This will be going on for some time.
As the week goes by Maddox makes the point to visit Keisha daily at the institute; each day he finds her more and more exhausted, and by the end of the week she's just out cold at the time of his visit.
During the free time he has (there's a fair bit- both he and Deyn have relatively light course-schedules) Maddox is working on homework as well as his hyperdrive-enhancement ideas. During this, Deyn comes up to him. Maddox braces himself for what he thinks may be another bout of Deyn prying into his life, but instead Deyn has had a bit of a brainstorm! "Commander, I think I've figured something out concerning our pirate problem. Our biggest difficulty is in locating them, correct? Well, I've realized something. They're not a cult, nor are they simply a scattered bunch if pirates. Pelinoboc is one of the Lost Worlds!"
"A what?" Maddox asks. "One of the worlds lost during the Long Night. My world was one as well- it was rediscovered about 200 years ago. But consider this: A world like that, that managed to get a hyperdrive craft working again. They realize that they're not alone, and that they're unknown- they'd have a perfect base of operations, and as they're human they have ready-made deep-cover agents! But they'd have to have made contact somewhere at some point, and those records should be out there." Maddox thinks on this for a while, and agrees that it may be a possibility, with reservations. "There is of course the possibility of Zhodani involvement too," Deyn comments grimly. He makes plans to use the University archives to see if there have been any recorded 'mystery ships' that have appeared and then disappeared in the not-so-recent past.
In class, Maddox has been assisting the TA a lot, mostly behind the scenes. Many of the sessions are intensely boring for him, but especially when they get into the larger ship-structures he finds the class fascinating. Unfortunately, on this particular day its dull as hell, involving the modification and maintenance of cargo bays into weapons-bays. While he fights the tedium, he sees Professor Helix motioning him out of class.
"I was wondering if you'd be interested in a bit of extracurricular activity? I and Professor McNallay have a side business that we run, and we need to get a certain amount of a unique ore mined from the asteroid belt, and we need a competent, experienced pilot. We have a mining vessel for the job, and you'll have two of the students from the Geological Studies department taking part as well. We need to find an astrogator too." "Can Deyn take that spot? He's a more than competent astrogator..." Yorv agrees, and Deyn will be asked. Maddox asks a bit more about what's going on, and Yorv explains: "Well, we run a bit of a side business producing esoteric munitions; nothing illegal. We've an unusual order for 200 rounds of an archaic projectile weapon, and the material is only found in the asteroid belt. It was ordered by someone offworld by the name of... Greg... Putley? I can't pronounce it. They also wanted some primitive weapons- some kind of fork, and a sword."
Professor McNallay calls Deyn out of class soon thereafter; for him, the class is a lot more interesting than what Maddox is going through. The pitch is made to him, and he agrees as well. They're to leave as soon as possible, so he and Maddox head to the Silhouette to gather what they think they might need. Both get armored vacc suits and grav belts, while Deyn gets a sidearm and his electronics kit. Maddox calls (via the number given him by Doctor Lanyier) Keisha and lets her know what's going on, and she has no problem with it. Once they get to the mining ship (the same one they saw when they first landed), they meet their charges, who will be doing the actual mining. William and George, both in geology.
They say their goodbyes to the professors after some last minute instructions, and board. Its an old ship, and it is NOT built for comfort. For crew quarters it has deployable pallets in the bridge, and to reach the mining systems and drives you go through a crawlshaft. Everyone straps in and they lift off... Slowly. Ponderously.
"This thing is a PIG." Deyn comments. "Yeah, I know," replies Maddox, having second thoughts about the whole experience. "This brings back memories of Naval training... Mostly bad memories." Mutters Deyn. "I grew UP working on ships like this." "My sympathies, Commander." "I liked it.." Says Maddox.
The flight upwards continues, and they both feel a flutter in the drives. "You feel that, Commander?" "Yeah, take the helm, I'll go check it out." With that, Maddox heads down the shaft to the drives, admonishing the students to stay put. He looks over the drives, and they are a discontinued model. He and Deyn discuss the matter over a live comm, mentioning the drives, how bad they are, what they did when they inevitably failed... "Didn't they used to slice people in half when they failed?" Deyn says at one point, with Maddox saying back "Yeah, but that was AFTER they cut through the midsection of the ship!" With that, George and William BOLT for the bridge!
"Why are you up here?" Deyn asks. Neither really give a good answer. At about that time the drives cut out completely! Deyn calmly calls down to Maddox, "Commander, are we all right?" Maddox affirms that they are, and the drives come back on, sans flutter. They're providing better thrust too! Once on course for the asteroid belt, Maddox does a bit more work and ups the efficiency some more; however, the gravs are seriously overdue for a refit.
Eventually they reach the Belt and hunt down the asteroid selected for their project. George and William get to work at the controls of the mining beams, with Deyn providing coordinates. The beams are lined up, and fire- Maddox has seen all of this before, but its a new sight for Deyn- "Gods. Why don't they use these as weapons?" "I was just thinking the same thing," replies Maddox. "Likely its a range-and-targetting matter. But maybe..." And Maddox starts thinking. Eight hours later, with Deyn and Maddox approaching the limits of tedium the bays are full of ore and the composite crew can head back in.
However... Deyn has been running periodic sensor sweeps, just in case. He's used to being in situations where the dangerous and unusual occur on a frequent basis. This time, its of the latter type- he detects something out in the asteroid field that registers significantly different from the rest of the rock! He refines his scan, and locates it again, this time getting a solid 'fix' on the object. Its around 5' in diameter, and unusually dense. He lets Maddox know, and Maddox says "Oh, we HAVE to get it."
Deyn is of the opinion of 'No, really, we don't', but he goes along with Maddox's desires here. The students are roused and a course laid to the object. "What's going on?" George asks. "That," indicates Deyn. "Wow. That's real unusual..." "We're gonna go get it!" Says Maddox. "We're going for a walk!" A little discussion about who is actually going out, and Maddox wins. Deyn will be at the helm while Maddox takes the pair out to retrieve the object, tethered. Neither have spacewalked before!
The trio exit the ship and move to the object- they're within meters of it, and reach it without problems. Its nearly spherical, and of a golden color. It seems to be a unique crystalline growth, something like an inside-out geode. It also turns out to be VERY massive. They maneuver it to the side airlock, then inside. Once its in, Maddox slowly brings the cabin gravity up. The thing lands on the deckplates, still moving from the imparted inertia, and gouges scars into the deck as it settles. They foam it into place in the lock-chamber, then head back towards the main lock, George walking on the hull while William sticks with the tether. "I think we should call it Maddoxite," speculates Maddox. Deyn fires back with "Deynite. I FOUND the bloody thing..." Maddox gets an invite to a party that evening, with the condition that he not mention how scared George was when Deyn and Maddox were messing with them.
Everyone gets back to their positions and Maddox takes the helm once again. He fires up the engines, and moments later... EVERYTHING goes dark! "Commander?" "I know. I'm heading back now." "I've my kit along if you need it." "Good!" And with that Maddox heads to the engine room to see what happened. Deyn in the meantime checks systems in the bridge. They have forward motion, but nowhere near enough to bring them home in anything approaching a reasonable timeframe.
Maddox reaches the engine room, and checks the systems. Everything seems to be stone dead. He tries to reprime the capacitors to charge the system, then hits the starter... For a moment, there is power, but it rapidly fades to black once again. They look for other power sources, and what they've got is far too little to even try using. They end up calling for help, and through planetary control they first contact Professor Yourvin, then Keisha.
Once the situation is fully explained (in truth, its not that dangerous a situation for experienced spacers, especially in an occupied system), Keisha heads to the rescue in the Silhouette with both professors in tow. Maddox has discovered that their problem is that they've blown several not-so-expensive but critical relays- these will need to be replaced, which can be accomplished by recreating the parts with the Silhouette's fabricator. While the stranded crew wait, Maddox starts pulling the remnants of the relays out in preparation for replacement- he has William to assist him. Deyn, at Maddox's suggestion takes George out on the hull for an 'integrity check.' This isn't necessary, but it gives George more time in space, and its in the grand Naval tradition of busy-work. Surprisingly, George DOES find a minor problem, some hull damage at one of the landing legs.
Eventually, the Silhouette and the rescue crew arrive. While Keisha piloted her on takeoff and the initial flight, Professor Yourvin is at the helm for the rendezvous. He brings the Silhouette in on a picture-perfect intercept-and-dock, showing that he is quite the pilot himself! once the docking is complete, repairs are begun and cables run from the Silhouette's overpowered capacitors to supply the initial jolt of power required to restart the mining ships' drives.
Amazingly enough things go well and soon the mining ship is up and running. Maddox is going to pilot the pig back with Professor McNallay, while the rest will follow in the Silhouette. Keisha is once again at the helm, getting some much-needed time at the controls, Deyn is in his usual post.
The trip is exceedingly slow, especially for those aboard the Silhouette- she is barely capable of staying behind a vessel as slow as the miner! Maddox and McNallay spend the time talking shop- McNallay tells Maddox that "Mining ships have incredible sensor packages. They have to, given the kind of detail they need to get in preparation for blasting into an asteroid. And because they have systems of this caliber, they can do things like this:" And he remotely jams all of the Silhouette's sensors! Deyn is more than nonplussed by this, especially since he KNOWS that he's being jammed- He manages to penetrate the jam briefly, but can't get a solid break from it.
Eventually, Deyn gets told what was done and has his sensors restored. He grouses about it, and Keisha tries to get him to let it go. Notably, this doesn't help. For him, he just had his abilities face a SERIOUS test, and he failed it. At least from his perspective.
Once they finally get the Silhouette and The Pig back planetside the unloading of the ore begins and Deyn gets a plasma cutter for a little cathartic cutting- he's aiming to free the strange pseudocrystal they found. Maddox stops him and points out the techs using catalyst to break it free with almost no effort- so much for frustration relief! Our of Deyn's hearing Maddox admits to Professor McNallay that Deyn DID find the thing, and Deynite does sound better as a name for the material, IF its a new substance.
And its Friday night. Party time! Maddox already was 'invited', and Deyn has the offer extended to him as well. Its at one of the frat houses, with a 20 credit cover; neither Deyn or Maddox have a problem with that! Deyn gets cash (about 200 credits) and one of his expensive bottles of rare scotch- the Temultin. Scotch is meant to be enjoyed with others after all, and it seems a good time to enjoy it. He and Maddox park the Silhouette back at Pad 3 (they landed at the University ship-bays where the Pig was to be unloaded), and head off on grav-bikes for a good time.
... Things are not so fun for Keisha. Pretty much as they exit the ship she is called and informed that, while the emergency was understandable, she is once again due for more psi-sessions. She heads back to the Institute for a far less enjoyable time than what her shipmates are off to.
At the party, there are few if any other grav vehicles. Maddox and Deyn park and head in, Deyn paying the cash-only cover. The place is packed, students of multiple species dancing, talking, playing cards and all thoroughly having a good time. Maddox is hoping for a little 'one on one' recreation, while Deyn is just out for an enjoyable evening. The pair split up, Deyn heading for one of the poker tables and Maddox heading out back to the wet T-shirt contest. Deyn makes an attractive ante at the table- He sets the scotch down in full view and says, "Am I in?" "Hell yeah!" is the response!
Maddox, outside is looking for companionship, poorly. For the most part he stands and watches, making no real overtures to any of the attractive members of the student body present. He does enjoy the show at least. Eventually, despite his efforts he IS approached by a classmate. Her name is Barb, and she's definitely had a few. "Hey. You're in my class, right? You've got a big brain. But your calculations are wrong." He says "What?" "Your calculations are wrong. I can prove it!" He argues for his position, and she inadvertently insults the Silhouette! This pretty much eliminates any carnal desires he has, but it also drives him to talk with her further, to figure out what she knows!
Deyn is having a wonderful time losing at poker and drinking fine scotch with entertaining companions. His beret gets borrowed by one of the other players- he makes a mental note to retrieve it before he leaves. Maddox and Barb are both hip-deep in their argument- she claims that with her formulas the Silhouette could pull 25.2 gees acceleration, but that nothing carbon-based could survive that, even with grav-compensation; Maddox, for his part keeps saying that he can 'overrack' the grav systems so that it COULD be survivable! Barb asks/demands to be taken to the Silhouette before she'll tell anything... And after some of his patented pigheaded resistance, Maddox agrees.
Back at the poker table, the scotch has died as all brave soldiers eventually do, and with a salute from all gathered the empty bottle is put in a place of honor on a high shelf lining the walls. Deyn bites back a bit of a reaction to the 'saluting the dead,' as its something that he's had to do too many times for real. The girl with his beret turns out to be named Lindsay, and much to his surprise she propositions him! He has to think about it at first (she's human, and he's old enough to be her father), but as he's no xenophobe and she's old enough to make her OWN choices, he takes her up on it.
Before this though, Maddox and his 'date' have headed out to the grav bikes and are ready to go to the Silhouette. They get on Maddox' bike, and... the lifts burn out! Not being choosy (and not caring if he pisses Deyn off), Maddox takes Deyn's ride and the pair swoop away to the ship.
Once there, Barb's backhanded compliments continue to fly. After she gets somewhat stunned by the obscene amount of power possessed by the Silhouette, they take a short flight, Maddox showing her what it can do. By the time they land at the pad, Maddox is damn near ready to throw her off when she finally asks for something to write with. She sits on the floor of the cargo bay, and writes out a standing set of formulas. "So where are your over-racking plans?" She asks. "I can manage it," he replies. "You don't have any plans drawn up, do you..." In the end, Maddox takes her home, then sits and stares at the formulas; soon, he has a grease pencil and is scrawling his OWN formulas all over the bay, trying to break her conclusions!
Deyn and Lindsay also leave the party, relatively soon after Maddox and Barb- However, Deyn is nonplussed to find his bike gone and Maddox' burned out one remaining! He grumbles a bit, but Lindsay as a groundcar. They head off to her apartment, and the night is spent in advanced studies of xenobiology...
Late the next morning Deyn finally returns to the Silhouette; he called for a taxi, getting Gimp again and retrieved the burned out grav bike as well. On arrival, he finds Maddox in a fugue of sleep-deprivation sitting in the hold surrounded by scrawled formulas, numbers and notes! "Ah, I see. You've finally snapped and will be killing us with an axe soon..." he says. "Why would I use an axe?" Maddox distractedly replies, still looking at the formulas. Deyn makes a not-quite-successful jab at Maddox concerning his luck with Lindsay, but gets no reaction from the zoned-out Mad Engineer. "I can't break her formulas!" is about all Maddox will say, so Deyn cleans up and crashes after a night well-spent.
Keisha's evening and night aren't nearly as entertaining. More testing, more attempts to break through her out-of-control defenses and still no solid progress. There are moments when things seem to have improved, but for each success there seems to be an equal failure of some sort. They attempt the opposite tack from stressing her defenses to break through and attempt the use of hallucinogenic drugs to get through. This also has mixed, indefinite success. She's comforted by Doctor Lanyier somewhat when he tells her that this IS progress, but it will take time, and is then told to relax and take the rest of the weekend off. She heads out with the intent of relaxing aboard the Silhouette, away from the rigors of the Psi Institute.
The scene she is greeted with is not quite what she expected or wanted- Deyn is watching Maddox, both of them surrounded by Maddox' and Barb's formulas, with Maddox cutting loose one of the ships main support beams! "What the hell is going on here?" She asks. Deyn replies, "He's cutting out the main supports. Gods know why..." "We'll be able to pull 25.2 gees if I do this right!" Maddox says. "Just out of curiosity, Commander, how much could we pull now, with that cut away?" Maddox thinks a moment, then says, slightly sheepishly, "About 2.5 gees... But When this is done we'll be incredible!" Deyn just shakes his head. Keisha for her part looks at the madmen she willingly travels with and changes her plans. She gets some things from her stateroom, drops it off at the Institute then goes shopping!
She finds a shop that caters to nonhumans and goes inside. It turns out to be an 'all-natural' store, specializing in natural fibers and textiles. She orders and pays for several outfits made of gene-modified spider-silk, which she'll pick up at six that evening.
Monday once again comes, with Deyn finding Maddox asleep at his work. He wakes him so that Maddox can make his class, and heads to his own. Maddox finds Barb and talks to her again, and once again screws his chances with her, He DOES get an 'I told you so' from her though.
Deyn's classes for the day involve targeting and target-acquisition, both in terms of weapons-locks and sensor-operations. There is an emphasis on the differences between civilian systems (like the high-end systems aboard the Pig) and military suites (like aboard the Silhouette). For this, Professor McNallay is teaching rather than relying on a TA. He questions Deyn as to the standard military protocols for certain sensors-ops and targeting solutions, then explains the differences between military and civilian solutions, as least as far as he can. Thereafter, he gets into what can be done with civilian systems, and Deyn gets some answers about how he was jammed, and what he can do about it!
After classes, Deyn talks to Maddox about what is being done to the Silhouette. Maddox is, of course, up to his eyeballs in moving struts and supports. Deyn is about to help when Lindsay calls! Deyn is torn between helping Maddox (and keeping an eye on what's going on) and enjoying the company of Lindsay... In the end, Maddox and Lindsay by turns convince him to get together with her. His evening passes wonderfully, ending with him asleep in Lindsay's bed.
This week finds Keisha in a new situation: As a new tactic, Doctor Lanyier has taken her out to the wilderness to see if the disconnect from her normal surroundings might help her get past the blockage. The area chosen is an almost-idyllic forested area near a lake, with a beach, campfire and some walking trails. He is able to finally get into her head psychically, and they have a psionic conversation where he comments that this is only the second time he's been able to 'see' into her mind!
He asks Keisha about what happened when the blockage first appeared. She tells him about the breakfast-attempt to reach Maddox's mind for a private discussion, the uncontrolled and spontaneous burst of power she apparently unleashed and her passing out almost directly thereafter. He thinks about this revelation, then tells her that it isn't surprising- an attempted offensive contact with a 'stubborn and pigheaded' friend can cause such problems. They continue psychically talking until the connection simply fails.
The next day Doctor Lanyier is once again able to contact her mind- this may be a breakthrough! While they talk, he has her pick a direction and walk. They maintain the conversation, but eventually, once she's passed a mile or so in distance the connection finally drops. She's finally making progress!
Meanwhile, Deyn and Maddox are in their respective classes. Maddox is bored to tears as his class is going over cargo-bay refits for larger vessels. Deyn isn't much better off- His course is going over transponder modification! He knows a LOT more than the instructor in this case, but can't say a word at all.
Out of nowhere, they (and everyone else for that matter) hear sirens outside- Air defense sirens! People are confused and uncertain what to do, but Deyn and Maddox both have ugly, sinking feelings about his. The fire-systems in the buildings start going off, and Deyn calls Maddox via their comm-dot implants- "Commander? What is our flight status?" Maddox's reply is "I'm on my way."
To be continued...
