Scout’s Honor
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spoilers ahead
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turn back now
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all who want to
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run this solitaire
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SERIOUSLY
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THE NEXT BIT
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IS A BIG SPOILER
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you were warned…
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Part 2- Rescue (edited 05/08 see*)
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Page 6-8
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Step B and C
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There are some problems here, which may be simply the creep of house rules, but it definitely affected my perceptions and I actually finished the adventure in this step because of them. So maybe they weren’t the problems I originally thought they were but very clever. Of course where’s the fun in ending the adventure so early, so I fudged and continued on
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The Grendel approached the drifting craft cautiously. Rather than risk the ship by docking the Skipper and Steward prepare to go across in Vacc-Suits.
“Ready Kid?“
“Check Skipper.“
“Still no reply on the comms Chief?“
“Negative Skip, all quiet except for the GK.“
“OK. We’ll do a quick once over of the exterior for damage then try the airlock Kid. Keep a sharp eye on the scopes Chief and holler quick if you see anything, and I mean anything. If you lose radio from us open fire with the lasers and slice this thing in half right down the middle and get outta here as quick as Guns can get to the helm. Understood Chief?“
“Aye Skip, understood.”
After a quick 20 minute external tour finds no damage (paragraphs 15 and 25) the two merchants enter the airlock and cycle it. All they find inside the lifeboat is a single delirious barely conscious male in an IISS uniform with a laser carbine at his side. The air is stifling and the survivor looks in bad shape. There is evidence of a laser gun battle, with random damage to the interior of the boat. The life support has sustained minor damage resulting in no humidity being cycled and the boat’s electronics have been hit, destroying the black box recorder and leaving no way to tell what happened. No way except by asking the survivor. After checking the survivor and recommending sips of water and a cool damp cloth for the dehydration and heat exhaustion the Skipper moves the craft to dock with his ship while the Steward secures the laser weapon and comforts the survivor.
“Everything is secure here Chief, moving to dock now. Have the mechanic meet me with his tools at the airlock. There’s some minor damage to repair over here."
The airlocks mate and pressure equalizes. The Steward helps the survivor to the makeshift infirmary in the lounge, handing the laser carbine to the Skipper on his way by.
“Come on through Scout, see if you can get this life support working again ok.”
After a quick look the ex-Scout opens up his tool kit, “No problem Skip, it’s just a locked vent. Looks like a lucky laser shot welded it shut is all. I can have it working in a couple minutes and things should be comfortable again in less than an hour.”
“Great, when you’re done secure the airlock and see me back on the Grendel.”
“Sure thing Skip. The survivor is IISS. Did he say anything about how he ended up in this mess?”
“Nope, but I’ll keep you posted once we have him up and around. Once a Scout always a Scout eh?”
“Yessir.”
The survivor recovers quickly and is adamant in thanking the crew for his rescue. He tells a harrowing story of Pirate attack, sabotage, and narrow escape. Now he wants to enlist the help of his rescuers in saving the other Scouts still aboard the Purcell, the X-Boat Tender the Pirates have hijacked. He promises the IISS will provide a sizable reward for the recovery of the Tender.
The Skipper is thoughtful for a moment, “I’m sorry son, I can’t risk it. I’ve got a ship full of civies and me and my crew aren’t the Marines. Best to get you and the info to the proper authorities asap.”
Drake looks stunned for a moment then explodes “You can’t do that! There isn’t time! It’ll take a day to get to the farport and who knows how long after that to organize something and then come all the way back out here. They’ll be gone long before that. We only have hours! They’ll space the Scouts once they have them fix the jump drive. You’re their only hope.”
The crew looks at the Skipper expectantly and his own Scout nods to the door and steps out. The Skipper follows out saying as he pauses at the door “You make a strong case, especially with at least one of my crew, I expect he wants to make a private appeal on your behalf. Give me a minute and I’ll see what I can do.”
Drake brightens measurably “Thanks Captain, a thousand times for me and the crew of the Purcell.”
In the hall outside the ex-Scout looks concerned “Something isn’t right Skipper. There’s too many holes in his story. Standard crew complement of the Purcell would be 6, maybe 9 with full gunners in a bad system, but there’s a good chance there’s always a few X-Boat jockeys on layover. The pirates had to figure on at least 10 aboard the Tender. And he claimed the stricken type S was taken in and the bay pressurized. That makes no sense, it goes against all kinds of IISS standards. And he said heard the gunfire from his stateroom? That’s impossible unless bulkheads were left open. On an IISS ship? Never. Or the pirates were already on the bridge deck in which case he would have been caught himself. (edit - And where did he get explosives to sabotage the jump drive? And why the jump drive? Why not the power plant if he wanted to cripple the ship? - see*) And that bit about the lifeboat on the Purcell for his lucky escape? Tender’s don’t have lifeboats. And the damage aboard it is suspicious. Everything was fine except a minor life support problem that most any Scout could have fixed. And talk about a lucky shot. That and the recorder being shot too. I could go on and on but it all comes down to I’ve just got a bad feeling about this Skipper.”
The Skipper is stunned, his Scout is usually quiet to the point of being mistaken for taking a vow of silence. This is not the kind of case he expected to be made, but it makes sense. “You’re right son, my decision stands then, we head for the farport with all haste and let them deal with it.”
“No Skipper, I think we just need to go into this with eyes open like you always do. There’s something seriously wrong here but I think we should play along. There may very well be IISS personnel and material in jeopardy, he had to have gotten that uniform from somewhere and the only way we’ll find out is if he thinks we’re helping. Who knows, I could even be wrong and he’s on the level, in which case maybe we can help.”
“I don’t like it, but ok, we play along, for now, and cover our asses. Let’s tell our guest the good news.”
The Skipper reenters the lounge and all eyes are on him “Ok Drake, you have yourself a rescue party.”
Drake grins like his head is about to split open but before he can start thanking the crew again the Skipper continues, “But first I need to get the civies off and on the way to safety. Kid, prep them for transfer to the lifeboat while I set the autopilot to take them to the farport. Give them a KiloCred stick to cover the tab while they wait for us there. And prepare a message of what we’re up to for them to deliver. Will that work for you Drake?”
Drake’s grin slips a little “Of course Captain, I can respect your need to insure the safety of your passengers. How long until we can go after the Purcell?”
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* After some thought it occurred to me that there could be explosives aboard, in the form of rescue charges. A standard part of the ship's locker in MTU capable of making a man size entry hole through a bulkhead. And I suppose he chose the jump drive to keep the pirates from getting out of the system but allow the hostages to live where damaging the powerplant might mean life support would be reduced.
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