Pixie...and then a Boost to Kinorb

Brad Thompson, the former-Marine cop who went easy on John, met with him at a tavern for dinner. Brad explained that although the prisoners claimed to be Easers, Detective Carson believed that they are actually Binders because of conflicts within their statements. Evidence proved that STARLIT took legitimate cargo to Count Anicon Javan who the Binders support. But, Rachel mentioned that afterward the ship may have stopped for a barbeque at Sir George Minot’s, a suspected sympathizer of the Easers. Although no documented cargo was delivered there, an undocumented one would explain why the Binders were angry. Carson had no proof but was now looking for Binder and Easer agents on the station. He did not want a civil war on Feri spilling over onto Boughene and he did not want spies carrying out crimes within his jurisdiction.

When pressed, Brad also revealed that Carson did not plan to fully brief Sir Scath Vornif when he returned from the surface. Sir Vornif “is not trustworthy” and was probably banished to Boughene. Brad did not know what his crimes were, but Detective Carson had received a secret video from the Duke himself on Regina. Afterward Carson briefed the Boughene Council in a closed-door session and began surveilling Vornif. Brad felt like a mouse watching elephants dance. He asked John to keep this information to himself and only share it with those he could absolultely trust.

Tabitha stayed on the ship that night. She had missed enough action and was feeling guilty.

Albert headed to a restaurant alone to pour through the Station’s library data. He wanted information on Feri and the troubles there.

Most of what he learned was not new. He found that the Count’s rules had been dubbed The Bindings and “Binders” included both his supporters (who for some reason loved excessive laws) and his bureaucrats (who loved both their personal power over the populace and their high salaries). The second largest group was the “Easers” who protested in the streets, promoted strikes and peaceful non-compliance, and constantly petitioned for repeals. A third, smaller group, had begun violently protesting and were now resorting to murder, sabotage, and kidnapping. Threats of bombings had even been received. This group was loosely organized without an identifiable leader but was referred to as the terrorist group Red Sky by the authorities and identified only as “roughkin” by themselves. At least one Vargr raider was recorded assisting Red Sky when its crew shot up an Armed Yacht belonging to the Count, sending it crashing near Falstaff and killing everyone aboard.

Everyone returned to the ship and the next morning the new passengers (Alex Huffington and Dr. Terje Olefsson) were briefed and the cargo was re-checked. Shortly after breakfast STARLIT pulled away from the station and headed out to the jump.

Departure was routine although a distant pirate was detected. The week in jump space was also routine and Pytr continued his physical training on the way to way to Pixie. The crew did not open the cargo; it was a matter of trust and Tilden & Company liked discretion.

It would have been a tough landing on Pixie due to the binary star system, but Pytor instead docked at Highport (berth 2C4) and waited eight hours.

After the perturbation ended, STARLIT landed near the Ancients’ archeological site. It was a cave, and the cargo crate was taken inside by the archaeologist and his body guard to Sir Gurech in their vacc suits, guarded by the crew of STARLIT in their combat armor.

The Imperial Governor General of Pixie, Sir Ekh-agh-gaen Gurech, an Imperial Vargr and a retired Naval Admiral, had paid “a fortune for the cargo”. He hoped to build a tourist town to bring in revenue…but he offered no explanation for the expensive cargo and was nervous when a scout ship named LIGHTNINGBUG from GP flew overhead. The General was looking forward to getting back to his “estate” next to the orbiting Starport. The crew knew that he also owned a well-defended planet-side domed villa on the far side of the world.

When work finished the Admiral and his guards lifted in his ship and crew of STARLIT lifted in theirs, heading up to Highport. The date was 1105-058… and the time was 1400. (Referee Note to Players: jumps take one week, it takes half a day on average to maneuver out to a jump point and half a day to maneuver in. Offloading takes a day and onloading takes a day and the crew is authorized three to four days of liberty on each world…such that the full cycle takes on average two weeks.)

[This image was generated by Brian using MS Paint.]

That evening at “Highport” in orbit around Pixie, the crew of STARLIT received orders from a Tilden & Company agent named Rex Hardhammer. He wanted 40 tons and four people taken to Kinorb. He had arranged a tractor and power-augmented L-Hyd tanks to achieve the necessary Jump-3.

The four passengers for Kinorb showed up the next morning. Three were wealthy merchants (and wine connoisseurs) and they were accompanied by a private chef. They brought their own wine for the week and introduced themselves as Jackson Terrier (tall and handsome), Phyllis Gerond (gray-haired and stylish), and Otto Farquarr (jolly and chubby with a sense of daring). The chef was Harold Green (muscular, tattooed, and alert) who initially was very quiet and alert but later took a liking to John when the former-Marine listened with patience to a tale of betrayal during a Marine patrol on Feri.

Later in the day the crew met a former Scout, Roger Kowalski, who was hired by General Products LIC (starships, heavy industry) out of Boughene to "scout" information related to the environment on Pixie for a prospective heavy industrial project commissioned by Sir Gurech. Roger bought drinks and the crew answered questions and learned that Roger’s Type-S scout ship is LIGHTNINGBUG, the same GP ship that was surveying for GP above Sir Gurech’s tourist town project as they offloaded cargo. The crew then spent another two days at Highport.

As they departed, undocking was difficult by Pytor managed. The transit out was uneventful and jump space was quiet. STARLIT arrived at Kinorb without incident. Pytor continued his personal development for Endurance. During the jump John talked to the chef and invited him to workouts. Upon arrival at Kinorb the tractor helped them maneuver with their extra bulk and the crew notice many scoutships in the system, far more than normal.

The four passengers disembarked to buy their valuable 40-ton wine shipment for Pixie. And, the power-augmented L-Hyd tanks were prepared for service and refueling for departure.

There was no agent for Tilden & Company on Kinorb but a message was waiting. “Well done on Roup. Reggie was important for more than just fish products. Doubly well done with the corsair leaving Roup. Two 5KCr bonuses are waiting for all hands aboard at that time and can be picked up at the bank. Yes, do keep the recovered cargo as yours to do with as you wish. Pick up a group of vid rockstars on Pixie (known as The Young Fringe) and bring them to Boughene. The wine and three passengers are to be handed off to an agent on Pixie. Blast.”

Noticing the empty 10-ton cargo space, John and Pytor bought 5,000 CR worth of fruit products (2500 ea) on Kinorb. They were likely to sell well on Pixie. (Referee Note: -3 to the actual value).

As the adventure ended, John and Pytor went jogging (at 0930 on 1105-071). There is one more day until the planned liftoff.

(Referee Note: Albert did not attend this session and therefore did not yet ask questions about his mother. Play will continue without diversion if he is unable to attend the next session.)

Pixie Starport [Note: image was grabbed quickly from internet during the game; if you own this, please let me know so I can credit you (or take it down from this public site if you require).]

Pixie - The Planet [Generated by Traveller Maps and then altered in MS Paint.]

Pixie's Large Orbital Naval Base [Note: image grabbed quickly from internet during the game; if you own this, please let me know so I can credit you (or take it down from this public site if you require).]

Kinorb - A World of Gardens and Wine [Image generated by Traveller Maps - Traveller Worlds.]