As Buzz familiarized himself with the ship’s controls, Scott explained it was a spy ship from RAM named the Maelstrom Rider. Scott then explained that it was currently transponding a distress signal that it appeared RAM was responding too. A light Cruiser was fast approaching.
There was not enough time to flee, so when the ship hailed them, Max did their best to bluff their way out of the situation. Max relayed to Buzz what to say, and so explained the Maelstrom Rider had been flying dark for a while due to a mechanical issue, however everything was fine now. The other ship seemed to be convinced and as a parting question asked them how the weather was on Earth. Seraphina, listening to her instincts, told Buzz to respond that it was about to get a lot more cloudy with a chance of rain. This seemed to placate the RAM ship and it went on its way, saying that the Maelstrom Rider should return to base and check in; RAM was concerned it had been out so long.
Buzz expertly piloted the ship toward Salvation III, giving a hard burn to get moving and then once again shutting down the reactor so they could not be followed. Once back at the station, Carlton was excited to see them again and explained their new situation.
The NEO engineers repaired and cleaned the ship, restocked the ammunition and then handed the proverbial keys back to the adventures. Carlton explained they were full agents now, and their first mission was to take this spy ship back to the secret Asteroid Base in Ceres that it hailed from. Carlton told them that they were forfeiting their rooms, because the Maelstom Rider was their new home.
Down in the cantina, Seraphina was elated to see Carm again and explained their change in position. Max met up with D’Zargo and explained they would be heading out on a mission and not be back for a while, while Alex found out that Ron “The Swan” had managed to get a position as a captain of a heavy cruiser in orbit around Venus. Buzz said his goodbyes to Rex and then the adventurers collected their belongings and moved into the Maelstrom Rider.
Once they determined who’s room was who’s, the new crew of the Maelstrom Rider started to plot a course for the Secret base near Ceres. Carm suggested that before they got too far away from civilization, perhaps they should stop in at Tycho on Luna and stock the ship as best they could; he simply could not live with all the prepackaged food that was in the galley and insisted they get something fresh. The rest of the crew decided this was a good idea and so they headed toward Luna.
Scott.DOS advised them to impersonate the previous crew of the ship, as they were documented RAM citizens. Scott and Max worked together to alter a few personal data pads to ensure that the biometrics matched the people they were impersonating, which would comfortably provide them enough documentation to get into Tycho and through customs, but would certainly not hold up in the event that RAM was contacted to confirm that the crew was who they said they were. With this in mind, they landed and were told they could charge their RAM account for the docking fees.
Getting through customs was easy enough, but came once again at the cost of a few hundred credits, and the group was forced to trade some of their hard currency to the Lunarian Pfennig. Once in the market district though, any inconvenience was forgotten.
Carm was able to purchase everything he wanted and there were plans made to have it delivered to the ship, where Alex was waiting to receive it. Knowing they were done and eager to get on the road to Ceres, the adventurers thought to leave, but Carm asked for one more stop; he wanted hot chocolate. Agreeing a decent beverage before they were stuck on the ship for three days was a good idea, the adventurers asked a few locals where a decent cafe was and they were directed to an establishment with a punny name that was half bar and half cafe.
As the adventures sat enjoying their beverages, Seraphina and Max overheard someone having a good cry at a table near them. A young mousy haired woman in dirty clothing sat collecting tears in the bottom of an empty cup. Seraphina invited the girl to join the adventurers at their table, and the young woman was initially hesitant, but then agreed to enjoy some of the adventurers hospitality.
A drink was ordered for the young woman, who introduced herself as Sheila Matthews and explained that she was distraught because she had nothing. Apparently, Sheila had been living with her grandmother and trying her best to find work, however all of her skill sets were in fields that were classically very male dominated and no one wanted to give the little girl a job that they thought young men would struggle with. Sheila explained how she could weld, and turn a wrench with the best of them, but since she did not look the part, she was unable to find work.
Sheila’s grandmother, who was independently wealthy, had been supporting the both of them, but had taken ill and very suddenly passed away. No sooner did this happen, then the bank came and explained that Sheila was unable to collect her inheritance, which included the home she had been living in, unless she cleared up a matter at the bank to the tune of 5000 credits. Sheila, having not been working for an extended period of time, simply did not have the money, but also did not have the money to go anywhere else, so she was staring down homelessness and starvation.
The adventures decided there and then, they could use another crew member on their ship and offered her a job. Sheila was willing to accept and was ready to go, but Seraphina was unwilling to let her inheritance rot in a bank, especially since the adventurers could pay the fee, and Sheila could immediately reimburse them. So, the group headed a few blocks away to a branch of a very prestigious bank.
As the adventures approached the bank, they saw a young man that Sheila waved to. Sheila told the adventurers that the young man was her cousin John and that he was also waiting for some money in the inheritance. This raised a few eyebrows, but looking the man over, he was dressed cleanly and looked to be doing better than Sheila was, so they didn’t think anything of it.
Once inside the bank, Sheila walked to a counter and presented the teller with some kind of paperwork, which Max was able to see confirmed that it was for a Matthews account. The teller also confirmed the name on the account and then asked who was paying the fee to release the funds. As this was happening, Sheila began to get light headed and make a scene. Patrons and bank security came to her aid with Seraphina at her side. Max presented her RAM credentials as Dr. Donna Conchitez and the teller began whatever process was necessary.
Buzz noticed the young man John in his bomber jacket and industrial clothing, leaving the bank at this point, and tried to follow, while Seraphina stayed close to Sheila as bank security whisked her outside where an ambulance had been called and was waiting. The paramedics would not allow Seraphina to go with Sheila, but indicated that if Seraphina was family, she could find her at the local hospital a few minutes card ride away.
Back in the bank, the teller processed the 500 credit payment, and then explained to Donna (Max) that she was now responsible for an overdraft fee. A lot of confusing conversion later, it was explained that once the payment to release the funds was processed, 110k credits had been withdrawn as a cashiers check which landed the account overdrawn. Max explained the confusion and the teller indicated they had fallen for a rather classic con, and the police would be summoned so they could file a report, but unfortunately Dr. Donna Conchitez was now the legal and rightful owner of the bank account, and was responsible for the fees; there was simply nothing that could be done about it. Seraphina convinced Max that they did not want to be in the bank when the police arrived and to let the bank bill Dr. Conchitez, so they left.
Out in the main road, Buzz observed that there were dozens of young men dressed exactly as he knew John to be dressed as, almost as if John had purposefully dressed to blend in with a crowd. Not sure what else to do, and wanting to collect their 500 credits from the guts of the two con artists, the adventurers asked around the market to see if anyone knew anything. For an hour or so they were unable to find anything, but eventually they found themselves inside Flopark’s Electronics, a small consumer electronics store.
Frank Flopark, the sole proprietor seemed to know something about the two con artists, but was happily Bugs Bunnying the adventurers, waiting for them to catch on that he wanted them to pay him for his information. Max had little patience and eventually pulled a gun on the man, but that just made him get cockier and eventually Buzz ended up buying a small portable TV for more than market value, but the man then told them where to find Jane Matheson and Stevie Heart. Frank said they lived in the Marriott a few blocks away. Max exchanged some more in appropriate words with Frank, realizing that they actually enjoyed the man’s demeanor, and they headed to the hotel.
At the hotel, Buzz got the unwanted romantic attention of the young man at the front desk, which provided them with the room number for the con artists. Max quickly bypassed the lock on the door and once inside began to look around. Buzz followed in while Carm and Seraphina waited in the lobby, with Carm pointing out that the hotel offered hourly rates while winking at his blushing wife.
In the room Buzz picked up whatever money he could find and Max was able to break into a small concealed safe. Inside the safe was a bit more money and all told, the managed to recoup 130 credits of hard currency. More importantly, Max discovered a sheaf of very important documents that indicated that Jane and Stevie were attempting to gain full citizenship, but owed some half a million credits to various authorities as part of that process. The documentation was all kinds of official papers with raised seals proving births and marriages, but was also the paperwork required to have children and own property on Luna. Max, in a somewhat heartless moment, hatched a plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment