1107.324 2340hrs UST(+7ADC) - Transit to Belnafaer

The Empress Katarina has made a transit to the nearby Darida system.  There, she makes her way to the gas giant planet, Belnafaer and a small iceball satellite moon called Snobol.  The crew have been commissioned by ByChem Corp. to ferry a well known molecular bio-chemist engineer, Dr. Saregeny Marksputin, to the station.  The Empress Katarina made the 117.5 hour transit time without any incidents.  However, eighteen hours out on approach to the station, the Empress receives a distress transmission from an unknown source.  The distress transmission was directed at a ship called the Moneyspider.  We pick up the story as they arrive to static momentum relative to the Snobol moon. The ship is 10 km from the moon on its southern pole.

Visual images of the moon, reveal an icy block about 6 km in diameter, though not exactly spherical. It makes a rotation on its axis every 4 minutes and 45 seconds.  Watching the station, one sees several features.  A sharship is docked to a 20 km long tether to the station along its equatorial axis. A small dock opening is on one pole.  It is small, such as for a shuttle.  While on the opposite pole, a much larger rectangular man-made opening exists.  This must be a landing zone within the moon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:15, Thu 23 Nov 2023.

"Should we do a serious sensor search of Snobol Captain? That call sounded like they had a problem there and it sounded life and death. Look for survivors?" Harry asks Karma.

Before checking on the Passenger, Adrian headed to the bridge hoping to get an update on the situation. Or a summary of what the Captain wanted the guest to be told.

GM RESPONSE

The captain asks Ms. Orilliah to speak to the guest and inform him we have arrived at Belnafaer.  She also asks Adriannah to bring the guest to the passenger reception lounge (crew lounge).  She wishes to speak with him.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:55, Mon 20 Nov 2023.

"We are 10,000 meters out Harry.  That's close enough to get a pretty good sensor feel.  See what you can find out." Karma replies to the gunner. She opens the iris on the table and brings up the zoomed-in optical image of the moon on the holo-vid. "There is no scattered debris, smoke, or leaking gases."

To the left of the moon's image is the large diameter gas giant, Belnafaer.  It's dusky orange clouds, with hints of purple and red create vivid swirls and eddies in bands across it's outer atmosphere. An aurora at one of its poles glows eerily green.  It really is quite beautiful to see.

"Should we tell him what has happened?"  she asks aloud, unsure herself what to do with the guest.

Not really expecting an answer, she continues to her next thought. "Might be a good idea for someone to figure out how we are going to dock with this thing.  Might want to get into your vacc-suits." 
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Mon 20 Nov 2023.

Slipping away Adriannah headed to the passengers stateroom extending the Captain's invitation to meet with him in the lounge.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:41, Wed 22 Nov 2023.

Billianah was in the galley fixing a snack and heared the Stewardesses conversation.

Sargeny takes his time, packs up his computer, files, and papers as the summons from the captain comes.  He makes his way to the lift, and with Adriannah's code, takes the lift down to the passenger reception area where a group of people are gathered.  He takes a seat at the table and looks over to the captain.

"We made exceptional time Captain." he says, pushing his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose. "That may compensate for the overall horrible experience this passage has been.  I was to make a formal complaint to the trade guild, but then I learned of events that were not in your control and my inconvenience seems misplaced.  I am truly sorry to hear of the death of your crewman."

"That is why I am summoned, yes?  We are docked?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:33, Tue 21 Nov 2023.

Harry goes to the sensor station and scans Snobol with a deep scan to find out what he can.
"Aye, aye Captain, scanning now!"

---

GM RESPONSE

Harry can use any of the sensors on board.  He chooses the optical sensors first and finds no debris, dust, smoke, or gas leaks from the Moneyspider or from the moon, Snobol.  He next checks thermal scans.  He can see power blooms on the Moneyspider, but only for a power plant.  There are several biological heat signatures onboard. Engines are cold.  There are two biological heat signatures on a transport along the tether moving toward the moon.  The moon exhibits no heat signatures on the exterior with exception to the base of the tether.  There seems to be a power generator there.   He finds the densitometer gives him the most information.  Ice, though solid, is not that dense.  He can make out the deck plan of the entire station.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:46, Mon 20 Nov 2023.

[Coms-Captain]"'Sickbay' is ready Captain, if it becomes necessary." the doctor informs the captain over coms

Tanja sits on the pilot's chair, her hands resting lightly on the ships controls. Her focus is on the results of Harry's sensor sweep.

"Didn't they say that the ice shield had failed or something?? Is there any visible damage to the facility??"

To Karma she asks, "Where are we going to be landing to drop our guest off?? Tether or port??" When no response was forthcoming, she turned in her seat and realised that Karma had left the bridge. So deep in her own thoughts she hadn't noticed the captain leave the bridge, and wasn't sure just when she had left. She repeats the question over the comms before returning her attention to the display again to monitor the sensor data.


Edit: Realised that Karma is currently talking with the passenger... Edited
This message was last edited by the player at 10:29, Wed 22 Nov 2023.

While in the lounge Lex listened to the status given and evaluates how best to help.  He decided he would return to the Repair Bay and continue working on setting it up, because at some point having it up and running will be critical.

"I'll be setting up the Repair Bay if anyone need me." Lex announces as he gets up and prepares to leave the lounge. He pause and asked “Do we have a Label Maker on board?”

Fatboy was recovering three days of one-to-one meeting with KATRINA-1, hanging around the refrigerator for a time, and listening to the distress signal record a couple of times.

As a former belter and amateur geologist, he's very interested with what the bio-chemist has to say.

He's thus disappointed, that Marksputin awkwardly threatens to fill a complaint. But then, Fatboy knows well that social skills and expertise in science do rarely mix.

"Doctor Marksputin , do you have any idea what is going on so secret here? We receive a distress call, a mention of electrical storm (so far from the gas giant?), freeze fields, a person named Akord gone missing, but then everything looks covered up...", he blurts.

"No doctor, we are not docked."  Karma replies to the scientist. "We will be shortly.  I invited you here at this time to share with you some information.  I do not know your relationship with the station.  Whether you have been here before, or you have friends here. We intercepted a transmission a little while ago that you should listen to."

Karma brings up the transmission log and replays the data stream for the scientist.  The man's face blanches at the vid and what it implies.

He looks across at the captain when the transmission ends, "They are all dead?  What happened?  I mean, I don't know any of them.  I have never been here.  Are we in danger?" 

"You are asking questions I do not have an answer to." the captain replies. "Thank you doctor.  We will be docking shortly and perhaps we will get some answers.  Just buckle up once we are close."

Karma touches her ear bud.

[COMMS]
"Thanks Dr. Soboleskii.  Please make you way to the lounge." the captain replies to the doc's communications.  Tanja then gets her attention with a question regarding docking.  She brings up the C.O.C. sensor screens from Harry's station with a command override.  She swipes up the densitometer information and zooms in the overlay.

"That looks like a docking bay Ms Skorskald." the captain says, pointing to the right of the density mapping. "Maneuver with the gravitic arrays per standard space station docking procedures. No Intellect."

She continues to scan the imaging and notes the upper left of the iceball. "That's also for docking, but not for anything larger than a shuttle it appears.  And... there is no shuttle."   

She looks at the others, the obvious thought out there.  Where is the shuttle?  Do they even have one?  Is that zone used for cargo handling?  Or perhaps, ice haulers from that mine?

The scientist looks stricken when addressed by Fatboy.  His face turns ruddy and he pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose before answering, "Secret?"  he sputters, looking from face to face.  "I don't know anyone named Akord. I don't even know what they want from me yet.  But secrets I'm sure they have, just like every corporation out there."

He manages to regain some of his composure.  "Besides, why are you so certain that transmission did not come from the gas giant?  That pilot mentioned electrical storm, I think is what I heard.  That means they were most certainly near or within the gas giant's atmosphere.  Unless one of the other moons has an atmosphere for such activity."

He gives Fatboy a confident look that dared the computer wiz to refute his conclusion.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:02, Wed 22 Nov 2023.

"I had noticed the second docking bay," Tanja confirms.

"We could put on Vacc Suits and use the grav sled if you want to keep the Katerina on station but away from the base?? I could position her so that it would only take a few minutes on the grav sled in hard vacuum. And before anyone points out that the sled needs a gravity body to function, that rock is spinning and its mass would also generate a small amount of gravity. That should be enough, provided nobody asks the driver to make too many twists and turns during the short flight.

Alternatively, we could just dock at the larger port," she adds.

Phillip continued with repair work in the Missile Bay and in Engineering. He worked to get the ship in A1 condition again.

Levi had been working with Phillip throughout the voyage to this... rock. He'd been so focused that he'd been able to forget about everything else other than patching his beloved Katerina back to her former glory, and ensuring that there were no structural weaknesses or faults. He'd even started with the aesthetics, ensuring that the repaired wall matched those around it so that to the casual observer nobody there was no evidence that a bomb had exploded in the missile bay and killed one of their crew.

Levi found the imminent arrival at Snobol frustrating. He was in a routine, working hard, and for the first time in a long time he was enjoying his work. He'd kept up with the training routine that the chief had insisted he follow, exercising his body as well as his mind, so that he was tired at the end of each duty cycle and remained quiet and introspective during the times he had to be social - mainly at meals and if he was caught reading in the lounge.

Putting the tools back into their correct position in his toolbox, and securing the toolbox itself (sometimes he'd even annoyingly tidied Phillip and Lexon's tools away if they were out but had been unused for some time), Levi returned to engineering to monitor the powerplant and ship systems. He and his team had just put the Katerina back together and now they were here quicker than he'd wanted, summoned by curiosity relating to that distress call...

GM RESPONSE

While others gather at the lounge table, Phillip and Levi continue making repairs on the missile bay.  In the roughly fifty hours, give or take, repairs include removing the bent, broken, and damaged sections of the flooring and walls.  Removal of damaged wiring, racks, and conduits.  All of this by employing plasma cutters and other power hand tools now stored in large chests along the corridors of the cargo bay for now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:01, Wed 22 Nov 2023.

Billianah sips from a mug of hot chocolate as she listens to those gathered to discuss various options and a course of action.

"We too have excellent scientists here, doctor... Let me introduce to you Tanja SKORSKALD. Tanja can tell us where our ship was, where Snobol was relative to the gas giant, where it's now.

[COMMS to Skorskald]
"Mrs Skorskald, I'm sorry to disturb the maneuvers - but would you mind helping us determining the position of the shuttle in regard to the gas giant Belnafaer when they emitted the distress call? Thank you.

Also, Harry McStubbins is our Chief Communications Officer, he could definitely, through the Doppler effect, establish the shuttle's trajectory.", and Fatboy crosses his arms over his belly, also defiantly.

Sargeny shakes his head, "I am no communications specialist, but I am pretty sure he can determine where the transmission originated, not a trajectory." 

Sargeny then awaits the answer from Ms Skorskald. Not because he wanted to prove a point, but because he is interested in the answer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:52, Thu 23 Nov 2023.

With the crisis over, Levi was not as productive with - or as focused on - the repairs as he could be.

The repairs on the missile bay is exhausting and physically demanding.  Levi finds it difficult to focus and miscommunications are common, mistakes are made, and there is a bit of rework to do.  With the tiredness comes irritability between companions and heated words thrown about.  These things make progress difficult and the process inefficient.  But, progress is being made.  Just at a slower rate than Levi wished.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:01, Thu 23 Nov 2023.

Despite offering the alternative to docking, Karma hadn't replied. So her initial order stood.

"Docking procedure initiated. Manual only, no Intellect, aye," she responds.

Settling back into her seat, she carefully and steadily manipulated the grav plates to move the Katerina into position. As the ship begins to glide through space, she turns her attention to the request for the sensors. She glanced at Harry beside her, with a questioning expression that asks why me, why not you but doesn't say anything. Since the docking procedure is routine, and she has plenty of time, she pulls together the sensor logs that Fatboi had request and begins the correlation of data.

[COMMS internal]"Correlating and verifying the data for you now, Mister Stout. One moment please," she confirms on the Comms system.

With the Comms off she speaks directly to her co-pilot, "Harry, could you double check this data for me?? It looks correct but I'm focusing more on driving the bus than the accuracy of sensor data."
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:10, Thu 23 Nov 2023.

Harry spends several minutes going through it all and calculating the results. "It looks right to me, everything checks!"

---

GM RESPONSE

Harry confirms the data Tanja collated and verifies the conclusion.  The origination of the signal was from the gas giant.  An exact position is not possible, but whatever happened to that shuttle was near the planet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:10, Thu 23 Nov 2023.

Tanja nods and thanks Harry, making a few slight changes to the grav plates to accommodate drift and errors.

Satisfied she had a few moments while the data display updated to show the results of the changes, Tanja forwards the data her and Harry had processed to Fatboi.

---

GM RESPONSE

Eldorado receives the communique from Tanja on his wrist band chronocom.  The transmission signal originated from the gas giant.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:35, Sat 25 Nov 2023.

"Oh thank you and... How far is Snobol from Belnafaer presently? When will it reach periapsis? We don't want a giant storm from the gas giant to engulf our ship, do we, like it likely did with the shuttle?" (munch munch)

GM RESPONSE

A quick assessment of the sensors from Harry and he replies that the satellite moon will be at periapsis in twenty nine hours.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:35, Sat 25 Nov 2023.