Forum:The Efate Run: Chapter 1
link title== MAIN LOUNGE, SPACEFARERS' GUILD, REGINA DOWNPORT, 16:25 027-1120 ==
(Local time 25:00).
With midnight approaching, the main lounge of the Spacefarers' Guild is as empty as it ever gets, with only a few dozen members whose biological clocks haven't had time to adjust to Regina's 25½ hour day going about their business. Suddenly the big bulletin board flashes amber and emits five loud, penetrating dings. Almost a quarter of the bulletins shrink to thumbnail size and a new message covering a quarter of the board appears, surrounded by the flashing border that indicates extreme urgency. Curious guild members drift over to look at the new message, which reads:
- URGENT! Uakye Transport Partners, LIC needs replacement crew for one of its ships.
- If you have a Limited Mate's License, a Chief Engineer's License, or a Cargomaster's
- Certificate and can be ready to board in ten hours, please apply immediately to Room
- 146 where a representative of UTP is waiting.
[Various people look at the ad and then head for Room 146.]
[I'd like a paragraph (two at most) with a description of each character to give the other players (and me) a first impression. - GM]
I look up from the beer I have been nursing for far longer than a single beer should last, take in the announcement, swallow the rest of the beer & head off in search of Room # 146. Anyone watching sees a 6-ft human, shaved head, rather an ugly-looking chap if truth be told, dressed in nondescript clothes that look vaguely like combat fatigues, who moves quitely and purposefully. - Megan.
[I think keeping the text in third person will work best. There's no need to sign the edits (moves) either -- the page history would take care of that if it became an issue. Not that I expect it to become an issue, since I don't expect you players to edit each other's moves or go back and edit anything of your own that we've already moved past.]
The dings interrupted a group of engineers talking shop over beers. The shortest one read it twice before taking another sip. He's a Suerrat, mostly dressed in pockets. After getting his friends' opinions of UTP he pays for the round. "Going to try it, Gabon?" one asks.
"I'm going to take a look. Now that Winchell has his license the Chief can do without me. Time to get an engine room of my own. Wish me luck!" He heads out to a chorus of well-wishes.
Across the lounge, the stream of hopefuls making for Room # 146 pass a lone figure standing in the middle of the floor. He scratches an unshaven cheek while staring up at the bulletin board, reading and re-reading the UTP announcement. Finally, he seems to arrive at a decision.
"Ah ... why not?" he mumbles "There's nothin' going on here but the rent." He throws the holdall at his feet over his shoulder, sets a frayed black baseball cap squarely on his head, and ambles after the crowd headed for Room # 146.
ROOM 146, SPACEFARERS' GUILD, REGINA DOWNPORT, 16:30 027-1120
(Local time 25:05)
Room 146 is occupied by a stocky, worried-looking woman in her fifties dressed in a rumpled business suit. She waits impatiently for everyone to enter the room.
"Greetings, everyone," the woman begins. "My name is Tatiana Larsen, and I'm the Regina factor for Uakye Transport Partners. We're in a bit of a pickle here. This evening the captain of our freighter Silver Sphinx held a private party of some kind. Most of the Sphinx officers were there. Everyone at the party was struck by some particularly nasty kind of food poisoning and are presently in intensive care. The doctors tell me it's touch and go for some of the victims, and that even if they survive, they're going to need some time recuperating. That's bad enough in itself, of course, but what makes it urgent is that the Sphinx is sheduled for departure in 19 and a half hours. So we need two watch-standing officers, a purser slash cargomaster, and a chief engineer."
Larsen pauses for a moment, then resumes: "UTP is offering three month contracts as temporary stand-ins for the regular crew. Most of our ships are engaged in regularly scheduled jumps, but some, the Sphinx among them, are used to take up the slack and fill in the cracks. You'll be shifted around as the need occurs. The jump tomorrow is to Forboldn. After that is still up in the air. Any takers?"
A fur-covered human stands up. "Maybe. How big is the crew we're going to be supervising? And is the Sphinx current on maintenance and supplies?"
"The Sphinx is a Golden Gryphon class 400 T merchant," Larsen replies. "It has a crew of nine: Three bridge officers, a purser, a sensor tech and a signals tech, and three engineers. She's berthed up on the Highport, fully supplied, fueled, and cargo loaded. All that's missing are the passengers, who'll join tomorrow morning... and four crew."
[Question: Do any of you have JTAS subscriptions? -GM Yes - Karl. I have too -John (What I said above about not needing to sign? Ignore it when you're answering quations like this; here names are good ;-)].
"Fair enough. I'm Gabon Roughbark, currently 3rd Engineer on Ekatur's Subsidized Merchant 7436. I've had my Chief's license for three months and I've been on starships for a dozen years. How much are you paying?"
Larsen looks sharply at Gabon for a moment before she answers: "Standard salaries with a sign-on bonus of one month's pay. For an engineer that would be [I'll have to dig out my books and get back to you about that - GM]" Gabon gives her a thumbs-up and sits back down in a relaxed sprawl.
[Gabon's on leave while SM 7436 gets her annual refit, but he's looking to move up. It's a 2000 tonner, similar to the Imperiallines freighter. - Karl]
[I'm posting a list of some of the companies that service Regina here. Don't pick one of the megacorporations or the sector-wide corporations.]
"I am available... can handle the pusser slot and there are rarely complaints about my cooking." A quiet voice from the shaven-headed human that you hadn't really noticed was in the room until now.
"What's your name," Larsen asks "and do you have a Cargomaster's Certificate?".
"I'm Matthew Padfoot. And yes."
At the back of the room, a scruffy looking human raises his hand and waves a black baseball cap until Larsen catches sight of him. "Yes, the man at the back?" she says, pointing.
"Name's Bralt. I have an Unlimited Mate's License, got a few years on the bridge for Oberlindes and more than I care to recall working the Belts. I just signed off from Oberlindes a few weeks back, got references here if you care to read 'em."