General > Graveyard

Stars & Salvage PBF - IC Thread

<< < (9/22) > >>

Malek Deneith:
- "Is there any indication in data we have available that this system wasn't the final destination of the ships? If not, then our best guess would be that they planned to dock at the station and start scanning from approximate entry point towards it"

Xander Morhaime:
"Course to Parthia IV jump-site buoy plotted, engaging engines," Carrion calmly stated, the faintest vibration felt through the hull of the ship as the engines kicked into gear. "Statement: I am afraid the ships' assignment in system is also classified."

With that matter dealt with and a long flight ahead of you, there was some time to get to know the ship and its accommodations a bit better. The previous owners had only seemed to use 8 of the staterooms as actual living quarters. The rooms were sparingly furnished and devoid of decorations, though that could be attributed to the ship being used to repay some debts. There was a bed, complete with a 0G harness, a table and chair attached to the floor by magnets, basic sanitary facilities... So far only one stateroom had been claimed - third from the front on the starboard side, where miss Ernal was currently getting her beauty sleep, the others were still up for grabs.

The other four staterooms had been repurposed for other uses - the second one from the front on the starboard side had been made into a kitchen, though the supplies you'd been provided with at the station were quite cheap and could only be called food by the most generous (at least it contained nutrients and was intended for human consumption). Its opposite number on the port side was a social room with a bigger table and a few more chairs, while the two foremost staterooms... well, whatever furnishings had been there had already been removed, so the rooms themselves were pretty much bare.

Should anyone be watching the bridge and controls, they would eventually see the Blue Crow arrive at the jump-point for the Parthia system. The view here was uninteresting in the extreme - far above the orbital planes and away from the system star, it had an overabundance of clear open space, taken up only by a buoy that processed incoming and outgoing jump coordinates. With no ships in sight, those on the bridge could watch as the sensor suite was deployed and the holographic display cycled through a number of profiles before settling on one. Within a minute of arriving at the jump-point, the word "SCANNING" appeared in big letters on the bridge display.

It was at least another hour of nothing exciting at all before the first results started coming back. The "SCANNING" message shrunk down a bit, and the bridge display began to scroll columns of letters and numbers. Those with a bit more grounding in the sciences might recognise chemical symbols, mostly various metal elements. Over time, the numerous readings got filtered, a few entries being marked out if only for a few moments. Survey work only really got interesting once something was found...

As the scanning went on, a small display of the Parthia system was visible in the corner, a vague cloud spreading over it as the scanner added possible results to the map. The most obvious was the thick ring-like cloud, no doubt the system's asteroid belt... a few larger clouds signified planets, and a few more tiny clouds away from the planets could probably be attributed to rogue asteroids, comets, and other such space junk. Another hour passed by as the scans became more precise, the clouds on the display fading, becoming replaced by faintly glowing spheres, then eventually by brightly glowing dots.

Finally, the ship intercom sparked to life with Carrion's usual voice: "Request: Crew report to bridge."

Gargulec:
'What the...' mumbled Elizabeth as the intercom pulled her from the sleep. Reluctantly, but hastily, she squeezed into the sealant sheathe, hoping that the sudden alarm from the ship's AI does not herald any troubles. 

She made her way to the bridge, only to find it empty- to her surprise, she was the first to get there. She took a look onto the holographic display, trying to make a sense out of what it displayed, but quickly decided that it was not her part to fiddle with it.

'Hmm... Carrion, right?' she asked after a while of hesitation. 'Does this ship have any interstellar communication? I have a few messages to send...'

Silhar:
A few moments after Elizabeth appears on the bridge, the Russian comes also, clad in his combat equipment. He still wears his family sabre, though.
"Yurij reporting for zervice -oh, pardon me, ???????. Thought ze ??????????? vould already be here.", he announces with a slight smile. His eyes seem to be a bit bloated - appears that he had slept heavily. What would psychically tire him so much?
One's thoughts quickly get confirmed, as last Morgov yawns broadly, covering his mouth with a fist.
"???????? ????.", he says.

Xander Morhaime:
"Statement: The ship is capable of interfacing with FedNet for purposes of long-range communications. However, I suggest waiting with any outgoing calls until more pressing business has been dealt with," Carrion replied.

Once the rest of the crew had gathered on the bridge, Carrion moved on to explain the situation.

"Statement: I believe I may have found the location of the missing ships. If you will direct your attentions to the system map," the AI said, adjusting the bridge display so that the system map was much bigger and plainly visible to everyone. The scan results were still overlayed on the map, ranging from the vague cloud marking out the asteroid belt and planets, to several bright dots... one of them in close proximity of a planet, a few more scattered around the asteroid belt, and a somewhat larger one some distance above the orbital plane. "Explanation: I have taken the liberty of adjusting the survey suite to scan for concentrations of refined metals that might be found within ship hulls. We may safely disqualify the signal here," the dot near the planet-cloud faded out, "as that will be the Parthia IV station. The readings from the asteroid belt may be worth following up, but they are just as likely to be unregistered stations or mining ships. Therefore, I suggest that the reading here," the larger bright spot removed from the rest of the system flashed red, "would be our best bet of locating the missing ships at the moment. I have already calculated a course, we are 26 minutes' flight from the site. If the captain approves, I will set us off on that course."

Though the AI didn't have a proper body, or even a face, you got the impression it was watching you expectantly and waiting for a decision.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page