Chapter 2

Passing through the store, Cameron and Leia noticed the night clerk keeping an eye on half a dozen teeners milling around the selection of game machine disks. "Everything OK Jack?," asked Leia.

"Under control Leia. All but one of your group are already in the game room. And here comes the last one." This said of a classically nerdy looking kid about 17 entering the store carrying a big canvas tote bag. Leia and Cameron followed him into the room where three others sat around a table.

Leia and Cameron took chairs and she got things underway with, "OK folks, tonight we have a guest player. His character will enter later. For now, meet Cameron Richards on his way home to Montana from Korea. I want each of you to introduce yourself and your character."

A mid-20's guy, about 6 foot, buzz cut and the look of "jock" about him started off. "Hi, my name is John Williams but you can think of me as Captain Jack of the Free Trader Beowulf."

Next was a goth girl who could have been almost any age from 15 to 25, "I'm Yolanda Brown, Chief Engineer Agnes of the Beowulf.

The nerd spoke up, "I'm Ryan Federer so you will understand I prefer to be known as Gunner Smith, weapons and cargo officer."

A somewhat vapid looking blonde, probably about 20, rounded out the group. She introduced herself as Kelli Simpson, a.k.a. "Samantha, call me Sam, Silver, navigator and med-tech."

"Thanks," said Leia, "5 minutes to set up and we're rolling." At this everybody disappeared into their respective restrooms with their totes and when they returned each was wearing a dark blue jump suit. Each suit had a name tag for their character and Captain Jack's had 4 silver rings on the sleeves.

"OK, crew, here is this week's news." and Leia handed out a single page of print with about a dozen bullet points. At this point the crew took a couple of minutes to look over the "news" and confer with each other. She continued in her "game master" voice, "Captain, what is your status and what do you want to do next?"

"We are in about the usual financial shape; not enough in the bank for an overhaul, which we will need in six months, much less enough to retire. Actually, just enough to fuel and supply for one jump. Our last cargo is delivered. We see the usual crop of safe, boring, unlucrative cargos but we want to try something with more risk and maybe more payback. Let's call COMCODE AUX791," said Captain Jack.

This was Cameron's cue, "Artifacts Unlimited - Martin speaking."

It didn't take long to arrange a "meeting" to take place at a spaceport district club. The players spent the next 20 minutes hammering out a deal. Martin would front the out of pocket cost for the round trip and share all his information with the crew. In return, if the adventure is successful, the crew will reimburse Martin 80% of his investment before the rest of their salvage is distributed. Martin takes 80% of the small artifacts. Other salvage, including a ship, if any, will be split 50-50.

Cameron was surprised by how much of the game was discussion between the participants and narrative give and take with Leia. He had envisioned a lot more dice rolling. Cameron's real world military experience and skills contributed to his ability to play "Martin" with authority. He also grew to appreciate the skills the other players brought to the table and how Leia made them use those skills in the game.

Captain Jack was clearly now in the lead as he "flew" the ship to the target star system. A round robin kind of discussion put the information known about the suspect ship in play. Using that, Captain Jack worked out a search pattern that presently put them in visual contact with a large but very strange looking ship. "Before we get all carried away and just all charge over there," pointed out the captain, "We should review what we know about the ship and anything about why it was abandoned."

That question drove the conversation for awhile, mostly between "Martin" on the one hand and "Captain Jack" and "Sam" on the other. The collective best guess, the ship still harbored the remains of its long dead but still infectious crew. Further, that failure to keep isolated allowed the infection to spread to free trader "Anderson Family", accounting for how that ship ended up when and where it did. That drove the conversation, mostly involving "Martin," "Sam," and Leia into finding ways and means of entering the ship with minimal risk. "Martin," as the ex-marine, and "Sam" became the boarding party to explore "ANNIC NOVA."