Max Saltonstall's continuing adventures

Character Sheet (what I have filled in):

Max Saltonstall (aka Bananapants): Stage 1
Worlds: Tropical Island, Starship Destiny
[6'1", light brown hair, thin, vertical build, pale skin, brown eyes]
2@4 Persuasion
1@8 Charisma
1@8 Animal Magnetism

1@5 Strength
1@4 Stamina
1@5 Resistance
1@1 Density

2@1 Flexibility
1@7 Agility
2@2 Hand/Eye

1@9 Intellect
1@5 Intuition
2@2 Education Level
1@5 Willpower

Weaknesses: Moderate Vision Problems, Low Blood Pressure

Skills:
2@5 Computer Programming (Tech 11@1)
2@7 Computer Hardware (Tech 11@5)
2@4 Event Planning (Mag ?@?) [fold into something else?]
2@5 Juggling/Circus Arts (Bod 6@3)
2@4 Teaching (Psi 0@1)
2@2 Negotiation (Psi 0@1)
2@4 Karate (Bod 7@1)
1@6 Judo (Bod 7@1)
1@5 Yoga/Body Folding (Bod 6@9)
1@4 Swordfighting (freestyle)
1@3 Mathematics Theory (Tech 12@0)
1@2 Bo staff weapon (Bod 7@1)
1@1 Use Kinetic Blaster (Tech 11@1)
1@7 Disarming (Bod 7@5)
1@6 Public Speaking [Fold into something else?]
1@8 Cooking (Tech 1@3)
1@9 Dancing, social (Mag ?@?)
1@3 First Aid (Tech 7@1) [Needs tech level update]
1@3 Law (Mag 0@0)
1@10 Smell/Olfaction (Bod 0@1)
1@10 Auditory Perception (Bod 0@4)
2@6 Touch/Pressure (Bod 0@0)
1@10 Balance (Bod 0@4)

Possessions:
MacBook Pro Laptop
Bo Staff (RF 1 Weapon)
Wii system, controllers, games
Spire backpack (large)
Trager shoulder satchel
Berger multitool
Leatherman mini multitool
Duct Tape
Cold weather jacket
Rollerblades
Super Glue
Water bottle (20 oz)
Energy Bars (5, mixed flavors, 3 all natural)
10 lb Bananas

======
Convention Session report:

I had happily just acquired a new Wii controller, made by a new company I’d never heard of. Sadly it proved to be slipperier than I expected, and I dropped it during some vigorous tennis. It cracked somewhat, and a strange gold-colored metallic substance leaked out. As I picked it up to examine it I felt a strange feeling and blacked out.

Tropical Island:

Once I became aware of my surroundings again things had changed. I was outside, I was in a warm climate, and there was the smell of smoke. I had a strange feeling that I had forgotten something, and that there were people I was late in meeting. The directions to those things and people were apparent to me, as some sort of feeling.

Upon opening my eyes and standing up I found I was high up a slope on some sort of mountain island. Besides this land mass there was nothing in sight. Looking up the mountain I saw a crater with smoke emerging, looking awfully like a volcano that I felt way too close to for comfort. I gathered up my belongings, and began heading rapidly down the slope to the water for a chance at safety. I had the sense that one of the things I forgot, as well as a person or two, lay that direction.

I picked up my superglue (‘What’s that doing in the middle of this tropical island jungle?’) and made it to the first person I find on the island. We decide to head toward the direction where we both feel other people are (‘Why are we getting these aligned, new sensations?’) and stay out of the sun, for we are both pale and out of shape.

After about an hour of travel we come across a rocky outcropping above the surrounding ocean occupied by a man eating something over a fire. He appears to be heavily armed with a variety of weapons, have a jeep (or something like it) not far away, and has one arm apparently made of metal. We approach cautiously, but he seems unconcerned and welcomes us.

Finally we begin to gain some understanding of what is going on and where we are. The man, Michael di Vars, tells us that we’ve all acquired some of a strange interuniversal particle called Scriff. Once we’ve got it we move between universes upon death, seemingly at random. Rarely there are multiple people in the same universe who have Scriff, but in this case there seem to be four of us along with Michael. All we can tell about this place is that it’s devoid of human life or any sort of civilization, and that this volcano will probably not last more than a week.

I continue to pepper Michael with questions, while we pick at roast seagull, for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. He instructs some of us on the basic needs of survival (seems like a useful thing to cover if we’ll be separated and in alien surroundings soon): Clean Water, Shelter, Fire, Food/Sustenance, Socks (keeping your feet warm and dry). Michael has traveled to over 7,000 worlds and acquired all manner of skills, gadgets and even body modifications.

We talk more about how this multiversal travel works, what tends to happen, and what’s useful. I ask Michael to teach me some basic psionic skills, but the bias of this world seems to mildly discourage it and I fail to learn (28% chance).

At some point I ask to borrow a machete and decide to explore the island a bit. We bushwack for a while, find some wild bananas, coconuts and other tropical fruits. No sign of any life bigger than birds, and nothing very intelligent. We head back to the camp Michael set up eventually, to rest for the night, having no idea what tomorrow holds.

We’re awoken by the rumbling of the volcano and what looks to be imminent eruption. Michael drives right towards the advancing lava (apparently items damaged during events that cause your death are carried along with you to the next universe unharmed). Lacking the willpower to leap into molten rock I decided to find lower ground and watch the awesome flow for a while. The island begins to implode and sink, and I’m drawn into the resulting land/mud/water slide and crushed to death.

Starship Destiny:

After a period of pain and blackness I start to become more aware of some surroundings beyond piles of earth and water and rock above me. I appear to be lying in some sort of corridor, metallic, and there are sounds coming toward me. I open my eyes and rise to see two figures with some sort of gun-like weapon pointed at me, lifting me up and bringing me somewhere. Luckily my stuff is with me, guess that Michael fellow was right.

I’m brought to the captain of the ship and mildly interrogated. After protesting ignorance for a while they start to believe me, and I can find out a bit about where I am. It is sometime in the 25th Century, and we are aboard the Starship Destiny. Earth has evolved into an interplanetary empire, the Federation of Planets, and their rule is based on Earth but extends quite far. Over time the Federation has become more draconian and domineering, and John Alexander, the Destiny’s captain, decided to leave them and join the rebellion.

He and Phil Banson managed to get this ship, found adrift and abandoned. It appears to be some sort of advanced alien technology and capable of matter transmission, among other things. They and the crew work with the rebels, leveraging their substantial abilities to help planets who do not want to join the Federation. Often those planets are threatened with destruction if they refuse, and the Rebels and the Destiny are there to keep them safe and provide an alternative.

I meet the rest of the crew, and start talking more with them. I’m especially interested in Marilyn, the diplomat of the ship. She is attractive, unattached, skilled at negotiations and friendly. I spend a good bit of time with George White, the resident jack-of-all-trades, and he shows me how to use the medical technology on board. I also help Burt Bently with some duct repairs.

Over the course of the next weeks I try to get to know the crew better, befriend those who are receptive, learn as much as I can, and find out how I can be useful. I also start to explore the capabilities of the ship, its computer Torbin, and the technology aboard. I try to carve out a niche or two, and prepare myself for whatever I might need to do in helping the Rebellion, whether cooking fresh food or firing kinetic blasters.

-----

When we last left our hero, I was studying with anyone who would teach him aboard the Starship Destiny. I had spent considerable time with Marilyn, Burly, John and Phil (I believe).

I was just beginning to train with the kinetic blaster. I'm not sure exaclty how to do that, but I'm very curious about the armaments of the current situation, so I'd like to become competent in them.

I'd also like to keep advancing the depth of my relationships with the receptive members of the crew, particularly those mentioned above. Eventually I hope to be accepted and trusted enough to ask whether we will be taking any direct action anytime soon.

Are we better at communicating at a distance and doing negotiation over those channels? If so, can I assist?

Are we waiting for an emergency or a specific thing to happen before we fly into action?

Is there anything I can do to gather more data on wha the Federation is doing, since I'm not a known member of the rebellion?

I almost forgot, I want to cook!

Can Torbin bring me some raw food materials? Spices?

I've got a large batch of bananas to share with the crew, and make some creative dishes with. Should be able to spruce up the dining fare for at least a week or two.

Welcome aboard, Max. This is an excellent start, but I need two things from you.

The first is, you have your character sheet, and I do not. I know it is not a complete character sheet, but you need to post here what you do have (name, a.k.a., attributes, weaknesses, description--yes, I know what you look like, but I'll need it for reference at some point--skills, equipment, worlds, stage). I will copy the information to the spreadsheet I use for most of the player characters here, and keep you informed of updates.

The second is, the forum is considered a complete and permanent record of all relevant facts in the games played on the forum--which means that I'm relying on you to post a summary of everything significant that you remember about your adventures, from whatever it was that first shocked you through what you did on the island through your arrival here. I might fill in details, but once we've left it as finished, anything that isn't at least mentioned cannot be referenced as having happened, because no one can check it.

That said, I'm happy to pick up and answer the questions asked, with the understanding that the game is continuing as you bring everyone else up to speed on your adventures thus far.

Negotiations over long distances can be tricky. The best interstellar communications are done through quantum non-locality systems, which mean instantaneous transmission directly between exactly two transceivers; however, no one can carry the thousands of tranceivers needed to talk to everyone everywhere, so the usual means is to transmit to a central switching system which connects to a transmitter to the desired recipient. That's the security weak point, because someone could tap into the switching system and intercept calls, and once they find which transmitter you have aboard your ship, you can't really change frequencies except by getting another transmitter to reach that switching station. So it is possible to hold negotiations that way, but it's very risky, and Destiny tries to keep such communications minimal. Other signals are of course broadcast, or even if narrowcast are on an open signal--which means they can be intercepted. The Federation has ciphers they use to encode their transmissions, and the rebellion steals these regularly to hear what the Federation is saying, but the Rebellion has no corresponding ciphers and even if they did they couldn't really give them to non-aligned planets and expect these not to fall into the hands of the Federation.

It would be a mistake to say that Destiny is waiting for either a specific thing or an emergency; it is correct to say that Destiny is waiting for something to happen, but on a sort of "we'll know it when we see it" basis. That might come from Ann intercepting a message, it might come from someone in the rebellion asking for help, it might come entirely by accident. Part of being part of this crew involves learning to be completely relaxed when nothing is happening, and jumping into action as soon as it does.

If you hunt around the galley you will find plenty of supplies and equipment for making your own food. Sometims someone does, but no one does it regularly. Help yourself, knock yourself out and all that. The cooking equipment takes a bit of work to grasp, but it's still cooking--just a matter of what technology provides the heat or does the slicing.

It is doubtful that you could infiltrate the Federation at any level that would make much difference. The fact that you are not known to them is as much a hindrance as a help, as they will keep trying to find out who you are and will trust you less and less as they are unable to do so. Good thought, though, and probably there will be situations in which the fact that you would not be recognized (most of the crew is undoubtedly already on wanted posters throughout Federation space) might prove valuable.

--M. J. Young

Oh, as part of my welcome, let me encourage you to read the other threads, including the other game threads. Two threads in particular, though, should be mentioned.

First, this is a teaching game--I expect the people who play here to learn and understand the game and eventually run it. To this end, there is a "Behind the Screens" thread in which all the mechanics used in play are recorded. This is sort of Hobson's Choice for you, because that's where the die rolls are printed, but it's also where all those unknown target numbers go, the world biases--the things you wouldn't normally know at the table, but would be trying to gauge as you go. You are invited to read it, and to some degree encouraged to do so, so you know the why of what's happening.

Second, though, John I happens to be in the same world you are in--that is, in a universe exactly identical to yours, and further down the timeline just a short distance. I am going to make an effort to scramble the adventures a bit so that you don't get the same ones he is getting, but I am not certain whether that will work (some of the adventures are pretty good for this world, and I might use them for both of you, but not simultaneously). You will probably enjoy your world more if you don't read his; it's called Returning, and he posts under the name Pharaoh.

Of course, the other threads are the other players at the table, so feel free to follow their adventures, ask questions, and otherwise participate in everything here.

--M. J. Young

Thanks for the tips MJ. I have been poking around a bit, but what I found were games in progress, so I must have missed the initial character sheet post. Seems a 'Duh' moment now.

I've posted my sheets, as completely as I can, and a summary of what I remember from UberCon.

I'm already thinking about running the game, and I'll poke at Behind the Screens as we go along. I like the format you use for managing the story and the rules. I'll happily stay away from Spoilers.

If there is anything else I can do to catch up please let me know. Otherwise I'll keep posting some game stuff, since I'm brimming with ideas.

Actually, Max, Gaming Outpost was having trouble with instability in their forums, so they revamped everything on a new server, and shifted all the old threads to another location, our games here.  This is so recent that you're the first new person to join us since the move, and we haven't set up character creation threads here yet. It's one of those things I've been meaning to do. You're welcome to browse the old forum, where we have somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-four thousand posts in nearly thirteen hundred threads; posting is disabled there.

Concerning your character sheet, I know I didn't give you those low stamina and resistance scores. Care to explain them to me?

On consideration, I think that negotiation is a Psi 0@1 skill; like teaching, it's about communication.

My brain suddenly kicks in, and I think that Yoga should be Bod 6@9 body folding. I'd never thought of that before, but there it is.

Math is a tech skill.

Dancing is a mag skill.

Auditory Perception is B0@4

Touch and Pressure Sensitivity is Bod 0@0; the default SAL is 2@5, and you've listed 2@6, so I'm wondering what you're thinking there.

How large is the water bottle, and how many energy bars?

One correction on the story: Michael's last name is di Vars. It's fine for your character to get it wrong, but I thought I'd mention it because a lot of other versers know who he is. (No, it's not a real name--it's actually a corruption of "the verser" which Michael adopted to distinguish himself from his original self.)

I will be upgrading some of your skills, but I'm falling behind tonight, so I'm going to put that in the game later.

Any other questions or comments? Something will happen soon.

--M. J. Young

Thanks for the clarification. I've updated some of the skills accordingly. When you update my skills, do you do it here or on your sheet? Both?

I gave myself low stamina and resistance scores, because I think I'm below average in those areas. If I have overdone it or created a situation for myself that is more difficult than I had thought I will take your advice and modify accordingly. Stamina is low because I do not have regular cardiovascular fitness and thus tend to have low to moderate endurance when it comes to long runs. Resistance (still a little fuzzy for me) because I will get sick, and often getting sick is compounded with other things. In retrospect it would not be illogical to just place me at average for both of those, but I do not mind having them as weaknesses (to be overcome in the future) either. Up to you I guess.

I put myself slightly above average for Touch because I feel it's one of my more sensitive skills and that I use my hands often in my hobbies and in my job, specifically for fine tasks. I do think I'm sensitive to small variations in texture, grain and density with my fingers.

While on the ship I will throw myself into cooking whenever I'm not learning more about diplomacy, navigation or the computer systems. I'd also like to try to figure out whose teaching style fits me best, whether because of skill or chemistry, so I can continue to learn ship tasks effectively and become more proficient.

Cooking is an effective way for me to feel calm and satisfied, as well as useful. With this situation I think I need a bit of grounding and happiness, knowing I might never return to the world I called home.

With Torbin's help (how much can he do?) I want to experiment with all kinds of ingredients, recipes and interesting combinations. It's how I like to cook in general, and I imagine that this infinite ability to acquire ingredients could prove quite stimulating. If a dish fails completely, there's always the automat.

I hope that through cooking for the crew I can further improve their trust and appreciation, and create more social time to get to know them better individually. I might even be able to incorporate some new cultural traditions if any crew can give me some pointers.

Does the captain or computer know anything about dimensional travel or theory of multiple universes?

What nonlethal alternatives are there to the kinetic blaster among the arsenal?

Finally, I'd like to see if Torbin can help guide me through the last 400-500 years of human history. Oh, and does it have any good computer games I can play too?

When I update skills, I usually note it behind the screens, rarely in the game thread; I will sometimes specify in the game thread that there is information behind the screens. I also update my sheet. When you verse out, or sometimes when you've been in a world for a really long time and it's starting to get confusing, I post your entire sheet behind the screens and give you the opportunity to make corrections, since I sometimes do miss things. (That happens more often if you play live, as catching up the updates from the live game sometimes slips through the cracks.)

I'm raising your stamina to 1@4; 1@3 just seems too low to me. I am putting your resistance at 1@5 average, because the baseline is not really twenty-first century humans but humans throughout history, and thus due to innoculations most modern humans have higher than average resistances. I'm happy to give you opportunity to raise those over time.

I'll accept the 2@6 on touch and pressure sensitivity; I wasn't sure whether you thought human norms were lower and were going for a significantly higher level, but I won't argue with you being just a bit better.

You practice cooking, experimenting with ingredients. Torbin can keep track of what you've tried, as long as you tell him what you're doing. He also operates galley equipment automatically, and prepares the food in the automat system, but he doesn't actually know anything about cooking--those are prepared meals he processes according to coded instructions.

You are also instructed in the computer; Phil Banson is a bit cold, but he's probably several steps above the best computer people you've ever known, hardware or software. Marilyn gives you her thoughts and insights into negotiating, but says really you'll have to go with her when she does it.

You also learn to use the kinetic blaster--a rank amateur level of ability, but you can hit a target.

The standard weapon is an MK-12 high-energy inertial blaster. It resembles a Playstation™ Guncon™, and operates very like it, a one-handed weapon well balanced despite having a rather long and thick barrel. The grip is designed such that the barrel points where your finger would were it extended. The trigger is obvious, and the safety can be reached with the thumb of the same hand. It fires thirty shots from a power cell; power cells can be swapped quickly with the other hand. It fires kinetic energy, like a high-speed invisible baseball.

Standard kinetic blasters are damaging weapons, RF4, 20 shots to a battery, 0:18 reload, 5':30':60':120':+5/6'.

Torbin (the computer) will tell you that there are no other dimensions. Captain Alexander will say that it's generally believed that other dimensions cannot exist, but he's not a physicist and doesn't know how the standard proof might be wrong--which he assumes it is, since you might be a time and space traveler but your story suggests you are a dimensional traveler, and he can't discredit it.

There are no non-lethal weapons aboard. Ishara and George are both skilled in improvising weapons at need, but they generally use the blasters. Federation security troops use a more powerful but slower blaster.

Torbin certainly has detailed databanks on the history of humanity over the past half millennium, if you care to read or have them recited. I believe you've read the historic synopsis from the novel, but if you have specific questions feel free to ask, and I'll see if I have or can generate specific answers. Torbin has files on the history of games, and a reference library for the rules of a great many games, but does not play or run games himself. There is a chess board and several different decks of cards in the recreation deck, which also supports something like racketball, table tennis, pool, and has some exercise equipment.

--M. J. Young

Mostly my pursuit of history was to help ground myself better in this new world and figure out a bit of what I missed. I'll ask for specifics if it comes up.

I'd like to learn more about how to program and execute code on the computer, and figure out how navigation works and what the Banson does on a regular basis. Is there an equivalent to a PDA or smartphone, some handheld computational device that can handle data storage, organization and communications? Could I get one?

I think that if I'm getting weapon training it would make sense to learn how to use armor as well. Is there a suit of body armor or some equivalent on the ship (or that Torbin can fetch) that would work for me, so I can get used to it?

While on the martial theme, and due to my extensive free time, I'd like to practice more karate and judo. I'm sure there are some choice martial arts texts and even virtual teachers among the databanks.

Finally, to help me settle in to this time and place, I'm hoping to get some of the present day clothing and money. If I am sent off-ship at all, or if we encounter folks unexpectedly, I'd like to be able to fit in. Since the stock of valuables seems copious and easily replenished, would the captain allow me to take a few things?

Learning to program is part of the instruction you are getting from Banson; he's the sort of computer expert who disdains user-friendly interfaces despite the fact that Torbin is the sort of computer that executes most functions through conversation. Your desire to learn more coding impresses him, and he's willing to show you.

Once you've communicated your desire for a handheld device, Banson comes up with a device about the size of an electronic watch. Input is strictly verbal, output on a vid screen (size of type can be adjusted, but of course the larger it is the fewer characters you can see at once). He says it only has three terabytes of memory and a ten gigahertz processor chip, but it's probably good for what you want. It doesn't have a modem, though. The crew uses communicators built into the transmat harnesses when they leave the ship, and the internal comm system can find anyone aboard thanks to Torbin's monitoring of life support systems. (What do you want to call this gadget on your sheet?)

There actually is no body armor aboard Destiny. The crew doesn't use it, because it tends to be too constrictive, and besides if you're wearing body armor and you're not Federation security, they know you're not an ordinary citizen, so you can't blend so well. Federation security wears such armor, which spreads the impact of the kinetic blaster somewhat, but it's not really all that useful. If you want some, you'll have to get it off the body of a dead security officer, or from some brave black marketer who was willing to take it or buy it knowing that there are very severe penalties for civilian ownership.

No one on the ship has done any martial arts, either, but you do find some information in the computer. They don't have anything like a holodeck, though--you have to practice with punching bags, mostly, unless you can devise something of your own. Describe your intended practice sessions for me.

You are welcome to help yourself to clothing from the extensive wardrobes, which appear to cover a great variety of styles and cultures, and also to take some jewelry if you like, although the men tend to go light on the jewelry.

--M. J. Young

I will happily dive in to programming with Banson and Torbin. I imagine Torbin's advanced enough to provide me with some tutorials and guidance as well, to perhaps soften Banson's demeanor and help bring me up to speed on 500 years of advances in computation.

Does the computer have any sorts of simulators or training programs? Perhaps learning to operate the ship or its weapon systems would be safer in a virtual environment before the real thing. I'd very much like to take advantage of anything of that nature.

Very happily I will begin playing with my watchputer (my name for it, ugly as it may be). I'm sure I can rig up some fun capabilities, basic data storage, calendaring, personal recordings and notes, etc. I want to load up as much encyclopedic data as I can on there, specifically on history, nature, and technology as primary foci.

I would like to make sure this is something that either has a long-lasting power source or is easy to recharge. How long could it function off the ship? I will also make sure I have a comm link for interpersonal ship communications, or any sort of cell phone equivalent in this context.

I will start self-training based on the computer's information storage. Video of masters performing various techniques is quite helpful, and there is much that can be practiced alone. I have left my karate practice idle for too long, so this is a good chance to advance it by myself. Most of the karate I have done inovlves practice of kata, an arranged series of moves performed against imaginary foes. All I would need, besides the reference material, is a relatively flat, open space. Then I can practice the various kata for an hour or two a day.

Perhaps John, George, Burt or Marilyn would be receptive to learning some other physical combat techniques with me? Judo is hard to practice alone, and I'd be interested in branching out to other disciplines if any others have a preference. I have experience teaching martial arts classes, and I'd very much like to have a 60-90 minute session of basic moves and light sparring with a few other crew if I can persuade them to join me. This would be a combination of stretches, strength-building drills, and technique application. Repetition brings good muscle memory, and thus instant, unconscious repsonse when the action is needed. Having others to practice with helps with critique of form and also with understanding how the moves actually are intended work.

I will acquire some clothing, since all I have is my one set of initlal garments. I'll gather an array of climate-appropriate options, since I have no idea where I will go next. I'd also like some small jewelry, not to wear but just in case I need to barter.

Is there any talk or show of abilities that I would classify as supernatural on board, such as 'magic' or 'psionic' things beyond the ken of 21st century humans? Do any of the crew know if such has developed or been discovered?

What about the existence of alien, intelligent species?

Finally, it would probably do me well to have some inoculations and vaccines, since medical technology surely has advanced considerably. Can George and I figure that out in the medical room and bring me up to speed?

Torbin has no simulators or training programs.

Solar cells on the face of the watchputer recharge the power supply; it will continue functioning for about a hundred hours in total darkness, depending on the amount of light used on the screen. Memory is retained in power failure.

On board communications are through wall panels which can be activated by voice command. Communications when you are off the ship are handled through a transceiver connected to the teleporter harness. The teleporter only transports creatures or objects with such harnesses attached, which serve as a focus for the teleporter beam.

George is interested in spending some time learning your fighting techniques. He doesn't have an hour a day to put into it, but he will get together with you a few times a week. There's room in the rec deck for that sort of thing.

Give me a detailed list of what you want in clothing and jewelry; under the circumstances I'll probably just allow it, assuming it's not terribly unreasonable.

Your questions about magic and psionics are going to have to be directed to specific persons and phrased--in other words, that's something we'll have to role play. What exactly are you asking/saying of whom?

There is life on other planets, but to this point none of it has been intelligent, being more in the category of flora and fauna.

The innoculations are given, and over the course of the next month it increases your resistance.

--M. J. Young

I'll make sure to load my watchputer with a wide array of basic encyclopedia information, and specifically engineering and science stuff as well. Might be useful to bring with me later. I always need to look up those obscure formulas for making hydrochloric acid or inducing electrical current.

Do they use the teleporters often? I'm curious to see/feel how they work, since that is something both new and fantastic to me.

As I learn programming techniques and methods fron Banson I think I will definitely work on making some games that can be played via the computer system. Implementing a few of my favorite classics will be a good motivator to learn more and apply my new knowledge. I can easily spend 4-6 hours a day working on coding fun projects if I have the time.

With George as a start, I'll extend invitations to the rest of the crew to join us for some basic techniques and practice. Having a small group tends to be more enjoyable and useful than just two.

Clothing I want to get: two practical sets of basic garments: simple shirt, cargo pants, undershorts, socks. One for warm weather and one for cooler. I'd also like to find one formal looking outfit, with guidance from Marilyn and George as to what might be appropriate or fitting (equivalent of a good suit or tuxedo).

Jewelry/valuables I want to get: I'd like to find a variety of small pieces, with precious metals and stones. So some rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, of gold, silver, platinum and with some stones. Mostly things that might be useful to barter if I had no useful currency.

I think my first queries regarding supernatural things will go toward Marilyn. "So, in your travels and interactions with diverse groups, have you encountered anything difficult to explain, like psychic powers or phenomen that looked like storybook magic? I'm wondering if advances have been made as travel and evolution have taken their course."

I'd also ask Captain Carpenter. "You know a lot about your potential pilot adversaries. Any special tricks up their sleeves? Did any of the military personnel have augmentation, or unique abilities somehow?"

Does John or Goerge think of anything else I can help with to be useful on board? How is my cooking received by the crew overall?

Torbin's systems, and the various subordinate computers on this alien ship, all use very different data standards and interfacing connections than Federation systems--of which your watchputer is one. It's not impossible to connect the two, but unless you want to have Torbin dictate all this information for the voice inputs of the watchputer to collect, you'll need to create a device to connect to Torbin's output and feed to the watchputer input. Ever do anything like that before?

They use the teleporters whenever they have the need to teleport, usually to a planet, sometimes to an artificial habitat, rarely to another ship. That sort of thing happens--well, probably they teleport people a hundred times a year, but twenty to forty of those will be on the same day, and the rest of the time they don't use it. However, whatever the next mission proves to be, you'll probably have the opportunity to be part of whatever groups of people get teleported.

What sort of games are you thinking of including? I can imagine "classics" meaning tarocci and mancala, or chess and checkers, or bridge and cribbage, or pong and tank, or space invaders and asteroids, or Donkey Kong, Pac Man, and Centipede, or Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog, or Tetris and Zaxxon. (I remember programming Hangman into my C64 so my son could use it to practice his spelling words; is that a classic?)

At present the rest of the crew don't see the advantage of primitive hand to hand combat over a good blaster at your side. It might take a while to persuade them. George of course is the sort of person who learns things just because he can.

Objects added to your equipment include:

• Watchputer, a device about the size of an electronic watch. Input is strictly verbal, output on a vid screen (size of type can be adjusted, but of course the larger it is the fewer characters you can see at once). He says it only has three terabytes of memory and a ten gigahertz processor chip, but it's probably good for what you want. It doesn't have a modem. Solar cells on the face recharge the power supply; it will continue functioning for about a hundred hours in total darkness, depending on the amount of light used on the screen. Memory is retained in power failure. From Starship Destiny
• Shirt, simple, light (Starship Destiny)
• Shirt, simple, warm (Starship Destiny)
• Cargo pants, light (Starship Destiny)
• Cargo pants, warm (Starship Destiny)
• 2 pairs undershorts (Starship Destiny)
• Socks, light (Starship Destiny)
• Socks, warm (Starship Destiny)
• Quality dress suit, complete (Starship Destiny)
• 30 assorted pieces of small jewelry, precious metals and stones. So some rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, of gold, silver, platinum and with some stones. Mostly things that might be useful to barter if I had no useful currency.

Marilyn is unaware of having encountered anything magical or difficult to explain on natural abilities. The ship is proof of the existence of aliens, but there is nothing on it that suggests these aliens had supernatural abilities.

You ask Captain Alexander about "augmentation". "What," he says, "something like Ann's communications interface, only adapted for tactical navigation? There are a couple of applications of mind/machine interface, but nothing in that vein of which I'm aware. Or did you have something else in mind?"

The crew enjoys having the change of pace in the diet, in the main. Ishara approaches it suspiciously, but then, he approaches everything that way. Toni is enthusiastic in her thanks, Ann quietly complimentary, Marilyn and George encouraging. Tom, Phil, and Burly are more reserved, but do compliment your efforts. Gary and John always have a bit of a rushed air around them, but usually ask if there's anything new to eat when they hit the galley, which of course refers to your cooking.

George says there are always things to do, but more so connected to missions. Everything falls into a quiet routine with not much happening between missions, when the most dangerous thing is that the ship might be located by the Federation and then have to escape and vanish to another corner of the galaxy. When they visit places, though, there's always cargo to move, contacts to make, equipment to install, and stuff like that. "Don't worry," he says. "We'll find stuff for you to do."

--M. J. Young

I think I smell a programming project. Moving data from one format to another is something I've done, and is a fun challenge. Depending on the complexity it might take me a while, but I'm up for trying. Since Torbin is so intelligent I'm sure it can provide a little guidance or reformatting help. This will also help me learn more about the watchputer's insides.

In addition I'll be working on programming up some board and card games for the ship, since I'm sure without them I'll miss them very much. Start with some basic projects, like checkers, chess, go, mancala, scrabble, boggle, poker, bridge. That will get me up to speed enough to tackle bigger challenges. A scrolling shooter (R-Type, etc.) would be fun too, and be the logical next level after the board games.

To Marilyn: "So what sorts of aliens have you encountered? What are some of the strangest or most unexpected events that you've faced aboard the Destiny?"

To John: "I guess I'm curious what things might exist here that did not exist where I came from. Things I might consider out of the ordinary, like that mind-machine link Ann has, could be normal in this time and place. Is there anything you've seen or heard of that wouldn't be covered in the histories I'm brushing up on? Anything I should keep an eye out for if we meet foreign or Federation people?"

I think the downtime is great as I explore the ship and what I can do on it. I picture my day having about 3-4 hours of cooking, 1-3 hours of karate and yoga practice, 5-6 hours of programming, and then a few hours of leisure, eating, socializing, flirting and playing the games (once I finish a couple).

Any other things George can help me learn? He seems to have tons of skills to share, and be very receptive.

Any chance Torbin can fetch me some decks of playing cards? How about some juggling balls, beanbags or clubs?

Torbin is a computer, built into the ship. It can operate ship systems because everything is tied into it, and it interacts as if a person or personality (albeit a somewhat limited and dull one), but it is not mobile. Thus it cannot fetch anything for you.

If you mean, can it pick up something using the teleporter, how the teleporter works is still not known to you, but it is sufficient that Torbin cannot identify and move objects without human assistance.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, you gradually begin putting together the details of Torbin's datastream and those of the watchputer, and start working out how to match them. It's not an easy task, by any means, but you're a professional, and while you've never seen datastream comparable to Torbin (it's a trinary code in nine bit bytes with an overlay to team bytes in threes for more complex characters, going to a binary code in sixty-four bit bytes in the watchputer), but you gradually put it together. It looks like you have to host the program on Torbin during the development phase, but once you've got it you can create a variant on the watchputer that would enable you to download and process something in that format, if you wish to use the space for that. Presumably Torbin is the product of an alien technology somewhere in this universe, but no one has ever found the creators, so you can't be entirely certain of the usefulness of such a program in your database.

You also manage to put together those basic game projects in the same time, taking advantage of all you've learned about Torbin's systems to streamline the effort. Your scrolling shooter would be next; however, your inputs to Torbin are mostly verbal or keypad--what do you intend for an input process for a scrolling shooter?

Marilyn on aliens: "I'm not sure whether we've ever met the sort of alien you mean. We've encountered life forms on inhabitable planets, but none of these have been intelligent. There are some humans out there working in biological manipulation, creating life forms that are sub-human but humanoid. Thus far, though, the best evidence I know for the existence of intelligent aliens is this ship--and we can't say for certain that it wasn't created by humans who have somehow isolated themselves from the Federation and advanced their technology to a point where they have been able to remain hidden. Everything about the design of the ship suggests that the designers were very like us in shape--controls at torso level, readouts at eye level, grips designed for bilateral grips, even the chairs in the galley suggesting similar body jointing and the beds suggesting similar height. The medical systems seem familiar enough with human physiology, too, and the food was all edible when we boarded. It may be that there are no intelligent aliens, just intelligent humans spread across the universe developing new abilities and technologies.

The strangest event, apart from your arrival and the discovery of the ship itself, is probably the time Torbin refused to permit the ship to pass through a certain area in space. It claimed there was a danger in that area, but would not specify what that danger was--said there was no data defining it. In the end, we went the long way around. Banson said that computer operation is part of the design--that the pilot bypassed Torbin, but not the control computers which controlled what is effectively rudder, and if Torbin shut down access we would have a very difficult time maintaining a straight course or gathering navigational data. He said he could disconnect Torbin from the other computers, but it would take at least a few hours, and probably wasn't worth the effort, particularly as it would make it more difficult to operate the ship via Torbin after that."

John on the unusual: "Well, as you say, you find Ann's mind/machine link unusual, but I've known a hundred communications officers and a handful of navigators who have the same sort of connections. I'm sure that sort of information is in the history banks, although you might have to look for technological advances specifically. Also, you have to be mindful that we don't have complete histories of all the hundreds of inhabited planets; it's entirely possible that there are advances out there that are unknown beyond those who have accomplished them. We have a teleporter on this ship, and as far as we know, we're the only ones who have one. We did not invent it, though; obviously whoever invented also has it, but has chosen to keep it quite secret. The Federation knows we have it, because we use it against them; but neither they nor we know how it works, and we're not going to let them learn more than necessary."

As you say, George has tons of skills, and he's willing to teach; but he's not the sort of person who will tell you what you need to learn--he thinks you should learn everything that interests you, and everything should interest you, but it's up to you to ask if he knows something rather than for him to make suggestions.

So, what are you hoping George can teach you?

--M. J. Young

I was under the impression that Torbin had matter transmission capability somehow, or is that the ship's power distinct from Torbin's manipulation? Either way I'm hoping to find some balls, beanbags or similar objects, and some clubs, torches, pins. Perhaps I misunderstood how the 'stuff' that the ship gets is brought onboard. How are the ingredients for my cooking exploits coming to me?

I'm glad I can do some basic gaming now on the ship, and I will recruit folks for a casual game here and there between periods of work. What sort of leisure activities, hobbies or R&R do they take part in?

I think a shooter with keypad input should be no problem. I've played numerous shooters like that on my computer, all keyboard-based. It will take some work to put together, but it will also sharpen my skills and be fun to do.

As I spend more time with George helping where I can, teaching unarmed combat and finding out more about his past history (if he'll share) I'd like to see if he can help me learn more medical techniques. I'm also interested in some basic mechanics, like gears, engines, motors, clockwork, etc. Does he know any sign language, or other nonverbal ways of communicating? That could be quite handy if we head off the ship into dangerous territory. Does George do any sort of bodywor, yoga, or other physical disciplines like that?

I'd also be interested in getting information on what current systems of law are like in this civilization (from George, or anyone else) since I find law as a hobby very interesting.

Ah, so you are going to inquire about the matter transmitter.

Any time anyone or anything is going to be teleported, it has to be fitted with a harness. This serves in part as a marker, but it's also part of the mechanism. There are personal harnesses and cargo harnesses. This is what you might call a transportable station transmat--part of the mechanism moves with the person or object transported.

Thus you can't pick up stuff unless you tag it.

Torbin can work the matter transmitter, but he can't tag anything.

The ingredients for your cooking are in the rather extensive larders, freezers, and other storage areas off the galley. The meals in the automat are what might somewhere else be called Instameals--prepackaged prepared food that is heated in seconds to an edible level. Torbin doesn't create anything; the galley systems pull these from storage mechanically.

Leisure activities are varied. For Ishara, target practice is his usual interest, and he has a section in one of the holds set up for that. Burly is working most of the time, and considers eating and sleeping to be recreational activities; Toni gets a bit more time off, which is spent chatting with the other girls, if they're available. On that, Ann is always working, even when she's sleeping; she takes breaks to get something to eat, but she even sleeps at her console, hooked up so that all that communications traffic will pass into her subconscious. Marilyn likes to read and to visit with crew members. George makes himself useful, helping where he can and tinkering with figuring out new things when he's not needed. Phil about eats, drinks, and sleeps computers, and when he's not doing that he's reading outputs of scans and other information the ship has gathered. John will relax over a meal three times a day in the galley, but otherwise he seems to be on duty whenever he's awake. Tom is a bit secretive about his leisure activities.

George, Tom, and Marilyn are most likely to play games with you, although Toni is the sort of person who will try a game once to see how it's played, tell you that it was interesting and enjoyable, and never play it again.

George has spent most of his life on one sort of ship or another, but was never in the military--mostly merchants and passenger lines. In those places, you often have to learn a bit of this and a bit of that, because they're frequently understaffed and always having problems. He was working as an electronics technician on a ship that he didn't know was smuggling contraband for the resistance when the Federation attacked and boarded them; Destiny rescued the lot of them, and he has stayed on since.

I'm also interested in some basic mechanics, like gears, engines, motors, clockwork, etc.

Do you have any (even rank amateur) skills in any of these areas already, or is this stuff you're learning from nothing?

He shows you around medical, and starts teaching you how to do stuff there; he doesn't do any sort of physical training, which he says wasn't ever really necessary when he spent so much time climbing catwalks and crawling through access tubes, which was enough of a workout for anyone.

When you ask about sign language or nonverbal communication, he says, "What, more than pointing and waving? I remember reading that there use to be hand languages used by people who couldn't hear, until medicine pretty much eliminated all causes of, what did they call it? Deafness. I never found anyone who used something like that--although you're right, I've been in some tight spots where it would have helped to be able to communicate with my confederates without saying anything. On the other hand, it doesn't help to learn something like that unless someone else knows it, too."

The Federation system is trial by computer. Attorneys for each side enter every fact they can establish, and the computer determines the guilt or liability of each party. Some in the resistance are convinced that the system is fixed, but the Federation asserts that it would be impossible for the computer to return an unjust verdict.

Outside the Federation, every planet is a bit different. Most have some sort of jury system, but some have hereditary jurists, some have adjudication by elders, some have elected or appointed deciders, and there are many other wrinkles.

Before you can get too far along on the first person shooter project, there's a mission. Ann has identified transmissions concerning a planet near the Federation boundary that is slated to be approached for "membership" in the Federation. It has been agreed to try to arrange a meeting with officials there to offer them an alternative. The first step is to attempt to contact those officials without the message being intercepted by the Federation; Destiny is already en route to rendez-vous with a merchant ship headed that direction that can carry a message.

--M. J. Young

Good to know how the transmitter works. I look forward to seeing it in action.

"So George, how are you with a lathe, or a sewing needle? I'd like to make some juggling tools, and I'd love your help. Anyone on board juggle? Know how to make a nice beanbag?"

I would be happy to learn some electronics from George. All the electonics and mechanics I already know are from summer camp and high school stuff, nothing very recent or complicated. I'm not completely new to this (I can make a few wacky lego gearbox vehicles) but I'm an amateur. I've done some soldering and whatnot, but nothing very complex electonically beyond $10 kits.

I'm definitely going to spend more time poring over medical documentation, machinery, history and diagrams. I'll study a couple hours each day, since the crew seems to need someone who can do some medicine, and I'm very keen on learning now that I'm much more on my own (in the long run). The computer programming stuff is for fun and to keep sharp, but this might just keep people alive. It matters to me.

I would like to see if I can convince George and possibly John or Marilyn to learn some sign language with me. Even if deafness is gone, I'm sure some spies or monks with vows of silence or crazies have developed a regular sign language (or kept AMESLAN alive). Obviously the more of us that know it the more useful it is, but if others are clueless it could be a big asset in tight spots.

Trial by computer is interesting. I'm sure there are various analyses (both official and underground) on how the decisions are made, and what sorts of facts are most important to gather. I'd say that fits my definition of the law I'd like to study. If the system is fixed, further exploration of how it works and what results come from various situations will give some sort of evidence, statistically speaking.

I'm very excited by a mission coming up. Could we send a steganographic message along to the planet, or even teleport something with a message embedded? Those are tough to intercept I bet.

There is indeed a fabrication center aboard, equipped with just about everything from chisels and hammers to laser etchers and gene splicers, and some stuff no one aboard is certain just what it is or does. It's mostly Burly's province, as making parts to keep systems operational takes priority, but George tinkers there quite a bit and can help you do a bit of lathe work and some sewing. A beanbag should be simple enough, once you've explained what that is and why you want it, although you'll have to decide what you want to use for beans.

George thinks that Tom juggles, but Tom won't admit any skills even when he uses them. No one else does any juggling.

I'm giving you 1@5 Repair Simple Gear Systems & Drives T4@1, 1@5 Electricity Package T9@X (a package of skills ranging up to radio broadcasting and receiving using crystal sets and similar non-electronic approaches), and 1@3 Electronics Package T10@X (similar to the Electricity Package, but covers RCL circuits, vacuum tubes, amplification, CRTs, photoelectronics, sonics and ultrasound, transistors, low power transmission lasers, fiber optics, and integrated circuits). Feel free to debate whether these are appropriate.

No one is interested at present in learning sign language. George says it's a clever idea, but there's really a lot to do right now with this upcoming mission.

Phil Banson points out that the problem with a steganographic message is that if the person to whom you are sending it doesn't know the key, the person trying to find out what you're saying has at least as good a chance to crack it as the intended recipient. As to teleporting the message, while that's a good idea, it probably won't work. Although it's never been tested, there is a theoretical transmit distance limit beyond which the transmitted object would molecularly incohere and be lost. They've never attempted a distance farther than high planetary orbit, and never had any trouble; but there is a limited number of cargo markers so they don't want to waste these (as would happen if they hit that distance), and it's not the sort of thing you want to test with a person. They don't have test animals available, either.

In any case, in two days you will rendezvous with the Astral Haze, a trading vessel (the Federation would say smuggling, but that's because the Federation claims jurisdiction over all of space and the resistance rejects that claim) which is headed for the planet in question. Plans will be made from there.

In fact, if you've any suggestions or ideas about how to do this with a minimum of chance of alerting the Federation to our movements, they're starting to discuss the possibilities informally.

--M. J. Young

Sounds like the supplies and machines are more than enough for me to make some juggling equipment. I can make some clubs on the lathe and beanbags easily with some fabric and seeds, beans, or polystyrene pellets. Birdseed actually works remarkably well for juggling balls. I'll happily work with George on this cooperatively, and get him a set too so I can teach him and get us doing some passing and two-person tricks.

These skills seem fine to me. I have some electronics experience from my computer hardware work experience, but that seems adequately covered by a separate skill. I'm not sure if that would help me have a better starting level of Electronics Package or not, since it is closely related and has a lot of overlap.

How recognizable is the Destiny on the Federation's scanners? What sort of range can it be detected at?

If we could make our rendezvous look like normal merchant activity, or just some resupply, then it could be quite innocuous. If it's glaringly obvious that our ship doesn't belong, then searching for an asteroid, moon or solar flare (or similar event) to cover our ship's signature would be my preference. Maybe there is a bigger ship scheduled to be in the same area that we can slip in behind to avoid detection. I'm sure Phil can grab manifests and sort through likely neighbors.

How has Destiny sent messages along to third parties in the past? Are they going to write a letter to pass along to the planet's leadership?

There are ample materials for fabricating all sorts of things, including woods, metals, plastics, polymers, fabrics, and other stuff. Most of it is synthetic (except where it obviously isn't).

How recognizable Destiny is depends on range, mainly, although other conditions can make a difference. Our scanners are better than theirs, so when it comes time to visit the planet we'll probably locate the Federation units in the area and position ourselves on the opposite side of the planet, to the degree that we can. Meanwhile, there's little chance that the Federation will recognize us meeting a merchant ship in deep space, unless they happen to have something in the area or are already tailing one ship or the other--which is something we can probably check within reasonable certainty.

There aren't a lot of ships much bigger than Destiny, other than space habitats.

In the past many techniques have been used. For example, it has happened that one or another member of the crew has known someone on a planet, and could send a message. You know, there's a big difference between

Hi, Bill? This is Marilyn. Hey, I was going to be in the neighborhood next week and hoped you could give me the tour, introduce me to the important people and such. My friends and I really wanted to meet your boss, and tell him how much we support what he's doing. Let me know.

as opposed to

Mr. President, this is Captain John Alexander of the Starship Destiny. We'd like to meet with you to discuss your position on the Federation claim to sovereignty there, and to offer our assistance if you're considering rejecting it.

The former only works, though, if you actually have a personal relationship with someone you know is on the planet, who will know who you are without enough identification for someone else to trace it to you. At the moment, we don't know of anyone who fits that role.

An alternative technique is the one proposed here, to find someone who can move more freely into the area and speak on our behalf, then upon leaving the area let us know whether we're welcome or not. It's not as quick or as reliable, but it works.

One possibility is to teleport a party aboard another ship and let them travel to the planet on that other ship, arriving unannounced, meeting with whomever they can and getting an answer, and then either finding a way off the planet to rendezvous with Destiny elsewhere or signalling for pickup there. It has the advantage of being the quickest approach, but it's also rather risky.

--M. J. Young

Definitely going to get to work making a few sets of juggling equipment. This will be fun! Juggling is very relaxing, useful in the stressful situation I'm in.

The idea of being part of a subtle approach team is very appealing. I would feel more comfortable doing that after spending some quality time with John and Marilyn going over the approach methods Destiny's crew uses for leaders of border planets, and acquainting myself better with what our group can offer or provide.

How complex is signaling for teleport pickup after the work planetside is complete?

How big a factor is timeliness in completing this negotiation?

Might we find someone trustworthy or sympathetic on the Astral Haze who could deliver a message or start communications for us? Maybe someone who could set up an introduction with an important individual on the planet?

How is Marilyn preparing and planning for this rendezvous? I'd like to make myself involved and helpful if I can.

I'm assuming that the creation of such juggling equipment will involve use of a lathe, chisels, and possibly other simple tools. Do you already have experience with these? (Did I ask this already?)

John and Marilyn stare blankly at each other when you ask about approach methods. Marilyn breaks the silence. "Just follow our lead, I would say. We're making it up as we go along."

As to what Destiny offers, the big things are protection--both as the most powerful ship known and as part of the larger mutual support structure of the resistance--and trade assistance, helping rebel planets get supplies to and from each other. Also, the resistance does not tax its members and does not regulate them or dictate what they need to do.

The communicators built into the teleport harnesses use a system that is unfamiliar to the Federation (or even to the users here), so you can call the ship. It won't work as far as the next star, but Destiny will be waiting a lot closer than that. It's just a matter of having Destiny hidden close enough, and whether it can get within teleport range without engaging Federation ships.

There are people on the Astral Haze who are considered friends; it is an independent trader working the resistance and non-aligned planets. Whether they would have contacts in the upper echelons of planetary government is a separate question. It's more likely that you'll introduce yourselves to someone low enough in government that he meets with ordinary people on a regular basis, but high enough that he knows who to call to get you the interview you need.

Marilyn is packing clothes, a few negotiable objects (jewelry, mostly) to use for money. She wants to look like ordinary crew of a trading vessel, mainly, until reaching the planet.

It looks as if the plan at this point is for you to go with Marilyn and Tom to make contact with the leaders. Tom is not part of the contact team, but is there to assist with security issues (over his objections).

--M. J. Young

I've used a lathe for a few months, and done small bits of work with chisels and other basic carptentry tools. So some amateur stuff, maybe 1@4?

To John & Marilyn: "I'm happy to learn from you by watching. Just wondering if there was any sort of technique that you find works well. I can play a part if you want us to act roles..."

Regarding Astra Haze: "Would it be helpful to approach the Astral Haze with a trade agreement? As business partners maybe we could go further into society without being noticed."

If Marilyn or John will be armed then I will be as well. Otherwise I'll mimic Marilyn's preparations, plus juggling stuff (for fun).

In the travel time I'd like to learn about this planet's government, industry and commerce as much as I can, and figure out where they lean politically. What matters to them, and what might motivate them?

The planet is a parliamentary democracy. One of the significant short-term motivating factors will be the desire to stay out of a war; that plays against you rather strongly. Against this, your companions will be emphasizing the value of independence, and the tax burden the Federation would certainly assess once the planet has been incorporated into it. However, this has to be sold to the masses so that the people who make the decision aren't voted out of office by those who would rather submit to the burden than fight the battle.

John suggests that you carry the gun. Tom generally is terrified of guns even when he is holding them, and it makes sense for one person to be the armed courtesy escort, but not for everyone to be armed. Marilyn will pack guns for herself and Tom, but not have them in sight.

The idea of a trade agreement is clever, but at this point it's not clear who would be the other partner in such an agreement. The rebellion is, after all, a coalition of independent planets cooperating for their mutual defense, not a treaty organization or unified entity. You'd have to find a planet that was interested in such an agreement, and work out the details of the offer, and the time is a bit slim for that.

You'll be meeting the Astral Haze tomorrow.

--M. J. Young

As the group of Rebellion planets grows, I'm sure the Destiny or others can help coordinate good trade agreements to make joining the Rebellion something advantageous. With the lower taxation and fewer restrictions on importing/exporting, trade should flow more smoothly and thus more efficiently. What major imports and exports does this planet have? Do we have data, or can we acquire it, about other planets that have agreed to be a part of our Rebellion?

Perhaps Phil and Ann and I can work together in the last day we have to analyze this planet's industry and commerce and compare it to others nearby to figure out what sort of trade plan we can offer as a carrot for the Rebellion.

Convincing the masses that moving away from the Federation is good becomes much easier when you can put a monetary value on it. Free-er trade means lower taxes and lower costs of goods.

I'm alright carrying a gun, but I don't expect to use it. Do we have some sort of plan if things go wrong? When Tom and Marilyn (and/or John) go on these trips, what's the backup plan or scramble signal if things turn against us? What signs of a Federation spy or informant should I be aware of?

This is how we're going to handle the question of the planet's imports and exports: you are going to tell me what you are hoping for as the ideal situation, and that in some detail. That is, I don't want you to tell me that the planet produces an excess of "something" that another planet not far from it needs, and desperately needs "something" that planet produces; I want you to tell me what those things are. Then, when you've outlined your best hopes, I'll roll the general effects roll, and the better the roll, the more likely it is that what you've described is what you get. If the roll is bad, then you're going to have to work under conditions as unlike what you've described as possible--but unless it's really very bad, you will at least know what the circumstances are.

(General Effects Rolls are designed to determine outcomes based on how they match player hopes and fears. It's a rather clever mechanic, which I can say because Ed provided it. It means that there's a mechanic to decide whether things go your way or not.)

--M. J. Young

Ah, ok, sounds good. Sorry I didn't pick up on that earlier.

Let's call our current target Alpha, and nearby planets Beta and Gamma.

Alpha has a strong ecological makeup such that trees there grow quite high, and quickly due to its strong central star. It can export timber, bamboo and plant fibers generously. The soil is fertile but lacking in certain heavy metals, making it ideal for plants but poor for mining of Mercury, Manganese, Cobalt and Zinc.

Beta's economy is less well developed than Alpha's, but mostly because it is primarily a mining planet. Copper, Mercury, Zinc and Manganese are abundant, but food is short, and building materials are mostly uncomfortable metals. Wood is a luxury, Bamboo is sought after, and grains are always welcome.

Gamma has enjoyed longer human occupation, giving it a strong economy and higher population. Gamma's citizens are in the midst of a 'green' craze, pushing up the prices of exotic woods and bamboos for luxury furniture and construction projects. Gamma's advanced society has developed strong medical technology which proves valuable to both Alpha and Beta, since everyone needs to be patched up now and then.

My hope is that we can broker an agreement for three-way trade to build a strong commercial network and make the planets happy to be allied, politically and economically. The lack of big taxes makes this work even better!

It is much as you say; but there are a few details that might require a bit of work to overcome.

Beta is also very much on the border of Federation territory, and very concerned that it's going to be pressured to join next. In its favor it's got good GtO (Ground to Orbit) defenses and thinks it can fend off an attack fairly well, particularly if it knows it's coming. On the other hand, it has some fear that planets like Alpha are going to fall, leaving it cut off. Thus you can play on that, getting them involved in order to keep Alpha independent. The fear works in reverse, though--Alpha is afraid that Beta will fall, and that will cut them off from what they need.

Complicating this, Alpha does not have much in the way of GtO defenses, and its space combat capabilities are going to need significant help.

Gamma, meanwhile, has been somewhat isolationist for the past half century. The population at large doesn't really think the Federation a threat, in part because they're too isolated to be aware of the danger, and in part because they expect (rather foolishly) that their "neutrality" will be respected. You might have an uphill battle there. In any case, their position is such that as long as Alpha and Beta remain independent, Gamma won't be threatened; but if either of them fall, it places Gamma on the boundary.

--M. J. Young

Our tactic will be to focus on showing Alpha and Beta the positive trade results of bringing more planets into a coalition of free traders. Since the Beta exports are so strong, they have much to gain from encouraging other nearby planets to join up. Bringing Alpha into the fold will boost their economy greatly, as a neighbor with great potential commerce will make Beta increase its efficiency drastically.

Using the proximity to Beta and Gamma we can get Alpha some engineers and weapons systems to quickly boost their GtO capabilities and prepare them for any sort of assault. The money from the increased trade will also help them invest in defence systems to shield them from the Federation. We can help the government craft some economic incentives to encourage skilled immigrants from Beta and Gamma so they can have locals doing building and make business connections across planets.

Gamma we can bring in as a trade partner for now, since they do need the natural resources from Alpha and Beta to maintain their collective lifestyle. It is also useful for them to encourage free trade, as it lets them utilize their advanced technology to gather more income. We can move talks along with Gamma at a slower pace and bring them along as friendly neighbors before getting a solid commitment to the Rebellion.

Sound good for a plan going forward? Need more details anywhere?

Yes, there is another bit of detail I need: you are mere days from boarding a freighter with Marilyn so you can travel to Alpha and find a way to meet with their leadership. Who is going to contact the leaders of Gamma and Beta to start all this in motion at that end? You don't have the problem of trying to hide Destiny from Federation ships in the area (at least, not to the same degree), but you do have to talk with them about their parts in this.

The ship does have a couple pairs of QNL Communicators so you can be in touch with them on a secure channel over the distance, but they won't have more than a couple days' head start on your landing on Alpha to do anything.

--M. J. Young

In the few days we have, Marilyn will initiate talks with Beta, while John and I will talk with Gamma. I think that if the three of us can get started on opening up the discussion of trade then we will have some ammunition for discussion with Alpha.

I'd also draw on the expertise and skills of Phil and Ann to give us analysis of optimal trade routes and calculations, and to open up communications with relevant unions, guilds, representatives and government figures/agencies.

This seems like a perfect way to spend the intervening days until we arrive planetside.

I'll also ask Marilyn and George to brief me on any lingo, slang and terminology that I might be lacking so that I can communicate more fluidly with the people we will be meeting.

Your plan appears to require that you use open channel communications to hold discussions with the leaders of the Beta and Gamma planets, which will probably mean that the Federation will be able to listen to your conversations. How are you handling this aspect of the problem? Do you not care if they hear your plans, or are you going to leave out specific references to certain points?

--M. J. Young

I do care if they hear our plans. Secret coordination is pretty important to me at this point. How public are other planets about their participation in this Rebellion? How public has John Carpenter been about dealings with previous planets?

Perhaps Phil and I can work out some encrypted conversation means (via the QNL) to make it at least slower for the Federation eavesdropping to pick up on our conversation.

I'd also be happy to keep some things nonspecific to make it harder to figure out what we are talking about.

Quantum Non-locality itself is absolutely secure; the problem is, each pair of units can talk only to each other, so switchboards maintained by the Federation are used to make connections. For evident reasons, the rebellion does not trust signals passing through Federation switchboards.

The simple explanation of a QNL system is that there are a very few particles in each unit which exist in two places at once--by the principle of quantum non-locality, the same particles are built into two separate communicators. Since those particles exist in both places, vibrations induced in their states at either end are produced at the other. Thus no one can tap a QNL signal between its two primary points, but those two primary points are dedicated to each other--you need a separate pair of transmitter/receivers for each connection. Obviously, it can't be that ever person in the galaxy has one dedicated transmitter/receiver for every other person in the galaxy; Destiny cannot have one even for every planet in the rebellion.

Planets that are aligned with the rebellion consider themselves "neutral, and planning to stay neutral"--independent, but supporting the independence of each other. Thus any planet that has not actually applied for or been accepted for membership in the Federation is deemed to be a rebel planet by default, at the Federation end, although overtures are made to give such planets the opportunity to repair the oversight. Destiny makes no secret of what planets it visits, but does not advertise its purposes; a visit to Alpha, Beta, or Gamma might be known, but the purposes of that visit would only be guessed. In fact, probably some members of Destiny's crew will be sent planetside at Alpha to do a bit of trading or shopping or something, just to ensure that if the presence of the ship is detected there is some basis to question its mission there.

If I'm understanding you aright, you're hoping to communicate with Beta and Gamma by sending coded messages through the QNL system, knowing that the Federation will investigate these but hoping that the Federation will not break the code and the proper recipients will. What I'm not getting is the basis for that hope. How would you expect the leaders of Beta receiving an encoded message to know how to decode it, unless you first sent the decoding instructions, and if you had already sent them with the certainty that Beta would receive them, how do you know that the Federation would not also have them?

Someone will suggest that time is going to be critical here; it might make more sense for you to promise the support of "the rebellion" generally, point to the potential benefits of a trade agreement with these other planets, and then make it happen after the fact if all goes well with Alpha.

The alternative would be for Destiny to drop you on the rendezvous and then head to either Beta or Gamma, talk with leaders there, let you knowa the situation by direct QNL (obviously, Destiny has a few pairs of QNL communicators which are linked directly to each other and do not use the switchboard), and then swing over to Alpha to retrieve you whatever the outcome at your end. There probably is time for one such stop, but not two. If you want to take a risk, communication from the leaders of Beta to the leaders of Gamma might escape detection, or if phrased aright might seem like ordinary talk of trade negotiations suggesting the involvement of a third party.

That would seem the best option at this point, although you'd have to rely on others to handle that part of the deal.

Thoughts?

--M. J. Young

Thanks for the continued clarification.

I think I'll go with "promise the support of "the rebellion" generally, point to the potential benefits of a trade agreement with these other planets, and then make it happen after the fact if all goes well with Alpha" for now. I don't want to be totally cut off from Destiny's help and work on my own since I'm still new at this.

You and Marilyn board the freighter, welcomed by the captain. He teases her about the amount of the bounty on her head, and she points out that he'd be hard-pressed to claim it given what the Federation has offered for him. That, he says, is a very small bounty, and they might even overlook it if he were to cooperate. It's evident that he is not serious about this, but it does underscore the hazards of her situation.

Destiny will be about a day behind, so that there is less probability that the Federation will connect them to you if they're spotted. Meanwhile, you've got about three days aboard the freighter.

You've been issued a kinetic blaster and a QNL communicator; the other end of your communicator is on Ann's console on the bridge, and Marilyn has her own. It's for signalling for pickup or for other emergency situations.

--M. J. Young

Sounds good. I'd like to chat with the captain a bit, following Marilyn's lead, and not talk too much about myself but try to learn more about him over the course of our trip. I'd also like to tease out how much background he and Marilyn have together.

Does Marilyn feel pretty secure with our current plan? Does she have suggestions for what to do when we arrive?

The captain doesn't consider himself part of the rebellion, and says if he were the bounty on him would be much higher. At present, he's just considered a smuggler by Federation authorities--which means he carries goods between non-Federation planets without paying Federation transport taxes. You can tell that there's both bitterness and mocking when he speaks of how the Federation thinks it owns all of the space between the planets, as if anyone who flies a spaceship must adhere to Federation laws on all points. His livelihood seems to be that of merchant marine, working the transportation end for hundreds of import/export businesses on scores of planets.

Destiny has saved him from "Federation entanglements" in the past, although he credits that to the idea that Destiny won't let the Federation make what he says are illegal claims to free vessels in space. He doesn't particularly approve or support what Destiny does, or the rebellion generally, but recognizes that it's the Federation's fault that there is this war, and someone has to fight back or it would end pretty quickly with the Federation taking over everything.

As to the plan:

"Well, presumably there has been debate about whether or not the planet should join the Federation, and hopefully that debate will be in some sense public. We try as quickly as possible to identify a few key officials who appear to be against Federation membership, and then attempt to get an audience with one of them--without saying who we are, just posing as citizens wanting to discuss this matter with one of our leaders. Then when we've got the meeting, we tell him who we really are and why we are there, and hope that he can get us meetings with the people who matter--military, executive, whoever will have the most influence on the outcome. From there, we offer our support, explain what we can do, and try to get a decision in favor of the rebellion.

"If the decision goes the other way--and I don't want you to kid yourself, it's entirely possible that these people will see domination by the Federation as much preferable to war against it--then we have to vanish into the landscape and hope Destiny can get us out before the Federation supporters manage to confine us. Don't remove your teleport harness, but don't call attention to it; as long as you are wearing that, Destiny can find you and transport you.

"Questions? Ideas?"

--M. J. Young