Editing Episode 510: St. Albans Secrets
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We’ve brought Lanie (formerly Roland) Charles home. The Charles family owns the Five Suns Fruit Company Plantation. So named because they have orchards in each of the five systems—White Sun, Red Sun, Kalidasa, Georgia, and Blue Sun—they are a fairly prosperous operation. The orchard on Greenleaf has been carved out of the tropical rainforest and it is acres upon acres of cultivated paradise. It’s mountainous and lush. For those with an interest for such things, it’s very much like the Hawaiian Islands of Old Earth and the climate is about the same—tropical but balmy, not oppressive. Perfect for growing things and relaxing in.<br><br> | We’ve brought Lanie (formerly Roland) Charles home. The Charles family owns the Five Suns Fruit Company Plantation. So named because they have orchards in each of the five systems—White Sun, Red Sun, Kalidasa, Georgia, and Blue Sun—they are a fairly prosperous operation. The orchard on Greenleaf has been carved out of the tropical rainforest and it is acres upon acres of cultivated paradise. It’s mountainous and lush. For those with an interest for such things, it’s very much like the Hawaiian Islands of Old Earth and the climate is about the same—tropical but balmy, not oppressive. Perfect for growing things and relaxing in.<br><br> | ||
| − | Not that we loll around for long. After a couple of days of goldbricking we roll up our sleeves and get our ship repaired. When we’re finished, | + | Not that we loll around for long. After a couple of days of goldbricking we roll up our sleeves and get our ship repaired. When we’re finished, Equinox should be spaceworthy and ready for work. And judging by the state of our coffers, we need the work. We gather over coffee in the crew lounge to discuss our options for travel and cargo.<br><br> |
'''Joshua:''' I would like to travel to St. Albans.<br> | '''Joshua:''' I would like to travel to St. Albans.<br> | ||
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'''Nika:''' You want to go to St. Albans?<br> | '''Nika:''' You want to go to St. Albans?<br> | ||
'''Joshua:''' I would like to, yes.<br> | '''Joshua:''' I would like to, yes.<br> | ||
| − | '''Nika:''' So we’re talking about | + | '''Nika:''' So we’re talking about possibly a bunch’a Readers who possibly need a lot of help which could possibly put the ship into some serious issues, so fix the ship.<br> |
'''Arden:''' A lot of Readers?<br> | '''Arden:''' A lot of Readers?<br> | ||
'''Joshua:''' I don’t know if it’s Readers.<br> | '''Joshua:''' I don’t know if it’s Readers.<br> | ||
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'''Kiera:''' (snark!) There’s just people that need help, so we’re going.<br> | '''Kiera:''' (snark!) There’s just people that need help, so we’re going.<br> | ||
'''Joshua:''' (not amused) Uh-huh.<br> | '''Joshua:''' (not amused) Uh-huh.<br> | ||
| − | '''Nika:''' The whole reason he wants to go to St. Albans is because the person who helped us out on the Alliance ship, we think | + | '''Nika:''' The whole reason he wants to go to St. Albans is because the person who helped us out on the Alliance ship, we think may also have been a Reader and she gave him coordinates because she’s going to help us get out and in return he has to help her friends.<br> |
'''Arden:''' Oh, sorry, somehow I had fixated on finding another girl.<br><br> | '''Arden:''' Oh, sorry, somehow I had fixated on finding another girl.<br><br> | ||
| − | Off the | + | Off the Jing Jing Bei list, right?<br><br> |
'''Nika:''' Oh yeah, no.<br> | '''Nika:''' Oh yeah, no.<br> | ||
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'''Rina:''' (yanking his chain) You missed one. Over there.<br> | '''Rina:''' (yanking his chain) You missed one. Over there.<br> | ||
| − | '''Joshua:''' (sees it) You’re | + | '''Joshua:''' (sees it) You’re right. If the reverse vampire circuit was …<br><br> |
| − | Off he goes and Rina leaves him to it. Of course, there is an added aspect to Joshua’s dip into conspiracy theory land—he’s still going through detox and what would be a normal case of detox for anyone else is complicated by Joshua’s Reader abilities. He not only reacts to things that aren’t there, but also to things that | + | Off he goes and Rina leaves him to it. Of course, there is an added aspect to Joshua’s dip into conspiracy theory land—he’s still going through detox and what would be a normal case of detox for anyone else is complicated by Joshua’s Reader abilities. He not only reacts to things that aren’t there, but also to things that are … but aren’t anywhere outside another person’s head … making the things there-but-not-there …. <br><br> |
It’s a confusing and painful time for him and the project on the machine shop wall helps him get through it. How much of that is borrowed from Rina’s personality and how much of it is a natural outgrowth of the detox—it doesn’t matter in the end. What matters is at the end of the two weeks it takes for repairs, Joshua makes it through.<br><br> | It’s a confusing and painful time for him and the project on the machine shop wall helps him get through it. How much of that is borrowed from Rina’s personality and how much of it is a natural outgrowth of the detox—it doesn’t matter in the end. What matters is at the end of the two weeks it takes for repairs, Joshua makes it through.<br><br> | ||
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We get that pressure hatch open, once we double check to make sure that we’re not breaching a fuel tank, and look inside. The air is stale and rank with a boozy stench and looking at the pipes and lines and whatnot crammed inside our first thought is we’ve stumbled onto a still. It’s about fifteen by twenty feet by standard height off the deck. A second look around triggers Rina’s memories of the Naval patrol boat she’d served on—specifically its cannon bay. Here is the railroad track that the cannon rounds are conveyed to the cannons on, there is the chain tackle that raises and lowers the rounds onto the tracks. There is a compression system for firing the cannon rounds at the target, through a pair of tubular tunnels in the bulkhead, one forward and one aft, very like torpedo tubes on a submarine. There is a cargo deployment ramp—empty—facing a cargo door of the sort made to slide down into the deck.. On a hunch, we go back outside of the cannon bay and sure enough, there’s another plate welded over the torpedo tubes’ hatch, forward and aft, and the cargo door as well. We cut them free.<br><br> | We get that pressure hatch open, once we double check to make sure that we’re not breaching a fuel tank, and look inside. The air is stale and rank with a boozy stench and looking at the pipes and lines and whatnot crammed inside our first thought is we’ve stumbled onto a still. It’s about fifteen by twenty feet by standard height off the deck. A second look around triggers Rina’s memories of the Naval patrol boat she’d served on—specifically its cannon bay. Here is the railroad track that the cannon rounds are conveyed to the cannons on, there is the chain tackle that raises and lowers the rounds onto the tracks. There is a compression system for firing the cannon rounds at the target, through a pair of tubular tunnels in the bulkhead, one forward and one aft, very like torpedo tubes on a submarine. There is a cargo deployment ramp—empty—facing a cargo door of the sort made to slide down into the deck.. On a hunch, we go back outside of the cannon bay and sure enough, there’s another plate welded over the torpedo tubes’ hatch, forward and aft, and the cargo door as well. We cut them free.<br><br> | ||
| − | Going back inside we look at the rounds stacked on the ammo racks. They aren’t cannon rounds, exactly, but 5-gallon barrels pressed into service as rounds. The barrels come in two types—one half are beer kegs, labeled as | + | Going back inside we look at the rounds stacked on the ammo racks. They aren’t cannon rounds, exactly, but 5-gallon barrels pressed into service as rounds. The barrels come in two types—one half are beer kegs, labeled as Elsinor Pilsner, the other half are barrels labeled as Blue Sun Birdseed. Sniffing the birdseed barrels closely, they are revealed as the source of that boozy scent. But shifting the barrels and listening hard, we can tell that they aren’t filled with booze. So what are they filled with? Are they explosives, as the machinery and the racks, the pumps and tubes, suggest?<br><br> |
Nika’s concerned about the contents of the kegs. Sure, they smell boozy but what if they’re actually filled with acid or some other dangerous stuff? Mind, we’d been carrying the dang things all this time without mishap and probably can continue doing so, but with the way our luck tends to run, Nika’s not willing to bet on it. They weigh about fifty pounds each. We take one of each type of container out a couple hundred feet away from the ship to open up. Rina has demolitions skills and she opens up the pilsner keg first. She finds not beer but the basic materials for a small EMP device, about the equivalent of a 50 pound magnetic charge. It’s a dud, however, the charge having been degaussed over time. The picture’s getting clearer. The compression pumps on the bay’s torpedo tubes aren’t powerful enough to actually launch anything at killing speed but you were in the business of laying mines in your wake and maybe kick a few EMPs out the door, this set up would suit admirably.<br><br> | Nika’s concerned about the contents of the kegs. Sure, they smell boozy but what if they’re actually filled with acid or some other dangerous stuff? Mind, we’d been carrying the dang things all this time without mishap and probably can continue doing so, but with the way our luck tends to run, Nika’s not willing to bet on it. They weigh about fifty pounds each. We take one of each type of container out a couple hundred feet away from the ship to open up. Rina has demolitions skills and she opens up the pilsner keg first. She finds not beer but the basic materials for a small EMP device, about the equivalent of a 50 pound magnetic charge. It’s a dud, however, the charge having been degaussed over time. The picture’s getting clearer. The compression pumps on the bay’s torpedo tubes aren’t powerful enough to actually launch anything at killing speed but you were in the business of laying mines in your wake and maybe kick a few EMPs out the door, this set up would suit admirably.<br><br> | ||
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They investigate the portside compartment next and sure enough, another cannon bay is revealed. This one does not seem to have been heavily converted into the workshop the one to starboard was. This one has a parachute-rigged pallet full of military food rations, ready to be kicked out the rear hatch as a food drop. Going through the rations, we find that they are mostly MREs, protein paste and even a case of nutrient bars. The street value of the rations, given the time elapsed, is only about 20% of their original value. But still, the seals on the packages are intact and they should still be edible. <br><br> | They investigate the portside compartment next and sure enough, another cannon bay is revealed. This one does not seem to have been heavily converted into the workshop the one to starboard was. This one has a parachute-rigged pallet full of military food rations, ready to be kicked out the rear hatch as a food drop. Going through the rations, we find that they are mostly MREs, protein paste and even a case of nutrient bars. The street value of the rations, given the time elapsed, is only about 20% of their original value. But still, the seals on the packages are intact and they should still be edible. <br><br> | ||
| − | They also find more canisters like in the starboard compartment, only these are labeled differently: | + | They also find more canisters like in the starboard compartment, only these are labeled differently: Planck’s Coffee (whole bean) and Photo Brand Favorite Spiced Lentils. Like the containers in the starboard bay, these weigh in about 40-50 pounds. In between the two racks of canisters are five large lawn darts. No joke—they look like lawn darts. They’re not actually lawn darts but they look like them. Fins and pointy ends and everything. About three feet high. Measuring them, we find out that like the five mystery containers from the starboard bay, these aren’t made to go through the tubes either.<br><br> |
| − | Arden speculates the cannon bays were slave smuggling compartments. On the surface that makes sense … but why lock up people in a bay full of explosive rounds? The portside pallet offers a clue—in making food drops, the users of the bay were carrying out activities the original | + | Arden speculates the cannon bays were slave smuggling compartments. On the surface that makes sense … but why lock up people in a bay full of explosive rounds? The portside pallet offers a clue—in making food drops, the users of the bay were carrying out activities the original Exeter was famous for: blockade runner. Could the starboard cannon bay hark back to that career as well? <br><br> |
At this point, there is no telling. In any event, we’re the proud owners of pounds and pounds of unexploded ordnance. What do we do with it? Kiera suggests hauling the suckers out a safe distance and shooting them from the same.<br><br> | At this point, there is no telling. In any event, we’re the proud owners of pounds and pounds of unexploded ordnance. What do we do with it? Kiera suggests hauling the suckers out a safe distance and shooting them from the same.<br><br> | ||
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'''Nika:''' (dryly) Yes, because calling the cops has worked SO well for us in the past.<br> | '''Nika:''' (dryly) Yes, because calling the cops has worked SO well for us in the past.<br> | ||
'''Arden:''' They’re not cops, they’re—<br> | '''Arden:''' They’re not cops, they’re—<br> | ||
| − | '''Nika:''' The | + | '''Nika:''' The Alliance has gone SO well for us in the past.<br> |
| − | '''Arden:''' Then | + | '''Arden:''' Then somebody who knows explosives should get rid of them. Rather than us. You’ve seen what happened to our explosives expert.<br> |
| − | '''Nika:''' I’m actually climbin’ into | + | '''Nika:''' I’m actually climbin’ into her boat—(nods to Kiera)—and I’m thinking if we can very carefully move them over there and we’ll shoot at ’em from here …<br> |
'''Kiera:''' Yeah, and they’ll go ka-FOOM!<br> | '''Kiera:''' Yeah, and they’ll go ka-FOOM!<br> | ||
'''Nika:''' They’ll go ka-FOOM and it’ll be all over.<br> | '''Nika:''' They’ll go ka-FOOM and it’ll be all over.<br> | ||
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'''Nika:''' Well, there is something to be said for the idea of leaving the cannon access open, such that should we ever need it …<br><br> | '''Nika:''' Well, there is something to be said for the idea of leaving the cannon access open, such that should we ever need it …<br><br> | ||
| − | Then again, whoever concealed the cannon ports and accesses to the cannon bays must have had a good reason to do so. For all we know, they’ve been sealed up since the war and the owner at the time felt it would be asking for trouble to have the | + | Then again, whoever concealed the cannon ports and accesses to the cannon bays must have had a good reason to do so. For all we know, they’ve been sealed up since the war and the owner at the time felt it would be asking for trouble to have the Exeter visibly armed with them. They’d done a good job concealing them from observation, both outside and in.<br><br> |
'''Nika:''' I’m tryin’ to decide if we need to, you know, for example weld over the port holes and box it back up.<br> | '''Nika:''' I’m tryin’ to decide if we need to, you know, for example weld over the port holes and box it back up.<br> | ||
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Cuz … dude, if they cause trouble for us with the Feds, they aren’t going to stand by and let us weld those covers on BEFORE they throw our butts in jail.<br><br> | Cuz … dude, if they cause trouble for us with the Feds, they aren’t going to stand by and let us weld those covers on BEFORE they throw our butts in jail.<br><br> | ||
| − | '''Nika:''' And | + | '''Nika:''' And we’ll be in jail.<br> |
'''Arden:''' Well, the worst they could do to us in my opinion is fine us.<br> | '''Arden:''' Well, the worst they could do to us in my opinion is fine us.<br> | ||
| − | '''Nika:''' Uh, | + | '''Nika:''' Uh, no.<br> |
'''Kiera:''' No.<br> | '''Kiera:''' No.<br> | ||
'''Joshua:''' Plus, if the Alliance really wants us, they don’t need this to add as a charge.<br> | '''Joshua:''' Plus, if the Alliance really wants us, they don’t need this to add as a charge.<br> | ||
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There’s no telling if there is any cargo leaving St. Albans, since it was never a heavily populated planet before it was bombarded and there are likely less people living there now. Besides …<br><br> | There’s no telling if there is any cargo leaving St. Albans, since it was never a heavily populated planet before it was bombarded and there are likely less people living there now. Besides …<br><br> | ||
| − | '''Arden:''' The Siberian tigers have taken over. (off Joshua’s look) | + | '''Arden:''' The Siberian tigers have taken over. (off Joshua’s look) She hunted a Siberian tiger. (points to Nika)<br> |
'''Nika:''' I did.<br> | '''Nika:''' I did.<br> | ||
'''Rina:''' She did. With Rick.<br> | '''Rina:''' She did. With Rick.<br> | ||
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She ain’t the only one. We spend a moment or two recounting the man’s wilder stunts and get back to work prepping for departure for St. Albans. And no, we’re not hunting Siberian tigers when we get there.<br><br> | She ain’t the only one. We spend a moment or two recounting the man’s wilder stunts and get back to work prepping for departure for St. Albans. And no, we’re not hunting Siberian tigers when we get there.<br><br> | ||
| − | Joshua deals with the disappointment. Actually, right now, life being sucky is kinda the norm for him. He’s spent the last three weeks effectively suffering a hideous hangover as he goes through detox. He’s had the horror of watching the love of his life get blasted right before his eyes and die on him before being brought back. And now he’s trawling the Cortex, hoping to find us a paying job so the rest of us don’t die of starvation, and as he’s trawling, he gets a little pop-up telling him | + | Joshua deals with the disappointment. Actually, right now, life being sucky is kinda the norm for him. He’s spent the last three weeks effectively suffering a hideous hangover as he goes through detox. He’s had the horror of watching the love of his life get blasted right before his eyes and die on him before being brought back. And now he’s trawling the Cortex, hoping to find us a paying job so the rest of us don’t die of starvation, and as he’s trawling, he gets a little pop-up telling him he’s got mail. Really? He didn’t even know he had a Cortex addy. Expecting to find an inbox full of spam, he clicks on the pop-up to access the message.<br><br> |
| − | He doesn’t recognize the address on it. It’s a video message and it’s super low-res, as one would use to conserve band width and the routing string on it suggests it’s from off the main Cortex lines. It’s also highly encrypted. He hits play and the image of Cmdr. Wise of | + | He doesn’t recognize the address on it. It’s a video message and it’s super low-res, as one would use to conserve band width and the routing string on it suggests it’s from off the main Cortex lines. It’s also highly encrypted. He hits play and the image of Cmdr. Wise of IAV Aceso flickers onto the screen.<br><br> |
'''''From Cmdr. Wise to Joshua Drake. April 22'''''<br><br> | '''''From Cmdr. Wise to Joshua Drake. April 22'''''<br><br> | ||
