OOC: My picture uploader seems to be working again!
On your trip from the ship, you saw the sight of the ship tethered to the moon:
The Captain says, "Yagrith brings up a good question, but let me explain the project first and see how that helps. Yes, we do have more than just our sentient friends here. And I must also confess that I asked you here to see if I could get your help as well. Now, where to begin..."
He pulls up a system map for you to see:
quote:
The Belnafaer system was first charted by a survey ship under charter by the
ByChem Corporation. The survey noted nothing of interest until an atmoprobe (an unmanned, atmospheric probe) was sent into the upper atmosphere of the gas giant planet Venturi. This not only reported the presence of the expected gases (hydrogen, helium, methane, etc.) but also found low concentrations of several bio-chemicals (including Cys-DiEropadyne and Meta-Trilphidone) that had never been encountered in nature before.
Cys-DE (Cys-DiEropadyne) and Meta-TI (Meta-Trilphidone) are catalysts (compounds which speed up chemical reactions) and are of great value in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, plastics and bioelectronics. However, they are both extremely
unstable and very expensive to produce artificially.
The discovery of Cys-DE and Meta-TI on Venturi had thus provided the ByChem Corporation with a golden opportunity to corner the market with a virtually limitless supply. The first problem was how to extract the chemicals, since they existed only in very low concentrations. The solution was to divide the operation into two stages: the preliminary extraction process would take place within the atmosphere of Venturi on a floating extraction platform (Jetsom); and
purification would be carried out in orbit by the gas mining ship, Moneyspider, spinning around Snobol, one of Venturi's moons.
The second problem was secrecy, since many other mining operations would eagerly start bio-chemical extraction on Venturi given the chance. To keep the secret, Jetsom and Moneyspider are registered as research vessels.
He looks up and says, "This is why we were hesitant to let anyone from your ship come aboard, and we do hope you'll keep this secret or my career will be on the line."
He draws a rough sketch on a piece of paper for you to see how the system is tethered together:
quote:
Jetsom (Plan VP / J/ 01)
The extraction platform Jetsom floats like a hot-air balloon in the atmosphere of Venturi, supported by bags of gas heated by atomic reactors. It does not
have a fixed position but is blown around by the planet's winds. It does, however, maintain a constant altitude.
Jetsom has a distillation tower that extracts crude forms of Cys-DE and Meta-TI from the atmosphere. The platform is manned by two crews of four (the Alpha and Beta teams) who work 38-day tours of duty with 38-day rest periods on the Moneyspider.
"And now to Yagrith's question," he says with a Vruskian smile:
quote:
The crews are aided by a number of robots and several sapes provided as part of a developmental project by Renouf Associates.
"And 'sapes,' yes, as Kuurn asked about...they are a specially-bred strain of 2-meter-tall, muscular, ape-like creatures originating on the Yazirian's home planet. They have been bred by Renouf Associates of Hakosoar (Scree Fron) as an alternative to robots in certain applications. Sapes are currently being tested in a wide variety of settings (hidden from the prying eyes of the larger corporations), hence their presence on Jetsom. Let me see if I can find a picture of one for you. Ah, yes, here we go:"
"Now, where was I:"
quote:
Venturi's stormy atmosphere makes normal radio transmission impossible, and so Jetsom has a subspace radio for communicating with the Moneyspider. The automated shuttles have normal radios and so lose touch with
Moneyspider once they enter the atmosphere.
The food arrives, and the Captain is silent as you are being served. He only resumes once you are alone in the room with him again.
"Now I must tell you why I asked you here and revealed so much to you. It was about 32 days ago." He gives you the following basic timeline:
DAY 0: Beta team descends to Jetsom and Alpha team returns to Snobol.
DAY 19: (Snobol furthest from Venturi).
DAY 20-37: Minor problems with Jetsom electronic systems.
DAY 38 Alpha team descends to Jetsom and Beta team return to Snobol.
DAY 43: Disaster befalls Jetsom. During a magnetic storm, something terrible happened to Alpha team.
DAY 44: Parl Kiopta and three others from the Moneyspider are killed attempting to reach Jetsom.
DAY 57: (Snobol furthest from Venturi).
DAY 72: You arrive at Snobol.
"This is all strictly confidential, mind you, but I would like you to attempt a rescue. Is that something you think you could do? I wouldn't ask, but we are down to just 6 crewmembers, including me, and the robots and sapes, for the most part. We just can't risk it."
As you eat, you find the dinner is elegant, just what you'd want to eat when being buttered up by someone who's desperate.
He is very sober now. "The Venturi Project, I must say, is now close to complete failure. A catastrophe. All I really know is what I received in the following garbled, subspace radio message transmitted during the magnetic storm." He plays it for you:
quote:
"...calling Moneyspider, Jetsom... Moneyspider... a
major electro-magnetic storm with... failure in...
have gone crazy ... hold on much longer... into
freeze field but... Akord thought she knew... can't
find her..."
"The Moneyspider's sensors show that Jetsom has not broken up and is holding a stable position. The ship's heat-sensing, infra-red detectors also show that the buoyancy bags and distillation column are still working, which means that the atomic reactors are still providing power. It is, therefore, possible that some of the crew have survived, making speed vitally important."
He looks at you with pleading in his Vrusk eyes.
OOC: If you haven't already, please send, publicly or privately, a list of the things you're bringing over.
