Introduction
The Consolidated run was pretty clear-cut. Business doing legitimate business and pirates getting increasingly aggressive.
But this? This was a war, and they were going to have to make a choice. They had a hundred tons of Reinhardt’s artillery in their hold because I think they all knew the choice they were going to make.-The Memoirs of “Gentleman” Jack Cartwright
1-14 January, WY603 – Skyward, Whistler - Helena
Declined Jobs: Regain Control of Our Colony
Pending Jobs: They’re Trying To Make Slaves of Us
In the weeks following Jack’s New Year’s Eve party, the crew hires Reginald Swan at the fairly exorbitant salary of 10,000 credits per month and offer him a shared bunkroom with the crew. Jack formally offers to sell up to a million of his shares in Legitimate Salvage back to the crew so they have some flexibility in offering benefits, but the crew declines for now to preserve ready cash. Finally, the crew chooses to take out a mortgage on a new Phoenix Labs Zephyr-class Shuttle. They take possession of an unmodified civilian variant of the tried-and-true orbital craft on the 13th of January.
So equipped, they depart for Helena. Upon arrival, they find the system as quiet as is typical for the frontier planet. No Korolev-plumes anywhere in the system and almost no orbital traffic. They do note that Helena’s rings provide ample places to hide for ships up to their own size. After being elusive with traffic control, they begin their burn towards the planet.
Within the hour, they are contracted by Gregor Dimov, Director of Operations for Anderson Exploration in Helena. He’s initially quite friendly, assuming the crew has arrived to take the job offer to provide assistance in retaking the colony. After the crew demurs, the conversation sours rapidly. He informs them that the contract will be withdrawn if there’s any sign of contact between the crew and the people of Anderson Northwinds. The crew starts calling him “Jim” because they think it’s hilarious.
The crew turns right around and contacts Jeffrey Carter at Anderson Northwinds. Carter explains the situation, that the colony is in a steady-state and doesn’t require capital infusion, Anderson Exploration has made their money back and then some, and their offer has been very lucrative. He’s unsure why AEX continues to deny their request, and with the mediation injunction he expects the company to round up the entire town and forcibly relocate them if they get no assistance. They’re currently holding the company rep, Carrie-Anne Dominguez under house arrest for fear that she would attempt sabotage. He’s notably alarmed when the crew informs him they haven’t made up their mind if they intend to help or not.
Carter goes on to reveal that Izzy Cordova and Wei Zhang were researching the native biology in the cave systems in the town’s environs and were caught in a cave-in three months before. The town attempted a rescue, despite being explicitly told by the company to not interfere, but lacked the large earth moving equipment required to rescue the men. Both are believed dead. Carter isn’t sure whether the cave-in was due to a natural cause or not. The company’s refusal to lend aid to the rescue is the straw that finally broke the colonists and caused the work stoppage.
The crew reached back out to Dimov and Angelica tells a convincing story about Cordova being an old friend. Dimov informs her of the man’s death. He describes the work of the two scouts as “searching the area for novel flora and fauna that could lead to patents”. He also alludes that perhaps the third-generation Tritium drillers in Anderson Northwinds weren’t as well-educated as their forebearers and could have made the region geologically unstable, leading to the men’s deaths. He goes on to state that the cave-in is extensive and he has a request out to the company to authorize the expense of retrieving the two scouts’ bodies. When asked why AEX continues to refuse emancipation, Dimov states that it’s company business, and takes the crew’s recalcitrance as a decline of the offer for mercenary work. He strongly encourages them not to take up arms on the side of Anderson Northwinds and refuses docking rights at Kimball station. (Though he does offer to shuttle fuel and water to Legitimate Salvage if required.)
The ship finally enters orbit around Helena and several of the crew take the shuttle down to investigate the cave-in. They find a fairly large cave that extends into the rocky terrain and about sixty meters in, a rockfall full of native stone and arnite shards. There is evidence of where the townfolk attempted to rescue the two men - several piles of rubble cleared by hand and some holes created by horizontal drilling rigs. Roland and Angelica both identify where the cave-in was deliberately caused by mining charges, and Roland feels like he can likely clear the fall. The crew takes an hour to allow Roland to work and finally with a bang, the cave-in is cleared, revealing a natural tunnel continuing deep into the hills.
The crew explores a short way in, at one point finding the detritus of rigging the explosives that brought down the initial collapse. They then find the numbers 37-2 spray painted on the cave wall with the sort of bright, luminescent paint that a cave explorer would carry. The crew scratches their chins for quite some time about the meaning of the numbers, until an “Oh fuck…” from Cara brings their attention back to the moment.
“WDF General Order 37, Subsection 2,” she explains, “Upon discovering evidence of a non-human civilization.”