May 1998 Story

[Lost Point Government Center, H6 on Lost Point Map]

"Well, doctor," intones the armored Kyran with a sneer. "Are you going to be able to save these people or not."

"You're not helping much," replies Zane. "We need to get these people out of here. There's not enough oxgyen in Lost Point. There's not enough food. The water is contaminated and disease is running rampant. That's the only thing that will save these people!"

Kyran steps forward, lifting a bladed fist as if to strike. "Helping these people is the only thing that can separate you from any other worthless prisoner of war. I would very much like to see you fail."

Zane is silent for a moment, as he notices something on his chronocom: a message from Syzygy. Nothing audible. Just text. A single word, "WAIT."

Zane clears the chronocom display with a casual slight of hand. What does Syzygy mean? wonders the Human. Just what situation are the others in?

Deciding best to follow the message, Zane returns to the ailing Humans and Yazirians. "I will do what I can."

[Storage Pod, H9 on Lost Point Map]

"Before we leave our chronocoms, I have one quick call to make," says Tork. Picking up his wrist communicator, he sends out a connection request.

An anthropomorphic security robot answers Tork's chronocom call. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm trying to reach Captain Ap-Harrow. Isn't this her office?"

"Captain Ap-Harrow is not available," explains the android.

"Could you find her? It's very important that I speak to her now."

"That is not possible."

"Where is she?"

"Captain Ap-Harrow has been detained indefinitely. Until her release, the law enforcement department is in my charge."

"Detained? What for?"

"I am not authorized to divulge that information."

T'Klkk advances to Tork's side and whispers. "Team-mate Tork, sever the communication."

Tork shuts off the chronocom. "What do you think's going on?"

"Self-T'Klkk does not know. But I would advise against letting that robot--or its master--know too much about our current situation."

Kare paces around impatiently. "I think what the bug's trying to say is this is getting worse by the minute!"

Taanik turns to the group with a look of frustration. "Ornery 'droid. If we were only face to face, I could mess around in its innards and get it to cooperate. But from here, I can't do a thing!"

Taanik notices that Syzygy is occupied at the east door. This seems as good a chance as any to speak to him in private.

"This door's got a simple level 2 mechanical lock," mumbles Syzygy, noticing that Taanik is looking over his shoulder. "I was hoping for some sort of computerized lock or security system I could hack into."

"Look," says Taanik. "I'm sorry I snapped at you, pal. We're not going to get out of this sniping at each other. No hard feelings?" The Dralasite gives Syzygy a friendly slap on the back.

Syzygy turns from the door and faces the rubbery being, who is still shaking from ids recent morphing trick.

"Friend, Taanik, it seems that you are much more effective at unorthodox solutions than this one, and not as prone to endangering oneself in the process. I salute you."

With that he plants a big buggy kiss on Taanik's helmet.

Syzygy lifts his voice to the group. "Now, let's see what useful junk we can rummage up in here."

Taanik examines the piles of refuse. "With some work, I might be able to get a few of these construction bots operational."

"Construction bots," says Syzygy. "Are they capable of any long-range communication?"

Taanik searches through a few piles of dismembered robot arms and torsos. "Yes. It looks like these bots were equipped with tight link radio communicators. Standard issue."

"Could they be removed and converted to communicators that we could use? I suspect these things would be harder to track than chronocoms."

Kare steps between the two. "Covert ops? I like it." Kare examines the radio unit in Taanik's hand. "In theory, it is possible to triangulate the location of a communicator like this, if you have the right equipment. But only when the radio is broadcasting. And even then, you'd have to know what to look for. As long as we keep their existence secret, these radio units should be a safe means of communication."

"Well then, Kare," says Taanik, "if you would be so kind as to put a few communicators together, I'll see if I can get any of these robots on-line. We'll only be able to give them orders in person if we yank out their radio units--but that shouldn't be a problem."

[Kare (Modify and) Repair Machinery: 40 (base) + 40 (skill x 10) + 3 (LOGIC modifer) = 83%; Rolled: 07, 73, 55, 76, 21, 41]

Kare finds six radio units and converts them all to hand-held audio-only communicators.

[Taanik Repair Robots: 40 (base) + 30 (skill x 10) - 30 (robot level x 10) + 4 (LOGIC modifier) = 44%; Rolled: 80, 10, 85, 67, 64, 12]

Taanik is able to get two of the six trashed robots to function.

By this time, Syzygy is already on to his next project. After displacing a few hundred rusted parts, he uncovers a computer monitor. "I knew there had to be a computer here."

Tork looks at the bent and rusted remains of what must have once been a nice system. "It looks pretty thrashed. Do you think it still works?"

"It had better!" Syzygy flips the computer's "ON" switch. . .with no effect. "No," groans the Vrusk, giving the machine a hard kick with one of his eight legs. A dozen LEDs blip to life and the monitor glows a dull amber.

[Syzygy Operate Computers: 100 (base) + 50 (skill x 10) + 10 (LOGIC modifier) - 20 (computer level x 10) = 100%; No roll needed]

"Anything interesting?" asks Tork.

"Hmm. . ." replies the Vrusk. "There's no sort of security on this machine. I was hoping to gain access to some sort of network, but there's no network either. This computer is just a stand-alone unit."

"A shoddy outpost like Lost Point may not even have a computer network," suggests Tork. "I doubt much planning went into this place."

[Syzygy Display Information: 80 (base) + 50 (skill x 10) + 10 (INTUITION modifier) - 20 (computer level x 10) = 95%; Rolled: 23]

"This machine was originally set up to keep track of inventory and building schedules," says Syzygy--the amber glow of the monitor mirrored in his space helmet and compound eyes. "Although any of that data is hopelessly out of date by now. The most recent records are still four years old."

A small graphic pops up on the screen. "Here's a map of Lost Point," says Syzygy, "but it's not any more detailed than the one we saw in the Metrosphere brochure. It doesn't show any ventilation shafts or the like."

Urugg walks up to the computer and looks around the room. "There may not be any ventilation shafts here. Notice how there's a series of grills around the doors to the north and the east of this room. Oxygen is probably passed from room to room, or through the airtube hallways. It's a horribly inefficient means of distribution, but with a structure as simple as this outpost, it might be feasible."

Syzygy looks at the Lost Point map. "According to this, there's a life support room just beyond the north door. Why is this room so low on oxygen?"

"I've checked different areas of the room with my toxy-rad gauge," explains Urugg. "There's actually a fairly high oxygen content near the north door of this room. The oxygen is thinnest at the west end. The most recent maps of Lost Point show that the section beyond the west door has fallen in ruin. My best guess is that many portions of this outpost aren't as airtight as they should be."

Tork nods his furry head. "Aw, so no matter how much air they produce, it keeps leaking to the outside."

Kare steps up and hands out the communicators. "That must be it," she says. "It can't be that hard to generate enough oxygen for an outpost this small--especially with three separate life support units."

"I can see that they've done the best job they could, trying to patch up the holes," says Urugg, "but they don't have the proper materials to do the job right."

"Can we do anything about it?" asks Tork.

"Perhaps," replies Urugg. "Taanik has just gotten two construction robots up. The robots aren't capable of voice communication, so Taanik will have to program them by hand. We can use the robots for the heavy labor. Tork, you and I both have environmental training, so we could help direct the project. Syzygy, you, Kare and Taanik can coordinate any mechanical efforts with the robots."

Kare nods. "Maybe we could show some good faith by doing a few repairs. A few friends would come in really handy about now. Or at least fewer enemies. We can try to convince the inviso-goons that they don't have to go to First Landing. They can live here in good health and be free. And we can help them--or whatever line it takes to get them to play our game."

T'Klkk listens attentively to Urugg's plan for repairing the outpost. "Self-T'Klkk acknowledges the necessity of protecting the lives in this outpost, but it is also vital for us to remember our situation as prisoners of the armored men--who are no doubt under the direction of the Lord of Shadows. We should not linger in this room."

"What do you suggest?" asks Tork.

"As I see it, we have two choices. We can either remain here at Lost Point or attempt to return to First Landing. Either way, we face much peril. Self-T'Klkk would prefer staying at Lost Point until we find some answers."

Taanik advances with ids two construction bots. "I'm for returning to First Landing A.S.A.P. I think a call to the nearest Star Law office is in order."

"We can't go back," interjects Kare. "If the imposter at First Landing can make the chief of police 'disappear,' it wouldn't take much for him to get rid of the rest of us."

T'Klkk gathers the full group around the computer terminal. "Let us consider our strategic position here. The forces against us have a considerable advantage, as they are more familiar with this outpost. From the maps we have, we can see that there are three life support generators--one beyond the door to the north, another at the far south end, which we can attain by exiting the east door and heading south through the main airtube, and a third in the northeast sector. There is only one power plant, and it is about a kilometer to the north of the rest of the outpost. There is no mention of any computer core--or even of a local computer network.

"Any of you with barium gyrojet rounds or grenades, prepare to use them on the armored men in this outpost. At the very best, we might find an unoccupied battle suit that could be turned to our use."

Syzygy speaks up, getting T'Klkk's attention. "Excuse me, but either of those objectives is a pipe dream. We neither stand a chance of going head-to-head with the enemy or successfully scouting for some randomly discarded suit. Our best bet is to use our superior mobility and diversity of skills. Splitting up and engaging in guerilla warfare would split their forces, keep them guessing and allow us to do some damage from a distance."

"I considered the possibility of dividing our group," replies T'Klkk--not even slightly ruffled by Syzygy's abrupt style. "While there may be safety in numbers, we have little chance of sneaking anywhere with a group as big as ours. Self-T'Klkk would suggest specialized purposes--a recon team to scout ahead and a second strike team to hold position here. I would volunteer for the first team, and suggest that Urugg and Kare both be on that team, for their environmental and technical expertise. Tork can stay with the others to ensure their safety, while Syzygy and Taanik watch over Spider and see to repairing the air leaks in this section of the outpost."

Syzygy grinds his mandibles. "I disagree. My speed as a Vrusk would be a strong asset for the scouting team. Plus, I can wire explosive diversions. I've already combed this entire room over, and there's no possible way for me to access any computer networks from here. I need to get out where I can accomplish something!"

T'Klkk hesitates. The real reason she hadn't suggested Syzygy for the team was that she considered him too erratic to be depended upon. But given the male Vrusk's volatile state, she chose not to voice that reasoning.

"Well," says T'Klkk, "perhaps we should put it to a vote."