Session 26 (10 November 2023)

Location: The "ghost planet" orbiting Ossobo, the larger of two main sequence red stars in a binary system (Far Home 0928)

Date: 161–5600

Travellers: Nogudnyk (steward), Jacobe Kyman (pilot), Griff Kodiak (gunner), Ada Windsor (navigator), Sasha Danlami (comms), Torka Jax (security), Dr Jaxxon Fomstep (ship's doctor)

During your week in jumpspace, Jacobe offers basic training in electronics to most of the other members of the crew. Each of you works at assembling and wiring a basic unarmored probe drone for use in microgravity conditions. Some are more successful than others, and at the end of the course you have four simple drones to replace the ones Haruto Wood had provided. Everyone acquires a certificate of completion (Electronics–0).

The Dejah Thoris emerges from jumpspace on Sixday 161–5600 and immediately cruises stealthily toward the ghost planet which, thankfully, is exactly where you expect it to be. With passive sensors only, you're going in blind, but you manage to detect what seems to be an orbiting Sath spy satellite just before it passes behind the planet. Otherwise, the skies are empty. It seems you're in luck: no one's around to notice your arrival.

As you descend into the atmosphere, your scopes indicate the presence of Sath around the ruins of the ziggurat that houses the alien device you reckon is at the root of the timeline displacement that you experienced. In addition to several sentries, you spot one of the 10-ton fighters in a clearing. Evidently, the patrol frigate you encountered here two weeks ago left behind a platoon and some air support to guard the site. From what you can see, however, they appear to have been unable to access the chambers below the ziggurat: you, after, all, hold the blue plastic key that opens the metal door at its base.

Sath marine with flag of truce.

Swooping out of the clouds, the Dejah Thoris makes a strafing run over the site and Griff in the pulse laser turret takes out the fighter's cockpit, rendering it inoperable for the foreseeable future. Jacobe sets the ship down atop the ziggurat and your landing party scrambles out, weapons at the ready. A few shots are exchanged, but no one is hurt. Nogudnyuk decides to attempt diplomacy. The Sath commander is receptive, no doubt in large part because your ship's guns give you an immense advantage. Soon, you are parlaying with six Sath marines. Their two combat drones hover nearby.

You quickly confirm that they're unaware of the mysterious device thrumming with power beneath the ziggurat. They've been here two weeks already, breathing through filter masks and subsisting on rations. During that time, they've explored the nearby ruins and have come to the conclusion that the inhabitants of this city were neither human nor Sath and that they died out a long time ago. There are no signs of war or destruction, merely the decay of centuries and millennia. Whatever killed these people, killed them quickly and thoroughly.

Seeking a cure.

The Sath commander (actually, the equivalent of a sergeant) takes you to a dilapidated structure that still has some internal sections intact. They'd busted down a sealed door and discovered a laboratory preserved from decay. You see what appears to be scientific equipment of various kinds and a glass-walled container full of vials, stoppered test tubes, and petri dishes. The sergeant shows you a holovid journal found in the room. They've been unable to decipher its contents. You, drawing on Dr Fomstep's linguistic and medical expertise and Sasha's social science training, have better luck. It dawns on you that the journal contains the notes of a scientist searching desperately for the cure to a devastating plague that was killing all non-plant life on this world. Frighteningly, you have every reason to believe that one or more of those vials before you may contain samples of the virus. 

Meanwhile, others of your party have returned to the chamber containing the temporal displacement device. Use of the blue plastic key gives you access to two adjacent chambers in which you discover two identical reactors (or at least above-ground sections of reactors). One is inactive; the other seems to be struggling to provide power to the device. Hypothesizing that repairing the reactor might stabilize its functioning, you set to work. After an initial setback, you get the reactor properly back online.

Next, you turn your attention to the device itself. In addition to the big red button you'd previously noticed, there is a control panel with seven distinct settings marked by unique iconography. You reckon that these allowed a user to select one of seven dimensions or timelines. But which one is yours? Torka leads several of the most computer-savvy among you in an effort to access the device's operational logs. After some rooting about, you think you have an answer: the "fourth" setting is — probably — the timeline from which you originated. 

Hours have passed in parlaying, investigating, and tinkering. You know that a Sath expedition is due to arrive within the day. Thus far, relations with the stranded marines have been good, but how long will that last, and how will things change when their ship(s) arrive and tilt the balance of power in their favour? Would it ethical to bring these Sath back to your timeline, where they'll be outcasts in a sea of humanity? The debates are heated and there's no clear choice. Finally, one of you cuts through the indecision and presses the "fourth" setting. 

There's a sudden crescendo of noise and vibration as the device thrums with energy and you once again experience that strange out-of-body experience. You are shifting dimensions! But where — or when — will you end up?

Image credits: all images from AI Comic Factory.