The Natar Investigation

Re-cap of sessions 92 and 93  played on 13 and 27 March 2026. 

Location: Natar (Far Home 0515)

Dates: 242-5601 to 252-5601

It turns out that Memor-Eez eecutives are interested in developing a new VR sim based on Nogudnyk's laser tag career, and are also eager to employ Torka as consultant. They pay each of you a Cr25,000 retaining fee but actual work will be done at future date in a larger centre.

You resume course for the derelict mining ship Alexis. On Erenim (Far Home 0412), you pick up Lucky Moss, an ex-Merchant down on his luck who doesn't have the cash to pay for High Passage but offers you a deal instead: he uses his skills (Broker-0) to sell the alien husks in your cargo hold at 140% purchase price. In return, you bring him aboard.

You also receive a startling message from Dipo and Ngoze of Yimin Jiti: Jarumi has disappeared. They hypothesize that the android was somehow "activated", possibly after receiving some kind of subliminal stimulus. Evidently she planned her escape for weeks, giving no outward sign of change. Her niece and nephew are understandably very distraught, for she gave them no indication of her plans. Yimi Jiti agents tracked Jarumi to the Wolf system (Halcyon 2526) and discovered only that she was bound for "Natar." You deduce that this must be the very Natar system that you plan to pass through on your way back to the Alexis. You pursue your course with greater haste.

Upon arrival in the Natar system (Far Home 0515), you refuel at a gas giant, then head to Port Natar, the capital of a democratic polity made up of dispersed belter settlements, to begin your search for Jarumi. Torka investigates local records, Nogudnyk and Griff head to the bar, and Lucky and Jacobe head to the docks. From the clues gleaned through your varied efforts, you conclude that Jarumi, traveling alone under an alias, arrived here a few days ago but took a shuttle to Galaton 9, a space station on the system's outer edge that is essentially the private fiefdom of a shadowy figure known as Senior Manager Hungren.

A portion of the Zened-Natar System

A few days later, you arrive at Galaton 9 on a shuttle, having realized that if you flew the Dejah to the space station, there was a very real possibility that your quarry would get advance notice of your arrival. You disembark as passengers on the main concourse of the station, where wealth and criminality alike abound. Shady characters of all kinds rub shoulders with the rich and the many professionals, technicians, and domestics who serve them. The station is especially renowned for its cosmetic medical services. You wonder if Jarumi has come here to alter her appearance somehow.

Sasha researches local library data for information about likely providers of such services and comes across one such specialist, a Dr Pushkin who offers a full suite of plastic surgery and DNA modification services. She also looks up Senior Manager Hungren and Cloudbank Corp. You find that Cloudbank was a significant presence in the system about 20 years ago but then virtually disappeared, although several of its subsidiaries remain active in the mining, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Interestingly, Hungren's rise to prominence as Senior Manager (that is, leading crime boss) on Galaton 9 occurred almost immediately following Cloudbank's departure. Coincidence?

Meanwhile, Griff and Nogudnyk hit the "streets" in search of Jarumi. You talk to a man in a seedy bar who has no knowledge of Jarumiu, but tells you how some belters get rich quick by becoming "divers", exploring abandoned (and dangerous) industrial facilities in search of rare and valuable objects. Suddenly, by sheer luck ("6" on the Die of Fate!), you spot Jarumi slipping through the main concourse. You follow her stealthily and, through equal amounts of luck and daring, manage to plant a tracking device and audio bug on her before she passes through the security checkpoints leading to Senior Manager Hungren's offices. Thus it is that you are able to overhear her brief conversation with Hungren, in which she effectively demands his assistance in travelling to meet someone called "Monarch." At first belligerent, Hungren immediately becomes deferential once Jarumi utters that name. He offers her the use of his private shuttle. Jarumi, without a word of thanks, announces her intention to leave within the hour.

You decide that you must follow. You quickly locate a local freelance shuttle pilot, one of the many who ferry people between Port Natar and Galaton 9. Jabori Skoles is down on his luck and thrilled to learn that you will pay him generously to "follow that car!" Given the high rate of pay, he's even willing to let you take over the controls. Sasha analyzes the trajectory of Hungren's shuttle and realizes that it's heading for the gas giant nearest to the system's main star, Zened. Something, it appears, is hidden in the upper levels of the atmosphere.

You send a message to Hungren's shuttle, addressed to Jarumi, announcing your presence and hoping she might explain that's going on. Her voice reply, though not hostile, sounds resigned but determined. "Go back. There is nothing for you here but death."