One of the things I miss most about the Journal of the Traveler's
Aid Society (and lets face it TNE wimps, TAS is what *Traveller* is
really about) is the Amber Zone section. I still use them (like one
I used from issue 6 last week :-)
For those of you who are too young to remember the Amber Zone
section was a short and simple plot outline. No great development but
enough detail to slot it in to a normal campaign.
I've posted the odd one in the past and when anyone bothered
to comment it was generally positive. So here we go again...
ON THE ROCKS
While on a layover or between jobs on Oca (A668A9B-C) the PCs
come across some data. It can be sold to them as "interesting" or
as a partial payment for their last job or if the are ex-Navy as a
tip. The data consists of the final transmission of a Navy fighter
on a mission about 30 years ago. It records it losing control while
flying NOE and the pilots ejecting. There is a partial radar scan/
transponder trace, showing its last trajectory.
Accessing navy records will indicate the craft listed as lost.
If they can get at the site report it will conclude that although
the craft soft-landed a fusion plant leak melted the ice around it
and they measured it at 50m depth with a densiometer. It was never
recovered.
The site itself is about 400km away from the Teo down starport
arcology. The local government is straightlaced so they will have
to apply for a surface-pass. Ambient temperature is -167C and winds
are frequently above 100kph. The ice-flats around it, though, are
used by the adventurous for Icerigging (boats with skates).
Several problems complicate the recovery for the PCs. Firstly
the exact location of the crash is not known. The radar scan/transponder
trace will give a good indication and someone with navigation can
trail the trajectory to surface level.
Secondly, fighters being heavier than ice, it has sunk over
the years, albeit slowly. It now resides at a depth of 500m. About
the only think that can detect it at this distance is a high
penetration densiometer. Even then there will be several shadows. And
it will be difficult to pinpoint unless they are right on top of it.
Getting on top is difficult because over the years not only
has the fighter sunk but the ice has moved around it. On this sort
of ice-bound planet the mechanics of ice-sheet tectonics come somewhere
between plate movement and glacial deposition. Quite interesting if
you are a scout. Fortunately if they check out the local university
the rates of deposition/erosion as well as the ice-current for the
area are on record for the past several hundred years.
Once located they mearly have to dig through half a kilometer
of ice to get at it. For those tempted to use the ship's lasers they
will just have to be reminded of the planet's law level and that they
will not be given permission, under any circumstance, to fly their ship
away from the starport let alone fire its weapons.
Clever players will come up with a variety of ingenious methods
of digging through the ice. If they have rented icerigging gear
there will be a ice-hollowing unit included for setting up their
shelter. This is a micro-wave based emitter but its batteries are
really only enough for setting up the shelter a number of times.
Mechanically minded PCs could get this runing of a portable power
unit but it really would be slow progress. What they need is an
industrial strength one...
If they inquire in the arcology they may find that the same company
that makes the sports model also makes larger models. These are generally
used in minining, construction and idustry and are quite expensive
(~100000Cr). If they nose around they may find a construction model
for hire (1000Cr/day). Back at the University they can wheedle the
one they use for core sampling for 10000Cr for as long as they want.
Unless a substansial deposit is put down they will want to send some
post-graduate along to keep an eye on it and get some experience.
The units are fairly simple to operate, however their task is
not as simple as digging down 500m. Beneath the surface of the ice
it is not as cold as on the surface. The digger works by vapourising
the ice. On the surface this blows away. Near the surface it freezes
againt almost instantly, caking up whatever environmental suits they
are wearing. Deeper down the steam will condense on the walls. Where
does this water go? Downhill!
If they dig straight down they will soon be in a pool of water.
The digger will eventually reach a point where it is just boiling the
water that has collected at the bottom and not making any real progress.
Digging on an angle (or a large spiral) will lesson this effect but
will still cause problems. If they can arrange a pump to pump the water
out as it condenses that will solve many things. Watch for the outflow of
the pump freezing up, though!
As they make progress they will have a long tunnell carved through
solid ice. They will have to take special precautions to get in an out.
At a 1 in 10 slope it is a 5km bobsled slope from to to bottom. Try
carting a 300lb industrial melter up and down that each day.
The last problem they will face is that the ice is not stationary.
It doesn't move fast but it does move. The effect of this is that the
gap they have dug will get a little narrower each day. They may notice
that it is a bit difficult to pull the melter out each night. Of course
they can always work a 24 hour shift (the melter melts a 1m diameter
tunnell 1m long in 1 minute) but they will have to clear it up again
before they get it back out.
When they eventually reach the site of the wreck they will find
it still partially intact. The current of ice has strewn the debris behind
it so not all of it is there. If there are looking for specific components
I suggest a Routine densiometer ops roll. Failure indicates that it is
not there and is strewn along the debris trail.
So what do they get for all this hard work? The navy will always
pay a bounty for recovery. Just the transponder will suffice. Maybe there
are personal effects that would be of great sentimental value to the
pilot (who may still be alive) or just any Navy collector. Any intact
systems in the craft would probably make reasonable spares.
I reccomend that between the Navy bounty and the salvage sale the
PCs should make about 1% of the original worth of the craft. Clever PCs
may flog off bits of it in clever ways and should deserve more. (Like
selling the 500m ice core to the scouts?)
Possible side lines: What about the previously unknown creatures
that live and burrow beneath the ice? Very well to do and nosy iceriggers
could always drop by for a cup of tea. What if the ice-sheet only caps a
unfrozen ocean and the fighter is near the bottom?
If you are a sad individual and play TNE you can still use this. Just
throw in a bunch of down-and-outers. Make the crash 300 years ago. Overplay
the need for spares. And don't forget to tell them what a wonderful furure
they are working toward and how much they can play a part...
Jo