Looking for Cargo:

At Intercourse it isn’t easy to find a cargo. But the crew of the Notorious is lucky, or if the Reverend Mother was pleased with the trip, she will help. There is a cargo of 10 tons of cured meats and sausages. These charcuteries are seen as a delicacy at Lancaster. A profit can probably be made. The cargo costs Cr20,000 for 10 tons.

Amanda:

In the small starport there is also an older model 400-ton Fat Trader, the Curry Flames.

The Captain of Curry Flames, Amanda Jameson tells the crew of the Notorious that she needs to be in time for the yearly Free Traders meeting at Lancaster. She asks if they can take her as a passenger, since her ship, Curry Flames is inoperable.. She is waiting for a spare part for the jump drive which is expected to arrive in a few weeks from Harrisburg.

Captain Jameson is willing to pay up to Cr8,000 for the trip if pressed, but argues that she should be allowed to go for free since Free Traders should help each other.

Amanda Jameson  798977  x-Merchant  age:34

Pilot-2                   Cr15,000
Computer-3                Dagger
Admin-1                   Fat Trader
HandGun-3
Dagger-1

In Space:

While travelling to the 100 D jump point Amanda strikes. She is quite flirty and charming and would very much like to see the trimmed M-drive of the Starship Notorious.

Alone with the Engineer in the Engineering Control room, she produces a Snub Pistol and shoots the Engineer with a tranq dart.
“Amanda” then connects her palm top to the computer and:

1. Locks the door to the Engineering Control room.
2. Inhibits the Jump Drive.
3. Shuts down the Maneuver Drive
4. Changes settings and passwords to the computer, so that the crew cannot use it.
5. Shuts down long-range communications.
6. Shuts down all turrets.

Hijacked:

When the crew tries to contact engineering to ask what is going on, “Amanda” answers that she has taken the Engineer as a hostage. Any attempt to free him will result in his death.

After a while, another starship approaches. It is the Curry Flames. They send a message demanding the crew of Notorious surrender.

The pirates crew of Curry Flames does not care a lot about the 10 tons of charcuteries, and they don’t know about the iridium. It is the ship they want.

The pirates want the crew of the Notorious to sign a transfer contract giving them the ship. If not, they will get boarded. A time limit of one hour is set.

The crew of the Notorious correctly guesses that they will not survive if they surrender and sign the contract. They have to fight.

One Short Hour:

The crew of the Notorious cannot run the anti-hijack program since they cannot use the computer. But “Amanda” can and will use it. The anti-hijack program can empty the ship (or parts of the ship) of air. It can also quickly cycle the artificial gravitation between 1G and -1G in some corridors of the ship. It can also track movements in corridors using IR sensors and cameras.

During the hour, the crew can prepare. First they would need to put on Vacc Suits.

A few ideas:

1. Launch missiles manually, without using the turret. Missiles can be taken from magazines close to the turret.
2. Use explosives and rocket fuel from missiles to make traps.
3. Use the Ships Boat in some way, for example as a decoy or a ram. To try to flee in it would mean it would come under fire and would probably be destroyed.
4. Reboot the computer using factory settings. Or just turn it off.
5. Shut down or manually modify the anti-hijack installations.

Victory:

The clever crew is also lucky and win the battle against the pirates. If it was in a fire fight when they was boarded or using manually launched missiles it doesn’t matter.

If the crew won in a firefight, the pirate ship is still intact and crewed and cannot be taken as a prize. If the crew won using manually launched missiles, the pirate ship is probably broken beyond repair.

One problem remains. Amanda in the Engineering Control room. But when she loses control over the computer, she gives up.

Amanda can be taken handed over to the space patrol at Lancaster. Or she could be taken back to Intercourse although the crew will lose some time.

After this the Notorious can continue to Lancaster.

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