The Ace of Spades Campaign - Alien Base part 02

The Job Offer
Kimberley Wells, the charismatic red-haired captain of The Ace of Spades Class V scoutship, was on the ship's bridge when she received a radio call asking if she would be prepared to meet a captain of the Survey Scouts who had a job offer for her, if she was interested. She was, and so a place and a time were arranged. Later that day, Kimberley, accompanied by her bodyguard, Celeste the assassin android, and her best friend, Nurse Gwendoline Papillion, met up with Captain Devon Renton, a grizzled veteran in a nearby bar.

Renton was tall, aged in his fifties, and had a ruggedly handsome tanned face. He chewed on a thick cigar, which in deference to the bar's no smoking policy, was unlit. He was unarmed and he carried a data-pad in his left hand. Introductions were made and he quickly got down to business.
"The DSX Timothy, a small Survey Scouts vessel, had a flight plan that called for a wide detour to carry out some follow-up survey work while carrying passengers en route to Wilson's Planet. The Timothy has been overdue for more than eight standard days. Deep space scans from automated probes in the area have revealed nothing. The last known position of the vessel was near the F2 main sequence star RSC 8996-aug. That system is known to have six planets, one of which is classed as marginally habitable. The system is otherwise unsurveyed; what data is available is from a fly-by robo-probe two hundred years ago. There is no known phenomena that can account for the death or disappearance of the Timothy. No radiation sources, gravity point sources or other ship-killing stellar objects are nearby, and no record exists of hostile alien races in that area of space."

"I'm guessing you want us to find out what happened to your missing ship?" Kimberley correctly assumed.
"That's right," Renton confirmed. "Find out what happened to the Timothy and follow it up. A full report is needed. Should you find out that aliens are involved, we need to know about their culture, their technology, and above all, we must find their home-world. Attempt diplomacy if it seems possible, but do not endanger your ship, unless necessary to the mission. If you do not return within one month, a follow-up mission will be launched. Leave behind marker buoys if at all possible. Are you interested?"

"We'll take the job," Kimberley said without hesitation. "Do we get paid for this? At the very least I'd expect you to cover our fuel costs."
"I can certainly do that," Renton replied, "But regarding financial rewards I'm afraid not. You will, however, have the gratitude of the Survey Scouts and I'll make sure your report reaches the right people, which will surely enhance your reputation as independent explorers."
Kimberley looked at Gwendoline quizzically. Gwendoline just shrugged her shoulders and said, "It seems fair to me, Kimberley. We're not going to get a better offer here. Plus, this is what we do best."
"Okay, Captain Renton," Kimberley announced. "You've got a deal. We'll take the job."
"Great," Renton smiled warmly at her. "I wish you the best of luck."
Outward Bound
With no reason to stay on Fabergé any longer than necessary, Kimberley filed a flight plan to the RSC 8996-aug star system, which was 36 parsecs away in an adjoining star sector. Travelling at FTL:16 and with Kimberley making use of a short cut she discovered, she was able to reduce the distance to 32 parsecs. The flight time was just over two days and they were able to make it in one jump.

On the evening of the second day of their journey, the ship's young research scientist, Lynda Pelligrosso, called Kimberley and the other crew members to join her in her research laboratory. She stood in the centre of the room near her work bench. Standing just behind her were engineer Kyran Calaveri and computer hacker Sharuna Randall. All three were smiling broadly when the other crew members arrived.
"Hi, everyone," Lynda said excitedly. "I'd like you to meet our newest crew member, Smiley."
Standing in front of her was a very small robot with a bright yellow, circular body resting on three smaller circular wheels spaced equidistant around its lower body.
"Say hello, Smiley," Lynda prompted.
"Hello," Smiley said in a soft female voice. Her smiling expression did not change - it was permanently fixed in place.

"What the...?" Kimberley was temporarily at a loss for words, but she smiled back in amusement.
"Aw, she's so cute!" Gwendoline purred.
"What does she do?" Katja Sondquist, one of the ship's scouts, asked.
"I'm glad you asked, Katja," Lynda replied. "She's a reconnaissance robot. I thought she'd be useful in helping you out on scouting missions. You can send her ahead to see what's round corners or through potentially booby-trapped doorways."
"Is she sentient?" Danica, the bald-headed Venetian scout, asked.
"No, she isn't," Lynda answered. "Giving her sentience would take up far too much memory. She's more of a tool but she does understand simple instructions. She can communicate, although she only speaks Basic Anglic at the moment. She is also fitted with cameras in her eyes, so she can relay her observations back to whoever is monitoring her."

"I'm impressed," Kimberley said sincerely. "Did you design and build her yourself, Lynda?"
"I did a lot of the work on her, but it was a team effort with Kyran, Sharuna and Jeanette helping me out."
"Well your timing couldn't be better," Kimberley remarked. "We'll field test her on this upcoming mission."
"Cool!" Lynda beamed. "I hope she proves a useful asset."
Note that Smiley is a simple Servobot, with 5 HEALTH, 18 DEFENCE, a SPEED of 6 and SOAK:5.