TEXT: Great Rift Adventure 1: Islands in the Rift
  S c i e n c e  F i c t i o n  A d v e n t u r e  i n  t h e  F a r  F u t u r e
  
  G R E AT  R I F T  A D V E N T U R E  1 :  I S L A N D S  I N  T H E  R I F T
  Traveller ©2018 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without the 
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  a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organisations, places or events is purely coincidental.
  Traveller is a trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under licence.  
  Printed in China
  CREDITS
  CLASSIC TRAVELLER
  Marc Miller
  Loren Wiseman, John Harshman, Frank Chadwick, Darryl Hany,
  Winston Hamilton, Tony Svajlenka, Scott Renner, Doug Poe,
  David MacDonald, Wayne Roth, Paul R. Banner.
  MONGOOSE TRAVELLER 
  Author
  Martin J. Dougherty
  Editor
  Matthew Sprange
  Layout and Graphic Design
  Amy Perrett
  Interior Illustrations
  Shen Fei, Amy Perret, Sandrine Thirache, Jon Torres
  TRAVELLER INNER CIRCLE
  Andrew James Alan Welty, Colin Dunn, M. J. Dougherty,
  Rob Eaglestone, Sam Wissa, Joshua Bell, Maksim Smelchak
  Special Thanks
  Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman
  CONTENTS
  INTRODUCTION 
  2
  TRAVELLERS’ BRIEFING 
  6
  THE PERFECT STRANGER 
  8
  AMONDIAGE 
  11
  ACADIE 
  13
  ACADIE TO HERZENSLUST 
  18
  TRAVELLING THE ISLANDS 
  20
  INCIDENTS 
  21
  HERZENSLUST 
  24
  GLOIRE 
  28
  ZUFLUCHT 
  30
  WEAPONRY 
  31
  OPPOSITION 
  32
  
  INTRODUCTION
  T
  R
  A
  V
  E
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  L
  E
  R
  In Islands in the Rift, the Travellers are sent to 
  Amondiage in Old Islands subsector to pick up a 
  starship. Their mission is to take it to Zuflucht for 
  transfer into Imperial space ‘behind the claw’ in Deneb 
  or the Trojan Reach. However, the task is not simple; the 
  ship is not sitting on a berthing pad at Amondiage and is 
  in fact on an entirely different world and not in a flyable 
  condition. 
  Once the Travellers manage to reach the ship they can 
  finally begin their voyage across the Islands subsectors. 
  This, too, is not a simple matter. The Islands are 
  prone to tension at the best of times and, at present, 
  some worlds in the region are on the brink of war. The 
  Travellers risk being mistaken for spies – not without 
  cause, since their ship is an Imperial intelligence-
  gathering vessel. The Travellers will need to make a 
  detour to collect a hidden stash of data before transit 
  to Zuflucht, and there are those who want to get their 
  hands on it first.
  RUNNING 
  THE ADVENTURE
  Islands in the Rift begins on Amondiage in Old Islands 
  subsector. The Travellers have just arrived after a long, 
  long transit and may wish to look around or relax before 
  embarking upon their mission. Once they go in search 
  of the ship they are supposed to be picking up, one 
  event will lead to another. However, the Travellers have 
  considerable leeway to find their own path through the 
  adventure. So long as they get the ship to Zuflucht 
  without starting a major war, their patrons will be 
  content.
  Before the adventure begins the referee should ensure 
  the Travellers are familiar with the briefing material 
  in the next chapter. This outlines their task and some 
  background information on the Islands subsectors. Of 
  course, there is no guarantee all of this information is 
  current or reliable. Indeed, the purpose of the mission 
  is to retrieve a vessel whose data storage contains a 
  wealth of up-to-date information on the Islands and 
  their politics… yet this vessel and her crew met with 
  disaster despite having access to better information 
  than the Travellers have available. The referee should 
  let the Travellers figure out for themselves that a lot of 
  what they ‘know’ is vague, inaccurate or dangerously 
  misleading.
  REFEREE’S 
  INFORMATION
  The following information is for the use of the referee. 
  Much of it will be available to the Travellers but not 
  always in a reliable or easily digestible form. The referee 
  must decide how biased, ill-informed or otherwise 
  misleading any data source may be. As a general 
  guideline, the more work a Traveller has to do to get a 
  piece of information, the more solid it should be. 
  The Situation in the Islands
  The Islands subsectors have been a powderkeg ever 
  since well-meaning Imperials disseminated jump 
  drive technology to all the major powers. The web of 
  alliances in the region has generally prevented conflicts 
  from escalating, as no power wants to be dragged into 
  a catastrophic conflict over some historical dispute. 
  However, the system is breaking down and some have 
  begun to think they can actually win an interstellar 
  war. Hand in hand with this realisation is the fear that 
  someone else might believe likewise, leading to an 
  increase in paranoia as states wonder who might be 
  considering a pre-emptive first strike.
  There was little history of conflict in the Islands 
  subsectors before the introduction of the jump drive. 
  The people of Serendip Belt enjoyed a period of 
  ascendance as a result of reverse-engineering the drive 
  from a mis-jumped Imperial warship but had made only 
  limited gains when the technology was disseminated 
  throughout the Islands. This was a time of great change.
  Before the introduction of the jump drive, the 
  idea of interstellar conflict was almost laughable. 
  Perhaps someday a sublight warship might crawl 
  into a neighbouring system to make an attack, and a 
  small budget was allocated for defence against this 
  remote possibility. Most spending went on planetside 
  peacekeeping forces or craft capable of policing in-
  system traffic. A token laser or missile launcher sufficed 
  for such purposes and planetary defences were little 
  more potent.
  
  In most cases, the first indication that the Serendips 
  were building faster-than-light vessels was the arrival of 
  a starship. This caused a great deal of alarm and hurried 
  programmes were put into place to construct orbital 
  forts and in-system warships. In the event, Serendip 
  Belt did not attack any of her peers, though her small 
  force of jump capable vessels were used to forcibly 
  annex Gloire. 
  By the time jump drive technology was widely available, 
  the Serendips possessed a modest sized fleet and had 
  expanded their power enormously, by economic means 
  and political pressure rather than military action; the 
  great powers of the Islands ensured they were all but 
  invulnerable to attack by any fleet that could be built 
  at the time but could not compete with Serendip’s new 
  interstellar trade vessels.
  When they obtained the jump drive, the other powers 
  of the Islands had a lot of catching up to do. Early 
  starship building programmes were hurried and prone 
  to disaster, with makeshift vessels launched as quickly 
  as they could be thrown together. A second wave of 
  more reliable and capable ships followed, with the 
  result that many first-generation vessels were retired 
  and left to decay or scrapped for spares. Some of these 
  ships, refurbished in a variety of inventive ways, were 
  taken up by private operators. An explosion of small-
  scale interstellar commerce then ensued, most of it 
  completely unregulated.
  There was little large-scale colonisation, as the Islands 
  had already been settled using sublight ships. However, 
  the availability of faster-than-light travel meant that 
  previously unviable locations could be colonised for 
  resources and independent groups could find a new 
  home. The years that followed saw escalating tensions 
  during the ‘scramble’ as the greater powers sought to 
  take control over new territories and prevent others from 
  doing the same. The period is sometimes known as the 
  Years of Little Wars due to the small-scale conflicts 
  between groups determined to carve out a homeland or 
  conquer a world. Some wars dragged the greater powers 
  in, resulting in clashes both in space and on the ground. 
  No general war ensued but many lives were lost and bad 
  blood remains.
  Another cause for ongoing resentment was the 
  unrestricted use of special-operations and covert-action 
  forces. An explosion at the orbital shipyards over New 
  Colchis did little material damage but caused appalling 
  casualties among an unprepared workforce when the 
  yard depressurised during the launch ceremony for the 
  jump-capable frigate Watchful. Watchful herself was 
  involved in an incident with ships from Esperanza – 
  suspected but not proven to be behind the attack – in 
  which she blasted the crippled corvette Numancia into 
  wreckage despite a clearly broadcast surrender.
  Incidents like this have resulted in mistrust and ill-
  feeling between the powers and hampered efforts to 
  create an alliance. Nevertheless, the other powers finally 
  curbed expansion and forced Serendip Belt to relinquish 
  control over Topas, Elysee and Besancon. This was not 
  without incident but encounters were limited to token 
  groundside skirmishes and exchanges of fire between 
  ships, causing little damage.
  Ill-feeling between the powers also grew from failure 
  to fulfil treaty obligations, leaving ships isolated and in 
  danger, and several new deals were brokered at gunpoint 
  after a world switched sides to gain a better bargaining 
  position. Today, tensions continue to rise as the powers 
  of the Islands attempt to expand their influence over 
  neighbouring worlds, though it is not clear where the 
  flashpoint – if there is one – will be. 
  Serendip Belt is apparently intent upon regaining 
  its position of dominance and taking an increasingly 
  aggressive posture both in negotiations and fleet 
  deployments. At present, the Serendips are in alliance 
  with Joyeuse and Sansterre, though cooperation is 
  limited and may not last much longer. However, the 
  situation is making New Colchis nervous as Joyeuse is 
  heavily militarised and little short of hostile. A powerplay 
  for worlds close to New Colchis seems likely, and to 
  forestall it New Colchis is seeking allies elsewhere. 
  Thus far, this effort has been rewarded only with vague 
  statements of solidarity, as the other great powers tend 
  to their own concerns or exploit the situation to their 
  own advantage.
  The massive changes caused by the introduction 
  of the jump drive have demonstrated the impact a 
  new technology can have, and all powers are seeking 
  high-tech equipment or the secrets of making it. The 
  Imperium is not receptive to overtures, especially given 
  recent experiences in the Islands, but corporations and 
  world governments may be willing to supply equipment 
  that could tip the balance of power. At present, the 
  single most important factor in preventing a war is the 
  uncertainty about whether it could be won. A power that 
  gains a significant advantage may be tempted to make 
  use of it… and its enemies may feel they have no choice 
  but to strike first to prevent it.
  3
  
  1722
  1721
  1724
  1723
  1726
  1727
  1728
  1729
  1730
  1822
  1821
  1824
  1823
  1825
  1826
  1827
  1828
  1829
  1830
  1922
  1921
  1924
  1923
  1925
  1926
  1927
  1928
  1929
  1930
  2022
  2021
  2024
  2023
  2025
  2026
  2027
  2028
  2029
  2030
  2122
  2121
  2124
  2123
  2125
  2126
  2127
  2128
  2129
  2130
  2222
  2221
  2421
  2224
  2223
  2225
  2226
  2227
  2228
  2229
  2230
  2321
  2324
  2323
  2322
  2325
  2326
  2327
  2328
  2329
  2330
  2422
  2424
  2423
  2425
  2426
  2427
  2428
  2429
  2430
  1725
  OLD ISLANDS SUBSECTOR
  SCHLESIEN
  BELT
  C-B
  ST. GENEVIEVE
  C-A
  STURGEON’S
  LAW
  D-9
  ACHILLE
  E-9
  NEUBAYERN
  A-C
  B-6
  To Limon
  To Lost Way
  To Arcrant
  SANSTERRE
  A-C
  AMONDIAGE
  A-C
  ACADIE
  C-9
  NEW HOME
  A-D
  COLCHIS
  B-9
  QUICHOTTE
  E-6
  ST. DENIS
  D-7
  Gas Giant
  Starport Class & Tech Level
  Military Base/Garrisson
  Other Naval Base
  Secure System
  Amber Zone
  Planet (dry)
  Planet (water present)
  A7889C9-C
  A87A943-C
  A5629A9-C
  C868563-9
  A565857-D
  B676898-9
  E576667-6
  D735764-7
  C000367-B
  C560100-A
  DAC1451-9
  E301335-9
  0922
  0921
  0924
  0923
  0926
  0927
  0928
  0929
  0930
  1022
  1021
  1024
  1023
  1025
  1026
  1027
  1028
  1029
  1030
  1122
  1121
  1124
  1123
  1125
  1126
  1127
  1128
  1129
  1130
  1222
  1221
  1224
  1223
  1225
  1226
  1227
  1228
  1229
  1230
  1322
  1321
  1324
  1323
  1325
  1326
  1327
  1328
  1329
  1320
  1422
  1421
  1621
  1424
  1423
  1425
  1426
  1427
  1428
  1429
  1430
  1521
  1524
  1523
  1522
  1525
  1526
  1527
  1528
  1529
  1530
  1622
  1624
  1623
  1625
  1626
  1627
  1628
  1629
  1630
  0925
  ZUFLUCHT
  C-8
  C545720-8
  GLOIRE
  C-9
  C764567-9
  SERENDIP BELT
  A-C
  A000949-C
  ESPERANZA
  A-B
  A674ABC-B
  ST. HILAIRE
  B-A
  B579763-A
  HERZENSLUST
  E-6
  E995765-6
  ORPHEE
  X-0
  X885610-0
  NEW
  COLCHIS
  A-C
  A8959AA-C
  JOYEUSE
  A-C
  A7899B9-C
  TOPAS
  D-7
  D420899-7
  BESANCON
  C-9
  C201341-9
  WELLINGTON
  C-A
  C8B0263-A
  BERLICHINGEN
         D-8 
  D500437-8
  ELYSEE
  B-9
  B502532-9
  NEBELWELT
  C-5
  C879425-5
  B-6
  To  Evestin
  To Sagittarian
  Gas Giant
  Starport Class & Tech Level
  Military Base/Garrisson
  Other Naval Base
  Planet (water present)
  Planet (dry)
  NEW ISLANDS SUBSECTOR
  To Void 8
  Secure System
  Amber Zone
  Red Zone
  
  The Fate of Perfect Stranger
  Perfect Stranger conducted a lengthy intelligence-
  gathering mission in the Islands subsectors, making 
  circuits of the main trade routes and visiting most 
  worlds in the region. Her data cores contain a wealth 
  of information, much of it mundane but still useful in 
  building up a picture of the Islands. Unfortunately, she 
  ran afoul of her own success. Her crew stumbled upon 
  evidence of a major deal between the government of 
  Neubayern and an Imperial broker. Whilst not illegal, the 
  contract was for jump drive components and weaponry, 
  and would be of great interest to rivals and potential 
  enemies. Assuming the crew were covert agents of 
  a rival power, Neubayern’s own counter-intelligence 
  community took action. 
  The crew of Perfect Stranger were lured into an ambush 
  on Acadie and eliminated, though two managed to 
  escape in their ship’s launch. Badly injured, they crash-
  landed and were rescued by a merchant ship which the 
  counter-intelligence operatives decided not to attack. 
  Both survivors were placed in low berths and taken to 
  Amondiage where, despite the best available medical 
  assistance, they died. Their bodies were shipped home 
  in accordance with their repatriation bond – which 
  aroused some suspicion as the cost was enormous. Their 
  personal effects, containing data recording equipment 
  that could have been very useful to Imperial intelligence 
  services, went missing.
  The intelligence services have no real idea what 
  happened to the ship or their other operatives. All they 
  have are two bodies with what appear to be laser wounds 
  and a missing ship believed to be on Amondiage. The 
  Travellers are tasked with locating and retrieving the 
  ship, and finding out what happened to her crew. 
  In fact, Perfect Stranger is on a landing pad at Acadie 
  starport. She has been ‘visited’ and ‘inspected’ by 
  several parties claiming to be officials from Amondiage, 
  but who are actually intelligence operatives from 
  Neubayern. They managed to gain access to the 
  ship and know about her modifications, and have 
  removed the data cores from its intelligence-analysis 
  station. The Neubayerners settled for keeping the ship 
  under observation in the hope that some other clue 
  might present itself. This has been a long and boring 
  undertaking which will finally bear fruit when the 
  Travellers arrive.
   
  As for the authorities at Acadie and Amondiage, they 
  have no reason to suspect that Perfect Stranger is 
  anything but a merchant ship whose crew encountered 
  an unexpected hazard. Routine notification has been 
  sent to the ship’s port of registry and her listed owners 
  and, under Amondiage’s laws, if no-one comes to 
  claim her within a year (only a few months remain to 
  the deadline), she will become legitimate salvage. Her 
  situation has slipped under the radar of the Amondiage 
  administration, which has larger concerns than one 
  abandoned merchant ship parked at a colonial starport. 
  Note: The unrest on Acadie is not entirely the work of 
  Neubayern’s intelligence services but they certainly 
  have their fingers in the pie. Some weapons have been 
  supplied to the rebels and intelligence operatives at 
  the starport are in contact with another cell at the 
  troubled mining town of Houillon, who are helping 
  ferment rebellion and providing discreet advice to the 
  ringleaders. The elimination of Perfect Stranger’s crew 
  was a mistake; they had not uncovered Neubayern 
  activities on Acadie or the large arms deal that was 
  sneaked through the world’s starport but, having acted, 
  they believe they must now cover their tracks by dealing 
  with the Travellers. There is nothing personal about any 
  of this but the stakes are high and a bunch of foreigners 
  are distinctly expendable.
  
  TRAVELLERS’ BRIEFING
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  The following information is for the use of the Travellers 
  and should be available to them before and as the 
  adventure takes place, as the referee sees fit.
  THE ISLANDS 
  SUBSECTORS
  The Islands subsectors were colonised around the time 
  the Third Imperium was founded by sublight colony 
  ships in transit for many centuries. Most colonists spent 
  the entire trip in cryogenic suspension, with some awake 
  at any given time to deal with contingencies. One result 
  of this long time spent in stasis is that the culture of the 
  Islands is essentially two thousand years closer to that 
  of Old Earth at the beginning of the Interstellar Wars 
  than Imperial-standard culture. The Islanders also 
  missed out on hundreds of years of Vilani and other 
  cultural influences.
  There are several powers within the Islands, most of 
  which have a culture that can be traced back to a 
  nation or region on Old Earth. The major powers are 
  either first or second-generation colonies. The first three 
  systems settled by the colony ships got a head start but 
  the worlds they went to next have also developed into 
  powerful states. Later colonisation, conducted 
  with vessels built at first-generation worlds, resulted 
  in smaller settlement programmes that remained 
  colonial possessions.
  Until recently, the Islanders did not have jump drive 
  technology, colonising the worlds of their cluster using 
  sublight ships. This represents a very different mindset 
  to that of the Imperium – as they say: ‘Imperials think a 
  century is a long time, Islanders think a parsec is a long 
  way’. The situation changed when an Imperial vessel 
  accidentally misjumped into the Islands and some of the 
  locals gained the secret of jump travel. To redress the 
  imbalance of power this caused, well-meaning Imperial 
  scouts disseminated the jump drive to all major cultures 
  in the Islands. This did not have the intended effect of 
  restoring stability; quite the opposite.
  Despite common origins and a shared heritage – or 
  perhaps because of it – the powers of the Islands 
  mistrust one another deeply. Alliances are possible and 
  can endure, but peace is always fragile and tensions 
  run high. It would not take much to trigger a highly 
  destructive war between two powers and such a conflict 
  could spread to engulf the whole region.
  THE MISSION
  To many citizens of the Imperium, it matters little if a 
  distant region destroys itself in warfare. However, the 
  Islands Cluster is important because it is one of the 
  main crossing points of the Great Rift. Troubled 
  times in the Islands could result in communications 
  delays at a critical juncture, something the Imperium 
  would prefer to avoid. So, the merchant ship Perfect 
  Stranger was sent into the Islands on an 
  intelligence-gathering mission. 
  Ostensibly just a trader, Perfect Stranger was crewed 
  by Imperial Navy and Scout Service personnel with a 
  couple of representatives of the major merchant lines 
  and an intelligence expert. The mission was to observe 
  the Islands from the inside, as it were. Perfect Stranger 
  would ply the trade lanes within the Islands, sending 
  raw data and any conclusions back when she contacted 
  an Imperial representative. 
  Something went wrong.
  A few months ago, two members of the crew arrived 
  back in Imperial space. They were dead, apparently 
  because of wounds inflicted by a laser weapon. The 
  bodies were shipped in cryogenic units aboard a 
  vessel transiting from one side of the Great Rift to the 
  other, and were accompanied by no personal effects. 
  Documentation sent with the bodies simply names 
  the crewmembers, and states they were shipped 
  from Amondiage.
  
  What happened to Perfect Stranger and her crew is 
  unclear. Apparently, they got as far as Amondiage and 
  met some mishap. The Travellers’ mission is to retrieve 
  the ship and bring it to the Imperial representative at 
  Zuflucht, whereupon the intelligence data from its data 
  cores will be sent on and the ship returned to service in 
  the Islands on a new mission. Discovering the fate 
  of the crew and rendering assistance is a secondary 
  goal and must not be permitted to compromise the 
  primary objective.
  The Travellers will be given relevant paperwork to take 
  possession of the ship by an Imperial representative – 
  either a member of the Scout Service or a member of 
  the Imperium’s intelligence community. The Travellers’ 
  mission is to take possession of Perfect Stranger (her 
  last known location is Amondiage Starport) and bring 
  her to Zuflucht with her data storage intact. If necessary, 
  the ship may be considered expendable so long as the 
  data is delivered. Upon delivery, the Travellers will each 
  receive payment of Cr250000. This is a success-only 
  contract.
  If they do not possess their own means of transport, the 
  Travellers will be sent to Amondiage in low berths and 
  have very little baggage space available (10kg). 
  Each of the Travellers will be given passcodes for 
  the Perfect Stranger that can be uploaded into any 
  computer, along with Cr10000 assigned for expenses, 
  to be spent as they see fit. Each Traveller also has a 
  credit account of Cr10000 per month, arranged with 
  the government of Amondiage (it may not be welcome 
  in states hostile to that world), expected to be spent on 
  necessities for the mission – this account is monitored 
  and may be withdrawn if purchases that are clearly non-
  mission related are consistently made.
  7
  
  THE PERFECT STRANGER
  C
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  Perfect Stranger started out as an ordinary Type R 
  subsidised merchant (see page 184 of the Traveller 
  Core Rulebook or page 138 of High Guard), capable of 
  jump-1 and four weeks of operation using her internal 
  fuel tankage. Essentially a starfaring removal van, the 
  Type R is ubiquitous within Imperial space and many 
  areas beyond. Its primary feature is the huge two deck 
  high cargo area with fore, aft and side doors. This makes 
  loading and unloading the cargo space quick and easy. 
  Designed to plod along mains and make endless circuits 
  of clusters, the ‘subbie’ is a humble ship and not one 
  that would be associated with interstellar intelligence 
  gathering. This is precisely why Perfect Stranger was 
  chosen. 
  Outwardly, Perfect Stranger looks like every other Type 
  R in space. Her paint scheme is predominantly an 
  unattractive dark brownish-red, with scrapes exposing 
  bare hull metal. She has dings and dents all over 
  the hull, notably around the cargo doors. and has 
  clearly seen better days. However, appearances can be 
  deceiving.
  Perfect Stranger’s modifications are mostly in the 
  cargo area, reducing capacity by 188 tons but altering 
  her capabilities enormously. Access to the cargo area 
  is no longer possible by way of the aft doors, though 
  a small personnel hatch has been added. This is 
  not immediately apparent from the exterior, as the 
  appearance of the original doors has been carefully 
  retained. 
  The lower deck – which is two storeys high – has been 
  converted mainly to carry fuel but some additional 
  systems have been added. 
  THE SYSTEMS ROOM
  The systems room contains a small auxiliary powerplant, 
  a TL12 unit massing three tons and generating 45 
  Power. With her main and auxiliary units in use, Perfect 
  Stranger has 180 power points available – sufficient to 
  run all her systems, including the jump drive, with spare 
  capacity for emergencies. There are also two control 
  stations for pop-up triple turrets mounted on retrofitted 
  hardpoints, concealed by the fake aft cargo door, and 
  can be rapidly deployed for a surprise volley. 
  The arc of fire of these turrets is limited by their position 
  but in a stern chase they may be sufficient to deter 
  pursuit. Each pop-up turret houses three beam lasers, 
  while two dual turrets each housing two more beam 
  lasers are mounted openly towards the prow of the ship.
  The systems room also contains a large hardened 
  data bank and an intelligence work area consisting of 
  two computer workstations, an advanced interactive 
  holographic display, and holders for the inevitable cups 
  of coffee and snacks. There is a small refreshment 
  dispenser and quite a good coffee maker in this area.
  The systems room consumes 20 tons. 12 tons of 
  this is the human-crewed area, with the other 8 tons 
  allocated to power plant fuel; sufficient to run the 
  auxiliary powerplant for two years and provide 26 weeks 
  of endurance if both power plants run to capacity. This 
  is far more than is ever likely to be needed but ships 
  intended for deep-space transits must be prepared for 
  eventualities and have a wide margin of safety.
  THE FUEL/CARGO 
  CONTAINERS
  Most of the ship’s cargo space is divided into four 
  identical fuel/cargo containers, each capable of holding 
  40 tons of liquid hydrogen fuel. Rather than using 
  collapsible fuel bladders or demountable tanks, Perfect 
  Stranger has been refitted to switch between fuel or 
  cargo in a few hours. This requires little more than 
  flushing out the tanks to ensure no liquid hydrogen 
  remains, then loading them up with cargo as needed. 
  For more details of fuel/cargo containers, see page 
  21 of The Great Rift Book 4: Deep Space Exploration 
  Handbook.
  The other advantage to using containers of this type is 
  that personnel access is retained. The modules include 
  accessways, hatches and heavy-duty partitions that 
  make them a part of the ship rather than a component 
  to be added or removed. The downside is that each ton 
  of capacity in a cargo/fuel module requires an additional 
  0.05 tons of equipment and costs Cr5000 per ton. 
  These fuel/cargo containers are useful when shipping 
  bulk liquids but used primarily to extend the ship’s 
  range or endurance. The fore cargo doors still function 
  and can be used to vent fuel in an emergency. 
  
  9
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  U P P E R  D E C K
  L A U N C H
  L O W E R  D E C K
  1 .  B R I D G E
  2 .  C R E W  C O M M O N  A R E A
  3 .  P A S S E N G E R  C O M M O N  A R E A
  4 .  R E C R E AT I O N  A R E A
  5 .  S T O R A G E  R O O M S
  6 .  O F F I C E
  7 .  P O P - U P  T U R R E T S
  8 .  S Y S T E M S  R O O M 
      ( T W O  D E C K S  H I G H )
  9 .  C A R G O  B AY 
      ( T W O  D E C K S  H I G H )
  1 0 .  F U E L / C A R G O     
       C O N T A I N E R S 
       ( T W O  D E C K S  H I G H )
  160
  HULL POINTS
  
  Each container provides sufficient fuel for one jump-1. 
  The ship cannot jump any further than this but, with 
  all containers full, in addition to her internal tankage, 
  she can cross a 5-parsec gap – albeit painfully slowly. 
  When not transiting between mains or distant stars, the 
  modules can be used to carry cargo. 
  Whilst Perfect Stranger is a far less efficient cargo 
  carrier than an unmodified Type R on a 1-parsec run, 
  she can go places most other ships cannot. This makes 
  her useful for exploratory trade missions – as per her 
  cover story – or low-budget exploration work. Access 
  to engineering spaces is awkward due to the 
  modifications; a narrow accessway runs aft from the 
  systems room to the drive space iris valve at each side, 
  requiring engineering personnel to detour through the 
  systems room to access the opposite engine space. 
  This is not normally a problem but could impede 
  emergency operations.
  THE UPPER DECK
  Fewer modifications have been made to the upper deck. 
  Perfect Stranger remains entirely capable of carrying 
  passengers or personnel. However, two of her staterooms 
  have been converted to an additional recreation area to 
  provide the crew more space during a long deep-space 
  transit. Two more have been converted to storage areas 
  but could be turned back into basic passenger cabins 
  easily enough, while one other has been converted 
  into a ship’s office where reports are written and 
  other mission-related matters dealt with in a 
  suitable environment. 
  OPERATIONS
  Perfect Stranger operates like any other small merchant 
  ship most of the time. She can carry a modest number 
  of passengers and retains a respectable cargo capacity 
  when not making a long haul. Multi-jump transits 
  require one week per parsec, with a few hours of drive 
  calibration and navigational observations between. 
  Crossing a wide area of deep space is at the same 
  time boring and stressful for the crew, so at least a few 
  days winding down portside, away from the ship, is a 
  good idea for every crewmember. Crews that neglect 
  recreation time will find their efficiency drops rapidly as 
  fatigue increases, potentially leading to disastrous errors 
  or crew disputes.
  The visible armament carried by Perfect Stranger is 
  reasonable for a small merchant ship operating in a 
  frontier area and will not attract undue attention in the 
  way an over-armed trader tends to, nor mark the vessel 
  as easy prey. The presence of two additional military-
  grade laser turrets certainly would attract attention and, 
  if discovered, the fact they are concealed might make 
  authorities suspicious that Perfect Stranger is a pirate 
  or raider. 
  There is no reason why passengers would access the 
  lower deck during flight. Indeed, most operators of 
  the Type R place a crew-only lockout on the access 
  hatch. This is in effect aboard Perfect Stranger; all the 
  Travellers are given codes for it. The accessway leads 
  directly into the systems room, which can be seen from 
  above. An observant passenger near the hatch might 
  realise this is not a standard vessel – the area below 
  would normally be full of cargo rather than consoles 
  and machinery. 
  10
  
  AMONDIAGE
  C
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  E
  One of the First Three (New Home, Neubayern and 
  Amondiage; the first worlds settled by the ESA colony 
  mission), Amondiage is a dry world with standard 
  atmosphere. Its settlement pattern is typical; most of 
  the population dwell in high-technology arcologies near 
  abundant water sources, with smaller and less well-
  developed settlements in remote areas.
  Amondiage’s excellent starport is the point of arrival 
  or departure in the Islands for most Imperial shipping 
  headed across the rimward side of the Great Rift. 
  Enough Imperial ships and personnel pass through 
  that the locals – at least around the port region – are 
  not surprised when someone from a species never seen 
  before in the Islands steps off a ship. The Imperium is 
  cosmopolitan and the people of Amondiage are familiar 
  enough with its ways that misunderstandings are rare… 
  provided newcomers are well-behaved.
  The port is efficient, clean and well-run, with a bustle 
  of ships and small craft. Most are from Amondiage’s 
  large trade fleet, whose personnel can be distinguished 
  from the independents by smart uniforms and a clean-
  cut appearance. Indeed, there are uniforms everywhere 
  – port workers, security personnel and private firms all 
  have their own tastefully not-quite-overdone uniforms. 
  The Travellers’ first impression might well be that 
  Amondiage is one giant propaganda exercise, which is 
  not far from the truth.
  Amondiage is a high-law dictatorship and one function 
  of all the braid at the starport is to impress upon visitors 
  that they should not step out of line. Wherever they 
  have come from, the Travellers are on Amondiage now 
  and Amondiage plays by its own rules. 
  Personnel at the port are polite and efficient, but 
  intolerant of nonsense. There is also a faint air of 
  ‘better than you’ about virtually everyone in a position 
  of authority, however minor. No weapons or overt body 
  armour are allowed through starport customs and there 
  are stiff penalties for being caught with a weapon. 
  However, secure storage for baggage and weaponry is 
  free of charge, and handled in a polite and discreet 
  manner. 
  The Travellers will be expected to answer simple 
  questions when they arrive: name, business on 
  Amondiage, occupation, and so forth. Anyone giving 
  answers that are close to the truth or well-rehearsed will 
  have no problems. Inventing a story off the cuff is more 
  of a problem and requires an Average (8+) Persuade 
  check. Outrageously bogus claims will attract attention, 
  forcing the Traveller to deal with closer questioning and 
  investigation of their identity documents.
  Once they have passed the entry point, the Travellers 
  have the run of the very impressive downport. A wide 
  range of entertainment and accommodation facilities 
  are available, along with shops and business premises. 
  The clean and efficient atmosphere of the main 
  concourse is no mere façade; it continues throughout 
  the port and associated city.
  INFORMATION AND 
  RUMOURS AT AMONDIAGE
  Public news broadcasts are full of ‘brink-of-war-tension-
  rising’ stories, revolving around aggressive posturing by 
  Serendip Belt and bold words of defiance from other 
  powers, notably Neubayern and New Colchis. Astute 
  Travellers will notice there is very little substance 
  behind the outraged headlines screaming about 
  intolerable provocations. Ships have been ‘aggressively 
  deployed’ to patrol stations they routinely pass through 
  and ‘escalation’ has taken the form of diplomats giving 
  incendiary interviews to their own press. 
  There is also a lot of propaganda showing Amondiage’s 
  powerful and well disciplined naval forces getting ready 
  to repel hordes of invaders whilst earnestly hoping for 
  peace, and loyal citizens getting behind what has been 
  dubbed ‘the peace effort’. Again, it is obvious to astute 
  Travellers that this sort of broadcast is more about social 
  control than journalism.
  
  D e s e r v e s  z e r o  s t a r s !
   
  I m p e r i a l - r e g i s t e r e d  g a r b a g e  c a n  w i t h  
  w i n g s .  S u r l y  c r e w,  b a d  f o o d  a n d  
  s h a b b y  c a b i n s .  S e e m s  t o  b e  w o r k i n g  
  t h e  A m o n d i a g e  C l u s t e r  t h e s e  d a y s .  
  O n e  s t a r,  b e c a u s e  y o u  c a n n o t  g i v e  
  l e s s  t h a n  o n e  s t a r.
  S a m  G
  1 5 3
  4 9
  T O S H I P S O F T H E I S L A N D S
  N O I M A G E
  AVA I L A B L E
  P e r f e c t  S t r a n g e r
  1  R e v i e w s    M i d d l e / B a s i c / L o w
  M i d d l e
  Wa s  t h i s
  h e l p f u l ?
  IN SEARCH OF THE 
  PERFECT STRANGER
  Perfect Stranger is not on Amondiage. The port’s data 
  system records no ship of that name currently berthed, 
  nor is she at the highport. A general search for Imperial-
  registered Type R subsidised merchants may turn up a 
  handful of possible candidates but they are all in service 
  with a crew aboard. There are only about half a dozen 
  Imperial-registered ships of this type in the Islands due 
  to difficulties of getting them across the rift, though 
  there are numerous ships of the same general design but 
  of local manufacture. If Perfect Stranger is one of these 
  ships, she will take some finding.
  Records of previous ship movements are not publicly 
  available, other than arrival and departure dates. These 
  records can be searched by anyone and do indeed show 
  Perfect Stranger passing through the port at Amondiage 
  a couple of times. Her last visit was several months 
  before her crew turned up in Imperial space and, given 
  the transit times involved, that probably means whatever 
  happened to Perfect Stranger occurred not long after her 
  last visit to Amondiage.
  The informal and rather patchy Everyone’s Guide to 
  Ships of the Islands, a privately maintained open-
  submission database, lists Perfect Stranger as an 
  ‘Imperial-registered garbage can with wings. Surly crew, 
  bad food and shabby cabins. Seems to be working the 
  Amondiage Cluster these days. One star, because you 
  cannot give less than one star.’
  The Travellers could gain more information from the 
  port authority, which does keep records of shipping 
  movements but does not simply hand it out to anyone. 
  It may be possible to bribe someone, convince them 
  the Travellers are Imperial officials, or gain access to 
  records by hacking the database. However, the direct 
  approach will work well enough here. The Travellers 
  have papers that say they are empowered to take 
  possession of Perfect Stranger, so have every right to ask 
  the authorities where she is. Amondiage has powerful 
  traditions of cooperation with lawful authority, so most 
  officials will be happy to assist the Travellers so long as 
  they are polite and have the right paperwork.
  However they obtain the information, the Travellers will 
  learn that Perfect Stranger did indeed work the local 
  cluster before jumping to Acadie with a flight plan 
  filed for Colchis, then New Home. There is no legal 
  requirement to follow a plan after the first destination 
  – trade opportunities and charters cause sudden 
  deviations – but at least the Travellers know where 
  Perfect Stranger went after Amondiage. 
  12
  
  ACADIE
  C
  H
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  Acadie is a colonial possession of Amondiage, with one 
  major city and a very sparse population elsewhere on 
  the world. The colony is kept deliberately dependent 
  on Amondiage for industrial and technological goods, 
  with consumer goods heavily subsidised by the central 
  government. This amounts to bribery; the people of 
  Acadie are well-off and comfortable when they toe the 
  line and harshly corrected when they display too much 
  disaffection.
  As present, Acadie is going through one of its cycles 
  of unrest and crackdowns, with large numbers of 
  paramilitary law enforcers deployed to the world’s one 
  city to deal with labour disputes and protests. The 
  mining complex at Houillon, about a hundred kilometres 
  from the capital, is in a state of general strike 
  threatening to spread to other outlying areas. Clashes 
  between angry workers and security forces occur nightly.
  The atmosphere in the capital is thus tense and 
  suspicious when the Travellers arrive. They will be 
  subjected to closer questioning than usual at the 
  starport, though a plausible cover story and believable 
  documentation will suffice to permit entry. Security 
  officials will issue a warning about staying out of trouble 
  which may sound like a threat but is actually sincere – 
  Amondiage does not want offworlders coming to harm 
  on its supposedly happy colony.
  Acadie’s normally quite liberal Law Level 3 is elevated 
  to 6 at present, which may make it difficult to bring 
  weaponry through the starport. Many weapon-carry 
  laws are suspended and the authorities are suspicious 
  of anyone who wants to be armed. The (perhaps 
  reasonable) argument that the Travellers want to be 
  able to protect themselves – precisely because of 
  the elevated tensions – will get them nowhere. The 
  authorities do not want guns on the streets whilst they 
  restore order to Acadie’s society.
  FINDING THE 
  PERFECT STRANGER II
  Locating Perfect Stranger is very easy; she is parked on 
  a holding pad where she has been for several months. 
  Whilst not obvious amongst all the other ships, she can 
  be looked up on the ‘currently in port’ database without 
  any difficulty. The ship is listed as ‘on hold’, whatever 
  that means.
  The port authority will be delighted to have someone 
  finally take possession of the ship. Those back on 
  Amondiage hoping to claim her as salvage in a few 
  months might be disappointed but the port director just 
  wants the thing off his pad. Verification of paperwork 
  will take a few hours, after which the Travellers will be 
  given access to the ship. Of course, there is the small 
  matter of berthing and port fees to be taken care of 
  before Perfect Stranger can leave.
  The ship has been sitting on a pad for months, supplied 
  with water and power from external sources and, 
  more importantly, it has been in the way of the port’s 
  operations. Berthing fees alone run into the thousands 
  but the difficulties the ship’s prolonged presence has 
  caused increases the fee to Cr72000, payable before 
  the vessel can take off. Leaving without paying this 
  fee would be considered piracy; the vessel would be 
  fired upon by port defences and, if it survived, hunted 
  throughout the Islands. 
  The Travellers’ expense account cannot be used to cover 
  this amount – there is a limit on the monthly drawings 
  and costs cannot be pooled. They will need to find some 
  other way to pay the fee. 
  The port authority is aware that it is pushing the 
  envelope by asking for so much – Cr25000 would 
  be appropriate for fees and inconvenience. A certain 
  amount of bargaining is thus possible. One approach 
  is to cite interstellar shipping law, though this varies 
  within the Islands and, of course, the Travellers may not 
  be familiar with the details. A Difficult (10+) Advocate 
  check (INT or EDU) can be used to knock Cr3Dx1000 
  off the asking fee, nit-picking some of the items being 
  charged for and pointing out the illegality of certain 
  charges under the circumstances. The Admin skill 
  
  can be used the same way, navigating the minefield 
  of subsidies, tariffs and surcharges to arrive at a more 
  sensible figure. 
  Whether or not these two approaches are tried, an 
  Average (8+) Persuade check will halve the final asking 
  price, provided it is accompanied by a good argument 
  to the effect that the port gets its pad back into use 
  once the pesky ship is on its way. Having negotiated, 
  successfully or otherwise, all the Travellers need to do is 
  come up with the money.
  The cash may be on hand or the Travellers might 
  come up with some clever scheme to get it. That 
  might be anything from honest work to bank robbery 
  or an investment scam to get locals to fund the ship’s 
  departure in return for a share of future profits. There 
  is an alternative, however. Perfect Stranger, like many 
  intelligence ships, carried a fair amount of cash and 
  valuable materials (notably gold and platinum). The 
  Travellers may not have been told about this but might 
  infer there are contingency funds aboard the vessel. 
  They can have access as soon as their paperwork clears; 
  taking off is not permitted but there will be preflight 
  checks and perhaps maintenance to carry out after such 
  a long time standing idle. 
  Going aboard as soon as possible will not be suspicious; 
  indeed, a crew who did not spend a couple of days 
  testing systems before taking off would arouse more 
  interest than one that chose to proceed with caution.
  BOARDING 
  PERFECT STRANGER
  The most obvious thing about Perfect Stranger is that 
  her launch is missing; the port authority has records 
  of it being granted clearance to depart for the mining 
  settlement at Houillon some months ago. It did not 
  return and a subsequent investigation showed it had 
  crashed – officially due to pilot error – during the 
  return flight. The report glosses over the details of a 
  gunfight at Houillon for the usual reason; the Amondiage 
  administration that owns Acadie does not like 
  information about unrest and other troubles to become 
  public and even more so when it involves offworlders.
  The wreck of the launch was bought by a salvage 
  company out of Amondiage and dismantled in situ. 
  No bodies were recovered from the wreck, though 
  two survivors were reportedly rescued and placed in 
  cryogenic stasis to Amondiage. No other records exist 
  but the remainder of the crew are presumed lost in the 
  crash. Trying to find details of the incident at Houillon 
  simply turns up a report of a ‘firearms-related incident’ 
  that day, which is vague to the point of uselessness.
  The Travellers’ codes are readily accepted and the vessel 
  opens her doors for them. Inside, many rooms look as if 
  the crew just popped out for a coffee. Personal effects 
  stand on shelves in the crew cabins; clothes hang in 
  closets. Other chambers are less pleasant; the galley 
  is a giant mass of mould where the remains of a meal 
  has festered for months. At first glance, the ship needs 
  nothing more than a cleanup and good set of preflight 
  checks. Closer inspection shows this is not so.
  The ship’s electronics are mostly intact and security 
  seems to be in place – it does not appear that anyone 
  has penetrated the electronic security on her critical 
  systems, though there is evidence that the flight logs 
  have been downloaded if anyone thinks to look for it. 
  More seriously, some control systems simply do not 
  work. Inspection reveals that control pathways have been 
  interrupted at various points. ‘Interrupted’ means either 
  severing of control pathways or removal of components. 
  Perfect Stranger has been deliberately disabled. 
  The Travellers might leap to the conclusion that this was 
  done by her crew to prevent theft. This is not the case. 
  The ‘officials’ who boarded the ship did a good job of 
  ensuring she could not take off in a hurry. 
  Finding all the breaks and repairing them or swapping 
  spare components will take some time – hours or even 
  days – for Travellers with engineering skills. Some of the 
  missing components will have to be sourced, though 
  they are common enough to be on sale in the port. The 
  disabling of Perfect Stranger was not intended to be 
  permanent, merely to slow down retrieval and gain time 
  for a response.
  A search of the ship will reveal two other missing items. 
  The ship’s safe has been lasered open and whatever 
  was inside – probably contingency funds – has been 
  removed. The data cores storing the intelligence 
  gathered during her long cruise are also gone. It is 
  unlikely that anyone in the Islands could decrypt the 
  data – at least, not quickly – but someone has taken 
  it. The Travellers’ mission is to bring that data to 
  Zuflucht. The ship is secondary but, for now, all they 
  have is the ship. 
  Note: The data cores were shipped to an intelligence-
  analysis facility on Neubayern some months ago. They 
  are beyond the Travellers’ reach.
  14
  
  SECRETS AND STASHES
  The ‘officials from Amondiage’ did not find all the ship’s 
  secrets. There are two items of import hidden aboard 
  the vessel. Both are likely to be necessary to the play 
  of the adventure, so the referee needs to ensure they 
  are found. However, it is far better if the Travellers are 
  proactive and rewarded with success rather than spoon-
  fed the next plot element. The referee should thus allow 
  them to carry out their own plans before informing them 
  they have found what they need.
  The first item is a stash of Imperial credit plaques 
  totalling Cr100000, concealed in a machinery space. 
  This may have been put aside by a paranoid intelligence 
  operative in case the money in the safe was lost or 
  perhaps someone was lining his own nest. Whatever the 
  reason, the Travellers now have sufficient funds to pay 
  off their berthing fees, if they lacked them before, and 
  buy the spares they need. The stash might be stumbled 
  upon whilst looking for breaks in the control pathways 
  or conducting a detailed inspection of the vessel’s 
  critical components.
  There is also an important piece of information in 
  the ship’s data banks. The navigational systems are 
  still in place and contain a very mundane set of logs 
  detailing an exploratory trade mission around the Islands 
  subsectors. The logs have been accessed, their top level 
  of encryption easily broken, and someone has taken a 
  download. However, since the Travellers have proper 
  access codes, they will be able to see a couple of hidden 
  files; one of those is designated ‘Drop Point Hotel’. 
  Drop Point Hotel turns out to be close to or at the 
  starport on Herzenslust. Reading the files will lead 
  the Travellers to the conclusion that a backup of the 
  ship’s intelligence logs was dropped there. It may not 
  be complete, of course, but a partial recovery should 
  be enough to make the mission a success. There is no 
  indication of where the main data core was removed to 
  at this point.
  PREPARATIONS 
  FOR DEPARTURE
  The Travellers need to transfer their gear to Perfect 
  Stranger, pay off their berthing fees, buy fuel, supplies 
  and spares, and fix the damaged control pathways. They 
  may also wish to engage in some trade. Their cargo 
  hold is currently completely empty; cargo was delivered 
  when Perfect Stranger arrived at Acadie and nothing was 
  taken on by the crew before they met their end.
  Preparations for departure will take a few days, during 
  which time at least some of the Travellers may be 
  coming and going around the port. The Travellers came 
  under observation the moment they started asking about 
  the ship, and very soon the intelligence team assigned 
  to watch Perfect Stranger will begin to follow them.
  Travellers who have worked in a security-sensitive 
  environment in the past, such as ex-military personnel 
  who served on counter-insurgency missions or 
  intelligence operatives, diplomats, and others routinely 
  aware of the possibility they are being watched, have 
  a reasonable chance to spot the observers. Those 
  who state they are being careful, perhaps due to the 
  heightened tensions on the world, have a reduced 
  chance. Travellers who blithely go about their business 
  will simply not realise they are being observed.
  To realise they are under observation requires a Difficult 
  (10+) Recon or Streetwise check (INT, 1 day), 
  DM+2 if the Traveller has worked in a 
  security-sensitive environment.
  Any alert Travellers going portside or into the city can 
  check each day to see if they become aware of the 
  operatives watching them. A positive Effect indicates an 
  observer has been ‘made’; an Effect of 6+ reveals the 
  number and mode of operations of the observers.
  There are five intelligence operatives at Acadie 
  downport. One is a technical support expert who rarely 
  leaves their safe house, whilst the other four take 
  turns to watch the ship and follow the Travellers. The 
  operatives do not routinely carry weapons when in the 
  field, as this could cause entanglements with local 
  law enforcement, though they might carry a concealed 
  handgun or similar weapon if danger threatens.
  The operatives have no real idea who the Travellers are 
  and want to find out. Travellers aware they are under 
  observation might engage in counter-intelligence work. 
  It will not be hard to discover their personnel records 
  (such as they are) at the starport have been accessed, so 
  presumably the intelligence team knows at least a little 
  about them.
  SETTING A TRAP
  If the Travellers are so inclined, they might try to draw 
  their ‘tail’ into a trap and get answers the old-fashioned 
  way. Much depends upon how they go about this; 
  intelligence operators are professionally paranoid and 
  have a habit of using counter-surveillance techniques as 
  a matter of course. A clumsy ambush or grab attempt 
  will be spotted and easily avoided; the Travellers will 
  need to be a lot subtler if they wish to succeed.
  One option is to lead the tail into an area they cannot 
  easily get out of or induce him to rush, perhaps to avoid 
  losing contact with a Traveller. Any snatch attempt will 
  15
  
  be spotted as soon as it begins and the operative will 
  make a vigorous attempt to escape. He will also trigger 
  an emergency beacon which will cause comrades to arm 
  themselves and come to the rescue. Operatives have no 
  illusions about what happens to those who are snatched 
  in this manner and will respond with a desperation and 
  focus that may startle the Travellers.
  If an operative is detained, they will stall for time. Even 
  under extreme duress, if the Travellers are inclined to be 
  barbaric, an operative will say little. They believe that 
  once they have given up what they know, execution is 
  likely. Thus, an interrogation will be a long process, with 
  snippets of information extracted only with difficulty.
  To successfully gain information from an intelligence 
  operative, a Traveller may use Carouse, Deception, 
  Diplomat, or Investigation. Each attempt takes 3Dx5 
  minutes, requiring a Difficult (10+) check. Success 
  reveals one piece of information, with an Effect of 3+ 
  indicating the Traveller has a good idea of how truthful 
  the operative is being. Which information is revealed 
  each time is at the referee’s discretion and can be drawn 
  from the following list:
  1. The intelligence team are agents of the Amondiage 
  government, watching a suspicious ship in case its 
  owners return (totally false).
  2. A response to the snatch is already underway. The 
  Travellers are in big trouble and should surrender 
  (basically true).
  3. The operatives are not hostile to the Travellers, 
  merely assigned to watch the ship and gather 
  information (sort of true but their colleagues did 
  massacre the previous crew).
  4. The operatives are aware that Perfect Stranger is an 
  intelligence ship and want to find out what she was 
  doing, what her crew learned in their cruise, and so 
  forth. (partially true).
  5. The operatives do not know what happened to the 
  previous crew (lie).
  6. The operatives believe the previous crew were 
  involved in shady dealings in the mining settlement 
  of Houillon and think they may have fallen foul of 
  skulduggery. They are interested in the situation as 
  part of their general observation remit. (Partially 
  true but misleading; the crew were deliberately 
  eliminated by the Neubayern intelligence services to 
  suppress what they had discovered.)
  Note that captured operatives will not reveal they 
  are from Neubayern, nor give details of what really 
  happened to the crew of Perfect Stranger unless 
  suborned, broken or ‘turned’. This would require a lot 
  of effort on the part of the Travellers and might take 
  time they do not have. A telepath or someone skilled in 
  chemical interrogation could short-cut the process but 
  unless the Travellers have access to such resources they 
  will not be able to get definite answers at this stage.
  DIRECT ACTION
  Whether the Travellers snatch an operative or not, 
  as soon as they realise they have been ‘made’ the 
  Neubayern intelligence team begins planning direct 
  action. Their objective depends on whether any of their 
  people have been snatched. They have access codes for 
  Perfect Stranger, which the Travellers might not expect, 
  and will try to covertly gain entry to set an ambush in 
  the ship or rescue their comrades. They will settle for 
  grabbing any of the Travellers if the opportunity arises. 
  The intelligence operatives will be armed for this 
  endeavour and whilst they would rather capture 
  Travellers for interrogation, they will shoot to kill if 
  necessary. These are hard-nosed professionals who know 
  the price of failure. They have no remorse or hesitation.
  The ideal approach is to corner some or all the Travellers 
  somewhere they cannot easily escape and surprise them 
  at gunpoint; inside their own ship would be perfect, but 
  perfection rarely happens in intelligence work. Once 
  secured, the prisoners can be transferred to a safe house 
  and later moved outside the city. A ship will eventually 
  take them to Neubayern, drugged and in cryogenic 
  suspension. At that point, they will disappear and never 
  be heard of again.
  Wounded or captured Travellers will be subjected to 
  a preliminary and rather general interrogation. Smart 
  Travellers may realise the intelligence operatives are 
  fishing for information and have little idea what the 
  Travellers know. The barrage of questions revolves 
  around where the Travellers are from, who their backer 
  is, and if they have access codes for ‘all systems’ on 
  the ship. There is some emphasis on the ‘all’ since the 
  operatives are tasked with finding a way to access the 
  encrypted database within Perfect Stranger’s memory 
  cores. 
  How well the operatives’ plan succeeds depends to 
  some extent on the Travellers’ level of caution and 
  observational habits. They may be surprised in the ship 
  or grabbed as they return from a shopping trip. Alert 
  Travellers might realise something is amiss in time to 
  escape – an Average (8+) Streetwise or Recon check 
  will grant the Traveller a few seconds’ warning. This 
  could result in a chase through the arcology or across 
  the starport, which the operatives would really prefer to 
  avoid. However, they will take what they can get.
  16
  
  THE TRAVELLERS’ 
  RESPONSE
  The Travellers will need to escape from the intelligence 
  operatives if they are captured. Fortunately, the present 
  security situation works in their favour. There is serious 
  unrest in the city, often at random as some minor 
  incident ignites in violence. The intelligence operatives 
  (or the Travellers) may be mistaken for undercover police 
  agents sent to quietly arrest troublemakers, causing 
  a mob of angry citizens to burst into the middle of a 
  confrontation, prisoner transfer, or interrogation and 
  attempt to rescue whomever they think is the victim. 
  This could be tragic, hilarious or just plain confusing, 
  as members of both sides are bundled away ‘to safety’ 
  whilst others are subjected to a good ranting-at about 
  civil rights, heavy-handed policing and the evils of 
  government. The situation might well degenerate into a 
  free-for-all, with nobody having any clear idea who is on 
  what side… or if there are any sides.
  The chaos can be an opportunity for escape or a 
  frustrating loss of a prisoner, and may well leave 
  the Travellers very confused. Locals who realise 
  the Travellers are not in fact police or Amondiage 
  intelligence may provide information amid a general 
  barrage of frustration, annoyance and recounting 
  of brave, foolhardy and tragic events during the 
  intervention. Everyone is very excited and not 
  particularly coherent, but the picture that gradually 
  emerges is as follows:
  The people of Acadie are usually content under rule 
  from Amondiage but unrest occurs in cycles. The 
  present situation is much worse than usual and the 
  authorities’ response has been unusually heavy-handed 
  (which is saying something). There is open fighting 
  between what are now being referred to as rebel groups 
  and security forces in some settlements and riots here in 
  the capital. Rumours are floating around that Imperial-
  made weapons have appeared among the rebels and the 
  situation is escalating further.
  Nobody really knows what is going on but it seems that 
  someone has been stirring the pot. The settlement of 
  Houillon is the apparent epicentre of the trouble; it is 
  common knowledge (which does not mean it is true) 
  that weaponry was delivered there about a year ago 
  by an unknown group and more recently a bunch of 
  merchants from ‘that ship that’s been there ever since’ 
  were murdered in the city. There are some fascinating 
  conspiracy theories about what happened but the 
  general impression is that Imperials provided weapons, 
  for whatever reason. Since these weapons are being 
  used to fight the ‘oppression’ of Amondiage, the angry 
  segment of the population generally approves.
  In short, the locals have no real idea what has happened 
  or why but are very angry at the authorities for the way 
  the crackdown is being handled. It is not immediately 
  obvious who the intelligence operatives are (or were) but 
  it seems that they are connected to the deaths of the 
  previous crew.
  LEAVING ACADIE
  The incident with the intelligence operatives will be 
  noticed by the authorities, who will have questions 
  for the Travellers. If they hang around too long, the 
  Travellers’ mission will be complicated or imperilled by 
  official intervention and/or more operatives. Besides, 
  they have a lead on Drop Point Hotel which needs to 
  be checked out. It is probably in their best interests 
  to get moving. 
  If the Travellers hang around, they will be questioned 
  repeatedly by officials from Acadie’s government and 
  in a couple of weeks investigators from Amondiage will 
  arrive. The authorities are unsure what the Travellers 
  know or are involved in, and cautious in dealing with 
  Imperial citizens. However, they will not give up and 
  will make life difficult for the Travellers with repeated 
  questions, inspections of the ship and fishing for 
  evidence of wrongdoing. In the meantime, if enough of 
  the Neubayern intelligence agents survived, they will 
  make another attempt to snatch the Travellers and/
  or their ship. In short, Acadie will rapidly become an 
  unhealthy place to be.
  The Travellers need to reach Herzenslust and locate 
  Drop Point Hotel. From the name, they might infer it 
  is starport hotel but this would be incorrect. There are 
  coordinates in the database but without going to the 
  world, they are meaningless. Getting to Herzenslust 
  might be quite an undertaking, requiring several deep-
  space jumps. However, Perfect Stranger is well equipped 
  for such a task. The Travellers would do well to check 
  the state of her supplies and inventory; several weeks in 
  deep space is bad enough but if the food runs out the 
  Travellers could starve before making planetfall. 
  17
  
  ACADIE TO HERZENSLUST
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  SERENDIP BELT
  JOYEUSE
  NEW COLCHIS
  AMONDIAGE
  Besancon
  Achille
  Elysee
  New home
  Acadie
  Herzenslust
  Quichotte
  Colchis
  Sturgeon’s Law
  Schlesien Belt
  St Denis
  How the Travellers reach Herzenslust is up to them. 
  They could meander all over the Islands subsectors for 
  several years if they wanted but, since the intelligence 
  services of Neubayern are looking for them and the 
  identity of their ship has been circulated to Neubayern 
  and some independent ships, life could get hazardous. 
  The Travellers’ interests will be better served by getting 
  to Herzenslust and then out of the Islands.
  Perfect Stranger is capable of five one-parsec jumps 
  in a row, without refuelling. Her sensors are not up 
  to the task of finding a deep-space comet or similar 
  refuelling point but she can make a long transit between 
  refuellings. This is hazardous, however, as well as being 
  very stressful and tiring for the Travellers.
  The safest route, in terms of fuel reserves and margins 
  for error, would be to make several two-jump-1 transits 
  to Colchis, New Home, Sturgeon’s Law, and finally 
  Elysee before reverting to normal operations in the 
  Central Islands Region. This would allow enough 
  extra fuel to recover from a badly plotted jump or, 
  alternatively, the Travellers could take on cargo or 
  freight, and maintain their cover as an innocent 
  merchant ship. 
  SETBACKS AND 
  BREAKDOWNS
  Being cooped up in a starship for an extended period 
  is not good for most people and the added stress of 
  deep-space operations can cause a drop in efficiency 
  eventually leading to a breakdown. Upon leaving 
  Acadie, the referee should begin keeping track of each 
  Traveller’s Stress Index (SI). This begins at 0.
  Each week spent in jump adds D3 to each Traveller’s SI. 
  An additional +1 is applied if the jump is to an empty 
  map hex, i.e. a deep space jump. 
  Each Setback encountered by the Traveller adds +1 to 
  SI and requires a Stress check (see below).
  Stress Index is reduced by downtime, such as spending 
  a few days planetside hitting bars and seeing the 
  sights. Each three full days of R&R enjoyed by the 
  Traveller reduces their SI by 1D. Particularly memorable 
  experiences – such as visiting a famous landmark or 
  swimming with friendly aquatic animals – will reduce SI 
  by an additional 1D at the referee’s discretion.
  
  The Travellers may come up with clever ways to reduce 
  SI during a long transit. Each measure judged by 
  the referee to be useful allows a reduction of -1 to 
  everyone’s SI. Examples include the use of medication 
  by the ship’s doctor, a crew party, screening of a 
  favourite movie turned into a special occasion, or 
  some silly contest that distracts everyone from 
  their surroundings. 
  Whenever the Traveller encounters a Setback, a Stress 
  check is required. What constitutes a Setback is up 
  to the referee; it might be nothing more than a rude 
  starport clerk that causes a Traveller with a high SI to 
  snap, though usually it will be a tense situation in which 
  the Traveller has little control over what is happening. 
  Being stuck in deep space unable to jump whilst 
  the engineer fiddles with the drive would constitute 
  a Setback.
  A Stress check is an Easy (2+) END check. Success 
  indicates no particular ill effects, though there may be 
  some cussing. If a check is failed, the Traveller reacts in 
  a bad-tempered and unhelpful manner, perhaps downing 
  tools and refusing to work on the drive, or going to his 
  cabin and sulking for several hours. The Traveller is out 
  of action for the next 2D hours and thereafter suffers 
  DM-1 on all skill checks until their SI is reduced to 0. 
  Subsequent failures increase the DM by -1 each time, 
  eventually making the Traveller a liability to himself and 
  everyone else.
  A Traveller who fails a Stress check with an Effect of -6 
  or more suffers a breakdown and is essentially useless 
  until this is dealt with. He will refuse to work on any 
  task linked to the breakdown and become withdrawn 
  or even violent. The Travellers may find they are stuck 
  in deep space until their impromptu psychotherapy 
  sessions have calmed the engineer down. Tackling a 
  breakdown can be done in various ways – camaraderie, 
  leadership, good food, medication or improvised therapy 
  set up by a Traveller with Medic checks are all possible 
  options. The referee should not doom the Travellers to a 
  slow death in deep space because the ship’s astrogator 
  was too stressed to plot a jump but can use the concept 
  of stress-induced inefficiency to nudge the Travellers 
  in the direction of planetside time and associated 
  adventure opportunities. 
  DEEP SPACE JUMPS
  Plotting a jump to a precise location in deep space is 
  a difficult business. Even a small error can strand a 
  ship with dry tanks and no way to reach a fuel source. 
  However, in the case of Perfect Stranger, this is not 
  necessary. She carries enough fuel to make another 
  jump, so exactly where the midpoint emergence takes 
  place is not too important – one region of empty 
  interstellar space is much like another. However, the 
  location needs to be known in order to plot the next 
  jump and establishing coordinates in deep space is not 
  simple.
  Upon emergence, Perfect Stranger’s engineering crew 
  need to conduct standard drive checks and calibration. 
  This requires an Average (8+) Engineer (j-drive) check 
  (2D hours, INT). Failure indicates the drive is not ready, 
  requiring another attempt. This is not a huge problem in 
  most cases but being unable to jump is stressful under 
  some circumstances and could constitute a Setback.
  Whilst the engineering team are busy, the astrogator 
  must fix the ship’s position using known reference 
  points, typically stars and radio sources. It is not a 
  difficult process, requiring an Average (8+) Astrogation 
  check (3D hours, INT) but is lengthy. Once complete, 
  the next jump can be implemented.
  It is very unlikely that Perfect Stranger will emerge from 
  jump close to another ship or object but, if the referee 
  wishes, such an encounter could occur. Finding a wreck 
  in deep space would be an impossible-to-resist lure for 
  most Travellers, though disconcerting to more rational 
  people. 
  HEADING FOR 
  HERZENSLUST
  As already noted, there are several possible routes to 
  Herzenslust. The Travellers are free to choose their own 
  path, though some incidents will happen along the way. 
  The referee should slot these into suitable location. The 
  worlds of the Islands Cluster are detailed in the Great 
  Rift box set, but brief descriptions are included here.
  The intelligence services of Neubayern will be aware 
  that Perfect Stranger has become active and are now 
  searching for her. Their resources are limited but they 
  have access to a great deal of money. A bounty has 
  been put on the ship (capture or destroy) and her 
  crew (capture alive, if possible) which makes attack 
  by mercenaries quite likely. In addition, arrangements 
  have been made (typically by very roundabout means) to 
  impede and frustrate the progress of Perfect Stranger. 
  In some cases, this even involves governments 
  unfriendly to Neubayern; deals have been done through 
  third parties, favours called in, and misinformation 
  planted. This has not always worked as well as the 
  Neubayerners might have hoped, but such is the nature 
  of intelligence work. 
  19
  
  TRAVELLING THE ISLANDS
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  These worlds are not directly connected with this 
  adventure, but may prove interesting or profitable for the 
  Travellers to voyage to.
  COLCHIS
  The Colchis system is very busy, with interplanetary 
  vessels plying between several inhabited bodies orbiting 
  both the primary star and its red dwarf companion. 
  Colchis is an independent second-tier power in the 
  Islands and not formally aligned with any other polity.
  NEW HOME
  New Home is one of the big players in Islands politics 
  and has the highest Tech Level in either subsector. 
  New Home is determinedly neutral in the current tense 
  situation and doing well acting as a facilitator for both 
  arms procurement and peaceful negotiations.
  STURGEON’S LAW
  Sturgeon’s Law is a very nasty hellworld populated mainly 
  by a moss that can metabolise flesh and metal. The 
  starport is on a cleared island, from whence access to 
  the world’s only settlement is by submersible. The entire 
  population dwells on the bed of the world’s single sea.
  ELYSEE
  Although dominated for a time by Serendip Belt, Elysee 
  is currently independent, though heavily influenced 
  by New Colchis and New Home. It is a rockball world 
  notable as the headquarters of the Islandbridge Trading 
  Corporation, which has assets all over the Islands 
  Cluster.
  BESANCON
  The world of Besancon is essentially a starport on a 
  rockball. Theoretically independent, Besancon is at 
  the mercy of whichever power is willing to grab it. Ill-
  feeling towards Serendip Belt is considerable, due to 
  forcible annexation and occupation during Serendip 
  Belt’s period of ascendancy. The Battle of Besancon 
  was a minor skirmish to the Serendips; to the people of 
  Besancon it is both a symbol of defiant pride and a dark 
  memory of a very bloody hour.
  
  INCIDENTS
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  BUREAUCRATIC 
  HARASSMENT
  This incident is most likely to occur at a major world 
  such as Colchis or New Home. Perfect Stranger is 
  allowed to enter port and conduct her normal business 
  but soon everything starts to take longer than expected. 
  When the Travellers attempt to pay for the fuel they 
  need, their expense account is declined as invalid. This 
  might be put down to bad relations with Amondiage, 
  since the account was arranged through that world’s 
  government but it soon becomes apparent that there is 
  more to the situation than the politics of the Islands.
  Within hours of landing, the Travellers are presented 
  with a Grounding Order. The order is legitimate, issued 
  by the port authority and requires Perfect Stranger to 
  undergo a full spaceworthiness inspection. Perfect 
  Stranger will not be permitted to take off until this 
  is complete. The port authority has been tipped off 
  that Perfect Stranger is carrying contraband and may 
  be involved in piracy. The inspection is an attempt 
  to discover if this is true and is being carried out by 
  personnel acting in good faith on bad information. 
  Receiving this order would constitute a Setback for 
  most Travellers.
  Ignoring the Order
  Ignoring the order would be very dangerous and may be 
  completely impracticable. No fuel or supplies necessary 
  to flight operations will be delivered to the ship until she 
  has been cleared, docking clamps will not be released 
  and flight clearance will certainly not be granted. 
  Attempting to leave port without clearance will result in 
  being fired upon by the port’s defences and any armed 
  craft on patrol nearby. 
  For a major installation like New Home Highport this is 
  not survivable but even if the Travellers did something 
  clever like going through a minor spaceport in the 
  outsystem, they will face an immediate response 
  followed by a general alert that makes an encounter 
  with hostile warships more or less inevitable. In short, 
  attempting a daring escape or fighting their way out 
  will have serious consequences for the Travellers. Their 
  interests are better served by using more subtle means.
  Challenging the Order
  The Travellers can get the order rescinded if they try 
  hard enough, though that will take time. It will be 
  necessary to go through the order and nit-pick it to 
  death with a combination of legal and administrative 
  expertise. The Travellers may be able to show it is invalid 
  due to being based on an unsubstantiated allegation 
  by an anonymous person or find loopholes that make it 
  illegal. It may also be possible to obtain the cooperation 
  of port officials in making the order go away by way of 
  negotiation, schmoozing or simple bribery.
  Travellers being who they are will no doubt come up 
  with unexpected and probably convoluted ways to deal 
  with this situation. It might be possible to bypass the 
  whole problem by digging up dirt on the port director 
  and coercing him to quash the order. That might lead 
  to a whole mini-adventure in its own right. A more 
  conventional approach will use a combination of 
  elements, each of which takes 1D hours to complete. 
  Each Traveller can work on only one of these tasks 
  at a time.
  To get the order rescinded it is necessary to obtain a 
  total of Effect 10 from the relevant use of skills such 
  as Advocate, Admin, Carouse, Deception, Persuade, 
  and Streetwise. Each skill cannot be used twice in 
  succession and efforts should be described in detail 
  by the Travellers or, better, role-played. Unless the 
  Travellers come up with a particularly dumb plan, 
  checks will be Average (8+).
  Note that the port authority will not volunteer the 
  information that they are acting upon an anonymous 
  tip-off about piracy and smuggling, and that they are 
  searching for evidence. The Travellers may think they are 
  just the victims of excessive bureaucracy, which might 
  alter their approach.
  21
  
  Admin: Can be used to present strong, clear (and quite 
  possibly bogus) evidence that Perfect Stranger has a 
  clean spaceworthiness and maintenance record or to 
  somehow demonstrate that the inspection is invalid or 
  unnecessary.
  Advocate: Can be used to challenge details of the order 
  or the information it is based upon. 
  Carouse: Can be used to make friends who apply their 
  influence.
  Deception: Has all manner of applications, mostly linked 
  to convincing the port authority that the Travellers are 
  legitimate spacers and there is nothing suspicious about 
  their ship. 
  Persuade: Might be used much like Deception, with (a 
  version of) the truth as a weapon. Alternatively, it might 
  be used to bribe officials into putting pressure on the 
  port authority to rescind the order.
  Streetwise: Can be used to find out information about 
  people involved, perhaps for bribery or extortion 
  purposes, or find someone who can help make the order 
  go away.
  Once the Travellers have obtained a total Effect of 10 
  using these or other relevant skills, the order will be 
  rescinded and the Travellers given clearance to leave 
  port.
  Complying with the Order
  If the Travellers let the inspection take place, they run 
  some serious risks. The fuel/cargo modifications are 
  innocuous but the extra powerplant will raise questions. 
  As for the concealed aft turrets, those might be taken 
  as proof that Perfect Stranger is a pirate or commerce 
  raider and, if discovered, the Travellers will be detained 
  indefinitely whilst the authorities try to find out which 
  power they serve or if they are freelancing pirate scum. 
  The turrets will be discovered if the inspection takes 
  place unhindered. There are only two options – derail 
  the inspection so the turrets are not found or stall to 
  buy time for the order to be rescinded, then indignantly 
  order the inspection crew off the ship. 
  Derailing the inspection requires somehow inducing 
  the inspectors to omit part of their job. This might be 
  accomplished with simple bribery but the cost would be 
  enormous – given the risk of discovery, the inspection 
  team must be offered at least Cr50000, with DM+1 
  per Cr10000 above this. A Formidable (14+) Persuade 
  check (SOC) is necessary for the bribe to be accepted 
  by everyone concerned. Failure will land the Travellers in 
  even greater difficulties.
  Alternatively, distractions and complications might be 
  arranged. An inspection team frustrated by jammed 
  hatches and awkward equipment, liberally lubricated 
  with apology-drinks from the embarrassed crew, might 
  forget about part of the ship. A Very Difficult (12+) 
  Deception check (SOC) is required and will be made 
  easier by a task chain of actions used to set up the 
  distraction. The referee might award a Boon for a well 
  roleplayed distraction.
  Stalling is an option. The inspection team will turn 
  up after 2D x 30 minutes and want to begin work 
  immediately. If the Travellers can produce suitable 
  excuses about powerplant cooldown cycles or a need to 
  move heavy equipment out of the way of the inspection, 
  they can buy 2Dx 10 minutes per point of Effect on 
  a Routine (6+) Persuade or Deception check. Each 
  subsequent flimsy excuse is subject to DM-1 until the 
  check is failed, at which point the inspection team 
  boards Perfect Stranger.
  The inspection team starts at the bridge and works aft 
  through the upper deck, then descends to the lower 
  deck by way of the aft hatch – straight into the aft space 
  containing the concealed turrets. They will be found 
  2D x 5 minutes after the team enters this area. The 
  spaceworthiness check is thorough; inspecting the upper 
  deck will take two hours plus 4D x 10 minutes if the 
  team are allowed to get on with it. 
  The Travellers may find ways to slow the inspectors down 
  in the upper deck or persuade them that they just need 
  to look over the cargo area before the aft part of the 
  lower deck. Each attempt to slow down the inspection 
  buys 2D more minutes per point of Effect on an Average 
  (8+) Persuade or Deception check. The Travellers can 
  continue throwing obstacles in the way until they fail a 
  check, at which point the inspectors tire of them and no 
  longer take notice.
  On average, the turrets will be found 485 minutes after 
  the grounding order is issued, assuming no Traveller 
  interference. The Travellers thus have about eight hours 
  (on average), plus whatever time they can gain from 
  stalling, to get the order rescinded. 
  If the turrets are found, the Travellers have one 
  chance to persuade the inspectors they are there for 
  some worthy reason. A Formidable (14+) Persuade or 
  Diplomat check is required; failure results in arrest and 
  a lengthy inquiry, at the end of which Perfect Stranger 
  is impounded on suspicion of being a raider, though the 
  Travellers are simply deported. Their Imperial citizenship 
  will protect them but their mission is a failure. If the 
  referee wishes, the inquiry can be roleplayed and the 
  Travellers given a chance to present some piece of epic 
  flannel to get their ship back. If so, they will be seriously 
  delayed but able to continue their mission. 
  22
  
  CLOSED FOR 
  BUSINESS
  This incident is likely to take place at a less important 
  system such as Sturgeon’s Law or Elysee. The 
  Neubayern intelligence services have persuaded the 
  port authority to refuse landing permission to Perfect 
  Stranger. She will be warned off and threatened with 
  being fired upon if she tries to land. No reasons will 
  be given. The port authority may have been led to 
  believe she is a raider or crewed by criminals, or simply 
  persuaded to refuse permission. This counts as a 
  Setback if the crew are getting stressed
  Perfect Stranger will need fuel, which cannot be bought 
  and so must be skimmed from a gas giant. This requires 
  a normal-space transit which should present no real 
  problem, followed by a series of dives into the gas 
  giant’s atmosphere. Normally refuelling in this manner 
  is not especially hazardous unless the ship suffers a 
  malfunction or dives too deep but there is an additional 
  hazard here; the gas giant is mined.
  The mines are simple drones, each armed with a pair of 
  missiles and basic sensor package. The Travellers are 
  not the intended target; the mines were recently laid 
  by a ship from Serendip Belt as part of a preparedness 
  campaign in case current tensions escalated. The 
  intent was to create a secure refuelling capability, with 
  vessels engaged in skimming protected by the minefield. 
  However, the lack of intent does not make the attack any 
  less lethal.
  The first warning the Travellers have is a sensor alert, 
  indicating short-range guidance sensors are locked 
  onto Perfect Stranger. Unless the weapons are already 
  manned there is no chance to conduct point-defence 
  against the first two-missile strike. Chances are the 
  Travellers’ ship will be hit and damaged whilst engaged 
  in skimming operations. This is a bad time to be taking 
  fire. 
  Once the Travellers are alerted, they can map the 
  minefield by making a Very Difficult (12+) Electronics 
  (sensors) check, at which point a route can be plotted 
  out of the minefield. However, the Travellers still need to 
  make 1D skimming runs to finish refuelling. They could 
  transit to another fuel source and hope to be luckier 
  there or finish refuelling whilst dodging mines.
  Each skimming run risks further attacks. Perfect 
  Stranger can stay out of reach of mines if they can be 
  detected in time, requiring a Difficult (10+) Electronics 
  (sensors) check. Failure indicates the ship is attacked by 
  one missile per point of negative Effect, though evasion 
  and point defence fire can now be conducted as normal. 
  DM+2 applies to the Electronics check if the Travellers 
  thought to conduct a full sensor sweep and map the 
  minefield before resuming refuelling operations.
  The Travellers might expect a warship to be in the 
  vicinity but they are not attacked – the minefield is 
  a passive measure deployed recently by a minelayer 
  disguised as a small merchant ship. Explosions in the 
  atmosphere of a distant gas giant might not be detected 
  from the mainworld, though if the minefield were a 
  defensive measure it would make sense for it to be 
  monitored. The Travellers may thus be able to infer that 
  the mines are not ‘native’ to the star system and that 
  someone is trying to make space travel more hazardous 
  for everyone else. 
  23
  
  HERZENSLUST
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  Herzenslust is a habitable world, with a dense, 
  tainted atmosphere and sufficient water to support a 
  vibrant ecosphere. Surface gravity is high enough to 
  be uncomfortable for newcomers but tolerable in the 
  long term. After existing for many years at subsistence 
  level, Herzenslust received an influx of colonists from 
  New Colchis and, not surprisingly, became a colonial 
  possession of that world.
  The economic and industrial heart of Herzenslust is 
  its capital city, which enjoys greater technological and 
  social sophistication than the rest of the world. The 
  capital has its own Class C starport but this is off-limits 
  to all vessels other than those coming from New Colchis. 
  Everyone else must make do with a rudimentary port 
  over a hundred kilometres away.
  Technology is a sustainable TL6, though the capital has 
  a lot of imported equipment in use and is to some extent 
  a city of New Colchis that happens to be located on 
  Herzenslust. This sharp social divide causes surprisingly 
  little friction as the general population is self-sufficient 
  and for the most part just wants to get on with daily life.
  Upon arriving at Herzenslust, the Travellers will rapidly 
  become aware of a force of gunships defending the 
  world, operating out of a space station built from a 
  decommissioned freighter. As their transponder does 
  not indicate New Colchis registry, the Travellers will be 
  directed to the secondary port. No amount of argument 
  will persuade the authorities that the Travellers should 
  use the better port at the capital – they are outlanders 
  and not permitted there; end of story.
  As they approach the landing field (starport is too grand 
  a title for it really) the Travellers get their first decent 
  look at a city on Herzenslust. With a population of a 
  few hundred thousand, the city has an outlying belt of 
  towns and agricultural settlements, and several obvious 
  industrial zones. These are not particularly large but 
  industry is unusually concentrated. Transportation uses 
  a mix of rail and road, with the occasional grav vehicle.
  It seems at first that there is a huge number of starships 
  grounded at the port but after a moment it becomes 
  apparent that the landing field is on the other side of 
  the city and the ships are not in commission. What the 
  Travellers are seeing is a starships’ graveyard; a place 
  where obsolete or broken-down vessels are taken to 
  be dismantled for spares. Processing the coordinates 
  for Drop Point Hotel indicates it is located somewhere 
  within the mass of derelict starships. 
  HERZENSLUST 
  STARPORT
  Herzenslust starport is little more than a large open 
  space where the occasional ship lands, used by small 
  traders for the most part; a far trader or subsidised 
  merchant working the Central Islands Cluster is by no 
  means an unusual sight. More than one or two ships 
  in port at any one time is uncommon however, and 
  large vessels more so; virtually all major traffic through 
  Herzenslust is from New Colchis and uses the main port. 
  Landing clearance takes a while to obtain. The Travellers 
  will get the distinct (and correct) impression that 
  someone had to drop what he was doing and make his 
  way to the control tower to respond to their messages. 
  Traffic control is limited to ‘stay out of main port 
  airspace or you might get shot down. Really. Oh, and 
  land wherever you like within the marked area. It’s not 
  like we’re busy’.
  By the time Perfect Stranger touches down, a reception 
  committee is on its way aboard a rather elderly and 
  disreputable-looking wheeled bus/truck combination. 
  Ground crew personnel attach hoses and power feeds 
  whilst a customs official looks over the ship’s manifest. 
  The port authority, such as it is, insists that new arrivals 
  show documentation before leaving the immediate 
  vicinity of their ship but this is the limit of personal 
  border controls. Likewise, customs checks are little more 
  than counting containers in the hold.
  
  S A L V A G E  B O U G H T  &  S O L D  
  Attempts to wander into town festooned with guns will 
  result in a warning about local laws. Carrying of any 
  weapon is discouraged, though less-lethal items such as 
  stunners are acceptable for personnel who might have 
  need, such as merchant crews carrying a lot of cash. 
  Shotguns and blades are considered entirely acceptable 
  outside a settlement, but questionable at best in the 
  city. The locals have no problem with the Travellers 
  maintaining an armed guard on their ship but anyone 
  carrying a weapon into town will be called upon to show 
  they have a valid reason.
  There is no main starport concourse, nor anything that 
  comes close to one. The city just starts at the edge of 
  the landing area, with no delineating fence or boundary. 
  Indeed, local kids use the flat area for ball games and 
  riding a variety of wheeled vehicles. There are derelict 
  ground cars here and there along the fringe of the 
  landing field and a couple of burned-out wrecks in the 
  middle. It is clear the ‘starport’ is not highly regarded by 
  locals.
  From this less than salubrious environment, the 
  Travellers cross into the city and within a few steps 
  the situation changes considerably. The streets are 
  reasonably clean and well-maintained, with local shops 
  and businesses happy to take offworlder money. Those 
  nearest the port get most of the off-world business and 
  are used to strange accents and the occasional alien 
  with strange dietary requirements. The locals are neither 
  impressed nor disdainful of offworlders; they are simply 
  another group of customers. 
  This complete lack of a startown vibe might be jarring 
  to Travellers used to worlds where the port has a distinct 
  identity of its own. Herzenslust simply does not have 
  enough offworld money to make this worthwhile, though 
  the situation is different at the capital with regular ships 
  from New Colchis.
  The Travellers might want to have a look around the 
  town, perhaps unwinding after a long period cooped up 
  in a starship. Entertainment opportunities are limited 
  but it would not be hard to find an acceptable hotel, 
  bar, restaurant or nightclub. After staring at the same 
  six bulkheads for a week, a game of card bingo in a 
  parochial little pub may seem like a glorious night out.
  Sooner or later, however, the Travellers will want to find 
  Drop Point Hotel. The coordinates they have place it 
  somewhere in the starship graveyard but beyond that the 
  Travellers will have to search. The graveyard is on the 
  other side of town, easy to reach by rail transport or the 
  local bus service. 
  THE STARSHIP 
  GRAVEYARD
  The starship graveyard turns out to be a fenced 
  compound owned and operated by a company called 
  WrekYard. There are also piles of trashed ground cars 
  and even a few railway wagons in various stages of 
  disrepair. WrekYard charges a Cr10 fee to enter the yard, 
  mainly to deter gawkers and idiots who want to climb 
  around the starships, and has a make-an-offer policy on 
  components extracted from the wrecks. The less work 
  the yard’s personnel must do, the cheaper an item will 
  be sold. Thus, if someone expects a heavy component to 
  be removed, cleaned up and delivered to their ship, they 
  will pay several times as much as a client who comes to 
  the yard and does the work himself.
  The yard staff know nothing about any data stash but 
  may recall a party of offworlders who came to the yard 
  several months ago looking for parts. They stripped a 
  few bits out of an old Type R subsidised merchant that 
  had been in the yard more or less forever, and asked 
  a lot of questions about the origins of other vessels; 
  mainly those that had suffered battle damage.
  Many of the ships in the yard are first-generation 
  Islands Cluster jump-capable vessels. The initial 
  rush of construction once jump drive technology was 
  disseminated throughout the cluster resulted in large 
  numbers of not well-designed vessels taking to the stars. 
  Most passed through a series of owners as better ships 
  replaced them, and many were repeatedly upgraded, 
  modified and generally fiddled-with. The yard has 
  several working(ish) starships available at ridiculously 
  low prices. Travellers might be sceptical about a vessel 
  cobbled together with salvaged parts from unreliable 
  first-generation jump-ships, and they would be right, 
  though the yard does not deliberately sell deathtraps. 
  Anyone buying a 200-ton trader for Cr300000 ought to 
  realise they are getting what they pay for. 
  25
  
  The Travellers could learn a lot about the evolution of 
  starships and design philosophy in the Islands. Starship 
  aficionados will have a field day here; those without an 
  interest in the field will be bored and trip over things. 
  The coordinates for Drop Point Hotel are vague, so it will 
  be necessary to search through a few wrecks and get lost 
  for a while before something stands out.
  Amid the local designs is a half-dismantled Type R 
  subsidised merchant. Judging from the weeds growing 
  around access points, it has not been disturbed in 
  months. The Travellers might figure out that if a stash 
  had been left in the wreck, it would not be somewhere 
  a salvage hunter would easily find it. A set of data cores 
  would look valuable and so must be somewhere difficult 
  to access, especially by those unfamiliar with the design 
  of a Type R.
  In the Islands, the chances of someone happening by 
  who is intimately familiar with the internal workings of a 
  subsidised merchant are far less than in the Imperium, 
  making the subbie an ideal hiding place. The data 
  cores are not large; they would fit in a small holdall, 
  so the Travellers are looking for a part of the ship that 
  is hard to access and might be completely overlooked 
  by those not familiar with operating one. The auxiliary 
  flow regulator chamber for the fuel scoops is notoriously 
  difficult to get into for maintenance. Cussed out by 
  generations of engineers, it would be an excellent hiding 
  place. 
  The starboard side scoop is in pieces on the ground; 
  nothing is hidden inside it except animal droppings and 
  a long-abandoned nest, probably rats, if the Travellers 
  care to speculate. The port side regulator is in place and 
  can be accessed with the usual difficulty and swearing. 
  Whichever of the Travellers gets to crawl inside has the 
  added joy of finding another rat nest, complete with 
  overpowering smell. There is, however, a heavily-nibbled 
  and stinking holdall containing the backup data cores 
  and a bundle of 20,000 Credit plaques. 
  However, just as the Traveller begins trying to extricate 
  himself from the auxiliary flow regulator chamber, a 
  complication occurs.
  THUGS INBOUND
  Although Zuflucht’s intelligence services did not know 
  about the stashed data cores, they were aware of the 
  worlds visited by Perfect Stranger during her voyage. 
  Once she was picked up by the Travellers, word went out 
  to intelligence cells on many worlds – impede the new 
  crew of Perfect Stranger, and capture them if possible. 
  The handful of intelligence personnel on Herzenslust 
  are based in the capital and require time to put together 
  a response to the Travellers’ arrival. In addition, they 
  are inclined to act cautiously and not draw attention to 
  themselves, so they work through local assets, in this 
  case local thugs happy to take money to rough someone 
  up. 
  The thugs are not well motivated. They have been 
  promised money to beat up and perhaps kidnap the 
  Travellers, and are up for a rumble in the scrapyard, 
  fighting hard so long as it is fun and not too painful; 
  they can be deterred or driven off by determined 
  resistance. They are not in any way organised; one 
  thug will help another by opportunistically bashing his 
  opponent from behind, but that is the limit of their 
  tactical abilities.
  How the Travellers deal with the approach of the thugs 
  is up to them. They might not even notice until too 
  late, taking the thugs for a bunch of scavengers or yard 
  workers. If the Travellers realise what is going on they 
  may have time to formulate a response. If not, they will 
  have to react as events unfold.
  To realise the group of people approaching have bad 
  intentions requires an Average (8+) Streetwise check 
  (1D seconds, INT).
  If the Travellers are successful, they have sufficient 
  time to make a run for it or for some of their number to 
  conceal themselves. A quick look around for improvised 
  weapons will yield something suitable on a successful 
  Routine (6+) Recon check. If the Travellers are not 
  successful, they will be jumped without warning by the 
  thugs, who simply walk up and start throwing punches. 
  If the Travellers decide to confront the thugs as they 
  approach, they may be able to negotiate or deter them 
  from attacking. A Very Difficult (12+) Persuade check 
  will indicate what it will cost to get the thugs to walk 
  away; a bribe of Cr2000 plus Cr250 per negative Effect 
  on the Persuade check – so Effect -4 indicates an 
  additional Cr1000 is necessary.
  Deterring the thugs requires a Very Difficult (12+) 
  Persuade or Deception check, with DM +2if the 
  Travellers have weaponry and DM+4 if the thugs are 
  decisively outgunned (or believe they are). Failure will 
  result in an immediate attack, with an attempt to grab 
  weapons from their users.
  The thugs are armed with knives and the odd improvised 
  weapon but will use their fists unless the Travellers 
  escalate the situation. Their intention is to have fun 
  beating up offworlders and drag a few off to a vehicle 
  waiting outside the yard. They have instructions to 
  grab anything of interest the Travellers might have but 
  are not specifically looking for data cores. Indeed, the 
  intelligence personnel who sent the thugs do not know 
  26
  
  these exist and are merely trying to snatch the Travellers 
  in the hope they have access codes for the database 
  already captured.
  The number of thugs should be tailored to the Travellers’ 
  capabilities. Two or three more than there are Travellers 
  will be a reasonable fight. The Travellers will have to 
  fight or stall the thugs long enough for their colleague to 
  get out of the flow regulator chamber, after which they 
  might decide to flee or fight until the thugs are disabled 
  or driven off. The latter is quite likely; any thug who 
  has been wounded or pummelled to the point where he 
  is almost out of END is likely to slope off, uttering dire 
  threats of retribution. 
  If more than half the thugs are downed or driven off, 
  the rest will withdraw, propping up their battered egos 
  with a barrage of insults and threats, including some 
  that may tip the Travellers off that something larger is 
  going on. The thugs say ‘you’ll get yours soon enough’ 
  and ‘you’ll wish we’d dealt with you when they get here’. 
  Who ‘they’ are could be beaten out of one of the thugs. 
  All they know is that some guy with an offworld accent – 
  Neubayerner or Zuflucht maybe – sometimes pays them 
  to do dirty jobs. On this occasion, their instructions were 
  to grab the Travellers or detain them until ‘we’ arrive. 
  There was no explanation of who ‘we’ are but the thugs 
  assumed it would be their patron.
  Thus forewarned, the Travellers would be well advised 
  to be on their way. The local police will turn up sooner 
  or later, but the yard staff were thoroughly intimidated 
  by the thugs and will not call for help until they are 
  gone. In any case, the Travellers are unlikely to want 
  entanglements with local law enforcement. 
  If the Travellers leave the yard by the front gate they will 
  need to explain the holdall, which someone may recall 
  they did not have upon entry. A suitable explanation 
  or a ‘gift’ of a couple of hundred Credits will deflect 
  questioning. Alternatively, the Travellers might just 
  pay for the data cores. The yard staff will start asking 
  for Cr5000 for what looks like advanced electronic 
  parts but can be bargained down to Cr1000 without 
  undue difficulty. Travellers who angrily demand to know 
  why they yard staff did not warn them about the large 
  number of thugs they just beat up will not be questioned 
  about anything they are carrying. They would also be 
  unlikely to protest if the Travellers ‘borrow’ one of their 
  vehicles.
  BACK TO THE STARPORT
  If the Travellers are aware that whoever sent the thugs 
  is on their way, they may feel the pressure of time. If 
  not, they may be caught on the way back to the starport. 
  There are four intelligence operatives, all armed with 
  weapons smuggled on-planet. They want the Travellers 
  alive for the codes they are sure the Travellers must 
  have, but are willing to shoot anyone who resists; they 
  want to avoid collateral casualties but would prefer to 
  kill or injure innocents than be captured. 
  The operatives will attempt to detain one or more of the 
  Travellers at gunpoint and bundle them off to a waiting 
  vehicle. If this fails or they cannot catch the Travellers, 
  they will give chase in a ground car. The operatives are 
  willing to shoot at or even ram a vehicle if they have 
  a chance to stop it, but do not want the law involved. 
  The pursuit is more likely to take the form of a cat-and-
  mouse chase in traffic, which could get complicated as 
  both the Travellers and their pursuers slow down and 
  drive politely past a traffic enforcement vehicle before 
  accelerating and swerving between other vehicles once 
  they are out of sight. 
  The intelligence team wants to put the Travellers’ car off 
  the road where they can snatch the Travellers or, failing 
  that, catch them as they enter the starport. If they are 
  on a train, the Travellers will need to cross the remaining 
  distance to the port, possibly with the intelligence team 
  in pursuit. A breakneck dash in a stolen car is one 
  option; ramming the intelligence team off the road and 
  escaping is another. A smart group of Travellers might 
  get off the train early and conceal themselves among the 
  locals, then sneak back to the ship.
  If they lose the Travellers, the intelligence team will go 
  to the port and watch the ship, requiring the Travellers 
  to get past them. They have been given codes to access 
  Perfect Stranger, which will work if the Travellers have 
  not thought to change them. If this is the case, an 
  ambush might be staged within the ship. 
  Note that the intelligence team does not have to 
  be confronted head-on and defeated. They can 
  be bypassed, outsmarted, out-driven or otherwise 
  circumvented. Clever Travellers might find an entirely 
  different way around them, such as tipping off the 
  police about an armed party at large or enlisting the 
  help of friendly locals to smuggle the Travellers past 
  their enemies. In short, the intelligence team is a 
  problem to be solved rather than a bunch of mooks to be 
  shot. The solution might be direct and violent, but does 
  not have to be.
  Once the Travellers have the backup data cores, they 
  can get on with their mission. The main data cores 
  are beyond their reach but they can deliver Perfect 
  Stranger and about half her findings to Zuflucht. That 
  will constitute a success, if not a total one. A prompt 
  departure might be in order, especially if the Travellers 
  have attracted the interest of law enforcement. 
  27
  
  GLOIRE
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  Gloire is a habitable world, with a standard atmosphere 
  and sufficient water to support a large agricultural 
  base. Some areas of the planet are arid and there are 
  significant regions of semi-desert that have never been 
  fully explored. There simply was no need; the population 
  is small and can easily be accommodated by the 
  best land, though this situation is slowly changing as 
  settlements are created away from the main hubs. Even 
  these are not being set up on marginal land; there are 
  plenty of fertile river valleys and empty plains to develop 
  before attention turns to less inviting regions.
  Gloire is a colonial possession of Serendip Belt, which 
  exercises strict control over the main population centres. 
  This is one reason for the slow drift outwards, though 
  as soon as a town gains a large enough population to 
  be economically significant, Serendip officials arrive to 
  take over. This is presented positively and accompanied 
  by investment and improvement of services but many 
  inhabitants of Gloire would rather do without the 
  Serendip sponsored health centre and school in favour 
  of greater freedom. 
  Gloire is being developed into a breadbasket for 
  Serendip Belt, providing agricultural goods that cannot 
  be obtained in an asteroid belt. Large intensive factory-
  farms (known locally as ‘government farms’) surround 
  small purpose-built communities run by Serendip 
  personnel. These do little for the local economy; their 
  produce goes straight offworld and generates no revenue 
  as the farms are run by Serendip Belt. Most workers are 
  robotic or technicians from Serendip, so there are no 
  secondary benefits in terms of employment or salaries 
  spent in Gloire’s shops. 
  The population of Gloire is wearily resentful of their 
  status but can do little about it. Life is not hard and 
  living conditions are good. A modest amount of dissent 
  is tolerated and ignored, whilst active resistance is 
  harshly punished. Gloire is a showcase of colonial 
  administration in that sense – there is no need to make 
  the people happy so long as they are not miserable 
  and the price of resistance is higher than they are 
  willing to pay. 
  INCIDENT AT GLOIRE
  The Travellers might reach Gloire by way of an epic five-
  jump transit from Herzenslust or might take the safer 
  route of going back to Elysee and then through Serendip 
  Belt. This part of the mission can be as eventful as the 
  referee wishes but there is just one last obstacle on the 
  way to Zuflucht. 
  If the Travellers choose to visit Gloire – they might 
  want to stretch their legs after so many weeks in space 
  – they find the locals pleasant enough and welcoming 
  to Imperials. Resentment of Serendip occupation is 
  obvious but the world is at peace. The Travellers – 
  perhaps to their surprise – encounter no significant 
  hazards on Gloire unless they do something stupid.
  As they leave, however, the Travellers come under 
  attack. This incident might be played out elsewhere, 
  perhaps during a gas giant refuelling somewhere or 
  whilst leaving another world if the Travellers take a very 
  roundabout route.
  As Perfect Stranger heads towards the jump point, her 
  sensors pick up a vessel in high orbit, some kind of 
  freighter; her transponder indicates she is the Ershi, 
  an Imperial vessel out of Zuflucht. Her positioning is 
  strange as she is not headed in or out but holding a high 
  position to increase scanning range. The reason for this 
  may become apparent when the Travellers detect her 
  small craft. 
  Ershi has launched a pair of small craft which are 
  accelerating gently towards a location close to Perfect 
  Stranger’s jump entry point. It might be coincidence but 
  suspicious Travellers may want to take a closer look with 
  an Average (8+) Electronics (sensors) check (INT, 3D 
  minutes).
  Success shows the craft are TL12 light fighters (see 
  High Guard, page 94), used throughout the Imperium 
  and widely exported beyond it. They are capable of a 
  much higher acceleration but are pretending to be a 
  slower kind of craft. 
  
  At the same time the Travellers scan the fighters, they 
  receive a tight-beam signal from the merchant ship 
  Ershi. It is curt and to the point: 
  ‘Imperial Naval Auxiliary Ershi to Perfect Stranger. 
  Stand down for boarding and crew replacement. Job well 
  done. Time to go home.’
  The Travellers may smell a rat here and rightly so. There 
  are no authentication codes accompanying the signal, 
  which is voice-only, and Ershi launches another pair of 
  fighters as she makes the signal. These, too, begin a 
  leisurely acceleration.
  As soon as it is apparent the Travellers have not fallen 
  for the ruse, Ershi makes a broad band signal to the 
  effect that she is a licensed mercenary vessel out of 
  Esperanza and Perfect Stranger is a known pirate. Files 
  containing ‘proof’ (all of it fabricated) are broadcast 
  as Ershi claims sole right on capture and bounty. Her 
  fighters begin to accelerate at top speed on an intercept 
  vector, demanding immediate surrender. 
  Ershi is over 30,000km away and will remain there out 
  of harm’s way. Her fighters are launched in pairs (she 
  carries 12) every three rounds and the leading pair is 
  at Long Range (25,000km). If Perfect Stranger does 
  not surrender she will be fired upon with the intent of 
  crippling her and preventing escape.
  It will take Perfect Stranger 2D+12 rounds to reach a 
  safe jump distance. She can jump from where she is 
  but risks misjumping, which would likely be fatal in 
  the sparse Islands subsectors. She cannot outrun the 
  fighters but may be able to fight them off. The attackers 
  do not know about Perfect Stranger’s concealed weapons 
  so if the Travellers pick their moment, they have a 
  powerful sucker-punch after which the fighters will 
  try to close to dogfight range and stay out of the 
  rear arc of fire.
  No assistance is likely; Perfect Stranger and her crew 
  must win this final fight for survival or last long enough 
  to make a jump to safety.
  29
  
  ZUFLUCHT
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  Zuflucht has a thin, tainted atmosphere but is otherwise 
  habitable. As the extreme spinward-coreward point of 
  the Islands Cluster it would not normally be important 
  in the affairs of the region but since the arrival of the 
  Imperium in the Islands, Zuflucht has become the 
  arrival/departure point for trans-rift traffic. As such, 
  it is of some importance to the Imperium. The orbital 
  component of the starport has been expanded to serve 
  as a naval base.
  In practice, the Imperial naval base at Zuflucht is little 
  more than offices used by liaison and intelligence 
  personnel plus a berthing area only occupied when 
  an Imperial warship is in port. This is not often; the 
  Imperial Navy maintains a presence in the Islands but 
  its ships are constantly engaged in flag-showing cruises 
  and spend little time in orbit around Zuflucht.
  Be that as it may, the base at Zuflucht is Imperial 
  territory. As the Travellers’ ship emerges from jump 
  space her transponder is recognised and a message is 
  sent within seconds. 
  ‘Welcome home, Perfect Stranger. Please proceed to 
  docking bay as per traffic control instructions. Liaison 
  staff will greet you.’
  A second message arrives soon after, from the Imperial 
  destroyer escort Ishsagi. She is an old Fer-de-Lance-
  class vessel (see High Guard, page 153), small and long 
  in the tooth; however within the Islands she is a potent 
  symbol of Imperial might and a reassurance to Imperial 
  citizens. 
  ‘Islands Patrol greets you, Imperial vessel.’
  Zuflucht is not home, of course, but the Travellers have 
  reached safety under the guns of the Imperial Navy. 
  They have recovered the ship and most of her data. They 
  may even have added to it along the way. 
  The Travellers’ ship slides into a docking berth and a 
  party of smartly-uniformed navy personnel attaches 
  hoses and power feeds, and the ship’s drive powers 
  down as the docking clamps take hold. A naval 
  lieutenant leads the reception committee… she even 
  salutes! This is in part a show for the locals but to a 
  band of Travellers so very far from home it could mean 
  a lot.
  Debriefing will take a few days. There are reports to 
  make, statements to clarify and circumstances to 
  explain. The ship’s logs will need to be looked over to 
  see what questions have to be answered. The Travellers 
  are not in trouble; they are valued assets who have 
  performed a service for the Imperium and treated as 
  respected colleagues by the naval personnel at the 
  base. They are billeted in the officers’ quarters and have 
  access to a very well stocked officers’ club, with a bar 
  tab paid by the intelligence services. This might all be a 
  new and strange experience for some of the Travellers.
  In due course, the reports are all completed. The 
  Travelers are informed that payment will be made and 
  transport homeward arranged… unless of course the 
  Travellers are interested in remaining in the Islands? 
  Imperial Naval Intelligence has many unanswered 
  questions and would be happy to offer the Travelers a 
  freelance contract to investigate the situation in the 
  Islands further. They may even be able to find out who 
  killed the original crew of Perfect Stranger…
  But that is an adventure for another day. 
  
  WEAPONRY
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  The following equipment appears in this adventure, but items may be found throughout Charted Space.
  LASER REVOLVER
  Rather than a direct power feed from a battery pack or external 
  source, this revolver used self-contained one-use cartridges 
  which are expended after firing. The rapid generation of energy 
  produces a lot of heat, but a cartridge weapon offers high-power 
  laser capability in a small package. Weapons of this sort are 
  favoured by some militaries, not least because their lack of 
  recoil makes them suitable for use in space and obviates the 
  need for a separate low-g arsenal.
  The laser revolver is aimed at the shipboard security 
  marketplace and is issued to Neubayern naval officers as a 
  sidearm. It is also used as a security gun and can be found 
  clipped to emergency-arms stations or carried by boarding 
  parties. Its lack of sustained firepower is not considered a 
  drawback in any of these roles.
  Weapon
  TL
  Range
  Damage
  Kg
  Cost
  Magazine
  Magazine Cost
  Traits
  Laser Revolver
  12
  50
  3D+4
  1
  Cr1500
  6
  Cr30
  Zero-G
  SPECIAL PROJECT LASER WEAPON
  Built around the standard high-energy laser cartridge, this 
  concealable handgun is used by intelligence operatives 
  in the service of Neubayern. The weapon takes the form 
  of a short rod that resembles nothing more than a bulky 
  pen, complete with pocket clip. It is in no way a ‘body 
  pistol’ however; the metallic construction and internal 
  electronics will be detected by quite basic instruments, 
  though the device might not be immediately recognised as 
  a weapon. 
  Triggering the firing stud releases energy from the 
  cartridge, delivering a powerful one-shot laser attack 
  which has a very short range due to the difficulty of 
  collimating a beam in such a small device. The cartridge 
  can be replaced by unscrewing the rear of the weapon 
  but this is not practical in combat. This weapon is not 
  intended for that role; it is a last-ditch means of defence 
  or assassination tool.
  Weapon
  TL
  Range
  Damage
  Kg
  Cost
  Magazine
  Magazine Cost
  Traits
  Special Project 
  Laser Weapon
  12
  5
  3D+2
  -
  Cr2500
  1
  Cr5
  Zero-G
  11/07954
  11/0000X
  31
  
  OPPOSITION
  C
  H
  A
  P
  T
  E
  R
  -
  T
  W
  E
  L
  V
  E
  INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES 
  AT ACADIE AND HERZENSLUST
  THUGS AT HERZENSLUST
  STR
  8
  INT
  9
  SKILLS
  DEX
  9
  EDU
  6
  Drive (wheeled) 1, Gun Combat 
  (energy) 2, Melee (unarmed) 1, 
  Persuade 1, Recon 1, Stealth 1, 
  Streetwise 2
  END
  7
  SOC
  6
  WEAPONS
  Dagger (1D+2) 
  Auto Pistol (3D-3) 
  Laser Revolver (3D+4) 
  OR Special Project Laser Weapon (3D+2)
  STR
  8
  INT
  5
  SKILLS
  DEX
  6
  EDU
  3
  Melee (unarmed) 1, Streetwise 1
  END
  8
  SOC
  4
  WEAPONS
  Dagger (1D+2)
  Improvised Weapon (2D-2))
  These operatives are professionals who work in the very 
  hazardous world of intelligence and counter-intelligence 
  operations. Not many years ago there was an almost good-
  natured aspect to their work – those who lost the game 
  and were captured were protected by rules limiting how 
  badly they could be treated, even ‘off the books’. 
  Those days are gone and in the tense atmosphere 
  of the Islands, intelligence work has become 
  extremely dangerous. It is far more common to 
  eliminate suspected foreign intelligence agents 
  than return them amid diplomatic posturing and 
  agencies have become paranoid. The Neubayern 
  intelligence community is particularly prone to 
  playing hardball, having lost numerous assets to 
  savage counter-intelligence operations. Thus, the 
  operatives at Acadie and Herzenslust have no 
  compunction about killing anyone who gets in 
  their way. They have orders to capture the 
  Travellers alive if possible but, to their way of 
  thinking, anyone who buys into the game can 
  take their chances.
  The thugs are a group of bored, disaffected young 
  people who engage in petty crime and violence 
  as much for fun as to make a living. They are not 
  highly motivated and do not work as a team, but 
  are still quite capable of delivering a beating or 
  dragging off a Traveller. They were paid to attack 
  the Travellers by their usual contact, who has used 
  them for various other tasks but they never cared 
  enough to ask who they were attacking or why. 
  The thugs all have knives but will not use them 
  unless the fight escalates. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/10 - Traveller 2nd edition (Mongoose)/The Great Rift/TGR Adventure 1 - Islands In The Rift.pdf