Junction Malfunction

Marlowe comes to his senses. It dawns on him that Captain Memnon is not his enemy. Putting his pistol away, he and Captain Memnon decide to find out together why his son was in a stasis pod, and to try to figure out a way to free Marlowe's wife from the second pod.

Immediately after this confrontation, young Tom Hanley walks into the cargo bay and sees the corpse of Kenya on the floor. Landon Slate attempts to smooth things over, but Tom senses an opportunity and extorts 2,000 Solars from him.

Blake and Memnon the work out a plan to tell Dockmaster Logan at Junction that one of the pods was left in space in a rush to escape the Imperium's warship, and it is presumed that they have taken the pod. They will then offer up the resealed pod with the corpse of Kenya. The other pod, assumed to contain Marisol, Marlowe's wife, will be smuggled underneath the floor panels of the Ascendant Star's cargo bay.

The crew unwinds with their hobbies as the ship traverses empty space for a week. Once they arrive at Junction, a Terran Confederation destroyer informs them that they are to be boarded and inspected. Just as the destroyer comes into view, the Imperium's warship Katmodi arrives.

Lights illuminate the interior of the Ascendant Star as the two ships begin to slug it out over Junction. Flying around the battle, Memnon, Jack and the crew are determined to make it to the surface of world.

The world of Junction is tidally locked to it's red primary star. This bakes one side of the world, while freezing the other. Around the terminator, however, the planet has created a temperate refuge where plants can grow and the world it rather pleasant. The Star approaches the planet and lands at the Spaceport to deliver her cargo.

Jack wanders off to find something to drink, while Marlowe attempts to find a doctor that could possibly open the pod while keeping it a secret. He finds Doctor Ping.

As Gieri supervises the refueling of the ship, Capt. Memnon and Blake Weaver approach Dockmaster Logan with the resealed pod at the center of the circular landing zone. They relay their story to Logan, who does not buy it. At the Star, starport security materializes - seemingly from nowhere - around the ship. Gieri and Landon continue to try to secure passengers and cargo. Logan insists that he is under orders not to let the Star leave until he has two pods.

At the Star, Geiri sees from the throng of people a man running. Chovak bellows out "Gieri!," which gains the attention of the spaceport security surrounding the ship. As Chovak runs towards Geiri, screaming expletives, the police tackle him and haul him off.

Doctor Ping informs Marlowe that he is not able to do anything about the pod. He says this would require some sort of hacker to bypass the security systems. While inside the pod, she should be fine so long as the power supply remains active.

Tensions escalate and Logan tries to arrest Blake and the Captain. A scuffle breaks out that ends with Logan disarmed, and Blake pointing a pistol at him. Not wishing to die, Logan allows the crew to leave, but with a warning that his contacts will not be pleased. Blake tries as hard as he can to get Logan to share information, but he does not budge. As they leave Logan, the security at the Star also leave.

Whoom! A ship explodes into flames as cannon fire rains down from the sky. It would seem that the Katmodi has won the engagement. Panic sets in at the spaceport as Captain Memnon, Blake, Marlowe, and Jack rush back towards the ship. Along the way, Jack runs in to some stranded socialites who are more interested in leaving Junction than getting back home. They accept the terms of passage and hurry along with Jack.

As the star lifts off, the Katmodi asks to speak with Landon Slate on the far side of the world. They meet with Commander Horrugil, who reveals that Slate is Horrugil's brother-in-law (Horrugil's wife's brother), and also a Vilani prince. Slate and his crew-mates are guaranteed a safe departure from Junction.

With that brief revelation, the Ascendant Star and the Katmodi part ways. Katmodi resumes her blockade of Junction, while Ascendant Star speeds towards Midway, presumably barely ahead of any Vilani warships.

Is this the beginning of the Fourth Interstellar War? Will a crew with backgrounds seemingly at such odds with each other be able to cooperate? Will the Ascendant Star be able to survive this jump intact?

Find out in the next episode...

Terra

Terran Confederation
Sol Subsector Grid 1827

Star: Sol
Type: G2 V
Mass: 1.0 solar masses
Age: 4.7 billion years
Temperature: 5,800 kelvin
Luminosity: 1.0 solar lumens
Radius: 0.0046 AU

Mercury
Type: Tiny (Rock)
Orbital Radius: 0.39 AU
Diameter: 3,900 miles
Surface Gravity: 0.38 G
Earth-Relative Density: 0.98
Earth-Relative Mass: 0.055
Black-body Temp: 445 kelvin

Venus
Type: Standard (Greenhouse)
Orbital Radius: 0.72 AU
Surface Gravity: 0.91 G
Diameter: 7,500 miles
Earth-Relative Density: 0.95
Earth-Relative Mass: 0.82 earths
Black-body Temp: 328 kelvin

*Terra (Earth)
Type: Standard (Garden)
Hydration: 72%
Climate: Normal
Orbital Radius: 1.0 AU
Diameter: 7,930 miles
Surface Gravity: 1.0 G
Earth-Relative Density: 1.0
Earth-Relative Mass: 1.0
Black-body Temp: 278 kelvin
Moons:
Luna - Tiny (Rock)
Population Information
Population: 12 billion (Terran Human)
Government: Representative Democracy
Resource Value Modifier: +1
Affinity: 10
Starport: Class A, Naval Base
Control Rating: 6
Tech Level: 9
Trade: Balanced
World Trade Number: 6.0

Mars
Type: Small (Rock)
Orbital Radius: 1.5 AU
Diameter: 4,200 miles
Surface Gravity: 0.38 G
Earth-Relative Density: 0.71
Earth-Relative Mass: 0.11
Black-body Temp: 225 kelvin
Moons:
2 moonlets

Asteroid Belt
Type: Asteroid Belt
Orbital Radius: 2.7 AU

Jupiter
Type: Medium Gas Giant
Orbital Radius: 5.2 AU
Diameter: 89,000 miles
Surface Gravity: 2.36 G
Earth-Relative Density: 0.24
Earth-Relative Mass: 320
Black-body Temp: 122 kelvin
Moons:
Io - Tiny (Sulfur)
Europa - Tiny (Ice)
Ganymede - Tiny (Ice)
Callisto - Tiny (Ice)
Countless moonlets

Saturn
Type: Small Gas Giant
Orbital Radius: 9.5 AU
Diameter: 75,000 miles
Surface Gravity: 0.92 G
Earth-Relative Density: 0.13
Earth-Relative Mass: 95
Black-body Temp: 90 kelvin
Moons:
Titan - Small (Ice)
Several moonlets

Uranus
Type: Small Gas Giant
Orbital Radius: 19 AU
Diameter: 32,000 miles
Surface Gravity: 0.89 G
Earth-Relative Density: 0.24
Earth-Relative Mass: 14
Black-body Temp: 64 kelvins
Moons:
Several moonlets

Neptune
Type: Small Gas Giant
Orbital Radius: 30 AU
Diameter: 31,000 miles
Surface Gravity: 1.12 G
Earth-Relative Density: 0.32
Earth-Relative Mass: 17
Black-body Temp: 51 kelvin
Moons:
Triton - Tiny (Ice)
Moons:
Several moonlets

* denotes principal world in the system