CHAPTER 1: Aram's Ravine

With a burn of the thrusters, the Riyad exits the docking bay into the Big Black. The view swiftly changes from flashing lights and armanite plating to the inky darkness of outer space.

Almost immediately your viewports are dominated by the presence of Kua. No matter your vantage point on the ship, it's difficult not to catch sight of the jungle planet. It hangs below you as an impossibly large orb of blue and green. Its surface is an unending blanket of viridescence partially obscured by drifting cloud cover and broken by the occasional ocean or mountain range. Staring closely enough, you can even just barely glimpse the Zenithian Hegemony's "Monolith" - the only artificial structure on Kua that can be seen from space. From your position at about 220 miles/350 km above, however, the alien mega-structure referred to as the Monolith looks like nothing more than a small brown dot. On either side of you, various other spacecraft are in the process of leaving or approaching the Ring section of Coriolis. Class I and II vessels are entering through hangar doors, while larger freighters and commercial ships are berthing with the Ring externally.

Up ahead, you observe the approach of the so-called "Net," which first appears as white pinpricks of light in the distance. Coriolis Station does an ever-constant geosynchronous dance with Kua, orbiting the jungle planet at a speed of 7,000 mph/11,265 kph, and the Net follows Coriolis in its rotation like a shadow. This latticework of kilometers-long spindly metal beams is the old skeleton of the ancient arkship once known as the Zenith - the vast vessel that ferried the people now called the Zenithians to the Third Horizon. Although the Zenith was gutted and cannibalized to build what eventually became Coriolis Station, the "ribs" of the arkship have remained to serve as a distinctive outer perimeter. Over the decades, portions of the Net have broken down, been rebuilt, and even been expanded. At the intersection of the heavy beams are habitable hubs that act as docks, loading ports, and service stations. The entire construct seems dangerously fragile; a wild, unpredictable mess of millions of tons of metal girders, spacecraft, and explosive fuel.

As Coriolis recedes and grows smaller behind you, the Net inversely approaches and grows larger. You begin to see the dozens of ships that are currently berthed at the Net: everything from tiny transport shuttles and banged up free trader vessels to large mining barges and pilgrimage liners. There's even a massive Class V freighter bearing the logo of the Consortium; it rests against the beams while its precious cargo is being distributed to smaller ships that zip around like worker bees. Being that Coriolis is a hub of business and travel for the Third Horizon, the Net helps to alleviate some of the traffic and logistical pressure; ships can come here to load or unload cargo, make repairs, and resupply instead of going to Coriolis itself. Not only that, but the Net has earned a well-deserved reputation for being a meeting place to conduct illegal business or activities. Trailing a hundred kilometers behind Coriolis, the Net is a "Wild West" of sorts where the space station's Judicators and Coriolis Guard have little presence.

Once the Riyad passes by the Net, you see nothing but the blackness of open space and the light of distant stars that glitter like pearls in the night. The closest of those stars, the incandescent yellow dwarf that serves as the sun for the Kua System, burns brightly millions and millions of kilometers ahead of you. Far behind the ship, Coriolis can still be seen silhouetted against the verdant surface of Kua. Once you put a healthy amount of range between the ship and Kua's gravity well, the Riyad fully engages its gravity projectors and enters cruising speed for the journey to Jina.

Zahra

You begin reading through the information that Khadija provided, as well as any information that the Riyad has about Jina. You also receive a data packet from Farouk; apparently one of his contacts consolidated a bunch of information about Aram's Ravine.

As you read everything, it seems clear that Shulan Moro is probably the one whose palms are easiest to grease. Several free trader captains have joked about bribing the man to get out of paying excise taxes. The two Consortium merchants, Lhorac and the Salt Widow, however, seem like they could be problematic. Power hungry small-time oligarchs with henchmen are probably best avoided. Likewise, Hommar, the miners rep, sounds very single-minded and self-righteous based on what you read about him.

Still, most of the information you read about these individuals is very general, and its far from thorough. Nothing is terribly revealing, but it gives you some idea of what you are walking into.

Khadija's father's contact is a man named Salim Nasser - the settlement's resident doctor. He is the one who reported the existence of the artifact to Aldair Jubal, and whom Aldair paid to stay quiet about it.

About halfway into the trip, Riya’s voice interrupts your reading. "Captain, making my usual mid-day report. All systems still at optimal. The Bulletin’s Astrostradium reports no corsair activity on our route, and there is a micro-meteor shower alert for the vicinity, but the alert is only yellow so not too concerned." Riya seems to have concluded, but then chimes in, "Oh, and we’re being followed..."

SaniYou finish passing out the statuettes and gear that you purchased. Sometime during the trip, probably wandering the ship out of boredom, you do recall Brahim and Sa'id being sequestered in the cargo bay for the first few hours after departure. It's not necessarily anything unusual, since both men often engage in their work during trips, but you note it nonetheless. Being a spy, you are trained to notice things.

In the cargo bay, as you converse with Brahim, you also notice that the ship's fabricator has apparently been used recently. This is a device that uses low intensity lasers to make modifications to parts. The fabricator is still warm to the touch. Also, there seems a small amount of... something... on the floor. Small bits of very granular... stone, perhaps?

Sani

You tinker with the resolution of the long range sensors in an effort to get more information about the other ship. You narrow the scanning angle and re-allocate more power to the ship's passive neutrino imaging devices. It takes a minute of setting reconfiguration, but you start to get back some additional data.

Your scans indicate that the ship in question is a little larger than the Riyad, but not by much. It's probably safe to say that the other ship is also a Class III vessel. Furthermore, the ship is ejecting gravitons at a rate comparable to the Riyad, which indicates that the ship probably has graviton projectors of similar capacity (and, in turn, comparable speeds). Unfortunately, you can't discern much else with sensors unless the ship gets closer.

Brahim

With the captain's go-ahead, you retrieve a dispenser buoy from one of the armament chambers and get to work. You replace some of the buoy's factory electronics with a transceiver and add extra sensor nodes to the device. Although the transmission range is limited, there will be more than enough time for the buoy to relay sensor data about the other ship before the Riyad moves out of the buoy's range.

The dispenser buoy, now modified with sensors and a transceiver, is launched from the ship. The Riyad continues on course, with the buoy proceeding in the opposite direction. Within the span of an hour, the buoy begins to relay more detailed information about the mystery ship.

The transponder signal identifies that it is, indeed, Al-Lamiya - a Class III "Azuk" Model gunship. Registry number C-11718-0034. Manufactured in the Chelebs Shipyard on Mira. Registered to a Captain Fareed Abaza.

The sensor readings for Al-Lamiya indicate that, although the ship is only slightly larger than the Riyad, it is more heavily armed and armored. Along with accelerator cannons, the ship is equipped with torpedo launchers. The hull also sports thick armanite plating. This is most definitely a combat vessel that one would see in the hands of mercenaries. Although the Riyad is faster and more maneuverable, Al-Lamiya has superior firepower.

Riya narrows her eyes. "A direct confrontation would not be advisable."

The sensor buoy continues to transmit data to the Riyad for another few hours until the feed is suddenly cut. The last bits of data you receive show Al-Lamiya stop to study the buoy... and then nothing.

The remainder of the trip to Jina passes uneventfully. You make a slight course correction to avoid a micro-meteor shower, but otherwise the journey is blissfully quiet. As is typical of the ship's operations, the crew keeps busy with ship duties or personal tasks, and Riya rotates shifts with some of the bridge crew to ensure that everyone gets a chance to eat and sleep before arrival. A few other vessels occasionally appear for a moment on your sensors but most seem to be heading rimward toward Coriolis, which isn't surprising on such a high-traffic spacelane.

Without the usual signifiers of time's passage, such as the day-night cycle of living planetside, traveling through space can often feel strangely bereft of a beginning or end. Hours bleed together, but shift rotations and crew duties help to cement a feeling of regimentation and regularity. Sleeplessness resulting from disruption of the circadian rhythm is also a common problem in outer space, though the Riyad is equipped with special wavelength artificial lighting to help combat this issue. Ultimately, you are all relatively used to the physical and psychological rigors of space travel, so a short intra-system trip like this one is nothing.

By second watch of the following day (mid-afternoon in Coriolis time), Jina and its moon are close enough to see on the Riyad's viewscreen. The planet hangs in the darkness of the void like a pale olive-colored marble. It's smaller than Kua, and although both worlds are distinctly green in color, the shades are very different. Kua is a vibrant kind of emerald green that one would expect to see from a lush jungle planet teeming with biodiversity and plant life. Jina, on the other hand, has a sickly yellowish-green hue that reminds you of vomit. Even at just a glance, the place looks… unhealthy. Its skies are thick like pea soup; the world is shrouded in an opaque acidic miasma of sulfur dioxide that prevents a clear view of the surface. In a few regions of the planet, swirling cloud formations are visible in the upper atmosphere, indicating the presence of powerful meteorological events - most likely hurricane-sized acid storms. Automated weather advisories from Aram's Ravine urge caution when going planetside, and you get the sense that this kind of weather is commonplace for the planet.

Roughly 230,000 miles away from the acid planet is Cala Duriha, Jina's one and only moon. Although gray and forlorn-looking, you know that the moon is the site of several luxury lunar settlements and resorts. The Riyad's sensors detect a myriad of vessels parked in the moon's orbit - several freighters, as well as a number of high-end barges and solar yachts. In contrast to a no-man's land like Jina, Cala Duriha is a popular playground for tourists, especially the wealthy elite of the Consortium and the Hegemony. What few supplies make it to Jina are usually scraps leftover from shipments that couldn't be fully offloaded at Cala Duriha.

You begin the descent to Aram's Ravine.

The Riyad enters Jina's exosphere: its topmost atmospheric layer. This high up, the skies remain relatively clear as there isn't enough moisture to form clouds. The next layer is also fairly clear. It's not till you reach the mesophere that you hit the sulfur dioxide miasma. Visibility through all of the ports and viewscreens rapidly becomes impeded by a sickly yellow-green fog that gets thicker the lower you go. It becomes impossible to see more than thirty feet in any direction using the naked eye, necessitating a reliance on the ship sensors. Tarek and Sani coordinate navigation for the remainder of the descent.

Though Jina's atmosphere has areas of high tumult, the region around Aram's Ravine isn't currently experiencing any adverse weather conditions, so at least that much isn't a problem. The only turbulence that the Riyad encounters is some soft shaking as the ship drops from one thermal layer to the next. Riya, who is displaying her face on several of the bridge monitors, is grimacing profusely as though she's in a state of discomfort. She periodically shoots death-glares at members of the bridge crew.

You descend toward the Lamka Plateau - a major topographic feature in this region of the planet. This massive stretch of highland spans hundred of miles/kilometers and sits adjacent to a sea of salt, rivers of acid, and deserts housing bauxide mines. And situated on the eastern edge of the plateau is the settlement known as Aram's Ravine. The Icon-forsaken community initially becomes visible on the ship's viewscreen as pinpricks of light shining in the distance through the mist. As you descend closer, the lights give way to rectangular bulks in the greenish gloom. More and more buildings start to take shape below you. Not surprisingly, the airspace over Aram's Ravine is free of any aircraft or other space vessels. Almost no one visits the settlement, so air traffic is non-existent. Attempts to contact a flight controller prove to be unsuccessful. Instead, you receive automated messages from the settlement, telling you where and how to land.

The Riyad approaches what appears to be the largest structure in Aram's Ravine: an oval landing platform covered in a patina of cosmetic acid damage. The platform is designed to accommodate ships of Class I to Class III, so the Riyad is in luck. Were the ship any larger, it'd need to remain in orbit and the crew would have to shuttle down to the surface.

Landing struts extended, the Riyad gently touches down on the platform with a soft thud. All around the ship, the reaction control thrusters are roiling the surrounding acid mists. To your dismay, the platform doesn't appear to be automated. Riya informs everyone that someone must put on environmental protection and leave the confines of the ship. There is a control panel on the platform from which the Riyad may be manually lowered into a hangar bay.

Riya shakes her head. "The facilities in this place are atrocious. The systems on this platform seem to be completely outdated, maybe by forty years or more."