Chapter 1: Five pair of fists and a pair of clamps

Dani just smiles at Dotty. "We're all a little damaged and a little dangerous in our own way." She pauses as Stitches gives his offer. "We won't blow up for a while, and nothing will probably fall off that counts. Not quite done going over this beat up old wounded bird, but its better than some I've seen!"

Dotty offers up a weak smile to Dani, "If you say so, I just hopes you ain't dangerous the way I'm dangerous. Cuz that'd be a shame."

"Can we do somethin' about the holes in the hull? I don't imagine they's doin' us many favors. You figure that out doll and I'll have a chat with the skipper," Dorothea winks again, "see if we can't do somethin' about this empty cargo hold, ain't nothin' in that agreement says we can't turn a credit on this trip."

Dorothea heads towards the bridge where she finds Adonis and Raven.

"Raven, Skipper." She flops down in on of the spare chairs unceremoniously.

"Dani took a look at the satellite and figures we’re stealing a planet, I dunno what she sees but I see a piece of hardware that’s definitely stolen. I also see an empty cargo hold waiting to be filled with, opportunities."

Raven flips through the book and reognizes the language of the Vizaar. She can nearly perfectly read the booklet. Seems like the language courses she took payed off.
It's one of those short novels that you can buy at the bookstores in the waiting areas of spaceports.
It's a tale about a group of prospectors who find some sort of artifact on an uninhabited planet and are then pursued by a reckless crime boss who wants the artifact for himself.
Whoever read this book seems to have an artistic streak. On some pages there are drawings of the scenes that are described at this page.
There is a passage in the booklet where the characters discuss that on one side the finding of this artifact is absolutely great and on the other side they are really terrified by the crime boss that is following them. There is a drawing of a sad Vizaar besides and underneath stands a comment
I feel so too...

Until now you all have discovered:
-There is a rubber boat in the first deck and eight pieces of enviro-suits in the second. In the cargo bay are enough supplies for the flight.
-The hull is patched at some places and as a result some rooms are not vacuum-tight
-The relay satellite is in fact a probably stolen survey satellite that has retroactivly fitted with a hyperroom communications module
-The previous crew probably consisted of Vizaar. The climate controls, the figurine and the booklet hint at this
-Besides from the patched hull the ship seems to be in order
-Everything except the sensor module is in a condition that you'd expect from a ship like this. The sensor is quite extraordinary for a freighter.

You can fly off, explore the ship a little longer or look for something to load into the cargo bay. It's completely up to you.

Adonis believes it's time for a team meeting and since the ship isn't all that big he shouts instead of trying to figure out the communications suite. "Hey everybody. Let's get together in the common room as soon as you can get there." He takes the few steps needed to get from the hall outside the captain's cabin to the common room.

Dani does the very best she can.. aluminum foil wrapped in plastic with hull rated duct tape. It's not a serious attempt at a repair so much as a bandaid for the crew's benefit. She arrives for the meeting munching on a not-at-all-sunflower-seed-flavoured-no-matter-what-the-label-says protein bar.

Dotty sits down on a small table on the far side of the room away from the others, she digs through a pocket and pulls out a cube of bubble gum, sticks it in her mouth and starts to chew.

Derek comes into the room and takes the nearest seat to him. He leans back and takes a look around the room.

Raven leans against the far wall, looking at the book.

"OK team, I think it's time we decide what to do. I was able to figure out the environmental controls so we're all a little more comfortable. But you all found out some other things that we should probably all know about before a team decision can be reached. What is there about this job that doesn't smell right?"

Dani pipes up, "Our replacement comsat is really a replacement comsat shell with a full on military grade planetary survey packet and power plant stitched in by someone with real shine who did a seriously gloss job."

"Does that mean it has serious military applications? Like spying or is it more for geological survey work? If it's seriously military, I would guess the former. What is on that world that needs to be spied on?" Adonis looks around the table for any guesses.

Hearing Dani's words snaps Raven to attention. "That meshes with what I've seen. This boat has a really advanced sensor array. A lot of time and money was put into it while the comms system is bog standard."

"The satellite's is definitely hot, which meshes with the mods, Astrid says Eddies a spook, or a part of the Kelpt, he's like the local fixer." Dotty shrugs and blows a bubble with her gum which snaps loudly when it pops, "Either way, the mayor, governor whoever they're the guy you complain to when there's a problem, Eddie's the guy you go to to get the problem fixed."

"Somebody shot the shit out of this ship last time it was out so I'm guessin Eddies fixes ain't quite so milk run as he might be sayin'."

So it seems that we are the second group to try to do this job. That means we are probably going to find trouble. I had a couple of suggestions but I think they maybe more important than I first thought.

First, the medical equipment onboard is about what I expected and will work out. Still I don't want to leave something to chance.This is completely optional but I would like to get a medical exam on each person. Nothing major but knowing blood types, allegories any conditions one may have means time I don't need to take if someone gets injured. Less time means more likely of better treatment or in life saving instances possibly the difference between life and death.

Second, depending on how much time we have I would like to see if we can find the locator beacon that was put on the ship. It will probably be in a place we cannot get to once we are in vacuum. If we could install a kill switch on it so if we need to make it go away we can.

Third and it won't mean much if we get into combat but putting some sealant on the areas that will be exposed to vacuum as an additional precaution and keep any leaks from happening might be advisable. That will mean that once they are sealed off no one goes into them unless they want to reseal the section.

"So ah, that medical discussion," Dorothea says, "I gots a couple issues, some are more serious for me than others."

"The important one for yous all is that I am, well I'm toxic," She smiles at Dani and lets out a breath, "I wasn't kiddin' sweet pea. When Anika had my eyes redone they had to reskin me. The mook what took my eyes he did some other stuff to me as a very visible warning to others not to mess with his property."

Dotty pulls her hoodie off, her gloves run all the way up to her elbows so that only a thin sliver of skin visible between the top of the gloves and her t-shirt sleeves. She pulls one of her gloves off revealing eerily perfect white skin, she runs a finger gently across the screen of her phone and leaves a faint mark. "If I'm careful it's okay but," she presses the screen firmly and leaves a small smear of oily liquid, "to hard and I ... well like I says, I'm toxic. Look I don't think it can kill you but I seen it paralyze a couple guys so I'd rather not find out."

She looks at Stitches again, "The other stuff's personal, I'll tell yous later alright?"

"You think we can patch those holes in the hull before we go Dani?"

"I can check into cargo if you're interested in doing a little side business."

Dani nods gravely, and then smiles. "Still worth the hug." She considers. "We could fix the hull. With a lot of sheen and a lot of time. We could seal the doors cheap and dirty. Or we could get some VacFoam sealant... I think a palatte of drums would do... and make them into bulkheads... None of which are guaranteed to work long term. This boat needs a refit."

If the crew agrees with Derek's proposal of a medical check-up all medicine rolls that Derek does when treating you have a +2 bonus.