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subplotkudzuUSS Carter Ep 11 - Messages from Earth
Starring
Asha: Captain Demy Sakhet, captain of the USS Carter; Dr. Elissa Mark, chief medical officer.
Stephen: Cmdr J. Roger Funk, first officer and in charge of the tactical station; Lt. T'Prin, Vulcan engineer.
Jason: Ambassador Darius Rossad, Betazed envoy to the Federation; Ensign Bernie Liefson, astrogator.
Karen: Chief Petty officer Xian Coy Mahn, security chief; Lt. Fujita Daiki, sensor engineer & starship designer
GM Notes: Once again I have to do emergency work around a player absence - Kris can’t attend, so Dr. Knox & Lt. Cmdr Pelski will be left behind as part of New Spain 's first contact contingent. This actually makes me feel a little better about yanking the Carter away from New Spain , in which the players expressed interest last session, to this new problem. At least the players now know that New Spain is being dealt with.
The subplot goal of the session is romance, which is more difficult without Kris and the Pelski/Raven romance. I'll have to shoehorn in Raven talking to some of the other crew - Dr. Mark , though Darius isn't a bad choice - about her attraction to her supervisor. The important thing is that this be expressed somehow, so that when we get to the episode with the pheromone-exuding Deltans the proper hijinx can ensue. The main plot is the drumbeat to war, both in the Burning Nebula and on the Federation Klingon border.
Synopsis: The Carter picks up a human scientist with a device that should rapidly terraform type of a K class planet. Starfleet is very interested because there are several such planets on the Klingon border that that could be put to use. The Klingons, alas, already have a saboteur on board. The experiments & investigation into accidents are hindered by the scientist's wife being an old flame of Commander Funk.
I have to cover some ground early: reuniting Darius, Liefson and Coy Mahn with the Carter and introducing Dr. Victor Hull, a federation scientist. Leifson will be carrying the Hook with him, a coded message for Captain Sakhet and her ExO. Liefson and the others just came from the USS Yosemite in a shuttle - the Carter's orders were to rendezvous with the Yosemite , but they weren't told why, and now Liefson is delivering the orders: they are to escort Dr. Hugh Greenglass and his staff to the Tolerance system to test his terraforming device, under strictest secrecy. This message is also the first on screen appearance of Sulan, part of the Vulcan Military Intelligence group.
The first Plot Turn comes when the Yosemite arrives and Funk comes face to face with Elizabeth Greenglass, his ex girlfriend. Oops. Hugh turns out to be an overbearing boor with a flare for needless secrecy, designed to irritate the crew. He also insists that the materials for the project be shuttled across rather than transported, wasting time. It should be clear that Hugh is under a lot of stress that this project work and has been ignoring his wife to focus on that - perfect for a for some TOS style relationship problems. I'm really relying on Stephen providing the right air of distraction in Funk.
The first Pinch comes during the shuttling of materials - the Carter is using the Osirus, the Yosemite has the John Muir (the shuttle Liefson and crew arrived in) to move the 'highly sensitive' materials. Unfortunately an osculation in the Muir's warp drive make the shuttle explode! I'm hopeful this will be a tense scene with them trying to save the shuttle and beaming Bernie out at the last second. With the shuttle destroyed, Greenglass will begin puffing about how he can't be held responsible now that some of his equipment was destroyed - and ending up coming across like someone who wants excuses for when his experiment fails.
I'm not sure whether the Carter will beam over the remains of the Muir for analysis or leave it to the Yosemite , but in either event their orders call for them to make haste for Tolerance. (I'd prefer they did it themselves, obviously, to give T'Prin and Fujita something to do). The Midpoint arrives with that analysis: the Muir's destruction wasn't an accident. Someone with access to the shuttle had made a subtle modification to its engines that guaranteed that it would blow up after a certain number of flight hours. Unfortunately, the list of suspects is most of the Yosemite , the Carter's shuttlebay crew, Rossad, the Greenglasses and all of Hugh's staff (three other scientists). I trust the players will realize that the plot demands the saboteur is with them. Cue the investigation! Of course, Funk's judgment love-struck judgment doesn't help.
There's a chance that the PCs might just turn to Darius to resolve the problem - why else have a telepath on the crew - and I need to be ready for that. Specifically, their orders call for maximum confidentiality, which means they aren't even supposed to tell the crew what they're doing, never mind the ambassador. Plus, Funk still doesn't trust him. I'm hoping this is enough to sideline Darius at first while keeping him as a hole card if the PCs get lost in the investigation.
Pinch 2 comes in the course of the investigation, and I'm aiming for an emotional conflict. All of the initial evidence points to Greenglass, who has thrown himself back into his work to recreate the missing equipment. In his monomania he ignores Elizabeth, who turns up at Funk's door, ostensibly to plead her husband's case but partly to have a tirade at Funk and only a small little part of herself wants to end up in her old lover's arms. Everything she says about Hugo's stress and how a failure would cripple Hugo's political backing will naturally paint her husband in the wrong light; playing to the Trek cliché of 'scientist who goes too far and jeopardizes those around him' to improve Hugo's red herring-ness.
I expect that Coy Mahn will be doing the other half of the investigation during these events - one of the galley techs has gone missing, and the internal scanners will show that his life signs are gone from the ship. Coy Mahn and possibly Dr. Mark can trace his remains to the fabrication room, where his body is being broken down by bacteria for biomass later. (I should include something with the tech people about a fluctuation in the bio-mass plant.) No longer just broken gear, there's been a murder, and Hugo (and his staff) had full access to the fabrication plant. What should worry them, however, is the galley,
All of this is Plot Turn 2 as Mr. Grey, one of Greenglass' techs and very much in the background, is the real threat and he has spiked the galley with neurotoxin that will debilitate most humans and prove fatal to those who have certain chemicals in the bloodstream - the ones Hugo's experiment uses, of course. Hopefully the PCs will figure this out before too many people get sick, but it's a near certainty that Hugo, at least, will be laid low. This gives Dr. Mark something to do and a further tearful moment with Funk & Elizabeth.
This brings us to the Resolution. The PCs now know that there is a real threat on board and it's not Hugo (unless he's really desperate to maintain his rep!) which means it has to be someone else. Pure deductive logic will help them here: it's probably not a Carter crewman; they have to have had access to the Muir's engines; finally, the neurotoxin would have been detected if it had been beamed aboard (something I expect them to ask) and Hugo's project was scanned, so it must have been smuggled in by someone who didn't beam over. That cuts the list to Dr. Hull and Mr. Grey. I expect them to leap at Dr. Hull since he'd been introduced first, and then to have a Red October "it's the bloody cook!" moment when it turns out to be Grey.
How they handle things from this point is, as always, up to them. Grey is a savvy opponent. They might ID him and lead him to a trap by not tipping their hand, but if he suspects anything he'll disappear into the Jefferies tubes and make his way to Hugo's lab to destroy the rest of the project; if that's too highly guarded he'll head to engineering to destroy the ship. He's also not tagged by the ship's medical computer, so they can't quickly find him with the internal sensors. He's only armed with a knife but he's strong and, being a Klingon, is very resistant to stun effects.
Once Grey is disabled & Hugo's recovered he'll perform the experiment and it will be partially successful. For all his stress levels Greenglass is a scientist and will take the failure in stride, making notes on how he can improve the process. Now that his project monomania has subsided, will become a much more amiable soul and be properly thankful to the Carter and his wife.
So why is this Messages from Earth? Sub-plots.
Fujita's official paperwork will come in from Star Fleet, and we'll get to see him be promoted from Lt. JG to full Lt. The Yosemite will also be carrying along an old package for him (since that was his old assignment), his mother's watercolor of one of his grandfather's ships.
Chief Engineer Fraiser receives an invitation from a ship building company to join their experimental design arm; given his health problems (from the Lysestrata virus) he feels he has to take it, and informs Captain Sakhet of his eminent departure and plans to groom Fujita as his replacement.
Bernie gets back to find a message from his academy band back on Earth, begging him to lay down some vocals to the last track on their new album. Dr. Mark comes upon him as he does so, rekindling Bernie's infatuation with Elissa and setting things up for the song and dance episode.
Dr. Raven will get a message from one of her exes, and that becomes the impetus for her to natter about men - and Cmdr Pelski - to Elissa (I see them having some girl talk potential) or Darius if Jason looks bored. Again, this is to establish things for later. We'll see how all of this plays out.
USS Carter Ep 11 - Messages from Earth
Starring
Asha: Captain Demy Sakhet, captain of the USS Carter; Dr. Elissa Mark, chief medical officer.
Stephen: Cmdr J. Roger Funk, first officer and in charge of the tactical station; Lt. T'Prin, Vulcan engineer.
Jason: Ambassador Darius Rossad, Betazed envoy to the Federation; Ensign Bernie Liefson, astrogator.
Karen: Chief Petty officer Xian Coy Mahn, security chief; Lt. Fujita Daiki, sensor engineer & starship designer
GM Notes: Once again I have to do emergency work around a player absence - Kris can’t attend, so Dr. Knox & Lt. Cmdr Pelski will be left behind as part of
The subplot goal of the session is romance, which is more difficult without Kris and the Pelski/Raven romance. I'll have to shoehorn in Raven talking to some of the other crew - Dr. Mark , though Darius isn't a bad choice - about her attraction to her supervisor. The important thing is that this be expressed somehow, so that when we get to the episode with the pheromone-exuding Deltans the proper hijinx can ensue. The main plot is the drumbeat to war, both in the Burning Nebula and on the Federation Klingon border.
Synopsis: The Carter picks up a human scientist with a device that should rapidly terraform type of a K class planet. Starfleet is very interested because there are several such planets on the Klingon border that that could be put to use. The Klingons, alas, already have a saboteur on board. The experiments & investigation into accidents are hindered by the scientist's wife being an old flame of Commander Funk.
I have to cover some ground early: reuniting Darius, Liefson and Coy Mahn with the Carter and introducing Dr. Victor Hull, a federation scientist. Leifson will be carrying the Hook with him, a coded message for Captain Sakhet and her ExO. Liefson and the others just came from the USS Yosemite in a shuttle - the Carter's orders were to rendezvous with the
The first Plot Turn comes when the
The first Pinch comes during the shuttling of materials - the Carter is using the Osirus, the
I'm not sure whether the Carter will beam over the remains of the Muir for analysis or leave it to the
There's a chance that the PCs might just turn to Darius to resolve the problem - why else have a telepath on the crew - and I need to be ready for that. Specifically, their orders call for maximum confidentiality, which means they aren't even supposed to tell the crew what they're doing, never mind the ambassador. Plus, Funk still doesn't trust him. I'm hoping this is enough to sideline Darius at first while keeping him as a hole card if the PCs get lost in the investigation.
Pinch 2 comes in the course of the investigation, and I'm aiming for an emotional conflict. All of the initial evidence points to Greenglass, who has thrown himself back into his work to recreate the missing equipment. In his monomania he ignores Elizabeth, who turns up at Funk's door, ostensibly to plead her husband's case but partly to have a tirade at Funk and only a small little part of herself wants to end up in her old lover's arms. Everything she says about Hugo's stress and how a failure would cripple Hugo's political backing will naturally paint her husband in the wrong light; playing to the Trek cliché of 'scientist who goes too far and jeopardizes those around him' to improve Hugo's red herring-ness.
I expect that Coy Mahn will be doing the other half of the investigation during these events - one of the galley techs has gone missing, and the internal scanners will show that his life signs are gone from the ship. Coy Mahn and possibly Dr. Mark can trace his remains to the fabrication room, where his body is being broken down by bacteria for biomass later. (I should include something with the tech people about a fluctuation in the bio-mass plant.) No longer just broken gear, there's been a murder, and Hugo (and his staff) had full access to the fabrication plant. What should worry them, however, is the galley,
All of this is Plot Turn 2 as Mr. Grey, one of Greenglass' techs and very much in the background, is the real threat and he has spiked the galley with neurotoxin that will debilitate most humans and prove fatal to those who have certain chemicals in the bloodstream - the ones Hugo's experiment uses, of course. Hopefully the PCs will figure this out before too many people get sick, but it's a near certainty that Hugo, at least, will be laid low. This gives Dr. Mark something to do and a further tearful moment with Funk & Elizabeth.
This brings us to the Resolution. The PCs now know that there is a real threat on board and it's not Hugo (unless he's really desperate to maintain his rep!) which means it has to be someone else. Pure deductive logic will help them here: it's probably not a Carter crewman; they have to have had access to the Muir's engines; finally, the neurotoxin would have been detected if it had been beamed aboard (something I expect them to ask) and Hugo's project was scanned, so it must have been smuggled in by someone who didn't beam over. That cuts the list to Dr. Hull and Mr. Grey. I expect them to leap at Dr. Hull since he'd been introduced first, and then to have a Red October "it's the bloody cook!" moment when it turns out to be Grey.
How they handle things from this point is, as always, up to them. Grey is a savvy opponent. They might ID him and lead him to a trap by not tipping their hand, but if he suspects anything he'll disappear into the Jefferies tubes and make his way to Hugo's lab to destroy the rest of the project; if that's too highly guarded he'll head to engineering to destroy the ship. He's also not tagged by the ship's medical computer, so they can't quickly find him with the internal sensors. He's only armed with a knife but he's strong and, being a Klingon, is very resistant to stun effects.
Once Grey is disabled & Hugo's recovered he'll perform the experiment and it will be partially successful. For all his stress levels Greenglass is a scientist and will take the failure in stride, making notes on how he can improve the process. Now that his project monomania has subsided, will become a much more amiable soul and be properly thankful to the Carter and his wife.
So why is this Messages from Earth? Sub-plots.
Fujita's official paperwork will come in from Star Fleet, and we'll get to see him be promoted from Lt. JG to full Lt. The Yosemite will also be carrying along an old package for him (since that was his old assignment), his mother's watercolor of one of his grandfather's ships.
Chief Engineer Fraiser receives an invitation from a ship building company to join their experimental design arm; given his health problems (from the Lysestrata virus) he feels he has to take it, and informs Captain Sakhet of his eminent departure and plans to groom Fujita as his replacement.
Bernie gets back to find a message from his academy band back on Earth, begging him to lay down some vocals to the last track on their new album. Dr. Mark comes upon him as he does so, rekindling Bernie's infatuation with Elissa and setting things up for the song and dance episode.
Dr. Raven will get a message from one of her exes, and that becomes the impetus for her to natter about men - and Cmdr Pelski - to Elissa (I see them having some girl talk potential) or Darius if Jason looks bored. Again, this is to establish things for later. We'll see how all of this plays out.
