From:
Com ID: J88-Purgatory, Captain Nikolai Dmitri
Location: Arecibo Base, Puerto Rico System
To:
Com ID: Arbiter Jack Crow
Location: Rochester Base, New York System
cc:
ComID: Captain James Trenton
ComID: Director of Liberty Operations, Amy Carmichael
Location: Rochester Base, New York System
Arbiter Crow:
I write to you with a profile, a tale, a benefaction, and a proposition.
THE PROFILE
My name is Captain Nikolai Dmitri. I am 68 standard years old, and most recently a man in the position of a salvager/reclaimer. Years past however, i've worn many other hats - a Libertonian Diplomatic Envoy to Kusari, an owner of several (modestly successful) manufacturing enterprises, a freighter/transport captain, and even an escort/militiaman for several small corporate interests. I am rated in flying nearly every civilian ship there is in space today, be it fighter, freighter, transport, liner, or piece of junk.
There's no family to speak of any longer, my tenure as a diplomat and family-man ended simultaneously when a joint Farmer's Alliance/Hogosha attack damaged the transport vessel carrying my family in Kusarian space. Some passengers survived, some didn't. Motions were filed, complaints were voiced, and even some guns were fired. I finally decided to myself that diplomacy can take matters only so far, and my reasons for serving the role of diplomat were now frozen and endlessly adrift somewhere in Kusai space. I resigned my position immediately, and on sober days, even freelanced for a while - which gave me an opportunity to hinder/kill Hogosha and FA agents on more than a few occasions.
As I grew older, my fighter reflexes began to wane, and I had more than a little wanderlust in my veins. I gave up the lighter ships in favor of freighters - keeping a small, trusted crew and running (smuggling) anything that paid a premium. On multiple occasions, I contracted with one Amy Carmichael, who was the first Junker Congress member i'd ever met in person. I like to think she was happy with my performance - if she wasn't, i'd imagine we wouldn't have done business more than once in Liberty. I eventually earned the right to carry a Junker ID, which I still maintain today.
In between runs, my crew and I would explore remote asteroid fields, debris regions, and ice clouds, searching for salvage and resources whenever possible. On one such forray deep into Omega-41, we picked up large metallic readings in a largely non-metallic asteroid field...
THE TALE
We set course for the anomaly, which took us several hundred kilometers down the z-axis and deeper into the field. The readings were definitely non-naturally occuring, alloys in particular. Similar to ship construction. We were all excited and anxious at the thought of what possible treasure awaited us in this long-forgotton area of space.
Our freighter closed in on the origin of the readings, and we caught our first glimpse of the prize:
No mistaking it, this was a Pilgrim class liner - an old one.
She was heavily damaged; all decks were decompressed, the air-tight glazing panels were all blown out, there were gaping holes in her hull, and worst - the entire engineering deck had been smashed in from the impact of a nearby asteroid (which was still lodged in her aft section)...
We were stunned, no one said a word for what seemed a very long time. While this was certainly the most valuable find we'd ever encountered, no one had immediate ideas on what to do with a salvage operation this massive.
We decided first to investigate her decks, and determine what, if any, cargo remained and if the log systems were still intact. The crew and I suited up, and transfered via personal shuttles over to the hulk. We investigated her cargo sections first, which was easy enough thanks to the gigantic holes in her port side. Amongst the debris, flotsam, asteroids, and other material that had collected in her holds over the years, we were able to find several very surprising caches. I had no idea what this ship's purpose or route was yet, but once we found silver bars, platinum bars, and diamonds - we knew this wasn't some innocent water transport.
While my crew were now avidly searching cargo all decks for other valuables, I made my way into the personnel section to see about the bridge and captain's quarters.
What greeted me, was a scare enough to shave years off my life. Upon manually opening the bulkhead, I was face-to-face with the freeze-dried corpse of one crew member. It happens in space sometimes, when the pressure change isn't so abrupt as to turn one's insides out. Sometimes, it's just slow enough to keep you mostly intact, and with the very expression you had upon expiration. Seeing death and even corpses wasn't new to me, but the fact that this corpse was chained from the ceiling conduits and sported several metal rods through his torso - told me someone wanted this guy dead in a big way. Someone took the time to chain him up, and skewer him a few times while he thought about his imminent demise. It was enough to chill my blood, and I drew my sidearm - purely as an involuntary personal comfort measure, seeing as how I knew rationally that nothing had been alive in this ship for decades.
I informed my crew of the situation, and we all proceeded to explore the personnel decks together. We saw more evidence of foul play - and several more corpses. Or rather, pieces of corpses in most cases... there was overwhelming evidence here of murderous intent.
We finally reached the captain's quarters, and found them ransacked and deserted. No log recorder, no clues, no captain. Our last stop was the bridge, which we found sealed off. I guess sealed off is too gentile a term - welded shut would be more appropriate. Someone had sealed the bridge off from the outside, which completely baffled us. We used a nearby airlock to exit the ship, and circled around the exterior of the vessel to access the bridge directly through a blown-out glazing panel.
We found no evidence of the captain or anyone else on the bridge. We did fid the log recorder however, and brought it back to our freighter for review - and to plan our next move.
Before we left, my first mate pointed out the ship plaque set at the base of the captian's chair - the plaque identified our nearly two-century old mystery ship: TTR-1125 PURGATORY, Keel laid 627 A.S.
We all decided that reclaiming the ship was worth the time and money investment, as we were all veteran engineers and mechanics as well as salvage-junkies who just plain liked the idea of finding a hulk and restoring her to active service (for ourselves, of course).
The plan was to continue working our normal routes on a very minor schedule, to keep up appearances. All of our spare time however, was spent ferrying materials back to the hulk and enacting repairs. Progress was slow, but steady. Removing the asteroid from her aft section proved the hardest part, but in the end, it wasn't anything some mining explosives and reinforced tow cables couldn't fix.
Once we sealed her hull and replaced all the glazing, work became more ominous. We hadn't talked much about the former crew, especially since we were mostly working on the exterior of the ship. However, once we sealed her up and began retrofitting the interior - we were again confronted with the terrible fate that had befallen this crew. We found five intact corpses, and remains from up to ten others. We sealed them up in suspension containers, to preserve them in their current state.
We found traces of small arms fire, sabotaged life-support systems, chemical fires, and other damage to the ship I couldn't identify the source of. I finally decided it was time to review the logs - it couldn't be ignored or put-off any longer.
I suppose it's a good thing we made it as far as we did on repairs those first two years, because had I reviewed the logs before we started - we might not have come near that ship ever again.
What little we could recover from the data cells in the recorder are made available here for your own review and judgement.
My thoughts were torn at this point; scrub the repairs and waste the investment, or complete the Purgatory's refitting despite her history? I put it to a vote with my crew, as it was their right to decide for themselves whether or not to stay. In the end, we all unanimously decided to push on with the repairs, and make a new life for ourselves aboard this ill-fated vessel.
Six years it took, and nearly fifty million of our own credits. But engineers can be tenacious, and salvagers even more so. Her new power core went live almost a month ago, and she made her first jump about a week after. She's been through her shakedowns, and seems as spaceworthy as any other reclaimed ship in the sector. Even her original transponder IFF still reads as a Junker vessel.
So here we are in Puerto Rico, Arbiter Crow, bearing cargo that belongs to the Junkers...
THE BENEFACTION
As salvagers, freelancers, engineers, mechanics, and hard-working people ourselves, we respect our own. Junkers are our own, whether they're "official" or not. We're loyal to our brothers and sisters, and we're here to see proper delivery of cargo and crew long overdue.
We, the current crew, present without cost or owe, the corpses and remains of Junker Vessel J88-Purgatory to the Junker Congress for proper final arrangements.
We, the current crew, present without cost or owe, the entire salvaged cargo and log recorder of Junker Vessel J88-Purgatory to the Junker Congress for use in whatever way the Congress deems appropriate.
THE PROPOSITION
Ahh, the ship. I know you're thinking - what of the vessel itself?
It comes to this, Arbiter. We are willing to return the ship in a manner of speaking - that is to say, we want in.
Myself, and my crew, wish to be considered for membership in the Junkers Congress. We bring vast experience in engineering, mechanics, salvaging, repairing, metallurgy, trading, smuggling, ship design, and I personally bring an extensive background in diplomcay and arbitration - a game i'd like to pick up again in the future.
I have spoken with Director Amy Carmichael, and she has agreed to sponsor my application to the Congress.
We've decided to try for something larger than our own ship, our own crew, our solo lives up until now.
If a handfull of unofficial Junkers can work a miracle like we did, I can only imagine what an organized Congress can accomplish.
However, should you for one reason or another decide not to grant us membership at this time, I want to be clear that the Purgatory will remain under my command. She is mine, Arbiter. I claim discovery and salvage rights to her, and will continue to use her as I see fit.
Quite a load on your mind i'm sure - and for that I apologize.
Be that as it may, we will remain on furlow and docked in Arecibo until a Congress representative and freighter come to meet us and claim the remains/cargo. We would hope to be made aware of our application status at the same time, but realize deliberations such as this can take days.
Should you have further questions, you can reach me via this channel, or intra-neural SKYPE channels at ComID: zhen_rogue .