How Hard Could This Be?

L.C., Bronz and Kayla inspect the 'truck' while the smiling agent hovers. Its an old model with ancient (way beyond mere "retro") style. But its clean, practically sparkling. And passes every functional and safety check. "It's good to go" says the agent. "We clean 'em after every use and they get monthly maintenance. This baby will do your job for you..., and you'll have fun with it, too!"

Kayla jumps behind the controls (unless someone else beats her to it). "Yeah, this will be fun. Haven't flown one of these in a while, but I used to all the time.... (And she goes on a charming and entertaining story-telling spree that ends with the agent waiving the need to present credentials or watch the long and boring instructional tri-vid.)

Its a short way beck to the MISS FORTUNE and its no great task to load the 1 dTon of "medical supplies" by hand. Gravity is around 6/10 G, and the mass of the crates is relatively low. So getting them off the ship and secured in the 'truck' takes only a quarter hour or so.

Kayla lets the 'truck' self-guide on the nav-system's selected route skirting the edges of the giant arcology of Port-au-Prince. There's quite a lot of grav traffic, but managed by the traffic computers it doesn't seem to impede progress. The rain doesn't let up and at times gets really strong, coming down in sheets. Enough to impede visibility, but using the Nav-guide it doesn't seem to matter. The 'truck' does a steady 60kph through the more congested areas and hits 70 as they pass into more suburban and agricultural zones.

The Nav-guide shows hilly terrain to the north, and you already know that its pretty wild rain-forest between the last of the Ag-Lands and the Santanocheev estate. You've been told that the main compound; "Castle Santanocheev", is on an island in the middle of a large lake. But whether you'll end up going there or to another location you don't know. Yet.

When you pass into the jungle covered hills the Nav Guide drops out, and Kayla follows the directions provided. Should be an hour, maybe an hour and a quarter until you reach Santanocheev lands.

Then the comms suddenly drop off. What? Is something wrong with the old truck's electronics? Or the radio? Or....

LC fudges around with the built-in comm-unit; an old radio type. It's clear its getting power and its indicators seem to show its working just fine. LC's concern that they might be getting "jammed" has some verification...

Getting his personal comm unit to connect via satellite is trickier. He gets an uplink, starts to transmit, and then the commplink 'breaks'. Something very not right with that!

The movement behind quickly resolves into a grav-car, a "speeder" as some call them. Moving at almost reckless velocity on a direct intercept course with the grav-truck.

It's at near tree-top level, with the 'truck' higher (in a standard safe-altitude a hundred meters or more above the highest trees of the hilly jungle below).

Despite Kayla's inexpert attempt to jink and jump, the higher-performance 'speeder' does a close pass, only 10 or 12 meters away, climbing by and buffeting the 'truck' in its turbulance. Then doing a high-G "racing turn", dropping below once more and coming in behind...

The driver of the speeder barely avoids colliding with the truck and rockets past. The thin atmosphere is thickened with moisture, the rain still coming down like gangbusters, and water sloshes against the truck's windscreen as it bucks in the air-wash of the close passage.

The 'speeder' starts making S turns in front of the truck, slowing, allowing the truck to catch up...

The rain comes down even harder; sheets of it. The speeder continues making S turns in front, but then its velocity drops off and it loses altitude...

Kayla makes a 45-degree climbing turn and the speeder is almost immediately lost to view.

BUT, the jamming continues and comms remain down. Even the planetary Navigation system fails to connect.

You do have inertial navigation, so can at least generally resume your previoius course. Unless otherwise instructed Kayla does her best to put the 'truck' back towards Santanocheev lands.

Kayla continues to fly the 'truck' at a safe altitude. Now in a straight course towards to border of the Santanocheev lands.

The jamming suddenly stops. Within seconds the comms lights up with a priority call:

"Grav Vehicle (insert serial number here), you have entered a restricted area. This is Lieutenant Pournaldi of the 3177th Lancers, Santanocheev's Own.

"Are you making a delivery from the Trader "Miss Fortune"? Please identify yourselves. We have detected unusual EM emissions from this sector. Are you all right? Is the cargo intact?"

The rain continues to come down in buckets, and Bronz's attempt to get 'visual' on the hostile 'Speeder' comes up empty.

With the jamming stopped, the Grav-Truck's short-range sensors don't show anything behind either.

While Kayla grips the steering control with almost white-knuckle intensity, LC is on comm with a "Lieutenant Pournaldi" of the 3177th Lancers.

While LC describes the hostile encounter, Lt. Pournaldi responds: "Unexpected! Well, we'll try to get to the bottom of this. Wait one!"

A couple of minutes pass. Then a big armored grav-car, a Recon vehicle, comes into view off the front port quarter, (10-o'clock). "Please fall in behind the Scout Car, Mister Rains. We will lead you to a secure facility where you may transfer your cargo to the Santanocheev Medical Department.

Two more Scout Cars scream by overhead, leaving vapor trails through the rain, headed along the Grav-Truck's back-route.

On comm, Lt. Pournaldi says. "We're back-tracking. Technically out of our jurisdiction, but, well, this is a potential problem for us now, isn't it?

"If you have any information to help us, please inform us now. Thank you."

Kayla doesn't say anything, but steers in behind Lt Pournaldi's Scout Car. The pair of vehicles plow on ahead through the rain.

Then comms light up again. Grav Truck and personal devices. It's on Miss Fortune's frequency. It's THARROK... He's in the ship's air-raft, preparing to depart for a 'rescue mission'.....

The rain continues to pelt down, but Kayla stays close behind the armored Scout Car. Lt Pournaldi has his vehicle gradually descend, a course theat Kayla mimics closely. After a short time instruments show that they've reached a shoreline; probably the big lake where Castle Santanocheev is located. But Pournaldi's car doesn't head out over open water but hugs the shoreline.

"We are coming up on a landing ground. Please continue to follow."

The Scout Car turns into a narrow bay staying close to the water. At the end of the bay there is a clearing where a half dozen armored grav-vehicles sit in revetments. The Scout Car lands close by the jungle-vegetation about as far from the lake as can be found. Kayla lands a few meters to one side of the car...

Soldiers in full kit, including laser-carbines, exit the 'car' and move towards the rented Grav-Truck. Not in a menacing or even particularly military fashion, but purposefully.

"We wish you to proceed into the hangar ahead, please. At walking pace."

The "jungle" ahead starts to 'open', and in a moment its seen that behind the excellent camouflage is a large opening and a ramp leading gradually downwards. Dim greenish lights on the 'deck' of the hangar flash in sequence; a clear guide to follow.

"You will loose your comm-links once the door closes behind you. Please inform your ship that you will be all right."