Emergency lighting washes the galley in red as the Wayward Star coasts on reduced systems. Serai remains wrapped in a thermal blanket near the bulkhead, while the sealed cargo hold ticks softly through the hull.
At the repair console, incomplete records crawl across the display: unfamiliar life-support symbols, intermittent temperature data, and a final entry terminated mid-sequence.
Serai
Your ship is damaged because of me. I am sorry. I did not know the container would draw from your systems.
The console abruptly highlights a fragment of the container’s power signature, matching a faint signal still buried beneath the Wayward Star’s navigation noise.
Serai
That pattern should not be present. If it is transmitting, someone may already know I survived.
Serai
He has not handed me over. That makes him dangerous in ways I do not yet understand.
Beyond the forward ports, the trade station remains hours away. The ship’s systems wait in strained silence, and the damaged hold stays locked behind its smoking access panel.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Serai to explain the power signature
✓ Quest Accepted
Keep Serai hidden from whoever detected the power signature
“Damon stops working for a moment and looks over at Serai. “Back up. You recognize that signal.” He turns the console display toward her, keeping the power-signature fragment visible. “You just told me somebody may know you survived. That's a considerably bigger problem than finding an unregistered passenger in my cargo hold.” Damon returns to the console, attempting to isolate the faint signal from the Wayward Star's navigation systems without transmitting anything back. “So let's start simple. What is that signal, Serai—and who were you expecting it to reach?””
SUCCESS (Superb Engineering, rolled -2)
Damon Ryder
Back up. You recognize that signal.
Damon turns the console toward Serai, keeping the power-signature fragment visible. Red emergency light glints across the unfamiliar symbols.
Damon Ryder
You just told me somebody may know you survived. That's a considerably bigger problem than finding an unregistered passenger in my cargo hold.
Damon Ryder
So let's start simple. What is that signal, Serai, and who were you expecting it to reach?
He returns to the controls and isolates the fragment from navigation traffic without transmitting. The filter consumes the last reserve charge in the console, leaving the display dark around one pulsing trace.
Serai
It is a locator handshake, keyed to the people who placed me in your hold. They were not rescuers. They were moving me before the others found me.
Serai
The signal was meant to reach an interception vessel. If it has not received my absence, then whoever sent it will search the route to this station.
Quest Complete
Get Serai to explain the power signature
“Damon stares at the dead console for a moment, then exhales and leans back. “Okay. So somebody put you on my ship, somebody else was looking for you, and an interception vessel that was supposed to find you may eventually realize you're missing.” He looks toward the station outside the viewport. “That's one hell of a cargo manifest discrepancy.” His expression softens slightly as he looks back at Serai. “I'm not asking you to tell me your life story. But before I fly us directly toward the place they'll eventually start looking, I need to know what I'm walking into.” Damon pulls over a chair rather than looming over her. “Who are ‘the others’? And why were you running from them?””
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +2)
Damon Ryder
Okay. Somebody put you on my ship, somebody else was looking for you, and an interception vessel may realize you're missing.
Damon Ryder
That's one hell of a cargo manifest discrepancy. Before I fly us toward where they'll look, I need to know what I'm walking into.
Damon Ryder
Who are “the others”? And why were you running from them?
Damon pulls a chair across the galley and sits rather than looming over her. Beyond the viewport, the trade station’s lights drift slowly closer through the dark.
Serai
The others are the Veyr Directorate. They control the vessel that carried me, and they wanted what my people know, not merely my location.
Serai
I fled because they were taking me to a containment site. They called it protection, but no one leaves those sites by choice. I escaped only when someone inside helped me.
Serai
The people who placed me in your hold were opposing the Directorate, but they used your ship without permission. If the Directorate finds me, they will seize the Wayward Star and question you first.
Quest Complete
Discover why the unknown occupant was hidden aboard
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Good→Great