[TML] Space Piracy (was: Scientific realism)

[Richard Aiken]

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 8:48 PM, Tommy Grav <tgrav at mac.com> wrote:
>
> On Jun 8, 2008, at 8:28 PM, Jerry W Barrington wrote:
>> Seems if it has a legitimate registry, the country of origin could
>> easily
>> make the proper owner pay for having it hauled away and scrapped.
>> Unless
>> these people are in the habit of scuttling ships.  Harder to do in
>> space,
>> but I suppose you could drop it into a gas giant.  :)
>
> Actually this happens all the time. There is a business going on where
> crews are hired specifically to take ships to be mothballed to the
> shores
> of India and Bangladesh

Yes.  Those are the reputable companies, which are able to remain in
business and are getting rid of their old ships in a legal manner.
But lots of the small shipping firms simply fold and then vanish
without trace, leaving "their" crews stranded in foreign ports without
warning.  Eventually - I suppose - the government concerned arranges
to dispose of the ship "properly."

This inspires me with an idea for how to give a party with no ship a
chance at one, if they can work it just right . . .

Adventure Seed: One of the PCs owned a chunk of stock in a minor
shipping corporation that went bankrupt a few months back.  He figured
he was simply out his investment.  But then he receives notice from an
Imperial admiralty court that the bankruptcy proceedings have awarded
him title to a Free Trader formerly owned by said corporation.
Yippeeee!

Now all he and his friends have to do is travel to the poor rim world
where's it's currently docked and claim it.  But when they arrive,
they discover that it's a derelict.  It apparently landed badly on a
deserted lot - near but not in the minimal downport - where it still
lies canted on it's side, airlocks gaping.  It seems there used to be
a house on the lot and one of the landing legs came down in the
cellar.

Over the months since the incident, the abandoned ship has become home
to a host of vagrants.  These must be "relocated" before the poor PCs
can even begin to assess the condition of the ship.  They find a
laundry list of problems - largely matters which can be traced to a
very long period of duct-tape-and-baling-wire maintenance - but none
of them are serious enough to prevent lift-off.  If they can just get
the ship righted, load some fuel - the tanks are bone dry - and get
clearance, they'll be fine.

Of course, when the party seeks clearance, they find that there's a
large backlog of fines and fees and service charges, all topped off
with a most of a year's worth of late penalties.  And just what did
happen to the ship's original crew, anyway?  The feckless corporation
that abandoned it here seems unlikely to have sprung for their passage
off-world.  Maybe some of the "vagrants" were former crew members,
rendered mad and mute by their experiences?  Are those whispers from
the ventilation shafts, deep in the night, the mad ravings of a driven
survivor, Hell-bent on revenge against the people he thinks The Damn
Company finally sent to reclaim their ship?

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident." Robert A. Heinlein