A short time later, it seems, the Steve Jobs is docking at the Amalda station back in the star system of Alpha Centauri. Amalda2 is there to greet you. "I missed you, Zanax," she says. Zanax sighs. "I missed you, too, Amalda2. It seems my mission was quite the failure. We first visited a military station that I had already been to...and then we visited a military station that tried to destroy us." "Can you help me find the passwords to gain access to the second military station?" "I cannot," she says, with a shake of her head. "We are not a military space station and so had no access to their secrets or systems." She pauses. "There is the old deactivated military space station that you have visited twice in this star system, though. Perhaps you might find some clues there." Zanax sighs again. "OK. Are there any robots that can assist me with the search?" "Well," she says with a smile, "I'm not a robot but I could come along and help." Zanax looks confused. "I thought you said you couldn't leave Amalda. Or am I mistaken?" "We cannot leave the star system," she replies. "Maintaining a link with Amalda becomes difficult at interstellar distances." Zanax smiles. "Ah...and can you handle a blaster, too?" "I'm very good with guns..." "Well, then...let's get you armed and head out. Unless you think we should take a few of the other Amaldas with us..." "Oh, and what ever happened to that old man and the Regulans?" "He's in the casino. Do you want us to ask him if he wants to tag along?" asks Amalda2. "The Regulans left several days ago...boldly going where no cat has gone before." Zanax shrugs. "Might as well. Maybe he can be of some use. What about bringing other Amaldas with us?" "Of course," she says, as you walk out of the landing bay and make your way to the casino. "How many would you like to come along?" After about ten minutes you step off of the slidewalk and Amalda2 leads Zanax through a door. The paladin finds himself in a large, dimly lit room, filled with many other people. He also sees rows of slot machines, card tables, roulette wheels and many more of the instruments of gambling. As his eyes adjust he spots the old man, looking haggard and unshaved, sitting at a table playing cards. He has quite a large pile of chips in front of him. You head over to him. Looking slightly out of it from nine days of greed unchecked by sleep, personal hygiene or exercise, Crotchety looks up at them. "I like this place." He sounds downright cheerful. Zanax raises an eyebrow. "That's nice. It's time to go, though. Didn't you come here to explore?" "I was supposed to be exploring?" Crotchety asks. "No one tells me anything." "Amalda2, please have 4 other Amaldas, appropriately armed and shielded, meet us on my spaceship." "They are waiting for you." "Be ready in a tick!" Crotchety gathers up all his winnings and heads over to the cashier. He rejoins you in a few moments with three Platinum Plus plates (5500gp ea.). "He he," Crotchety cackles. He stuffs his loot in a couple of pockets. "Ready." Zanax asks, "You have any weapons? We're headed to an old military base and you should be ready for combat." Crotchety is wearing platemail, and has a shield and a mace. "I'm too old for combat." Zanax shakes his head. "Perhaps you should at least take a shield belt. I do not think there is enough time to train you with the blaster." "What's a shield belt?" Crotchety asks. "Heck, what's a blaster?" You start walking back to the Steve Jobs. "Amalda2, please have a shield belt and blaster waiting for this crotchety old man on Steve Jobs. "Old man, simply put, a shield belt will protect you from energy weapons and a blaster is a weapon that shoots and kills." "Ahhhhh," Crotchety says, not clearly understanding. "A wand and a what?" Zanax sighs. "You'll see when we get to the ship. So, what skills do you have, anyway?" "I'm a cleric, but I don't know if my spells will work here." He frowns. "Where is 'here' again, young feller?" "We're currently on the Amalda Space Station. By the way, where are you from and what's your name? I'm Zanax." "Crotchety Oldfart," the old man says. "Accountant extraordinaire from somewhere apparently far, far away." You reach the flight deck, which is a large chamber, open at one end. Through the opening you see a vista of stars in unearthly constellations. Several small vessels are parked along the walls. Amalda2 points out an XP class scout, a Millennium Edition scout and a DOS4.1 class transport. You, however, head over to a small, sleek ship in gleaming platinum: the Steve Jobs, an X class scout. Entering the ship, you see Amlda1, and Amaldas 3 through 5 waiting for you in the lounge. Black-eye the noor is curled up asleep on a cushion. A small pile of equipment lies beside him. "Welcome aboard the Steve Jobs," says a smooth, soothing voice out of the air, "And I already know where you are going. Just tell me when. Anyone for tofu chips?" Zanax tells Steve Jobs, "Make it so." "Tofu chips?" Zanax shrugs, "Don't know...don't want to know." A large plate of tofu chips appears out of thin air, accompanied by an assortment of dips. "Please let me know when you are ready to depart to the military installation," says Steve Jobs. Black-eye wakes up and has a chip. "Let us be off, Steve Jobs. "Amalda5, please show Crotchety how to use the shield belt and blaster." "With pleasure," says Amalda5, as the Steve Jobs starts to move. She picks up a shield belt, and, moving very close to Crotchety, tightly straps it around his waist. She then shows him how to use the blaster pistol. "Careful, Amalda5, we don't want him having a heart attack." By the time she is done, the military space station is filling the field of the viewer. The Steve Jobs flies into a landing bay - unlit - and lands in a cloud of fine dust. "I have tried connecting into the station power grid but it is completely non-functional," he says. Zanax asks, "Any life forms?" "Yes, but of a low order." "I assume you mean lower than humans, right?" "That is what I detect." "And no mind flayers, right?" "I do not detect their pattern." Satisfied, you activate your shield belts and leave the Steve Jobs. As soon as you step outside of the scout ship, though, you go floating off. Apparently there is no gravity here, either. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Crotchey flails about as he squeals with fright. He goes floating towards the exit...and open space. "Steve Jobs or Amalda5, can you do something to rescue the old man?" "What is your shoe size, old man?" asks Amalda5. "Um, 10?" Crotchety says, "Please HELP!" Zanax bumps his head on the ceiling. Zanax sighs and uses his psionic levitation ability to lower himself back to the ground and back to the Steve Jobs. Surprisingly enough, Zanax heads for the exit as well...which coincidentally enough is the opposite of the direction that his feet are facing. Amalda5, meanwhile, walks across the deck and up the wall, then hurries after Crotchety. Taking out a pair of what look like heavy galoshes, she tosses them to Crotchety when she is a few feet away from him. Surprising everyone, the old man snags them with one hand. Zanax sighs and reverses his levitation. He then says, "Amalda2, can I get a pair of those shoes, too?" Crotchety puts his new shoes on...and promptly settles to the deck of the station. By the time Zanax has got himself back under control and flailed his way back over to the Steve Jobs, Amalda2 is waiting for him with a air of the magnetized boots. Crotchety lumbers over as Zanax puts them on. Looking about, you can make out a few more details of the place in the semi-darkness. There seems to be a large door which takes up most of the back wall of the landing bay, which must be about a hundred feet across. Two smaller, more human-sized, doors flank it. Several other doors are located along the other walls as well. Several large piles of twisted metal are also in here. Perhaps they were ships, once upon a time. Zanax uses his clairvoyance to see on the other side of the large door. He sees darkness. "Steve Jobs and Amalda2, do either of you know what is on the other side of that huge door?" "It is probably another hangar area," says Amalda2. Zanax asks Amalda2, "Best guess as to which door might lead to where they would keep items to protect them from mental attacks?" She shakes her head. "Your guess is as good as mine, Zanax." Zanax sighs and heads toward one of the human sized doors flanking the large door. "No, the other one," Crotchety says, just because. Zanax sighs and heads toward the other door. He clomps over to the door with Crotchety close behind, and the five Amaldas just behind him. The light cast from the Steve Jobs sends harsh shadows before you. Most doors in these space stations shimmer out of existence when you approach them, you have noticed. However, this one shows no sign of doing so, probably because there is no power in the installation. Zanax sighs again. "Amalda2, is there a way to manually open these doors?" Crotchety looks for the doorknob. He finds none. "Try your blaster," she suggests. Crotchety whips out his blaster. "You mean this thing?" Not waiting for an answer he tries out his new training, and blasts away at the door for awhile. There is a flash and suddenly a hole appears where the door was, its periphery dripping with red hot melted metal. Beyond is another dark chamber. "Neato!" Crotchety looks pleased with his wanton destruction. "What else is safe to blow up?" Zanax helps Crotchety point his blaster down. "How about you wait till we get to the next door?" Zanax cautiously passes through the hole in the door trying not to burn himself. On the other side only a little of the light from the X class scout shines through the opening, but it is enough to show that this is another large chamber, at least as large as the last one. A number of dark shapes loom in the dimness. Amalda2 joins him. "Try this," she says, handing him a short cylinder, perhaps a foot long and a couple of inches in diameter. One end of it appears to be a lens. Zanax takes the item and examines it. Assuming this device is meant to help him see in the dark, he points the lens into the darkness and looks in from the other side. The other end is solid. "Flick the switch on the top," suggests Amalda3. Zanax nods and flicks the switch on the top, not exactly knowing what to expect. A ray of light shoots out through the lens. Shining the flashlight about, you see that you are standing at one end of what must be an enormous chamber. The light shines for a good 100', which leaves the far end in darkness. To the left and right the light just illuminates the side walls. Here and there are pieces of machinery. You see several things that resemble the Steve Jobs or the Bill Gates to a greater or lesser extent; some are larger, some smaller, some more sleek, some less so. You also see strange machines and engines. Some of these you can understand immediately their purpose: cranes, dollies, waggons, carts, tools, tables and such; while others are less clear; and some completely alien to you. The whole place seems to be dead: covered in grime and dust, the paint faded. Your light seems like an alien intruder here. The ships look to be old and worn. Some have long scorch marks on their flanks. Zanax shakes his head. "Doesn't seem to be much here. Let's check somewhere else." Zanax moves forward to see if there are any other doors in this hangar. If not, he heads back out and toward a human-sized door. Moving further into the hangar, you finally see the far end, several hundred feet away. Another enormous door, flanked by two smaller ones, takes up most of the far wall. You also now see a metallic form, standing beside one of the ships where it had been out of your view before. It is bipedal, with two arms and a smooth head, somewhat taller than human-size. A horizontal slit runs across the head where the eyes would be on a human. Zanax checks his already activated shield belt while asking Amalda2 and Steve Jobs, "What is that?" "It is a robot," says Amalda2. "More advanced than your own robot but less advanced than us." Zanax asks, "Ummm...and is it...functioning?" "I don't know." "Steve Jobs, do you detect any energy or life from that metallic being?" "I do not," replies the ship, "But if it were turned off but otherwise functional then I still would not detect anything." Zanax cautiously heads over toward the metallic being. It is dirty and grimy and covered in dust. It does not move as Zanax approaches it. Zanax asks Amalda2, "Do you think this thing has information about this station and is there a way to obtain that information?" She looks at the robot for a moment before answering. "This is probably some sort of lifting or servile machine," she says. "It would probably not know much...though I suppose that it might have observed something in passing." "You could try to turn it on," suggests Amalda1. Zanax, unsure of how to turn it on, looks at Amalda1. "Please do so, Amalda1." She reaches around the back of it and presses something on the back of its neck. Nothing happens. Zanax sighs. "OK, it probably needs a new power source. We'll pick it up on the way out." Zanax continues onward toward the nearest human sized door. There is a door in the middle of one of the side walls. It does not open when you approach it, so Crotchety uses his blaster on it. On the other side is a passage running left - right, for 100' and on to the right; and 90' to the left, at which point it turns right. Zanax heads left 90' and then turns right. The passage continues for another 100' and on. In the first 10' section of each wall is the outline of a door. You see two more doors in the 50' - 60' sections. Zanax indicates for Crotchety to blast the first door, and Crotchety does. Once the left door has been reduced to slag, you look through the gaping hole that is all that remains. You see a long room extending before you (30' X 70'; door in middle of opposite wall; door in right wall, 50' - 60' section). This room is bare. Crotchety blasts the second door, in the right hand wall of the passage. This reveals an enormous room (70' X 120': 60' left, 120' ahead; door in same wall, 10' from the far end; doors in each corner of the opposite wall). A patchy glow from the ceiling illuminates this room with a cold, greenish light. In here you see a number of metal rings or hoops attached to the walls, some 10' up. The floors are marked with a random pattern of circles, arcs and straight lines. Here and there are several piles of rotting, decomposing clothing lying on the floor. It looks like some sort of slimy, milky-coloured fungus is growing on these piles. You count four of them. Crotchety points his blaster at first one pile of fungus, and then another. "Which one should I blast first?" he asks eagerly. Zanax responds, "One sec...we wouldn't want them to be the type that multiply with fire." Zanax turns to Amalda2. "What is this room?" "It is a gymnasium. Do you know what that is?" Zanax shakes his head. "Nope. What is it?" "It is a place where people go to exercise or to play games involving physical activity." "Yeah, yeah," Crotchety says, waving his blaster around carelessly. "So do I blow those things up, or not?" Zanax sighs and begins backing away from the entrance. "OK, take a shot at only one of the fungus." "BANG!" Zanax looks at Crotchety. "Bang? What's that supposed to mean?" "Just trying to be funny," Crotchety says. "I'll try again." He points his blaster at one of the piles and squeezes the trigger. Zanax nods, "Yeah, don't quit your day..." "... job?" Crotchety finishes for him, helpfully. Zanax nods sagaciously, wondering when he'll see some results from Crotchety's blaster rifle. The weapon fires and the nearest fungoid growth disappears. When the smoke clears you see a gaping hole in the floor. You carefully move over to it and shine your flashlight into it. The hole opens into a a horizontal passage, square in shape, about 5' X 5'. It runs to your left and to your right as far as you can see. Three more of the fungus growths remain in the gym. "I don't get this place," Crotchety complains. Zanax shrugs. "Either do I, but I'm looking for something here. A device that protects you from mind flayers." He looks around. "Well, you might as well blast the other 3, just in case..." "Oooooh! Good idea!" Crotchety looks around and blasts the other three piles. The other growths of fungus are vapourized. "What's a mind flayer?" Zanax shrugs. "Not exactly sure except that it has a squid for a head, attacks psionically to blow up your brain and then eats your brain." Zanax heads back out. "OK, next room." You head across the gym to the rightmost door at the back. This opens into 20' X 40' long room with another door at the end. The walls are painted blue. The left hand half of the room is divided, if you will, by a low (3" high) raised ridge in the floor, from the right hand half. There are several drains in the floor of the left hand side. In the ceiling on that side are a number of what appear to be nozzles. Along the right hand wall are a number of coat hooks. Zanax leads the group back out past the gymnasium and looks for another door. Continuing down the passage you come to the next door, which is on your left. Crotchety blasts it open. On the other side is a rectangular-shaped room (50' X 60': 30' left, 20' right, 50' ahead). The walls, floor and ceiling are all painted black with a grid pattern overlain it in white. Approaching you are four creatures, the likes of which you have never seen. Humanoid shaped and man-sized, their skin is green in colour and of a rough texture. "What the hell are you?" Crotchety wants to know. Their lips move but you hear no words. Zanax asks Amalda1, "What are they and are they hostile?" "Some sort of plant, perhaps?" Amalda1 replies. "They don't look friendly." "Can you tell what they are saying?" Crotchety asks Amalda1. She shakes her head. Suddenly four mental blasts hit you. You feel like you are being hammered on an anvil. Crotchety is feebleminded. Zanax's head explodes.
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