THE GR AVITY OF THE CRIME

CHRISTOPHER L. BENNETT
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STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 CHAPTER The Gravity of the Crime
01.00 BY CHRISTOPHER L. BENNETT

082397
050670081302030806

01.10 SYNOPSIS 2

01.20 ACT 1: WITNESSES AND SUSPECTS 3

01.30 ACT 2: LEGWORK 9

01.40 ACT 3: CLOSING THE CASE 16

01.50 CONCLUSION 18

The Gravity of the Crime 001

CHAPTER
01.10
The Gravity of the Crime
SYNOPSIS
The Players go undercover on the pre-contact planet Kalmur to Aiding in the investigation could violate the Prime Directive –
investigate the apparent death of a Federation observation team but the crew’s preliminary scans of the remains reveal a dearth
member. That team has been observing a Kalmuri experiment in of human DNA, suggesting that Li may be alive, possibly a
artificial gravity, potentially leading to warp drive within decades. captive of the killer. They must investigate in order to find him.
But the experimental gravity generator ran wild and crushed
everyone in the lab, including a Starfleet scientist, Lieutenant Li,
who’d infiltrated the project as an observer.
DIRECTIVES
While investigating, the crew is confronted by a Kalmuri
detective, Lanox, who’s convinced the deaths are the In addition to the Prime Directive, the Directives for this
result of sabotage. But the sabotage could only have been mission are:
performed from within the lab while the generator was
running, and no one could have gotten out alive in time. §§ Investigate the loss of Lieutenant Li
Lanox has deduced that Li was an alien in disguise and
recognizes the crew as more aliens, suspecting that they may §§ Assess the methods and morale of Doctor Gur’s
have used advanced technology to commit the impossible observation team
locked-room murder. She says that if they want to convince
her of their innocence, they must help her solve the case The Gamemaster begins this mission with 2 points of
using their advanced knowledge. Threat for each Player Character in the group.

ADAPTING THIS MISSION TO OTHER ERAS

This mission can be easily adapted to any era in which the first contact. The decision here might be more a matter of the
Prime Directive is in effect, whether the Original Series (2260s), Players’ own judgment rather than formal regulations, potentially
classic films (2270s-90s), or The Next Generation (2360s). making for a more interesting debate.
However, there are some subtle differences in the application
of the Prime Directive in the different eras. Starfleet officers of In the Star Trek: Enterprise era, the Prime Directive had not
the 23rd century, who routinely operated out of contact with yet been established by Earth Starfleet, although a similar
Starfleet Command and thus were entrusted with the authority non-interference policy was used by Vulcan High Command.
and latitude to interpret regulations for themselves, tended to Thus, Players in that era might not be concerned with avoiding
be more flexible in adapting the Directive for specific situations. interference. Also, first contact with the Catullans might not have
However, 24th-century personnel, who tended to be in more occurred yet. In this setting, change the Starfleet team led by
regular contact with their superiors back home, were inclined Dr. Gur into a Vulcan Science Directorate team led by the Vulcan
to follow the letter of the law more rigorously. If Players keep Dr. T’Gur, with Ricardo Li as an Earth scientist participating in
this in mind, this could affect their choice of how to respond to an exchange program. Have the pressure to avoid interference
Inspector Lanox’s ultimatum. come from T’Gur and T’Zheen (making sure to avoid the phrase
“Prime Directive”), and give Players the option to disregard their
Also, the use of warp drive as the crucial qualification for first recommendations without penalty, for the choice to interfere
contact was not yet clearly delineated in the 23rd century. Thus, would not violate any existing Starfleet regulation. Also, increase
a group of Players in a 23rd-century setting might be open to the Difficulty of tricorder-based detection Tasks by 1, since
deciding that Kalmur is already advanced enough for formal 22nd-century “scanners” were less powerful.

002 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 CHAPTER
01.20
The Gravity of the Crime
ACT 1: WITNESSES AND SUSPECTS
SCENE 1: MEETING THE OBSERVATION TEAM CAPTAIN’S LOG
An away team transports down to Kalmur, wearing prosthetic STARDATE 48841.4
disguises to pass as natives. Kalmuri have skin tones ranging
from dark bronze to light gold, and their scalps, foreheads, We have been ordered to assist a Federation observation team on
necks, and the backs of their hands and arms are covered the planet Kalmur, a pre-contact world whose humanoid inhabitants
in thick fur ranging from dark brown to pale gold. They have are in the early stages of research that could lead to warp drive. One
slightly protruding muzzles and their ears are moderately member of the observation team is missing and presumed dead after
large and somewhat foxlike. (Players with non-humanoid a fatal accident in the research facility. Our mission is to investigate
characters should sit this one out or use Supporting the accident and to aid in recovering any identifiable human remains.
Characters.) Kalmuri also have night vision and somewhat
greater strength than humans. Their civilization is roughly As always, our highest priority will be to preserve the Prime Directive
parallel to Earth in the 2030s. and ensure our presence on Kalmur does not disrupt its culture’s
natural development. This is a particularly sensitive concern when
The away team arrives in the Federation observers’ base, a society is this close to expanding into space on its own. A
a holographically shielded monitoring station hidden in the mishandled, unplanned first contact could frighten them away from
hills on the outskirts of the Kalmuri city Aphios (capital of space travel, or make them belligerent toward aliens once they
the nation-state of the same name). The team is led by a emerge. Starfleet pre-contact teams understand the stakes better
civilian scientist, a Catullan female named Doctor Norsan than anyone – which is what makes the presence of an observer at
Gur. She is a middle-aged humanoid with a high hairline and the site of a fatal accident so troubling. Was it merely a coincidence –
bushy eyebrows; her hair is dark purple fringed with gray. or something more?
The rest of her team includes a pair of male civilian scientists
(both humanoid Minor NPCs) and a Vulcan Starfleet ensign,
T’Zheen. All of them except Gur are currently disguised
as Kalmuri. §§ Ricardo Li and T’Zheen used forged identities as Rikeli
and Tezin, visiting researchers from a university in a small
T’Zheen is the one who called in the crew to investigate overseas country named Pytulis to gain access to the
the death of their other Starfleet team member, Lieutenant gravity experiment as observers. Li, the team’s engineer,
Ricardo Li, over the objections of Dr. Gur. When the crew was in the test chamber when the fatal accident occurred,
questions the observation team, they will learn killing him along with the generator’s inventor and his
the following: assistant. Details are unclear, but apparently the gravity
generator ran out of control and produced an intense
§§ One day ago, the team was observing the Aphios enough field to crush everyone in the chamber. T’Zheen
Research Institute’s tests of an experimental artificial says she was conducting observations elsewhere in the
gravity generator. As Starfleet officers know well, a city at the time of the accident.
gravitational field is an elementary spacetime warp,
a simple form of the same physics that underlie warp §§ T’Zheen argues that it was irresponsible to send in
drives, wormholes, and most other forms of faster-than- a direct observer. Accidents aside, it risked violating
light propulsion, as well as deflectors, tractor beams, and the Prime Directive and contaminating the Kalmuri’s
some types of cloak. Artificial gravity generation is thus own scientific process. What if she or Li had been
the first practical step toward interstellar travel, so Gur’s asked to assist in the experiment? They might have
team considers their observation of this historic moment inadvertently revealed scientific knowledge the Kalmuri
to be highly important. did not yet possess. T’Zheen says they should simply

The Gravity of the Crime 003

 have infiltrated the facility via transporter and planted this technology so much for granted in our everyday
sensors and imagers to record the experiment from a lives – how else can we experience how it feels to
safe distance. discover it for the first time?”

§§ Gur insists that sending Li in personally was a §§ The other two civilian team members are trying to stay
necessary, calculated risk. In her view, passively out of the conflict between Gur and T’Zheen. They
recording such a historic moment would not respect Gur’s authority and brilliance, but they liked Lt. Li
adequately capture it. In the tradition of immersion and are troubled by his loss.
anthropology, someone needed to experience it
firsthand, to know what it felt like to be one of the Once these basics are established, it becomes evident
people involved, and to question the other participants that learning more will require inspecting the scene of the
directly about their experience. “The Federation can accident more directly. Luckily, the cover that Gur set up
learn nothing here about physics and engineering for her people allows the away team to gain access to the
that it hasn’t known for generations,” she says. “Our accident site as representatives of the University of Pytulis.
contribution to history lies in capturing the experience Gur can arrange clearances for two Players along with
itself, its meaning for the individuals involved. We take T’Zheen; the rest can monitor over their communicators.

LIEUTENANT T’ZHEEN [MAJOR NPC] DOCTOR NORSAN GUR [MAJOR NPC]

TRAITS: Vulcan TRAITS: Catullan

VALUES: VALUES:
§§ Increase Knowledge §§ Cultures Can Only Be Understood from Within
§§ Uphold the Prime Directive §§ Science Demands Taking Risks
§§ There Are Logical Exceptions to Every Rule
ATTRIBUTES
ATTRIBUTES CONTROL 10 FITNESS 08 PRESENCE 10
CONTROL 11 FITNESS 09 PRESENCE 08
DARING 11 INSIGHT 10 REASON 11
DARING 10 INSIGHT 10 REASON 12
DISCIPLINES
DISCIPLINES COMMAND 04 SECURITY 02 SCIENCE 05
COMMAND 03 SECURITY 02 SCIENCE 05
CONN 01 ENGINEERING 01 MEDICINE 03
CONN 02 ENGINEERING 02 MEDICINE 02
FOCUSES: Anthropology, Sociology,
FOCUSES: Anthropology, Sociology History, Administration

STRESS: 11 RESISTANCE: 0 STRESS: 10 RESISTANCE: 0

ATTACKS: ATTACKS:
§§ Phaser Type-2 (Ranged, 5 , Size 1H, Charge) §§ Catullan nerve pinch (Melee, 3 Intense, Size 2H,
§§ Vulcan nerve pinch (Melee, 2 Intense, Size 1H, Non- Non-lethal)
lethal
SPECIAL RULES:
SPECIAL RULES: §§ CATULLAN NERVE PINCH — Similar to the Vulcan
§§ NERVE PINCH Nerve Pinch, but administered by placing the
§§ MIND MELD extended thumbs on opposite sides of the victim’s
neck below the ears. Subject is incapacitated briefly
by a psionic shock.

004 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 SCENE 2: THE GRAVITY LAB Large equipment consoles bolted to the floor and heavy
conduits running from floor to ceiling are still in place, but
appear to be warped inward, not unlike the window. Leaning
T’Zheen and the two Player Characters (ideally a science against one wall, at about a 20-degree angle from vertical,
officer and a security officer) are shown the accident site by is a thick rectangular slab, about 3 by 4 meters and half a
the Aphios Research Institute’s director, Karn Maklet, a lean, meter thick. It appears quite heavy, and it’s the only loose
edgy Kalmuri just shy of middle age with a hungry look in his item in the room that hasn’t been pulled into the center.
eye. Through the monitor room’s large observation windows The wreckage pile and one of the massive consoles are
they can see the gravity lab, a large octagonal chamber encrusted with brown stains of dried blood, though Maklet
whose floor is about half a story below. The thick windows apologetically explains that they’ve removed whatever
and their support frames are warped as if some intense force remains they could.
had pulled them toward the center of the lab.
The science officer should have an opportunity to take a
A large pile of wrecked equipment is piled up in the center of clandestine tricorder scan of the lab, and should be able to
the lab, most of it seemingly crushed inward or half-melted. surreptitiously review the results during the following.
Underneath it can be glimpsed the crushed remains of a
large device in the shape of a thick torus parallel to the floor.

INSPECTOR DORI LANOX [MAJOR NPC] DIRECTOR KARN MAKLET [NOTABLE NPC]
TRAITS: Kalmuri (Species modifiers +1 Darting, +1 TRAITS: Kalmuri
Insight, +1 Presence)
VALUES:
VALUES: §§ Wisdom Is Wasted on the Old
§§ Solving the Case Is All I Care About §§ I Don’t Have a Gambling Problem, It’s Just a Setback
§§ I Hate Being Lied To
§§ People Can Generally Handle Whatever You Throw ATTRIBUTES
At Them
CONTROL 07 FITNESS 08 PRESENCE 10
ATTRIBUTES DARING 10 INSIGHT 09 REASON 10
CONTROL 10 FITNESS 08 PRESENCE 09
DARING 10 INSIGHT 11 REASON 12
DISCIPLINES
COMMAND 03 SECURITY 00 SCIENCE 02
DISCIPLINES CONN 01 ENGINEERING 02 MEDICINE 01
COMMAND 04 SECURITY 05 SCIENCE 02
FOCUSES: Administration, Finance, Engineering
CONN 01 ENGINEERING 01 MEDICINE 03
STRESS: 8 RESISTANCE: 0
FOCUSES: Law Enforcement, Criminal Investigation,
Unarmed Combat, Firearms ATTACKS:
§§ None
STRESS: 13 RESISTANCE: 0
SPECIAL RULES:
ATTACKS: §§ NIGHT VISION
§§ Kalmuri plasma pistol (Ranged, 7 , Size 1H)

SPECIAL RULES:
§§ INTERROGATION
§§ DAUNTLESS

The Gravity of the Crime 005

Maklet introduces Meni Nelorn, a young, amiable female Nelorn comes to Jezen’s defense, pointing out that she’s fairly
grad student with large, striking eyes and lustrous dark fur. old and such health issues are only to be expected. Maklet
She appears devastated by the death of her mentor, Doctor points out that her age gave her reason to feel threatened by
Rax Kortar. She explains that the research team was testing the younger, up-and-coming Imorin. But Nelorn argues that
Kortar’s experimental gravity torus when it ran out of control. it would have been impossible to sabotage the gravity torus
The occupants of the lab included Kortar, his assistant Loat from the outside. The torus had a failsafe that was tested and
Imorin, and the foreign observer “Rikeli” (Li’s alias). Nelorn proven to be working at the start of the session. Telemetry
explains that she had been given the day off by Kortar. She shows it failed to activate – but the failsafe is a physical switch
feels guilty that she wasn’t on hand, feeling that maybe she triggered by high gravity, and the only way to prevent its
could have done something to override the torus before it activation would’ve been to block it directly some time after
was too late. (The Gamemaster might try to inject a hint of the lab was sealed for the experiment. And the door sensors
ambivalence in her expressions of grief.) confirm that the door was not opened between the start of the
experiment and the moment when it was forced open from
With Nelorn overcome with emotion, Maklet explains that outside after the fatal accident. This is the crux of the mystery:
the malfunction caused the device’s gravity to increase so the failsafe was so simple that it could not have failed unless
rapidly that Kortar and Li literally fell into it, drawn inexorably it was sabotaged, but no one could have sabotaged the torus
toward the center of the lab and crushed against the gravity and gotten out alive.
generator along with the other loose objects in the room.
Imorin braced himself behind the heavy console, but of A new voice speaks up: “Not by any means known to our
course, nothing can block a gravitational field. (Note to science.” This is an imposing Kalmuri female with bronze
Gamemaster: This fact of physics is a detail that needs to be skin and golden fur, dressed in a multi-pocketed vest and
mentioned, but should be mentioned casually, as something a trenchcoat that looks well-travelled. Two Kalmuri police
everyone takes for granted.) Even at that distance from the officers enter the room behind her. Maklet introduces her as
generator, the gravitational force eventually became so great Inspector Dori Lanox, the Aphios Bureau of Investigation’s
that Imorin was crushed against the console by his own chief investigator into the accident. Lanox should be played
weight. Eventually, the immense weight of the debris against as the sort of character who could star in her own mystery
the torus became great enough to crush it, shutting down the series – a strong-willed and charismatic master detective, a
gravitational field, but by that point it was far too late for the bit disreputable in look and attitude, but ultra-competent and
room’s occupants, whose bodies had been virtually liquefied fundamentally decent. She takes a keen interest in T’Zheen
by the intense gravity. and the away team members, asking probing questions
about their bona fides as representatives of the University of
It should be established that this was reconstructed after Pytulis. She finds their explanations unconvincing, revealing
the fact from the physical evidence and the instrument that she’s done some digging into the credentials presented
readings recorded during the test. There were no cameras by “Rikeli” (Li) and “Tezin” (T’Zheen). She’s just heard back
in the lab, because that would not have been useful for the from Pytulis and discovered that no such individuals have
gravitational, mechanical, and electromagnetic readings they ever worked for their university. She strongly encourages the
were taking, and the cameras’ signals could interfere with away team members to accompany her to ABI headquarters.
sensitive EM detectors. It’s clear that she won’t take no for an answer.

Maklet adds that the wreckage and remains were discovered

soon thereafter by another member of the institute, Doctor
Sifa Jezen. Kortar and Jezen had been competitors
SCENE 3: LANOX’S DEDUCTIONS
developing rival experiments. Nelorn points out the heavy
rectangular plate leaned against one wall and explains that In a stark, grungy interview room at ABI headquarters,
it’s a failed gravity generation experiment of Jezen’s, too Inspector Lanox lays it on the line for the away team
massive to be easily removed from the lab, so it was just members. She knows they aren’t who they claim to be. She
moved off to the side to make room for Kortar’s torus. (This lays out the following deductions:
is another detail that should be mentioned casually enough
that it isn’t obviously important.) As for Jezen herself, she §§ Her first thought was that they were industrial or military
had been assigned to monitor the experiment in Nelorn’s spies from some rival country. But spies would be more
absence, but was apparently out of the monitor room at the competent at creating cover identities, and would show
time of the accident; according to her, she had a health issue greater knowledge of the country they claim to come
that required her to retreat to the restroom for some time. from. (Establish that she’s been questioning them about
Maklet sounds skeptical of the fact that Kortar’s greatest rival this country before the scene started, exposing the flaws
was conveniently absent when the accident occurred. and gaps in their knowledge. Treat this as a deception-
based Persuasion Task that fails automatically, but feel
free to come up with some specific Pytulian cultural traits

006 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 GRAD STUDENT MENI NELORN [NOTABLE NPC]
TRAITS: Kalmuri VALUES:
§§ Scientists Are My Heroes
ATTRIBUTES §§ Others’ Needs Come Before My Own
CONTROL 09 FITNESS 08 PRESENCE 09 FOCUSES: Physics, Mathematics, Electronics

DARING 08 INSIGHT 10 REASON 10 STRESS: 8 RESISTANCE: 0

DISCIPLINES ATTACKS:
§§ None
COMMAND 01 SECURITY 00 SCIENCE 03
SPECIAL RULES:
CONN 02 ENGINEERING 02 MEDICINE 01 §§ NIGHT VISION

KALMURI POLICE/SECURITY OFFICER [MINOR NPC]

TRAITS: Kalmuri VALUES:
§§ Scientists Are My Heroes
ATTRIBUTES §§ Others’ Needs Come Before My Own
CONTROL 09 FITNESS 10 PRESENCE 08 FOCUSES: Physics, Mathematics, Electronics

DARING 09 INSIGHT 08 REASON 07 STRESS: 8 RESISTANCE: 0

DISCIPLINES ATTACKS:
§§ Kalmuri plasma pistol (Ranged, 4 , Size 1H)
COMMAND 01 SECURITY 02 SCIENCE 00
SPECIAL RULES:
CONN 01 ENGINEERING 00 MEDICINE 02 §§ NIGHT VISION

This profile can be used for Lanox’s police support, the

security guards encountered in Scene 3B, and the minor
thugs working for Bruk Niryk.

that the Player Characters have gotten wrong or were not The ABI lab techs can only guess at its functioning,
aware of.) but its audio pickup and speaker indicate that it’s a
communication device. It doesn’t seem to emit a radio
§§ The away team members lack Kalmuri night vision, which signal, but at the time of the accident, some of the
Lanox demonstrates by turning out the lights and asking instruments in the gravity lab picked up strange readings
them to identify several photographs, which they’re that theory suggests would be associated with radiation
unable to do. (Even if one of the Player Characters does in a hypothetical realm called subspace.
have night vision, it’s unlikely they both will.)
Lanox says that what this all suggests is so insane that she
§§ The DNA of Kortar and Imorin was identifiable in the hasn’t yet mentioned it to anyone else, but she can see no
remains, but the third set of DNA traces, which must be other explanation: “Rikeli” was from outer space, and he
Rikeli’s, show anomalous attributes unlike any Kalmuri. attempted to signal his people for help before his death. And
that means the people before her are probably the ones he
§§ A small, mysterious badge (recognizable from her was trying to call – more aliens like him.
description as a Starfleet combadge) was found
crushed amid the wreckage. It contained circuitry more The Prime Directive would dictate that the Players deny this,
sophisticated than anything yet invented on Kalmur. but Lanox is no fool. She points out that she could have them

The Gravity of the Crime 007

 subjected to medical examination in order to prove their alien Kalmuri to solve it. It’s the least disruptive thing they could
nature on the record. She says that they obviously wish to do, she argues.
avoid that. But if they were responsible for the fatal accident
– say, if “Rikeli” had sabotaged the gravity torus and been But the science officer has completed the tricorder analysis
killed as a result – then they probably wouldn’t have come of the remains. The Gamemaster should pass them a sheet
anywhere near the lab afterward, for fear of discovery. So she with the following information:
suspects that they’re trying to find out why their man died,
and that means she and they want the same thing. The scan of the remains indicates that there is insufficient
human biological material present to account for Lieutenant
Therefore, Lanox offers them an alternative. She’s convinced Li’s biomass. The Kalmuri did clear away most of the remains,
the gravity torus had to be sabotaged and that she’s but Li’s remains and Kortar’s would have been impossible
investigating a murder. But there’s no known way anyone to separate, so there should be roughly equal proportions of
could’ve sabotaged the torus from inside the lab and both individuals’ genetic material left behind. But the amount
gotten out alive. It’s a mystery she can’t solve on her own, of Li’s DNA detected is very small compared to the other two
but maybe the “aliens” can. If they use their advanced victims – not enough to prove that he died in there.
knowledge and resources to help her solve the case, then
she promises she will keep their secret. But if they refuse to However impossible it seems, Li may still be alive
tell her the truth, that will indicate they have something bigger somewhere, possibly wounded. But T’Zheen confirms
to hide than their identities, and that will make her suspect that Gur scanned the entire city for his biosigns and found
their guilt. nothing. If he’s alive, he may be somewhere that sensors
can’t detect.
Lanox steps out to give the Players and T’Zheen a chance to
talk the matter over. T’Zheen points out the Prime Directive This creates a dilemma for the Players. The only way to find
implications of the situation. This research could have a their missing officer, it seems, is to cooperate with Lanox and
profound impact on Kalmur’s future, so any intervention by help her solve the case. But how far are they willing to bend
Starfleet could disrupt the planet’s natural development. the Prime Directive in order to do so? The Players should
But the Players should understand that if Lanox has them have the opportunity to role-play the debate over the ethics
examined and proves they’re aliens, that would be just as of the issue. T’Zheen says that Li would be willing to die to
disruptive. T’Zheen recommends that they simply beam preserve the Directive. But if Li is out there, perhaps injured
away (they have subcutaneous transponders which they or captive, that risks his exposure as an alien. And they all
can trigger for retrieval). Their disappearance would be a risk exposure if they don’t cooperate with Lanox.
mystery, but one that left no physical evidence to allow the

AUX COMM 1212

COMM 09
LYS004 ALERT 43R

STATUS

SYSTEMS STALL 314

98383 9022 3422 2232 53232 3242
6444 4938 34 43672 4344
28033 67 56777 6433 45 REPEAT
79597 45432 5977
90038 29844 2432 3234 42412
SHODAN 67 4542 3432 343 530 56332
78505 56 67 7900 34545 54353 ACTION
5653 7890 3322 33222 56443 865
34344 300 78 4322 3532

008 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 CHAPTER
01.30
The Gravity of the Crime
ACT 2: LEGWORK
SCENE 1: THE PRIME DETECTIVE because they remain culturally isolated. So Lanox rejects
the idea that interaction equals harmful contamination.

Lanox returns and repeats her demand that the Players §§ The best bet will be explaining the Prime Directive in
help her solve the mystery. She is a keen observer and has terms of respect for other cultures’ equality and freedom
no patience for dishonesty, so any attempt to keep up the of choice. Nobody understands the Kalmuri’s culture,
pretense of being Kalmuri will only upset her and make values, and needs better than the Kalmuri themselves.
her more likely to arrest and expose the Players. Their So the Prime Directive is about reminding Starfleet
only choice is to admit that she’s right and hope they can officers that their superior technology does not give
convince her to keep their secret, using Social Conflict, role them superior wisdom about another culture and thus
playing, or both. An appeal based on an honest statement of doesn’t entitle them to impose their own solutions that
the Player’s Values will be most likely to sway Lanox. might turn out to be wrong or harmful for the indigenous
culture. In this case, they can’t understand Kalmuri
Still, the Prime Directive remains a concern. The Players may social dynamics, laws, and psychology as well as an
try to explain the philosophy and logic behind the Directive experienced detective like Lanox, so interfering in her
and convince Lanox to retract her ultimatum. However, investigation could do more harm than good. Lanox
her response will depend on how the Players interpret will be most swayed by an argument along these lines,
the Directive. but will counter that it’s still her best judgment that she
could use the benefit of alien knowledge, or at least the
§§ If the rationale behind the Directive is explained in terms assistance of advisors as scientifically knowledgeable as
of the Kalmuri being too backward or primitive to be the Player Characters are. If nothing else, she’ll help them
ready for contact, this will offend Lanox. She will point find Rikeli’s fate if they work with her.
out that her people are scientifically advanced and have
an active space program, that their astronomers have OPTIONS
been searching for alien radio signals for decades, and Depending on how willing the Players are to bend the Prime
that their fiction and literature have been exploring the Directive, and how successful they were at earning Lanox’s
conjectural idea of alien life for centuries. Most Kalmuri respect and understanding of their point of view, there are
already take it for granted that life exists elsewhere, two possible paths for the investigation to take. Players may
so how would the confirmation of that belief disrupt choose one or employ a mix of both.
their worldview?
§§ Old-school detective work: The crew argues Lanox to
§§ If the Players argue that exposure to outside ideas and a compromise position: They will help her investigate the
beliefs would “contaminate” Kalmuri society, Lanox case, but only using the resources, scientific knowledge,
will counter that Kalmur already has multiple different and detection techniques available to the Kalmuri. This
cultures that have been interacting and affecting each will let the Players act out something akin to a present-
other’s belief systems for thousands of years. Yes, day murder mystery or police procedural.
sometimes the interaction has done harm, but only
when the more powerful culture actively tried to impose §§ Starfleet-style investigation: The crew consents to use
its religion or values. In other cases, the interaction has their advanced technology and scientific knowledge to
been beneficial. Her own nation, Aphios, has always gather evidence Lanox couldn’t. This plays out more like
been a center of cultural exchange, a crossroads where a standard Star Trek story.
peoples from different parts of the world came to trade
and interact, and that ferment and interplay of ideas is
what allowed it to become the most advanced nation
on Kalmur. Countries like Pytulis are more backward

The Gravity of the Crime 009

 PATH A: OLD-SCHOOL DETECTIVE WORK Interrogating Director Maklet brings out the following:

§§ Lanox’s investigation has turned up evidence that

SCENE 2A: QUESTIONING THE KALMURI SUSPECTS Maklet has misappropriated Institute finances to feed his
If the crew decide to aid in the investigation using only gambling addiction.
Kalmuri techniques, then the first step Lanox undertakes is
to bring in the parties involved for interrogation. One member §§ Maklet confesses that Imorin knew this and was
of the away team is able to sit in on the interviews and ask blackmailing him, but insists that it was worth it. “Imorin
questions while the other or others watch through a one- may have been arrogant and manipulative, but he
way mirror. brought fresh new insights to the field, which was more
than Sifa Jezen has done in the past decade. She was of
Lanox interrogates Sifa Jezen first. Dr. Jezen is a lean, white- value to this institute during my predecessor’s tenure, but
furred Kalmuri, somewhat elderly but healthy and animated. her time has passed. Imorin was a bastard, to be sure,
Her manner is proud and blunt, but not without humor. but genius forgives a multitude of sins. Why do you think
Lanox’s interrogation allows the questioners to extract the I kept Kortar on staff despite the way he treated poor
following information: Meni Nelorn?” He clams up and insists they’ll have to ask
Nelorn about that.
§§ Jezen confirms that she was inside the lab before
the torus test, working with the others to prepare the §§ Maklet had no motive to wish Dr. Kortar dead either, that
experiment, explaining the recent traces of her DNA he had more faith in Kortar’s work than Jezen’s. “Losing
found in the lab. But she insists she left before the Kortar and Imorin and still having Jezen is the worst
experiment began – obviously, since the door sensors possible outcome from my perspective. Even if I had the
confirm that no one left the lab after it began. scientific knowhow to sabotage the torus and escape
somehow, I would’ve had no motive.”
§§ She admits she was jealous that her prototype gravity
plate was rejected in favor of Dr. Kortar’s torus. She’s §§ The director gripes about the boondoggle that Jezen’s
miffed that “My plating was just shoved aside, leaned gravity plate experiment turned out to be. He complains
against the wall like a leftover shipping pallet.” But she about her stubbornness, saying she refused to let him
says she respected Kortar and regrets his death. remove the failed plate from the lab, insisting that she
could modify it and try again.
§§ By contrast, Jezen despised Dr. Imorin, a young upstart
who sucked up to Dr. Kortar and Director Maklet for his Interrogating Meni Nelorn reveals the following:
own personal advancement. Maklet had made it clear
that he intended to fire the aging Dr. Jezen in favor of §§ In the year that Nelorn had been Kortar’s graduate
“the new generation.” Jezen makes no attempt to deny student, he had subjected her to ongoing sexual
that she hated Imorin and is glad he’s dead; since there’s harassment and humiliation, short of outright rape but
no physically possible way she could be the killer, she still traumatic for her. She hated the way he treated
has nothing to lose by confessing it. her, but she kept the job because it was essential to
her career.
§§ Jezen suspects that Imorin got his job by blackmailing
Director Maklet. She says it’s the only way someone §§ Despite the harassment, she claims she isn’t glad
so young and inexperienced could have gotten such a Kortar is dead. She admired his brilliance and saw his
prominent post at the Institute. She doesn’t know the abusive side as a tragic flaw in an otherwise great man.
specifics, but she advises looking into Maklet’s fondness She feels more bitterness toward Maklet for ignoring
for gambling. her complaints, feeling that Kortar would have treated
her better if he’d been ordered to stop and kept under
§§ Jezen’s theory is that Imorin sabotaged the torus to closer watch.
murder Kortar. His motive, she suggests, is that he
wanted to go down in history as the one responsible §§ Nelorn did find it unfair that Imorin had higher status and
for perfecting artificial gravity, not share the glory with privilege than she did despite being only a few years
anyone else. In his youth and arrogance, she suggests, older. She didn’t want him dead, though; she’s mortified
he miscalculated and believed he would be able to at the very suggestion that she would ever wish harm on
escape in time. Perhaps he was at the console because anyone. Besides, she adds, “Imorin spent so much time
he was trying to shut the torus down once Kortar and sucking up to Dr. Kortar that it distracted him from me. I
“Rikeli” were dead, and he failed to realize that the gravity was grateful for the respite.”
runaway was impossible to reverse.

010 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 DOCTOR SIFA JEZEN [MAJOR NPC]
§§ Nelorn feels nothing but respect and admiration for
Jezen, and would have liked to be her graduate assistant TRAITS: Kalmuri
instead. “She’s not that easy to like, but that’s just her
way.” But Maklet would not allocate enough of a budget VALUES:
to Jezen for her to hire Nelorn away from Kortar. §§ My Worth Must Be Acknowledged
§§ Reaching the Stars Will Be Our Greatest Achievement
§§ Nelorn claims to have spent her day off by herself. Her §§ It’s Not Wrong if You Get Away With It
alibi is weak, but institute logs have no record of her
presence that day. ATTRIBUTES
§§ Out of scientific curiosity and a desire to be helpful,
CONTROL 11 FITNESS 07 PRESENCE 10
Nelorn has been brainstorming possible ways that
someone could have sabotaged the gravity torus and
DARING 10 INSIGHT 10 REASON 12
survived. The only way she can imagine that anyone in
the lab could have survived the hypergravity would be DISCIPLINES
through a neutral buoyancy tank containing a dense,
oxygenated fluid, like the kind deep-sea divers use to
COMMAND 03 SECURITY 02 SCIENCE 05
withstand the pressure of the deep ocean. But nobody
could have erected such a tank in the lab without being
CONN 01 ENGINEERING 04 MEDICINE 01
noticed, or disassembled it and dried off before Jezen
and others arrived on the scene. FOCUSES: Physics, Quantum Gravity, Mathematics,
Electronics, Programming
§§ The only other option she can imagine is antigravity, but
she insists Kalmuri science is nowhere near inventing it. STRESS: 13 RESISTANCE: 0
Jezen once idly spoke to her about having researched
a theory of gravity nullification, but her theories were ATTACKS:
deemed implausible and her paper was never published. §§ None
Jezen had hoped that her gravity plate experiment would
vindicate the theory on which she had based that paper, SPECIAL RULES:
but unfortunately the experiment failed. §§ JURY RIG
§§ INTENSE SCRUTINY
SCENE 3A: QUESTIONING THE OBSERVATION TEAM §§ COMPUTER EXPERTISE
Meanwhile, the rest of the away team is questioning Dr. Gur, §§ NIGHT VISION
T’Zheen, and the other observers, pursuing a possibility
they can’t mention to Lanox: that Li could have sabotaged
the generator and beamed himself out, or been beamed out
by someone else such as Dr. Gur. Or perhaps he was the §§ T’Zheen is reluctant to suggest that Gur could have
intended victim of one of the other observers, who beamed in beamed in and sabotaged the torus to kill Li. She does
to sabotage the torus and then beamed out again. It’s a long suggest, however, that Gur may have lied about not
shot, but they need to look into it. receiving Li’s emergency transmission. She could have
heard his call for help and chosen not to beam him out,
T’Zheen will have the following to say: allowing him to die in the accident out of a vindictive
emotional impulse.
§§ Dr. Gur and Lt. Li did not get along at all. Li was a stickler
for the Prime Directive, often arguing with Gur over her The two civilian males on the team have nothing to offer
willingness to risk exposure or interference in the name beyond confirming that Gur and Li did not get along, so their
of her theories of immersion anthropology. When she interviews can be skipped over.
overruled his objections to observing the gravity testing
in person, he insisted on going personally to ensure that When confronted about T’Zheen’s accusations, Dr. Gur will
interference was minimized. As a Vulcan, T’Zheen was say this:
the only other one he trusted to follow the rules precisely.
“I didn’t want to say anything earlier, since I have no proof.
§§ This also means that Li was the last person who would But if anyone on this team had a motive to kill Ricardo Li, it
have had a motive to sabotage the gravity torus. Allowing was T’Zheen. The night before the accident, I heard them
the Kalmuri’s research to proceed without interference arguing. Ricardo was furious at T’Zheen, saying he’d let her
was paramount to him. down, that she’d violated the Prime Directive. She replied
that what she’d done was necessary and he couldn’t do

The Gravity of the Crime 011

 anything to change it. I asked Ricardo about it afterward, but to a certain satisfaction at seeing him cower in fear, exposed
he wouldn’t talk. He said he wasn’t ready to make any formal as the small and frightened being he truly was. I warned him
accusations until he’d thought it through. The next day, he that I would see him ruined if he did not stop his harassment
died in that lab, and T’Zheen’s whereabouts at the time were and seek therapy for his behavioral disorder.
unclear.”
“Ricardo Li observed a portion of this incident and
Confronting T’Zheen leads her to admit the following: confronted me about it afterward. I recognize that this gives
me motive to kill both him and Kortar. But I was absent at
“Very well. I suppose logic demands I must tell the truth so as the time of the incident because I was with Meni Nelorn,
not to distract from the search for the real killer. speaking to her in confidence about her situation and
encouraging her to seek counseling. She is my alibi.”
“Technically, I did interfere. But I did so on a strictly personal
level. In the course of monitoring the experiment, I had In any case, a review of the observation post’s transporter
become aware that Doctor Kortar was sexually harassing logs will prove that their transporter was not used at the time
his assistant, Meni Nelorn. Per Starfleet regulations, I should of the accident. The sensor logs confirm that the gravity torus
have said nothing and allowed it to continue, for revealing was producing too much subspace interference anyway,
my knowledge would have risked exposure of our monitoring meaning that Li’s emergency signal could not have gotten
devices. But I could see no logical argument by which the through. T’Zheen’s suspicions about Gur are unwarranted,
future development of Kalmuri civilization should hinge on and were mostly just an attempt to distract attention from her
one young woman’s suffering. own actions.

“Therefore, I confronted the doctor and revealed that I ENCOUNTER: THE HIRED GUNS
knew what he had done. When he attempted to dismiss my That evening, en route from the institute to ABI headquarters
charges, I used my Vulcan strength to intimidate him. I admit in Lanox’s ground car, Lanox and the two Player Characters
with her are driven off the road in the warehouse district by
several Kalmuri in another car. The Players and Lanox must
BRUK NIRYK [NOTABLE NPC] retreat into a vacant warehouse where a firefight ensues.
The Players must decide whether to use their phasers
TRAITS: Kalmuri or attempt to subdue the thugs by unarmed combat, or
using the resources available in the warehouse (e.g. using
VALUES: chains, crowbars, or wooden boards as makeshift weapons,
§§ You Want a Job Done, Just Meet My Price dropping a suspended crate on the thugs, trapping them
between the prongs of a forklift, etc.).
ATTRIBUTES
If the Players are successful, they and Lanox will subdue
CONTROL 09 FITNESS 10 PRESENCE 09 and capture the thugs. Most are just hired muscle, but their
leader is Bruk Niryk, an ex-military security consultant who
DARING 10 INSIGHT 08 REASON 08 works for Aphios’s leading casino, but who does freelance
mercenary or “enforcement” work on the side. When
DISCIPLINES questioned, he explains he does not know the identity of his
employer, since he was hired and given instructions through
COMMAND 02 SECURITY 03 SCIENCE 00 text messages. But when Lanox shows him photos of the
suspects, he confirms that he recognizes Karn Maklet as
CONN 02 ENGINEERING 01 MEDICINE 01 a regular patron of the casino he works for. When asked if
Maklet is acquainted with him in turn, he chuckles. “When
FOCUSES: Security, Weapons, Unarmed Combat someone’s in that much debt to my employers, believe me,
they’re well acquainted with casino security.”
STRESS: 13 RESISTANCE: 0

ATTACKS: OPTIONAL SCENE: TRACKING LI

§§ Kalmuri plasma pistol (Ranged, 5 , Size 1H) If the Players feel that conventional police procedure is taking
§§ Army knife (Melee, 4 Vicious 1, Size 1H, Deadly) too long, they may attempt to use Starfleet tech to track
down Li behind Lanox’s back. This would play out like the
SPECIAL RULES: second part of Scene 2B and Scene 3B below, although they
§§ NIGHT VISION would have to sneak past Lanox’s officers to gain access to
the gravity lab (perhaps by beaming in). However, it runs the
risk of angering Lanox if she finds out. Her trust in the away

012 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

team members is tenuous, and if that trust is broken, she will
no longer be willing to keep their existence secret.
PATH B: STARFLEET-STYLE INVESTIGATION
Note that Bruk Niryk is involved in Scene 3B as well, so SCENE 2B: FIRST STEPS
if both scenes occur at the same time, a Minor NPC thug There are at least two options the crew could pursue if they
would have to be substituted for Niryk in one of them. decide to confide fully in Lanox.
Alternatively, if they occur consecutively, Niryk could escape
in the earlier scene and be captured in the later one. The first, as in Scene 3A, is to question whether an
observation team member could have used the transporter to
SCENE 4A: CRACKING THE CASE commit the locked-room murder. This sequence would play
By this point, the Players should have enough information out as described above, but with Lanox participating. Lanox
to piece together the solution. Niryk’s involvement points to adds a couple of her own questions to the interrogation:
Maklet, but Maklet lacks the scientific knowledge to have
pulled off the murders. When questioned by Lanox, he insists §§ Lanox wonders if someone on the team planned to go
that he couldn’t afford to hire Niryk and his thugs, given how native – sabotage the Kalmuri’s gravity research so that
deeply he’s in debt, and the investigation of his finances they could then sell Federation gravity plating as their
bears this out. Also, Jezen’s testimony revealed that she own breakthrough and use it to gain wealth and fame on
was aware of Maklet’s gambling problems, and thus could Kalmur. This doesn’t pan out because of the Federation’s
have known about Niryk and hired him to throw suspicion moneyless, post-scarcity society. Since everything can
onto Maklet. be replicated and wealth is ubiquitous, money is no
longer a motive for crime. Lanox finds this enviable, if
Jezen claimed to be upset about the gravity plate being left true (she’s a little skeptical), but it leaves her nowhere.
leaning against the wall, but Maklet revealed that she insisted
on keeping it in the lab. Also, as heavy as it appears to be, §§ If the Players were not fully successful in “selling” the
the science officer’s calculations should show that it should Prime Directive to Lanox in their earlier debate, she may
at least have been pulled over by the torus’s gravity at its suggest that the Directive itself could be a motive for
peak, and should not have still been leaning against the murder. Maybe the scientists found out Li was an alien
wall. The research paper Nelorn mentioned is a tipoff that and he sabotaged the generator and killed them in order
Jezen knew in theory how to nullify gravity, and that her plate to preserve his cover. Gur and T’Zheen insist this would
experiment might have been capable of neutralizing the pull be out of character for Li, but as long as his whereabouts
from Kortar’s gravity torus. Nelorn was on the right track – are unaccounted for, Lanox isn’t convinced.
Jezen must have sabotaged the generator, then activated her
plate and hid in the gap between it and the lab wall, shielded As before, questioning the observation team reveals some
by its null-gravity field. (The gap is about a meter wide at the scandalous character tidbits but no smoking gun.
base.) The recorded opening of the lab door, which Jezen
claimed to have occurred when she returned to the lab and After or instead of this, the Players could return to the gravity
rushed inside after the accident, must actually have been lab with Lanox to conduct a more thorough analysis of the
the saboteur/killer escaping afterward – meaning that Jezen crime scene. This time, they’re able to use their tricorders
lied about her alibi. This also implies that she knows what openly and examine the evidence more directly.
happened to Lt. Li, and may even be holding him captive. If
she didn’t leave him to die with the others, that implies that §§ A tricorder scan of Jezen’s generator plate will reveal (as
she figured out Li was an alien, and thus worth keeping alive. a Reason + Engineering Task with a Difficulty of 1) that
it is based on a technology like that used in some types
But Lanox points out that all of this is supposition. The of antigrav systems, specifically the kind that can cancel
physics involved are so advanced that there’s no way to out an existing gravity field and create a pocket of zero
prove that Jezen actually succeeded in nullifying gravity, or gravity, as opposed to generating an active repulsion
that her theories even made sense – unless the aliens are effect. This technology generates a graviton inversion
willing to change their minds about revealing their superior field that leaves tetryon decay traces that Starfleet
scientific knowledge, which they can’t do without violating tricorders can detect but Kalmuri science cannot. Those
their precious non-interference directive. So how can she traces are detected in the vicinity of the generator plates,
possibly prove that Jezen is guilty? and their rate of decay indicates that the plates were
active within the past few days, even though they were
supposed to have been abandoned weeks ago.

§§ An environmental scan will reveal (as an Insight +

Science Task with a Difficulty of 2) a chemical substance
released in the accident that causes gradual deterioration

The Gravity of the Crime 013

 in the prosthetics they wear to pass as Kalmuri. The §§ Fourth is more of a challenge. At the base of the stairs
decaying prosthetics would release a compound is a short corridor with an electric defense grid – the
detectable to tricorders. Traces of that compound are walls and floor are charged and emit deadly electric arcs
detected in the wreckage, indicating that Li’s prosthetics if anything passes between them. Tricorders show that
would have begun to decay. Therefore, the crew may be the security sensor uses voice recognition, so they can’t
able to use this chemical signature to track down Li. hack it (nor can they identify whose voice it’s coded for).
There could be several possible ways to circumvent
SCENE 3B: TRACKING LI this obstacle, so the nature and difficulty of this Task
The away team uses the chemical signature of the decaying should be left to the discretion of the Players and the
prosthetic to search for Li using their tricorders. Since the Gamemaster, though it should be at least Difficulty 3.
chemical traces are faint and have had a couple of days to
dissipate, this is an Insight + Science Task with a Difficulty §§ Once past this obstacle and through the rear door, the
of 3. All available members of the away team and observation Players will have a combat Encounter with Bruk Niryk,
team should be recruited to help, searching different areas the mercenary described above. They must reach the
of the city, with each Player and NPC having a separate room at the end of a long corridor to get to Li, but Niryk is
opportunity to succeed in the Task. able to duck into adjoining rooms along the corridor walls
and use the door frames as cover while he defends the
While Lanox is aware that this is going on, the Players may corridor. He’s surprised by the Players’ phasers, but he’s
try to convince her to let them handle it, since they don’t a hardened ex-soldier, so it doesn’t spook him for more
want to reveal any more of their methods (or their true than an instant.
appearance, if Li’s prosthetics have been compromised) than
they have to. The Difficulty of this Persuasion Task depends Once Niryk is subdued, Ricardo Li will be found weak
on how successful they have been at winning Lanox’s trust. If and injured in the final room. He’s suffering from a mild
it fails, she will accompany the Players in their search. concussion, but can be treated by a Control + Medicine
Task with a Difficulty of 1. Once revived, Li will relate
If the search Task succeeds, the searchers will locate Li in an the following:
underground facility in a sparsely populated industrial district,
naturally shielded from ship’s sensors and transporters by the §§ He remembers little about the accident. He was struck
dense construction of the metallurgical refining plant above it. in the head by debris, so his memory of events before
his injury is vague. He remembers being in the lab with
CHALLENGE: THE GAUNTLET Kortar and Imorin, but he can’t remember if anyone else
Locating and reaching Li is a Linear Challenge requiring was in the lab or what happened during the test. Neither
several consecutive Tasks. can he recall how he got out of the lab alive.

§§ First, the Players must scan the planet and locate the §§ His first clear memory is waking up in captivity with his
entrance to the underground facility. This is a Difficulty 2 prosthetics torn off. After that, he was interrogated via
Task requiring Insight + Science or Security. text on a screen by someone who knew he was alien
and wanted to extract his scientific knowledge. By
§§ Second, if Lanox is not present to flash her badge questioning his unseen interrogator in turn, Li learned
and gain access, then the Players must sneak past that his abductor realized he was an alien upon seeing
the guards to reach the entrance. This is a Control + his prosthetics damaged during the lab accident. His
Security Task with a Difficulty of 2 in the daytime or 3 at concussion suggests that he was struck in the head by
night (since the Kalmuri have a Night Vision advantage debris, which must have caused the damage.
that the Players probably lack). If the Task fails, this leads
to a brief Encounter with a security guard. This could be §§ The guard (Niryk) delivered food through a slot in the
as simple as stunning the guard before he can summon door twice daily, and they never saw each other face-to-
reinforcements, but if it goes badly, it could result in face as far as Li recalls.
Complications such as additional guards being alerted or
a Player being injured in a firefight. When questioned, Bruk Niryk will explain that he was
hired and instructed by text message and never knew who
§§ Third, hack the door lock to the underground facility. hired him. He was given clear instructions to stay out of
This is an Engineering + Insight or Reason Task with a the captive’s cell and thus never saw Li’s face. He did not
Difficulty of 1, since it’s not a very advanced technology. participate in carrying the unconscious Li from the Institute
to the cell, but since Li is of slight build and Kalmuri are
relatively strong, even Jezen or Nelorn could have carried
him themselves.

014 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 LIEUTENANT RICARDO LI [NOTABLE NPC]
TRAITS: Human VALUES:
§§ The Prime Directive Is Absolute
ATTRIBUTES
STRESS: 10 RESISTANCE: 0
CONTROL 10 FITNESS 09 PRESENCE 09
ATTACKS:
DARING 08 INSIGHT 08 REASON 10 §§ None

DISCIPLINES SPECIAL RULES:

§§ INTENSE SCRUTINY
COMMAND 01 SECURITY 01 SCIENCE 02 §§ TESTING A THEORY
CONN 02 ENGINEERING 03 MEDICINE 01

SCENE 4B: DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

A more detailed shipboard examination of Li confirms that
he shows residual traces of exposure to a graviton inversion
field. The logical conclusion is that his abductor modified
Jezen’s gravity plate to produce a null-gravity field, then
hid with the unconscious Li in the gap between the plate
and the wall, the null-gravity field shielding them from the
hypergravity that crushed everything else in the lab.

The Players should be able to deduce that the only living

Kalmuri who could have modified the plate that way is its
inventor, Sifa Jezen. And the recorded opening of the lab
door must have been Jezen escaping with Li afterward,
rather than entering the lab as she claimed. Jezen must be
the killer. If so, she too will have traces of the inversion field. 7313
0014
628022
In the event that the Task to find Li does not succeed, the 140
evidence from the gravity plates should still allow the crew 231883
to figure out the null-gravity solution, making Jezen their 4
prime suspect. Again, this can be proven by scanning her 23012
for the inversion field, though with standard tricorders this
will be an Insight + Science Task with a Difficulty of 4. But
an engineering or science officer should be able to modify a QUEST LOG
tricorder to reduce the Difficulty to 2, which would itself be a
Control + Engineering or Science Task with a Difficulty of 2. OPTICAL STATUS
But Lanox has a problem now. She knows Jezen is the
murderer, but how can she justify an arrest or prove her case GREUN AUM
in court without revealing the alien technology that solved
the case?

WEISS-BLANC AMAJ
TRU BACKUP NITROGEN STATUS

386 PHASER UNDERCHARGE

LAZ QUANTUM PORT OUTPUT
MAXX SUBSPACE BAND INDICATOR
FAS RAMJET ACCUMULATION OVERRIDE

The Gravity of the Crime 015

 CHAPTER
01.40
The Gravity of the Crime
ACT 3: CLOSING THE CASE
SCENE 1: EXTRACTING A CONFESSION In order to get Jezen to confess, the Players will have
to recognize that her core Value is her desire to be
acknowledged for her worth as a scientist. Jezen may not
Lanox has called Jezen in to the interview room at ABI have succeeded at inventing artificial gravity, but she has
headquarters, hoping to talk her into confessing to the created a field that can nullify gravity and render massive
sabotage and murder. Jezen has her attorney with her. Lanox objects weightless. The greatest obstacle to spaceflight
hopes to spook the scientist by confronting her with the is the energy required to lift spacecraft into orbit against a
knowledge of how she committed the murders. She has the planetary gravity field, so this innovation will make space
Players participate in the interrogation since they can explain travel immensely easier and cheaper and bring the Kalmuri
the details of the science better than she can. The Players much closer to reaching the stars – even if it will be a while
and Lanox know (if Li was found) or suspect (if he was not) before they can do it without floating inside their ships.
that Jezen is aware of aliens, and will be able to hint at this,
though they have to be circumspect, since the attorney is In short, Jezen has achieved an extraordinary, career-making
present and the interview is being recorded. breakthrough – and she can never reveal it to the world,
because that would require confessing that she’d used
Jezen is an intelligent and shrewd adversary, though, and it for murder. Sure, she could wait a decade or so before
she’s difficult to break. Her lawyer is also advising her of publishing, but she wouldn’t have much of her life left in
any pitfalls. (Note to Gamemaster: For simplicity’s sake, the which to enjoy the accolades. And it’s common in science for
lawyer could simply have inaudible, whispered conversations independent groups to make the same breakthrough within
with Jezen, so only Jezen needs to be roleplayed.) There are a few years of each other, building on the groundwork that
several options the Players could try in concert with Lanox. previous scientists have laid. If she waits, someone else may
achieve the same breakthrough in the meantime, and the
§§ Revealing that they have figured out what Jezen did and world would never know that she was first. (Once the Players
how: No luck. Jezen knows they can’t prove any of it in hit upon this approach, the Gamemaster can roleplay Lanox
court. If they had hard evidence – at least, any evidence to fill in any parts of this argument that the Players overlook,
they could admit to having – then they’d already have or to nudge them in the right direction.)
arrested her instead of trying to goad her into confessing.
In the end, Jezen realizes that the fame of achieving such
§§ Pretending that they do have proof: No luck. Jezen will an important scientific breakthrough is worth confessing to
demand to know what it is. Even if they can produce murder for. She says:
“Rikeli” and Niryk, she’ll know they can’t definitively
identify her. Lanox can prove that Jezen is a shareholder “I may spend the rest of my life in prison, but that’s better
in the metallurgical plant where Li was found, but she’ll than spending it in obscurity. Now, my name will forever be
counter that it’s part of a larger investment portfolio attached to the breakthrough that takes the Kalmuri to the
whose specifics she’s unaware of, since her broker stars. Future generations will care far more about that than
handles it for her. they will about the deaths of two corrupt men.”

§§ Attempting to appeal to her guilt at Dr. Kortar’s death: No

luck. By now, she’s spoken to Nelorn and learned about the
harassment. Any guilt she might have felt at Kortar’s death
is gone now, although she won’t openly take credit for it.

016 STAR TREK ADVENTURES

 SCENE 2: LI AFTERMATH SCENE 3: LANOX WRAPUP
If Lt. Li was not already found in Act 2, then Jezen will Lanox agrees to keep the crew’s existence secret.
now confess that she abducted him and will reveal where She admits she’s gained some appreciation for the
he is being held captive, as well as telling them how to Prime Directive:
circumvent the security system. She will add, “Don’t worry
– Mister Rikeli’s secrets are safe with me. I wouldn’t want “It’s like the limits I have to work within to keep me honest
anyone to mistakenly infer that I had… outside help in my – presumption of innocence, respect for a suspect’s rights,
achievements.” making no charges I can’t back up with evidence. Sometimes
I know someone is guilty but the law prevents me from acting.
The rest will play out much like the closing portion of Li’s That bothers the hell out of me, but I live with it, because
rescue in Scene 3B, except that the Players will not need to I know innocent people would be harmed if those laws
question Li about his abductor, and Li’s medical condition didn’t exist.
will be relatively worse due to the longer time it took to
recover him. Still… If your peoples had revealed themselves to the Kalmuri
and shared your knowledge years earlier, then these murders
Either way, there should be a concluding scene between might never have happened. All right, all right, that’s probably
T’Zheen and Li, with Li grateful to the Players for his rescue. too harsh. But it might not seem that way to the rest of the
While T’Zheen admits that recent events have vindicated Kalmuri if they knew the truth. And someday they will – once
Li’s strict approach to the Prime Directive, Li reveals that we use Jezen’s breakthrough to reach the stars and meet you
he’s been rethinking his position. These events have proven as peers.
to him that the Kalmuri are stronger, more resourceful, and
better equipped to handle contact with aliens than he’d “So tell me – what consequences do you think your non-
assumed. Lanox’s successful collaboration with his rescuers interference law will have when that day comes?”
has demonstrated that. So he apologizes to T’Zheen, saying
she was right to intervene on Nelorn’s behalf.

The Gravity of the Crime 017

CHAPTER
01.50
The Gravity of the Crime
CONCLUSION
Starfleet orders that Dr. Gur’s team be removed; they
cut things a little close here, and it’s best not to take any
CONTINUING VOYAGES…
more chances. Also, there will be an inquiry into Dr. Gur’s
“immersion” approach and whether it created too much risk. An offbeat option for follow-up adventures would be to play a
However, it will be up to the Players to decide whether to “spinoff” game about Inspector Lanox as a Player Character
inform Starfleet Command of Lt. T’Zheen’s Prime Directive solving crimes on Kalmur. Maybe she picks the pocket of
breach on Nelorn’s behalf. If they decide to do so, this could one of the Players before they leave and ends up owning a
lead into a follow-up story wherein they testify at T’Zheen’s tricorder with a full suite of Federation forensic techniques
inquiry, or Gur’s, or both. programmed into it…

Their characters can also take the opportunity to discuss

the ethical questions raised by this case and any personal
lessons they’ve learned or Values they’ve had Challenged.

018 STAR TREK ADVENTURES