I'll shortly be starting a multi-game campaign for Fletcher's crew in my Zona Albion setting, so I present you with:
The Quatermass Run
Sitting in the sun, Fletcher allowed himself the luxury of rest, a rare commodity in the Zone. Lukewarm and Heslop were keeping watch, while Ingrid and Godber worked on the landy, so Fletcher shut his eyes and thought about the events of the last couple of days.
When Fletcher left the Institute building he had allowed himself a smile. His client was none other than Professor Quatermass and, on the face of it, this job looked like it could be a good earner. If they did this run right they may well get more work from the Institute.
Quatermass had explained that the seemingly random energy emissions in the Zone had always been assumed to radiate from the AERE Northmoor site, where the first incident was identified. However, measurements taken during recent emissions appeared to show that their point of origin might not actually be at the AERE site itself. Locating the actual point of origin was complicated by what he termed "echoes" of the emission at other points in the zone, that distorted the energy profile of the emission. Quatermass had therefore installed a number of instrument packages in the Zone to monitor these echoes and help him triangulate the true point of origin of the emissions. It was now time to recover the instrument data. As emissions and other effects of the Zone could disrupt radio transmissions and corrupt transmitted data, the only reliable way to retrieve the data was to recover it manually.
Not being a boffin type, Fletcher was a bit confused over Quatermass' explanation, since everyone knew that the first emission was centred on the AERE site research site, caused by an experiment there. However, regardless of Quatermass' theory, it didn't affect the fact that they would get five hundred quid a piece for picking up the first three instrument packages that had been monitoring emissions inside the Yellow Zone, plus a grand for the fourth package in the Red Zone. This would be a difficult run, especially without McLaren and Bunny Warren (still on that job for Grouty), but made a bit easier because Quatermass had arranged for an access pass for Fletcher's crew to get in and out of the Zone.
It would be best to try to get the first three instruments in one hit, rather than going in and out of the Zone each time. Fortunately Ingrid knew of a working motor that they could use to get between the instrument sites (she had almost completed repairing it and just needed a couple of hours to fit some replacement parts before it should be roadworthy).
So far so good. Ingrid picked up second hand parts via her father's garage business. Quatermass' pass allowed them to waltz past the security checkpoint and Ingrid led them to an abandoned farm in the Green Zone. True to her word, she took them to a ramshackle barn hidden amongst some trees. Opening the doors she revealed an old Landrover, which must have been about the same age Ingrid and Godber. Old enough that they would be able to get it going using a starting handle without worrying about electrics fried by emissions. Good girl Ingrid!
The noise of an engine and a shout of jubilation stirred Fletcher from his thoughts. Ingrid had got the landy going. Time to press on to collect the instruments? "No" said Ingrid. The landy was breathing fumes, so they needed to get some fuel. Fortunately she knew of a jerrycan of diesel stashed at an old garage roughly on the way to the first instrument.
15 July 2010, 09:33:44 PM