Racing and Rejuv

HUB: Racing and Rejuv

Hub is Elizabeth Bartley's campaign set in the universe of James H. Schmitz's Hub stories. Players for that session included:

1. Joshua Kronengold -- Jealousy Jones, psi resistant detective

2. Lisa Padol -- Marius Lecks, empathic doctor

3. Matthew Stevens -- Jim DeGris, suave retired catburglar with telekinesis

There was an interplanetary race with a rare prize for the winner: A prototype drive engine. One of Marius' hobbies is racing, so he entered, not expecting to win. He left his personal ship, the Galen, behind, and rented something less impressive, but far more expendable. He met Jim while hanging out with fellow amateurs in a bar after one leg of the race. Jim had been attacked by folks wanting the retired burglar to tell them where he'd hidden the prize, which had just been stolen. Naturally, Jim hadn't done it. Naturally, no one believed this.

Jim and Marius headed back to Marius' hotel. Just outside it, they were attacked. Marius got hit by a stunner, but Jim cornered one of the shooters inside a hotel room. He was able to take the thug hostage and use him to convince the thugs who were in the process of searching and securing Marius to desist. I think Jim let all the thugs go, but I don't recall for sure.

The hotel staff was extremely apologetic when Marius reported the attack. Marius was moved to the honeymoon suite for security. Jim and Candy, his GOTWE (Girlfriend of the Week) stayed there overnight as well. Candy told Jim that lots of folks had asked about where he'd hidden the drive, and she gave him half of the bribe money she'd received.

A couple of days later, Marius, Jim, and Candy were in a different system, after the next leg of the race, and many people were convinced that Marius had hired Jim to steal the drive for the Galen.

Marius' fellow racers: You left the Galen back two systems ago!

Marius: They don't seem to believe that.

He contacted Jealousy and her detective agency. They agreed to keep an eye on both the Galen and Marius' racing wreck. The detective agency, Fifth Eye, was also trying to learn who'd stolen the drive.

As I recall, a rival detective agency was also trying to figure this out. Jealousy met with a couple of detective from that agency, making it clear that Marius and Jim were not invited. Jim convinced Candy to try to eavesdrop. She was quickly spotted and invited over. Jealousy used nanites to glue Candy to the chair, with her elbows glued to the table. Candy didn't find this out until after the others had left, and she thought it a little petty of Jealousy, who had been involved with Jim in the past.

Marius also thought it was petty, until Jealousy explained that Jim had sent Candy to spy on her. Josh said that Jealousy wasn't entirely free of her namesake vice, and that she'd also envisioned Candy and Jim sharing a tender moment, with him feeding her while she was glued in place. I think they went for explaining the problem to the restaurant staff and breaking up the furniture.

At some point, Jim was kidnapped, but his kidnappers allowed him opportunity to free himself when they realized that he really knew nothing of the drive's whereabouts. Marius was ambushed as well, but that turned out to be something different.

Marius had been instrumental in destroying a drug ring smuggling Rejuv, a particularly nasty drug. The smugglers who got away had put out a contract on Marius. They wanted him inconvenienced, and they would pay on a sliding scale based on the degree of inconvenience. The thugs at Marius' hotel had been after him, not Jim.

Marius was curious what the thugs he and Jealousy had captured had planned to do. They were, understandably reluctant to answer this in front of Marius, but when he left the room, they told Jealousy that they'd planned to castrate him, infect him with some kind of neurological disease, and I think do something else, as well.

Josh asked how minor this was, given Hub technology, and Beth said that Marius could have probably recovered completely in a few weeks. But the thugs' reluctance to talk in front of him was understandable. All but one were handed over for rehab. The exception agreed to spread the news that it was too expensive to go after Marius. One of Jealousy's investigator friends, who was Telezy's grandson and a telepath, confirmed that it was reasonably safe to let that particular thug go. He also taught Marius and Jealousy a bit about using their psi powers more effectively, referring them to Psychology to learn more.

Matt dropped out of the campaign at this point, finding himself involved in several games, with time at a premium. We never did finish the adventure, although Beth said that Psychology would train Jealousy and Marius in exchange for a favor. We agreed that Marius would get an extra die for empathic attacks when morally outraged.

Beth decided to run an adventure set before the race. Jealousy was visiting her family. Her mother was a Federation administrator, fairly powerful. Her father was a licensed sex therapist, i.e., prostitute, as was her oldest sister, Lucy. Jealousy was one of 7 siblings, all named on a theme, as Josh pointed out. Another sister, Slo, was an athlete, and a third, Rae, was an artist. She had an odd commission for paintings from an alien race, a plot thread Beth set up to leave dangling for a while.

Jealousy was visiting home, also slated to be the Federation capital for the next decade or so, while Marius was lobbying for the Federation to do more about cracking down on Rejuv.

At a party, Marius chatted with aquatic aliens and networked on the Rejuv issue. Jealousy's mother told him which person he should make an appointment with. This he did, and the man he met with asked if Marius would be willing to pose as a dealer. Marius agreed. It wasn't his area of expertise, but Jealousy was willing to help disguise him and his older brother, Curtis. They were able to bring the evidence required.

During this adventure, perhaps after the Lecks' role had been revealed, the dealers sent people after them. Marius sensed the hostiles with his empathy, and warned Curtis, not mentioning the empathy part. After they'd dealt with their attackers, the contacted the authorities. The cops who showed up were in cahoots with the dealers. Marius realized this, but was willing to play along with their suggestion that he and Curtis visit the nearby hospital to get checked over for injury.

Curtis thought that this was stupid, and that the cops could probably dispose of them at the hospital. He did something that convinced Marius that there was a hostile telepath in the area. I forget what Curtis did, especially as he's a receptive telepath only, and what reaction he'd expected.

Regardless, Marius did not go to the hospital. He did warn Jealousy that there was a hostile telepath. Jealousy knew Marius was an empath, and, although I forget how, that Curtis was a telepath. After getting over her deep amusement that neither brother knew about the other, she updated them.

Marius was not pleased.

Marius (to Curtis): You shit.

He conveniently ignored the fact that he had not been forthcoming about his empathy. Nevertheless, Curtis was abashed.

We agreed that this adventure fit nicely before the other, added justification, if any were needed, for the contract on Marius.