So long as the robots concerned remain 
operative, these defenses will remain in 
effect even if Baralou is destroyed. 

The Action 

Ev1. Arrival at Snobol 

On arrival back at Snobol on day 114 (see 
the TIME CHART - page 4), the char- 
acters will be greeted over the shuttle 
foyer intercom (S5) by the excited but very 
relieved voice of Captain Akizk. He will 
congratulate them on their survival and 
 

Captain's Death 
Baralou will realize that she must prevent 
the captain (the only person aboard who 
knows that she is a robot) from finding out 
about the Matrix. While the characters 
are in the elevator (L3), Baralou will kill 
the captain in his cabin (M5b). She will 
make the murder look like a suicide by first 
tranquilizing him with a doze grenade, 
shooting him at close range with his own 
laser pistol, then putting the gun in 
his hand. 

To incriminate Ellen (the engineer), Bara- 
lou will smear a little graphite lubricant 
on the pistol. The referee should make a 
secret intuition check for each player 
character who examines the pistol to see 
if the lubricant is noticed. 

Before returning to her cabin, Baralou 
will use the captain's Term-12 terminal to 
type a "suicide note", leaving it displayed 
on the screen: 
 

There can be no life without honor  and loyalty to the company. The  outsiders are returning from Jetsom  and everything will be revealed.  There is but one thing to do.  Akizk

Discovery 
The characters will arrive at the captain's 
suite (M5) just as Ellen Coopermann is 
 

The circumstances of the captain's death 
(he seemed very glad that the characters 
had returned, for example) should be 
enough to make the player characters 
suspect that it was not suicide. If, 
however, they do not seem suspicious, 
the referee should make an intuition 
check for the most intuitive character. If 
the check is failed, the character will 
simply notice a strange smell in the air. If 
the check is successful, the character will 
recognize it as doze gas. 

Meeting 
As a second in command, Ellen will insist 
that it is her duty to take over the running 
of the ship, and will call a meting of 
everybody aboard to discuss events. 

The meeting will be held in the common 
room (M25). Ellen will inform the crew 
that the captain has killed himself and 
that she has taken command. Then she 
will ask the characters to describe what 
took place on Jetsom. If the characters 
tell the others about the Matrix, Ellen will 
be highly skeptical, Baralou will express 
cautious interest, Daqor Klarr will start to 
grumble about "getting back at the 
thing", Fiator Geauis will look scared, and 
Castuss Wallorr will say that he never did 
trust "tin boxes". One of the player 
characters will overhear Castuss mutter, 
"It's a good thing 'Frosty' isn't in com- 
mand", and "I'll make sure we've got a 
way out".