You leave her to it. Turn to 107.
171
Floating down the corridor, you notice that one of the panels on your left-hand side looks a slightly different shade from the others, and approach it. The difference in look is due to this panel being transparent, revealing a map of the ship beneath it, which you imagine would otherwise be lit up.
The bridge is at one end of the ship, the cryogenic chamber is at the opposite end and you are about halfway through, just around the corner from a large area labelled as the garden. To the right-hand side of the garden is a small room with a large red cross in it; you have no idea what this could mean. On the opposite side of the garden is the kitchen, which opens onto a T-junction that leads to a space labelled as confidential to the left and the bridge in front. Glad to now know where you are heading, you press on. Turn to 81.
172
You settle yourself into the commander’s chair, and look at the various micro-screens available, none of which are on. You punch a couple of buttons with no apparent effect, so realise you have wasted your time here.
You get up to try another chair, when you spot a small pamphlet on the floor entitled “POTREMA: The end of the search for intelligent life out there.” You may take this with you if you like. Now turn to 98.
173
You hold onto the door handle and carefully push it open, trying to make as little sound as possible.
Slowly, slowly, you peek your head around the door and glance both ways, the mass of what is now clearly blood shifting and expanding slowly out from the doorframe. There’s nothing here, so you step forward and beckon the others to do the same.
“Thank goodness we’ve got you,” comments Pauline, sarcastically, waving her hands in the air in an attempt to waft away the scarlet bubbles surrounding you all. “I really hope you can waste our time whenever we do something meaningless.” The others chuckle at your caution, and you feel a bit shaken by their lack of faith in you. Lose 1 SPIRIT point and turn to 219.
174
Hiding in the furthest corner from the door, right next to a central power switch set to “off”, is something that under any normal circumstances would be harmless: a photo frame containing a picture of a smartly-dressed military officer standing next to a young child you presume to be his offspring. Almost certainly, the user of this room was the man in the picture.
But something about the picture hints that something deeper is going on, because the child in the picture is you.
You grab hold of the picture and pull it out, flicking on the power switch absent-mindedly while you do it, and the series of events that then take place are impossible to predict and even less possible to understand.
The array of screens all power on instantaneously, and the surge is too much for the delicate old rack. Sparks fly from one corner to the other, and your elbow, barely touching the edge of one of the control panels, attracts all of the electricity, throwing you violently through the air. At the same time, the door is slamming shut, and your head smashes into its edge, cutting you badly and making your vision go fuzzy.
Spinning through the air, your vision filling with a cloud of your own blood, you reach out to grab hold of something to steady you, and can only lay your hand on the rack of screens as another wave of power surges through it. You feel your hand involuntarily gripping it as the electricity fills your entire body.
And then everything goes black.
175
Not wanting to allow the sight of Mel’s body to affect you, you boldly push yourself forward, and continue to float through the corridor until you come to a T-junction. The corridor continues forward, and as you are watching, Catalina and Pauline emerge from the gloom, floating purposefully towards you.
“Any sign of the others?” Catalina asks.
James indicates behind you with his thumb. “We found Mel,” he says. “Dead.” You share a collective moment of acknowledging that it is desperately sad and that there is nothing you can do about it now. Bartu remains out there, and you still have no idea what the alarm is sounding for.
The sign above your head tells you that the bridge is to your left, so you go in that direction; if there’s any place that will have the source of the alarm, that will be it. Turn to 254.
176
You point your body to ascend the staircase, when you spot a keycard peeking out from behind a rack of computers. Would you like to take this (turn to 202) or leave it (turn to 148)?
177
Sitting in your private room, Travis asks, “how ready are you feeling?”
You don’t even know how to answer. So much time has passed and so much has happened over the course of what feels like two days to you, so you are looking forward to it all calming down.
Travis gives you some time to think through your approach before the trial begins, and eventually returns to take you into the court room.
The room itself is disappointing, although you find that a bit comforting. Rather than a large, oak-panelled room with viewing balconies and a crowd watching, you end up sitting alongside the rest of your team behind a table in a room that measures about four yards square. Another table is positioned opposite you, at which three people dressed all in red sit. A third, smaller table and chair is positioned at one end of the room, and guards are stationed around the perimeter. The lady sitting in the middle of the table looks at the four of you and introduces proceedings.
“I’m Judge Bartlett. We have three witnesses to explain various aspects of the Altimer’s story; cryogenesis, the sabotage itself and the creatures on board. Following each statement, you will have a chance to respond, and once all three have concluded we will discuss and issue a final judgement.” She turns to the guard standing to her right, and says “Call in the first witness!”
Turn to 44.
178
You try to feel gently into her pockets, but the process of dealing so closely with the body of someone you feel so strongly about upsets you so much that you can’t continue.
James puts a supportive hand on your shoulder. “Come on, we can’t do anything for her.” You leave her and continue onward down the corridor (turn to 175).
179
You are ushered into a grand room a short walk from the reception area. The lead researcher is Lady Yatch, who devoted her life to extra-terrestrial research as soon as she found out about there being intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, and is visibly moved when she expresses how privileged she feels to have been alive at this point in history, when the human race first met others.
“Anyway,” she says, “don’t let me bore you with my life. What were you here to ask about?”
Would you like to ask about the aliens on the Altimer (turn to 271) or ask her to talk more about her work (turn to 30)?
180
You gently stroll round the corner, take a swift couple of steps forward and then duck into a spot behind some pipes that seem to have risen from the ground and continue higher than you can see. A moment later the hooded figure steps around the corner, darting their eyes around and then steadily fixing their gaze directly on you.
You freeze; you were expecting them to keep on moving past you and instead are going to have to face them head-on. You step out and power up your glove.
With most opponents, the fizz of the glove being powered up creates an involuntary moment of surprise and worry. You cannot see the face of your attacker, but the mocking laugh that emerges from under the hood gives you an early indication that this may not be as straightforward as you thought it might be.
The figure doesn’t move, but they must have shot something because your abdomen suddenly screams out in pain. You do the same and, looking down, see blood beginning to pour from your stomach. Lose 5 SPIRIT points.
You look back up again and your attacker is no longer there. You can’t see where they would have gone and you spin round to find them, spreading blood around the alleyway with every movement.
The push in your back i
s the only way you can tell they are behind you – how are they moving so silently? You fall forward onto your knees, knocking your internal organs against the painful mess on your front and causing you to stop your fall with your hands.
The second energy blast burns your chest out from the inside. Mercifully, your death is a swift one.
181
James’ head-patting strikes you as odd, and you subtly pull out the pamphlet you received to check the symptom descriptions. Looking a second time, and despite your intuition telling you otherwise, there is no doubt in your mind that if this pamphlet is true, James must be an alien disguised as a human.
The judge is thanking the major for his time, who is standing up and about to leave the room, leaving the way clear for the third witness. You have a chance to stand up, brandishing the pamphlet and accuse James of being the saboteur. If you would like to do that, turn to 75. If not, you slide it back into your pocket and await the next witness (turn to 207).
182
Professor Harvey has made way this afternoon for Professor David Lucas, a tall, wiry man with long, flowing hair and a face that can only be described as pointy. As soon as he steps in, he starts barking at the class.
“Right then. Who do we have here?” His eye moves over the class and lands on a blonde-haired, pouting lady on the other side of the hall. “You!” he shouts, pointing right at her, “What’s your name?”
She glances up at him, as if he were interrupting something much more important. “Huh?” she responded, “Pauline.”
“Alright then, Pauline. How many electrons does potassium have?”
“Nineteen,” she replies, instantly.
“Correct,” Lucas says with a nod, then casts his eye over the room again. His gaze lands on you. “Right then, you’re next!” he says, pointing at you, then spinning round and drawing on the screen. “Have a look at this square. What are the missing numbers?”
If you can work out the missing numbers in the puzzle below that Professor Lucas has drawn up, you will end up with numbers assigned to the letters A, B and C. Multiply A by B, then take C away from that total to give you a new number, and turn to that number. For example, if you think A is 11, B is 24 and C is 4, you would multiply 11 by 24 (264) and take away 4 (260), so you would turn to 260. If you can’t work out the answer, turn to 110.
183
You push the door, and immediately find that it is locked. If you have found a keycard you can try using that (turn to 47). If you don’t have a keycard, lose 1 SPIRIT as, disappointingly, you will have to enter the maintenance hatch anyway (turn to 35).
184
You can choose to talk to Pauline alone (turn to 209), Bartu and James together (turn to 289), or Catalina and Mel together (turn to 50).
185
You propel yourself down towards Mel’s body, and immediately something seems up. The blood stains beneath her run up against the wall on your left, but ahead of you they seem to run under the wall. Investigating more closely, you notice a button in the wall, and the temptation is too great; you press it, and part of the wall swings backwards, revealing a hidden space!
You can go through the secret door if you like (turn to 6) or you can ignore it and leave Mel behind as you head down the right-hand branch of this corridor (turn to 175).
186
You lay a deadly blow to the robot, and it collapses to the floor, trussed up by its cable, which is now frayed and fizzing. The lights on the opposite wall all flick off instantly, leaving you in relative darkness.
You and James check around the rest of the room but can see nothing of interest; the robot and the wall are both not operational and there’s nothing else here.
You turn around and turn right out of the room, following the corridor away from the cryogenic chamber. Turn to 88.
187
The two of you strap yourselves in, and with huge grins on both of your faces, you hit the launch button. If you have the codeword Hydra, turn immediately to 71. If not, turn to 24.
188
You follow the corridor, eventually reaching a point with one door on either side of you. The corridor stretches onwards. Do you enter the door to your left (turn to 2), enter the door to your right (turn to 253) or continue straight on (turn to 93)?
189
You float right up to the door and suddenly feel overcome by an irrational sense of dread. You look at James, who just shrugs his shoulders.
If you would like to go through the door anyway, turn to 9. Otherwise, you can spin around and go through the door opposite (turn to 146) or continue down the corridor (turn to 73).
190
7 May 2161
This is the best idea I ever had! Closing off this corner gives me the only private area on the ship, as well as a covert way to oversee what goes on. It’s also the only place I can store a picture of my child without drawing undue attention.
10 May 2161
I’m about to begin the GIG recruitment process to get all of the kids closer, but I’ll have to do that subtly. The mother will never forgive me if I disrupt what she’s created with that man who stole her from me, but at least I can do right by my own flesh and blood to set up a good and exciting life. I’ll hold back from telling the whole truth until there’s a natural opportunity and I can put it past her first.
15 May 2161
Classic. Just as I’ve customised the ship it’s about to enter maintenance. Never mind, with this area now closed off I should be ok to leave everything here and pick it back up when the ship’s done.
191
You find that most of the lockers here are unlocked, although it takes some time to search through them all. You find nothing of interest, so turn towards the new door, although you think that you spot something underneath the bench.
You step forward to see, violently knocking your knee against the corner of the bench on your way – lose 1 BODY. To add insult to injury, you find that what you spotted was a broken kneepad. Of no use to anyone, and certainly not you anymore. You go through the door (turn to 97).
192
Leaving the library, you have two choices. You can cross the corridor and enter the door opposite (turn to 146) or you can turn to your right and follow the corridor (turn to 73)?
193
You try to force the door open and discover that it is unreasonably hard in zero gravity. There’s no helping it, the door is jammed shut until you gain control of the ship again. You give it one more push to see if you’ve loosened it at all, and your shoulder slips, smashing your forehead into the thick door (lose 3 SPIRIT points).
Frustrated and hurting, you spin yourself round and follow the corridor round the corner (turn to 84).
194
You don’t know whether it’s the bar you’ve just left or what you’re particularly looking at, but your brain makes a connection you previously hadn’t paid attention to.
Before you boarded the Altimer, you remember Bartu mentioning to the team that he would share his console password with someone in the team. You can’t remember who ended up being told it, but that would have allowed someone to override the autopilot controls.
You return to the city centre. If you have the codeword Cetus, turn to 99. If not, turn to 140.
195
The barman is welcoming and introduces himself as Tony. He has lived on Mars his whole life, a proud third-generation Martian, and has never visited earth in his life. His stories help you to feel right at home and you feel that he is a good person to be connected to. Increase your HEART points by 1.
After spending some enjoyable time making new friends and new memories, you decide that it is time to leave. Turn to 107.
196
You pull out the mini-keyboard attached to the monitor, and begin to type in commands. Lines of code appear on the screen, and you try to recall how to access a locked computer.
Make a MIND check at difficulty 13. If you are successful, turn to 130. If you fail, turn to 115.
197
>
You gather the team and ask them to sit peacefully and slow their breathing. At first, things are going well, but Bartu did not sleep well last night, and predictably falls asleep. His gentle snoring starts a chuckle among the team, which you try to calm down but with no effect.
“Ok,” says Mel, “Good try, but I don’t think this is working I’m afraid. See you on board!” she adds cheerfully as she strolls away, and the others also leave, looking back every so often apologetically as you continue to sit on the floor before waking up Bartu.
Lose 1 HEART point. Now you can go to the storage unit if you haven’t already (turn to 33) or if you’re ready you can board the Altimer (turn to 201)?
198
You look at the weaponry options in front of you. This certainly isn’t the source of the alarm, and you see no way the torpedoes, harpoons or ray guns would make a difference. You curse yourself as you stand up; what were you thinking?
Without warning, you are struck on the head from behind. You spin around, ready to take on your attacker, but there is no-one there. You are struck again, this time on your left arm, and can’t stop yourself collapsing to the floor.
Make a BODY check at difficulty 13. If you are successful, turn to 98. If you fail, turn to 268.
199
Pulling yourself into the middle of the weaponry section, you have a toy store of things to choose from. You may take any two items.
The first thing you come across is a stun gun, enabling you to defeat your opponents without killing them. If you take this item, any future fights you find yourself in, if you choose to use this weapon you may be asked in the following section if you used it, which may allow you to revive and question a prisoner – or may allow them to recover and attack you a second time!
You also find an EMP grenade, enabling you to deactivate electronic devices within a small radius. If you take this item, you will be instructed in the text as to how to use it.
Finally, you find a small device about the size and shape of a police baton, with a button at one side to send energy blasts at an opponent. If you take this item and use it in battle, you can automatically deliver an additional 1 SPIRIT point in each battle round.
The Altimer Page 9