In Absentia

By Nick Huggins

Players: 15

Genre: Science fiction trial

Liberty Habitat – The Earth colony on Gauss-4124 Tango. The second extra-solar world to ever be colonized by human beings in a universe largely devoid of habitable planets. Far enough away from Earth that radio signals take weeks to arrive - mounting an expedition to Gauss-4124 from the home world would take six months between prepping a starship and making the journey.

The Habitat was built on Gauss-4124 (called Liberty by the colonists) twenty years ago – A series of geodesic domed structures, necessary because of the corrosive and poisonous atmosphere of the planet. The Habitat and the buildings around it are now home to ten thousand men, women and children; a colony in the process of making a better world.

Once the first parts of the colony were established by a handful of pioneers, the majority of the rest of the colonists arrived from Earth on a series of transports with the atmospheric re-processor that would allow ten thousand humans to share the same air. The building of the proper colony began.

Seventeen years later the colony hit its first major stumbling block. A hydroponic forest had been created to supplement the operation of the atmosphere re-processor under the supervision of the botany team. In the course of three days it burned to the ground, the blaze quickly raging almost out of control in the enclosed environment until almost all of the colony’s resources had to be devoted to quenching it. In the wake of the fire, a new colony leader was elected and studies done on the atmospheric re-processor to make sure it could tide the colony over until a new forest was grown. It could have.

Not that any chance was given to it – Six days ago an explosion in the atmospheric re-processor ripped it apart, rendering it useless. With only a limited hydroponic solution available, estimates suggest that the colony has roughly two to three months of oxygen left. No useful Earth transport can be mustered in that timeframe.

With some exceptions (see below) you are the Council of Liberty Habitat. You are comprised of the Heads of some departments, the Governor and the Earth Liaison as well as some notable individuals. This place is the Council Chamber.

You are here to bring Keith Jenkins – The man responsible for bombing the atmosphere re-processor – to justice. The colonists know what has happened. Already there is an atmosphere of riot and panic in the streets. Hopefully, by doing the “right thing” the Council can show the colonists that they have some degree of control over a situation that they really have no hope of controlling.

There may be more to this meeting – Most notably what plan is there for the doomed colony…

Cost: free

Available from: http://www.irishgaming.com/scenario_storage/nh/inabsentia.zip