Freelance Traveller

by Louis Wester

A passenger on the PC's ship is a representative of a highly successful company that sells computers software. He is traveling to the destination system with an update to the system's prevalent OS. The update corrects a serious security flaw. The update is in a small case cuffed to the courier's wrist, Very high TL security to prevent tampering. The courier does not even have the codes/tools to remove the package, and has been warned not to even try. One of the PC's is computer savvy enough to realize how volatile this trip could become.

Possible directions for this adventure to take:

1. Another passenger on the PC's ship intends to delay the update, and use the time for his/her own purposes (hacking, theft, mischief, or an illegal ImpSec monitoring system)
2. The courier is very talkative about the system, even willing to demo it with the right ($$$) incentive.
3. The courier is extremely paranoid. His company security has told him too many stories about kidnapped couriers. He now believes the PCs are just waiting for the right moment to steal the OS update from him. Visions of torture and ransom demands fill his dreams. ANY ship problem will be seen as a distraction/cue to begin an attack on his person.
4. As #3. Above, and one of the other passengers is a security operative from the company to handle any perceived bad situations. Think "wind talkers" and the orders to protect that information.
5. Another passenger works for a criminal organization with a vested interest in NOT having the security flaw corrected. This passenger is not a suicide agent, however she will use extreme measures to prevent the courier from reaching the destination port.
6. The courier became uncomfortable with the cuff (you know how an itch under a cast can drive you crazy) and has removed the package. He is now desperately trying to reattach it before the ship exits Jump. What capabilities the cuff and security container has are completely unknown. Maybe the data was wiped when the tampering started, maybe the thing will self-destruct when the ship reenters normal space. Maybe nothing, perhaps the company over stated the security measures to prevent employee "accidents".