Freelance Traveller

Klaus Bögel Andor

profiled by Narciso Maeso

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2011 issue of Freelance Traveller.

Klaus Bögel Andor 779895 Age 37 Cr4500
5 Terms Scout (Rescue Groups) (pension Cr4000)
Astrogation-3, Computer-2, Vacc Suit-2, Pilot-1, Jack-of-all-trades-1.

Klaus has belonged to the Rescue Groups since their foundation. Klaus is a vocational scout; he loves space like others love the sea.

Klaus was born on a water world near the frontier. Although he was the son of a spaceport administrator, he did not try for the more commonly-sought careers in the Navy or the Merchants; he clearly preferred the Rescue Groups. He was admitted. The department had few ships and never was a priority for the bureaucracy, but dedicated people like Klaus made it work. They were really a public service, saving thousands of lives and hundreds of damaged ships, both civil and military.

But (there is always a “but”) in 1104, Klaus’s ship was seconded to the Navy as part of a joint exercise. The system was near a hostile power with whom there was a truce. Really near… While the exercise was under way a hostile recon ship approached the fleet. Subsequent actions weren’t clear, and the exercise became a naval incident—in other words: a battle. The recon vessel was alone against an entire fleet. They lost, but that day nobody died thanks to Klaus and his mates. The recon ship was burning and drifting, the fleet commanders were shouting and cursing when the Rescue Group ship went (once again) to the rescue. Despite the hysterical commands from the flagship (“Rescue ship return to formation, rescue ship come back!”), Klaus managed to save the recon ship’s crew, but he could not save his career.

Klaus and his mates were judged one year later. It was a long and expensive legal process. Finally, the verdict was “not guilty”. In fact, Klaus had saved three lives and probably had saved many more from both sides, since the incident could have been the beginning of a new general war. Thanks to the scout’s heroism it was only a minor skirmish without major consequences.

Klaus was forced to retire. He has a pension: 4000 credits per year. Currently (1106) he lives in a cheap hotel near a spaceport with just 4500 credits in his pocket. Klaus’s only ambition is to be the owner of a little ship. But he needs a job first.

The scout is quite tall and slim. However he is a complex man: Rather shy but brave, loyal to his nation but not a fanatic, serious but kind…When the judge asked him why he disobeyed orders and went out to save the recon ship’s crew, Klaus only said: “We heard the mayday and proceeded to the rescue. I have the conviction that they would have done the same for us in those circumstances”.