Baron of Gray Matter

 Lago (A343965-9) is a populous and prosperous world that is subtly controlled by off world interests buying its elections and officials. In the past few years a number of local movements have agitated for reform. The latest was led by a local baron Orson Haut-Lee. After several years on the run and causing unrest and disruption, Haut-Lee was captured alive.

As a member of the nobility, Haut-Lee's execution would have grave repercussions. Instead it was decided to transport him on a series of Lagese vessels on missions to other systems. He would remain alive, but out of touch. He would never be able to communicate directly with his followers though censored videos were released to prove he was alive. 

It worked well enough, until several life support systems failed on the escort carrying him. The failures were troubling in that they'd require several days to repair -ideally on a habitable planet. The escort will miss its assigned rendezvous with the next ship to transport Haut-Lee. 

The escort captain offers the players Cr 50,000 to transport Haut-Lee to the rendezvous, Cr 25,000 now and the balance on delivery. Hopefully they have a ship. (Otherwise, why are you reading this? ) He can also spread word to make things easier of them, or harder in the Lagese sphere of influence. The job seems pretty good. The escort will even give the traders (or whatever) enough refined fuel to take them to the rendezvous point. The players’ ship is given a special code to describe the situation to the rendezvousing ship destroyer.

Haut-Lee is a polite and friendly man. As a high passenger, not to mention a baron, he expects all the amenities. He has a dTon of baggage. The food should first rate. If these requests are met he's a perfect and enjoyable guest, should the crew engage him, even giving them little tchotchkes he has acquired and very decent tips for good service.

Then partway through the jump -he's dead. Now disconcerting as this may be, it gets still stranger because shortly after being dead to all intents and purposes, the deceased comes out of his stateroom and politely requests his breakfast!

Possible causes include: 

1) This was a possible future glimpsed by a jump anomaly. It can be prevented! Or can't. Depends on your philosophy. The code to the destroyer indicates they should meet the player character ship and complete the transfer and provide them refined fuel. If the baron remains dead they will renege on the fuel and their part of the payment.

2) The baron died a while ago. This is merely a very good prototype android used to keep him 'alive' and delay a full scale rebellion! The android glitched due to a stray electrical impulse in the jump field. The robot will notify the crew of the Lagese ship that meets them what the crew knows. It will take a while to verify the android is not the baron but a decoy. Sealed orders must be opened etc. The players might have a turn or two to get away. The code to the destroyer indicates they should meet the player character ship and complete the transfer and provide them refined fuel and Cr 25,000. Once the android shows its nature, orders will indicate the player ship must be destroyed. 

3) The baron is a powerful psionic. He used Awareness to slow his metabolism, then used TK to disable sensors and gradually lower the O2 level in the ship. This will knock out the crew. His Awareness will allow him to breathe the thinner air for much longer. He will rendezvous with another vessel, crewed by friends. If the crew treated him well they will wake up to find a large gratuity. 

The code to the destroyer indicates they should meet the player character ship and complete the transfer and provide them refined fuel and Cr 25,000. However, when the baron is not onboard the player characters will be detained, interrogated and eventually released with neither fuel nor the balance promised. They will be viewed with suspicion in the Lagese region, though they now have a friend in the resistance.

4) The baron's routine meds included a poison. the Lagese want to be rid of him and want a bunch of innocent dupes to bear the wrath of his followers. Unfortunately after a short coma, the baron awakes. The players could treat him to prevent the poison from eventually killing him completely. The Lagese, who expected a non-controversial corpse, will not be pleased. They will let the player characters proceed, with fuel and payment.

5) Orson Haut-Lee is a cyberneticist and hacker. An implant allows him to fake his death. He then grabs a monitor and hacks the vessel's computer, shutting down its power. If the crew sends a message to a vessel crewed by friends, Haut-Lee is persuaded to give the crew the code to restore the computer. The code to the destroyer indicates they should meet the player character ship and complete the transfer and provide them defined fuel. However, when the baron is not onboard the player characters will be detained, interrogated and eventually released. They will be viewed with suspicion in the Lagese region, though they now have a friend in the baron. 

Optionally, the baron might feel grateful and give the crew a back door code to disable the Lagese military ships temporarily, letting them turn the tables or escape. Within a month the code will no longer be valid.