E173 Try for Contact (takes 1 hour)

You make contact, and discover this is a ship of the Byzantine secret police. If you had any encounter with them before, or
succeed with a Cunning roll (R202), they wish to deal with you. Otherwise, of if you are "wanted" by Byzantium, they demand
to board you for a search.

Dealing with the Byzantine Secret Police Ship: roll 1d6
  • 1-2: they wish you to smuggle a 4 CU stasis unit to the nearest planet for them, you will be paid 300 S after you land it on the planet; you can de-energize it yourself (R212E), but if you do see E425 when it is opened, and you become "wanted" on Byzantium
  • 3-4: conceal one of their men on your ship and take him to the nearest planet, you will be paid 550 S when he arrives undetected, and nothing otherwise (the man will dexterously disappear if found earlier)
  • 5-6: conceal one of their men and take him to the palace on Imperia, you will be paid 3,000 S when you return to Byzantium after a successful delivery, again their man must be undetected — if detected he disappears and you will not be paid anything.

  • Boarding for Search by Byzantine Secret Police: If you resist boarding, see E189. If you allow boarding, two men come on board,
    each E6, M2, H3 with tech-2 sidearms who search (R229D) the ship for items worth more than 100 S per CU. If they find any,
    roll 1d6, 1-2 they make notes and ask for a 1 CU duty per CU of such goods, 3-6 they will take 1 CU of one such item (the most
    valuable) and then let you pass. If you attempt to stop them, or refuse to pay the duty, a fight breaks out on board, see R327.
    If you win the fight on board, you will then have to fight the Byzantine ship, see E189.