The contact arrives as a signal, too distant for a useful view through the ports. Broken bursts identify The Kindly Distance, a medium exploration vessel. Weapons telemetry follows, then a request that everyone clear the wreck’s approach. More than one transmitter claims ownership of the wreck. Between the claims, someone returns fire.
An identification image resolves on the display. The vessel’s sensor mast has been patched with a different alloy, leaving a pale section between darker fittings. In a brief bridge transmission, the navigation officer holds a handwritten chart beside the console and checks a plotted turn. The image freezes before the turn is complete. A cargo file arrives intact, though its accompanying voice message does not.
Spare parts occupy more of the hold than profitable freight. Among the remaining loads are a shipment rejected after a standard changed, a replacement window for a habitat, and an ordinary consignment insured for an extraordinary sum. The window’s transport frame takes up much of the loading photograph. Its destination is still waiting for delivery. Another burst from The Kindly Distance repeats the salvage claim and asks for a witness to record the exchange. The receiver has room to save it.
Which part of this disputed salvage would you try to establish first?
Actual table rolls interpreted with AI assistance. Prose and artwork reviewed before publication. These discoveries are invitations to play, not fixed setting canon.