25/09/2019 - Uncle Vlen's Will (4)

Grant is covered in sick from his zero-G experience and he encourages Trent to go faster back to Liberator as the shuttle is beginning to smell of sick.

When they get back to Liberator, Grant goes to his room to shower and change. He gets a message from Detective Oday, asking how Winter Shipping went. Grant tells him the Harlen lead didn’t work out. Van Yesha appears to be out of the system, possibly heading for Beck’s World.

Possible Destinations

They discuss whether to go to Beck’s World, which is not that far away from Regina, whereas jumping back to Aramis would take longer. However, Grant overrules this as they need money before they can go on exotic missions.

Dirk has Zen calculate a jump to Valhalla, a useful and quiet system midway between Regina and Aramis. The ship thrusts away from Assinaboi and once at 100 diameter distance, jumps to Valhalla.

The Travellers relax and do their own thing, gaming, taking drugs and distracting themselves while the jump completes. When they arrive at Valhalla, they follow Dirk’s suggest of waiting in a quiet section of the system for a few hours while Liberator’s energy banks recharge, then jump on to Aramis.

Homecoming

When they arrive in Aramis, they park the Liberator in a quiet outer orbit and bring Vlen’s body on a shuttle to the main planet. Once they are through customs in the Highport space station, they proceed down to the planet and Grant goes to his father William Kennedy. William takes him to their solicitor’s office, Meiser and Swift. The solicitors arrange for the body to be delivered to the authorities and the 100,000 Credit bond redeemed for delivery of the body.

The bond money is released quite quickly, but after covering expenses and paying the crew some of their wages, Grant ends up with around 15,000 Credits spare.

Probate Delays

They learn that the solicitors acting for Vlen Kennedy’s estate, Restel, Kerr and Olac, advise that there must be a ten day delay while notice of the death is transmitted across the sector and possible claimants on the estate have a chance to travel to Aramis.

The initial estimate of assets in the Vlen Kennedy estate is 100 million Credits, less taxes and liabilities. There does not seem to be a will lodged with the authorities however, so any inheritance will be based on the closest living relative.

Vlen never married and had no children, so William Kennedy, his brother, appears to be his next of kin.

Shore Leave

The Travellers decide to take a few days off and rest. They go to a nice restaurant that evening and chat, discussing what they are going to do next. They consider becoming Ancient Artefact smugglers, obtaining the detector from the scientist on Beck’s World. They could even go there while they wait for the probate to be resolved, but decide to enjoy some time off.

Cyrus relieves Dirk for a few days and looks after Liberator. He turns the flight deck into a drug filled hot box, having Zen switch off the air cycling system and seal the flight deck.

Del spends his time trying to build his own drone robot.

Drent starts a romance with a beautiful woman who likes Spacers. Her name is Lucia.

Grant spends some of the time with his father planning their family future. Their main problem is there are few liquid assets left and selling off their income will hurt them long term. They need to find a way to use their “magic ship” (the Liberator) to make money.

Family Problems

A couple of days before the probate deadline, Grant’s father calls Grant to their solicitor’s office again, to discover that Buzz Kennedy has travelled from Dyvers to Aramis and is claiming Vlen Kennedy’s estate. The basis of his claim is that Federation and Interplanetary Law says that convicted and indicted criminals cannot inherit. William is a convicted felon and Grant has been indicted on Dyvers on charges of piracy.

William is very upset by this and a lot of Grant’s time that day is taken up calming him down and discussing with their solicitors how to deal with this challenge. Their main legal angle will be that Dyvers recently withdrew from the Sector Authority, which includes adherence to Interplanetary Law. Also, while William’s conviction could well make it difficult for him to inherit, Grant simply being charged is not enough to stop him claiming his uncle’s estate.

Multiple Claimants

When the probate deadline arrives, the Travellers accompany Grant and his father, with their solicitor, to the offices of Restel, Kerr and Olac, where all parties to the estate of Vlen Kennedy must assemble.

When they arrive, Buzz Kennedy is already there, with a body guard and three lawyers of his own. Buzz declares his claim, iterating William and Grant are criminals and he is the closest relative without a criminal record.

Also present is Marisa Jocell, the closest relative to William and Vlen’s mother. She claims that Vlen came to see her 10 years ago, wanting his ship to be hidden by her and he agreed to allow her to inherit his ship when he died.

Another person making a claim is Jusul Parad, a rough gangster type who claims Vlen owns him 1 million credits and appears to have documents to prove it.

A legal argument begins between William and Buzz’s lawyers, but the estate solicitors begin to read out the assets of Vlen Kennedy, who owns a number of properties and ships, investments and bank accounts scattered around the Sector. They estimate this amounts to 87 million Credits once liabilities are taken into account, less inheritance tax means around 60 million Credits will be claimable.

The Wife and the Brotherhood

Then a woman burst in, saying she is Vlen Kennedy’s wife and she has a claim to his entire estate. Her name is Arisa Kennedy and she married Vlen five years ago in a private ceremony, after a whirl wind romance. He promised to introduce her to his relatives, once he had finished his latest business venture, but it seems he died before he could. She brandishes a marriage certificate, which the Estate Solicitor confirms looks to be genuine.

Buzz questions who she is and thinks she is a fake. She should go back to the whore house she came from, but Arisa gives as good as she gets and tells him to put his dick away.

While this argument builds up, the doors open again and four monk-like figures in robes walk in. Their leader, Keeper Mordan, tells them that 10 years ago, Initiate Zuu, also known as Vlen Kennedy, joined the Brotherhood of Humaniti and signed over all his earthly possessions to their care. He has a copy of the legally binding document Vlen signed. Therefore the Brotherhood of Humaniti has a claim on the entire estate.

Keeper Mordan also explains that after joining their Brotherhood, Initiate Zuu left suddenly two weeks later. At the same time, an important religious item disappeared and it is believed Initiate Zuu took it with them. They want to claim that item above all others.

Incredulously, Del checks if anyone else is queuing to enter the building, but it seems these are the last. He then suggests that Vlen only joined the Order so that he could steal that item, but Keeper Mordan points out he pledged all his worldly goods to the Brotherhood and that pledge is legally binding.

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

A cacophony of shouting breaks out as all the different parties begin to argue amongst themselves about the validity of their claim over Vlen’s estate. It takes a while before things finally calm down.

The discussion finally hinges on finding a will. There is a possibility he had one in his residence in this system. The Estate Solicitor confirms Vlen owns a building in the mountains of Alell, a moon which orbits the next planet out in Aramis’s star system, with a rich and diverse eco-system.

Slowly it dawns on everyone there that it will be necessary to get to the moon and get the will. The various parties quickly begin to leave, although Arisa stays to talk to first Drent, then Grant and finally Cyrus, saying she wanted to get to know Vlen’s friends, but his tragic passing now makes that impossible.

The Race is On

Del coolly points out no one but Grant even knew the man, but she does not seem phased by that, simply stating she is disappointed at his attitude. They have to lie to her about meeting the following morning and bluntly tell her they have other things to do before she goes away.

Once she is gone, they rush back to their shuttle. They consider whether to go to the Liberator, but realise the moon is not that far away and their shuttle can get them there fairly quickly. They get aboard the shuttle and Drent has them depart as fast as Space Traffic Control will allow him. Once in open space, Drent pushes the shuttle to maximum thrust, which has a thrust factor of 10, faster than most other shuttles.

A Familiar Ship

Cyrus, manning the sensor console as they leave orbit, notices the configuration of a ship he has scanned before. It is a scout ship that he detected in the Regina system, odd that it has come all this way and is in proximity to them again. He is unable to scan it further as the shuttle is thrusting fast in a different direction. He does tag the ship and pass on its details to Dirk on the Liberator, asking him to use Liberator’s superior sensors to track this ship.

Their rapid approach to Alell is detected by that moon’s Space Traffic Control. There is no main Highport space station in orbit, just a small space dock on the moon’s surface. However, they need permission before they can land and STC is concerned about their rapid approach, they are advised to slow down.

Cyrus notices a number of other sensor blips are also converging on the moon. Looks like the other parties to Vlen’s estate are equally determined to get there and control possession of his will. They have a small lead though, thanks to their superior speed.

Restrictions and Regulations

Grant applies for clearance to land, pointing out he is next of kin to Vlen Kennedy, who owns property on the moon and they are in search of his last will and testament.

The authorities are reluctant to fast track his request and they are asked to park in orbit and wait. They reluctantly comply, Drent reversing their velocity and moving them into a parking orbit.

They likely have an advantage over the other claimants, as Grant has Vlen’s comms device, which should allow them to enter Vlen’s property without breaking in.

Reviewing the regulations for visiting Alell, it turns out they are extremely draconian. Only those of strict human genomes are allowed to expose their biology to the eco-system. Other Humans with less “pure” DNA are forced to wear biohazard suits at all times.

Weapons are forbidden and only a spray to deter local wildlife is allowed. Flying objects are only allowed in a narrow airspace above the space dock. In order to get to Vlen’s property, which is in the mountains, they will have to travel by land.

Grant looks into hiring a vehicle while they wait for clearance. On the sensors, the other blips converging on the moon are getting closer. It seems they are losing their lead over the rest of the claimants.

End of Episode Four