Deep Salvage Report: A Pile of Ghosts

By Andy Kotch

A derelict submarine sits at the bottom of an acidic purple ocean on an alien world. In Deep Salvage Report: A Pile of Ghosts a team of scavengers attempt to discern what may have caused this vessel to be lost while exploring the ruined craft. What they discover challenges their partnership and their conception of humanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andy Kotch
• Release date: Apr 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224949410

Andy Kotch

Andy Kotch is five bears poring over their schematics for an ethical giant walking transport. He has given several speeches about the consciousness-expanding benefits of isolating yourself on a cold, barren world, and has graffitied the bathroom at Holy Frijoles reiterating most of the main points. Your mom saw you speaking with him when she picked you up after laser practice and she thinks the two of you are dating now. She knew you would be embarrassed if she prodded and has instead decided to wait for you to say something. She hopes you would trust her with that information and Andy does too. He has done some work in the tabletop RPG space, notably co-authoring the Aegon's Conquest MegaGame and providing editing for Shadows of Esteren. Maybe one day he will inflict upon us a copy of 'Fighters in San Talos: Ghost Unit Niner aka F.I.S.T.G.U.N.' but probably not. [e-mail] @iamfivebears.bsky.social

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Entrance

Carefully, the Urtida extended one foot and shifted a small amount of weight to the floor of the submersible. Then a little more. Then, with an intuitive knowledge and fear of his exact mass, he moved his full weight onto the craft. It held. Nestor let out the nervous breath he had been holding.

Brilliant green light, indicating positive containment, leaked through the door from Nestor's ship into the airlock of the Lefenian craft. The interior was short and wide, and the height was further compromised by bundles of conduits and wires. It wasn't enough to impede his movement but it dangled just close enough that he felt the need to squat awkwardly. The floor was fortunately free of debris, but there was a significant amount of explosive scoring and debris outside of the ship. That could either be the explanation for why the sub was now derelict, or it could be evidence of a previous attempt to breach the ship that ended poorly.

His eyes flicked down and to the left, checking his DORS. The faint beam of light flicked on, shining directly into his cornea and displaying the info he called up. He was able to cycle through it with tiny, precise movements of his eye. The atmosphere inside the lock was breathable, his DORS told him, but thin. It was also remarkably clean, but that wasn't uncommon in undamaged airlocks. If any water had breached the hull into the main ship then microorganisms likely had as well.

Secr. It seems fine in here, lock it up. Nestor spoke into the stream.

Got it, responded his op. Powerful hydraulics surged as the great doors of Nestor’s ship heaved shut behind him, leaving him in pitch black. You're good. The kid's replies were short. He was still moping after Nestor had to dress him down for playing with the mapping drones, disconnecting them from the main stream. Secr had claimed he was trying to upgrade them, but the fact remained that Nestor now had to explore a derelict without the benefit of mapping, increasing the risk many times over. This was the main hazard of breaking in a new partner, they never understood how any mistake could mean death out here.

Nestor flipped on his helmet lights, casting sharp shadows among the ducts and bundles above. He began the laborious process of testing and opening panels, looking for a port to connect through. The amount of detritus and cargo floating outside implied heavily that this wreck was undiscovered, but that didn't mean it was untrapped. Given how strangely they had learned about the wreck it made sense that no one knew it was here, but any assumption of safety would mentally lower his guard and he couldn’t afford that. He forced himself to stay on edge.

A circular outlet was positioned near the unpowered door controls. It was a fairly standard configuration for the Lefenians, the only civ known in the system. Nestor plugged in a test line from his GreV and fed a trace amount of power into the port. It predictably fed back a defensive power surge that Nestor grounded. The simple trap avoided, he set to work. In a short amount of time, the chamber began equalizing pressure and unlocked. Nestor stowed his keytool and rolled the door open, a task made easier by the strange angle the ship was listing.

The airlock opened into a chamber banded by dead screens. It was small, typical of corporate mining vessels. Couldn’t be crewed by more than a half dozen, probably just two or three if it linked up with the overship frequently enough. The draping arteries of wires and conduits were even thicker here, like he was exploring beneath the roots of a mechanical tree.

Dark displays covered all surfaces. Nestor searched for another port, hoping to retrieve any cached data and get some info on the ship's status before it went down. He found a small lensed device and automatically put