Factory Shadows Returning to the Vinen Habitat, the Travellers  spent some time generally gadding about - waiting for the Master to be repaired following their second brush with the pirates. During this period they received word from various sources that questions were being asked about the negotiations surrounding the purchase of The Factory. Given a rough description of the person asking the questions they eventually tracked him down, a couple of days later, in a bar called Nightside Moves, a popular Belter hang-out in one of the habitat's rougher quarters. The questioner turned out to been a former Maas scientist, called Sal Baledo. Baledo had obviously fallen on hard times and taken to drink in a big way. After Kemphit and Anna bought the forlorn figure a few beers, he soon opened up to them , telling him that he had some key information surrounding The Factory and what had gone on there and wanted to sell  it to the LFC fro 50,000 credits. Kemphit and Anna tried to worm more information out of the drunk, but he seemed to take fright - especially at a suggestion he accompany them to the LFC offices. Suddenly Sal bolted for the door, but Aaron and Clarissa, waiting at the bar managed to intercept him. Aaron got him in a rugby tackle , the effect of which was to caused the drunk to pass out and throw up all over him. After clearing up a bit - Anna suggested she and Kemphit take Sal back to his hotel while the others went to see Jenna Marcuro, the LFC Finance Director, to see if she was interested in purchasing whatever information Sal had. Clarissa and Aaron quickly arranged a meeting with Jenna that afternoon. Jenna,  although she seemed sympathetic, would not stump up the full 50,000. She was however concerned at the implications for the LFC as the current owners of The Factory if the Sonares Prime authorities stuttered poking around in any illegal activities that had taken place on the mining platform. At best the re-commissioning of The Factory could be delayed costing millions to the LFC, at worst the whole platform could be impounded. She offered 10,000, plus enrolment in a detox programme on Shoranan and a standard class ticket back to Sonares Prime. Next morning, they presented the offer to Sal, who after some persuasion agreed to meet Jenna at lunchtime in Bronson's a restaurant near the LFC offices. After making some effort to clean Sal up they got him to the restaurant earl. Ensuring that he had enough to drink to function, but making sure he didn't get enough to incapacitate himself, they waited for Jenna to arrive. Once she arrived, Sal told his story. He told them he was one of the scientists working on the illegal experiments they had found out about on The Factory. He was bale to fill in lots of the detail surrounding the experiments, and what had gone terribly wrong - the drugs developed to increase performance of the miners had an unfortunate side effect - inducing psychosis as the drug accumulated in the body. He also told them that Commander Rogan had found something unusual on the asteroid, something he believed would make him rich. After the story was told, Jenna arranged a credit transfer to Sal's accounts and told the Travellers, they could take Sal to Shoranan on there next supply trip there in a couple of weeks. The next couple of weeks were spent finishing repairs and prepping the Master for departure. They kept an eye on Sal, seeing him about in various bars, still drinking but seemingly happier now he'd told his tale. The night before departure, Kemphit arranged to meet Sal in the Nightside. Sal didn't show up however, so Kemphit made his way to the flophouse where he was staying. He found several police cars parked outside and discovered that Sal's body, surrounded by bottles had been found in an alleyway. He'd apparently drank himself to death. Asked by the police to identify the body, Kemphit did so, noting as he did that the bottles surrounding Sal were of expensive brandy - not the cheap rotgut he usually drank!  Next morning, with heavy hearts, the crew of the e Master headed off to Shoranan to pick up the spares and delivery them to the Factory. Three weeks later on their return, they were called to a meeting with Jenna. She informed them that the coroner had returned a verdict of accidental death due to alcohol poisoning, but she had obtained copes if the autopsy report. It was clear that Sal had died of that but the report also showed signed of bruising to inner throat. The coroner without any reason to find the death suspicious had not found this significant, but in light of the information Sal had given them, Jenna believed the booze had been forced into the unfortunate Sal - he had been murdered!

Annals