The Low Lottery

Cryostasis is an exceedingly safe medical technology for humans and a vast majority of alien species. Repeated cycling through cryostasis via continual low passage jumps can be lethal however, with the patient usually suffering a mishap during stasis resulting in immense cellular and tissue damage once the person is brought out of stasis. Official Traveller Society statistics claim this is a 1 in 2.7 million chance. However poor maintenance of equipment, reuse of cryostasis fluids, and other poor operating practices increases this probability (although most would claim it’s still within the range of 1 in a million). Because of this rare chance of mishap, most passengers see low passage as a cheap, but somewhat desperate means of travel. Mid to high passage options are more preferred among galactic travelers.

The military however doesn’t have much of a choice in using low passage. It is no surprise then with soldiers going on multiple jumps, long deployments, and few opportunities to spend paychecks, that creative opportunities to spend cash are practiced. One such tradition is the low lottery.

Every jump, soldiers contribute 1-5 credits into a company pool. If there ever is a mishap and a soldier dies during cryostasis, 75% of the pool would go to the soldier's family and loved ones, while the remaining 25% would be spent by the company for a wake in remembrance of the departed. Given the frequency of jumps, number of personnel, and rare occurrences of fatalities, these pools could end up being quite a fortune.

However as the low lottery made its way over to civilian circles, it took a darker form. Like the military practice, a crew would contribute to a pool however they would also wager on a particular passenger. If a mishap occurred and the passenger died, the ‘winning’ choice would claim the pool or split among other crew members that made the same passenger selection. This dark game is kept off any official records, but anyone spending enough time in star ports among ship crews and merchant marines will find the occasional ship that runs a low lottery.

An even darker practice are captains and crews that actually fix a low lottery, randomly selecting a low passenger to have some misfortune during a jump. This criminal activity is practically considered an urban legend. The Traveller Society views this in addition to homicide as a form of traveler insurance fraud (where beneficiaries would collect insurance for an improperly claimed accidental death), and aggressively conducts a thorough investigation if a person dies during low passage. However get a Traveller Society insurance investigator filled up with enough drinks, they might let slip that this type of crime does indeed happen, even if it’s tremendously rare.

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The company woke groggily from cryosleep to be hauled from the pods, hands bound, and thrown to the floor of a ship. They saw themselves surrounded by the crew of the Attica, the passenger freighter tasked with returning them to Blenavursai Prime. In addition to the crew was the bounty hunter, Tannis Ortiz, with two tough looking mercenaries in tow. Tannis asked where Deacon was. Sure enough the group failed to see their pilot and instead saw Hadrian, an old acquaintance of Syn and Rom. The retired Imperium space marine had booked a low passage on the Attica by chance and for some reason was revived with the rest of the group.

The captain mumbled something about a low lottery and Tannis immediately shot him. He growled for the cryologs. A stammering technician produced them and for tense minutes Tannis pored over them. He threw the PDD to the first mate and said there was a backdoor on the cryologs. Obviously the tech was throwing the lottery for winnings, and even worse, would likely produce the logs as evidence against the crew whenever he mustered off ship. Tannis shot the technician and demanded to know more about this stranger in place of Deacon.

Tannis roughly got a DNA sample from Hadrian and ran a biometrics check through his database on known felons. Sure enough, Hardian was wanted for questioning by Omnidyne megacorporation regarding industrial espionage. Tannis told the first mate that the Attica would wait in deep space for a week. He needed time to return to Bori Trova and explain the situation, and hopefully leverage Hadrian’s warrant by Omnidyne for leniency in failing to secure the entire crew of the Scalawag.

His last order to the remaining crew was that no one be returned to the cryopods. The prisoners should remain locked in crew quarters until the ship would make it’s final jump to Blenavursai Prime. Tannis left abruptly and the group were detained in different ship's quarters.

Days past and the group sought a means to escape. Both Hadrian and Roxy were able to sway crew members to be more sympathetic to their situation. While Syn and Grog were able to get control of ship systems when released by the crew to help with emergency repairs. After nearly 4 days in deep space, they made their move and commandeered the ship, with the aid of one of Attica’s crew, Jan, a former merchant marine.

The group decided to return to the Prirmagarus system, but land on a remote planet. Attica’s crew, save for Jan, made the trip in low passage. They landed the old ship without incident paying unregistered docking fees at the sparse port.

Having proof of the crew handing them off to a bounty hunter instead of authorities, as well as evidence of running a deceitful low lottery gave them some leverage over Attica’s crew. Jan wanted away from her old crew and off the ship, while another of Attica’s crew, Tormis, was enamored by Roxy and sympathetic enough towards her to likely do something foolish for her.

But the Scalawag was still impounded on another planet in the system. Even worse, Tannis had now probably realized the Attica did not make the jump to the Blenavursai system and would likely be heading their way. At the worst, they’d have a week and a half before the dangerous bounty hunter would arrive in the system. With a measly 3,000 credits and a full tank of unrefined fuel, they contemplated their next move.