Penelope Carver

Professor Penelope Carver was an independent geologist who headed her own freelance survey team in the 3100s. She died on October 31, 3111 after fleeing from the Adamastor in a Sidewinder MkI in the HIP 69200 system. A Thargoid object aboard the Adamastor that was causing severe malfunctions likely interfered with the Sidewinder after it launched, resulting in Carver losing control and crashing into the surface of HIP 69200 1 B.

History

Final expedition

Carver's last employer was Azimuth Biochemicals, which contracted her team for an expedition to the Coalsack Nebula in 3111. There, on the third planet of the Musca Dark Region PJ-P b6-1 system, the team established a base camp, Geological Survey 23B on October 13, 3111, and subsequently discovered evidence of advanced alien activity. When Azimuth received news of this development, it rerouted the megaship Adamastor, which had already embarked on a mission to an undisclosed location, to Geological Survey 23B in order to retrieve Carver's team and their samples, and transport them to a secure facility.

The Adamastor never completed its new assignment. After arriving at Geological Survey 23B on October 30 and extracting Carver, two of her team members, and the samples, the Adamastor departed prematurely since alien phenomena began appearing over the ground site and fighting broke out as Pharmasapien sleeper agents tried to take control. By October 31, one alien object brought aboard that had been recovered a from a crashed alien ship was inducing crippling malfunctions in the Adamastor's systems, including its hyperdrive and security system. As another group of Pharmasapien infiltrators took the opportunity to attempt to seize the ship, instigating a firefight, Professor Carver feared for her life and stole a Sidewinder MkI to escape, abandoning the remaining members of her team. Despite this, Carver did not survive, as her Sidewinder failed and crashed into the surface of HIP 69200 1 B.

The data collected by Carver's expedition and stored aboard the Adamastor was recovered by the Alliance after the Adamastor completed its long, sublight return trip to Chukchan on October 29, 3306. An Allied expedition to colonise the Coalsack Nebula in order to exploit its Thargoid Barnacles for Meta-Alloys was launched on November 12, paving the way for the construction of the region's first starports.

Carver's survey team

Identified members of Professor Carver's survey team include:

• Dr. Dominic Murphy - Stranded and likely killed near the Thargoid Barnacle on Musca Dark Region PJ-P b6-1 3.
• O'Keefe - Last reported aboard the Adamastor.
• Sheng - Last reported aboard the Adamastor.
• Taylor - Stranded and killed at Geological Survey 23B.
• Kumalo - Stranded and killed at Geological Survey 23B.
• Mahmood - Stranded and killed at Geological Survey 23B.

Timeline

10 MAR 3307

• Erik Gunnarson and Francesca Wolfe, two detectives from the Wallglass Investigations Agency, examine the background of the Adamastor megaship.
  Gunnarson: "When Wolfe and I started this project, we knew this case would come first. We're both protégés of Benjamin Chester, creator of the Wallglass Archive. He retired years ago, but that old spark kicked in when a 'ghost ship' turned up on his doorstep! The Adamastor is a 200 year old derelict that drifted into the Chukchan system on autopilot. It's still there, with the Alliance Salvage Guild poking through its guts. Chester investigated its owners, a super-secretive company called Azimuth Biochemicals. We don't know what they were searching for, but what they found was possibly the first recorded Thargoid encounter. I've since tracked down evidence that the Adamastor had a sister ship – the Hesperus – which in 3113 was sent to… somewhere! Neither ship returned, but we only know what happened on the Adamastor mission. Of course, Wolfe had to go see that with her own eyes."
  Wolfe: "Musca Dark Region PJ-P b6-1 is a busy system nowadays, but was unexplored when Professor Carver's survey team were there. Listening to their logs from two centuries ago while examining the research base was chilling… ghost voices from a ghost ship. There was evidence of blast scars, but I've seen enough battlefields to know what exchanged gunfire looks like. Azimuth's mercenaries weren't just firing at Thargoids, but at someone who shot back with laser rifles. Gunnarson tells me Azimuth was swallowed up by a rival called Pharmasapien. Did they infiltrate the Adamastor and try to take over? Or did the thing that Carver captured drive everyone insane? This is a seriously cold case, even for us. But maybe one day, more tantalising clues will emerge. And that’s what we live for."

Gallery

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  The wreck of Penelope Carver's Sidewinder on the surface of HIP 69200 1 B