Cosmic Realm Games · Science Fiction · Sample module

The Quiet Bay

A free mini case from our science fiction mail mystery. It shows how a module plays: a set of puzzles that build on each other and a closing grid that tells you whether you solved it. Boxes may include various kinds of physical props, such as documents, tags, maps, or transparent overlays, depending on the adventure. This sample was written for this page only and spoils nothing in the series.

A mystery by mail that no AI can solve.

Your role: Inquiry officerPlayers: 1 to 4Time: About 25 minutesLayer: Core

Mission brief

ISV Amberline

The passenger liner ISV Amberline (Interstellar Vessel) is three days out on the Corvane Run, bound for Tessaly Station. In her Bay 4 rode cargo pod C-17, a sealed seed vault the Corvane Assembly promised to the starving Tessaly colony.

At breakfast the pod was gone. Bay 4's outer door had cycled during the night jump, and someone released the pod's clamps by hand. Captain Imogen Hale has named you inquiry officer. Five crew had access to the bay. You have their statements and every scrap of paper the ship produced overnight.

All crew statements and ship logs use ship time.

Every module ends on the same grid

WhoOpened the bay

WhereThe pod went

WhyThey did it

Crew dossier · five cards in the box

The five with access

1Ansel GravesPurserBay card 0127

I was at the purser's desk balancing the bar ledgers from midnight until three. Ask anyone who came for a nightcap.

2Tobias WrenChief EngineerBay card 0713

I lost my bay card at dinner and reported it. I palmed into engineering at two and stayed until twenty to three. I never went near Bay 4.

3Petra LundNavigatorBay card 0388

Bridge watch, two to four. I plotted the jump myself. Bay 4 is nowhere near the bridge.

4Dorran VaskCargo MasterBay card 0451

I checked Bay 4 at half past one. C-17 was cold-locked and sealed. I was out in under ten minutes.

5Maren HoltSecurity OfficerBay card 0905

I walked my rounds. I passed Bay 4 at about twenty past two. Inner door shut, lamp green. Nothing unusual.

Puzzle 1 of 3 · Goal: Who

The bay console strip

Engineering tore this strip from the Bay 4 door console at breakfast. A maintenance tag was hanging from the same console. Security sent up its overnight desk sheet, and engineering sent its door log.

Prop A · thermal strip

Bay 4 console local clock: 00:51 INNER OPEN · CARD 0451; 00:58 INNER CLOSE; 01:39 INNER OPEN · CARD 0713; 01:44 OUTER CYCLE · MANUAL OVERRIDE; 01:44 POD C-17 · CLAMP RELEASE; 01:47 INNER CLOSE.

Prop B · maintenance tag, both sides

Maintenance tag, front and reverse. Front: Red checklist with Power Fault, Sensor Fault, Console Fault, Mechanical Fault, and Routine Inspection. Only Console Fault is checked in dark handwritten ink. Bay 4 door console. Do not service. See reverse. Reverse: Clock reads 40 min SLOW against ship time since Tuesday’s drift fix. Resync after Tessaly. T.W.

Prop C · security desk sheet

Security desk overnight log, ship time. 00:50: Bay card 0713 (T. Wren) reported lost at dinner. Logged by M. Holt. 01:15: Card 0713 found by cleaning drone, Deck C galley. Held at desk. Logged by M. Holt. 01:15: Deactivation request for 0713 filed. PENDING. Logged by M. Holt. 03:40: Desk handover. Card 0713 not in desk tray. Logged by K. Ashford.

Prop D · engineering door log

Engineering · palm reader · ship time. Time: 02:00; Event: Door IN; Palm: T. Wren. Time: 02:40; Event: Door OUT; Palm: T. Wren.

Your task

Who was inside Bay 4 when the outer door cycled? Note that person's crew number for the closing grid.

Hints for puzzle 1

NudgeEvery timestamp came from a clock. Do all of these documents use the same one?

ClueTurn the maintenance tag over. Then convert the strip to ship time before you compare it with anything else.

AnswerAdd 40 minutes to every strip entry. Vask was in the bay 01:31 to 01:38, which matches his statement. Card 0713 opened the door at 02:19 and the pod left at 02:24. Wren's palm puts him in engineering from 02:00 to 02:40, so someone else had his card, and the desk sheet shows it was in Holt's keeping. Holt claims she walked past a quiet bay at 02:20. She was inside it. Crew number 5.

Puzzle 2 of 3 · Goal: Where

The jump plot

Navigator Lund's jump plot is printed on clear film. Lay it over the sector chart and you can see where the ship was at any minute of the night. A pod released mid-jump drops out in whatever sector the ship was crossing.

Prop E · sector chart with clear overlay

Film at 0°

Your task

In which numbered sector did pod C-17 drop out of the jump? Note the sector number for the closing grid.

Hints for puzzle 2

NudgeThe film only fits the chart one way, and you need the release time from puzzle 1.

ClueTurn the film until its open triangle sits on the solid triangle in the chart's corner. The two rings will land on Corvane and Tessaly.

AnswerThe pod released at 02:24 ship time, just past the 02:20 tick, which lies in sector 1. If you used the strip's raw 01:44, you landed in sector 8, which is exactly where a search party would find nothing.

Puzzle 3 of 3 · Goal: Why

The torn message

The captain authorized a search of the suspect's locker. Inside a boot, the search team found a message with its middle torn out. Three loose scraps recovered from the communications-room waste bin could fill the gap.

All three are handwritten on similar cream message paper. Their torn outlines alone cannot establish which belongs here. Only one describes what actually happened to C-17.

Prop F · message from the locker

Handwritten upper and lower pieces of a torn cream-paper note. Top: PRIVATE — HAND DELIVERY. Tonight. Bay 4. Release cargo pod C-17 by hand. Bottom: Do not contact the captain. Follow these instructions exactly. The middle is missing.

Middle section missing
Choose a scrap below

Prop G · three recovered scraps

Compare each scrap with your findings from the console strip and jump plot. Tap a button to place that scrap in the message.

Scrap A

Scrap B

Scrap C

Placing a scrap does not check whether it is correct.

Your task

Which scrap belongs with the message? Use the completed message to choose a motive number for the closing grid.

1 Paid by a rival colony
2 Revenge against the captain
3 Forced by a threat to family
4 Covering for a friend's mistake

Hints for puzzle 3

NudgeA scrap needs to agree with both the time and the place. Check the evidence before choosing a motive.

ClueThe console clock runs slow. Use the corrected ship time and the sector you found on the aligned jump plot. Each wrong scrap contradicts one of those findings.

AnswerScrap B matches the 02:24 ship-time release and sector 1. A names the wrong sector; C uses the uncorrected console time. B threatens to keep Holt's brother in the ice mines. Motive 3.

Close the case

The closing grid

Choose an answer for each goal. The grid tells you only whether all three are right, never which one is wrong.

Why no AI can solve the boxed version

The answers live in your hands

Turn it overThe clock fault is written on the back of a tag. A photo of the front tells you nothing.

Lay it on topThe jump plot is clear film. You only see the answer when the film sits on the chart at the right angle.

Reunite the scrapsA torn message has three possible missing pieces. Evidence from the logs and chart tells you which one belongs.

This web sample puts everything on one screen so you can try it. Boxed adventures may spread evidence across envelopes, film, tags, torn messages and other physical props, depending on the adventure.

Full answer key

Who: 5, Maren Holt. The bay console runs 40 minutes slow. In ship time, Wren's lost card opened Bay 4 at 02:19 while Wren was palmed into engineering. Holt had logged the card into her own desk tray and never got it deactivated. Her claim that she passed a quiet bay at 02:20 is false.

Where: Sector 1. The pod released at 02:24 ship time. With the film aligned, that point falls just past the 02:20 tick in sector 1.

Why: 3, forced by a threat to family. Scrap B matches the corrected release time of 02:24 and the drop location in sector 1. Scrap A gives sector 8; scrap C gives 01:44 instead of ship time. The matching scrap threatens Holt's brother with continued imprisonment in the ice mines.

Grid code: 5 · 1 · 3

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