Mag Tether

PRIORITY: IMMEDIATE

CLASSIFICATION: SENSITIVE

CBRS Report Cat: DOCEX

CBRS File No: K-3

Subject: Gert Schenk [Deceased]

Subject Affiliation: Dairo Mining Group

Items of Interest: (1) Pamphlet, (1) Transcript

Analyst Notes: Attached material found among subject’s personal effects in lodging. Subject KIA during Prosperity (Jovian planetary system) interdiction contract 13AUG2386ESY. Material collected by CBRS personnel during follow-on site exploitation sweep. Sanitized versions were forwarded to principal (VisalCorp) per contract provisions.

DOCUMENT 1: Pamphlet - HERC Inc. Magnetic Tether System

Stop Wrestling With Lost Productivity!

When you need the very best in HE-V mounted material-handling technology for terrestrial and orbital operations, take hold of the job with Grappler™!

HERC’s latest magnetic tether system provides superior, safe and dependable performance in all operational domains. From temperatures as low as -270°C to as high as 470°C, in vacuum or in crushing atmosphere, and in any gravitational environment, only Grappler allows truly foolproof operation.

Grappler’s magnetic head generates a focused 11-Tesla field to secure ferrous loads weighing up to 50 tons*. Grappler is perfect for positioning structural and spaceframe components, heavy salvage operations, cargo handling, zero-gravity station-keeping, vehicle recovery, and much more! The head assembly is attached to an ICT (integrated conductor-threaded) quad-bonded nanocarbon fiber tether that provides reassuring structural integrity and power transmission from an HE-V's reactor directly to the superconducting magnet assembly.

*dependent on host vehicle capability.

HERC Reminds Users to Follow All Standard Magnetic Tether System Safety Guidelines

NEVER use magnetic tether system for transport of fragile goods, people, or pets. CONSULT a medtech before operating if you have any metallic implants, artificial organ(s), dental pins, or any other ferrous material* in your body, and to make sure you are healthy enough to safely** operate the equipment.

*including iron in hemoglobin.

**Exposure to magnetic fields rated at or above 3 Tesla may cause temporary effects in humans. These effects include but are not limited to: nausea, motion sickness, vertigo, dizziness, spatial disorientation, visual hallucination, involuntary eye movement, a metallic taste, nerve tingling, muscle spasms and altered blood circulation. Altered blood circulation may cause death. These effects may become permanent.

[Handwritten note on reverse face: "Tether OK after shock load test, length @ 50m. Need to double check coupling, fasteners and mount."]

DOCUMENT 2: Transcript of Recovery Agent’s Account

Analyst Comment: Speaker is confirmed to be Jake Caban, freelance ‘recovery agent’ often employed by corporations and various independent organizations. See supplementary report K-3-A.

Mag tethers? Can’t your boss help you with that? Oh, for bounty work? Ha! Hey, sure, sure. Thanks for the drink. Sure. They work better than you might think, if you’ve got a plan. Had a live-catch contract pop up on my desk from Empyrean Reach, ah, what was it. About nine months ago. Get this, mark was a former Cerberus shooter on the lam. Out there and alone, stag. Empyrean wasn’t forthcoming with the backstory. Anyway, last known loc had him doing freelance work out past the Belt under a fake name. No time to parse, in or out, and need to know, right now. Suits, eh? Apparently ol’ Beltin’s fixers wanted to chat with this wayward boyo real bad. So I’m in, I tell him, and I call my bro. No time to put a team together.

Skipping the trace work part, we tracked him to one of the big, old deep space cylinder habitats, pulling security duty for a crew of independents. Drifters, really, one or two notches above thieves if you ask me. Like I mentioned, contract specified live capture only, no excuses. Me and Mel, we hatched a quick plan to sell ourselves as fellow itinerant entrepreneurs. Will work for parts, we said. We were both in modded workrigs - my Breaker, him in the Mason - and on a tramp ship that remora’d out on one of WegMa’s bulkers. Good cover, believable.

They were all working scrap and parts from the exterior of the cylinder and the nearby debris field. Little bit of back and forth, minding our manners, and they told us to come on down. The mark was still in one of those Cerberus models, the kind you don’t see too often. The big eyeball, you know? I wonder how he got away in it? Anywho, he’d tried a fair bit to vis-mod the thing, make it look a little like a Corp rig, but I could tell. We touch down on an exterior pad, and it was time to party.

There’s a trick when it comes to nabbing someone, alive, out of an HE-V. The trick is it's damn impossible. You shoot to disable, it’s still real easy to kill the pilot. You can try to just bum rush, but the fast guys will bolt, not to mention any close fight can go against you. Lots of vets have some damn trick up their sleeve that will punch your ticket at arm’s length. All this, ten times harder in vacuum, natch. Sure couldn’t ask him nicely, hey, turn yourself in! That’s why I thought of trying the magnet. Strong enough for an ugly tug-o-war. Thought to hold him still and kneecap him, me and Mel working together.

Guy was canny, and good. Ready to rock at the first sign of trouble. We announced and rushed him, he was at the edge of the landing grid. The drifter crew bugged out, didn’t want any part. That was good for us. He lit me up with a laser and particle cannon, and a machine gun I think. Nerve-wracking when you’re EVA, believe it. Mel was getting into his side through some antenna mast scaffolds. I think we both had a lot more zero-g time in our HE-Vs than he had.

Yeah. So, I closed in a bit while he and Mel traded, popped him with a four-rack of subs - just to shake him up - and then hit him with the magnet. Fired up the mains and there was no getting that thing off. He tried to run, then! Actually jumped away, drifting, and that cable snapped taut. I was anchored good and had a free hand on a girder. Ol’ girl weren’t budging. He was tumbling all over, a real comedy show. He tried the laser. It was invisible, but there was no missing these glowing furrows it left in the deck. Happily, he didn’t slice the cable. Mel was laughing at the guy - laughing! - as I started talking him down.

Then maybe he realized he couldn't fight back or get away. He ejected. Right there, bap. Bolts blew, the cowl and head flew off and out he came in a little gust of frost. No suit on. Maniac didn’t even have a vac-mask on... He squirmed a bit, then went still. Man, awful. Yeah, my face looked a lot like yours, pal. Mel jumped for him. Risky. Sixty seconds of exposure leeway, maybe we could save him on the ship. Mel reached him, scooped him up. But by the time I reeled them both in it was way too late.

Ended up putting him on ice for the ride home and hauled in his HE-V. Contract paid an advance with liability to cover expenses and repairs, win, lose or draw. Come collect and we’ll stroke you a check! Feh, I’ll pass, thank you. Ol’ Empyrean ain’t so understanding of failure with little people like us. I sent the body and the HE-V onward, care of, and jumped ship halfway to Mars.

[Handwritten note in margin: "T, I told you. This can work!"]

Illustration by Florian Mellies