Alexander (2nd son of the Count) has been dispatched to Flammarion to meet his wife-to-be, and not incidently, bringing Flammarion (and it's Class A starport) into the Grissom Sphere of Influence.

They passed through Asteltine on the way, with many reservations. The Marque d'Asteltine has been playing the Grissoms against the Swordworlds - screaming for a District task force if the Sword Worlds press too close, encouraging closer ties with the Sword Worlds when the Grissoms send their tax collecters, that sort of thing. the Marque d'Asteltine does not favor the annexation of Flammarion - it will reduce his position and power quite a bit. Yet he does *not* want an open break with the Grissoms.

Due to some previous encounters - SWMI (Sword World Military Intelligence) was able to tip of the Marquis when Alexander's ship entered the system. Asteltine is a system without a Gas Giant, and the atmosphere is exotic - the only fuel available is from the starport - it is the Marquis' monopoly (which is why he is in power in the system.) They opted for an orbital slot instead of docking at the highport or landing at the downport and arranged for reprovisioning the ship, as well as for refueling and made mock inquiries regarding cargo and passengers (they were posing as merchants). In accordance with their disguise, a fuel lighter was scheduled for the 3rd day of their port visit.

The party was fairly relaxed for the first couple of days, until I dropped the news that due to a scheduling conflict, their refueling appointment had slipped a couple of days. This was accompanied by profuse apologies from the SPA, and a guarentee that they would be able to depart in accordance with their projected flight plan.

Sure enough, on day 5 the fuel lighter orbited alongside them, attached hoses and started pumping fuel. You could see the little red lights going off in players heads, and a intense discussion about fuel chemistry broke out. We settled on the idea that the fuel was being tested by the fuel purifier (normally used for skimming), and was checking out ok.

Which, of course, was when I let them know that the hose from the tanker split - fortunately the crewman involved with the operation had been on the far side of the lighter when the accident occurred. Only two tons of fuel where transferred, and the lighter didn't have another hose with the type of fitting required for their ship. Another appointment was scheduled for two days later.

At this point, the PCs were getting very suspicious (I can't imagine why), and starting to look for other options. Their level of paranioa increased when I had to let them know (the next day) that the fuel lighter had suffered an engineering casualty and would not be able to supply them until a replacement widget had been shipped in from Elixabeth. (It's not *my* fault that a Class B starport was unable to fabricate a widget for a spaceship).

They were given the option of docking at the highport or landing at the downport, landing fees in either case to be waived, but declined - the idea of putting themselves further under the control of the Marquis d'Asteltine was *really* unappealling at this point. They came up with a dodge I didn't expect - they started contacting the various merchants in port (about a half dozen) and offered to buy fuel at 1000 cr per ton.

And once refueled, broke orbit and ran for the jump point.