The PSV (Private Spacefaring Vessel) Merlin floated lazily through space, caught in the orbit of Demeter, a moon that orbited the gas giant Jupiter. Merlin was an exploratory corporate vessel, famous because it was the first, but definitely not the last manned ship to be launched by a private organization. For years Merlin had traveled safely between Jupiter and Earth, gathering research and samples of the gases of the planet, and capturing thousands of images that would tell mankind so many things about their solar system.<br/><br/>Then, one day, Earth had lost contact with the Merlin. Before contact had been fully cut off, NASA had received several disturbing communications, which had been only released to the highest sources of intelligence around the globe. Searches had gone on for several months with no success. Not until now.<br/><br/>Your ship had not been sent with the intention of finding Merlin, but find it you did. Your life scans pick up several dozen life forms, a number larger than what the Merlin would normally carry. The power levels of the Merlin are low; You can easily estimate that the ship would be totally out of power within a month, and then the air locks would give out and everything inside would die. But why was Merlin idling outside of Demeter? Why had their communications gone out? It was worth investigating.