cold berth, er, resurrected

[Spenser TR]

A question about cold berths, and not survivability. First, a little background:

So, in Agent of the Imperium we see where the cold berth used quite a bit in certain chapters. At one point Bland describes the process of sending “used up” copies to all corners of Charted Space via cold berths; if memory serves the longest of these trips was over ten years, from Reference to Lair.

At the moment I’m working on a supplement about Stewards ( of all things ), and memories of the above bits rose a few flags for me. I’ve gone half blind tonight following conversations here and other places searching on “cold berths.” Apparently someone starts talking about them and it always leads to talk about survivability. And dice mechanics. And survivability. And… well, you know.

I don’t care about any of that right now. At the moment I’m wondering - if I purchase cold berth passage and ship myself from Reference to Lair ( as one does ), from what I read in AotI I’m under ( sleeping/frozen ) the whole way there. This is kind of a logistical thing. Also healthier.

Someone in one of the many threads mentioned that all corpsicle containers are standard and interchangeable. Hmmmm, okay. Maybe. Let’s say that’s true.

How does the hand off work, do you think?

I’m pretty sure the ship I board at Reference isn’t going all the way to Lair, so at some point, probably a lot of points, my bod gets transferred. Have you ever lost luggage when flying? Yikes. Even if that never happened, and no one ever decided to reroute me for parts, ransom, or other awful ends, I’m wondering how the hand off works.

The far trader "Professor Bananas" drops me at Proytheyath, 2 parsecs away. Do I get put into some sort of storage until someone along my probably route passes by and accepts me? How do they get paid? Who pays for storing me? Who’s watching over all of this handing off and being paid?

IMTU, the Steward ( who takes care of all sophont passengers, animate or otherwise ) would see my frozen bod to… someone on Proytheyath. The Steward of another ship? Maybe in Core that works all the time, but I suspect in the further reaches I’m left chilling out (I could not resist ) somewhere.

I’m just wondering how all that works. If this is all finely detailed somewhere I apologize… I did look through the stuff I had and what I could search on the forums. If it’s all there plain as day, I apologize.

 

[flykiller]

I’m wondering how the hand off works.

probably need to answer how the financial end is handled, first. that might answer the question for you.

At one point Bland describes the process of sending “used up” copies to all corners of Charted Space via cold berths

haven't read the book but I'd presume this was done by imperial scout/naval elements and is thus reliable. and that's the key - reliability. can't see it being done any other way. a trip like you describe could only be sold as reliable if it involved major known trusted bonded carriers every step of the way. if at any point that chain is broken the passenger would want to be awake.

 

[kilemall]

Last I checked the cold berths weren't removable per se, they were installed in the ship as a static facility.

AofTI or subsequent things I haven't read in T5 may change that officially, and I have no objection if they did, just that any rules I've read don't have a 'cold swap' feature.

 

[LeperColony]

Last I checked the cold berths weren't removable per se, they were installed in the ship as a static facility.

AofTI or subsequent things I haven't read in T5 may change that officially, and I have no objection if they did, just that any rules I've read don't have a 'cold swap' feature.

I actually feel that safety would imply low berths could be detachable, so that in an emergency you could evacuate the sleepers.

The navy keeps entire crews in low berth (the frozen watch). What if there were to be some sudden emergency on the ship that required evacuation, but permitted for an orderly departure (so not battle damage sauve qui peut)?

Now, I'm sure even if low berths were often separate systems, integral versions exist as well.

 

[Lycanorukke]

I don’t care about any of that right now. At the moment I’m wondering - if I purchase cold berth passage and ship myself from Reference to Lair ( as one does ), from what I read in AotI I’m under ( sleeping/frozen ) the whole way there. This is kind of a logistical thing. Also healthier.

The Lair delivery was a shipping error IIRC. I will have to check.

How does the hand off work, do you think?

It could be a service offered by a company, similar to package delivery today.

They offer cold transfer to planet X. You pay an amount based on the jump route to get there (1000x whatever) as calculated by the company. They put you on ice and park you in a warehouse.

When they have enough 'passengers', they stuff the berths into a cargo container - (or have a dedicated 'cold container'), hook up a F+ module and then ship you as 'live freight' to the next world. They probably use their own ships as things can always get messy legally when external hires are used.

Once there the cargo container is offloaded to the company warehouse, some passengers defrosted, others loaded and they wait again until they have a enough and send you on again.

You'll get where your going eventually, just not fast.

Between A and B starports there could be a dedicated company/s offering the service and each company has an agreement with its neighbour for handoff/transfers.

For C, D, and E ports it is most likely the company would have to hire contractors (aka PCs) to get the passenger from the nearest offloading point to the final destination.

Of course the fun comes with 'delivery errors' - aka Mr Lair. Also what happens if a delivery company goes bust? Are the passengers defrosted where they are, or are they sent on by the administrator? Or the PC's are stuck with a crate of popsicles and no one wants to collect them - yet the contract says 'payment on delivery'.

 

[flykiller]

Or the PC's are stuck with a crate of popsicles and no one wants to collect them

they could be auctioned off.

 

[whartung]

As long as you have someone at the transition points taking responsibility for the "package", you should be able to treat it as some kind of cargo. But beyond that, most of the passages (High, Mid, Low) and costs described in the rules consist of a single jump, rather than an entire itinerary of transfers and what not.

 

[McPerth]

Last I checked the cold berths weren't removable per se, they were installed in the ship as a static facility.

This is precisely how they are handled, because they are frames with removable "stretcher caspules" for the person on it to transit from one ship to another without awakening him.

At least, that is how they are descrived in Traveller Digest issue 21, pages 40+ (Suspended Animation article). I guess the OP would find the article quite interesting, if he has access to it.

 

[Spenser TR]

I guess the OP would find the article quite interesting, if he has access to it.

I'm going to work on that... thank you for this.

And thank you all for the insights so far. About it being Lair in particular - it's a great example because it's such a long trip, but it needn't be that specific trip, certainly.

About the cost... I wonder. I bet the sleeper doesn't have a lot of control over the route, and that changes at times. Like parcel delivery here and now, maybe it is just a set price. Lots of other stuff to consider, given the way it was described in the book.

 

[BlackBat242]

This is precisely how they are handled, because they are frames with removable "stretcher caspules" for the person on it to transit from one ship to another without awakening him.

At least, that is how they are descrived in Traveller Digest issue 21, pages 40+ (Suspended Animation article). I guess the OP would find the article quite interesting, if he has access to it.

That's how I view them - the actual Low Berth as installed in the ship contains all of the freezing/thawing equipment, but the bod goes in a close-fitting insulated shell that is inside the berth (and connected to it via quick-disconnect power cables/pipe fittings/etc) - this shell is removable, both for maintenance and for transfer to another low berth.

The shell keeps the bod isolated and insulated, but there is a finite limit on how long it can keep the bod cold enough, without external power - something on the order of hours (in single digits). This allows for transfer between ships, storage facilities, and medical facilities without having to move the whole low berth.