Eng. Lemuel Smith & Co.

Hey Lem, how are things?

I heard you guys were taking an interest in the Marauders. Stories of that raid of yours against their fuel dump in the Belt are all over the Gap! So I'd thought I'd pass on these murmurings; the bars and bath houses are full of this talk.

Most of them are 'friend of a friend' stories about folks bumping into Marauder scouts around Hoffer's Gap; I heard about a couple of ship disappearances. I even heard one 'bout a ghost ship discovered with all its occupants missing. A lot of folks here are worried that the Marauders may be planning to attack the Gap. This is causing a lot of distress because by all accounts the Marauders are bold and well-armed.

Now you know me, I'm not normally one for spreading gossip, and I would have taken all this stuff with a pinch of salt, but one story particularly stood out, as it has a ring of truth to it.

A buddy of mine, Duct-tape Anna, does a lot of work with the Hoffer's Gap Police, repairing and servicing their auto-defence arrays. Now while she was out on her rounds a few days ago, she came across a ship that was sniffing around some of the older auto-turrets. Anna's got a nose for anything dodgy, so she shadowed this ship for a while as it made its way around a half dozen of the Gap's defensive installations. Then it headed off into the Belt. She tried to follow it, but only got about 200 clicks out before she was set upon by a couple of Marauders. They gave her a bit of a scare.

She came straight round to my place to get her ship patched up. She was all shook up, and seeing the state of the ship's hull she's a  lucky girl. She is not the sort to spin a yarn. I reckon there's serious trouble on its way.

Anyway, make of this what you will, and pass it on to your buddies if you like - one thing's for sure, if there's trouble around here you can be sure that the government isn't going to be much of a help.

See you soon,

Maurice