The characters were entertaining a few important guests at the ASTER compound. Several of the military liaisons as well as a few other who's who types were gathered at the compound in an attempt to bolster more financial support for the ASTER project. The characters met several notable people. Among these was Dr. Michael Moriarty, a research scientist in another division of AST. They were also introduced to George Washington Grady, their boss' private driver and bartender. Grady is a middle-aged black man who, if you give him the chance, will tell you how he saved democracy by driving a truck for Uncle Sam during the war.

Professors Moriarty and Thornton appeared to hit it off quite well at the party. Captain Williams had a detailed conversation with Moriarty and disconvered that Moriarty's research project was attempting to stay on budget by transferring some fissionable material to other divisions of AST. Overall, the night went rather well and funding for ASTER was assured.

A few weeks later, Captain Williams led a team consisting of Dr. Taylor, Dr. Thornton, two armed guards, and former army sergeant Grady to Moriarty's compound, about eight hours from the ASTER research facilities. It was an unsually rainy day in Southern California. The drive was unpleasant but ended when the group arrived at the gate to Moriarty's research compound. It appeard to have been knocked off its hinges from the inside. The group continued up the road to the main house. There, they discovered that Moriarty had not been to the main house in a few days. There were several buildings that comprised this facility and they were spread out over the wooded and hilly terrain. The group learned that it was not unusual for the professor to be gone for such a long period of time.

The group began searching the area. Dr. Thornton began sensing or feeling the presence of Moriarty. On her instinct, they searched a remote cabin and found the professor there. Thornton stayed with the professor while the rest of the group drove to the other side of the compound and searched the ransacked lab.

Moriarty then revealed to Thornton that he had invested himself with psionic abilities through his research. Due to the upcoming cut in funding, he experimented on himself and found that his technique was more powerful than he had realized. His psionic abilites were growing steadily. He asked Thornton to undergo the treatment, but she promptly refused. The continued to argue about it until he began to use his psionic abilities to restrain her and then revealed the ray generator to her. He was about to perform the procedure when the rest of the group returned. Captain Williams began firing upon Moriarty, but the bullets could not find their mark. The group attempted to distract Moriarty while Taylor helped Thornton to leave the cabin. The group retreated to another building but found that Moriarty was using clairvoyance to spy on them.

The group was finally attacked directly by Moriarty, but they all attempted to attack him at once and so his powers were overwhelmed. He retreated while the group was in hot pursuit. Using his rapidly increasing powers, Moriarty was able to force the individual members of the group to sleep and was then able to escape.

EPILOGUE

Moriarty was no where to be found. He no longer pursued Dr. Thornton nor was she able to sense him any longer. The group discovered that both of Moriarty's assistants were missing. After contacting the police, the group submitted themselves to questioning by the local authorities. Two days later, they began the drive back to the ASTER compound with Grady at the wheel. Moriarty is still at large.

ADVENTURE POINTS

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