Space Quest VII: The Enigmatic Expedition to Eros XI

Space Quest VII Summary

It has been three years since the events of Space Quest 6 and our… hero seems like too strong a word… protagonist, yeah that’s the one - Roger Wilco pines fondly for the days when he was a ship captain, even if it was just a garbage scow. He misses his old crew, the adventures through the stars and yes, even the life-threatening dangers he faced around almost every turn. In the StarCon lounge one fateful day he runs into an old friend, Murph, one of the pig-nosed guys from Andromeda whose life he saved many years ago. Turns out that Murph has had quite the life journey since then after making it huge as a game creator, becoming universally famous almost overnight, splitting with his long-term partner after it came to light that he was a human in disguise the whole time! The spotlight proved too much after a time for the Andromedan so he left it all behind, avoiding the paparazzi in his personal pleasure cruiser, asking if Roger would like to join him so they can reminisce about the good old days. Roger soon learns that Murph has no idea how to really fly or staff the ship, and there are strange noises and smells coming from the engine room. Luckily Roger knows just the fellow to fix up a ship’s engine! They track down Cliffy Crawford, a near-human Scottyoid who has nothing better going on and begrudgingly admits that he still owes Roger one or two from their time serving together aboard the Eureka. In addition, the now-mustached Cliffy has some outstanding gambling debts in the sector, and needs a ride off-world, pronto! Of course, that’s secondary to paying his old buddy back! (or so he claims) The three spend a few days carousing around the galaxy, trying to leave their worries behind them when they pick up a distress call from a small moon out in the Eros system. Of course none of them are qualified to respond but, the message is from Roger’s old commander, Kielbasa, a member of the lionesque race called the Kzitten, who only ever treated Wilco with respect, despite his lowly station when they served together aboard the SCS Deepship 86. Not one to leave a comrade in need, the ill-prepared crew beam down to Eros 11 where they find Kielbasa wearing only his birthday suit, who has been separated from his crew! The lion man goes on to explain that they were on a routine geological survey of the moon which had recently become seismically active when some sort of pinkish mist began rising from the surface of the moon. He remembers losing consciousness, but when he awoke his crew was gone, his clothes were missing and his rear end was aching! Roger, Murph, and Cliffy think it’s a good idea to high-tail it back to the ship, but Kielbasa refuses to leave his men behind. While trying to think up a good plan, the mist begins to rise from the planet and the men begin shucking their clothes, just before blacking out… When Roger comes to, he seems to have the same memory loss as his former commander, but also feels a strange sense of euphoria, and lighter somehow too, like a load has been lifted! Can Roger Wilco find his friends, save Kielbasa’s crew and solve the riddle of Eros 11? Probably not, like I said before, ‘protagonist’ is the most flattering I can manage. Still, stranger things have happened!