She nods to Jerry, No I do not. I'd like to examine the ship, and get a feel for her before we head out. Has she been supplied for the voyage?"
Jerry is wondering who he is trying to persuade, here. Is it Lord Wrax to give up the fight for the ship? Or, his companions to simply nod and move right along?
"Hmmph. So be it. When you screw it up, try to aim the ship back home," grumbles the lord of the Hawk Guard.
He holds out two data pads to Jerry. "The first one is the data key for the ship. By order of His Majesty, it gives you command over all shipboard functions."
"The second one is a repair manifest. It lists everything still in need of repair. Let me give you a piece of free advice, sir. You ignore the aesthetics on His Majesty's ship at your peril. This ship needs to look as good as she fights. As I understand His Majesty's... shall we say 'ambitious'?.... plan, the aesthetics may in fact be more important than the actual drives or weapons systems."
He scowls at the lot of you and turns on his heel to march away. He stops some ten paces away and says over his shoulder "Luck," then leaves.
Jerry calls back, "Thank you, sir! We will bring the ship back."
Jerry turns the data pads in his hands while looking at the ship. After a moment, he says over his shoulder, "Let's get on board and check it out."
As they walk closer, Jerry holds out the data pad containing the repair manifest to Steph. "You wanted to examine the ship - exactly how much work will the ship need before we can take it out?'
Ray turns and gives the pompous ass a grin as he walks away, enjoying the view immensely. Just to be irritating, she whistles out a catcall at him.
After a bit of a longer stare she turns and saunters off with the others, hopping aboard the ship with a wide grin.
"Well, would ya' look at that? Busted or not, she sure beats the sh**heaps I've been flying on the last few years. Jury-rigged pieces of scrap!"
She looks over to Steph. "I'm gonna explore. Lemme know what ya' know when ya' know it."
And with that, Ray saunters off to explore the ship.
As the crew heads onto the ship, Daneel peers over Steph's shoulder at the repair manifest. He begins to prioritize the most important repairs. "I'd say we want to start with the j-drive, to make sure we don't have to worry about coming back from jumpspace. Then the poor ventral turret needs some serious work if we want to be able to fire it. Then fixing up the hull to make her look as pretty and intimidating as she should." He heads to Engineering to get a better look at the drives.
Steph looks over the repair manifest as she enters the ship. "We do have a lot of work to do. I agree with Daneel we don't want to get stuck in Jump space, but we also need her to look good."
She shakes her head at the running costs of the ship. "She's going to be more expensive to run than she needs to be until we straighten out some of those systems. I hate to pour credits into a ship that should be running more efficiently." She heads to the bridge to take a look at her baby.
The ship is an absolute beauty. The attention to detail is incredible. The bridge is chased in real gold accents where systems have not been replaced with ugly utilitarian stand-ins. Even the silverware in the officer's mess bears the ship's seal embossed in gold. The wealth of the old Drinaxi is almost too great to believe.
Steph, Ray and Jerry find their unique weapons on board the ship, and you spend the day crawling all over the harrier.
A few hours later, the maintenance crew chief arrives. He's also the Marquis of Urdelf, but that doesn't stop him from wearing a hard hat and having grease under his nails.
"So you're the new crew? I've come to discuss repair priorities. Who's the Captain?"
Ray groans. "FINALLY! I thought we'd never leave!" She pats the inside wall of the ship. "You ready to go Little Ass Kicker? Yes, you are! You are!" Noticing the Marquis dude standing there again she turns to him. "Thanks for the help, pal. You and your workers. She looks good! And... yeah. I think Jerry's the sucker saddled with Captaincy."
She turns and randomly yells into the ship halls. "HEY JER! GET OVER HERE!"
Then she shrugs. "He's around somewhere. See ya'."
Ray rudely wanders off to unpack her meager possessions into the nicest living space she's ever had in her life.
Jerry hears Ray's shout and goes to investigate. He greets the Marquis when he reaches the hatch.
"Marquis! Good to see you again! I understand that you met our gunner. So, you want to discuss repair priorities. Let's see, I have it here someplace."
Jerry brings out a datapad and scrolls through it looking for the notes compiled by Daneel and the others.
"Drive systems. That is first priority. We don't want any surprises when we are out-system," declares Jerry.
"After that, general ship systems. We won't be able to get everything repaired, but we want to cover the basics."
"Is that possible?"
Steph takes a seat at the Astrogation station. She makes sure all the controls are to her liking, and the computer shortcuts are set to her preferences.
She raises her head as she hears Jerry's repair requests. Then she speaks into a pause in the conversation. "We need a crew. Marquis do you know where we might find people interested in flying with us? We need a doctor and a few other crew such as marines."
"I can make some calls and see if some of the guys I worked with might be interested in joining in as marines." Byron says as he considers who might be interested and fit in.
"We will call her Nemesis. A good name for a ship," says Jerry to the Marquis.
"Now that we have arranged for repairs, we do need some crew. Do you have any recommendations for a good Drive Chief? Someone who can keep these engines running at tip-top shape?," asks the erstwhile Captain.
Ray groans from down the hall. "Ugh... Let's *@!#ing get this ship into space!"
While the others talk about personnel Ray continues to unpack into the fancy cabin. After a solid two minutes of work she's done.
Deciding she doesn't want a bunch of losers hired for her crew, she wanders back out to see what's going on.
The Marquis rubs his chin. "Doctors I don't know. But you could try the Scholar's Tower. Mercs...that's not my area of expertise. But I do know mechanics. I'm not going to give you any of my guys, but I do know a few out of work mechanics who'd be willing to ship out. How much're you looking to spend? I can send you to a great young guy. He's real solid. But if you're looking for a real experienced space hand? It'll cost you."
He writes down two locator codes. One is for "Kagni Vasiir, Machinist's Mate." The other is for "Adro Venniser, Master Machinist."
"I will head to a couple places and see if I can dredge up any information that might be useful and any good marines." Byron heads out to see who might be around the port.
Byron has a fine night in "The Dragon's Arms", a fine tavern in one of the Floating Palace's many towers. But it nets him little more than a pounding headache and a lighter wallet.
The next day, however, he asks around and learns that a recent popular hangout for mercenaries and down-on-their-luck soldiers is a seedy dive named The Pump Room for its location in the midst of one of the Palace's many relic pumping stations.
"Before we go anywhere, I need to outfit myself. Anyone else need to head to the bazaar?"
Byron returns a little bleary eyed and says, [/b]"It looks like there are some good guys down at the Pump Room. We need to see what we can afford though. I tried to ask around some about where work is taking people at the moment to get an idea of what we could go after. But that turned up a blank. We should probably get a target before we drop a bunch of credits on a crew."[/b]
Jerry accepts the offered locator codes, thanking the Marquis as he does.
Once he is in a quiet location, Jerry places calls to both prospects asking to meet and discuss whether they would be interested in shipping out with the Nemesis. As he speaks with each of them separately, Jerry tries to find out what the two already know about the King's Mission. And, importantly, whether they have any aversion to the Pirate Life(tm) and would be willing to work for standard rates.
Steph grabs her things and throws them in a cabin. She meets Ray on her way to the bridge, Ray I'm going to the Scholars tower to ask about a doctor or a medic. Then I'm going shopping for some gear. Do you want to come along with me?"
She heads out to the scholar tower. "I hope a college graduate will get me into the door."
"Good afternoon I'm an officer on the ship Nemesis, and I need to hire a doctor or medic for our ship. Can you help me with locating one?" she asks the receptionist.
Jerry, neither Kagni Vasiir nor Adro Venniser seem to have any idea what your mission is, though Adro admits to knowing there's a secret project going on at the Royal Docks.
"I guess that'd be alright," says Vasiir, thoughtfully. "Does it pay good?"
"Well, Captain," says Venniser in a later interview, "I can't say as it'd be the first time, though its been years since I was in the life. But no, sir, I don't work for standard rates. If it's a privateer you'll be, I'll take a standard rate -and- an officer's share of the bounties. I've got family to look after, you know."
____________________________________________________________
Steph gets routed to a couple of different offices before arriving at the Career Office.
The counselor regards her over a small but real wooden desk. "Did you have any specialties in mind, Ma'am? Most ships want general physicians but some want surgeons or psychiatrists. Also, while most of our graduates are in residency, our Academy of Alumni offers a job-matching system. You can make offers and more experienced doctors may reply."
"Sure, why not?" Ray remarks. "Gotta have someone stitch us back together." She saunters through the Floating Palace with Steph, all the way to the Career Office. At the man's question she looks at Steph. "...General Physician? I guess?" she shrugs. "Experienced doctors want more pay, right? You got any young rookies who'll fit the bill? I'm cheap." With a grin she adds, "I like 'em young."
The counselor looks up at Ray. "Yessss, well, here is a roster of our residents still looking for appointments."
Jerry thanks both of the candidates, saying "I'll get back to you soon, probably tomorrow. Thanks for talking to me."
After, Jerry messages his companions - "Two candidates - one a lot more experienced and skilled, but wants more pay than each of us. And, he's old. What do you say?"
Ray looks over the resumes with Steph. She points at Dr. O'Rourke's paperwork. "This one."
Checking her message from Jerry she suddenly exclaims. "Pffft! More then me my ass! Idiot!" She shakes her head as she sends him a message back.
"Like hell! Ditch the old dude. Get someone young and eager. They'll work for cheap."
The counselor hands Steph and Ray a locator code for Dr. O'Rourke. "You can call him and arrange an interview or even just make an offer."
She looks at Ray again. "A job offer."
"Of course." Ray remarks with a grin. Then she leans in and raises an eyebrow at the counsellor. "Why? What were you thinking? You got your mind in the gutter, pal?" She shakes her head and leans back, reclining in her chair. "Yeeesh. Professionals these days..." she remarks conversationally.
Despite her opinion she lets Steph have final say in Medic. It was her idea, after all...
Daneel lets Jerry know that he agrees with Ray - the younger, hungrier, and less expensive candidate meets our current needs best.
Daneel heads to the bazaar. He purchases a Laser Pistol (TL 11) with a laser sight and 2 power packs (total book price Cr9200); a nice looking suit of balistic cloth armor (TL 10, book price Cr500); and a set of 6 TL10 radio transceivers for the crew to use when they are off the ship (total book price Cr1500). Finally, he shops around, looking for the highest tech level mechanical toolkit he can find.
Jerry sends a communicator message to Kagni Vasiir: We would like to take you on. Pay is 4000 CR amonth, plus a share of any spoils. Interested? If so, come to the ship and we will sign you on.
Once Kagni accepts, Jerry sends a polite refusal to Adro Venniser.
Jerry goes shopping for some software for his computer. Specifically, he is looking for and intelligent interface (Bandwidth 1, TL11, CR100), Security software (Bandwidth 1, TL10, CR200) and Expert Software (Tactics, Bandwidth 1, TL 11, CR1000). A Data Display/Recorder (TL13, CR5000) would come in reall handy, too.
Steph just smiles at Ray's discussion with the Career Counselor. "She is right. We are looking for a resident. We're all starting on the ground floor. Thank you for the information I'll give Dr. O'Rourke a call and interview him. May I also have the contact information for Dr. Harkek as well?"
She tells Ray. "Interviewing more than one candidate is always a good idea."
Once she gets the information she steps outside to make contact with both candidates. She sets up meetings with both of them, and takes a page from Captain Jerry's (are we looking at marketing a new rum?) book and tries to find out what the two already know about the King's Mission. She also makes sure they don't have issues with the Pirate Life(tm) and would be willing to work for standard rates. She will also ask if there is any special equipment they feel is necessary for their medical bay.
If Ray comes with her to the interviews she waits to see what Ray has to ask before contacting the other's with the candidates and the suggested hire.
Daneel and Jerry, you find everything you're looking for at Rachando's bazaar. That Data/Display Recorder requires a bit of bargaining, but you do manage to secure it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kagni Vasiir arrives at the ship a few hours later. He's got a sea bag and a box of tools and he's obviously excited to be on the Royal Docks. "Able Spacehand Kagni Vasiir, reporting for duty." His eyes widen at the sight of Nemesis and he lets out a low whistle. "Boss, I don't know what I'm looking at, but I'm eager to find out."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. Suleiman O'Rourke answers the vidphone looking like a mess. His hair sticks out at odd angles and his eyes are bleary. After a moment you realize he's in bed and there's someone else there with him. He blinks several times and focuses on the screen.
"Um, yeah? What, uh, what can I do for you?"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. Hargek is a vargr with a long furry muzzle and mournful golden eyes. her voice is soft and throaty. She seems to be someplace noisy. "This is Doctor Hargek. Who is it, please?"
Ray lingers nearby -- (sort of) patiently -- while Steph makes the calls to the candidates.
Steph speaks with both candidates. She says the same thing to both. "I was hoping to speak with you to discuss a medic position on our ship. We'll be out in the Reach trolling along the shipping lanes and such. Your medical skills and other skills will be needed. Our ship, the Nemesis, is quite unique. I can guarantee you've never seen anything like her. What do you think?"
She gives Ray a wink when she speaks with Dr. O'Rourke.
Daneel gathers up the loot from his shopping trip and heads back to Nemesis. On his way, he stops and buys take-out for 10.
Arriving back onboard the ship, he heads for the common area and calls out "Food! Get it while it's hot!" He unpacks the food onto the large wooden table. Admiring the table, he thniks, Sturdy and reliable, even if the years haven't been kind to it. Just like the rest of Nemesis. The ship already feels like home to him, its hull seeming to hold back the pressure of the crowds on the Floating Palace.
A moment later, Kagni walks in. Daneel intrduces himself and says, "Grab somehing to eat and let's take a tour of Engineering." As Daneel shows Kagni the different systems, he asks the spacehand questions to get an idea of his strengths and weaknesses, as well as to size him up personally.
After tucking in to some hot Cordani noodles, Kagni follows Daneel back into the engineering spaces, taking notes on a datapad. The Maneuver drives and power plant are impressive in their small size and power, but there remains much to do and a great many jury-rigged work-arounds are in place. But the refurbished jump drives are a thing of beauty and Kagni impulsively moves into those spaces, running his hands over the custom inlay of the Sindalian dragon that run the length of the jump manifold.
"It's a ship for a king," sir. "Are we really takin' her reavin'?"
Steph speaks with both candidates. She says the same thing to both. "I was hoping to speak with you to discuss a medic position on our ship. We'll be out in the Reach trolling along the shipping lanes and such. Your medical skills and other skills will be needed. Our ship, the Nemesis, is quite unique. I can guarantee you've never seen anything like her. What do you think?"
She gives Ray a wink when she speaks with Dr. O'Rourke.
Dr. O'Rourke sits up in bed and focuses on the camera. His partner rolls the other way and pulls a pillow over her head.
"I'm interested," he says, running his fingers quickly through his mop of hair. "Uh... what sort of ship is it?"
________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Hargek looks thoughtful. "Thank you for calling. What can you tell me about your captain and crew?"
Dain nods and grins as he answers Kagni. "We really are. You're not having second thoughts, are you?"
Dain nods and grins as he answers Kagni. "We really are. You're not having second thoughts, are you?"
"No sir. It's just... this ship is... is like that art stuff. You don't use one of them great statues to break down a door. Well, I... I suppose you know what you're doing?"
The next evening when the time seems about right Byron heads out to the pub to try and see if he can find some marines he might know or know of to see if they will sign onto the Nemesis.
Jerry will also shop for TL10 Cloth Armor (CR 500) for use both on and off ship. A gauus pistol (TL13, CR 500) with four extra magazine (CR 20, CR 80 total) will round out his kit.
Steph answers Dr. O'Rourke. "It's a ship like you've never seen before.. The Nemesis a Harrier class ship that's set up by the royal family themselves." She studies him to see his reaction. "Can you tell me about your last employment position, and why you are available now to head out on a ship."
To Dr. Hargek she answers, "Our crew is currently all human. We have Captain Jaramillo-Smith. He's a diplomat and a fancy man, but a good captain. There's a good mechanic, and a good marine, as well as an engineer we have just hired." She studies the vargr woman. "Please tell me about your last employment. Why you are available now? Do you have an issue working with privateers?"
The next evening when the time seems about right Byron heads out to the pub to try and see if he can find some marines he might know or know of to see if they will sign onto the Nemesis.
Byron heads down to the Pump and looks around. There are a variety of patrons there, mostly hard-bitten types, but also some young noblemen and their hangers-on trying to experience some of the rougher side of the Floating Palace. It's easy for an experienced grunt like Byron to tell the difference.
How does he proceed?
Steph answers Dr. O'Rourke. "It's a ship like you've never seen before.. The Nemesis a Harrier class ship that's set up by the royal family themselves." She studies him to see his reaction. "Can you tell me about your last employment position, and why you are available now to head out on a ship."
O'Rourke is sitting up now, coming fully awake. He's dressed in an undershirt with the covers drawn up around his waist.
"I'm a resident at the Royal Hospital," he says, "Specializing in neurobiology and cognition... basically brains. I never really had a job before that. I'm 'available' because residency in the hospital only lasts a year. The University produces three doctors for every one the Floating Palace needs. Most of us go off-planet within the first nine months. I've got offers on Cordan, Tyr and Vorito, but yours sounds the most interesting. I'd like to see a bit of the galaxy before settling down."
______________________________________________________________
To Dr. Hargek she answers, "Our crew is currently all human. We have Captain Jaramillo-Smith. He's a diplomat and a fancy man, but a good captain. There's a good mechanic, and a good marine, as well as an engineer we have just hired." She studies the vargr woman. "Please tell me about your last employment. Why you are available now? Do you have an issue working with privateers?"
Hargek barks a laugh. "I'm a vargr. We're all pirates. Well, at least according to all the human vids. However, in my case it's quite true. I was a crewman on a reaver ship from the Ekhlle Ksafi in the Vargr Extents. For a year or so. We struck it big and I cashed out, decided to see some of the galaxy. Eventually I decided to go to medical school and wound up here on Drinax. Now my money's gone but I'm a doctor."
"What makes your captain a good captain? Is he brave? Lucky? A True Believer?"