The Referee does a little shadow boxing, then plays with a slide whistle...
Byron will set a path to Arunisiir.
Jerry finishes his meal with Sal on the station before suggesting a return to the ship. To view the cargo ... of course.
"You wanted a tenth of its value. Can you front us some money now? We need to keep up appearances and pay for fuel and the like."
"How much have you got? And what is it?"
Steph sends the cargo information to Jerry.
..."10 tons of high-tech (TL14) datapads from the Florian League, almost thirty parsecs to Spinward, as well as 10 tons of luxury Aslan textiles" comes across his computer screen.
Sal looks over the manifest. She and Steph haggle a bit and decide on a price of Cr339,900.
"Get started on the transfer," she says. "I'll go get the credits."
A few sweaty hours later, and you've exchanged the pirated goods for cash!
Jerry thanks Sal, clasping her hand while wishing her safe voyages.
"Glad to do business with you, Sal! I expect that you will do quite well with that. We'll catch up with you, again."
He watches Sal as she leaves the Nemesis, maybe hoping that she will look back. After a moment, he starts and turns to his companions.
"How much time to complete fueling? Do we have time for some shopping or should we launch?"
Sal shakes hands with Jerry. "My pleasure to do business with a higher class of villains! You folks take good care of yourselves."
She doesn't look back. But she does have such a warm smile.
Steph shakes her head and the obviousness of some people. She waves Jerry over and says, "Jerry we've got a berth space for a week. The crew needs a break, and we need more info about our next mission. I need to do research. You should ask Sal to dinner before she leaves, and whatever you do, do not, talk about business."
"Well. you are right. Some shore leave sounds like a good plan," replies Jerry.
After a moment, Jerry motions Steph to one side. "You think that we should keep our business private?"
Steph goes with him. At his question she wants to put her head in her hand, but refrains. "Of course. She may not be privy to our full mission. That's not what I was referring to. She's interested in you. I'm sure of it. She would love to get to know you. Why don't you spend time with her and see what happens."
She decides to confide in Jerry a bit. "I got stuck with my husband. He's not a bad sort, but I didn't get a choice in the matter. Don't feel bad for me, we get along well enough. I would have loved to have been given a chance to find out what I wanted in a partner by seeing people before I was attached. Take the chance. If we head down the path we're following we could be blown up or arrested."
Jerry pauses following Steph's response.
"I was merrely seeking your thoughts concerning secrecy of our mission. As for the rest, I am hardly thinking of marriage at this point. I know nothing of her family, for one thing," replies Jerry.
"I always found it best to keep my personal life .. private. Even ... rather, specifically ... from my parents and family. This spacefaring life is very different than what I experienced before."
Jerry thinks for a mement.
"So, standard shore leave rotations with the usual admonishments about keeping our business private and not arousing the wrath of the station authorities. And, with your blessing, I may call upon Sal should she remain on the station."
Steph grins. "You have my blessing. Not that you need it. I think she's an interesting person."
She turns to her datapad. "I'll make sure the rotations are as you say, sir." She salutes, and then waves him off as she goes back to looking for information on the pirates they are headed after next.
Byron hits whatever serves as a bar or tavern in the place and carouses to gather information.
Daneel helps Steph dig up info on the raiders. He'll start with what the newsnets can tell him about the raids, then he'll look and see what info is being distributed by the authorities along with the bounty announcements.
When his turn for shore leave comes, Jerry hits the marketplace on the station. He is looking for software to run on his personal computer and the ship computer to assist during combat or navigation. Of course, as he works his way through the stalls and shops (and the taverns, too), he keeps his ears open for rumors of any kind.
What would you recommend for an interesting evening on the station? Would you be interested in joining me for dinner and that evening?
He waits patiently, unsure exactly what answer he is hoping for. Sal is very definitely not the kind of woman his mother would make a point of introducing to him, after much discussion and matchmaking with her cronies. This distance, a couple jumps from Drinax, is probably safe.
After thinking on the matter, two jumps from Drinax is also probably a safe distance from his father. He hopes that Sal has not heard too many tales of his family. Jerry has been running from them for most of his life, acting as a spoiled playboy since no one in his family's social circle expects anything different.
If Sal responds in the affirmative, Jerry will take her to dinner and follow her suggestions for the evening.
On her shore leave Steph spends time trying to get some better rations for the crew. She's looking for more games for the crew lounge. She also spends time asking around about the raiders, and their hostages.
Byron buys a few rounds of drinks and has a general good time in the various bars of the highport, but he sort of forgets to look for information and wakes up in his own bunk with a headache and a tongue that feels two sizes too large for his mouth.
When Jerry does arrive, Sal surprises him by being dressed in a fashionable saffron-colored dress with her hair done up with a pair of ivory sticks. The restaurant is passable, better than anything Jerry's seen off Drinax, and the service is really quite good even if the shuliiki tastes like salty eraser. Jerry doesn't really register any of that because Sal is bright and engaging. She's not exactly a pirate, more of a trader with tendencies toward smuggling. "Aren't you going to eat that?" she says, picking a small fruit off of Jerry's plate with a fork.
After dinner, Jerry and Sal take a walk on the highport's promenade and watch the planet rotating slowly below them, talking of ships and trade and places they've been or want to go.
The next day Nemesis is fueled up and ready to reave the spaceways.
Byron grabs a coffee from the mess before heading up and plotting a course out of the system.
"It has been a wonderful evening, Sal. The shuliiki was ... interesting. But getting to know you was the highlight of the evening. Can I walk you back to your ship?"
Jerry will extend an arm, open to either holding hands with Sal or having her take his arm.
"I am not sure when I will next be back in Drinax. Perhaps our paths will cross soon, too."
When they reach her ship, Jerry asks, "May I kiss you?"
She leans forward slightly.
Steph arrives back on the ship with her spoils. "New games for everyone, and some of the latest holovids. No Trokh operas. Thank goodnes."
She lets the bridge team know that the raiders are Theevans. Raiders hide there in forgotten cities."[/b]
He had forgotten the roles and rules imposed upon him by the hereditary rules of the aristocracy.
"I look forward to seeing you again, Sal. Thank you for the lovely evening. But I must return to the ship to be ready for departure."
While they wait for the Captain to return, Daneel pops in an old holovid that he's watched fifty times, and looks to see what information he can dig up on Theev.
Daneel learns little about Theev beyond its stellar location, its exports and its UPP: Theev/Sindal A434500-F. It is a sun-like G0 yellow dwarf star with 3 planetoid belts and 4 gas giants. It is a very high tech (TL 15) world with no industry and a rule by anarchy. History says is was bombed into near non-existence by the Sindalian Empire nearly two thousand years ago. The Imperium gives it an Amber rating, but no reason is stated.
Jerry walks back to the dock, truying to pay attention to his surroundings. Or, at least, appear to be doing so even while he is lost in though.
Once he returns to the ship, he listesn to what Daneel and Steph have learned about the raiders.
"Theev? That is out of reach until we upgrade our jump drive. Or, spend most of a year travelling there."
"But, I agree, let's get travelling."
"Byron, have you selected a course to Arunisiir? We can look for news there, then move on to Blue and Torpol." asks Jerry.
"I have the course plotted. We can continue as planned." Byron says.
Nemesis transits to the Jump limit and departs Acrid for Arunisiir, where you
Arunisiir/The Borderland (Trojan Reach 2621) is an agricultural world with little industry. It's near-ideal environment for producing quality foodstuffs means that it is a major exporter of food to the rest of the Borderlands cluster. The system has two suns, a yellow-white F8 V star a little larger and hotter than Earth's sun, and a small red dwarf secondary. It has three gas giants and no planetoid belts. The main world is nominally ruled by an Aslan upper class, but all the real power rests in the hands of a much larger human population.
This is the site of Hteleitoril's failed expedition, and he is going back now to aid his comrades left behind.
"Thank you," he says when you dock with the highport. "I'm not quite clear on whether you're pirates or government operatives or something else, but you saved my people from a war and for that I will always be grateful. Well, if you need help in the Hierate, I'll do what I can."
He waves and departs.
"I am not going to miss that smell," says Ray.
___________________________________________________________
Ready to jump to Blue? Or do something else here?
"Does anyone else have an appetite for fresh, real food?," asks Jerry.
"Maybe we can pick up some high value cargo to Blue. If nothing else, some different food would be welcome."
"I am not for random trading unless there is a purpose behind it. It would be too easy to just get sidetracked trying to buy and sell Knick knacks. As for food. Something different could be good. As long as it doesn't have too many eyes looking at me when it comes time to eat it." Byron says.
Daneel makes a face. "Any eyes are too many when it come to food. A real cheeseburger though - that would sure hit the spot." He looks around at the others. "If a great deal falls in our laps, I don't mind the idea of taking on some cargo, but I agree that we don't want to spend too much time shopping. We have places to be."
"Let's contact a shipping agent to see if there are any suitable cargos destined for Blue," states Jerry.
"If we dock, we will get some food delivered to the ship."
"Steph, can you handle communications?"
While there are many cargoes in Arunisiir destined for blue, most of them are far too large for Nemesis's tiny cargo hold. However, you find a twenty-ton lot of cybernetic lubricants. That will earn you Cr 32,000.
However, , you have instead been selected by the Imperial Mail to carry five large mail drums (a total of 25 tons) to Clarke. This pays extremely well, Cr 25,000 per drum, for a total of Cr 125,000.
"Well, the mail must get through! Load 'em up and get some fuel," says Jerry as he thinks that this will go a long way towards refurbishing the ship.
Its cargo hold loaded with mail, Nemesis jumps for Blue.
A week in deep space is time for everyone to work on their skills, to bond as a group and (of course) to get on each other's nerves.
Byron plays poker games with the marines during down time and flirts with Thumper.
Steph makes arrangements to get the drums loaded on the ship, and to load up on fresh food for the crew. "I can't wait to have fresh veg with dinner." she grins.
As the ship is in space for the week. Steph spends time with the crew on their down time.
She sets up a type of chess board and plays with the doctor in the evenings. "I was going to be a doctor, but I couldn't make it through the medical training. Not enough intelligence. I ended up as a pilot instead. At least I made it off of my home planet. Lot's of people don't or don't want to." She bites down on a veggie snack as they play.
"I miss fresh food from living on a agricultural planet. I'm an amazing gardener. We should try to get a small hydroponics lab set up. I wonder if Ray will let me use her room. Fresh veggies and fruits all the time." she smiles and moves a piece on the board.
Several days into the jump, Daneel bursts into the common room, surprising several of the crew eating dinner. "Has anyone seen - ", a loud whirring sound interrupts him and he looks around. "Oh, not again," he says, as he hurries towards the noise - in the direction of the staterooms.
A few minutes later, Daneel returns to the common room with the Stewaid robot in tow. He smiles sheepishly as he deactivates the robot. "I've been trying to tweak the programing and improve its performance." He plugs his personal computer into a port on the robot and starts typing. "I'm sure if I can get it right, it will do a better job with cleaning and minor maintenance." After a few minutes, he unplugs, then reactivates it. Immediately, the robot speeds out of the room, headed back towards the staterooms. Shortly, a loud crash echoes through the ship, followed by a return of the loud whir. Daneel shakes his head, then trudges after it.
One ship's night, about midway through the week in deep space, Jerry is getting a late night snack from the galley when he runs into one of the marines.
Jerry's rather ... ornate ... dressing robe becomes the talk of the marines' area for the balance of the trip.
The Torpol Cluster is the name given to three worlds in Tlaiowaha subsector which all lie within jump-1 of one another. Three worlds is a small cluster, but these three are important as they provide a link between the Wildeman Cluster and the Sindalian Main (by way of Marduk), which permits jump-2 traffic to transit from Imperial space to the territory of the Florian League.
Traffic bound for the Aslan Hierate also comes through these systems as an alternative to the Wildeman Cluster/ Borderland Cluster transit. These three worlds are therefore of strategic importance to both the Imperium and Aslan Hierate, just as they were to the old Sindalian Empire. That importance was a double-edged sword; the wars that wracked the empire in its last days caused enormous damage on Clarke in particular. The scars of orbital bombardment can still be seen, and there are lingering psychological effects too. The strange society of Clarke was born in nuclear fire, and while Torpol and Blue have gone in different directions there is still a cultural memory of what happened and could happen again.
At the present time the border of the Aslan Hierate is stable, not least due to the jump-3 or jump-4 gap between the worlds at the outer edge and those deeper in. Eventually, expansion will occur and when it does it is likely to come rapidly. A more powerful Drinax could be a barrier to such expansion, at least for a time. Not only would Drinax prevent the annexation of its own system but presumably those surrounding it too. That would buy the Torpol Cluster some time, though in the long term an Aslan explosion up and along the Sindalian Main is probably inevitable.
This is most definitely not in the interests of the Third Imperium, since it would not only move the Aslan border much closer to Imperial territory but also cut off the Imperial-Florian trade route or at least force it to run through foreign territory. This is one of a great many strategic concerns for the Imperium, whose resources are spread thin. As a result there is a small Imperial presence in the cluster, mainly in the form of intelligence-gathering agents and local assets. These are typically people and organisations unconnected with the Imperium except but willing to take Imperial Credits in return for furthering the Imperium’s agenda.
The Imperium sends naval ships through the cluster on a semi-regular basis. Some are escorts for particularly important trade ships or convoys; others are warships showing the flag. Old destroyer escorts and fleet destroyers are the most common vessels sighted in the cluster, often spending a week or two in the Torpol system and a shorter period around Clarke or Blue. The Imperial Navy has no official jurisdiction in this area, but the principle that the Imperium is powerful enough to do as it pleases applies here; Imperial ships will hunt pirates or search suspect vessels if there is need, though they usually request (and receive) permission from local world governments.
The cluster sees a fair amount of internal trade, with ships plying between ports in the same system or jumping within the cluster. Through trade is extensive, with Torpol acting as a stopover and liberty port for many ships that come through. The cluster might thus offer rich pickings for pirates, though the presence of an Imperial trade route makes this a potentially hazardous undertaking.
The Blue system provides a jump-2 link from Arunisiir and Exocet to the Sindalian Main by way of Torpol and Marduk, or towards the Aslan Hierate by way of Clarke or Torpol. This gives it a strategic importance out of all proportion to its population or economic power. Blue is a location of interest to the Third Imperium and receives flag-showing visits from Imperial warships on a fairly frequent basis.
The Blue system orbits a hot F9V (Yellow-White) main sequence star along with twelve terrestrial (rocky) planets and two gas giants. The government of Blue lacks the capability to project power over much of the mainworld, let alone the star system, so all areas beyond the starport are considered ungoverned. By convention, the world government is within its rights to consider any part of the mainworld’s surface as its sovereign territory, but there is no practical means – military, political or legal – to enforce any such claim.
By the same conventions, a world government that cannot enforce its laws elsewhere in the star system cannot claim ownership of any resources or other objects located there. To all intents and purposes the Blue system is thus open territory. In some ways this has actually been good for the economy of Blue.
There are small settlements on several of the planets and gas giant moons in the Blue system. Some are transient camps set up by mining and prospecting concerns; one or two belong to Aslan ihatei groups. These usually start out as staging posts for raids or landgrabs elsewhere, but occasionally grow into a viable colony. This is a concern for anyone who does not want to see Aslan expansion into the region, since whenever a toehold is established, it is hard to dislodge without causing conflict with the parent clan.
The usual recourse is negotiation and a certain amount of bribery-from-a-position-of-strength. That position does not exist here. The upshot of this is that a couple of gas giant moons and part of a rockball world are now Aslan territory. In and of itself this is not of any great consequence, but the possession of a secure base allows deeper and stronger incursions to be made. There are those who see the Aslan endlessly crumbling away a cliff face (and occasionally smashing part of it out of the way) to creep deeper and deeper into human territory.
This presence may be one reason for Imperial interest in the Blue system. Another is the existence of Bulhai Freeport. This is an independent facility located on one of the moons of Bulhai, the system’s outer gas giant. It is a fairly modest installation with a supporting population of around twenty thousand people, but is growing every year. The freeport is, as its name suggests, a completely independent spaceport where all manner of goods and services are available. This is an obvious place for a pirate haven but the operators run a legal business. Just barely legal in some cases, but within the body of interstellar law.
Bulhai Freeport is a place where items restricted elsewhere are traded openly, including high-end electronics fits for starships and military grade weaponry. The port operators take great care to ensure the components they sell and fit are not stolen from pirated ships, and thus far no legal challenge to their activities has been successful. The existence and expansion of the port is of concern to several local and major powers, however, and has caused great alarm among the rulers
of Blue.
As yet, Bulhai attracts only small and rather disreputable vessels, but as time goes on it may come to rival the main starport at Blue. The loss of income from interstellar trade would be catastrophic to the world’s economy. As a result, the government has implemented a sort of second-hand attempt to take control of its home system. The population are by inclination insular and generally unconcerned with wider happenings, but the rulers must be. Thus, a unified law enforcement service has been formed, mainly from offworlders, to police the starport and any outlying settlements that desire it.
A surprisingly large number of these settlements have agreed to join the project. Most small settlements have no proper facilities to deal with offenders; if the authorities at the starport want to take responsibility then that is in everyone’s interest. The enforcement service currently operates a handful of armed small craft for customs work and policing of the system’s spacelanes, and the government on Blue is now attempting to use this capability to show that it can indeed enforce its laws across the system.
The implications of this are complex. It may be that Blue is trying to stake a clear claim to all of its home system, though this would only be useful if coupled with a vast increase in military capability the world cannot possibly achieve on its own. The creation of an Imperial forward base would provide this capability in the form of a navy friendly to Blue and willing to recognise its territorial claims. This would threaten the existence (or independence at least) of Bulhai Freeport, creating a conflict that might have all manner of results.
BLUE HIGHPORT
Blue’s orbital Highport is old but in reasonably good repair. It was built to replace a previous, much smaller installation. This was set up to support interstellar trade on a temporary basis but became permanent for lack of anything better. This facility became unsafe around 600 and totally unusable about a century later; in the meantime it remained in use, giving rise to a local figure of speech comparing any rickety or ramshackle thing to ‘the port at Blue’.
The current facility was built in the 800s and has received only cosmetic upgrades since. It can deliver all the services of a Class B port, but only just. Shipbuilding is limited to small craft, and up until recently very few of those were actually constructed. In recent months, the world government has sunk a considerable amount of investment into a programme to produce small, cheap fighters. Some of these are destined for the unified enforcement service but most go to the export market.
There are those who question the wisdom of marketing cheap combat craft, but the government of Blue maintains that it sells only to legitimate clients such as governments, shipping corporations and interstellar concerns with assets to protect. The behaviour of some of these legitimate’ clients can be questionable, of course, but on the whole, Blue’s fighters contribute to stability in the region.
Overall, the port is run independently from the mainworld, with most jobs done by contractors from all over the region. This gives Blue Highport a cosmopolitan feel but also a rather bland one. There is little local flavour; bars and restaurants tend to be franchises or obvious copies of them, and everything from food to décor and even the layout of rooms is boringly familiar.
A few locals do take jobs at the port, but for the most part it is a distant thing to them, a source of revenue for the government and little else. The port is considered an important asset by the world government, not least since it brings in most of the world’s income. The small system-policing squadron is backed up by a much larger force of fighters, many of which are locally produced. This force is crewed by mercenaries, usually former members of another world’s armed forces or Imperial personnel, and is assigned several Imperial officers as advisors and training facilitators.
The port sees a considerable amount of local and long-range traffic, and has a modest speculative cargo marketplace. Although it lacks the vibrancy of Torpol’s planetside pleasure ports, Blue Highport is comfortable and pleasant to visit. There is a good profit to be made here, and the only real downside is that it is all a little bland.