Shadowdancer
First Post
Great story hour. Very exciting, and compelling. I eagerly await the next post.
-
The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
T20 Traveller - The Kursis Charter (complete Aug 8th 2005)
- Thread starter Morte
- Start date
Morte
Explorer
Act III: Miip - Maelcum
Date: 166-993 to 169-993 Imperial.
Location: Miip system (0819), mainworld.
They slept in the village hall the next night, on straw mattresses with homespun wool bedding. Fish made some quip about bearskins, but he made it quietly. The next morning they said their goodbyes and headed off. Three Ursa waited at the edge of the village to see them off – Thomas, Turmeigh and Yvonne. Yvonne hugged all of them, bending their ribcages to show how grateful she was.
The walk back to the “starport” village of Arodu was muddy but pleasant enough, and mostly downhill. They dropped in at the village to say goodbye, and Garren the “starport manager” told them there was “some ground-pounder” waiting at their ship, hoping to work or buy passage off world.
“You mean surface army?” asked Sir David, eyeing the marine scabbard and cutlass hanging from Garren’s belt.
“That’s right”.
“You’re an ex-marine then?” he gestured to the cutlass.
“Me? I never served. No, it’s my daughters. Her enlisted marine’s cutlass. She was commissioned last year, so she sent it to me. She has an Officer’s Cutlass now.” He seemed to swell with pride as he said the word “officer”.
“Congratulations” said Sir David. “Well, I suppose we’d better have a look at this fellow then. Thanks for your help, and your efficiency with the records sir.” He gave a formal nod and turned away.
Garren beamed.
…
The ground pounder was waiting by Avarice Rewarded’s port airlock, alongside a small kitbag and a gun case. He was doing push-ups and clapping. Lots of them, in 1.125g. When he heard the scrape of walking boot on gravel, he threw himself up to the vertical and began to walk forward.
“Good morning. I’m Maelcum Rivers, lately Major Rivers of the planetary army on Liar’s Oath. I was hoping you might give me a ride off Miip.” He smiled, and started to offer a hand.
The man looked about thirty, dark-skinned, about average height and build, with yellow eyes and short frizzy black hair. He looked very fit. He was wearing sensible outdoor clothes.
Sir David leaned forward and shook hands. “David Shetland, lately of the scouts. I’m the owner, cook and bottle washer of the Avarice Rewarded. This is Silea Crossflow, our pilot, and Doctor Luan Derhayenne who’s the medico and broker. That’s ‘the Fish’, we found him in engineering. He seems to like it there.” Fish nodded. “So, what brought you here? And where do you want to go?”
“Well, to cut a long story short a woman brought me here. Then she told me where to go, which was ‘anywhere else’. I suppose I’d like to get to Sentry eventually and look for work, if I don’t find something along the way. But I’ll go wherever you’re going rather than wait a few months for the next ship.”
“We just came from Sentry, I’m afraid. We won’t be back there for another four or five jumps. But if Fonnein Orbital at 069-526 is any good to you, we can sell you passage. Lots of small ships pass through there for refit, you’ll be able to pick up a ship bound for Sentry soon enough. What sort of ride did you want?”
“Well, I’d like low passage if you have the facilities?” Sir David nodded, and Maelcum continued “But I was… sort of hoping you might want someone to work passage, perhaps for a while.”
“Oh, what do you do?”
“Well I don’t suppose you need anyone to command a company of hostile environment troops on counter-insurgency operations? Or a sniper? Or a consultant on working in dangerous atmospheric conditions?” He grinned a bit. “OK, I lift things and clean things. And I cook as only the army knows how.”
“Actually…” said Sir David, “It just so happens I could do with picking somebody’s brains about working in dangerous gases. Come aboard. You’ve got yourself a ride at room temperature.”
“Is army cooking better than scout cooking?” asked the Fish.
Maelcum picked up his kit bag and gun case, and they filed aboard the ship. Silea paused by the hatch and turned to Luan. “We have to get the long version of the story about the woman.”
…
Soon they were aloft and heading out to the jump point. Maelcum’s gun case – holding a downright gorgeous sporting rifle with hand-crafted woodwork and a high tech HUD-linked sight – went in the locker. His other gear went in cabin 4, while he went into the hold to help Fish pump their spare fuel from the blisters to the jump tanks.
…
A few hours later they were in jump space. With no passengers, they settled down to an easy routine. A couple of days into jump, Sir David gathered the regular crew and broached the subject they’d all been thinking about.
He asked them if they’d be interested in mounting a salvage operation on the abandoned Vraidercalt once their charter was over, assuming they could perform it in Avarice Rewarded. He proposed that fifty percent of the profit (or all of the loss) went to the ship’s accounts, with the other fifty split evenly between the people involved. If the salvage was beyond them, they’d try to sell their information for a finder’s fee instead.
Fish jumped at it, mumbling something about “saving up”. Silea and Luan said they were in if the risks looked reasonable.
…
Maelcum worked over the hostile environment suits they’d taken off Malfeasant, and taught the Avaricious a thing or two about working in poisonous gas. His cooking was… different from scout cooking. They liked him.
Sir David thought for a bit, and offered him working passage as ship’s security officer until they reached Sentry or he got a better offer. He was also invited to join in a salvage operation in a hostile atmosphere after that. Maelcum accepted both offers. He expected to end up in a mercenary outfit eventually, but he was quite happy to have a break from the military life.
Date: 166-993 to 169-993 Imperial.
Location: Miip system (0819), mainworld.
They slept in the village hall the next night, on straw mattresses with homespun wool bedding. Fish made some quip about bearskins, but he made it quietly. The next morning they said their goodbyes and headed off. Three Ursa waited at the edge of the village to see them off – Thomas, Turmeigh and Yvonne. Yvonne hugged all of them, bending their ribcages to show how grateful she was.
The walk back to the “starport” village of Arodu was muddy but pleasant enough, and mostly downhill. They dropped in at the village to say goodbye, and Garren the “starport manager” told them there was “some ground-pounder” waiting at their ship, hoping to work or buy passage off world.
“You mean surface army?” asked Sir David, eyeing the marine scabbard and cutlass hanging from Garren’s belt.
“That’s right”.
“You’re an ex-marine then?” he gestured to the cutlass.
“Me? I never served. No, it’s my daughters. Her enlisted marine’s cutlass. She was commissioned last year, so she sent it to me. She has an Officer’s Cutlass now.” He seemed to swell with pride as he said the word “officer”.
“Congratulations” said Sir David. “Well, I suppose we’d better have a look at this fellow then. Thanks for your help, and your efficiency with the records sir.” He gave a formal nod and turned away.
Garren beamed.
…
The ground pounder was waiting by Avarice Rewarded’s port airlock, alongside a small kitbag and a gun case. He was doing push-ups and clapping. Lots of them, in 1.125g. When he heard the scrape of walking boot on gravel, he threw himself up to the vertical and began to walk forward.
“Good morning. I’m Maelcum Rivers, lately Major Rivers of the planetary army on Liar’s Oath. I was hoping you might give me a ride off Miip.” He smiled, and started to offer a hand.
The man looked about thirty, dark-skinned, about average height and build, with yellow eyes and short frizzy black hair. He looked very fit. He was wearing sensible outdoor clothes.
Sir David leaned forward and shook hands. “David Shetland, lately of the scouts. I’m the owner, cook and bottle washer of the Avarice Rewarded. This is Silea Crossflow, our pilot, and Doctor Luan Derhayenne who’s the medico and broker. That’s ‘the Fish’, we found him in engineering. He seems to like it there.” Fish nodded. “So, what brought you here? And where do you want to go?”
“Well, to cut a long story short a woman brought me here. Then she told me where to go, which was ‘anywhere else’. I suppose I’d like to get to Sentry eventually and look for work, if I don’t find something along the way. But I’ll go wherever you’re going rather than wait a few months for the next ship.”
“We just came from Sentry, I’m afraid. We won’t be back there for another four or five jumps. But if Fonnein Orbital at 069-526 is any good to you, we can sell you passage. Lots of small ships pass through there for refit, you’ll be able to pick up a ship bound for Sentry soon enough. What sort of ride did you want?”
“Well, I’d like low passage if you have the facilities?” Sir David nodded, and Maelcum continued “But I was… sort of hoping you might want someone to work passage, perhaps for a while.”
“Oh, what do you do?”
“Well I don’t suppose you need anyone to command a company of hostile environment troops on counter-insurgency operations? Or a sniper? Or a consultant on working in dangerous atmospheric conditions?” He grinned a bit. “OK, I lift things and clean things. And I cook as only the army knows how.”
“Actually…” said Sir David, “It just so happens I could do with picking somebody’s brains about working in dangerous gases. Come aboard. You’ve got yourself a ride at room temperature.”
“Is army cooking better than scout cooking?” asked the Fish.
Maelcum picked up his kit bag and gun case, and they filed aboard the ship. Silea paused by the hatch and turned to Luan. “We have to get the long version of the story about the woman.”
…
Soon they were aloft and heading out to the jump point. Maelcum’s gun case – holding a downright gorgeous sporting rifle with hand-crafted woodwork and a high tech HUD-linked sight – went in the locker. His other gear went in cabin 4, while he went into the hold to help Fish pump their spare fuel from the blisters to the jump tanks.
…
A few hours later they were in jump space. With no passengers, they settled down to an easy routine. A couple of days into jump, Sir David gathered the regular crew and broached the subject they’d all been thinking about.
He asked them if they’d be interested in mounting a salvage operation on the abandoned Vraidercalt once their charter was over, assuming they could perform it in Avarice Rewarded. He proposed that fifty percent of the profit (or all of the loss) went to the ship’s accounts, with the other fifty split evenly between the people involved. If the salvage was beyond them, they’d try to sell their information for a finder’s fee instead.
Fish jumped at it, mumbling something about “saving up”. Silea and Luan said they were in if the risks looked reasonable.
…
Maelcum worked over the hostile environment suits they’d taken off Malfeasant, and taught the Avaricious a thing or two about working in poisonous gas. His cooking was… different from scout cooking. They liked him.
Sir David thought for a bit, and offered him working passage as ship’s security officer until they reached Sentry or he got a better offer. He was also invited to join in a salvage operation in a hostile atmosphere after that. Maelcum accepted both offers. He expected to end up in a mercenary outfit eventually, but he was quite happy to have a break from the military life.
Morte
Explorer
Here's Maelcum's character sheet
Maelcum Rivers
Class: Rogue 3/Army 4
XP: 25,000
Race: Mixed Humaniti
Age: 30
Sex: Male
Height: 1.7 m
Weight: 70 kg
Description: Slightly slim, dark-skinned with short frizzy black hair, yellow eyes, clean shaven.
Homeworld: Kerin's Tyr 0620 Ley B575775-6
Languages: Galanglic, Irilitok
Abilities:
STR 13, DEX 17, CON 15, INT 14, EDU 9, WIS 10, CHA 10, SOC 8
Key Skills:
Bluff-6, Hide-9, Intimidate-6, Leader-12, Liaison-4, Listen-6, Move Silently-9, Search-8, Spot-10, Survival-10,
{Includes attribute bonuses but not skill-enhancing feats listed below (since they don't always apply).}
Feats:
Armor Prof (Light, Medium, Vac Suit)
Vessel (Ground)
Weapon Prof (Combat Rifleman, Lasers, Marksman, Swordsman)
Martial Training - +1 to BAB every 4 levels, currently +1
Stealthy - +2 to Hide and Move Silently
Smuggling - +2 to Hide stuff from officials
Spot Trouble - roll to foresee, avoid or reverse ambushes
Alertness - +2 to Listen and Spot checks
Command Presence - +2 to Leader checks
Combat:
Lifeblood: 15
Stamina: 35
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +10, Will +2
Attacks: BAB +5, +3 DEX, +1 Martial Training
No armour: AC 13, AR 0, Skill Check -0, Speed 9m
Flak vest: AC 17, AR 4, Skill Check -0, Speed 9m
Combat Environment Suit: AC 18, AR 6, Skill Check -3, Speed 6m
Equipment / Possessions:
Usual gizmos, practical clothes (some military surplus), Combat Environment Suit, chameleon smock, fine sporting Rifle with Advanced HUD, Autopistol, assorted ammo. Luggage comes to about 9.999kg.
Backstory
Born and raised on Keryn's Tyr, a mid-tech taint world based on arcologies.
At 18, Maelcum fell in with a bad lot and made his initial living as a smuggler. He earned a reputation for being slippery as lubricating gel and seeing trouble before it arrived. This may explain why he quit the business just before they were busted and joined the planetary army (induction on another continent).
The army realised just how sneaky and co-ordinated he was and initially trained him as a sniper. But eight years in the army awakened something in Maelcum -- leadership qualities. He was decorated, commissioned, and promoted to the rank of major.
He saw service on his home world and in mercenary units they hired out to other planets, in a mixture of counter-terrorism and "police actions". Like all soldiers from his homeworld, he was trained to operate in hostile atmospheric conditions.
After seven years and ten months in the military, meeting a certain woman aboard a homebound ship awakened something else in Maelcum. He mustered out two months later and set off after her. She went to Miip and he followed.
Maelcum Rivers
Class: Rogue 3/Army 4
XP: 25,000
Race: Mixed Humaniti
Age: 30
Sex: Male
Height: 1.7 m
Weight: 70 kg
Description: Slightly slim, dark-skinned with short frizzy black hair, yellow eyes, clean shaven.
Homeworld: Kerin's Tyr 0620 Ley B575775-6
Languages: Galanglic, Irilitok
Abilities:
STR 13, DEX 17, CON 15, INT 14, EDU 9, WIS 10, CHA 10, SOC 8
Key Skills:
Bluff-6, Hide-9, Intimidate-6, Leader-12, Liaison-4, Listen-6, Move Silently-9, Search-8, Spot-10, Survival-10,
{Includes attribute bonuses but not skill-enhancing feats listed below (since they don't always apply).}
Feats:
Armor Prof (Light, Medium, Vac Suit)
Vessel (Ground)
Weapon Prof (Combat Rifleman, Lasers, Marksman, Swordsman)
Martial Training - +1 to BAB every 4 levels, currently +1
Stealthy - +2 to Hide and Move Silently
Smuggling - +2 to Hide stuff from officials
Spot Trouble - roll to foresee, avoid or reverse ambushes
Alertness - +2 to Listen and Spot checks
Command Presence - +2 to Leader checks
Combat:
Lifeblood: 15
Stamina: 35
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +10, Will +2
Attacks: BAB +5, +3 DEX, +1 Martial Training
No armour: AC 13, AR 0, Skill Check -0, Speed 9m
Flak vest: AC 17, AR 4, Skill Check -0, Speed 9m
Combat Environment Suit: AC 18, AR 6, Skill Check -3, Speed 6m
Equipment / Possessions:
Usual gizmos, practical clothes (some military surplus), Combat Environment Suit, chameleon smock, fine sporting Rifle with Advanced HUD, Autopistol, assorted ammo. Luggage comes to about 9.999kg.
Backstory
Born and raised on Keryn's Tyr, a mid-tech taint world based on arcologies.
At 18, Maelcum fell in with a bad lot and made his initial living as a smuggler. He earned a reputation for being slippery as lubricating gel and seeing trouble before it arrived. This may explain why he quit the business just before they were busted and joined the planetary army (induction on another continent).
The army realised just how sneaky and co-ordinated he was and initially trained him as a sniper. But eight years in the army awakened something in Maelcum -- leadership qualities. He was decorated, commissioned, and promoted to the rank of major.
He saw service on his home world and in mercenary units they hired out to other planets, in a mixture of counter-terrorism and "police actions". Like all soldiers from his homeworld, he was trained to operate in hostile atmospheric conditions.
After seven years and ten months in the military, meeting a certain woman aboard a homebound ship awakened something else in Maelcum. He mustered out two months later and set off after her. She went to Miip and he followed.
Morte
Explorer
Act IV: 069-526 - Library Data
069-526 0721 BAAA630-7 Ni Wa 103 Im M4 V K8 D
Class B starport, 1.25g, exotic atmosphere, ~100% surface water, one million inhabitants, government by self-perpetuating oligarchy, no laws, mass tech level is 7 (e.g. hovercraft, solar power, assault rifles, composite fibre materials).
The planet known to astrographers as 069-526 is the main world of the binary Kleister system. Kleister Alpha is a dim red main sequence star and the distant white dwarf Kleister Beta. The Beta system is uninhabited and consists of a gas giant, an iceball planet and miscellaneous rocks. The Alpha system has three gas giants and several rockball planets to keep its main world 069-526 company.
069-526 is known unofficially as “Fonnein” to its million inhabitants. It’s a large, cold world which is almost entirely covered with water, much of it frozen. The land area is negligible, and the atmosphere is deadly to humans anyway. The world was colonised in 922 to exploit the rich sea life and minerals, using outside technology and resources. Fonnein does not have the manufacturing technology base to sustain itself without trade.
About two thirds of the inhabitants have live in underwater cities, with the remainder in smaller outlying installations. Each city has a spaceport on a tower poking above the waves (which can be closed by bad weather), as well as extensive submarine docks and cargo handling. These spaceports transfer to the orbital starport for off-world traffic.
Fonnein is administered by a hereditary leadership caste, descended from the colonists’ original elected leaders, who live amongst the normal citizens and get on just fine with them. The extremely dangerous underwater environment seems to instil a tendency to rational co-operation amongst the populace, and they live without any laws or much in the way of politics. Visitors who witness Fonnein society have been known to joke about mind-affecting drugs in the air-reprocessing system.
There are some archaeological mysteries on Fonnein – what appear to be dolphin skeletons have been found in sediments around one hundred thousand years old. Dolphins only left Terra 3-4000 years ago, and they could not breathe Fonnein’s surface atmosphere.
Fonnein orbital is one of the uglier starports in charted space. It was made by welding two defunct freighter hulls to a gantry structure and adding assorted docks, gantries, boatyards and accommodation at convenient points. It’s a bit of a warren, but runs a successful business. The orbital’s yards have a good reputation for quick and cheap refits to small merchant ships.
Elsewhere in the Kleister Alpha system, the Imperial megacorporation Sternmetal Horizons LIC maintains a mining operation on Estorr, a moon of the gas giant Praimen. Around twenty thousand employees mine radiocatives, with some petrochemical skimming operations just getting underway. Non-company ships are not normally permitted to approach.
069-526 0721 BAAA630-7 Ni Wa 103 Im M4 V K8 D
Class B starport, 1.25g, exotic atmosphere, ~100% surface water, one million inhabitants, government by self-perpetuating oligarchy, no laws, mass tech level is 7 (e.g. hovercraft, solar power, assault rifles, composite fibre materials).
The planet known to astrographers as 069-526 is the main world of the binary Kleister system. Kleister Alpha is a dim red main sequence star and the distant white dwarf Kleister Beta. The Beta system is uninhabited and consists of a gas giant, an iceball planet and miscellaneous rocks. The Alpha system has three gas giants and several rockball planets to keep its main world 069-526 company.
069-526 is known unofficially as “Fonnein” to its million inhabitants. It’s a large, cold world which is almost entirely covered with water, much of it frozen. The land area is negligible, and the atmosphere is deadly to humans anyway. The world was colonised in 922 to exploit the rich sea life and minerals, using outside technology and resources. Fonnein does not have the manufacturing technology base to sustain itself without trade.
About two thirds of the inhabitants have live in underwater cities, with the remainder in smaller outlying installations. Each city has a spaceport on a tower poking above the waves (which can be closed by bad weather), as well as extensive submarine docks and cargo handling. These spaceports transfer to the orbital starport for off-world traffic.
Fonnein is administered by a hereditary leadership caste, descended from the colonists’ original elected leaders, who live amongst the normal citizens and get on just fine with them. The extremely dangerous underwater environment seems to instil a tendency to rational co-operation amongst the populace, and they live without any laws or much in the way of politics. Visitors who witness Fonnein society have been known to joke about mind-affecting drugs in the air-reprocessing system.
There are some archaeological mysteries on Fonnein – what appear to be dolphin skeletons have been found in sediments around one hundred thousand years old. Dolphins only left Terra 3-4000 years ago, and they could not breathe Fonnein’s surface atmosphere.
Fonnein orbital is one of the uglier starports in charted space. It was made by welding two defunct freighter hulls to a gantry structure and adding assorted docks, gantries, boatyards and accommodation at convenient points. It’s a bit of a warren, but runs a successful business. The orbital’s yards have a good reputation for quick and cheap refits to small merchant ships.
Elsewhere in the Kleister Alpha system, the Imperial megacorporation Sternmetal Horizons LIC maintains a mining operation on Estorr, a moon of the gas giant Praimen. Around twenty thousand employees mine radiocatives, with some petrochemical skimming operations just getting underway. Non-company ships are not normally permitted to approach.
Broccli_Head
Explorer
What's this ? A post?
Morte
Explorer
Act IV: 069-526 - Fonnein
Date: 174-993 Imperial.
Location: 069-526 system (0721), approaching Fonnein Orbital.
“Well, it’s not Gateway” said Sir David as the telescope picked out the orbital’s silhouette against the planet’s day side.
“It’s about as un-Gateway as you can get” agreed Silea.
“Oh, have you been to Gateway?” Luan was suddenly enthusiastic.
“Not me, I’ve just seen pictures” said Silea.
“I went there once, years ago, in the scouts” Sir David reminisced. “We were giving some diplomat type a lift, the navy being indisposed, and we let him talk us into timing our arrival so we could watch dawn sweep across the face of the planetoid. Every second or so it caught another window, on one of those dwellings carved into the surface. It was as if the whole station was sparkling in the sun. Inside it’s just another hollow asteroid with a park in the middle, only bigger than usual. But the view from space is really something if you catch it right.”
“So do you think this place would look any better if the sun was shining from this side?”
“Nope. I think the less we see of it, the better. It’s a good job we can dock with our eyes closed.” He tapped the edge of the flight controls console.
“I’d love to visit Gateway” Luan said, half to herself.
Silea started to spin wire-frame holograms of her docking path. “It’s only forty parsecs, or forty-five around the rift” she quipped.
“I guess I’ll never make it” Luan sounded resigned.
“You probably could work your way out there, if you don’t mind taking a year or two to do it, you know. But it’s a long way to go for a view…”
A burst of comms chatter cut the daydreaming short. Sir David exchanged reassuring noises with flight control to assure them that the free trader approaching at several thousand kilometres per second had every intention of stopping before it rammed them. The Avaricious got down to business.
…
Eventually, they were down to creep speed for docking and the orbital spaceport filled thirty degrees of their forward arc. It looked like two bugs with large carapaces had hit almost exactly the same part of a windshield. At least the planet looked good behind it – blue water and white ice, seen through swirling grey clouds.
Silea initiated a sequence of attitude burns to swing them around the side and find their assigned docking gantry.
“What’s that?” asked Sir David, as they flew over a heavily modified 400 dton Type R Subsidised Merchant, that had apparently been turned into a giant hologrammatic hoarding.
“Oh that’s Honest Ab” said Silea, grinning a bit. “Everybody’s favourite local arms dealer. He’s famous in this corner of space. He sells all sorts of weaponry from that ship, merc gear and ship’s weapons – you name it. They say he can get grav tanks, if you don’t mind a wait. And all of it is actually, genuinely, legal. Proper paperwork and everything. Not forged.”
“But why the lightshow?”
“Maybe he wants to remind everyone he’s the only non-shady retail military weapons dealer in twenty parsecs. It might save him a few customs inspections, remind the powers that be that they’ve searched him fifty times and he was always clean.”
Luan nodded quietly in the background. “Is this a big place for weapons dealing then?”.
“Well…” said Silea “It’s a small port. But I have heard that this is the place to get your refit done if you want it to include a few military surplus bits and pieces. Things you couldn’t normally get fitted at a merchant yard. Perhaps he’s selling to that crowd, the ships or the yards.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on getting in any starship combat in the near future,” said Sir David, “but I suppose I really ought to buy some ammunition for the carbines in the locker. Maybe I’ll go see Honest Ab.” He turned to Luan and asked “Do you think we could pick up any good cargos here for Kerin’s Tyr?”
“Kerin’s Tyr is quite a bit lower tech than this place, it might be hard to pick up manufactures they can use and maintain there. But I did wonder about water purification equipment or something like that. Unless they mine the icebergs, they must purify their water. Come to think of it, with this atmosphere code the icebergs might need purifying too. I’ll have a look at the local net once we’ve docked.”
“Which will be in about thirty seconds…” said Silea.
Date: 174-993 Imperial.
Location: 069-526 system (0721), approaching Fonnein Orbital.
“Well, it’s not Gateway” said Sir David as the telescope picked out the orbital’s silhouette against the planet’s day side.
“It’s about as un-Gateway as you can get” agreed Silea.
“Oh, have you been to Gateway?” Luan was suddenly enthusiastic.
“Not me, I’ve just seen pictures” said Silea.
“I went there once, years ago, in the scouts” Sir David reminisced. “We were giving some diplomat type a lift, the navy being indisposed, and we let him talk us into timing our arrival so we could watch dawn sweep across the face of the planetoid. Every second or so it caught another window, on one of those dwellings carved into the surface. It was as if the whole station was sparkling in the sun. Inside it’s just another hollow asteroid with a park in the middle, only bigger than usual. But the view from space is really something if you catch it right.”
“So do you think this place would look any better if the sun was shining from this side?”
“Nope. I think the less we see of it, the better. It’s a good job we can dock with our eyes closed.” He tapped the edge of the flight controls console.
“I’d love to visit Gateway” Luan said, half to herself.
Silea started to spin wire-frame holograms of her docking path. “It’s only forty parsecs, or forty-five around the rift” she quipped.
“I guess I’ll never make it” Luan sounded resigned.
“You probably could work your way out there, if you don’t mind taking a year or two to do it, you know. But it’s a long way to go for a view…”
A burst of comms chatter cut the daydreaming short. Sir David exchanged reassuring noises with flight control to assure them that the free trader approaching at several thousand kilometres per second had every intention of stopping before it rammed them. The Avaricious got down to business.
…
Eventually, they were down to creep speed for docking and the orbital spaceport filled thirty degrees of their forward arc. It looked like two bugs with large carapaces had hit almost exactly the same part of a windshield. At least the planet looked good behind it – blue water and white ice, seen through swirling grey clouds.
Silea initiated a sequence of attitude burns to swing them around the side and find their assigned docking gantry.
“What’s that?” asked Sir David, as they flew over a heavily modified 400 dton Type R Subsidised Merchant, that had apparently been turned into a giant hologrammatic hoarding.
“Oh that’s Honest Ab” said Silea, grinning a bit. “Everybody’s favourite local arms dealer. He’s famous in this corner of space. He sells all sorts of weaponry from that ship, merc gear and ship’s weapons – you name it. They say he can get grav tanks, if you don’t mind a wait. And all of it is actually, genuinely, legal. Proper paperwork and everything. Not forged.”
“But why the lightshow?”
“Maybe he wants to remind everyone he’s the only non-shady retail military weapons dealer in twenty parsecs. It might save him a few customs inspections, remind the powers that be that they’ve searched him fifty times and he was always clean.”
Luan nodded quietly in the background. “Is this a big place for weapons dealing then?”.
“Well…” said Silea “It’s a small port. But I have heard that this is the place to get your refit done if you want it to include a few military surplus bits and pieces. Things you couldn’t normally get fitted at a merchant yard. Perhaps he’s selling to that crowd, the ships or the yards.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on getting in any starship combat in the near future,” said Sir David, “but I suppose I really ought to buy some ammunition for the carbines in the locker. Maybe I’ll go see Honest Ab.” He turned to Luan and asked “Do you think we could pick up any good cargos here for Kerin’s Tyr?”
“Kerin’s Tyr is quite a bit lower tech than this place, it might be hard to pick up manufactures they can use and maintain there. But I did wonder about water purification equipment or something like that. Unless they mine the icebergs, they must purify their water. Come to think of it, with this atmosphere code the icebergs might need purifying too. I’ll have a look at the local net once we’ve docked.”
“Which will be in about thirty seconds…” said Silea.
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