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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 2545746" data-attributes="member: 515">Chapter XXIDate: 211 and 212-993Location: Warne Highport, Kerin's TyrSwann and Aidan spend most of the day researching Jarvis Nuuis at a nearby diner with wire-less connections and public terminals. The picture available from the publicly available commercial databases appears to be of a successful Vargr businessman.Jarvis Nuuis appears to have arrived at Warne Highport about 10 years ago and purchased a significant though non–contiguous portion of the highport. His publicly registered holdings include a specialty smallcraft yard — Muriel ILC, which makes armed pinnaces and cutters — several warehouses, and a 1200 dTon “residence” with a 600 dTon private berth. Jarvis ap-pears to have significant interests in an import/export company (Nuuis Import–Export) dealing with goods in and out of Kerin's Tyr, and a local protection/escort (ShieldWolf Ltd.) concern providing security guards (in mauve) and escort pinnaces for ships arriving/departing Warne Highport.The news services databases show that Jarvis is a bit of a philanthropist locally and is fairly well thought of by the public. Several news stories have looked into him and his holdings, but the tone of most appear to be fairly positive though one does briefly question Jarvis’ sudden ap-pearance 10 years ago in Kerin’s Tyr and his fast rise to prominence. That same one also notes that Jarvis is known for being a shrewd and ruthless businessman with “go–for–the–jugular business instincts.”There aren’t any publicly available stories about Jarvis and any criminal dealings of any sort. In fact, Jarvis seems to have been well thought of by the last three Warne Highport Administrators since there are a number of pictures of Jarvis and the administrators at various functions including their retirement parties.Swann shakes his head, and then looks at Aidan, a grim look on his face. “This guy’s got plenty of juice around here. Trying to run some sort of game against this guy would take a lot of time and money to pull off. I’m not sure we have enough of either. It would require us staying in port for quite some time. I get the feeling most of the crew wants to leave here as soon as possible.”-----Swann also spends a little bit of time chatting up the local spacers about Jarvis at the diner and later at a spacer bar. Most have a fairly positive impression of Jarvis and his businesses. The ShieldWolf folks have a fairly good reputation for as reliable guards and escorts, but a couple of the older spacers speak very quietly about stories of extremely high “aid” rates if a ship requests aid from a ShieldWolf pinnace during a fight without being previously contracted.Late one evening a somewhat drunk, fairly unattractive and rotund, middle–aged female ship captain (Maggs), speaking with a bit of a slur while inching her hand up Swann’s thigh, says, “Yeah, Jarvis is awright as long as youse dunn cross ’im. Buts when hees fights, hees fights to kills nunlass youse oohsfall to ’im. Annway, lets alk bout youse an meese in mah berth.”Swann considers the possibility of Maggs’ future usefulness as a contact, and reluctantly goes with her. He plans to continue plying her with alcohol, hoping she will pass out before anything intimate happens. If she does pass out, Swann will bluff her later into thinking the two shared a wild night together. But if she doesn’t pass out, he decides he will take one for the team and try to imagine he is back with Maureen. “Sex is sex,” he thinks philosophically.The ex–belter bravely goes with Maggs to where her ship, the Musty Dusty, is berthed. The Musty Dusty turns out to be Elorica–class far trader that looks like it has been banging around the cluster for quite some time. While the passenger berth doors are opening, Maggs takes advantage of the opportunity to plant some sloppy, 90–proof kisses on Swann. After passing an ill–shaven crewmember in the hallway who just shakes his head, Swann and Maggs enter the ship and finally arrive at her quarters.Unfortunately for Swann’s plan, Maggs apparently has an excellent constitution, and she doesn’t pass out. In fact, Maggs has considerable energy and stamina. Swann’s night is sur-prisingly enjoyable since although Maggs isn’t the most attractive of women, she is quite experienced and . . . lusty.In the morning, Maggs finally lets Swann up, gives him a pat on the butt, and sends him stag-gering from the Musty Dusty’s berth with the parting comment of, “Damn pity we’re pulling out in a couple of hours. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the Bray Keaven around the cluster!”-----When Swann comes staggering through the Bray Keaven’s lounge a bit later that morning, smelling of alcohol and sex, Vasilii vaguely wonders if there are any single Vilani women with good contacts and reasonable capital within 20 parsecs who wouldn’t run a kilometer when they looked into his background.-----Vasilii spends most of the two days looking for cargo. There does appear to be a fairly good quantity of freight going to a number of destinations (mostly Sentry or out of the cluster), but, oddly, no speculative cargo seems to be currently available other than a load of fresh blood oranges from Harve. Vasilii doesn't contract anything yet given that he doesn't know the ship's plans though he does indicate a vague interest (though not commitment) in the blood oranges.Also during this time Vasilii garners what information he can about Vargr customs and the whole pack mentality thing from normal sources (online, books). He wants to understand Vargas’ situation as best he can.After checking with Saro, Vasilii also stops by the medical center to ask Vargas if he had some plan in mind when he challenged Jarvis. He figures no human (except maybe a serious martial artist) would challenge a Vargr who’s into dueling to an unarmed combat. Since Vargas is no fool, and knows more of Vargr than Vasilii, Vasilii wonders if he had some subtle motive.“I’d never pick a fight with Jarvis. If I wanted to kill him I’d get out alive, then pay some dodgy star–mercs a quarter million to whack him. We can afford it. You must have had some plan in mind.”-----During the stay at Nateel Medical Center, Saro makes note of the mauve–garbed Vargr that seem to encircle the crew everywhere they go. He gets a queasy feeling every time he sees them. “Fan-frellin’-tastic,” he thinks. “Nothing like constant ‘subtle’ intimidation to remind us who’s got the most guns if we don’t do what he wants.”With deepening disgust and anger, Saro sourly gets about the business of tending to his pa-tients.-----Vargas and Ian respond well to Saro’s (and Nateel Medical’s) good care. By the late afternoon, Vargas is conscious and somewhat surprised at not being dead. The two spend the rest of the day and the following day feeling sore and uncomfortable.-----The morning after the duel, Barkolin reappears at Nateel Medical with an impish–looking, dark–skinned human female in tow. Barkolin introduces her to Ian as Alicia. Alicia smiles and asks to see Ian’s ID card for his permit. When Ian produces the card, Alicia runs it through some sort of scanner device attached to a tablet-comp and says, “Ah, very good. Ex–Marine. That’ll make things a bit easier. I’ll be back in a few hours.”A few hours later, Alicia (minus Barkolin) returns to Nateel Medical and asks to see Ian’s ID again. She again inserts the ID card into the scanner. After a few seconds and a beep, she removes the card and shows it and an official looking plastic permit to Ian. The card and hard copy permit now indicate that Ian has a Category 4 license for ACRs (any single ACR) and heavy ACRs (any single heavy ACR) in addition to his previous license for his gauss pistol (specific to his old service pistol received while mustering out). When Ian looks Alicia with a questioning look, Alicia shrugs and replies, “Compliments of Mr. Nuuis who thought that you might find it useful. See ya!”“Thanks!” Ian replies before Alicia zips out of the room. Then he mutters to no one in particular, “Still isn't worth it though,” as he shifts a bit with a pained look on his face. Ian repockets his ID card along with the new permit.-----Upon sufficient recovery, Vargas turns to Ian and says, “Ian, I sincerely apologize to you for not sufficiently disabling Jarvis to prevent that stupid duel. My plan was to disable him sufficiently to cost him enough dexterity and slow him down enough to give you the best possible chance to come out of this unscathed. I obviously failed miserably. I thought that I had a fighting chance to actually win this challenge but I seriously underestimated Jarvis.”“Well, we all wondered if you’d lost your mind or something,” Ian replies. “I appreciate your concern with my well being and trying to help my situation. I’m not sure if the cost was worth it though — those were some serious injuries you sustained. Also, you are a member of his pack now. Don’t exactly know what that means, but it makes me think that you are not your own person now and may be expected to place Jarvis’ interests above the interests of this crew and ship. We will have some serious issues to deal with if that is the case.” Ian ends with a serious look on his face.-----Late in the afternoon of the second day at Nateel Medical, Vargas receives a short note written on real paper:Emile,Your challenge was brave and foolish, but you have gained some sfik in my eyes. I expect to meet with you tomorrow morning at 1000 to discuss your future. Presumably, your shipmates will want to participate. I will meet you at 1000 at Nateel Medical or on your ship if you decide to relocate.Jarvis-----By the end of the second day at Nateel Medical, Saro feels confident that moving both patients to the Bray Keaven would not result in a significant loss in care as long as others help, Ian and Vargas rest, and Saro takes the appropriate supplies. After a brief consultation with the others, Kevon, Swann, and Aidan come by in the late afternoon to help move Vargas and Ian. The Nateel Medical bill of Cr9,000 (for services and supplies) is billed to the ship’s port account.-----On the evening of the 213th day of the year, most of the crew gathers in the lounge for dinner while Saro and Vargas eat from the improvised sick bay and link in from there.-----Before the meeting, Martha runs a quick diagnostic to see how far along the repairs are, and what still needs to be done. At dinner she reports the current status on ship repairs.After the status report, she changes the subject to the matter at hand. “So, it looks like we’re having company for breakfast tomorrow? Who’s cooking, because it certainly isn’t me?” Martha smiles.“Seriously, I don’t think it’d be a good idea to have him onboard, but then again, it’d probably be a worse idea to not do so. He’s the kind of guy that would use any perceived insult as an opportunity to manipulate the situation. I don’t like it, not at all.”-----Sitting in the medical cabin, Saro listens to the dinner conversation via the ship’s comms as he maintains a vigilant observation over Emile. When Martha voices her concerns about Jarvis, Saro nods to himself and mumbles, “Amen and hallelujah to that, sister.”-----In preparation for the arrival of Jarvis, Vargas offers to order — at his personal expense — a catering service to provide a meal of favored Vargr food for his new pack leader.Vargas eventually answers the question on the minds of most of the crew. “I had several rea-sons for issuing this challenge. The first, and most important, was to mitigate the danger to Ian in his duel. Vargr are very dexterous and typically are very good in the use of ranged weapons. Jarvis in particular has had a lot of practice in the art of dueling. I was hoping to disable him enough to stop this duel or give Ian an excellent chance to win.”-----When Vargas starts to explain his motivation, Swann stops with a forkful of peas and mush-rooms just short of his open mouth. Incredulous over what he is hearing, he stays frozen in that comical pose for several seconds. Once he realizes that peas are falling off his fork and into his lap, Swann puts the fork back on his plate and closes his mouth.Ian slowly shakes his head with a hard frown on his face.Vasilii purses his lips.-----“If I had won," the ex-Scout continues, "I had intended to leave Jarvis in charge in my absence and proceed with our journey. However, losing makes me a member of his pack. In any event, we would have the protection of a fairly powerful interstellar organization.”-----Anyone watching Vasilii sees him almost start to blurt incredulously, but then clamp his mouth shut.-----“Vargr tend to be very loyal to pack members. Since I am now a pack member, I will enjoy the protection of the pack. Since you are associated with me, you will also enjoy some protection of the pack. For the Bray Keaven, this will be a win–win situation.”-----Vasilii’s eyes bulge.-----“There is a down side to this arrangement in that I will be expected to give the same loyalty to the pack as they give to me.”-----Vasilii slowly exhales.“That loyalty, my fellow shipmates, is a potential problem in my opinion,” Ian says quietly.-----“I am not sure as to what position I will hold in this pack but I suspect that Jarvis will want me to remain with the Bray Keaven as his representative. That we will have to wait to see.”-----Vasilii sets his jaw.-----“Another thing is that I am very curious about what this Imperial business is. What better way to find out then to be associated with an interstellar organization that has many sources of infor-mation. We now have access to that information.”-----“Great,” thinks Vasilii, “First we agree to leave it alone and within a day we’re getting in fights to learn about it. Perfect. Bloody wonderful.” Bystanders may detect a certain annoyance on the merchant’s part.-----“I hope this works out, if it does not, there is always the option of leaving me here and proceed-ing onward.”-----Martha frowns, her forehead wrinkling as if she finds the thought unpleasant.-----“I hope this will not be the case, but no matter what my reasons were, I did bring this down upon myself. It seems that my fate rests in several hands and a pair of paws.”-----Vasilii looks very thoughtful.-----“I suspect that this association with the pack may not be terribly long lived. Vargr society is very mobile and it is understood that if a member of the pack starts to lose sfik or charisma, they are expected to leave and seek their fortune elsewhere.“Vasilii, I shall repay the ships account for my care at the hospital.”“No need for that, Mr. Vargas. You were acting for the ship. I wouldn’t have done the same thing myself, but they’re legitimate ‘business expenses.’ ”“I agree,” Ian says. “I think the expenses for the meal with Jarvis should be paid from the ship’s account as well.”-----When Vargas makes his statement about repaying the ship’s account for his hospital care, Swann thinks, “Better save your credits for a good shrink.”-----As several people interject to counter Vargas’ offer, Martha sits quietly, letting the others ex-press her thoughts for her. But eventually she asks, “Vargas, what do YOU want to do? Do you want to leave, or do you want to stay onboard? And if you stay onboard, what does that mean when push comes to shove, and it comes down to us or Jarvis?”“Yes, how do you feel about it all Mr. Vargas?” Vasilii asks. “Whilst I really want nothing to do with these thugs, you are a member of our partnership and you got into this position trying to help us. So we should see what we can do to achieve a satisfactory conclusion.”Swann takes a drink of his beverage and says, “The philosopher Wang Chung once said, ‘A sophont with two masters can serve neither.’ ”-----Vargas sits and listens to the conversations following his assessment of the previous days’ actions. Finally he says, “I am a member of this crew and a shareholder. I naturally want to stay on board and continue with this crew and continue in my present position.“As to my loyalties, I think that the scars I now bear speak more loudly than words as to where they lay. By the way Saro, I forgot to thank you for saving my life. You are one of the best. Thanks.“Most of what we are talking about though is still conjecture. I need to see exactly what this Jarvis will expect of me. Judging from what he did for the ACR permit, he seems to have a sense of honor and his demands may be very light. This remains to be seen and I will have to wait for the results of our meeting in the morning before any real plans or decisions can be made.“My first priority is the safety of this ship and its crew. I am not completely sure what position this Vargr family occupies but I am pretty sure that they are fairly high on the food chain. Having them as friends could be a benefit. As for myself, I will make it clear that I and I alone made the challenge and lost, and that I and I alone am under his control for the present time and that he cannot make demands on this crew or ship that will result in endangerment of the Bray Keaven, its crew, passengers, cargo, or profit. If push comes to shove, I will do what we all think is best for this ship and its crew.”-----Martha pauses, then asks, “Vargas, what do I need to do to avoid being the target of Jarvis’ next dueling challenge? I don’t want to tick him off while he’s here, and suddenly find myself in a blazing gun battle at 20 paces.” She smiles lightly, though her eyes belie the tension she feels.-----Vargas senses Martha’s tension and says, “Martha, sfik is a Vargr equivalent of social status. One of the quirks of Vargr society is that each Vargr tries to improve their status within a pack. That is why humans seem to think that the Vargr are constantly quarreling. Most humans do not have any sfik in the view of the Vargr so they usually just leave them alone.“The place where most humans get into trouble with Vargr is that the Vargr are very easily insulted. This is especially true if there are any racial overtones to the insult. Most Vargr re-spond fairly quickly and with possible deadly results to repeated insults.“The reason that Ian wound up in that duel was because a close member of Jarvis’ family had been killed and he would have lost sfik in the eyes of his subordinates. This required that he take, shall I say ‘revenge’ for the want of a better word. If he had not done this, he would have surly faced a challenge similar to mine from subordinate members of his pack.“I got my thrashing because I issued a direct challenge to him. Unlike most humans, I appar-ently do have some sfik or he would have never accepted my challenge. The result is history.“I do not think you are in any danger from this bunch as long as you do not make any insulting remarks about his race or business dealings. Also, do not stare directly into his eyes as this is interpreted as a threat. Just keep that in mind and you should not have any problems.”-----Vasilii’s research pretty much confirmed what Vargas says: he will probably be considered a Vargr pack member though probably on some sort of probationary status. The association may be long, or it might be short depending on the new pack member’s prestige. Given that Vargas acted as if a Vargr, he is probably going to be considered a Vargr rather than a human em-ployee.-----Aidan takes charge of arranging for a late morning meal for Jarvis after consulting with Vargas as to an appropriate spread of food to provide. The meeting is at 1000 hours, so Aidan opts for a mixture of morning and midday foods as well as a mixture of lighter and heavier fare. He spends about Cr450* for the spread.Vasilii shakes his head when he receives the bill. “Can you actually buy food that expensive? I obviously move in the wrong circles.”“Ahh my friend, the wine alone was half of that,” Aidan says. “One must have the proper bever-age with every meal.”-----*For comparison, Cr450 is roughly equal to $1,350 in current U.S. dollars.</blockquote>

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