Securing a Future, Dealing with the Vernii
At the edge of the Vernii system of Acler in Raumreich space, a cargo vessel made the transition from hyperspace to real. Though it's light/gravity wave would take less then an hour to reach population centers insystem, it's moderate speed would take it days.
"Crafty" would likely be the word that came to mind when foreign eyes saw the vessel, for indeed it looked like a handicraft, as if an amature (yet talented) hand had fashoned it from spare parts. It certainly seemed to fly well enough though....
Long before any lightwave could reach insystem to announce either its presence or its odd nature, a single message came throuch complement of a MangalaCorp (Valinon) Nu-Space communication system.
"Acler control, this is Captain Laurant Logan of the Independant Starship Pioneer requesting approach vector and docking permission near Acler."
Acler System Control was the opposite of the freighter that had popped into the system. It was a large spherical station, antennas and dishes sprouting from the hull that gave it a random appearance, but it was obviously built by one of the large shipyards. Inside the station's many control rooms, over a hundred traffic controllers sat at their stations, checking the ID of incoming starships and granting clearance, then transferring them to someone else who would assign them into a proper orbit at their destination.
Normally most ships would receive only a passing glance to make sure they were who they said they were, but after several million deaths from fusion devices smuggled into the system by Nighwatch, system security had dramatically risen. From the moment of entry, sensor platforms in the outer system had watched it on their passives, transmitting back to ASC via nu-space. It was clean though, and because of this, it wasn't swatted from space by the missile platforms lurking in the outer system.
"Pioneer, this is Acler System Control. Docking permission is granted at platform Beta-2, approach vector and specific dock will be transmitted shortly."
The Imperium had never had much of a flair for naming orbitals. Platforms Alpha-1 and 2 were both large dockyards for military ships, Beta 1-3 were smaller platforms where passenger vessels and smaller cargo ships docked, and then there were a couple big corporate owned stations for the big megafreighters that were typical in Verniian systems.
The 400+ long meter freighter slipped gently into it's port with the muffled sound of 2 large masses colliding ever so slowly and carefully. With little hesitation, the one-size-fits-all hatchs worked their way around the platform's equivalents. It wasn't long before people started comming out the crew lock...the loading bay still secure with no one scheduled to be outside it.
When a total of 11 people assembled (including 2 children and a young teen), the most senior of them addressed the group. "OK, strange port, foreign customs, and likely a different way of thinking. Everyone be on your guard.
"Jaina, Sam, I want you to stick together, and I am sending Rena along with you. She's my most experianced crew member, heed her advice. Rogers, " he spoke the military specialist's last name as he turned to him, "stay with them, keep them safe.
"Malio," he spoke the other spec's last name, "you are with Justin and I.
"Jeffers, your junior, you know what that means." Indeed, Jeffers did know...first watch.
"What about us?" the youngest boy whined.
"That," the skipper said quite directly, is up to your mother. But I'd suggest to her not this time. She has enough to worry about right now and we don't know anything about this place just yet. Tell you what though, you have the run of the ship. Sit at any control panel and play, you won't make anything go wrong."
This didn't satisfy the two boys, who complained with a groan, or the young teenage girl, who huffed at this news. Being stuck on the ship for ANOTHER day was NOT her idea of fun! Not that she had ANY choice with THESE 'adults.'
Still, no one contridicted the man, and everyone fell into their places quite quickly. There wasn't much of a choice. Valinon currancy would keep the ship there a while, but not forever, and they had work to do.
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Jaina and Sam Rose's group of four went off in search of a bar. Knowing relitively nothing about Vernii, a spacer bar was the best place to find out just what aerospace company might be looking for a large contract or three.
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Captain Rose's group took out ads in relevant publications, then went out shop hopping...attempting to find anyone who might be interested in anything from oddly efficient fusion reactors to ToY imported wine to Lifeworks life extention drugs, vampire vaccines, and other oddities.
The published ads looked vague like the following:
Independant freight looking for buyers of the following items.
Industrial:
Duel-Cycle Fusion Reactors
Muscle-Suit heavy hydraulic machinery
Commercial:
Triumverant of Yut ring-made fine wines
OrcDraught, Foulist orcish liquer smuggled from Arda
Robosheep Cheese, Sunset imported fine cheeses
Menelmacari Data Crystals
Medical:
Rejuv(tm) life extension medication
VampAway vampire vaccine
LifeFlower all-purpose healing ointment
Emergency Services:
Stunners
Full-Environmental Encounter Suits
Stasis Gurneys
TheHand medical evaluation glove
Home Use:
Begley Cloth spread anywhere flexible solar cells
In Home Water Recyclers
Bedou Handi-Crafts true art from a hard lived people
CatchARat the latest in spouse awareness technology
Digital: All the latest movies, music, and games from Sol downloadable to any platform, plus:
30 Day No-Change Eye Contact Video Cell Phones
Electronic Insect Repellant belt devices
Interested parties should contact Captain Laurant Logan through the IStS Pioneer docked in platform Beta-2, Wing 5, Section-F, Slip 3.
The Comet's Tail Bar
The Comet's Tail was one of the more respectable bars on Beta-2. The glasses were clean, the barmaids were cute, and both the quality and prices of the food and drink varied, depending on what you ordered (and how polite you were). The staff was used to newcomers who had questions, and were typically happy to answer them, as long as they weren't too complex or take up too much time. After all, an unhappy customer was a customer who wouldn't be coming back.
"Aerospace companies? Well, if you want producers, there's the Kiel Industrial Group, they're the biggest shipbuilder in the Imperium. Following them are Gregor Corporation and Pegasus Shipyards. If you're looking for freight lines, there's Lichtenlade Freight Lines, they're a freight mover that concentrates its shipping along the Gregor/Alpha-Centauri/Yalta/Acler circuit, then there's Reims Starlines, they operate passenger transports throughout the Imperium and Valinor space, and to Sol. Then the Gregor/Sol Freight Liens, which is self-explanatory from the name. Anyway, those are the big three transport lines, though there's a bunch of smaller companies and such as well."
***
Over the course of the day, Captain Laurant is contacted via mail by several people interested in his wares. One is an independent merchant looking for a new power plant for his ship, asking for information and pricing on the dual-cycle fusion reactors. Another is a representative of a wealthy businessman who lost his wine collection when his penthouse in downtown Lutetia was destroyed by a Nightwatch fusion device, and was looking to replace it. The Triumvirate wines, if of high enough quality, would serve nicely for a start to rebuilding his collection. The third, and most interesting letter was from Markham Electronic's division in Acler. They requested information on the data storage capacity of the Menelmacari data crystals, along with how fast they could retrieve that data.
Jaina Rose was definately the dominant member of her party of four, and quite sharp to boot. After a quick order of food around the table, she asked for a little more clairification.
"Ahh, those first three you mentioned, Kiel, Gregor, and Pegasus," her strange accent dissappeared as she said the three names perfectly, then reappeared as she spoke, "where can I find them?"
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[[OOC: Captain Laurant's group isn't as important, it is just support sideline...perhaps a way you can find characters in your nation with a couple unique items. But it doesn't need to be RPed if you don't want.]]
Captain Logan Laurant set up the necessary appointments (a bottle of wine to be wasted with some fine foods to show the quality to the potential buyer, and a later appointment with the now away-from-ship Jaina Rose to explain the fusion reactor), and sent a detailed product guide about the Menelmacari data crystals to the other potential buyer. He made it clear that he was just a middleman, but did his best to provide all relevant information (if put a rosy tent on it, as any buisnessman would do).
At the bar
After the meal, Jaina Rose made sure to tip the waitress well, and took her satisfied looking little group to the nearest Pegasus Shipyards branch office.
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Aboard the IStS Pioneer
Jeffers stared increadulously at the pizza delivery man.
"You sure you got the right ship?" he asked in a foreign accent. Before the dilevery guy could respond, the hatch behind Jeffers opened and Alexis Rose rushed out and grabbed the pizza with a smile. She sliped the man a few Valinon bucks as a tip, and raced back into the ship with her booty.
As the delivery man left, all Jeffers could think was, Trust a 12 year old girl to figure out how to order pizza in a strange an foreign port.
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Sometime Later, Aboard the IStS Pioneer
Captain Laurant had really expected Jaina to be back by now to explain this whole fusion reactor thing to their client, but she claimed to be hot on the trail of something bigger. The poor Skipper had no choice but to try and sell the damnedable thing himself. And such was how he found himself pouring a complementary glass of Trium. wine from his holds to try and sell a much more valuable reactor to a fellow Starship commander.
The Tokamak reactor was now standing open in the cargo bay. "So you see," Laurant was explaining after a sip of wine, "it's a pretty simple and efficient design. But what makes the thing so damned good is that it has two cycles, just like a star. The first will fuse just about any combination of hydrogen, deterium, or tritium you want to stick in it with equal efficiency." he explained, "But the kicker is that it doesn't get rid of the Helium. Elegant Solutions is now the only company that refuses that in the CNO cycle.
"Oren Moore guarentees it'll give you 20% more power and energy out of your fuel then any hydrogen fusactor' can provide. Personally, I manage to get 25% more out of mine. It's a technological limit, you see? I'll pop the hood if you want to."
Beta-2
Pegasus Shipyards, being one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the Imperium, maintained offices on each of the three civilian platforms. They were clean, and aside from being on a space station, they would seem perfectly at home sitting in a skyscraper groundside.
As Mrs. Rose entered the office, the secretary on duty looked up from behind the large reception desk. "Hello, can I help you?"
***
IStS Pioneer
Captain Boltik, owner of the Ambria, nodded in approval as he listened to Laurant. "Yeah, that'd be nice. While we're on the subject of opening it up, how does this unit do maintenance wise? And how is the history of this model, no major problems right?"
Beta-2
Pegasus Shipyards, being one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the Imperium, maintained offices on each of the three civilian platforms. They were clean, and aside from being on a space station, they would seem perfectly at home sitting in a skyscraper groundside.
As Mrs. Rose entered the office, the secretary on duty looked up from behind the large reception desk. "Hello, can I help you?"
"Ahh, yes," Mrs. Rose replied, looking just a bit uncertain, "I'm looking to take out an unusual contract. There is substantial capital involved. Is there someone I can talk to?"
The rest of Jaina Rose's group stayed in the background, fingers crossed.
***
IStS Pioneer
Captain Boltik, owner of the Ambria, nodded in approval as he listened to Laurant. "Yeah, that'd be nice. While we're on the subject of opening it up, how does this unit do maintenance wise? And how is the history of this model, no major problems right?"[/QUOTE]
Captain Laurant chuckeled a bit and led the way to his own reactor "Mines a bit older model, and I've been running it for a good 23 years without problems. Whats amazing is that I pulled it second-hand out of some junked ship. I think it has a good 75 years or so in that one, I'm not sure how hard it was used though."
The two men came to the Pioneer's power center, and Laurant opened the hatch without ceremony. The tokamak inside was a bit banged up, with scratches and flat spots that obviously weren't supposed to be there, but the outside still glistened.
"We had a hell-of-a-time getting it in," he said, "back when I was part of the crew. We were short on cash, and there wasn't a good shipyard nearby anyway. But she's lasted thus far. We've had more trouble with the converter." The skipper motioned towards a large metalic (or was it?) looking box in the corner.
"You see, these reactors are optical, its part of the reason they last so long, but my ship doesn't have an optical power grid. We had to juryrig a converter at first, and later we bought that one. It's a cheapie, and we've had to overhaul it twice...but it was work we were able to do ourselves.
"Your lucky though. Elegant Solutions sees this as some sort of promotion. The reactor your looking at comes with it's own converter, and is top of the line. I think they are trying to get the buyers to act as word-of-mouth advertising here, so they want me to sell it to you cheap. I'd stick one in my own ship if the contract didn't prevent it, but...." Captain Laurant just shrugged.