Does the Tiger Bite
07 Jun 2018Gurutez
OKIm up and running again. Me and the trusty Lady Gormongander have taken some time off, lets see almost a whole month now. I had parked us in Plutos shadow. Ooohooo hiding out in Sol, who would have thought.
Anyway the reason I did this is because, through a quite ridiculouse set of events I have ended up with a new crew member, Simione.
He's bright, quick to learn, a people pleaser and he loves (LOVES) Gormongander. A few days ago he mentioned that he had been studying trade maps, powerplay announcments and system statuses. With his new fancy book-learning he had come to the conclusion that if we wanted to make money fast we should check out Maia. He has subscribed to an info forum called 'Down To Earth Astronomy' who seem to give information in this area. I'll be honest I was shocked, in all my years frame shifting around the bubble and beyond iv never once looked at trade routes. I realise now iv been surviving off word of mouth and stumbling into jobs like the data deliveries from Sol to Hutton orbital. There was an old old ancient saying back on earth "God protects children, idiots and drunks!" I guess some of that has come in my direction.
After spending so much time in Sol im looking forward to getting out and seeing a different sky. Also I remember sombody mention that they had the best chems down there.
But before any of that I had to meet commander TigerTiger and get YAMATA (Asp Explorer) back. We had arranged to meet In the 'Groombridge 34' system, it was close enough for the both of us. There I made planet fall and docked Gormongander at 'McCandless Colony' a large planetary outpost in the system. Then I took an SRV out and drove about an hour to the rendeavous point. About 10 mins into the drive i started to notice a smell, a bit like wet leather subtle at first but getting stronger. For fuck sake how does he get into everything "Simione! What the fuck?" I still couldnt see him as his voice drifted in from behind me
"Your blood chemistry has not evened out from the last doesage you took. Im just here incase you need assistance." Doseage, he still talked about it like medication.
"Ok well not much to do about it now, keep out of sight and stay on comms. And your getting in the decontamination showers as soon as we return, your getting excited and the smell is back." We drove on, like I said I couldnt see Simione but I could hear him and he seemed to be enjoying the trip. We only stopped a few times when we came across an Outcrop, Mesodendrite or Metalic Meteorite. Iv never known why but the are some traders out there who pay alot of credits for the Elements and Materials you can harvest from these.
After some time I saw her rise above the Horizon, brilliant white paint, two black lines down her back. The only ship in my old fleet not red, and thats cos she always reprisented the part of me not steeped in blood. The first time I left the Bubble was in YAMATA, and I had dreams of never returning. She was stripped down, light weight, no hardpoints, none offencive. My explorer! And a short while later there he was Tigertiger sat in his SRV, quite litteraly one of the only people I trusted, one of only three people i trusted to be honest.
But as we got closer i noticed a noise, quiet at first but getting louder (can i describe the noise, well... can you imagine a high pitched whine coupled with a low gutteral growl. If you can thats the best Iv got).
"Simione, what the fuck." I spat back over the intercom.
"Im sorry boss, I feel..... Unhappy." His voice always matter of fact.
"What do you mean unhappy?"
"I feel like my skin would like to be back home (Gormongander), and my bones feel like when you chew your teeth in your sleep."
"OK, well shutup for now, I cant deal with having to explain you to Tiger just yet."
"I dont like him!"
"Yeah well I dont like you, you little prick, so should have thrown you off the ship when I found you." I continued to grummble under my breath as we got closer.
"Alright boss I will prepare to leave when we get back to..." he was being sheepish.
"Alright Simione anymore of that and I swear I'll kick the living shit..."
Just then the comms crackled, I looked up and we were so close I could clearly see Tigertiger, so he could clearly see me.
"You ok there Guru? Arguing with yourself again"
"Hello Tiger, how did it all go?" He speant the next few minuets giving me a rundown on events, what he as me had been up to. Nothing to eventfull, didnt even have to do any haggling over price. I did my best to ignore the commotion Simione was crating in the back of my SRV (swear he was rolling around) while Tiger talked. As he did I noticed certain patterns to his speech. Every few moments there were pauses in his pace, and he slowed slightly over certain sylublles, at times he would reach up and touch his new eye or flex his arm. All indicators of discomfort or pain. I just figured the operation or graft was giving him trouble. It wasn't until the last few seconds of him talking that my brain registered a connection to his movements and Simiones activity. But then we were saying goodbye Tigertiger was leaving and I remembered I was to strung out to care.
Tigertiger would drive the long trek back to 'McCandless Colony' where he would find a brand new A rated Sidewinder in his name as payment to add to his fleet or sell for credits.
We borded YAMATA, as the vehical bay pressurised I thought about what to say to Simione, but before I could he had already dissapeared into a service duct. He had spent hours going over ASP Explorer specs and schematices, he probably knew more than i did about her. I again reminded myself that i didnt really care and let him be.
I slowly made my way through YAMATA, climbing gradualy up to the Con, letting the memories wash through my mind. She was my one truly none military ship. I sunk into the pilot seat and felt those long-haul ergonomic curves grip around my torso and waist bringing back those first feeling of freedom which were burned away so quickly by duty.
I run my hands over the controles with my eyes closed, leaned in and whispered "I promise, we'll find your sisters!"
With my eyes still closed and running on muscle memory my right hand slid down to the floor and found the little indentation, pressed in, lifted up and twisted slightly. The panel silently slid away to reaveal a bottle with no label and a black bag. The bottle i dumped in the reconstitution unit, the pale green spirit that had been in it was now a few dregs of brown sludge. But the black bag, that was still half full of what looked like pearls. My eyes were wide my heart rate was up, i was excited. Of all the things i put in my body these dream pearls were my favourite.
With revereance I wrapped the bag up and secured it in my jacket pocket.
"Simione!" I shouted into the ship. I really wanted to try these pearls again (iv been told they never loose potency) and Simione had been dying to fly. Each pearl took about 5 hours to ware off and Maia was a long way away, sometimes things just work out.
"How would you like to take you first flight at the con?"
"So you dont hate me boss, I can stay.."
"I swear to the void i'll smack you right in the mouth if y.........................................................
See you in Maia.