Android Epiphany
18 Feb 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Android Epiphany
Colonia Region
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The day’s tally was looking good, with four groups of business passenger’s delivered and each of the systems flown too, scanned. Throughout the journey I noticed a faint sensor echo, that would appear for a few seconds, after each jump. Aby noticed it too but was confused as to what it meant, finding no fault in my ship or its systems.
It could be someone sizing us up, or one of the other’s, Aby had alluded too, keeping tabs on me. If I were in my benefactor’s position I wouldn’t trust me to not have someone tinker with Aby, making it say whatever they wanted to hear. Not that an ex-pirate and bounty hunter would have ever not done something like that.
At first I thought the Diggidiggi System and Diggidiggi Mining Corp was a joke. The travel agent, who had heard too much laughter about the name, glared — not that I cared. They were adamant that both were in fact real. I accepted the job, as 50 businessmen began to board. Aby verified their travel agent’s destination information and set the course in the navigation computer, as the android attendants showed each client to their respective modules.
“I do not experience anxiety but that sensor ghost is annoying,” Aby commented, moments after entering the destination system.
Glancing at the sensor I watched the contact fade then disappear in the star’s interference.
“My leash is legal, correct?”
“You should not do anything that would interfere with your primary reason for being here.”
A smirked formed on my face as I thought, so questionable then.
***
My plans were to fly to a nearby system, that had a lucrative market, and stay the night. The last thing I expected was a mission from the group whose title I thought funny. They had a group of tourist that were headed to the same system I planned on going to, and who was I to say no to 1.3 million credits for a single jump?
That I didn’t meet my client’s directly didn’t mean I couldn’t see them. The group loading on board, was the furthest thing from tourist as could be. Aby thought their appearance unusual as well, casting me a look as I cackled, watching the closed circuit monitors as the clients loaded.
“I said it once and I will say it again, there are protons, neurons, then morons. Not one of these sixty three raiders, trying to make themselves look like tourist, had a thought in their collective head’s to change their hair color or clean themselves up beforehand. Damned amateur hour in this region.”
Aby studied the monitor closely. “Why do you call them raiders and not pirates or bandits?”
I reached over, tapping the monitor. “It is semantics really, but for this case, look at their boots. Pirates wear magnetic boots, so they can board ships and other orbital or deep space structures. Bandits are more local breeds, and these clowns are not dressed like the locals. Raiders on the other hand are a flighty bunch of useful idiots. Pirates and bandits both use them, as they are transitory. More useful as fodder and filler when taking planetary structures, which is why their boots have treading and are dusty.”
Aby nodded, “I would not have noticed that. What do you think they were doing with this mining corporation?”
“Like I said, useful idiots. They are likely aligned to a pirate group, to provide planetary muscle, and sub-contracted to this corporation, that paid the pirate’s for their services. Usually this petty nonsense is to squash worker’s unionizing, or to scare competition. The pirate’s will get a good percentage for their use, and these fine specimens will get the scraps that fall from the table.”
“I have seen pirate’s that have appeared worse than these,” Aby replied, looking up from the monitor at me.
“True enough. Not all groups are as professional as another. Depends on where they hail from, financing, leadership, sponsorship, etc. Like any other business. Some are top notch, others are below the dirt.”
Aby’s head tilted from side to side. “Sponsorship?”
“Yes, sponsorship. Let’s take the Empire for instances. It wasn’t rare to interdict someone who was wanted. We could claim their cargo, bounty, and the sale of them, back to the Empire, who would give us the silent nod to apply our trade in specific areas, insuring we would get the odd materials to engineer our weapons so that we could stay current with potential prey. For that we would leave areas they specified alone, or hunt in specific locations like in rival pirate groups, or Federation and Alliance space, becoming de facto proxies, for a fee and the turning of a blind eye towards our activities. We would make a tidy profit at they would get to plausible deniability.”
Aby stared at me with those deadpan android eye’s again. “This was the Empire?”
That gave me chuckle. “The Federation and Alliance are the same. There are no innocence with any of them. In this larger universe they are the real organized criminals.”
“I understand now. It is like letters of marque.”
Why not just plug into the computer if he wanted to study history? I felt like a school teacher with this one.
The ship began its auto-docking sequence, touching down gently and descending to the pressurized hangar bay below. A group appeared from the elevators, on the far side of the hangar, complete in dystopian attire and colored spiky or partially shaved hair styles.
“Well now, would you look at that. The circus has arrived.”
Aby studied the monitor then looked up at me. “You were right.”