Freedom is a funny thing...
16 Oct 2019Murky Dregs
Beware of those who claim to be the guardians of it; who claim to be the adjudicators of liberty and wrap themselves in a mantle of righteousness.It tends to belie other, shall we say, dogmatic motivations that inexorably tighten into a noose around one's neck if you ain't slippery.
It's been about a month since I trekked back from Colonia by way of Vulcan Gate and the Elysian Shore. A lot of time to wax philosophically out in the black, and one truly learns to ration the best of whiskeys, preserving and revering that most simple ritual, to put the right finish on the seemingly endless days.
If you've ever been inclined to study some old Earth history Colonia is a lot like what was once called the frontier or the "Wild West," of a once-formidable empire known as the United States of America. The books have it that juggernaut, like so many others before and since, collapsed from within due to the inexorable rot of corruption eating away the body politic like so much cancer. An oligarchy can only feed like a parasite for so long until the nameless masses have had enough and once again rise up to put necks to chopping blocks.
There's such a thing as too rich. Too rich gets you killed.
Same as it ever was.
Funny place Colonia. The original settlers seem to think they have a preeminence of place and want to impose such on what just may be the first wave of migrations from the bubble. Funny thing is that's akin to putting a finger in a cracked dike. And no matter how haughty they may puff; when it comes down to brass tacks they simply don't have the organized clout to enforce what they perceive as their manifest destiny.
If you ask me, there's plenty of room out there, star systems aboundingly jammed together just waiting to be exploited for near-infinite riches. It pays to be nice to your neighbors if you don't carry a big enough stick.
Anyhow that got me thinking about what the next step ought to be for me. I have been an independent trader for some time and having suddenly pivoted into the void opal rush like so many other prospectors, I've accumulated a nice tidy bundle of assets along the way.
The next step...Time to invest.
Roots. A foundation. Permanence.
Out in the black, I caught some comms traffic off the hyper-relays; just a real subtle sniff looking for independent-minded types who aren't afraid to organize and get their hands dirty in order to buck the establishment, so to speak, but with a very clandestine bent. It piqued my interest. Subtlety is one of the hallmarks of a successful strategy.
So, I made the drop with my information and waited for contact. Not too soon after, a take it or leave it rendezvous was arranged for a meet.
An interesting organization to say the least. A savvy lot with big ideas and enterprise on the mind. Dash', Ruby, 'Pug, Ellen, Melanthes. Affable blokes and birds all with a twinkle in their eye.
Interesting set of skills. A whole new kind of flying for me.
Privateering.
