On Stolen Pods
03 Mar 2019Anton Kring
Yesterday I had to face a very difficult decision: hand out these six stolen pods to a black market “search and rescue” operative, or keep them in my hold indefinitely, risking fines and other inconveniences for me and my crew.I tried to convince my black market contact to let me witness the revival of the pod occupants. This was not granted for logistical reasons. I was told that they will be brought back to life, followed by which they will be in debt to the tune of 50,000 credits each. I could confirm that the black market operative has been in a stolen pod in the past, and has participated in operations to successfully revive stolen pod occupants.
Virtually every pod occupant pays the 50,000 credits immediately upon waking up or within the next few years, unless they die. This seems to work like a well-oiled machine. The pods will be smuggled back to the bubble and thawed in an undisclosed anarchy system where there is plenty of work for their occupants to do. I have been assured that since many smugglers end up in ‘stolen’ pods themselves, they abide by an ethical code when dealing with their occupants, who sometimes end up being friends or even family.
I got paid around thirty thousand credits for each of the stolen pods. Authorities were unable to scan my ship when I docked at Explorer’s Anchorage with the hot cargo, so everything turned out well. I shall now go back to Distant Worlds 2 expedition business.