A Day at the Docks
01 Apr 2020OculusReborn
This is just another day at the dock, working on our ship.I wake up early in the morning to what sounds like female giggling, only to look over and see Jen sitting by the window with a tablet, scrolling through wedding destinations. She's totally changed over this. In all the years I've know her, I've never seen her act so...so feminine. It's kind of disturbing. She spots me looking at her with a confused look on my face and says, "Knock it off. I'm allowed to be a lady once in my life." Busted! I throw my hands up...I didn't say a word!! "We better get dressed and ready. We've got a lot of work to put into the ship today." She agrees and puts down the tablet and starts getting dressed for the day. I think to myself as I watch her, "There's no one I'd rather spend my life with then her. We grew up together and know each other in and out." I'll have more time to dwell on that later, but our ship needs some love now.
On the way to the docks, we overhear a few traders talking about hundreds of crews out in the Borann system, mining for low temperature diamonds. There seems to be a hefty market for such a rare commodity. She whispers in my ear, "We should go there and steal some." I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. She's got 3 distinct looks. One for joking. One serious look. And one, to this day, I can never differentiate between the two. We can tell we're close to the docks as the sounds of air guns and foul-mouthed mechanics clog the air. We pass by a few Syndicate pilots working on their ships as well. She spies an Anaconda that looks like it went through hell and back. Parts falling off, paint peeling and a shattered canopy. She asks the pilot, "What the fuck happened here?" The pilots responds saying he was out bounty hunting. Pirates have swamped the system and security forces are spread thin. I look at my tablet to view station services and there apparently is a pirate warning out for HIP 19934. Jen and I look at each with a sigh of relief that it's finally not us they're looking for. The Syndicate board is paying a lot to pilots who turn in bounties. "Hey babe...Let's retrofit the Gelgamech for bounty hunting. Slap some hatch breakers on it as well to double our profits. This could be really lucrative for us." Sounds like a plan. Let's get to work!
I manage to outfit the ship with several limpet controllers. I spent a good part of an hour arguing with Grif, the ship's COVAS, about whether to leave the SRV bay onboard or not. I couldn't tell which was worse. Arguing with a machine or hearing my bride-to-be swearing as she attempts to fit the new hardpoints. I'm going to go with her swearing only because it seems to be drawing a crowd of onlookers. I guess Fozard isn't used to a foul mouthed, grease monkey female in the docks. I've grown used to it. Been like this since we were kids. "Fucking hell!! Nope! We're using something else! Who needs damn seeker rockets anyway? They suck Thargoid pussy!" She barks that out so loud, I'm pretty sure the citizens of Nauni heard her. "Its ok, sweets. We'll try beam lasers instead." She seems to agree with those...for now. Back to work she goes, retrofitting the new beam lasers. These are turret mounted so they should be easier to install and she won't have to announce her colorful vocabulary to the dock workers.
After 4 hours, we finally finish the last module. We opted to install an FSD interdiction module. Last thing we need are profits trying to run away. She climbs down the ladder, covered in grease, and shouts, "We're finally finished!" Yes. I do believe we are. I say we get cleaned up and find some place to eat. She agrees and away we go.