Morality
12 Jul 2015WaKKO SicK
I realized something about myself today. My freedom is worth more to me then the freedom of others. I realized this as I picked up two slaves from Kadj Wen. An old man and a young girl. They seemed nice enough. One was going to be a prostitute at a mining colony and the other was an engineer. The girl would probably die in a matter of years. They are rough on whores in the fringes of space. Probably going to replace one of the girls who had died at the mine. I tried not to talk to them too much. The old man seemed content, but the girl was quite guarded. For 45k it didn’t really matter to me whose head was on the chopping block if it wasn’t mine. Although it did sadden me, i thought about all the expenses of living in space. All the overhead. I thought about the people I knew, the guys who counted on me, and how much good this money would do them. Besides, its not enough to just refuse a job. Someone else would surely take them where they needed to go. To destroy slavery you would have to destroy the people who squire the slaves, not stop the trading. By then its really too late. The damage has been done.As I tried to rationalize my apparent hypocrisy, we pulled into the station. I decided then that this universe was a dog eat dog situation. If it comes down to me or someone else I am going to choose myself. Maybe that sounds selfish to people who can afford the time to think about such things. But i got fuel costs, ammunition bills, and thousands of people who want to kill me and steal my cargo. I don’t have time for moral conundrums. At least not yet. Maybe time, and cold hard credits will change my point of view. Right now I just have to unchain these guys from the cargo bay and haul them to the Wafer Prospect dock in Zamyruaymir.
As we walked in complete silence I though about the next ship I would purchase. Currently I was flying a refitted Adder in Federation space. It served me well. Some of the jumps out to the fringe were more then 10LYs a pop. I refitted the adder to get me up to 15LYs and its large gas tank meant i didn’t have to stop often to refuel. Most people swear by fuel scoops. Most people don’t have to fit an Interdiction Unit on there ship.
Most of my money making has been through simple courier and hauling missions. But as I’ve gained money I spent it on upgrades that would help me survive such a harsh environment. I had begun to bounty hunt when the bulletin board was dry. That’s how I figured out that most of the pirates in this area leave a lot of cargo behind after they destroy a ship. I just swoop in after the kill and start looting. Of course it helps to have a black market in system with such light security. Living out here on the fringe does have its perks. When I get bored sometimes I cruise around the nearby systems scanning and salvaging. When i have a mission that takes me closer to Sol I sell the data for a tidy profit. Things are looking up so far but i need a better ship once again. Too many times I am interdicted myself to find that my turning radius is to low for me to get a good aim on my target. I must find a ship that can engage in combat and haul the stolen goods back to port.
On other fronts I have found where the alliance are located. It seems there base of operation are in the He Bo system. Unfortunately they are beyond my reach. I can not make the necessary jump to get me to He Bo. I must figure out away to increase my jump range. I might have to grab a hauler just to make the trip and then switch to another ship when i get there. I will look into it more once i make my first million. Time to check the bulletin board to see if any new jobs are available.
Just my luck, lets try to haul gold. Doesn’t seem like I have enough space in this adder though. I went ahead and bought a hauler, loaded it up with gold, (all I could afford) and promptly flew into a ship at the undock and exploded. If that wasn’t bad enough, I am now back at my cloning station, in LHS 3447 with a sidewinder and 2k creds.