Point Five Beyond the Speed of Light
30 Jan 2021KZ Kawasaki
CMDR K. Z. Kawasaki sat at the Explorer's Anchorage Pilot's Lounge and kept one eye on the monitor, as he had for much of the day now. Then it finally appeared:LEADERBOARD UPDATE
SOL TO SAGITTARIUS A*
NEW CLASS RECORD
ORCA
CMDR K. Z. KAWASAKI
2 HOURS 26 MINUTES 59 SECONDS
CONGRATULATIONS
The lounge filled with applause. KZ, ever humble, simply turned around to smile and wave. The noise subsided, he finished his drink, and paid his bill, a little disappointed at the short amount of attention his effort garnered from the crowd.. He took a moment to look at the monitor one last time to be sure he was done here on this station. His next destination was not plotted yet, so he thought he should head back to the ship and stare at the Galaxy Map.
As he moved to slide off the stool, a tall, red-haired woman held his shoulder and sat down next to him. She was well dressed, reasonably attractive, and completely out of place in the Pilot's Lounge. Looking directly, and seriously, at KZ she said, "I need to hire you and your ship."
KZ, slightly caught off guard, replied dismissively, "Ma'am, I don't take people places. There are dozens of other pilots here, and a Mission Desk outside. I can show you…."
"I need a fast ship, and one with nice quarters. That is you and your Orca. I can offer many… choices… of payment," The woman stroked her hand on her chest with a desperate look in her eyes, and KZ knew that many pilots would fall for these lines. But one reason he was here, far from civilization, was to escape complicated relationships for a while. Still, he had no real destination, and was always up for a challenge.
"I prefer credits at the moment - where do you want to go?", KZ inquired.
"Out to the Sagittarius-Carina Arm." The woman regained her seriousness.
This was a little suspicious as there is almost nothing out in the Sag-Car Arm. KZ prodded her, "Look, that's a little further than I was hoping to go. What are you doing out here anyways? Were you abandoned? Ship damaged?"
"Let's just say, a life is at stake and every minute counts."
KZ pondered this for a moment. An unknown woman, going to the middle of nowhere urgently? This was indeed strange. He was intrigued. "Alright, I'll take it. But, that's gonna cost you extra. Eighty Mil, up front, and we leave in the morning."
"Eighty Mil! I could buy my own ship!", she was taken aback by this figure.
"Yeah but who's going to engineer it out here? And who's going to pilot it?", replied KZ, a seasoned negotiator.
The woman considered this, with much hesitation said, "Fine, but my funds are low from getting to this place, and I hadn't budgeted for this… I can pay you Fifteen Mil now, and One-Hundred Mil when I get to the destination."
"One-Hundred and Fifteen Mil? Okay, you got yourself a ship. Docking Bay 39, we depart at zero-six-hundred hours."
The woman took a card out of her pocket and pushed it into KZ's hand, "We leave now. Right now."
As the stranger gets up to head to the docking bay, KZ looks at the card.
…to be continued elsewhere!