Phantoms
05 Dec 2020Teafox
Either our tail is an imperial, or they're smarter than I'd hoped. As of a few hours ago, we are no longer working for Aisling Duval and we're now flying the Mahon flag. Whilst I'm sure that Ms Duval herself is far too busy to be heartbroken over losing the undying loyalty of some nobody from Ross 154, predictably, the more militant wings of her supporters are not nearly so understanding.Right on cue, some cocky hotshot starts tailing us, stars and the imperial eagle plastered in as many places on the hull as the regulations will allow. Now, the tough part was keeping them on our tail long enough to see if it makes a difference and, interestingly, it seems that it did. The radio black spot that was following us around melted away. This one was tenacious though, it was all we could do to keep him from actually locking an interdictor on us so we could see if our other tail was just imaginary. Four jumps later, well into alliance space and he finally catches up to us.
Just like the good citizens we are, we immediately log a distress call. Independent pilot seeking refuge from empire pursuit. Now, normally, system authority will respond, but too late to save the poor soul being attacked. Assuming this is to do with the kid, if they want him alive, they'll need to intervene before this jerkoff blows us apart. "Mining vessel under heavy attack, shields failing, there is a child on board."
I feel bad that I actually prompted a response from one of the system security ships. He gave the usual poor advice of trying to escape to low wake so that they can provide an escort to the nearest station. Low waking is usually a death sentence in this sort of a situation, but then, I realized the flaw in my plan. High waking would be just as bad if our shields are gone and they're still out there. They could just pick us off in the next system, even further from any friendly station. Thankfully, the pilot in the clipper was struggling to keep a bead on us... I felt a little bad for him as I emptied out the last shield charge bank just as the alliance vipers arrived. True to their word, they escorted us to the station. I regret that we didn't have any cargo to unload and help the local economy keep going, but the bulletin board had a few requests for cash donations, and a few beers at the local bar rarely go amiss.
It's a funny feeling, seeing your ship in the secure area of the landing bay. The kid's scared to leave the ship. That suits me well enough, frankly, I'm scared to leave her unguarded, even on the security pad with a police cordon. It doesn't take much to sabotage an FSD or a power plant... And whilst Remlok has an excellent track record, if you're savvy, you'll notice that they can't advertise that it's a 100% recovery record.
You can jump into a black hole, thousands of light years across the galaxy in some armpit of a solar system which is too far from anything to return from without the aid of a neutron star and you'll wake up minutes later in a friendly hospital wing back in the bubble. This is why they advertise that you should get your imprint updated regularly, by the way. There are times that the Remlok corporation can't realistically recover your body. Modern suits monitor your situation and constantly send updates as to your brain state via your ship's comms. If you die, well, guess what they can do? ... New body. How do I know for sure? Well, one moment I'm getting an imprint done, the next moment, there's a medical technician shining a light in my eyes and it's nearly two centuries later. If you're dumb enough to do something to require them to do this? Yeah, they'll tell you as much... Along with a laundry list of things you have to do whilst your fresh body adjusts to all the genes it's having to take on.
Pretty fool proof, right? If you're somewhere they can send a ship out to fetch you before your o2 gives out, great... If not, well, they cut the data feed a few moments before you actually experience death and poof, "Hey, look at that, you survived, isn't the Remlok corporation awesome?".
And yet, don't you think Salome was wearing a Remlok? Kahina Loren, public figure, and certainly rich enough to afford to pay for the service... Being followed around by at least a dozen ships, suddenly betrayed and killed by someone who was supposed to be on her security detail, and what does the corp have to say about it? "Too bad, so sad, we couldn't save her."
What a steaming heap.
She's not the only one. Every year, just a few pilots federation members who make too much trouble of themselves suddenly has a regrettable accident and dispite their best efforts? Dead. Dead and not coming back.
I mean, it's obvious that just like any other corporation, they have a price. So the question is, am I paranoid and the IPF are just being officious in that they won't pay for an imprint for the kid on my dime? Is someone actually out there after us? Heh... Have I just painted a nice big target on my hull by trying to help him out instead of just ditching him in an imperial slave pen somewhere?
I've been sitting here for almost two hours now, watching the ships come and go. My tea's gone cold and I just can't get the memory of the bodies floating out of that wreck, killed by the concussion of the blast, or by shrapnel. And then, this one last cargo pod ruptures and the little bugger pops out into hard vacuum. What a hell of a first memory, huh? And then some yokel hauls him on board and takes him off into a war zone.
The duty Sargent came by earlier. No word on the kid's identity yet. He says they have an imprint facility here, but it's expensive to get a contract outisde of a corporation. I figure it has to be done, though. If Remlok are going to scrub both our imprints, the money won't matter much, and if they don't? Well, then the kid has a lifeline, like every spacer should.
Heh, happy St. Nick's, kid, I hope I got you a second chance.