Retail therapy
10 Dec 2020Teafox
They say a problem shared is a problem halved. I've gotta say, I always hated those old movies when someone decides to keep a secret about someone else out of some dumb thought that not knowing is going to protect them... Kid's got a right to know and besides, I can't see any way in heck I'd be able to keep it from him once Zach gets a sniff of it.We've got plenty of fuel on board, so we just aim the supercruise away from the orbital plane and just leave it running. It'll only take a few minutes for us to be far out of everyone's sensor range.
Kid joins me at the table and just looks at all the scuffed up notes I've got, laughs and looks utterly baffled. So, like some kind of big conspiracy theorist, I take him through what the report said and what the coded message said. Understandably, he's dissapointed at the news that we're not going to find his family so easily. He stops me to ask what the second part of it all means, so I try to break it to him gently; It could mean that he doesn't have a human body at all. At which point, he says something that left my jaw on the floor.
"Well, that's okay. Neither do you, right?"
And, now that I think about it, he's absolutely right. I have had a full body replacement before. More than once, if my medical records and pilots logs show. Cheesy movie villains spouting off "We are more alike than you realise." lines swim around in my head and I can just feel my shoulder muscles start to relax again. Yeah, maybe it could be as simple as that.
And then we come to the matter of the various galactic militaries. I have to explain that Yankies and Romans are slang for the Federals and Imperials, and get as far through the explanation of what 'black budget' means as it takes to reach the words "top secret." when he goes totally glass eyed and just whispers "So, like a secret weapon?". I pause for a moment. It's hard to deny that the imperials certainly seem to think so.
"So that's why they're chasing us." He breathes. And just like that we've gone from terrible news to best-day-ever.
I explain to him that I know someone who might be able to help us find out if he is a secret weapon or something else, and the glee in his voice is palpable. I look back at my notes, feeling a little ashamed and sheepish. Sure, two of the largest space armies mankind has ever known will probably start shooting at us if they see us, but they do that anyway from time to time.
Even so, the kid agrees that we should stay cautious and suggests we could consider changing ship again to disguise ourselves. He got the idea from listening to a galnet story about Core dynamics trying to buy out the Lakon shipyards. As a result, Lakon has declared a hearty discount on several of their ships. I'm not sure sure if it's shoring up the investors, or just corporate bluster, but the idea might have merit. Thirty percent off is nothing to sneeze at, and maybe this could make for an interesting distraction. So, a detour is in order.
Li Yong Rui space is pleasantly neutral towards us, especially in the systems where the locals are little less fanatical in supporting the corportation. Sure, we're flying Alliance colours for the moment, but no one cares. I wince as a bored patrol ship scans us for contraband, but then realise that the scan will find nothing of interest. We're running almost empty, not carrying any illegal -cargo-, and as the pilot concludes, my criminal record is clean right now.
We land, and find our way to the shipyards. The kid complains that he thought it was going to be some kind of gigantic show room with racks and racks of freighters stretching off into the distance. In reality, it's just a large hangar bay with a booth outside saying "Panshin Ring Shipyard.". The ships on sale, rather obviously, are just the ones Lakon has a surplus stock of. Ships which are outclassed in their fields by something else; the type-7 for example, or ships that are just considered plain bad; the obvious example being the asp scout.
There are a few niche ships in their number, but in this case we're not looking for quality... Not that I let the salesman know that. We talk through the options, and the prices, and with the exception of the type-10, these are all pocket change ships. What with the payout from the bounties and the cartography data, we can easily afford all of them, and buying now would keep the insurance premiums very low. I ask the attendant if he has an observation deck and he gives a knowing nod, picking up a sales tablet and guiding us out into the hangar space.
I buy one of each of the ships on discount. Honestly, the discount on the type-10 was enough to cover the costs of all of the others combined. The kid was alarmed to see our Asp explorer slide in on the hangar mount and then swiftly disassembled before the parts were shuffled off into storage. His eyes went wide to see the parts come out for the type-10, and they just kept coming and coming, and then assembly began. The holography lets us preview some paint work options, but the attendant asked if we would keep it to a minimum as it was going to be a busy day. We signed off on ownership of the other parts and went looking for a booth in the cafeteria.
The kid's warming up on the idea of real food now that his guts are a little more used to it. He says the smells and flavours are still overwhealming. Never figured I'd hear flavoured rice described as a strong taste, but I guess we all start somewhere. Kid asks which ship we're going to fly out in. Easy: The same one we came in with, is the plan. If they're tracking my spending, then they'll be watching what I do with those ships, hopefully not watching us so closely as a result. So, let 'em watch, we'll move them around from time to time and keep 'em guessing what we plan to do with them. Spoiler... Nothing.
Note to self: pick up a few tonnes of beer before we head out. Zach always complains that he's out of the stuff.