Personal Log 8: 18th - 24th May, 3301
05 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
18th - 24th May, 3301The day after my first encounter with Toolfa gin was not a pleasant experience. Being allergic to sobriety pills meant that I was stuck with the worst hangover I'd had since I was fifteen, when I had helped myself to half a bottle of papa's Rigellian malt whisky. Suffice to say that I was on intimate terms with the bathroom for several hours.
Later I decided to treat The Last Thing to an upgraded FSD and a red paint job. "D'yer want the GFS an'all?" said a spotty faced spray-shop technician.
"What's a GFS?" I asked.
"Go Faster Stripe," he replied. "No extra charge."
I was tempted. "Does it really make the ship go faster?" I said.
"Naw." he replied, "But it looks dish."
Assuming "dish" was slang for attractive, I took the GFS.
It was a good week for delivery jobs, and my usual trade runs between Ackerman Market and Russell Ring continued to be profitable, though four interdictions in two days ate up some credits in repairs. My worst moment came when a Federal dropship reduced my hull to 33%. Fearing imminent destruction, I dodged his fire long enough to recharge my FSD and escape.
On the19th I received a k-cast from Rudolphus, with sad news.
"My father has died," he told me. "He has left the family haulage business to my nephew." Rudolphus explained that he was happy for his nephew to take over. "It means I am free to explore the galaxy," he went on, adding "But I am returning home now, with a broken canopy after being too close to a neutron star."
I urged him to get a check-up for gamma radiation as soon as he could. Rudolphus wasn't keen on the idea, but said he would, for me, adding that he would be in Eravate in a few days time and would like to meet me.
* * * * *
On the 21st, a routine delivery of scrap from LTT 18486 to Uzumeru's Dirac City starport took an unexpected twist. Enjoying a latte at the 'Luvverly Cuppa' cafe, I was approached by an earnest looking young man.
"Excuse me, " he said, "But have you by any chance just come from the LTT 18486 system?"
I replied that I had.
"My name is Thaddeus Finn," he said. "I'm a market researcher for Universal Cartographics. May I ask, did you pick up any data at LTT 18486?"
Again I replied that I had. Finn explained that UC were looking at streamlining the payment process, and asked if I would allow him to review my data before selling it. I agreed, and keyed my dataslate to connect with The Last Thing's scanner database. After checking the data and making notes on his own slate, Finn thanked me for my co-operation, and left.
I thought no more of it until, later that same day at Yakabugai's Serebrov Station, two grim-looking men in dark coats appeared. "Jemine Caesar?" one of them asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"We're Federal Investigators," one of them said, showing me his badge. "You're under arrest. Come with us."
They escorted me to a cell in the station's security centre, where I stayed overnight. The next morning I was put into a police Cobra III, and flown back to Dirac City. I was told that my ship had been impounded at Serebrov Station.
On May the 24th, at Dirac City, I was formerly charged with fraud. Protesting my innocence was useless. A subcutaneous tracker was implanted in my head, and I was warned not to try to leave the station. Feeling thoroughly bewildered, I sent a holomessage to Rudolphus to tell him that I would not be able to meet him in Eravate.