Personal Log 14: 22nd - 28th June, 3301
07 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
22nd - 28th June, 3301I'd heard that Sol was a particularly dangerous system, so I resolved to improve my ship's defensive capabilities with a Military Grade Composite Hull. The 71,000CR price tag took up fully a third of my funds. A mission to Kremainn to deliver sonic shower units netted me 18,441CR. Later, at LTT 18486, I upgraded my FSD to a C3, increasing my jump range to just over 13LY.
Rudolphus called. His nephew had given him some family documents. "I learn from them," he told me, "that mine father began a haulage business called Onionhead Express."
"But Rudolphus," I replied, "isn't onionhead the drug that's been in the Galnet news so much lately?"
Rudolphus said that it was. "This is something I did not know about mine father," he admitted.
A delivery job to Yakabugai brought the most unusual interdiction I'd had so far. After dropping down from supercruise, I was hailed by my attacker, Captain Prawn.
"I need food. Got any?" he demanded. When he discovered my cargo hold was full of copper, he simply FSD'd out without another word!
Heading through LTT 18486 I was holo-messaged two friend requests; the first by commander Nathalie Hudson, or 'Nagita', as she likes to be known, and commander Aiden Venters.
At Eravate I was contacted by Sam. "I'll be going to a wedding sometime," he told me. "My sister Sarah is getting married to Warrant Officer Luke McCoy. They haven't set a date yet, though."
We arranged to meet up at the Black Hole, but I was delayed by another pirate attack. I managed to beat my attacker, albeit with some timely help from system police Vipers, and picked up a 23,000CR bounty as my reward.
*****
The next few days were troubling ones for Eravate, with the outbreak of civil war between two of the rival factions. Cleve Hub was suddenly crawling with black-clad mercenaries. In a k-cast from Potriti, Sam told me that Mark had closed the Black Hole bar temporarily.
"There are lots of worried faces here, Sam," I said. "I think it's time to leave Eravate."
Arranging a rendezvous at Kremainn's Wohler Terminal, Sam and I went to the Ten Forward bar. My dataslate beeped an incoming call from Nagita. We chatted briefly about our ships and our travels, and promised one another that we would have a girls night out when we eventually meet.
My Adder's grey paint job was getting on my nerves, so I treated her to a bright yellow paintjob, together with an upgraded power plant.
Two days had passed since I had fled Eravate's civil war, but it was already over. Order had been restored, and the mercenaries had gone. Sam and I met at Ackerman Market for a drink in the Nova bar, a rather brash place with loud music and bright flashing lights. Sam and I started talking about fighting.
"Have you ever hit a woman?" I asked him.
"No," he replied.
"I have," I said.
"Do tell," said Sam. After I had finished the tale, Sam laughed.
"My family were happy to hear I'd met someone," he said.
"Oh," I replied, "you've told them about me, then?"
Sam nodded. "I've never had a girlfriend. I've never slept with a girl, either. I took a lot of flak in the navy because of it." I took his hand, and we kissed.
"I love you, Sam," I said.
"I love you too, Jem," he replied.
We kissed again, more passionately. Something had begun.
*****
The last two days of the week were largely taken up with making delivery runs between neighbouring systems. Bulletin board missions were plentiful. A consignment of designer dresses from Potriti to Kremainn brought in over 19,000CR, and I was pleased to receive notification from the Pilot's Federation that my Trader rating had risen to 'Dealer'.
Since buying my Adder I had been interdicted five times (including the aborted attempt by Captain Prawn). Apart from minor repairs from one of those encounters, The Last Thing I Do had come through unscathed, and I was 57,000CR better off, too.
On June the 28th I reached a decision. The time had come for me to make my way to Sol. I spoke to my friends Rudolphus, Marky and Stanchion by k-cast. They all knew about my plans for Caz, and wished me luck. Rudolphus was especially concerned for my safety.
"Will your friend be going to Sol with you?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied. "Don't worry, Sam is a good man. He'll be watching out for me."
I called Sam, who was doing some bounty hunting in another system.
"I don't intend to make the whole trip in one go," I explained. "I'd like to explore a little as well. My first port of call is Apoyota, Hahn Relay."
"OK," Sam said. "I'll see you there."
I took a deep breath before engaging my FSD to make the jump. This was it, no turning back now.
Once safely docked at Hahn Relay, I changed into a knee-length dress and adjusted the thigh-straps to prevent the skirt from floating about in the zero-g environment. The effect was a little spoilt by my having to wear clumpy magboots, a necessity on stations with no gravity.
I stomped into the 'Wandrin' Star' bar, where Sam was waiting for me with drinks.
"Gin & tonic just doesn't taste the same sucked through a straw from a pouch," I complained.
Sam agreed. "A bag of beer isn't right either," he said. "We'll make sure our next stop is a proper starport, with proper artificial gravity. And proper glasses."