Personal Log 64: 28th September - 4th October, 3301 (Part Two)
30 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
28th September - 4th October, 3301 (Part Two) Too restless to kick my heels around Schirra Dock any longer, I took on a couple of jobs hauling hydrogen fuel and wine, finally powering down at Gernhardt Camp in the LHS 417 system.
September 30th was my grandmama's 82nd birthday. Unable to bring myself to speak with her by k-cast, I sent her a hologreeting card with my love and best wishes instead. The scene between grandmama and Harold Duval, enacted for the first time nearly thirty years ago, played over and over in my mind for hours afterwards. It still felt strange for me to think of her as my mother. Even stranger to think that my father, if the story was true, was the onetime heir to the Imperial throne, now ousted on account of his own madness.
The remainder of the week was largely spent in trading and delivery runs between neighbouring systems, Tilian, LHS 411, CE Bootis, G181-6 and Keries. At Tilian I was overwhelmed by a Competent-rated pirate in a well-armed Federal Dropship. Quickly recognising this was one battle I was unlikely to win, I charged my FSD and escaped the onslaught. I fared better in another attack at Keries, however. A Competent-rated Asp pilot named Laura Lee Thomas found herself outmanoeuvred by my more agile Cobra, netting me a bounty of 38,000Cr.
I made a couple of quick calls to MK Potter and Marcus Trelawney. MK had so far been unsuccessful in turning up any useful information on Esmerelda's kidnap, but promised to keep looking. We talked briefly about the party taking place in Bacon City. This event had been widely advertised on Galnet and a host of system news services. MK confessed to not being the type of man who attends parties.
"I don't seem to fit in very well," he said.
"Perhaps," I replied, "you just haven't been to the right parties. I'll tell you what, MK; If I ever throw a party, I'll be sure to invite you. That's an offer you can't refuse!"
My call to Marcus was simply a brief update on my progress, or rather the lack of it, in the search for Esmerelda Erskinne. I had hoped so much to be able to tell him something positive.
My final trip of the week was to Corriccha, with a shipment of clothes for Gurney Orbital. The truth of the circumstances of my birth were now weighing on my mind heavier than ever. So heavy, in fact, that I reached the decision I had known I would make for some time.
I wanted to meet my real father.