Personal Log 98: 15th - 21st February, 3302
10 Oct 2016Jemine Caesar
15th - 21st February, 3302 With no interesting jobs on the Buisch City bulletin board (well, none that I could do, anyway) I loaded up with tea and coffee to sell at Mombaluma. There I bought sixteen canisters of agricultural equipment, and returned to Beta Hydri to sell them at Stevenson Base. These two trips brought in 12,000CR. Not bad!
Sam's return to Beta Hydri had not been so straightforward; he was interdicted by a Cobra III flown by an Elite-rated pilot. Fortunately the battle went in Sam's favour, netting him 33,000CR.
"The attack might have been something to do with my presence in LFT 78 earlier," he said as we drank coffee later. "It was an intel-gather," he explained. "LFT 78 is one of Zemina Torval's systems, and there's a rumour of another cloning operation going on there. JG Industries was thought to be linked in some way, but I couldn't find any proof."
Evidently in need of a change of pace, Sam decided to join me in checking the bulletin board for courier jobs. It transpired that there were two identical contracts available, to take wine to LB 3303. Accepting one contract each, we loaded up and moved out. The contact at our destination, Poindexter starport, was very grateful to receive the consignment.
"My client is a connoisseur of vintage wines," he simpered. "He's going to be very happy with these! Here's your payment. 40,000 credits each."
It must have been really good stuff!
More trade and courier trips followed: agricultural equipment to Beta Hydri, beer to Delta Pavonis, medical samples to LHS 5331 and biowaste to Epsilon Indi. Here, on the Perry Depot board, I spotted an unusual sounding job; Recover some rare artwork from a ship destruction in the Lacaille 9352 system.
Sam agreed to join me in the search. "These art recovery jobs are actually quite common," he said. "There are plenty of misguided so-called collectors out there, constantly shipping priceless items all over the bubble. They're too hot for the pirates to bother with, though, so they generally just leave them floating in space."
As it turned out, however, the pirates were still busy in Lacaille 9352. Our search was curtailed when Sam was interdicted not once but twice. The first was by a Diamondback, and the second by a wing consisting of an Imperial Eagle and an Imperial Courier. Between us, Sam and I managed to defeat both attacks. Sam's ship bore the brunt of the enemy fire.
"Sam," I said. "I'm abandoning the artwork mission. We need to get you to a starport before another wing of pirates decides to show up. You've taken heavy damage."
Sam agreed. "We'll dock at Gupta City," he said. "I'll put the R134 in for repairs. I appreciate the covering fire, my love."
With the R134 in the repair dock, Sam took the opportunity to put his feet up for a bit. I, meanwhile, decided to take The Last Thing down to the rocky planet of Camp Lawrence, so that I could have a quick outing in my SRV.
Landing near a surface settlement called Rasch Hub, I deployed the vehicle and spent some twenty minutes zooming around the barren landscape. Approaching the settlement I spotted the movement of several ships and land vehicles. I scanned them out of curiosity, and was instantly alarmed to see the 'Wanted' status flash up on my dashboard.
"Ah!" I said to myself. "This may not be such a great place to be after all!" I swung the SRV around and sped back to The Last Thing . Heart pounding, and keeping an eye on my scanner for unwanted company, I engaged the engines and took off, hastily setting course back to Gupta City.
*****
Repairs to Sam's ship had been completed, so we decided to move towards the system of PLX 695. Moving through UV Ceti I was hailed by commander Argent Steel. I could hear music in the background. Like many pilots, Steel seemed to like having music playing in his ship; I didn't recognise the rather angry-sounding song, but it was something about thought control and a brick in a wall. I wondered if it was an Imperial propaganda song.
My conversation with Steel was interrupted at Epsilon Eridani, when I was interdicted by an Imperial Courier flown by an Expert-rated pilot. Sam had taken a slightly different route, so I was temporarily on my own. I won the battle, picking up 13000CR at Davies Station.
Steel told me a little about himself. He came from a planet called Garden Vector, a beautiful world with a deep blue sky.
"I'm not gonna to tell ya where exactly," he said. "Just in case you get talkin' to my family and they show you my baby pictures!"
Steel asked me if I'd ever been to a system called Diaguandri. I replied that I hadn't.
"Well," he said, "if you're ever over that way, I can recommend a visit to Ray Station. They know me there. I can promise you'll get a warm welcome."
I thanked him for the advice. "I'll certainly make a note of it," I said.
At Tau Ceti I received a call from Sam. "Hello, my love," he said. "I've had to reroute to Beta Hydri, I'm afraid. A shipment of lithium I was carrying was stored in a faulty canister, and fumes leaked into my cockpit. I'm at Stevenson Base Medicentre now, being treated for lithium vapour poisoning."
I set my navcom to take me back to Beta Hydri. Our trip to PLX 695 would have to wait.
I did manage to squeeze in a quick courier job, taking two canisters of rutile to Lacaille 9352. I filled my remaining holdspace with additional rutile, and made a profit of 5300CR on top of the 11000CR from the courier job. A further purchase of agri-meds brought in 3300CR at Epsilon Indi. Here I bought sixteen canisters of tea, which sold for 5700CR at La Rochelle. Finally, at LHS 3836, I bought sixteen canisters of marine farming equipment, which I sold at Stevenson Base for a profit of 4000CR.
Sam, discharged from the medicentre after being treated for mild lithium poisoning, was at the Red Rose, so I joined him there. He was still a little fragile from the side effects of the treatment, but was expected to make a full recovery within 24 hours. His sisters, Jenna and Sarah, were also in the bar. We greeted one another warmly, and were soon chatting about various things, including memories of our teenage years.
Sam's friends had been in touch with him about reforming their band, which I now learned was called 'The Timelords'.
Jenna rolled her eyes. "Not 'The Beatles' again, Sam!" she laughed.
This was the ancient Earth pop group that Sam had mentioned to me once before. I asked what they were like.
"'The Beatles'," he informed me, "was one of the most influential groups of their time. A genuine global phenomenon. Tell you what, I'll send a selection of their best stuff to your dataslate."
Once or twice I caught Sarah looking at me with a playful glint in her eye. She was obviously still free and single and looking for love.
"Listen, girls," I said, taking my dataslate from my bag. "I see there's a new beauty salon on Concourse 2. How about a pamper session tomorrow? Dermasite tub, low-g massage and spin facial. My treat!"
Both Sarah and Jenna happily accepted my invitation, so I booked us all an appointment for the following day. I looked at Sam. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a Dermasite tub beauty treatment?" I asked him.
"I'll pass," he replied.