A Noria of ships above the Chariot of Rhea
04 May 2022Claude Lecardunoie
I tried to wake up early on that day, on Back Enterprise spatioport. It was the 2nd of may 3308, three more days to ship as many possible food cartridges, basic medecines or emergency shelter to the Chariot of Rhea, a Sirius Corp. owned megaship, for a humanitarian operation to help the population of Didio under Thargoid attack.As soon as I stepped out of my hostel there, I knew it was not early enough. All corner shops, cafés, brothels, bars, any hotel lobbies and lounges were packed with pilots and crew members, all of them planning to deliver goods to the Chariot of Rhea. Finally, it seemed that Sirius Corporation pays well enough any of their sponsored operation.
Instead of the Imperial style breaksfast I wanted, you know, fresh croissant, marmelade, real butter and hot chocolate served on a table with a clean white cloth, I simply bought a portion of synthetic cereals and a coffee from a vending machine, and ate sitting on the steps of the stairs leading to the docks.
I didn't waste anymore time and took off with l'Estafette, my T-6, loaded with medecines and food cartridges. I jumped to Leesti system. The day before, there weren't many ships over the Chariot of Rhea, where all the humanitarian stuff was to be delivered, but this day, it was a mess. A non stopping Noria of ships, small Haulers and huge T-9s, all of them waiting to be granted landing authorization on the platforms of the Sirius Corp. megaship. I couldn't follow the avanlanche of chat notifications on my com terminal. Vocals com chanels were saturated as well. I managed to reach Imran Bouyangi, one of the logistician on the Chariot of Rhea. We met one day ago, when I did delivered my first cargos.
- "Ok, Claude, you can dock on pad 06, you came here yesterday, so I asked the Traffic Regulation Manager to put you on top of the waiting queue", he said, "but this time only", he added as he signed off. Too busy, I thought.
I quickly unloaded my ship, took off and was about to jump back to Back Enterprise for another rotation, when I received a vocal call from one of the pilots flying around the Chariot of Rhea.
- "Commander Lecardunoie, Coolbeard here. Commander Coolbeard. I am the T-9 just above. Need a tip here. Where did you get your shipment from?"
- "Well, Back Enterprise, in the closest system around", I answered
- "Ok. Thanks, but it is cheaper in Clauss Dock. Could we fly together there? It would be safer"
I agreed, of course. Always when it comes to maximize my income. But Clauss Dock is in the system Uszaa, which is bit further. And more distance means more danger, especially these days when heavy transport ships with full cargo were flying around.
- "Ok, I got you", Coolbeard said, "wait..."
Then I heard him calling another ship, an Anaconda, if I remember. Scarlet Tiberius was at the helm. I soon received a very short text notification from him: "Ok, I'll watch your back". After Coolbeard posted a message to the Chariot of Rhea explaining that him, Scarlet and myself were flying as a Wing, and therefore Sirius Corp. should guarantee to the three of us a small dividend on whatever we deliver, we flew together to Clauss Dock.
What to say about my wingers? Scarlet, not very talkative, or only by text messages. He confessed he was more into piracy and smuggling. But it seemed that, in his case at least, even in piracy, you must have some kind of code, because he fullfilled his protection role by helping Coolbeard when he was getting attacked during some of our rotations between Clauss Dock and the Chariot of Rhea. As for Coolbeard, it appeared that we shared an antic french cultural background and we quickly started to talk using our common language. Coolbeard also happened to be a skilled navigator and I am still very grateful for all the advices he gave me on this day. And after some chit chat on our wing channel, Coolbeard and Scarlet Tiberius even realised that they worked together a while ago. They stayed very alusive on what this "work" was, but I was sure it was something illegal.
We delivered 6 or 7 shipments this day to the Chariot of Rhea. Flying a T-6, along with a T-9, protected by an experienced pilot on an Anaconda, and regardless of how dangerous the route could be, was a very good plan... for the T-6, I mean: I didn't take any attack, nor any interdiction attempt. Coolbeard, on the other hand, had to deal with some. His huge transporter was a much more interesting prey than my T-6, but with the help of Scarlet Tiberius, he had no problem. Finally, the biggest issue was that our deliveries were delayed due to the heavy trafic over the Chariot of Rhea. It was ok for my T-6, but the T-9 needed the only large platform and was always put in a waiting queue. Some of the pilots were taking their time, probably not realising the clock was ticking to help Didio population.
Le Commandant Coolbeard, on a stationnay fly above the mighty Chariot of Rhea, waiting for a landing authorization
One more round trip and that was it for me. Back on Clauss Dock, I explained to my comrades that I wanted to take a break for the day. I told them that I would carry on with the humanitarian operation the next 2-3 days. I haven't heard from them since. I guess they split ways. But it would be pleasure to fly with them again.
This was two days ago. Today, the 4th of may 3308, I did two round trips between Clauss Dock and Chariot of Rhea. I met with Imran Bouyangi. He told me that I did enough and that I should receive my credits tomorrow from the Sirius Corporation.
Why not a day off, then?
For the first time in many days, I stayed away from my ship, away from the docking areas and instead wandered in the "coursives" of Clauss Dock station. I was looking for a bar with a Live Arena installation, because that night, it was the Reynhardt Intellisys League semi final. Real Achenar versus Herrington City. Two mythics clubs and quite another level than the Mawson Dock Dynamo-Sporting Coelho derbies that I used to watch not so long ago. And somehow, the prolongation, on another level, of the endless Empire-Federation rivalry. But to enjoy that, from Leesti, nothing best than a Live Arena. It was quite common then: big bars, pubs or restaurants would have a dedicated room simulating the stadium atmosphere in 3D. The "Pot au lait d'Azur" was just doing that. People were already high when arrived. Supporters from both teams, no violence but the smallest provocation from any side would lit the place on. I took a Blue Russian, an adaptation of a traditional drink that you can trace back from Sol. I think that Russia was a region or what they called a nation on Earth then. The trick here, in Leesti is to replace the Sol-made milk with Leesti Azure Milk, hence the blue color. One, two, three drinks, the game was on. A legendary one, by the way. In the end the Real qualified for the final. I went back to my room, knowing that the Empire backed news chanels woud use the Real Achenar victory for some kind of propaganda, as usual...