FIlinia Mirutu (17:02 07/05/3303) Thiana System
07 May 2017Filina Mirutu
Captains Log (7/05/3303 16:70, Thiana System) I just woke and my head hurts. What a night. Seems unexpected surprises are in my foreseeable future, or at least that is how it seems. The last 24 hours have been nothing short of head scratching.
I landed in the Thiana system last night, after a bit of exploring, found nothing. After letting the ground crew take over the ship, I headed to the captains lounge and sat down on the far side, I didn't want to bring any attention to myself.
A tall lady walked over, the waitress, her expression was welcome as she smiled at me.
"What will you have?" She asks, keeping her voice low as it seemed she could sense that I wanted some quiet.
"Just some coffee please"
"Sure thing, you sure you don't want something to eat?"
I looked up at her and thought for a moment, "Yeah I better eat something" I said as I looked over at the small blue screen to my left. It told me what the daily specials were, with some other touch buttons for breakfast, lunch and dinner items. I sighed as I watched the daily special scroll over the screen, finally looking back up at her, "the special looks good, just bring me that" I said.
"You got it, coming right up" she said in a cheery voice, then walked quickly off to get my coffee and turn in the order.
I looked about the small lounge, taking note of the different Commanders, listening in on a few conversations as some were sitting close by. A rowdy bunch was in the corner, talking about some trading they had been doing, one just came back from some passenger missions as well, seems he made a ton of money in a system called Quince.
Rubbing my face, I leaned back in the booth and pulled out my log book and started to write.
Taking a deep breath, I looked I flipped through the pages, smiling a little at all the systems I had been too. It didn't seem I had been traveling that much, but time gets lost on one in space. I ran my finger over the pages, then flipped to the next journal entry when I saw a shadow appear next to me. Slowly looking up, I saw a tall man, dark hair, full beard standing by my booth.
Cocking my head to the side a little, I stared at him as he looked down at me, then he smiled as he lifted a single brow.
'Hi there, I am Commander WhiteDog, what brings you to this part of the galaxy" he asks with a toothy grin as he leaned on the booth.
"Just traveling" I responded in a slightly dismissive tone, of which he didn't take the hint.
"Traveling huh?" he asks, then with a boldness, sits in the seat across from me.
Shaking my head, brow furrowed slightly, then looked up as the waitress came back with my coffee. "Commander, what you bothering this lady for, I swear everyone who comes in here, you just have to find out what they are doing" she says as she sets the cup in front of me and gives me a wink.
I felt a little more at ease seeing the woman knew him, I guess he was a regular about these parts.
"What do you mean, just trying to be friendly" he laughs as he looks back at me.
I grabbed some sugar and a spoon, seems the little things have not changed much since we colonized the galaxies. I remember my mother showing me old vintage films made back in the early 2000's. Yep, some things just don't change.
"Be nice to her, don't me messing with my customers" she jokes with him, punching his shoulder playfully, "your food will be right up" she says, then walks off, head shaking as she lets out another chuckle.
"So, what's a girl like you, doing in a galaxy like this" he says with a jovial laugh, tossing his head back some.
"That's funny" I said, finally smiling. "Like I said, just traveling, vacation of sorts" I wasn't about to tell him about my past, he didn't need to know, no one needed to know to be honest, nor did they need to know what I did for work, it might raise suspicion in some of these smaller cities.
"I saw you fly in" he finally said, seemingly getting down to whatever business he had intended when he walked up, "how you making out with that little ship?"
"It's ok, gets me from point A to Point B, not like I am traversing across the galaxy" I replied back.
"Why are you here?" I ask as I stirred my coffee, setting the spoon down to the side, then took a drink.
"Just running some trading missions, got a load of Palladium I am offloading, more than I need to be honest" he said, then cocked his head as she looked at me.
"You know, I could help you out, I mean, that ship is only going to get you so far" he said with a slight grin, "of course nothing is for free"
I scowled at him a bit, shaking my head, "Well, I am not in the habit of owing people, doesn't make for good business" I said, taking another sip of my coffee.
"Oh, no worries, I mean, you won't owe me anything, I meant, it will be some work on your part, I mean, you don't want to keep flying around in that do you?" he laughs.
"Hey, there is nothing wrong with that ship, she is just fine, and she is mine, bought and paid for, with hard work" I responded in a defensive tone.
Oh I am sure, but really, seriously, I can help you out, listen, I am a merchant for the Empire, and I have a good feeling about you. I need some company on some trade routes I have to finish up, and to be honest it would be nice to have the company. In return, I will give you some of my load, you can sell it and have some extra credits towards a new ship, now that isn't so hard is it?" he asks, a brow lifting as he flashes a toothy grin my way.
I sat in silence, drinking my coffee for a few long minutes, the waitress bring my breakfast while I stared at him and thought.
She leans in and whispers something in my ear, causing me to chuckle, "he is safe, don't worry" she says, then looks at me and winks before walking off. I look back at him and found myself nodding as I picked up the fork and dug into the hash browns, mixing them with my eggs.
"ok, sure, not like I have anywhere to be" I said then took a bite of my food, head still shaking.
What was I thinking when I said yes to the man, I didn't know him, he could have been a rapist or murderer for all I knew, the waitress helping him. Space is an unforgiving place and I knew I should be leery of strangers, but something inside told me that he could be trusted.
Looking at his uniform, I saw he was not just a simple pilot, and well I took a chance.
Sure enough, it paid off. After finishing my breakfast and coffee, we took off and finished up some deliveries he had, after that, he said he had some Paladium to spare, which caused my brow to lift a little, but who was I to turn down a hand out.
I landed in Gemar Horizons Station and loaded up my ship with limpets and head out about 10 kilometers and sat there for what seemed like hours. Back and forth from the station, I loaded and sold, making a nice profit and raising my status as a trader, as well as my status with the station.
After we were done, we said our goodbyes.
Funny how life works sometimes, I thought as I shook my head, sitting back in the same lounge, writing this all down, I mean, one moment you are having coffee, the next flying around with some Commander from the Empire.
I am not sure if I will see the man again, but if I do, I will have to be sure to thank him.. not that I ever had anything he really wanted.
Time to get some sleep, tomorrow will be a big day.
Commander Filina, signing off... for now