The Tip Off
03 Apr 2018Jimi_Jazz
[LOCATION: Space, Pandhis]"Incoming hails through a hyperspace channel, please advise" Nurminah Khan, my communications officer reported.
I turned to her from my Commander's seat and nodded for her to patch them through. On a holo-screen before me, the image of a bald man snapped into view. Behind him, dark red neon lights bled out from the familiar dark and dingy walls of Obsidian Orbital. Veltus was an old friend of mine from the Ant Hill Mob, an anarchic gang in MAIA, one that has supported their people suprisingly well despite being the epicenter of the Thargoid Incursion.
We had met when I first went to the Pleiades in late 3302, transporting a friend of mine who was keen on studying the barnicles. Our friendship solidified when I returned after the first reported alien attacks to assist with Search and Rescue. Well before Aeigis developed ax weapons. He had come to my rescue many times, serving as nothing more than a distraction to the Thargoid vessel so I could escape. That was a year and a half ago.
"Jimi my man! How are you? Its been quite a while! Listen, Im rather busy as you can imagine - things are going well here considering - but theres no end of work to do. Im sure you are busy too, but I heard of a crash site that made me think of you. In the Pleiades Sector, IR-V C2-16 a ship went down with a heck of a lotta valuable cargo aboard. Plus, our intel suggest they were carrying some REALLY interesting data. A salvage crew is scheduled to go out in a couple weeks, but if you want I can send you the coordinates and an encryption key I got off of our mark. The cargo and data is yours, Im just hoping you can get to it before the salvage crew, and leave nothing for them."
"Huh now, you know I am quite far away in Federation space. And rather busy monitoring this election. Also, I have no intention of fighting aliens. Salvaging had close enough calls." I responded, all the while knowing that such an opportunity was extremely rare. In my line of work, you meed to identify these chances, and take them. Even as he began to respond to my hesitation I knew I was going to go.
"I understand my friend, things are crazy out here. I just wanted to float this by you, but believe me, I wou-" I cut him off.
"Hey Velt, when I get out there youd better get me some funky stuff to party with!" I said, having changed my mind. The call of adventure was one of my many vices. Veltus smirked, "You know how we do it out here baby" He said. We both laughed. I sure as hell do.
Despite being pirates and heavily involved with criminal activity, the mobsters of the Ant Hill were an honestly nice bunch. You had to live cutthroat to have any kind of freedoms in a Nebula that is so sought after by every superpower. I understood that.
"I am beyond overjoyed you will be coming out here, and Im sure you will be more than pleased with what you find on that ship. Im sure you've been watching the news, alotta top secret stuff going on out here with Sirius and Aegeis and the Thargoids. Please stay safe out there, especially as you approach the Pleiades. I have to run, I hope I'll be seeing you very soon."
The comms channel clicked off and my mind raced. Going out there now was no doubt dangerous, the lives of my entire crew would be jeprodized. But taking one of my smaller ships would be suicide. I summoned the entire crew to the dining and conference room of my Corvette. They all agreed to stick with me on this crazy risky trip. I don't know where I found these people, they are just as foolhardy as myself.
"Okay you guys, get some sleep when we get to Cardano Orbital. I will outfit the ship for long range travel and we will depart in a few hours, I appreciate your bravery, we will have top accomodations when we reach MAIA. We are going to party with the best of 'em" At this my crew cheered, a ragtag group of ex pirates, smugglers, hackers and freedom fighters dedicated to fighting authoritism, subjugation and bullshit laws accross the galaxy. They had become my family over the months. Bunch of heathens the lot of them
I dismissed the meeting and took close note of the coordinates Veltus sent me. The itch of adventure was heavy upon me. Time to scratch.
[To Be Continued]
[Part 2: Dangerous Territory https://inara.cz/cmdr-logbook/79925/27517/]