Thursday, 063-1114
From Planning To Testing
After nearly two months recovering and rebuilding in the Denotam system, the crew of the Upgrade were glad to be off world, flying a shakedown cruise after adding toys to their ship. During the cruise, the crew spent their weeks trying to form a working team, but some things you had to test under pressure. Finally getting into space exposed a sore spot or two, and only time would tell if the re-formed crew could resolve those issues. The one thing the crew did was pass through a great many "learning opportunities". Some had, or planned to, add gear to their kits, to make them more deadly and powerful. But, that only meant their reputation would grow, and possibly draw them against more powerful opponents.
Hoping the shakedown would go smoothly, the only incident so far had been a practical joke. Having just entered a micro-jump, they had a week in an enclosed space along with a paying customer to survive. If they emerged from the jump without issues, they'd have to make a sixteen hour burn back to land at the downport. There, they'd clear out anything they left behind, which wasn't much, and free Jocelynn to hunt cargoes with Fesic's help. That meant, Aali would have a delay of the time it took Jocelynn to fill their cargo bay plus whatever further time Mikah wanted to give her to reset the ship's jump systems. Added to that, Rol's clone would be decanted on the 84th day of the year. Wherever they happened to be. On Denotam, in jump, in normal space or in the Ghandi system.
After the tumble into jump space, Aali's main job was clear. She and the ship's androids had to reset their maneuver and normal space systems. Her first step was to finish setting up monitors for her active systems, adding post-activation monitors to those she'd already set up normally. Outside that, she had to work on re-setting the maneuver drive and continue investigating the pell droid. Aali also looked forward to seeing how Sekea and Colinne reacted to being in an enclosed space as their "new crew"? Despite the Upgrade being a yacht, it wasn't large, because most ships didn't have much space for their crews. Even the lounge would be tight quarters with everyone relaxing there, and the staterooms were tighter still. Aali considered how they'd mix their personalities with the others? While they relaxed, Aiden reported good news, saying they didn't have to man the bridge 24/7. Aiden said they should check the bridge twice a day, like morning and night, making sure nothing was wrong.
During his week in jump, Aiden planned to invite the others to listen to his growing music collection and possibly squeeze into his stateroom for that. He also planned to read, do gear maintenance, take part in any stent practice, socialize with the crew and relax. Because their cargo bay was empty, he also planned to set up a small range and do shooting practice, spar with the others and practice with his drones. That would be added to his checking of bridge systems. He'd also ask Sekea to help him practice navigation and perhaps help that man with piloting.
Colinne planned to continue her work on both investigating the ship's computer systems and ripping into the lock pick software. That was on top of her work with Jocelynn, which could explode badly over all of them if things went wrong. That meant the stent training had to continue, if not for more than cover. For relaxation, there would be the odd card game, which she'd make sure was for fun and not for money. Colinne wasn't into fleecing her crew mates like some others were.
Fesic planned to do target practice, work on his lock pick training, spar with the others and offer to help Aali in engineering. Jocelynn would be part of the psi and stent training. She'd also check the ship's notes looking for any information Fesic kept from his trade work. When she called Fesic, he told her he'd kept his notes on his hand comp. He copied those to her when she asked, but there wasn't much there. He had the old deals he'd connected, so she could look those over. But his notes were confused when it came to who he'd worked with and how he'd connected to them. Jocelynn shook her head because it was clear he wasn't born to be a trader.
Now they were off-world Jocelynn also planned to break out the hookah and have some relaxation time. When she said that, Mikah agreed that was a good idea. For the coming week, Mikah wanted to join in with the training in the cargo bay, and perhaps do some zero-g work too. Hearing Mikah say that, Jocelynn said she'd join in with that. Mikah also considered to herself how she could punish Fesic, because she'd promised to do that when she was recovering from her concussion. After that, Mikah also planned to relax, read medical journals and play games too. Even though she also had to play steward for Maur.
Sekea wanted to continue working with her to draw faces, but Maur told him they were running short on faces she could remember. Even though he knew it, she still reminded him she'd been bound and had limited exposure to the pirates. So, they'd worked through her memories. Nodding, Sekea planned to take part in all the trainings he could, without a stent. He offered to help Aali with the pell 'droid. He also planned to do gear maintenance over the shakedown. Zimzod planned to start with gear maintenance along with his physical therapy. He planned to set up the short-range firing range in the cargo bay, to practice with long barrel rifles. He also planned to do light sparring with the others, to help rebuild his chest muscles.
While they worked at their plans and trained or got things done, one session they had each day was stent training. With Colinne leading the training sessions, Aali was learning more and also doing her best to watch the interplay between Colinne and Jocelynn. All of this helped her work at developing a process to understand her stent better than she did. What she heard while Jocelynn described her senses gave her an idea to try. So, when the session ended, Aali grabbed one of her drones to try out the idea she'd come up with.
Moving to the cargo bay with two drones, Aali did her best to follow the description she'd heard Jocelynn give. Jocelynn had told them it mentally 'felt' like she was 'climbing a mental structure' when she tried to analyze what making a connection felt like. Reaching into her thoughts, and directing them to her stent, Aali tried to feel for the same sensations. And, while she thought her way forward, she felt the sensation! Suddenly, she was connected to the drone, and while activating the unit with her mind, she also considered the other drone and found it simple to connect to that unit too! Having a feel for what Jocelynn described, Aali realized she could now easily connect to and control multiple drones at once!
Aali then kept practicing until connecting felt almost reflexive. While she did, Aali realized this would reduce the amount of concentration she'd have to use to connect to any devices. She'd still have to concentrate on giving devices orders, but would spend less time, effort and energy managing the connections. Midway through the jump, Mikah announced a Zero-G training session. She then went to each of the other crew and explained she planned to punish Fesic for his prank with the toaster. Most of them agreed, with Sekea saying he wouldn't participate because he disagreed with corporal punishment. Still, Sekea promised to keep quiet about it. After they gathered in the cargo bay and set the gravity, Aiden watched while they played "Slam the Fesic". Each time Fesic was thrown near Sekea, that man helped him reset himself.
Another event during the jump happened when Sekea went to Mikah and asked for more information about the "Sentient Human replicant android" Fesic talked about. He explained to Mikah what Fesic had told him and said he hoped she could tell him more about the situation. When she heard his request, Mikah asked, "So, you want me to tell you more about that?" When Sekea said he did, he also said he wouldn't ask her again if she didn't want to tell him. She only responded, "Good. Because I'm not." She added, "It's a need to know and you don't need to know." Accepting that, Sekea went about his day.
Towards the end of the jump, Aali had finished her survey of the pell droid parts and found they had all but 5% of the android. After the survey, she finished her list of parts to order and then shifted to assembling what they had. Along with Sekea's help, they had the 'droid ten percent assembled by the end of the jump. So, Aali secured it until they had time during the jump to Ghandi. Especially since they had all been told by Sekea that he'd sent a x-mail to InstellArms in the Ghandi system to show off what they had in Pell 'droids. So, they'd have full androids as well as parts and support.
Thursday, 070-1114: Counting Down To Departure During operations on the 70th day, the ship's alarms warned they would be emerging from jump to normal space, and Mikah and the flight crew moved to the bridge. While they did that, Aali moved to engineering to shift and shut down systems so she could drain their capacitors and start working on resets. While Aiden and Fesic worked their stations, Sekea also hit his station to work alongside them to confirm their emergence point. When they had results, it turned out they'd hit Sekea's plot points dead on. If there was a deviation, it would only have been in feet, which was not important or measurable in astrogation. So, they were then roughly sixteen hours from Denotam prime on a direct burn.
Nearly 16 hours out from the starport at full burn, they'd emerged from their micro-jump near one of the system's asteroid belts. Mikah said Aiden would take the first bridge shift, for eight hours. He'd be followed by Sekea. They emerged inside the system's closest asteroid belt and didn't want to waste time turning back to do more sensor work on that area of space. And, Sekea would handle their arrival along with the needed chatter with the port. There, they'd clean up the berth and do the work needed to launch for the Ghandi system.
Another thing Mikah hadn't considered popped up as a reminder on her schedule. That day was exactly two weeks from the date she would have to decant Rol's clone. That meant she had to decide if she wanted to delay their jump from Denotam to Ghandi or rush it, to decide where they would be when it came time to do that. If she changed nothing, they'd spend a week resetting the ship before making the jump to Ghandi. That would mean she might have to decant the man "while" working on arrival decisions and events while arriving in the Ghandi system. If she rushed Aali and they jumped sooner, they'd already be in the Ghandi system. And, if they delayed the jump, they could stay in the Denotam system until Rol had been decanted.
Added to that, the rent on their berth would be up in five days. So, if they chose to stay on Denotam, the decision would cost them money based on how much longer they wanted to stay in-port? Another option they had was to shift dates and decisions and be "in jump" when Rol was decanted. So, Mikah had to choose what situation she wanted to face, to help her decide when to leave Denotam? Added to that, if Mikah decided to wait in Denotam, they'd be spending the coming two weeks with nothing to do but wait for the day Rol was decanted. Then, they'd wait even longer while Mikah spent more time working with Rol to get him back "up to speed" and into physical therapy.
With all the talk about decanting Rol's clone, Jocelynn asked if Mikah would be able to do a backup of her mental state during the jump? Mikah said she'd be able to do that the second day into the jump if they didn't decant Rol during the flight. Mikah said she could do that, but it would take a few hours to get done. Jocelynn accepted that. When they decided to back up Jocelynn's mental image on day two of the jump, Zimzod wanted Mikah to back up his marbles on day 3. Mikah agreed to that, saying, "Yeah. He won't take long." dismissively. That got laughs from the others. Aiden then chimed in and Mikah said she'd do his image on day four.
After hours flying back in-system, the ship got its first contact from the starport. When that happened, a notice popped up that Sir Sekea Sian had an X-mail message waiting for him. Sekea bounced the link to his stateroom terminal, because he didn't know which X-mail the response was from? He'd x-mailed various members of his family, and sent other x-mails to firms like InstellArms. So, when he had a chance, he moved to his stateroom and connected to the Interstellar Scout Service Communications Network. There, he identified himself and opened the link to the x-mail. Doing that, Sekea saw it was a response to his x-mail asking about how well the hostile environment suits the Arch-Duke had given them would stand up to Hyper-Arctic conditions?
Sekea had first sent that x-mail on Tuesday, 019-1114, so it had taken 41 days to arrive on Sunday, 066-1114. Reading the answer, Sekea saw they first thanked him for reaching out to them with his question. They then admitted the sales team didn't have the answer so they bounced it to their development team. The reply from the dev. team first said the suits were absolutely 'Not' designed for the conditions Sir Sian described. They added that use in those conditions would certainly void any warrantees, and surpass any promises made in the product documentation.
Of course, they were very excited about Sir Sian's minimal description of his expected expedition. They would also very much hope Sir Sian would share with them any data they gathered during their expedition. When Sekea told the others, and joked about somehow collecting and sending the data after they were dead, Zimzod reminded him they could have sent someone down in a suit while they recorded the data in orbit. Zimzod's tone and expression made it clear that might well have been Sekea himself. Of course, they'd sold the suits, so that wouldn't happen. Zimzod only shrugged and said they could find a way.
After eight hours flight, Aiden handed the bridge over to Sekea while Fesic had been relaxing and was available for backup. Nearing the sixteenth hour, Sekea got clearance from the port and managed their course to settle the ship on a receiving pad. Those were in fact huge rail-mounted tractors that moved the grounded ship into the parkbay and then settled the ship in their berth. Still, while turning and checking their sensors, Sekea noticed a huge and new burn pattern in the north-east quadrant of the port campus!
That part of the port had been dominated by a large runway for fixed wing and long-run landing craft. Seeing that new feature, Sekea could only guess that Clan Arnstruther had been active again. Concerned they could be flying into something the port "forgot" to notify them about, Sekea let the rest of the crew know what he was seeing. He also bounced his video to all screens aboard so they could see what he was talking about. Sekea also called port flight operations to ask about the burn field he saw.
Without any hint of urgency, the traffic operator said something had apparently riled up two of the clans and led to an attack on the port. That annoyed more clans, including Clan Arnstruther. The initial attack seemed to have targeted certain assets on the port campus, forcing the Imperial Navy to react as things went awry. Not pleased with the lack of detail, Sekea cut right to the heart of things and asked if the attack had been repulsed? And if the port facilities were safe to land on?
In a cheerful tone, the man told Sekea everything was safe at the port. He continued to tell Sekea that if he boosted his ship back into orbit and watched his sensors, he'd see evidence of a number of strike sites around the globe. The man's tone became decidedly smug as he added, "Sites in the clan territories." When Sekea asked which clans were involved, the man had to check his data before saying the first clans were Glas and Erskin. He then said things had started with Erskin trying to make a long-range strike on the port. Apparently, Clan Glas must have thought that gave them an opening so they attacked the Erskin. And, Imperial port defenses knocked down much of the incoming fire in Arnstruther territory, which they blamed on the port and base. So, they mobilized and attacked.
With the three clans distracted by engagements on other fronts, several more of the clans decided they could try to take advantage. So there were other battles with trailing skirmishes still happening. Hearing that, Sekea was impressed, though not surprised because he'd seen how fast things could go to shit. Hearing that in engineering, Aali comm'd all ship and told Mikah, "I think I can get the ship ready to go in one and a half days." Despite the situation, that got all the crew laughing. Mikah nodded and told the others no one leaves the port from then on.
While Sekea finished their landing, and they were moved into the parkbay and berth, Jocelynn had to wonder how recent attacks would affect her cargo search? Once down, Mikah told everyone to get moving on loading anything they'd left in the berth onto the ship. But, when they unbuttoned the ship, they found a small group of people waiting for them. Those people were led by an Assistant Executive Administrator from the port central offices. After introductions, the assistant Admin stepped forward to explain the situation.
They were told that Clan Erskin had made a hard-core play to get the Count's people to hand Mikah and her crew to them. What they couldn't get through other means, the clan decided to destroy. Not aware Mikah's crew had left for their shakedown cruise, the Erskin launched a wave of long-distance missiles to target the Upgrade's parkbay. For reasons no one quite knew, Clan Glas decided to attack the Erskin border even though the Erskin had hardened their line since incident with the Duchess Dhian and her people.
Imperial ships in orbit had also quickly detected the threat and reacted to attack the launched missiles. A second line of ships opened fire on the Erskin launch systems, which triggered a strike from the active Erskin fighters in space. On-world, the missiles shot down started landing in many locations with most landing in Clan Arnstruther lands. And that, of course, triggered a ground action from the Arnstruther. Mikah and her crew could only shake their heads and wonder.
He went on to explain some of the missiles reached the open expanses of the port, but were stopped short. And, that a reinforced group of Arnstruther assault units did manage to break the port's borders. Because of those incursions, there had been a bit of a pitched battle with marines grav-hopping from the naval base even as more naval assets lifted. Lucky for the Imperials, they were still on alert thanks to the events of the past two months. So, a quick deployment of ground and aerospace assets helped stop the Arnstruther assaults.
At the same time, already active and alert Naval units in orbit opened fire. Their targeting was partly driven by direct targeting of mobile and static launch points. Other targeting was driven by Naval Intelligence, who had been detecting and tracking any and all assets the clans had been working to smuggle on-world. So, the targets they provided were expected to be storage or mobilization sites. The wave of repeated orbital fire were believed to have destroyed all of Clan Erskin's long-strike weapons and launchers.
Hearing the administrator's report, Mikah made a decision and asked if they could complete their ship work on the high port, to increase their safety? The Administrator said they certainly could, and he'd transfer their berthing paperwork to the high port. All he had to know was how soon they could lift? What he hadn't mentioned was that "someone" must have told the Erskin "where" to aim. So, there would have to be moles in the port staffing. That meant they had to wonder how fast the Erskin space forces got word of the move?
The administrator did suggest they book an internal berth, which would be secure. If they simply docked to a bay on the station's hull, any ship could sweep by with weapons hot and target their ship before station defenses could stop them. And, given what Clan Erskin had already done to "get them", that wouldn't be out of line. He did repeat that Clan Erskin no longer had long range weapons system as far as Imperial military commands could tell.
While Mikah considered deciding what to do, Aali had set the 'droids to beginning resetting the jump systems while also organizing the volunteers for that and to help her assemble what they had of the pell 'droid. Aiden wouldn't help because he had no skills for that work. But Fesic helped when he wasn't helping Jocelynn hunt cargoes to buy on speculation. She'd briefly considered "freight hauling" but they'd max out at Cr 37,000. They would have normally had 41.8 tons of space in the cargo bay, but only had 37.8 tons.
They lost 2 tons for the sand caster ammo feeder and half a ton each for the weapons lockers and cargo sealer. They also lost one ton for Maur as a High passenger. They also still had the three tons of emergency shelter, fusion plant and ice cutters from the Arch Duke, so the final cut was 3.8 tons of space in the cargo bay. And they had to raise the cash to pay for berthing fees, atmo refreshes and fuel. That would cost them under Cr 10,000 in this port, because they'd refueled at the gas giant before the micro-jump.
Connecting to the trading system as soon as she could, Jocelynn wasn't surprised to see that a number of the cargoes she'd seen on the 61st day were gone. Still, some, like "Common Consumables", "Common Ores", "Common Raw Materials", "Radioactives", "Textiles" and "Uncommon Ore" were still on offer. So, Jocelynn could tell what the world's traders could be counted on to have on offer, in case any nearby worlds had a market for it? The bad news was that many of the cargoes on sale for speculation wouldn't pay their bills.
An example of that would be one of the things those in the Ghandi system needed most: common Consumables. Looking at the trade board, the "current deal" at market prices was Cr 350 per ton. That would be breathable gasses, water, etc... Still, if they bought 34 tons of CC's, that would cost them Cr 12,950. If they make a 10% profit, that would net them Cr 1,295. Cr 2,590 at 20% and Cr 3,885 at 30%. So, even scoring high on low value cargoes wouldn't help them at all. Especially given the costs on frontier worlds like Denotam. And, even if they managed to push the price for the cargo down, the cost per ton just didn't have the mobility to earn them the cash they needed to make a profit.
Considering making a profit, Fesic mentioned that he'd hired brokers once or twice and some had been helpful. Looking at the brokers advertising in the port, Jocelynn saw they charged between 5% and 20% depending on what you wanted to get for your money. While buying cargoes, the brokers would work to reduce the purchase cost, but couldn't guarantee results. No one could or would guarantee results. Considering what she could see on offer, Jocelynn decided she'd hire a broker for 10% off the top, to try and kick the buy prices down a bit.
To start, Jocelynn checked the ship's funds and decided she wanted to buy the six available tons of radioactives listed in the port montage. Jocelynn also noted that they could expect to buy rad's any time they visited this port in the future. With six of their available 34 tons filled, Jocelynn had 28 more tons of space to fill. Shifting from that, Jocelynn saw someone was selling up to 25 tons of cargo listed as "Crystals and Gemstones" for Cr 19,000 a ton. If they bought that at market and made a 10% profit, they'd earn 1,900 per ton and 10 tons could earn them nearly Cr 20,000! 20% would get nearly Cr 40,000 and 30% Cr 60,000.
Before she looked through the listings and called a broker, Jocelynn first decided what she wanted to try to buy. After that, the numbers the broker came up with would let her seal deals or change direction. She wanted all six tons of radioactives on offer, as well as ten tons of crystals and gems and then eighteen tons of common consumables. That last lot would guarantee they'd make "some" profit in Ghandi. That would leave her 1.8 tons and she could beg permission from Maur to infringe on her unused cargo space if they also got two tons of "uncommon" ore.
Jocelynn spent much of the day working with the broker, as he took down her data and worked with her, or checked with his contacts or worked with sellers in the market. He also warned her that might take some time, and Jocelynn agreed to that. Each time the broker came back on the screen, through the day, he said it was a mixed bag and didn't look entirely pleased. He first said he wasn't pleased with the people he'd been dealing with on the consumables and they wanted Cr 7,350 for those twenty tons. He then told Jocelynn he didn't feel that was the best price on the lot and suggested buying at that price was risky. He told her to spend more time on the market if she was bent on getting common consumables.
Next, he told Jocelynn the dealer managing the crystal and gem lot wanted to sell them and was willing to offer them the ten tons and Cr 57,000! Hearing that, and remembering the port-advertised "per ton" had been Cr 19,000 each, Jocelynn realized she was getting ten tons for the cost of three! When she asked if that price would hold for the additional 15 more tons the seller had, the broker said it would. Jocelynn then gave up on the consumables and committed the ship to buy all 25 tons of the crystal/gem lot for Cr 142,500. And, based on the broker's comments, she anticipated a 50% to 60% profit at the very least!
Finally, the broker talked about the six tons of radioactives. The broker was satisfied he'd done as good as he could but admitted the price had risen from the port-advertised KCr 800. When it came to the price, the seller wanted Cr 850,000 per ton, which was a bit more. Still, the broker said that was a good price and they'd pay MCr 5.1 for the lot of six tons. In the end, the ship also owed him Cr 524,200 in commission. That also left them 3.8 tons of open space in the bay to train in. Since they'd paid the broker ten percent of their purchases, they had to make at least 20% profit o everything to profit over all.
After the cash was transferred, the crystal/gem dealer said he could deliver the cargo to their ship in three days, which would be the 73rd day of the year. The radioactives would be delivered on the 72nd day. Jocelynn checked with Mikah, who said she was good with that. It would keep them in the system longer, but they'd pre-paid the berth rent on that anyway. And, that took the pressure off Aali to get done in under two days.
Now they had some spare time, Colinne wondered if they could safely go to InstellArms, and Mikah said they were off the starport campus and she didn't want people leaving the port. Mikah said that while she didn't want anyone leaving the port, she also wanted no one to leave the parkbay unless they had a group of three or more. While Jocelynn was working with the broker, she also remembered she had to get the ship food too. At first, she started looking at advertisements from port services. In that stream, Jocelynn came across an advertisement from a restaurant on the port called "Squeezy Snacks". Jocelynn mentioned they served vat-generated foods and the stomachs of most of the crew spasmed in horror.
Over the following three days, while they waited on the cargo deliveries, the entire crew were helping Aali, sharing in training and practice sessions and getting themselves ready to leave for the Ghandi system. One event of note happened while Jocelynn and Colinne were working to control Jocelynn's Psi-blossom. Connected telepathically, Colinne could share concepts perceptually, and Jocelynn finally grasped one of the keys! Using that set of concepts, Jocelynn was able to finally project a protective energy around her awareness! Colinne felt it when Jocelynn began to shield her mind, and even Zimzod and Mikah had to more actively ignore the buzz in the back of their brains.
Realizing what the sensations in her mind meant, Jocelynn looked up at Colinne, smiled and said, "Achievement Unlocked!" in a tone of some small surprise. Colinne laughed as the sensation reached her, Mikah and Zimzod. And knew they didn't have any idea what the sensations meant? Colinne spent the rest of that session teaching Jocelynn how to find and "flick" psi-sensitive switches, as well as fine tuning her ability to shield herself. They both knew they'd have to keep working on Jocelynn's abilities and security, but Colinne now knew things would be a fair bit easier for her.
Monday, 074-1114: Leaving for Ghandi The morning broke, the day before the rent on their berth ran out, with the crew finishing up the work of preparing to lift. They expected to leave for Ghandi that day, beginning the sixteen-hour burn to the jump shadow. Then, they'd kiss Denotam good bye for the last time. The last out-burn would be exactly fifteen and three quarters of an hour after they breached atmo. That would be for Aiden to set up and handle from the start. He would hand that off to Sekea, who would also spend the last hour or more plotting their jump program. That would let him use data most accurately projected to the last moment for his plot.
One of the last tasks they had was to refuel the ship since they'd only recently returned from more than a week in space and the use of a quarter of their jump fuel. That would be less than refueling the full tankage, because they'd been fully refueled by the shipyard and refueled at the gas giant. So, the total tons of hydrogen they needed for both normal and jump systems was 48.4 tons. That would cost them Cr 5,808 for refined fuel. When Mikah heard that, she dismissed the thought they could fly to the gas giant and scoop it, and had the port fill their tanks.
When they finally lifted, the flight was fairly smooth if with a small bit of added entertainment. It became very obvious there were Erskin moles in the port's staff, because there had been an apparent attempt to intercept them while they burned up through the atmosphere. Aiden could see some form of activity on his sensors, which seemed to be getting intercepted by CCOAC forces from Imperial warships in the world's orbits. Based on that, Aiden let the rest of the crew know that he was guessing Clan Erskin had launched space-borne fighters to come after them. When the others asked, he chuckled and bounced the sensor data to all screens so the crew could watch Imperial fighters and small craft slaughtering the clan forces. It seemed Clan Erskin was losing millions of Credits worth of smuggled combat gear for no value or effect.
When they finally did pass out of the jump shadow, Sekea considered that Aiden traditionally dimmed the lights when entering jump. That was based on the fact that ships entering jump in the early days of the Vilani empire often suffered brownouts due to the lack of power aboard. Even on single parsec jumps. Then, even after that wasn't a real issue, the Vilani pilots dimmed the ship's lights in an almost religious observance. One they'd transferred to countless billions of starship pilots over the millennia since. But, in Sekea's situation, it was only to comfort Aiden.
Now they were back in jump, the crew would settle back into the tasks and past times they'd been doing during the micro-jump. Aali would again be bleeding and zeroing the normal space systems while watching the jump system data feeds. She'd take part in stent training, practicing with her drones and relaxing. Aiden also wanted to do drone practice along with sparring, sharing his music, reading. Sadly, they had no space for a long-rifle range. Colinne would keep up working on the ship's computer, the lock pick software, stent training, teaching Jocelynn and card games. One other thing that she did on occasion was to write small scripts to simplify her admin work.
Fesic planned to set up a small arms range so they could keep up some weapons practice. He also planned to keep up his gunnery practice and lock pick studies. He'd also spar and help Aali while joining in on any card games. Fesic was also willing to help Colinne when she asked. Jocelynn would continue both the psi and stent training. Added to that, she was searching the ship's files and books for trade data. She'd also spar with the others, and take part in fun on the ship. Spend some quality time with her hookah and time alone in her stateroom working on psi exercises now that she could access and somewhat control her talent. Of course, that meant more buzzing in the back of Mikah and Zimzod's heads.
Mikah also planned to get involved with the sparring, and games. She'd also read med-journals and relax as much as the crew let her. She also had to prepare to decant Rol because she knew that would be a major project when the time came. While Mikah had that to look forward to, Sekea had given up sketching pirates because there had only been so many faces Maur could remember. Still, he wanted to thank Maur, so he set himself to drawing a particularly poignant landscape from his childhood as a gift. Aside from that, Sekea would take part in nav work, pilot training, sparring and gear maintenance. He also joined in with Aali to continue rebuilding the pell droid parts.
Zimzod planned to do physical therapy, gear maintenance, small arms practice and reading. Zimzod also decided to do "light sparring", to start rebuilding the muscles of his arms and chest. Maur planned to join in on the games, interact with the crew, watch vids and documentaries and continued to relax and recover. While they flew, Mikah cared for their passenger while quietly counting the hours down until Rol was able to cook, walk and carry a food tray.
Another thing Aali wanted to do was research the electronics of the ship for a possible future project. She was mostly concerned with the nature of those switches installed in the ship. She knew that, to a given tech level, any switch would be mechanical, and beyond that they could be "energy transfer" touch switches. Those were not mechanical. Additionally, some switches could be "triggered and programmed, like the sort of system where a compartment's lights would activate when a person passed within a given range from installed sensors. Of course, Aali knew there were no "sensor controlled" switches installed in any part of the ship. Every system was either touch sensitive or mechanical, and all were "positive action" controlled.
Of course, the touch sensitive switches would have local controls built into the system, and Aali was familiar with those. Beyond that, all those switches and the systems they controlled, such as lights, controlled access panels, etc, were then wired to the ship's power systems. Those would bundle at junction boxes which eventually merged into the ship's main power cables. Those, in primary, secondary and even possible tertiary form, fed back to the engineering systems. So, she could also do research to see how much direct control and management could be done from the engineering consoles. And, where a specific control was involved, what other controls might be attached to the same power strand? Aali also planned to discuss her project with Mikah when she felt it was needed.
It was the 81st day when the computer let them know they were preparing to emerge in the Ghandi system. That meant, they had three days before Mikah would decant Rol on the 84th day. When the warning went off, Mikah, Sekea and the flight crew rushed the bridge to be ready to fi their location and confirm they were arriving where they wanted to be. The others hit their stations while Zimzod and Jocelynn sat with Maur in the lounge. While they waited, Jocelynn had to wonder what they might be facing thanks to her x-mail telling InstellArms when they planned to arrive? Of course, they beat her estimate by a few days, but she'd said "around the 85th.
Monday, 081-1114:
Arrival In Ghandi
While the flight crew reset and tracked stars, they found they were close enough on emergence from jump to where they wanted to be. Aiden told the others and Sekea announced the travel time from outside the jump shadow to Ghandi high port was just under two hours. Not expecting any trouble in a system with a major naval base, Aiden and Sekea were the flight crew with Fesic manning his station, "just in case". Mikah was also on the bridge while Colinne was in the ship's computer room and Aali in engineering. Jocelynn and Zimzod spent the time with Maur in the ship's lounge. While burning towards Ghandi high, Rol would be decanted in three days, which would increase Mikah's work load.
During the burn-in, Mikah thought it would be good to remind the others that Ghandi was a feudal technocracy. That meant it had a feudal structure with a ruler who granted ranks and authority to all "royal assets" in the system. But, those noblepersons wouldn't own farms and fields where food came from. Or vast forests from which lumber were cut. They were those who understood and controlled the technologies which made the farms and factories run at high levels of efficiency. So, high or low, the schools teaching children did so using "challenge" methods. While it was possible for someone performing at a lower level to rise, such stories of slow-burning genius were rare.
Sudden titles were also known to be conferred on experts emigrating from out-system too. And those were known to happen from time to time too. Local nobility were often known to try and court out-system experts passing through. That hadn't happened the last time Mikah's crew visited because they'd been seen as "somewhat radioactive". And that was because of the mandate demanding Rol return to the Regina system to face accusations raised by Sir Jeremy Lewis, in his book, "Crossing The Line". Because of the mandate, Mikah and her crew were largely watched and not courted. Now that they were more respectable after the clearing of all charges facing Rol, and his heroic death, it was quite possible the crew would be more noted on this visit.
So, some of them could expect offers to hire for short term projects or even permanent immigration to work with and support development groups. It was well known a number of shipyards were hoping to develop the ability to provide a full range of interstellar drives. That faced both a serious need for trained physical and theoretic drive engineers, but also those who could develop miniaturized or highly conservative drive systems, due to the system's lack of resources. While the aspiration was well known, it wasn't likely to be achieved unless there were serious ore strikes in-system. Sadly, the system had no asteroid belts so any experimental mining was unlikely at best. Especially given the IISS survey reports on the system's worlds and moons.
Quickly enough, they were contacted by port officials, who began the official in-take data and forwarded the standard forms package. The more or less semi-rigid comms stance suggested the port knew who they were, which wasn't much of a surprise to the crew. If their ship's name wasn't known, the first waves of paperwork would clue them in right off. Soon enough, Mikah was asked what kind of docking or berthing facilities they wanted? Mikah chose to rent an internal bay, for reasons of security. They offered that for Cr 1,000 per week and asked how many weeks Mikah wanted to stay?
When Mikah seemed uncertain, and said "No more than two" they checked to see a message from port central and offered the first week at Cr 1,000 and a possible second-week extension for Cr 750. Mikah was pleased with that and agreed. Cleared for a landing on the port, Aiden was given a flightpath to follow. Closing on the port's entry bay, he had to release his controls and ride along as they settled onto the mover tow that transferred them to the actual bay their ship would be in for their stay.
While they rode into the station, the ship's comms received a tidal wave of advertisements from "Who are you and what do you want or need" to "We have ways to please every race and gender". The station's venders offered almost anything they could imagine while the ships in holding berths drifting around the station offered even more! Some ship advertisements even offered tech not available in the system and one openly advertised captured Zhodani war material. Hearing that, Colinne briefly had a smirk on her face as she thought of her gauss rifle.
Unbuttoning after they settled in the berth, the bay master came over to demand all their manifests so they could get their arrival forms submitted. After Mikah bumped them the information, they asked if the crew would stay on the ship or rent hotels? The stationer-point of view was that crews that stayed on their ships were either poor or desperate to save cash. And, where they knew that wasn't the case with Lady Mikah's crew, the only other common answer was that they were "planning something". Which wasn't nearly as hard to believe given what they knew of Mikah. There was a surprise when the CHI (Customs, Health and Immigration) data showed Rol as "Cargo". Still, the paperwork on "cloning systems" matched up with his reported death on Regina, so they relaxed.
Working to keep himself from being busted to hull scrubbing, the bay master got to consider the difference between hearing of nobility like Lady Mikah and actually standing in front of her reading her name from his forms. Still, he was also happy the data-screen form had an "Alert" button that copied the names and titles on the forms and bounced them to an alert desk in Station Central. All he had to do was be as polite as he could until the staffer now having a coronary in central got down there to take her in hand. He then did his best to sound polite as he said, "Welcome to our station My Lady. Someone will be here shortly to assist you. I apologize that person was not here before hand."
Mikah waved the apology off, saying they hadn't told the station they were coming even though Central had known they were inbound from almost the first contact. Meanwhile, Jocelynn was relieved there wasn't a huge welcoming committee from InstellArms, and wondered when they'd make their presence known? After some words in what the crew could only describe as 'station-speak' to get his people moving, the bay master asked, "Can we serve your ship with an atmo refresh, refueling and other services?" Mikah said the refresh and refuel would be wonderful and the man quoted the refresh at Cr 27,000. Agreeing to that, Mikah said they'd need access to the ship and would have a tenth person aboard soon. Not pleased his people would have to dance around a bunch of nobles, he promised Mikah she only had to refresh for nine people for the past week.
When the man asked how long they'd be on the ship, Mikah considered dumping Rol in the grav-chair and bringing him to whatever rooms they had to treat him. But, she knew she'd likely need the medbay's systems for some of the work and want to be close to them if an emergency rose. When Mikah said it would likely be up to a week starting on the 84th day, the man apologized for having to charge her an extra Cr 1,000. Mikah accepted that and waved it off as she paid it. While she paid for that, she mumbled, "Rol will pay for that. Don't worry."
Ignoring a comment not meant for him, the bay master told her, "A person responding from Station Central will deal with your luggage and getting you settled into housing suitable to your station." Mikah nodded as numbers populated on the man's "da-pad" and he told her refueling would cost her ship Cr 23,250. Mikah considered that against wasting a couple days scooping and refining fuel and agreed. When the boss snapped more orders, most of the crew could bet they usually had an hour to move on the work and were disgruntled to have to snap to. But, they also knew this wasn't just the normal merchanters.
Casually watching the berth workers, the crew could see the usual mix of Humans and Vargr. It would be more rare to see an Aslan or Droyne working a berth crew and no one expected to see one of the violently vegetarian K'Kree. What was odd was that one of the workers, a woman, who'd seemed very pale at first started shifting colors! All her exposed skin was actually shifting back and forth from "all red" to "all white". Realizing the woman had gotten a subdural augment but none could figure out why? Especially an augment like that, which demanded peeling the top layers of skin off and "thinning" them before coating the underside with a neural web and chromatophores. Then, going through a recovery phase where the skin is reconnected to the person's vascular system and nerves. Not one of them missed how incredibly painful the process could be to those who could not afford or find pain-deadening treatments and recovery.
The berth boss had them work with some of his team to start removing their packed luggage and start moving it to a portal where they could wait for the portcar and management representative. When the cars did arrive, there were more than enough to carry the crew and their luggage, even if a few of the stationers had to stay behind. An assistant port administrator introduced himself and apologized for delaying Lady Mikah. He then welcomed the crew to their station and asked how they could help with accommodations? Surprising him, Jocelynn was first to speak up, saying "I need to speak to someone to get certified to trade in Ghandi."
Nodding to Jocelynn, the man said, "Yes, My Lady. We'll get that taken care of." Caught more flat-footed, Mikah turned and asked, "How are we doing this? Does everyone want their own room? Are people going to divvy up, like room-mates or whatever? Aali mentioned that they'd prefer to stick together. As the man nodded, he told them they could get rooms on a hotel concourse or even get them a suite with enough rooms for the crew. Maur said she'd be rooming separately from them, but have her accommodations close to theirs. He even offered them the option to rent an entire level within a hotel, for absolute privacy. That way, their credentials would be the only ones with access to the floor, along with hotel workers.
Mikah scoffed at the idea of renting something like a hundred rooms for the sham of privacy given some of things people had pulled to go after them. When she asked about a suite, Mikah was told they could give her a suite with fifteen bedrooms for Cr 3,500 a week. When Mikah agreed to that, they got into the port cars and their admin-guide programmed them all for the trip to the hotel. Before they left, they were told they could bring with them one honor side arm and one blade. And, none could be obviously combat-level. They were told the management would very very much prefer the crew not use any of those weapons in their station, which got snickers from some of the crew.
Asked first, Mikah said she'd bring her coral sword and laser pistol. While the stationers looked askance at her pistol, they didn't say anything. And the sword appeared to be so delicate they were satisfied it couldn't be used for actual combat. Aali brought the snub pistol Duke Luis had given her, which she'd had customized, and her laser sword. The sword got the same look from the stationers but they also said nothing. Aiden took his custom snub pistol and sword. When Colinne considered taking her Zhodani gauss rifle, the Administrator politely reminded her they were permitted "side arms". So, pistols, not rifles.
Considering that, Colinne decided to bring her gauss pistol and dagger. Fesic brought his snub pistol and his blade. He also decided to sneak something else and brought his cane, which had a thin sword hidden inside. Jocelynn brought her custom cutlass, and asked if she could bring two snub pistols. The Administrator frowned and reminded her a snub pistol was a combat weapon so they preferred she only bring one such weapon. He admitted they'd let her bring both weapons but didn't prefer it. Jocelynn decided to be polite and only took one of the pistols.
Sekea brought his custom gauss pistol and blade. Zimzod brought the Darrian gauss pistol and his Marine cutlass, even though he'd mostly been an Imperial Army NCO. He also clipped his K-bar to his belt without asking permission for the additional weapon. His glare read, 'try to stop me' and the station folks just let it happen. After that, the porters loaded their gear onto the port cars and everyone mounted up so they could get going. Along the way, the Administrator gave them a basic understanding of the sections of the station.
The hotel itself was a cylinder built into the structure of the station. The lower and upper five levels were service levels. Each of the other levels were divided up into either individual rooms or suites reflecting varying levels of income and style. The level in which their suite was located was built to accommodate five such circular suites and spa-like sauna, cold water, hot tub and relaxation suites. Common gyms were also placed on varying levels along with smaller three and five room suites. When Aiden asked, he was told there were no swimming pools in the hotel. He was also told he could check with their concierge to locate such facilities on the station. Maur got on her own portcar and would be in her own smaller suite near theirs.
All the rooms and common spaces were tastefully decorated, and had "windows" which displayed the view from cameras placed on the station's hulls. Many of the display windows would connect to the same cameras, and would automatically switch if a camera stopped working or became view-obstructed. The hotel had core and circumference lifts and common services, and constantly available room service catering to a long list of comfort, food, personal or medical needs. So, each level was a disk and the hotel was a stack of those disks, with lifts and common travel amenities serving every level. At certain places, a visitor could book activities like being placed into vacc suits and taken out of the station to drift. Or, space bike rentals where visitors could hire a guide and vacc suits so they could "fly" outside the station. Of course, all the bikes and guides were certified for use in recovery should a visitor lose connectivity with their bike.
After they arrived at the suite and selected bedrooms, the porters and maids discreetly moved their luggage in and unpacked their possessions into closets, drawer sets and other spaces in the bedrooms while the Administrator had an executive of the hotel give them a tour of the suite. He also gave them a video tour of the hotel and the station environs around the hotel on the suite's main vid-screen. They also provided a set of comms contacts they could use anywhere on the station to call their concierge. That way, they could call on services from advice and directions to pick-up portcars to get them "unlost", or back to their suites.
Checking the suite out, Mikah asked about a kitchen and was shown to that space and told it wasn't stocked. Hearing that, Jocelynn asked if they'd be hiring a chef and food service and Mikah said they would. Especially since the kitchen did not look like the hotel expected people paying for such a space to use it. It was functional but compact, though equipped to make snacks and cocktails. The hotel guide asked how grand their food needs would be? And if they planned to host parties, which his face suggested he wouldn't be surprised by. When Mikah made it clear it was just so they didn't have to cook, the man asked if they wanted a visiting chef, a live-in or an android?
When Mikah asked for the android, they said that unit could be stored in a recess compartment in the suite, and would arrive shortly. The unit was programmed using software which could determine taste and intensity through centuries of refinement in chemical interaction and conversion during heat application. So, it would use recipes which could digitally "dial in" on not only the combination of ingredients, but also chemical interchanges during cooking. So, the 'droid would be able to heat a cooking dish to a point where its sensors could monitor the blending of ingredients so they were removed from the heat and cooled to a digitally intended blending.
The recipes it had programmed into it were constantly being updated as visitors from crews of the very many races brought them from their ship's autochefs, etc. So, they had recipes from across the spectrum of sentient races and their pets. The android would be rented to them for the duration of their stay in the hotel. Happy not to be nickeled and dimed weekly, Mikah said she'd callout for a first order and was told the android would survey them and create an initial order, then keep up stocks while tapering those towards their expected check out. Those orders would be billed to her on check out.
Hearing that, Mikah said she and perhaps another crew member might be on the ship for a period of time. When she asked if their food service could be delivered to the ship, she was told there were a number of delivery services which could deliver the food either in stasis or in containers which continued heating the dish, so the cooking actually finished as the meals arrived for delivery. The hotels also had relationships with a number of the restaurants so their orders could be out-sourced and delivered more locally.
Having heard her comments earlier, the station admin led Jocelynn to a terminal in the suite's common space and introduced her to an agent from the station's commerce licensing team. The agent told Jocelynn that it would cost Cr 500 and a delay of three days to certify to trade under normal conditions. However, Station Central has stepped in so they only wanted a payment of Cr 200 and would only carry out a single day investigation of their records since it was known Dame Jocelynn had not been in the Ghandi system after being recovered from the misjumped carrier Regina's Storm. That confirmed she would likely not have any record in their database. So, she should be authorized to trade by 1 pm the next day.
Jocelynn agreed to that and they also asked permission to add the Upgrade's manifest data to their system displays. That was normally automatic but the man said there were reasons it had not been done in the case of their ship. The agent explained that would make public the fact their ship arrived in the event it was expected, and was carrying cargo to sell or trade. Jocelynn thanked the agent for that and asked if they had a broker they could recommend? From the list they presented her, Jocelynn selected one of the many second level brokers to start working with their cargo after she got her certification.
A First Night Out With their housing and food cared for and Jocelynn's credentials in flight, Aali said it sounded to her like it was time to go out and explore. Especially since the last time they'd been in the port, the crew were "spam in several cans" waiting for the carrier transporting the Hotel California to Regina. Looking over the listed districts of the station, they saw the port was a city in space. The nearly twenty thousand "citizens" on the station served more than a hundred thousand transients on average. That meant the engineering were over-sized, and the entertainment facilities were "built out" to seduce all their visitors into spending as much cash as they could.
The decks could be mapped by rental costs that would suggest economic zones. Those data would give the crew an idea of how much things cost in those neighborhoods. And while the shopping could vary, parks, institutions and tourist opportunities would likely keep a level. Molded into those were all manner of entertainment and "human services" for the visiting crews and tourists to take part in. From stage shows, plays and vids to more "personal" experiences. Added to that were locations that were marked "not in use" or "not for public access" because sections of the station were still under repair and rebuild even four years after the end of the Fifth Frontier war.
While they were considering where to go, Sekea's comms started to ping. When he answered, a woman introduced herself as his InstellArms concierge and welcomed him to the Ghandi system. She continued to say, "We hope that you have done well in your travels and had safe travels crossing the void and looked forward to working with you." She added that she had an x-mail with his request that they have a display prepared of the pell 'droids they had on hand. So, she wondered when they might expect his visit to check out what they had on offer? Sekea was pleased to have been called and told the concierge he'd talk to his crew and they'd decide when they were able to visit their location.
Sekea also checked a map of the station and saw that InstellArms had a rather large module that was likely "bolted on" at a time when the station was being updated. While the module was large, and could possibly house s small "ship's boats" concession inside the module". The module was certainly permanent in nature, and promised a very large stock of goods. Lowering his comms, Sekea considered the pell 'droid they had, which was an eighth re-assembled. When he suggested checking to see if they sold the same model 'droid they had, Aali suggested they could just hand over the model and parts list to ask if they could help with them?
Aali then had a second thought and suggested they could present what they had and ask how much it would cost to reassemble the 'droid and either install the missing parts or leave panels open so they could be installed when the ship reached a system where a vendor had the parts on offer. At that point, Sekea put the call on speaker so Aali could join the conversation. The concierge had heard all the cross discussion and was happy to help them with the 'droid they were rebuilding.
The concierge next had Aali send her the parts list and model number, so she could bounce those to her technical teams. She also agreed her people could reassemble the 'droid to the state the available parts would allow. Then, the 'droid would be operational or have panels open to install the remaining parts. She also sold the point that her techs could 'stress test' all the still present parts before reassembly, to insure one or more wouldn't fail shortly after they put it back in service. Aali asked about the cost and was told their 'pick up" team would cost Cr 50 to start with. They would also charge a Cr 1,000 "evaluation" fee, which would be folded into the rebuild cost, if they chose to have InstellArms rebuild the unit. Depending on the scale of the 'droid stress testing all the parts would cost between Cr 5,000 and 10,000.
Finally, the "rebuild" cost would be Cr 5,000 plus the cost of any parts found to need replacement. A final report would be provided at that cost, which listed any parts it turned out their facility did not have, or could not provide. That rebuild cost would not be charged if the stress testing proved significant parts, like the main power system or brain were not usable. Or, if the number of failed parts suggested the 'droid was not worth reassembling. Given the missing parts, it would cost up to Cr 20,000 as an estimate to get their 'droid working. Of course, if there were seriously damaged components, that would drive the cost up. When Sekea asked about a new 'droid, he was told it would likely cost in the hundred thousands.
The initial cost would be for the "blank" 'droid. The real cost would be the programming they wanted to be mounted onto any android they had or bought. If the brain on the 'droid they had was bad, they'd have to pay for that replacement and new software. If damage to key components forced them to buy a new 'droid, they'd have to decide what level of software to buy. So, the costs could vary based on the model purchased and the level of software skills desired. So, before anything started, they had to pay the Cr 1,050 initial costs to have the 'droid parts picked up and evaluated. Aali ended up paying for it before Sekea could step up.
When the concierge asked if there was anything else Sekea and Aali needed, or if they could set up a scheduled visit to their location, Sekea said they'd decide that soon enough. Thanking Sekea for that, she also brought up the x-mail he'd sent them about designing custom crampons for certain intense environments. Hearing that, Sekea told the woman that x-mail had been followed up with a cancellation, and his crew were no longer interested in pursuing the request.
While they discussed where to sight see, Colinne said she'd like to check software vender and service shops to see if she could check out compilers. With all the sales concourses on the station, she'd have to look for those which specialized in stores selling customized software and design services. Those would most likely be able to sell and download various designer compilers. She wanted to find a seller who had a "god-level" decompiler that broke any package down to machine code and translated it into assembly code. From there, she'd be able to re-code segments of the program and recompile it. Along the way, she'd also be able to see what it actually did?
When she found a vender who had it, she was sure it would be "hidden behind the counter" and not something advertised. She also knew it would be expensive and she'd have to be ready to grab any data showing where any package was stored. From there, she'd be able to decide if she wanted to pay for it or try to hack the seller and copy it? While they didn't want to go directly there, Jocelynn, Aiden and Zimzod wanted to go to InstellArms and Aali and Sekea had a reason to go there eventually. Still, they were sight-seeing at the moment and could get to that later. At the moment, they wanted to go to a bar, restaurant or club for food, drink and entertainment.
High end meant live performers and multiple spaces with different stages, along with expensive drinks, food and clientele. Those would certainly be tied together by common food prep spaces and management, but might also have a facade for one or more "Known Chef" or celebrity-owned eateries. Those were also frequently connected to hotels, which would make them more of a destination or draw-space on the station. And they often also had casinos connected. Of course, there were casinos from high to low end all over the spacer-sections of the station too. High end were fancier with open spaces and lots of "display elements". Low end casinos were places that packed in the gaming spaces and drew people in with special competitions, tournaments, etc.
Paying Cr 25 for a port car, the crew loaded in and went off to a concourse advertised as "entertainment" venues. Pouring out onto the concourse after the ride, the group set out looking for a venue where they could order food and eat while watching the performances on a stage. The afternoon cost each of them Cr 30 not including alcohol. They also spent some money, individually, for drinks and Colinne suggested they look for a low-end casino nearby and get some gaming in. Before they left, they paid off their tabs which were Cr 30 for Mikah and Zimzod, 10 for Aiden and Colinne and 25 for Jocelynn. Sekea started light, but then found out they had meldo wines., from his homeworld. Because those were expensive, his tab came to Cr 60, with another Cr 40 on a round for each of the others.
Sipping at the wine while Sekea gave them a basic description, Jocelynn felt it was 'passable to OK' while the others...hated it! That wasn't a surprise for Sekea because the wine was commonly very bitter, and an acquired taste even on Carse. So, the reactions of off-worlders was more expected than not. Of course, there were jokes comparing meldo wine to their 'Ardeni Awsomesauce' where the awesomesauce came out on top. After the drinks and live dancing and shows, they talked about what kind of casino they all wanted to hit?
While most of the crew decided on a casino to hit, Aiden said he wanted to return to the suite. With the others staring at him, Aiden did what he always did and caved to peer pressure, saying he'd come along with them and cover their backs. Unified as a crew again, they moved off and chose a direction to move down the concourse looking for a likely casino. Like most other such concourses, the casinos along the march had open walls, so passers by could see the gaming and hear the cheers of winners. They could also look into the gaming halls they found and choose one that attracted them.
The casino they chose was "techy" and more than just a bit more than glittery, so it was a higher quality venue. Having spent more money on decor, comfort and entertainment added to the core gaming spaces. That was an important consideration on a space station of any size, because every square foot was billable in one manner or another. So, the choice to fill their leased space with more than money-making tables was an active managerial decision. The space also had restaurants, where they each spent Cr 50 on dinner over the evening. The gaming and entertainment offerings were "enhanced" with tech-based items like holographics and more. Some gaming spaces were raised up on grav platforms and the highest stakes tables "floated" above all, as a beckoning challenge to the lesser gamers to play on high!
Aali set a Cr 500 "floor" against her losses at poker and finished the evening ahead Cr 200. Aiden was more willing to risk things and stepped to a craps table, He set his floor at Cr 1,000, and eventually lost Cr 300. Colinne also played craps, banked herself with Cr 1,000 and lost Cr 300. Fesic laid out Cr 6,000 at a baccarat, which surprised Sekea, and lost Cr 4,000 of that. Even more oddly to Sekea, the man seemed to be pleased with that. Mikah stepped up to a row of slot machines while her floor was also Cr 1,000. She ended the evening up Cr 1,000. Sekea laid out Cr 1,000 at a craps table and lost Cr 300 while Zimzod also did the slots with Mikah, and lost Cr 300.
Jocelynn didn't gamble and chose to people watch. At a point in the evening, a man dressed in a high-end suit approached her and asked what alure a casino held for someone who had no interest in gambling? When Jocelynn told him, "I'm just here with my crew, who are gambling", the man asked if there was any other form of entertainment they could offer her. That marked him as one of the house agents, looking to help the management earn as much as they could by offering alternative activities to make sure they appealed to everyone. Despite the fact the man's tone was not improper, Jocelynn shot back, "Are you offering a lap dance or something?" and the others around overhearing her laughed.
The man smiled patiently and admitted he worked for the casino and was just hoping to improve her visit and experience with them. Jocelynn accepted that and then over-shared to explain they'd gone out for food and she didn't want to sit back at the hotel alone. Hearing that, Mikah turned to them and told the man, "She's my bodyguard." Nodding, the man handed Jocelynn a Cr 100 chip saying, "Just in case you change your mind." Surprised, Jocelynn thanked the man and said she'd consider that while accepting the chip. She soon decided not to let the chip go to waste and stepped up to a blackjack table. By the time they were done, she had Cr 30 left in chips so it was profit despite her losses.
Along with the gambling, each of the crew took their time to check out the shops and other offerings throughout the evening. As would be expected, all the vendors offered luxury items like liquor, items made of precious metals, gemstones and more. Driven by his interest in gemstone collecting, Sekea checked out some of the gaudy displays. One items that caught his attention was a plaque that had two rows of stones in parallel lines. The upper left most stone was a cut and polished gemstone of true value and quality. The rest of the stones leading from the left to the right, then from left to right on the lower line, were of decreasing value. The final stone on the lower right corner was a clear varnish coated unpolished stone broken from a mine wall.
Glancing, Sekea saw the stones were marked "Gemstones of Ghandi", though most of the stones on the plaque were hardly gem quality to start with. This was obviously intended as a wall display piece, and priced for profit so Sekea ignored it. Still, Sekea was interested in some mineral or gem from the system, to add to his collection of items he had since boyhood. Asking for a lesser mineral, Sekea was told they didn't sell what he asked for, but had individual gems to sell and those worked their way up from Cr 1,000. The KCr 1 stone wasn't the prettiest stone, with inclusions and other issues. The best "single stone" item was a completely clear, no inclusions marquise cut stone with no faults that was priced at Cr 100,000.
Sekea didn't care that he failed to earn the shop worker's esteem by buying the Cr 1,000 stone for his collection. Also checking the same vendor, Mikah wasn't impressed. Other shops sold Ladies, Gentlemen's, etc. goods, which sold luxury objects specific to the varied genders that were encrusted with precious materials or featured highly crafted artwork. They had a high-end smoke shop from which Jocelynn spent Cr 3,000 on a 'variety pack' with ten shisha "flavors" for her hookah. The pack included a shisha mixture named for the Ghandi system which had to be a mixture of herbs frequently and cheaply delivered to the system. The nine other shisha were named for three mixtures from Lanth, two from Regina, two from Dinom and Dinomn and even one from Denotam. The shisha from Dinom was mysteriously named, a "Desert Blend".
Monday, 081-1114: Where everyone is at the end of the session: Everyone but Rol: Asleep in the rented suite on the Ghandi system highport Rol: 3 Days to Decant! In a gestation chamber aboard the ship The Ship: in an internal on the Ghandi system highport
_________________________________________________________________________ Next: Pending