Slip 31 - Nine Days Later
The work had been grueling, time consuming, and costly, but the beat-up old Jinsoku that had sat neglected in the docking slip for so long was at last looking spaceworthy once again. Patches of shining new plating in some places sharply contrasted with the original, weathered old hull, making it certain that the ship would turn heads only as an amusing curiosity, but she was put back together and functional once more. Sienna sighed in satisfaction as she put her hands on her hips, smiling to herself as she admired their handiwork from astern. Walking forward, she ducked her head beneath the new engine bulkheads and exhaust ports, running her hand lovingly along the cold metal of the ship's underside as she examined every seam, every panel, and every weld that had been made. She reached above her in places here and there where slave power conduits were still attached to the ship, breaking them free and sealing the access panels.
She inspected each of the three thick landing struts, polished to a shine and freshly lubricated, peeing up into the undercarriage to assure herself that every last moving part was in its proper place. Finally she came to the bow, emerging from underneath the ship just beneath the cockpit canopy, rapping her knuckles on one of the cannons mounted beneath it. Turning around, her grin widened as the ship proudly stood before her, presenting itself for duty after a long hiatus. She already had a name in mind, and if the information she'd picked up from her time on the Amatsu-Nova station was indeed good, it wouldn't be long before she had a full crew working for her fledgling operation as well.
Her satisfied smile shifted slightly to one of resigned amusement as she considered the idea of a crew, not for the first time since she'd first bought the ship. Oreza had made several good points, and had finally convinced her that she stood to gain much, much more if she could delegate parts of her new operation out to others. She still had her doubts, of course; she was used to working alone, but that was when her only concern was staying alive, clothed, and fed. She'd never undertaken anything like this, and Oreza had experience in commanding a crew. She felt confident that as long as she kept Oreza in the palm of her hand, Oreza would do the rest.
Amelia had done wonders with the ship's computer as well, getting it back into working order, and while it still wasn't without its odd quirks, it would serve its purpose quite well from this point on, as far as she could tell. She had wiped most of the clutter from the drives, uploaded brand new and up to date star charts, and even tweaked some of the ancient hardware to make it run more efficiently. The other woman had seemed eager enough to get off of the station as well, and given her aptitude with the computer as well as her experience with interstellar navigation, it only made sense to make her a second hire. As long as she kept an eye on her, she would be quite useful to have along.
She had already taken the ship out on a shakedown run around the station. Only some minor adjustments had been necessary to the CFS, and some of the flight controls had to be zeroed and calibrated, but aside from that, everything seemed to be operating beautifully. It was a shame that the hyperfold drive was beyond repair, but scrapping it had covered most of her repair costs, putting her far ahead of where she'd expected to be financially at this point. There were bound to be a few kinks here and there that got by undetected, but as long as the critical systems were green across the board, Sienna was more than confident the ship was ready for launch.
Punching up a display on her PHC, she logged into the space station's holonet and checked the port's schedule. She noted that a service barge would be visiting her slip in three hours to bring the last shipment of food and toiletries, as well as top off the ship's water and fuel supply. Nodding to herself, she switched the display and sent a text-encoded message both to Oreza and Amelia's contact accounts. It was almost time.
Code:
Seems like repairs are complete, and I'm finishing my last inspection now. If either of you have any second thoughts about signing up with me, you best speak up now. Otherwise, get whatever personal crap you're not keen on parting with and bring it aboard. I've already got a lead on a place to fill up our crew roster, and likely pick up our first job at the same time.
If you have any last minute-questions, bring them up when you get here.
