[Horizon's Key] Job 01: Shakedown (Prologue)

[MissingNo]

"I'll have this paid off as soon as I can," said Gem, her eyes roaming pleased over the Traveler-class transport in the hanger before them.

The NovaCorp salesman nodded. "Your credit is good, but I'm afraid the payments are a little large for what you have put down as resources. So at the first sign of missing a payment, we will be forced to impound the vessel."

Gem smiled. "I don' think that will be a problem," she said, turning to the salesman and shaking his hand.

--

"Ooookay. First things to go: All excess furnishings in the captain's quarters." She frowned at the gold trim and marble floor. "Just asking to be sold, aren't ya?" she asked them. "First hit and you'll be flyin' around, hittin' stuff and makin' dust all ov'r the place. And these paintings...easily a couple thousand each, maybe more," she grinned. Then she looked at the bed and paused. It was large, an understatement based on her previous definition of the word.

"Damn," whispered Gem. "Didn' look this good in the catalog." Taking a pair of short, quick steps, she launched herself into the air and sank into the soft bed. Part of her luxuriated in the feel of down, silk, and other fabrics, but the rest of her rebelled against the softness. She was Nepleslian, damnit! Not some sissy-fied Yammy!

"Bed's goin'," she said to herself, rolling off of the extravagance. But, with the money she'd be getting from the room alone, she could buy a better bed than she'd been using up 'til now. That would be more than enough.

The crew quarters were similarly marked down, but not nearly as much since they were nearly bare to begin with. She noted that the rooms were walled with stark steel panels, not much else. But, if that "volumetric display" was as good as it seemed, if anyone, for some crazy-odd reason, felt that they truly needed to feel like the Emperor in his palace with ner'y a care in the 'verse, then they could make their fantasy out of the light and shine that it really was.

The wardroom was the largest offender. "For company," the salesman had said. Right, who would she have on her ship that she would want to impress? 'Sides, if that was a necessity, she could avoid those situations until money was not a pressing matter. Right now, though, she had a ship to pay off. "Chandelier, table, chairs, statues: Sold," she murmured. Volumetric projections could recreate the art if she absolutely needed it. The table and chairs could be replaced with simpler items.

And the guest quarters were already stripped...but she marked the beds and furnishings for removal as well. Gem smiled to herself as she reviewed the list of things that she would be selling. Dang, she was good...

To: Leonidas C. Mitchel
From: Keira G. Tabier
Format: Text

Hey, Sabot!

Finally got my ship, and a beaut she is. A little too much of one. So guess what? I find myself in a fairly large debt but with a fair selection of saleable items, so I'm lettin' you have first pick! I have a few minor pieces of art, architecture, and a single, very large bed of unmentionable comfort that might go quickly to some of those 'high-bloods' or whatever they're calling themselves, among a few other things that you might have to dig a little low to sell.

Anyway, let me know when you have buyers or if you want to give me a good price on this junk yourself (haha, right...).

Always,

Commander Gem Tabier
of the good ship, "Horizon's Key"

 

[MissingNo]

Leon "Sabot" Mitchel had earned the nickname by the way he seemed to collect what others discarded. Even gun shells were picked up off the street when he traveled home at night.

But his tag also referred to his uncanny ability to get rid of things people wanted rid of. A wide range of buyer connections and a natural talent for sales made him a decent fence for thieves, gangs, and even the odd small company. However, he kept his head low and his served-customer base small, which left a small footprint on the black market, invisible among the higher-profile sellers. While it limited his income, he preferred to err on the side of caution. Also, it made him more effective for the people who used his services.

Such as the lovely new ship commander who recently requested his services.

To: Keira G. Tabier
From: Leonidas C. Mitchel
Format: Audio

"Gem! Good to 'ear from ya, you left a lotta us surprised when ya up and went off-planet...I apprish'ated the good-bye, though.

"Congrats on the new purchase! Lookin' over th' list now, an' you weren't jokin'. Those 'other' items will take some doin' to get rid of, and everythin' else might take a while to distribute if ya really want your money's worth, but it's doable. I think I can get your things out by next month, though, if it's time that's th' problem. Lemme know when I can meet ya to collect this stuff, an' I'll have a startin' list o' bidders ready for ya.

"How's your mom doin'? Tell 'er hi for me next time ya see her.

"Sabot Mitchel, signin' out."

=====

Gem smiled as she listened to her friend's reply. She had left NovaCorp after a brief tutorial and making the initial money-down payment, and was exploring the computer system as the ship left the old Kohana region for Pisces Station. That would be a good place to hunt for crew and spare parts, as well as a discrete meeting place to meet up with Leon.

She set the message file aside and leaning back in the captain's chair as she looked over the Key's octagonal bridge. She admired it for a moment, slowly spinning once in her chair before getting up and moving toward the pilot's station directly in front of the volumetric main viewer. "Computer," she said. A low-pitched beep served as an acknowledgment...she might have to change that later. "Confirm course to Pisces Station."

"Course confirmed," the computer replied in a voice that sounded like a bishounen from some Yamataian animated show. Keira wasn't completely comfortable with the voice, but she decided to leave it be. "Current speed: Zero-point-five-seven-five light-years per hour. Estimated travel time: Sixteen hours."

"Thank you." While she would have liked to test the limits of the ship (which you were supposed to do during a shakedown cruise), Keira also wanted to have at least an engineer aboard in case something went wrong. If only that engineer she had worked with at her old job would answer her messages...

"Alert me if anything goes wrong or needs my attention," she said, standing up and heading for the side exit from the bridge. "I'm going to look around some more."

"Yes, commander," replied the computer. Keira smiled, then left the bridge.

 

[Lance Nemo]

Lance had been at Pisces Station only a short time when one of his commanding officers had determined that he was "Just a little lot unstable and in need of removal from active duty." to quote almost exactly.

As far as he was concerned, it just that CO acting more suspicious then normal and not taking in a kind way to how Lance had gently persuaded the poor fool that had pickpocketed him to return what he'd stolen, and then a little more, and hey, the guy could at least still breath... though a ventilator... and in a medical induced coma... but hey, like any CO would do anything less if he'd been pickpocketed?

Regardless, Lance was offically and indefintily assigned to administrave leave, meaning he had no orders other then "Don't work" that he had to follow. Of course, not workign could be defined many different ways.

He had every intention of getting off the station on the next ship that needed an engineer of some sorts, and the sooner the better, espesically if it would be leaving within a reasonable time of docking.

It was along this train of thought that had led him to spend much of his spare time milling around the main landing ports, hoping to spot a ship that needed an extra crewman of some sorts.

 

[zephyrite]

Kassiopea had spent the last couple months drifting from place to place, eventually ending up on the Pices station. A type three freespacer, she drew a lot of attention due to the immense amount of gaudy jewelry that she wore, as well as the diatom structures on her face and back. Not only her looks drew attention, but her attitude drew a lot as well. She was very kind to everyone she met, total strangers all of them. The fact that she had no money had certainly made things difficult, but she had found work at the docks, working the machinery there for food and lodgings. As a natural born pilot, she was quite dissatisfied with the situation that she was put in, but as an optimist, Kassiopea didn't let it get to her.

One certain day, Kassiopea was working at the docks when she saw what looked like a Nepleslian man walking aimlessly towards the dock area. She glided up to him and asked, "What would you be called, strange one?"


((she's talking to you lance! ))

 

[MissingNo]

The Horizon's Key arrived at Pisces and received permission to dock. Gem discovered the station's computer bulletin board system on the way in and browsed the "Looking For Job" threads, then put up a Wanted ad before bringing the Key in to dock.

Slowly...
...and...
...carefully.

"There," she said, smiling a little when the docking only caused a slight tremor to run through the ship's frame. "Wasn' too bad for a second or third try."

The Key's docking ports were on its dorsal and ventral sides (top and bottom); Gem had used the top port on the aft module, since she had things that she might need to off-load. With docking done, she left the ship in the semi-capable virtual hands of the Computer.

===

WANTED

Freelance small/medium transport vessel seeking the following:

First Officer
Pilot/Navigator
Engineer
Security Personnel
Cargo Specialist
Doctor/Medical Specialist

All positions are given preference to applicants with references or proof of experience. Pay to be negotiated upon hiring.

Interested parties should contact Commander Gem Tabier at this address:

<insert datapad "create message" link here>

or apply in person at docking arm D.

Departure in six hours.

=====
Keira met Leonidas at a cafe on one of the stations more reputable areas (if it had any). They completed their dealings quickly, with Leon providing a list of offered prices for Gem to look over. Some stuff turned up bids smaller than she would have liked to see, but other things were making up for those shortcomings. Overall, she was rather happy.

"Thanks for doin' this, Sabot."

"Well, business is business. And it's always a pleasure doin' business for you."

Gem smiled. She took a short drink and set the glass on the cafe table. "Well, lemme know when you can find a buyer for the table. I guess I'll just have to keep it on board 'til then." She shrugged. "I'll be back this way after settlin' a little curiosity, so you can update me on that when I return."

Sabot nodded, giving his lopsided smile. "So you aren't goin' straight into business? You got enough money to do that?"

"Eh, I figure if I don' do it now I'll never get aroun' to it later. I have enough money for fuel, and a two-payment buffer for the ship, so I'm jus' goin' to get this little stop outta the way before things pick up. Maybe I'll find a customer there."

"Where's 'there' anyway?"

"New Kohana. It's a system south of 'ere that's got surprisingly little info on it, but interestin' rumors. S'posed to be a race of half-animals with a low tech level; they don' even have spaceflight yet. Maybe they'll be int'rested in an ornate wood table, dunno." Gem smirked. "Or maybe they'd be willin' to shell out for some o' those other items that you deal in from time t' time."

Sabot chuckled. "'ey, if you find business down there, sounds like a pretty good market. Have it all to y'rself," he said with an amused grin. Then he took a breath and exhaled, looking down at the data pad lying on the table in front of him, next to his own nearly-empty glass. "Well, if we're gonna move that stuff off, we'd better get to it. I don' like how much activ'ty this place's gotten since the Peace Summit's arrived. Righ' now I can take the trimmin's but you're gonna have to keep the heavier stuff 'til you can stop by Nepleslia." He got up, pocketing the pad, then offered his hand to Gem. She gathered her things and took it, letting her friend 'help' her up. They left the cafe and headed for the docking arm where the Horizon's Key was moored.

 

[Lance Nemo]

After having moved around and become increasingly bored, Lance had happened to, for perhaps the third time that day, browsed the Help Wanted ads in the stations bullitens section.

From when the last time he had checked, there was only one new ad that interested him in the least bit, one for a small transport named the Horizen's Key.

He skimmed the ad, noteing the need for an engineer, and that those with proof of experiance or referances had a pretty good chance.

Deciding to prefer to take as few chances as possible, he sent both a datapad message and planned on being at Docking Arm D within a short while.

To: Commander Gem Tabier
From: Private Third Class Lance Nemo

I'm a military qualified and trained techinical sentry. I am currently looking for additional employment during to keep me occupied during an extended period of leave at the moment.

I will be waiting for you in Docking Arm D near your ship's primary docking module. Until we meet and have decided in person, you can most likely safely assume the role of engineer filled on your transport.

With his message sent, he quickly looked and noted where exactly the Horizen's Key was docked and started to move towards the postion with a brisk walk.

 

[zephyrite]

Kassiopea cocked her head as the man she was talking to ignored her, pulled out a communicator, and left. She scowled and decided that she would figure out what he was up to. All she had caught over his communicator was the words 'Gem' and 'job'. She immediately pulled out her data pad and searched both terms. She came up with a job offer, and from the looks of it, one that she could do well with! Kassiopea skipped towards the Docking Arm D, and after about 5 minutes found it. (She had made haste to make sure she got there before the rude Nepleslian man.) Squinting, she looked around, serching for the one named Gem. There were mostly mechanics in the area, and a few travelers as well. One in particular caught her eye. She glided up to him and asked, "Do you know someone perhaps called Gem, who put an offer into the system in order to find intellectual and physical laborers for their craft? Perhaps you could be Gem himself?"

 

[Lance Nemo]

Snapping out of an extremely focused mood of his and realizing that he'd been in it since he'd started looking around, Lance silently chuckled to himself as he arrived in docking arm D and promptly found an open seat of which to sit down upon near where his datapad had said the Horizen's Key had been docked, he awaited the arrival of Commander Gem, slowly starting to doze off as he waited.

 

[MissingNo]

Subject: Re: Application
To: Private Third Class Lance Nemo
From: Commander Gem Tabier

Thank you for your application.

Do you have your service record available or a personal reference that I can check?

-- Commander Tabier

Gem tapped out the reply to Nemo's message between loading small crates of marble onto an anti-grav hand trolley.

"Hey Sabot!" she stood up from sitting on a cargo container and went to the doorway of the captain's quarters. Her friend was just returning with an empty trolley. "If someone shows up at the hatch, tell 'em that Commander Tabier isn' here yet. I wanna talk to 'im a li'l more by messaging before seein' 'im face-to-face."

Sabot nodded. "Will do." He crouched and lifted up one edge of a cargo container of marble slabs while Gem took the other end. They lugged it over to the empty trolley, then let it down so the anti-grav units could take over carrying the load. "Finally got a hit, then?"

"Yeah, but he didn' give me any references, so I'm waiting 'til he gets those out. He said 'e was comin' to the docking arm to meet me...sounds like he's lookin' for a ship to get outta here fast rath'r than a job. It'll be easier to leave without 'im if I don' have to fight him off in person."

"Good idea." Sabot started pulling the filled trolley out to the door. "Well, I think I've got 'bout as much as I c'n carry, so one more trolley outta do it."

"Alright. Let's load this las' one up and I'll haul it to the hatch with ya." Gem smiled and put her hands on her hips, smiling at the grey steel floor that removing the marble slabs had revealed. Traction material or carpet would replace that soon enough. "Thanks again," she said, double-teaming the last container with Sabot onto the top of the last stack.

"N.P.," he replied, using the NEP-speak abbreviation for "no problem".

-----

Getting the heavy containers out the hatch wasn't as much of a problem as it might have sounded, having the hatch in the ship's "ceiling" and all. The hatch was in the aft section, the Upper Cargo Bay, so all Gem had to do was shut down the gravity in the bay so Sabot could float the containers on their trolleys out the hatch where the station's gravity would take over. It was a slightly tricky maneuver, but he had it figured out.

Gem had gone back to the bridge to schedule a departure time after bringing the second trolley to the Upper Bay with Sabot, so Sabot was moving the containers out himself. He was just about finished with the second trolley when Kassiopea showed up.

One in particular caught her eye. She glided up to him and asked, "Do you know someone perhaps called Gem, who put an offer into the system in order to find intellectual and physical laborers for their craft? Perhaps you could be Gem himself?"

I though' Gem said the applicant was a guy, thought Sabot, looking the rather striking Freespacer up and down for a brief moment. He caught himself and blinked once to clear his thoughts before answering. She's 'alf your age, watch it.

"Ri-ight...'e's not aroun' at the moment, c'n I 'elp ya?" he said finally, continuing to unload the heavy containers onto the small flatbed truck he had rented to take the cargo to his own ship. As he unloaded them, he continued to face in Kassi's direction, glancing up at her every few seconds when his work didn't require his visual attention.

 

[zephyrite]

Kassiopea giggled as the man with the difficult to understand speech asked what he could do for her, "Well for starters, you could show me to the ship I will be piloting! I may as well get acquainted with it while I'm waiting for Gem to arrive. Kassiopea looked to be about 17 or 18 years old, a bit short, and had three strange crytalline lines eminating from the corner of her jaw. They sparkled as the light caught them. In fact, she was only about 9 years old in total, but the freespacer's accelerated growth made them mature much faster than any other humanoid race.

She scanned the ships docked in the area, and caught one with the name Horizon's Key on it. She smiled and pointed, "That would be the one, no? Let's be off!"

 

[MissingNo]

The ship was docked externally, with its nose pointed "up" relative to the docking arm, though windows showed the vessel outside of the hatch.

The Key's name was written in small-ish type around the ship's side of the airlock, but also in larger script on either side of the prow's upper surface. The ship itself wasn't much to look at, mostly shallow angles and flat hull panels, but it carried itself well. The diamond shape that it had when viewed from the top was just about the only aesthetically-pleasing thing about it.

Sabot blinked again at Kassi's assertion. " 'old on, there. You already talked with Gem about bein' the pilot?" he asked, taking a couple steps toward her.

About this time, Lancer arrived. Sabot followed the rather rough-looking man with his gaze until the former marine settled himself into one of the chairs that lined the corridor. Tha' must be the guy. Well, guess I'll wait 'til he makes his approach, give Gem some time t' message 'im s'more...

"Sorry, miss, but I can't let anyone in. But I can find out where Gem is. Can yeh wait for a few so I c'n do that?" he said, turning his attention back to Kassi.

 

[zephyrite]

"Course not," Kassiopea said, "what is there to talk about? I am a pilot, he needs a pilot, done and done!" She had obviously shaken the-man-who-was-not-Gem, but she was not finished.

"Where is this Gem? She must be around here somewhere..." She suddenly looked up at the-man-who-was-not-Gem. "What is your name, Nepleslian. I believe your kind does have names do they not?"

 

[MissingNo]

The "man-who-was-not-Gem" had taken out his datapad and was sending off a short message to Gem while Kassi explained her reasoning. He was getting used to her blunt means of approaching things, and his initial surprise was wearing off into a droll sort of caution. Meanwhile, the abrupt change in pronouns that Kassi used to refer to Gem went unnoticed.

"Th' name's Sabot. An' she's takin' care of some business." He pocketed the pad and turned his attention back to Kassi. "Look, ya just don' go trompin' onto other people's ships 'til they say ya can. Might wanna keep that 'n mind so you don' get shot later."

 

[zephyrite]

Suddenly disinterested, Kassi glided away, with as much purpose as if she had never met the-man-called-Sabot. She sat down on a nearby crate and pulled out her data pad and waited. To her, Neplesians are boring. No fun at all. Well, at least the males so far. I will have to see about the rest.

 

[Lance Nemo]

His datapad beeped softly to him and Lance picked it up, reading the response he typed in a quick response of his own.

Subject: Re: Application
To: Commander Gem Tabier
From: Private Third Class Lance Nemo

Firstly, you're welcome.

Secondly, you can either check with my family in the unlikely event you can reach them, my station partner was recently transferred long distance and is in a stasis mode, and being relitivly fresh out of training, being a Pisces Station Techinical Sentry is my service record at the moment, as my Commanding Officer would testify to.

I look forward to meeting you in person Commander Tabier.

Noting that there seemed to be some cargo unloading happening at the time, Lance did what he'd been trained to do: Stay out of the way unless asked, ordered, or help is required.

 

[MissingNo]

That's a little better, thought Gem as she read over Nemo's reply. She tapped in a verification request to Pisces and nodded when it came back confirmed. "Alright, then," she said to herself. Finishing up her scheduling, the commander headed toward the Upper Bay and the airlock.

This is goin' smoother than I thought it would...got the essential crew position taken care of already! I hope it doesn't always go this well, but at least it's not a disaster... she mused. Four hours 'til departure, should be enough time to get t' know the newbie, maybe fill those other slots too.

She arrived at the airlock to find Sabot and a rather pretty blond conversing outside, the girl turning away to seat herself on a container while Sabot got back to loading the truck. "Hey," Gem said, looking at Sabot with a bit of curiosity. "Who's that?"

Sabot shrugged, then set the last container (aside from the one Kassi was sitting on) onto the truck bed. "She says she's your pilot. Sounds pretty confident about that, too." He jerked his head as a nod in Lance's direction. "That guy arrived a short while ago, I think 'e's yer other applicant."

Gem looked up toward where Lance Nemo was slouched in his seat. Okay, maybe this isn't goin' to go as smooth as I thought... Mr. Nemo's appearance was clean enough, as expected from one with a military background, but he looked...well, Gem couldn't tell if he was lazy, rebellious, or just easy-going. Only one way to find out...

She passed Kassi and approached Nemo. "Hello. You're Private Third Class Lance Nemo, 'm I correct?" In spite of her confident approach, there was an edge of reserve in Gem's posture that let him know that she would trust him when he proved himself trustworthy.

 

[Lance Nemo]

When he was addressed by his rank and full name, Lance snapped into focus and stood straight up, almost as if he was expecting a military style inspection, "Ma'am, yes ma'am. I am Private Third Class Lance Nemo, Techinical Sentry. May I assume that you're Commander Gem then?" he cautiously asked the last part, snapping out the first part in rapid military discipline.

Noting the reservation that appeared in her general posture, Lance stood at attention, waiting for her to continue the conversation, almost cursing the near brainwashing like training he'd recieved about respecting the chain of command.

 

[MissingNo]

Gem suppressed a smile, only a hint of it got to her mouth when the man snapped to attention. "At ease, Private...and y're correct." She made a slight show of briefly inspecting him from head to foot, then looking him in a face. "You're experienced with maintaining starship systems?" she asked. "Generators, thrusters, computers?"

 

[Lance Nemo]

He noticeably relaxed, "Yes, I'm trained and have practiced with the primary maintance of most commonly used military and civilian grade generators and thrusters, and have some experaince with the maintance of a ships AI system." he responded in a more relaxed manner.

 

[MissingNo]

"Good, good...well, I guess the only thing left to do is to try you out. That, and settle on your pay, which may or may not depend on how well you do your job. I'll figure that out before we leave." Gem nodded and smiled, extending a hand to the new crewmember. "Welcome to the crew of the Horizon's Key. Do you have any things to get together before departure?"