Main / 1105-001-FreeAmpClear

1104-365 -- 1105-001 -- 1105-002? -- 1105-003

Timing of events
00:30 - Very early hours
09:00 - Breakfast briefing
00:00 - ?????

1105-001 - 00:30 - Crew Commons

In the early hours of the morning, Amada Cerabu walks through the cargo bay and opens the hatch to the crew commons. Kalidaren sits at the table alone playing with his simulator. The purser looks up as Cerabu comes into view, and the smell of his cigar. Upon seeing Kalidaren, he heads directly for the coffee maker, pausing long enough to ask, “Coffee?”

"Coffee... that would be great, thank you." Distracted as he was by the gaming table and a tricky round of Belter's Bag, he glanced only quickly to make eye contact and nod.

The uplifted ape wears a more relaxed outfit, looser fitting, his muscular arms visible. He sits opposite the Drinaxian. “Good work on the cargo. Not much time. Marduk, same situation. No time. Just enough for refueling and astrogation. Truth told, we leave soon as we get there.”

Cal is passing through on the way to his cabin. "Speaking of refueling. We've got fuel processors. When you're buying fuel, get half and half, refined in the tanks, and unrefined in the auxiliary tank - we can process it en route, and save a bit of our passenger's money."

Cerabu signals his agreement with what the crew have become accustomed to as a response, a quick nod, either up or down, accompanied by a grunted “Hmm.”

To Cal he said, "Ahem... yes I remember you told me that already. I forgot this time but will note for our next refuel."

The purser had lost concentration entirely by this point and watched as his holographic mining ship was destroyed, its bag too full for it to be able to manoeuvre around the nearest asteroid. He asked Cal and Cerabu, "Ever played Belter's Bag? First time for me. They could of called it Belter's Ballet. You gotta be so careful... load/profit versus manoeuvrability. Can't be too greedy."

“Sound like life training.” The ape pours coffee for himself and Kalidaren.

'Absent-mindedly chuckles at Cerabu's joke.'

"What are you doing up this late?" he asked of Cerabu as he gratefully accepted the coffee.

“Couldn’t sleep. In and out of jump always makes me edgy. If something’s going wrong, that’s when it happens. Might not know it, but it’s usually coming or going.” Cerabu catches Cal’s eye and motions his head toward the coffee as he takes a seat at the table. He sips his own coffee, sets his cigar to rest with the tip hanging off the table, then turns his attention back to Kalidaren. “You seem a bit of jack-of-trades. Scouts?”

Cal catches Cerabu's look and changes direction, heading to the galley. He frowns at the options on display, finally settling on a bottle of Island Paradise before returning to the table and settling down.

"The Scouts. That was a long time ago and... I felt like a tourist. I didn't belong there." Kalidaren seemed a little anxious about the line of questioning and so changed tack. "I've been in business for myself for many years, buying and selling. This is what I've settled on, and what I like best. That, and travelling. One perk is having personal access to goods." He grinned.

"Tell me something of yourself. Your workouts seem rigorous. Are you training or maintaining?"

He ignores the question as though it was never asked. "Scouts require self-reliance. One-man, two-man crews. Almost all are pilots. You?"

The Purser gave pause, considered Cerabu, then, "It's your turn to tell me something of yourself." He looked nervous and edged away from his questioner. He'd decided he'd had enough coffee and it might be finally time to get some sleep, although he waited to see if a response would be provided.

Cerabu looks at Kalidaren for a couple of seconds through slightly narrowed eyes, then over to Cal. Standing, he empties his mug in one long sip and returns it to where he originally retrieved it, speaking without turning back to the table, "Captain, your tech-engineer is working on something might be useful. Might need the robots on Thebus."

Cal looks back and forth between at Cerabu and then the beer in his hand. OK. But it's late now. Why don't we discuss this tomorrow morning?

He nods, putting the rinsed out mug to the side and then returns to the table to get his cigar. "Might get Tech to look at life support. Not sure the water's really cleaning anything. Especially the showers."

The broad-shouldered ape heads off to bed.

Relieved that the large Cerabu was no longer interrogating him, and had left the room. Kalidaren rinsed his mouth out with water, winked a dark-ringed eye at Cal and also left for bed.

1105-001 - 09:00 - Crew Commons

Cal passes through, gathering up some fruit and a slice of toast, then turns to Cerabu.
Last night, you said you wanted to talk? Why don't we take this to my office?
He leads the way forward, through the bridge, to the captain's office. The room is rather unkempt, with supplies stacked around the edges. There has been an attempt to organize the space, but it is clearly a work in progress.

Cerabu grabs a piece of fruit, his coffee, and follows Cal into his office. As the door closes behind him, he looks around and smiles. Secure?" He reaches into his trenchcoat but waits for a response before pulling out his scanner.

"Tech's putting together mapping system for briefing and on Thebus. Heads up if anything approaches. Tech's robots got stunners and holo-projectors. No surprises if ship's sensors are hooked in. No need to kill anything we don't have to. Better we don't encounter them at all . . . Tech's a good kid."

Jeet? I don't have a lot on him. Frankly he was a spot hire, because I don't like running without a full crew. Nothing against him, though. You've gotten a good read on him?

"Think so. Wants to be useful. Wants to help. Thinks ahead." He pauses before continuing, "Don't know about the other two. Was a quick launch. Beggars and choosers."

He pauses again, takes a pull on his cigar before continuing, "Your ship, your crew, best to know skill sets before Marduk in case we need to hire. If special skills are needed, that I need to know. Thebus will be beggars and borrowers."

I'm on somewhat firmer footing with Kalidaren and Ashe. Kalidaren has a strong head for business, including all the paperwork. Apparently somewhere along the way he picked up a first class engineer's' ticket on M-Drive. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty, and can handle himself when things turn dicey, but it's not something he's got a lot of experience with. Cal purses his lips. I trust him. He's mostly walked the clean side of the trade, but he's not above doing whatever's needed if the money's right, and he knows not to talk about it, regardless of what happens. He shrugs. Or at least that was the Kalidaren I worked with 10-12 years ago. People can change.

Ashe is a different story. They're damn good at what they do, but a bit of a hot-house flower, if you know what I mean. Claims they can handle a gun. Not someone I'd recommend you rely on, except for the fact that the two of us go way back. Impulsive, and a shell it would take a jackhammer to get through, but I'd trust them with my life. But I can't extend that to anyone else.

As usual, Cerabu takes a deep inhalation of his cigar before he begins to speak, a kind of prelude to collect his words, but this time, instead of letting some of the smoke seep out with his words, he takes the time to blow it all out before he speaks.

“Here’s what I’m working on. As I see it, got four possibilities. One, it’s nothing. We go home. You're a little richer. Two, as advertised. Couple days hauling it out and then home and you're a little richer. Three, more than we expected but not the whole thing. Take what we can get, leave the rest. Four’s got an A B. A, Relic’s the whole thing, but not viable. Might take some digging, but we get it out. If not, send word back with you and I sit tight on Thebus . . . Do what I can . . . maybe Tech keeps me company. Don’t know. Have to see how it plays out." He pauses to take a breath.

"B, relic’s viable, or can be made so in short order. That’s where complications come in. I’m trusting you to make that work. You’ve never failed to deliver, not then, I trust not now . . . but you say people can change. Which leaves this bucket. Four-B, Bucket stays here and I pay couple months fees. Crew comes back with Relic. Or Bucket flies home under someone else’s wing. Wouldn’t trust my ship to transport crew if I wasn’t there to make sure it got where it supposed to go. Four-B would be nice, but a lot of hassle. One’s easiest, what I’m expecting. Two and Three's just minor complications.”

“Tech’s bots got lasers, cut relic out if needed. Bucket’s sensors keep us clear of lions and hunters. You engineers say how to haul and fix Relic either way. Won’t know how much man-power’s needed until we see it. Maybe we do it alone, maybe not. I can do the heavy lifting, been doing that for years. If we got to hire to get Bucket back, might want to see if Marduk's got any names you recognize. Don’t know what’ll be in Lion’s Den. Rather waste money not needed than afford something I can’t get.”

The ape returns the cigar to his lips.

Minimum crew is 2 - astrogator, engineer, and one of them doubles as pilot. Not gonna recommend running that light for long, but 2 can get a ship from point to point.

The problem is, we've got engineers all over this ship. I'm the most qualified, as far as I know. But astrogation, though - we've got Kalidaren. Pilot, there's me. I picked up a training module for Astrogation and have been working through it; I like to be able to fill any role on my ship. But that's the future. In the same way, I'm working with Ashe on pilot; it gives us a backup, and let's us deal with situations sorta like this one. But again, the future.

You mentioned finding more crew - we were going to just pop in and out on Marduk, 5-6 hours, maybe less if we can swing it. If we hold longer, I can see if there's anyone I know and trust, but that'll probably take a day minimum, and the odds are not good. Thebus, probably the same. If we do find someone, we'll probably have to poach them from another ship, and anyone willing to skip out on a long-term situation for effectively a spot hire probably isn't someone we would want. If we were looking for more crew, we'd probably have had better luck at the GeDeCo starport in Oghma.

Much as it pains me, if we do end up needing to fly your ship back, I think we're probably going to have to mothball the Free & Clear, and leave it parked long-term on Thebus.

After a pause, and a thoughtful sip of his coffee, he continues. Flipping to the other extreme, if we find nothing? I know the reason you chartered a ship was for security, and to haul . . . something . . . back. He waves his hand. A bridge section, something larger, whatever. If there's no cargo, I'm guessing the need for security is gone too. What are your plans? I won't turn down a return charter, but at that point, all your need is passage, and I'm guessing the time pressure is removed as well.

Also, if there's nothing to take back, do you need to return yourself? I've been hearing some rumbles, both from Drinax, and from the Heirate. I've got the feeling that there's a lot of rocks getting turned over; who knows what will be found under them? You could go hunting. And to do that, you need a ship. An unassuming tramp freighter, with a crew of ne'er-do-wells and misfits? No one would look twice.

Cerabu shakes his head with a Hmph. "Deadline would still exist. Still have to return. Director will want accounting of it. But an empty hold? Long as it doesn't interfere with deadline, fill it with whatever."

He takes a small breath in through his nose, and then back out."You been about to hear things. I haven't. Didn't get much news. Didn't hear anything of the outside. It was . . . solitude. Don't care about Drinax. Don't care about the Hierate. They turn up something I can trade for or acquire, I might be interested. That's why we're here. Something to acquire. Time was, just cared about profit. Times're different. Things went bad. Someone tried to pin me. I stepped back. Re-evaluated. Took time away. A lot of time. Lot of self-reflection."

He takes in a breath of smoke and releases it. "You've had your . . . freedom. This ship gives you life. Didn't have that on my retreat. Left four months ago. Left the Imperium. Heard someone looking for someone knew antiquities, knew business, knew how to get things done. Took a chance. So did they. Here now. Got to see it through. After? Don't know. Hunting's the job. Not saying no. Never backed out of a job then. Not doing it first one back."

Cal shrugs. To each their own. I don't particularly care about Drinax or the Heirate either, but like I said, they're stirring things up. That's turning over a lot of rocks, and I suspect that a person could find some interesting things under those rocks. We'll stay in touch. You need a ship, or a crew, keep me in mind. I hear anything, I'll pass the word to you. There's always opportunities.

Cerabu nods and says nothing more. He stands and returns to stateroom.

1105-001 - 11:45 - Deck 2 Corridor

Kalidaren crosses paths with Ashe as he's coming back from the fresher, frowning about feeling not quite clean. It was the first day of the new cycle and he made up his mind. "Hey Ashe, good morning... Do you mind if I have a word in private?" He ushers them into a state room and gets straight to the point. I'm thinking of changing the way I look. I'm wondering if you can help." He runs a hand through his hair and strokes his short beard. "Do you think you could give me a hair cut? New cycle and all..."

Later as they spoke Kalidaren explained that he was interested in adopting a new persona, and planned to change his name. 'Sed Lyre' he was going to ask to be called going forward, and that he was going to leave his family name behind for a time. He also wanted to get new clothes when the next opportunity presented itself. "We could shop if you wanted. New clothes. I'll buy in exchange for your help..."