As the meeting goes on, Darrel receives a comm call from Rico Garvey, a representative of the brokerage firm of McPhee, McPhee and Trevathan.

He makes you an offer of MCr5 for your claim on the Rock Dancer. As he explains, he has to wait for a month or more for it to be processed through the courts as seized contraband and then put up for auction. There's no guarantee that he'll win the auction, of course, but it's a cash auction and he doubts anyone else will have the cash reserves to acquire it.

The estimated resale value is about MCr12.

When the different opinions are voiced Khea closes her eyes to not be too offensive with her mimics. Those people are light years away from khoafteirleao.
Still that doesn't mean that she had a better idea what to do and so she just waited and let the males argue.

This message was deleted by the player at 18:34, Mon 04 Jan 2016.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 289):

All things considered...the strange legalistic procedures, the weird stats of the Long Shot as compared to the actual ship, our group's findings upon examination of the ship, and the overall mysterious nature of the mission/ship.

The Count asks for Valeska to join them in a private area to discuss things, especially the perplexing case of the Long Shot.



In reply to Rico Garvey, "Mr. Garvey, let me get back to you on that."

Looks around at the group, "I'm up for taking the money now, perhaps we can get that bumped up to 5.5-6 Mcr. ? That would go a long way towards either outright purchase of a ship and/or in combination with our combined ship shares, we could really modify a ship to meet our particular needs."

  "Some of us want half its value. If we're talked part way down, we'll have to live with it," Kaengarr grinned.

Sam joins in "Outpost sounds like a better bet to buy a ship, I would have thought."

In response to the call to Darrell she just grins wrly and says "Cash is always better in your pocket than someone elses, so get as much as you can. Personally, I would counter with 8 and see what he says, but as I ended up broke on Grendal, you might want someone else for business advice"

Sam gets up and stretches, before getting herself another drink and moving to sit closer to Kaengarr

"Its been a bit hectic, so we've not had much time to catch up, how are you?"

Sir Walter shook his head. "I would suggest going for 7 Mcr so he can talk us down to six. If we start at eight, he might just walk away and we gain nothing additional." he said.

Winks at Sir Walter, the Count hits the reconnect button,"Mr. Garvey, I like working with your illustrious company, in fact, you can list me as one of your satisfied customers, I'll even write up a nice testimonial...once you agree to a 7 Mcr. settlement."

OOC: Persuade the payout. Today: Darrel Cromwell rolled 15 using 2d6+7.  Persuade 5, +2 SS.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:56, Tue 05 Jan 2016.

  "Outpost sounds better for the ship. Cargoes might not be as good." On balance the better prospects for obtaining the sort of ship they wanted (and for refitting it if need be) led Kaengarr to favor that option, and he felt that it wouldn't hurt to broaden their their options as 'troubleshooters' into the bargain.

  "Better, now that we've done something!" he exclaimed as he shifted in his seat to face Sam. The two of them hadn't had a chance to catch up on the job, what with the speed of their departure and the need for vigilance during the trip back, and the negotiations over the Rock Dancer had given them a free moment. "Kept running Packets until a few years ago. Lost blood pack as Karrksinarka went sour. Went chartered scout and made my way down here. First prospects here didn't work out, and then I saw Walter's name among ship inquiries. He ran with me before we met. Now we're all here together!" It was a whirlwind summary somewhat bereft of grammatical propriety, but dealing with the insurance company probably wouldn't take long, and his tale was only half of it. "How about you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:45, Tue 05 Jan 2016.

There was a pause from Mr. Garvey, and then he came back with a response.

"Well, that's... an intriguing counter offer. We crunched the numbers, and, to be honest, MCr5 was the maximum we were prepared to go. However, you've added a new factor into the equation... one that I'm not... authorized to accept. I've forwarded your offer to someone who can..."

"Greetings, Your Lordship! This is Anderson McPhee, senior partner," the call from Garvey gets interrupted. "I accept your counter-offer. Your endorsement is worth every credit of the MCr2 extra."

Keeping one ear on the Counts negotiations, Sam replies to Kaengarr "Stayed in the Patrol, caught more pirates, and mustered out as captain" she gives him a sly look " so you can call me ma'am!" and smiles

Taken back a bit by such a quick reply, "Mr. McPhee, what a pleasant surprise, I'll get that testimonial contract written up, along with the usual standard disclaimers, and send it to you with the appropriate financial information. And thank you for your prompt reply...I look forward to possible future arrangements. Have a good day, Anderson."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Tue 05 Jan 2016.

  "Formal authority structures!" Kaengarr guffawed as he waved a hand in mock-dismissal. "But good on you for making it that far. Why did you leave? 'Captain' usually means 'committed' in whichever sense of the word you like." Kaengarr's tone and grin alike indicated jest on the last point, but he was still curious about the reason.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 21:52, Tue 05 Jan 2016.

"Is there something that I can help your crew with? I feel like I could be of use," Valeska said to no one in particular.

"Ms. Brandenberg, sorry we didn't have much time to get acquainted, things have been pretty hectic. I want to personally thank you for coming to answer any questions concerning the Long Shot, she's a very interesting ship."

Picking up documentation about the Long Shot, "We have been discussing a number of issues concerning the ship...

1. The fuel situation, it doesn't make sense to have a jump-3 ship, which consumes 180 tons of fuel, to only have enough fuel to make that jump, and then have no maneuver fuel (or for life support/etc), is there something we are missing?

2. I have a Engineer rating/maneuver-1, I was looking at the maneuver-3 engines X2 configuration, and taking into account the computers' capability...there's something strange in their set-up, can you explain that?

3. One of the most puzzling things, the repair drones in the ship's paperwork lists them at an astronomical price, basically 20 MCr. each, is there some clerical error or something else?

4. The legal proceedings about the ship is, well, very out of the ordinary, can you explain that?

5. For a 100 year old, jump converted SDB (TL-14), there is still a tremendous amount of military/intelligence grade hardware/upgrades to the ship, can you elaborate on that?

I want to apologize if this seems like an interrogation, but, honestly, I am extremely intrigued about this ship. "

"You are very welcome. Let's see...

1. The jump drive is 10% more efficient than standard drives, which means it only uses 162 tons of fuel for a Jump-3, leaving 18 tons for standard power plant operations.

2. Yes, the ship is capable of Maneuver-6; you see, both maneuver drives can operate at the same time by a micro-second sharing. Like how a computer can scan all its peripherals because the peripherals operate at a much slower rate than the CPU, the maneuver drives work in alternating pulses.

3. As for the repair drones, they aren't really worth the price they are listed at; they are just carried on the books that way, but I have no idea why.

4. Ha, no. I really can't shed light on that mystery.

5. Again, I can't speak for the whys and wherefores on how this ship came to have such modifications. Only that they are there and I know some about their operation. I was hired on fairly recently, but trained well during my time on it.

Does that about answer your questions?" Valeska asks with a smile.

"I should mention, that as part of the standard share of the crew, I'm owed 3.8MCr, so if there's any chance of a buy-in, I could use some of that to do so.. I wouldn't mind staying on board. She's become a bit of a home to me. So please keep that in consideration."

Pablo spoke up after Valeska finished answering Darrel's questions:

"I have had the opportunity to work with Ms. Brandenburg in the past, and I can vouch for her skills. She'd be an excellent addition to any team of troubleshooters. I look forward to working with her again."

  Pablo's statement drew Kaengarr's attention back to the assembly at large. There was something that had been bothering him, and though the sudden rush to recover the Long Shot meant there hadn't been a chance to address it earlier, he wasn't going to let it slide any longer. "Wait. Someone knows someone every time, but I don't know how we all fit together yet. Time to change that if we'll be working together long-term."

  Kaengarr stood to speak - not a particularly imposing sight given his relatively short stature, though his vivid palette made him rather difficult to ignore. "After a stint in civil engineering, I became a trader and over time was pack leader of three different trade ships. As I just told Samantha, I turned away from that a few years back and worked as a chartered scout until coming here on a plan that fell through. I only knew two of you before this: Walter once needed a paid tour of the Extents, and I was the one who gave it. Samantha's patrol ship came along when my Packet was showing its teeth to a psi-using pirate about ten years back."

  He sat back down and flashed a grin. "Your turns!"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:24, Wed 06 Jan 2016.

While the males are already swapping stories Khea concentrates on the matter at hand.
At least she tries to, but what ValeskaBrandenburg just said sounds so unbelievable. Not only would the the J-Drive of that ship be much more efficient than aslan, and considering CountDarrel had to ask, likely also humaniti designs, the M-Drives have a incredibly low power drain and would be twice as efficient than aslan M-Drives.

Such outrageous claims would normally be enough to warrant a challenge, but after the last few days with hour long intra system jumps and atmosphere holding technologies who's to say if this wouldn't be possible, too?

In reply to Kheaiftouaw (msg # 307):

"I don't know..." Vonon adds, scratching himself under his muzzle, "I kinda like this tub.  I've always maintained that I wasn't looking for anything to take on passengers -- a hotelier I am not.  And while I have no objection with shipping cargoes around for pocket cash, I was really hoping to do the oddball stuff.  Y'know, charters, hauling scientists out to archaeological digs, running needed supplies to frontier colonies, maybe even a little bounty hunting."

"Of course, when I retired from the Space Patrol and started my little interstellar sojourn, I hadn't considered I would be part of a big crew.  I just thought it would be me and maybe one or two others."

"So this old SDB holds a lot of attraction for me -- high tech equipment, even if most of it is aged. Lots of armor, lots of speed.  And while it may not have all the original weapons, it isn't unarmed."

"However...as several of us just pointed out, the beast is valued at fifty-three million credits.  I don't think, even collectively, we have that much.  Do we?"

In reply to Kaengarr Ruzokh (msg # 301):

Sam shrugged "I joined to fly ships, not a desk" she tapped him lightly on the knee and said softly "We should probably listen in on the ship talk" she smiled, and turned back to the main conversation

Pablo spoke up at that point. "I think we'd be better off going to Outpost and buying or even buiiding a ship there, if you want to make a way around as traders. An armed far trader or even a baseline corsair hull would make a better trader, and offer a lot less overhead and bother. Or you could use a deep trader, and split the difference."

"Hello, Your Lordship," Ceruleanne says when the Count answers his comm again.

"Because of our arrangement, I figured you'd want me to contact you about the Long Shot. Since I contacted you to rescue the ship, Casey asked me to approach you about, perhaps, purchasing the ship."

"She's willing to give you first option on it. As a group, you have a number of ship shares. If you put that toward the Long Shot, you can own the ship just by making the last two payments for Casey."

"Because of the age of the ship, the bank would only finance it for 20 years instead of the usual 40 years. So each payment is only Cr441,266."

Khea leans back resigned when the message finishes. "Sometimes you have to follow where the universe leads"

  "I want to hear who I'm working with! Too many furtive I-know-thems going around," Kaengarr harrumped at Sam before Ceruleanne's call presented them all with a more decisive reason to focus on the 'ship talk' - if the offer was actually what it sounded like, and didn't come with any undisclosed strings attached...

  In constrast to Khea's resigned reaction, Kaengarr sat forward and spoke with slow but forceful clarity, even if his phrasing was once again short a few words. "Less than one million? Take it. We can afford to refit, and we don't have to keep it if we buy it. Barter it for one we want at Outpost. Go smaller and we have credits left for other things. Good?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:30, Tue 12 Jan 2016.