>>>>> CONVERSATION WITH INDERPAL...


"I can honestly say I never heard anyone describe her in terms of 'parties', Lucky replies to Inderpal.

"Since I noticed you were looking at incoming ship rosters and then you spoke her name out loud, I'd guess she was aboard one of those ships arriving. While she could be a passenger, I'd say she was more likely to be one of the crew."

"If you're looking for a reunion with her, you should call her on the comms. Name and ship is enough to get it forwarded to her."

"Oh, and my name is Lucky Seven. Mom thought naming me Lucky would make me lucky. It doesn't seem to have made me any more lucky than anyone else, though."

"I'm a former diplomat. I describe everyone in terms of parties. I'll give her a call once she's a bit closer."

She looked at the roster to see if there was a booked arrival time.

"My name is Inderpal. Inderpal Kumar."

She looked at the woman to determine how drunk she was.

Lucky doesn't appear to be drunk at all though she does have the appearance of a Free Spirit.

About half of the asteroid has been built up, extended and converted to the space station. There's not enough room to actually build full drydocks and docking facilities, so docks have been built outward. The ships dock there along the gantry tubes. One exits the ship into the docking tube and then moves through it to the base. The tubes have no gravity in them, so you have to freefall maneuver along them into the base.

The Longshot will dock in about 10 minutes.

"Right then. Thanks. I'd better go and make a call."

Inderpal got up from her seat, paid her bill and then walked out of the bar, looking for somewhere halfway private to make a telephone call. She wasn't going to use a toilet for this purpose unless it was absolute necessary. It just wasn't refined.

In reply to Vonon Ronkunu (msg # 25):

It is still just an asteroid with a tiny dome and the vacuum on the outside.

"It depends on how you define 'tiny', Khea," Valeska says. "Half the asteroid has been hollowed out with tunnels and rooms and such. There's a lot of build up on the surface as well."

"But, yeah, if you were hoping to go running through a crystal blue Valerian stream, not gonna happen here."

Sam piped up "Anywhere thats bigger than the inside of this ship has got to be a good start. But it wouldn't hurt to actually work in the air for once. Perhaps we can persuade Walter to look into a cargo run to a Garden planet?"

The Longshot docks at the space station. It almost seems odd that there's no downport. It's docked at space stations before but, except for Outpost, there was always somewhere else to go. Going to one of the other space stations in the Belt is sort of an option, but they'd be even smaller.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 33):

OOC: Look at PM pls.

"So not even a dome. That gets better and better"

Inderpal placed the call to Sharik Kaagira, hoping that she would be able to get a voice connection. If not, she would leave a voicemail asking for her to call back.

- How long are we going to stay here? - Serge asked Walter. - I'd like to get a landing card for a day or two.

As the Longshot docked, Walter started to connect to Cassandra's Commercial network to start facilitating trade. "Lets prepare for a week here in order to sell the cargo and get some more. If you want to take some time, arrange it with the XO so that we are properly staffed in case something comes up."  he said.

Sharik hummed a light, airy tune - a four part fugue - composed by an ancient Solomani composer as she sat at the navigator’s console.  She didn’t have much to do once the course to station and their assigned berth had been plotted.  Still, she leaned back in her chair, feeling the snug comfort of her five-point harness around her torso while she watched the Longshot track along the projected course on the tactical overlay on the main display.  The diminutive navigator always enjoyed both the theoretical and practical aspects of astrogation; and she never tired of seeing a starship pilot work their magic.  Shar would be the first to admit that Sam was a good pilot and that she was a joy to watch.

As she sat there, the lights of the various displays dancing across her face, Sharik felt her earpiece linked to her p-comm (as well as her other personal electronics) vibrate.  She glanced over at Walter talking to Serge about the duty roster, knowing that somehow that task was likely to be delegated to their corporate secretary by the XO.  Her, the corporate secretary.  Her vargr friend, the XO.  She thought about letting the call get shunted to voicemail; especially since caller ID flagged the source as ‘Unknown’.

But then her better instincts got a hold of her - as well as her innate curiosity.  The auburn-haired ex-operative brushed an errant lock of hair aside and then tapped her earbud.  “This is Kaagira. her light contralto sounded into the microphone, her tone was casual and a touch languid, “How can I help you?”

The voice of Inderpal Kumar came over the over end, trying to sound posh and enthusiastic at the same time.

Hello, Sharik! It's Inderpal Kumar! I don't know if you remember me, but I certainly remember some of the elegant parties that we both attended when I was a diplomat. I noticed that your vessel has arrived and I hope you would be able to bestow a favour that I will deeply appreciate.

"Indy!  Dah-ling...." Sharik drawled, letting the moment draw out as she felt the memories of parties past wash over her.  The cosmopolitan socialite had to stifle a giggle, in order to maintain her composure and prompt her friend, "How are you, my dear?  And what the hell are you doing here on C-Belt?"

Her ears perked up at the mention of a favor.  "Of course ..." Shar cooed amicably, "I'm famished.  So, pick a restaurant and we'll talk."  There was little need to discuss such things over a commlink; not when food and drink could get involved.  A light smile touched her burgundy lips as Sharik thought about what she knew of Ms. Kumar.  It would be nice to catch up as had been a while since they'd last seen each other.  Business should never take precedence over friendship.  Not in this day and age.

There was a brief pause.

"Well... I know an excellent pasta restaurant. Place called Cornelli's Fine Dining in the Lavender Inn hotel. They don't just do pasta, but the tagliatelle is pretty excellent, I find. I'll meet you in an hour and we can catch-up, all right, darling?"

Inderpal had chosen a medium-level restaurant; while she should afford a much more expensive affair with her savings, she didn't want to make Sharik feel out of place and making herself look too well-to-do would work against her getting a job. She did want to get off this station after all.

"Evelyn and I got the first shift covered," Pablo told Walter.

"She's not much of a social butterfly, if catch my drift. Had some buddies in the corps that wound up in the same dark place. She'll be okay; it just may take some time."

"We'll sit the Longshot for the first day. Maybe we can then trade off with Khea and Valeska. After that, we'll see."

In reply to Pablo Esteban Ryzov (msg # 43):

     Even though the Longshot had finished docking procedures and Vonon could leave the ship, now, he continued to sit in the weapons station seat and fret.

     Vonon had been excited to be returning to Cassandra's Belt, even to Rockhome--he'd been outsystem for months and this was home.  He had friends here, people he'd like to see and people who'd like to see him.  But he'd also left under a cloud, resigning his Commission, citing political infighting of intolerable levels among the Patrol Officer Corps stationed at Rockhome--he had enemies here.  And then, of course, there was...his Family.

     ~If GranDam hears I was at Rockhome and didn't swing by to visit,~ Vonon thinks to himself, ~the old battlehound will disconnect herself from her geriatric support pod and hunt me down, then give me the beating of my life--even if she is over one hundred years old!~

     Vonon continues to dither...

The piloting in and docking was done mainly on auto, but Sam always sat in the seat - just in case, she told herself, but more honestly - it gave her something to do.

After the ship was safely touched down, she chcked and shut down the flight systems, reporting in to Walter "All systems ok for launch - so shes's ready when we are."

Swivelling her seat round, she noticed Vonun. "Fancy a beer V? Youre buying!" As she spoke, Sam stood up and stretched a little, waiting for his reply.

"Sounds perfect, hon." the cosmopolitan socialite responded brightly, smiling even though she knew that Indy couldn't see her.  Her brain was already running through her mental checklist.  She needed to finish up here - but that was mostly kicking off the preliminary calculations their next potential jump destinations; starting those should only take a couple of minutes.  Plus, the duty roster, but that could wait, since Pablo had volunteered himself and Evelyn for the time being.

The more pressing question might be what to wear.  Now, Sharik had never counted herself as a clothes-hound or a fashionista, but a girl had to have her standards.  Locking up her session, the diminuitive navigator pushed back from her console and unclipped from her harness once the Longshot was properly berthed.  Standing for a moment, she checked the pleats on her vacc suit and then trapsed off to her quarters with a spring in her step.  Along the way she settled on her green coveralls; it was fairly understated and reasonably workman-like.  You know, not too showy.  But she did decide to accent it with some silver hoop motif earrings, bracelets, a necklace, and belt.  After a quick (well, reasonably quick) shower, Shar pulled on her outfit including a faux-groat leather bolero jacket and stopped to look in the mirror for a moment to appraise her profile and silouhette.

Sharik wondered if a shopping trip for clothes afterwards might be in order; it seemed that there was a bit of disposable cash in her pocket that was burning a hole.  Or the youthful socialite was simply into window shopping and/or retail therapy.

A second glance at the lens of her HUD display told her that the astrogation calculations were still progressing normally, as she trotted down the corridor.  Poking her head into the bridge, the auburn-haired navigator let those still on station know that she heading into the station.  "Hot date at Cornelli's." Shar quipped since Indy definitely counted as 'hot'; she glanced to see if Vo was still at his console and if her vargr friend had any opinion on the venue as Cassandra's Belt was his ol' stomping ground.  It'd been a while since she'd been at the C-belt Highport, way before Cornelli's had even existed.  Still, Vonon might have some experience with it; he'd definitely been here more recently than her.

After finishing the call, Inderpal Kumar found her way back to her accommodation - a hotel room on the upper middle end of the scale. She popped into the shower and changed into a cream jacket with matching trousers, combined with a a blue ruffled shirt. She also put on her pearl button earrings and gave her eyebrows a bit of a tidy up.

Then she called ahead to make sure there was a table free at the restaurant, preferably in a booth.

Listening to the crew as they made plans, Walter was already making his own . "First on my agenda is to get the cargo sold so expect that to be sorted out shortly Vonon. You can find me at the TAS hotel and I would like the crew to be my guests for dinner before we depart from here. Once we get the cargo dealt with, I would like to see if we can do some modifications to the Longshot before we head back out," he said to Vonon.

     Vonon, seeming distracted, took a moment to respond, "Urr...sure.  Yeah, that sounds good, Sam.  I know just the place.  I just...uh, I just have to make a comm-call, first."



     "I recall the names of some of the better Trade Houses--the legitimate ones that dealt with free traders, that is--but I never had any direct dealings with any of them.  I can give you that list.  As for modifications, there are a few names I remember at the yard--nobody who owes me any favors or anything, just a few acquaintances I could say hello to, share a cup of kaff with, that sort of thing--but I think I can count on them for info about the yard, when the time comes."

Sam grinned at V "looking up an old flame huh?" she winked at him "Well if you need to ditch me for a hot date, I'll not be offended. I'm gonna use the fresher and then I'll be ready to head, so let me know in say 20 mins if we're good?"

Sam headed off without waiting for an answer