Day 355 dawns and you begin to realize the ship will be jumping in about forty eight hours.  For some of you the itch to get travelling is building, for others the pressure of filling the hold and getting the cargo deliveries sorted is mounting.

One personnel issue that remains is the final interview on the group's docket: Nino Stern



He arrives five minutes prior to his morning interview time.  Nino stands 185cm+ (6'2") and masses at least 100kg.  His suit looks off-the-rack and doesn't conceal his muscular frame.  He has a small scar below his left ear and his hands are rough, as if he's more used to blue-collar than white-collar work.  Nevertheless, he carries himself professionally.

He introduces himself in a steady, confident voice, "Nino Stern, CETI Lines.  Nice of you to have me.  I understand you may have a job opening in the engine room."


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A credentials review indicates:

Education: Secondary school
Engineer(maneuver)-1
Gun Combat-?
Gunner(turrets)-1+
Mechanic-1
Melee-?
Space Science-0
Vacc Suit-0

"Good morning Mr. Stern, I'm Captain Hayden Marks, these are my associates," Hayden says, starting off the interview by introducting everyone present.

"We are actually looking for gunners and engineers.  And you've been recommended on both accounts.  Perhaps you can share with us a bit about your professional experince." Marks says.  He asks specifically about Stern's work with CETI lines (how long, duties, routes, etc.).

In reply to Hayden Marks (msg #2):

Stern takes a seat. He appears relaxed but alert as he answers Hayden's questions. "Morning, Captain.  I take it it was Captain Yuring who recommended me?  She's a great Captain."

Stern rests his hand on the table and begins, "I was born and grew up on Santander.  As you can imagine, it wasn't always pretty.  There it's the law of the jungle, predators and prey.  As you may have noticed, I'm kind ofa big guy.  So, when I was a teenager some guys recruited me.  I did protection, collections, ran rackets, that sort of thing.  It wasn't fun and I'm not proud of it, but it beat being shivved."

He shifts his very muscular frame, "I'd still be there, doing it or dead, if it hadn't been for Martina Yuring.  Her ship, Amber Ocean did a stop on Santander about four years ago.  I was able to get one of her crew out of a little scrape, nothing big.  The Captain liked what she saw, so she gave me a job as security."

He leans back, "Of course I took it.  I may be big but I'm not dumb.  Local muscle and meat, sooner or later, or a real job on a starship.  Not a tough choice."

"We ran tramp routes, hit just about every port between here and there.  I tried to learn as much about everything I could on the ship, make myself useful in any situation.  I learned how to use the ship's weapons as quickly as I could because I figured just being big and handy with a shotgun or baton wouldn't get me very far for very long.  After awhile doing that, First put me on number one turret.   Said she liked my aptitude and that she always knew I'd stay cool."  He shrugs.

"About a year ago, I mentioned I wanted to learn more about engineering.  Captain Yuring told me I should.  I didn't think she was serious, because who takes their best gunner, seriously, not trying to blow my own horn, but just stating a fact.  Anyway, who takes their best gunner and re-trains him for something else?  She set me up with the chief engineer, though, and he spent his off duty time, a lot of his time, working with me.  They pushed me, both of them, drilled me on procedures, specs, regs, everything.  Long story short, a couple weeks ago I got my shipboard engineer's license."

He pauses, "I've never had anyone do anything like that for me before."

"Anyway, no engineering jobs opening up anytime soon on the Ocean, so I figured I'd still be a gunner.  But, the Captain told me to take a vacation here on Alsace for a few weeks while the ship made a quick run.  Said I should try to find an engineering job if I could, since it would mean a pretty hefty raise for me, but that if I didn't that I'd always have a spot on Amber Ocean."

In a light tone but without a smile, Stern adds, "So, that's why I'm here.  Oh, and if anyone wants to knock the Captain or crew of Amber Ocean, just know you're gonna have to deal with me."

Danica nods approvingly to Nino's story, "I appreciate your candor with us, Mr. Stern.  You've done well with your situation and taken advantage of the breaks you've been given."  She rubs her chin for a moment and then continues, "That is much to your credit."  Dani taps a couple of notes as others ask some questions, then she starts in with her own set of queries.

"You say," Dani notes idly, "that you helped one of the crew of the Amber Ocean out of a scrape.  I'm sure that A man of your experiences must have seen a lot of that before.  What prompted you to help out in this particular case?"  Her tone is not confrontational, but quite conversational, as though she is trying to understand the situation.  Know his logic then, could be insightful into what lies beneath all of that impressive muscle right now as well.

After letting others comment or discuss, Danica asks another question, "What made you choose engineering, Mr. Stern?  You could have chosen a number of other space-faring specialties:  pilot or navigator;  purser or medic.  What excites you about Engineering so much?"  Danica chooses her words carefully, since, Nino only used 'wanted' but since it was a specialty, and a hard one at that, there must have been something else that sparked his interest there.  At least, that is what she hopes.

After Hayden discusses the compensation situation with Nino, Dani chimes in, "So, Mr. Stern, would you be most interested in a job as an Engineer's Mate?  Or as the Chief Engineer?  And would you consider a job as a Gunner given the pay scale?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:36, Sun 27 Mar 2011.

Jack's mouth curls slightly in an appreciative grin at Stern's last comment. "Thank you for being so forthright, Mr. Stern. We here on Gypsy Moth have all served together at one point or another over the years and we consider ourselves a loyal family of sorts. So your own loyalty to your former Captain is understood and appreciated."

Jack steeples his fingers. "Mr. Stern, out of curiosity, would you be opposed to signing on as a gunner and assisting in the engineering section, or are you looking specifically for an engineer assignment? You're obviously valuable to both departments."

In reply to Danica Moreau (msg #4):

With regard to helping Amber Ocean's crewmember, Stern confides, "I don't really like seeing the little guy get shit on more than he deserves."

In response to Danica's question about engineering, Stern opines, "It appears to me that there tends to be a shortage of qualified engineers.  A lot of people want the glory of a bridge job, but without engineers the ship doesn't run."

Answering Danica and Jacques questions about engineering versus gunnery, Stern confesses, "Well, the pay scale and the nature of the job changes things a bit.  I had in my mind to go back to Ocean if I couldn't find an engineering position, and I still want an engineering job, but I might consider a gunnery job with this ship, only with this ship."  He taps the table with his index finger for emphasis.

About position in engineering, Stern says, "I'd rather be Chief engineer.  Never turn down an opportunity for more responsibility.  But, I know I don't have much engineering experience in the drive rooms yet, so I figure that's a factor."

Danica nods as Nino answers the question about choosing the Engineering specialty.  "Sensible." she intones.  Nino has a level head on those broad shoulders, a trait that Danica cannot help but admire.

She also nods when Nino makes an exception to his 'no gunnery' rule as a job for the Moth.  Dani smiles slightly, "I think that you will find your faith not misplaced with us, Mr. Stern.  Captain Marks has made it abundantly clear to all of his crew, that he compensates well because he expects much."  She pauses for a moment to regard Nino, then continues, "Not that everyone be able to do everything.  But, he does expect that the crew work together to solve problems effectively and efficiently.  He never wants something like 'that is not my place or position' or 'I'm not getting paid to do that' to be an excuse as to why you did not act."  Danica smiles at Nino, "A set of excuses, that honestly, I think we would not find in you, Mr. Stern."

Danica tries not to let too much show, but she is quite impressed with Mr. Stern.  His attitude, work ethic and personality all seem quite a good fit for the rest of the crew.  While, she is willing to entertain any additional questions from him ("I'm sure that you must have some questions for us, to do determine if we are the type of outfit that you would be willing to throw your hat in with.") and to chat, there is nothing more substantive that she asks about in the interview.