"Neva, is there anything else out of your treasure trove that you want to take? Can I help you with anything?" offered Ollie.

Ollie pondered, "The problem is going to be getting to the diggings. Those diggings are on the other side of the border and I don't think the authorities will let us land and wander about without keeping a close eye on us."

"On the other hand, if we came in our elusive friend's ship which is parked near us, then they would think we belonged there and wouldn't worry us. Getting out again would be a bit more tricky."

Ken considered the map.  "We could land on the League side of the planet and take an air raft from there to the diggings.  We have landed on Qarant before for resupply and could plausibly do so again.  That might be safer than trying to hijack another ship."

"So, how tight do you think is the security on the border?" replied Ollie.

We could enter the system in stealth mode, no transponders, make use of covering planets & moons, spiral onto a dirtside landing.  We could also be attacked just departing this place ...

Ken shook his head.  "With the tensions between the League and the Hegemony I'd rather not jump into the system like a raider.  We very well might get fired upon.  Best to come in as a legitimate supply vessel or even a confused trader.  The only difficulty will be convincing the League personnel to let us go hunting Lorain.  We could just sneak off.  The planet is uninhabited so we could likely fly the air raft right to the diggings."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 404):

On the ship, Jaxxon said to Thomas, "Mariel and I are going into the starport to pick up some gear. Mainly grenades and ammunition. We'll be back in an hour."

"That sounds too easy!" laughed Ollie. "Maybe that Talia lady at the Institute could get us a legitimate cargo into Qarant. It would save awkward explanations. Then we could play the lost tourist."

In reply to Oliver Oliphant Oksasaellllozae (msg # 406):

Neva looked at the group and slowly smiled.  "What was I thinking?  Of course most of this stuff is Illegal BUT we didn't come by public transportation we came by air raft.  If we take it easy going back to the ship and not get caught I could get some of this stuff out of here and take it with me.  Care to help out a lady? It's rainy and dark.  Won't get a better time to do it.  Basically just obey the traffic rules, etc.  Like any good upstanding citizen would do.  We can be that for a short period of time yes?"

Ken smiled at Neva.  "We can certainly get all of this back in the air raft.  Believe me we won't get a speeding ticket while carrying it!"  He turned to Ollie; "Talia might be a lead to getting at least a bit of paper saying we are official.  Professor Mesandi might have contact who could do the same thing as well.  If not there might be other contacts we can try to smooth the way once we are planet side.  Maybe Blake can use his Scout contacts."

OOC: Is Talia associated with the Institute?

Blake passes out whatever this hot excuse for food.  And quietly asks Neva How sure are you nobody knows about this stash ??  With this amount of stuff, somebody must be missing something ...

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 409):

Neva nods to Blake and answers also in a low voice.  "As much as I ever can.  I have a couple of safe places.  Nothing was disturbed when I came in.  Yes they could be watching it but I've been out of the force long enough that it should be safe.  I was living on the streets before this Blake.  People go missing from there all the time.  Street people get hired to be guinea pigs for cheap money and come and go.  Nothing is for certain but as much as I can tell it should be safe enough.  Just be careful when we leave.  You seem to know the score.  Don't make moves that would draw attention.  You want to help figure out how to get some of these out of here?"


Neva pointed to the bed which had her weapons on it.  She had hard cases for those that needed it.

ooc:  I'll get an inventory list soon.

In between mouthfuls,Get some moving boxes with odds & ends on top ...  Like clothes or a blender.  Long boxes will be a problem, can you dis-assemble your collection ??  We could also rent a U-haul.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 411):

Neva nodded.  "I was thinking of that but since this place hasn't been used for so long I thought it would make too much notice and time.  Plus I wanted to get it out tonight while it is still raining."

It looked like the Air/Raft could handle her cargo in the bed, as there were only a few larger pieces. As long as they weren't stopped for a traffic violation, they'd be fine.

Sounds like a long wet night ...  Might as well get started.  Just out of curiosity, what king of a neighborhood is this ??

"The rain will be a perfect cover for moving the stuff out.  Let's get it loaded and head back to the ship.  We can compare notes with everyone there.  The main thing we need to work on is a cover if possible to use at Qarant."

Ollie quickly scoffs some of the warm food and drink before helping move the gear into the Air/Raft.

"This is quite a treasure trove you have, Neva. And it should come in very handy."

Neva looked around.  "The neighbors keep to themselves.  Relatively quiet.  The kind of neighborhood that if I don't come back for months at a time it doesn't raise questions.  If we clean this out tonight I doubt I'll have a need to come back.  Oh, don't forget the meds from the back closet.  Not much but when you need to patch yourself up they come in handy."

Ken brings out the last of the gear and stows it carefully in the air raft.  He works with the others to conceal the lethal cargo. "Let's get back to the ship and finalize our plans.  I'd like to be in Jump space within 24 hours or less."

The gear was loaded without issue. There were a few duffle bags and boxes of gear.

Over the phone, Talia promised to talk to the Institute in the morning, get them to send the ship to visit Qarant on legitimate Institute business.

When they are all ready to leave, Neva gets the apartment settled back into it's normal mode.  She has a few things that she does so next time if she returns, she can tell if anybody has been in there (besides dust that is).

Finally she is ready and locks up, meeting everybody back downstairs.  After she climbs into the raft she takes one last look at the place.  She'll kind of miss it but is glad that she has newer digs and memories to replace it with.

Getting off the phone with Talia, Ken took the air raft back to the ship.  "It looks like Talia can get us papers to pass as legit at Qarant.  We've been there before so we should raise little suspicion.  We'll Jump out as soon as we have the certs from the Institute."

Leaving the covered garage, they flew towards the airport. Rain still hammered down.

Soon, they were parking the air/raft in its bay.

And the evening passed with the unloading & storage of ... Neva's collection.  Any additions needed ??

Time to get some sleep. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow.