"Well, I'm not the one taking the decisions here." After a while, she continued. "But I feel like it would be a good bet. Same with the wall stucco thing that changes colour. Neither of the two are things they absolutely need, but that could be an advantage in that it also means they don't have it yet, and could be real glad to have it."

"The parents to please their children and give them better opportunities, and home owners with the luxury to do what they please with their walls. Pretty standard stuff in worlds colonised long ago, but a bit of a luxury on St. Brendan at the moment, and I'd bet we could easily sell however much of either we can transport. Not that it'd be all that much considering what we already have of course."

She tapped her lips as she considered the question. "Which of course means we won't get a big profit that way. Well , not with the paint thing as I guess the price isn't all that high. But they probably don't really have a market for the small and expensive stuff we could find and that would fit in the cargo hold. The toys and learning stuff have the advantage of not taking much room, which means a good quantity, and probably being in the right price range that we would be able to sell them on a new-ish colony while still making a nice profit."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:05, Fri 03 Jan 2020.

Alwin only had a few mementos in his quarters - magnetized to stick to the wall and not come loose should the ship's gravity fail for whatever reason.  Perhaps in time he would accumulate more, but the last few weeks he had been traveling light.

In the time since they had left the Lyonesse system Alwin had kept himself busy enough, even as he was enjoying having a bit of relative downtime.  He tried to get basic medical info from his fellow crewmates, in preparation of any injuries that hopefully wouldn't occur.

He also used his steward training to show those of his new business partners who weren't as used to eating of a ship's galley on an extended basis how to get the most out of the basic offerings available.  It was true that the basic food packages were relatively idiot-proof, but there were several little tricks that would make the basic fare more palatable and enjoyable.

There was also some time spent in the engineering section.  He had already been through and inspected said area when they had purchased the vessel, but getting a feel for the various drives while in actual use wasn't something you could really ascertain when the ship was sitting still.

When he had found occasion to be with several of the others, and the conversation had turned to Deseret and of potential cargoes for possible purchase, he had stayed silent for a bit before speaking.  Finally, after finishing off the last little bit of some cheese and summer sausage, he spoke up.

"I agree with Florence regarding looking for anyone who might be wanting passage from Deseret to St. Brendan.  Dealing with passengers can have its own headaches to deal with - and we would need to be upfront that this isn't going to be a luxury liner by any means - but it can also be a nice little source of income for the ship.  As a bonus, we might actually hear some useful information while in conversation with them."

"As for cargo..." he paused momentarily, as trading and cargo speculation wasn't one of the skills he had learned during his time on various shipping vessels for the megacorp.  "Prosthetic devices might be something we would want to consider, although that might be a little more high-risk.  St. Brendan is a new colony world, and there's probably no lack of injuries that they've had to deal with."

 Reggie did not know about trade, but what he wa thinking made sense to him." I would think that anything that would entertain, would sell, on an isolated post. Holo games, music, even old school board games. Anything to break up the daily routine."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:16, Sat 04 Jan 2020.

 The more Reggie thought about this run, the more he felt somthing was off." It might just me being my usual paranoid self, but why did the Monseigner give us a box of cash? Something is off on this deal. The Church usually uses more traditional methods of compensation."

 Reggie got to his feet." I have the time right now. So I am going to go over the cargo, as much as I can. If I am wrong, no harm. But if I am right.....
This message was last edited by the player at 09:12, Sat 04 Jan 2020.

"A couple of prosthetics are probably fine, but taking any kind of quantity would be quite risky… So as far as the ship is concerned, I'm not sure something else would be more profitable. After all, the higher the number of different products we want, the longer it will take, both to buy and to sell. And time taken for that could be better used. In the end, finding the trade of the year could be less profitable than making two slightly less profitable runs."

She turned to Reginald next. "Holo-games and music come in digital formats, with lots of IP regulations. Either it's really easy to get and they'll have plenty of it, or it's a mess and it wouldn't be worth our time for now I suppose. Though it wouldn't hurt to look into it for later at any rate." She paused, opened her mouth to add something, then changed her mind and closed it and shrugged.

"Speaking of time and investments." She looked at Horace. "I think we should have a budget to get a sort of uniform made in Deseret. Not military style or anything obviously, and not in a single form, but I think it would do lots of good for how prospective clients see us if there was some unity, which could be as simple as just an albatros embroidered or something like that."

She seemed to hesitate for a couple of seconds, then added. "On top of that, I'd like to talk to you about renting space for the equivalent of a standard container or so."

"How big?"

"Like I said, a standard container or so." Florence frowned, deep in thoughts, then added. "I doubt I'd need all of it at the beginning but…" She shrugged. "Hopefully I'll be able to fill it soon enough."

"Go ahead, what you fitting?"

"I don't have enough credits for a share in the ship, far from it in fact," Florence grimaced slightly, but didn't seem all that bothered by it. "But that doesn't mean I have nothing. Since I have a lot to learn, I thought the best I could do was to learn by doing and use that money to trade things by myself. I probably won't get much financially out of it, at least in the beginning, but that's not the main objective anyway, so…"

She paused for a second then added. "We'll need a couple of rules though. Simple ones like I'm given enough time to sell whatever I have and to buy once a destination has been selected. And of course, I don't go over that time. Maybe I'd have to pay for food and docking fees should I make the ship wait. If there's an emergency for whatever reason and we must leave before I am given time to buy, I don't pay the rent to the next destination, stuff like that."

She frowned, thoughtful. "I'd probably have to create a company of my own to keep things straight I suppose."

"Didn't I give you one of my shares? Agreed in any case."

"You did, but…" Florence briefly shook her head. "I will give it back to you. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but…" She seemed to hesitate on what to say next, before settling on "I shouldn't own things I haven't earned."

As if the thought had just popped in her mind, or maybe just to change the subject, the girl added. "Oh by the way, regarding passengers, I never had cause to look into it but if there's a market for non-human passengers, maybe it would be more profitable for us than just humans? I'm sure we can do something about food, and I speak most of their languages. Mostly… With a bit of help for some." She lightly tapped her laptop at that. "It could be a nice advantage we'd have over the competition, no?"

"No, keep it, you'll earn it, you can repay the principal over time frrom your interest if you want to, and yes, by all means, I'm not xenophobic."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:20, Sat 04 Jan 2020.

"Hmm." Florence didn't seem convinced, but let the matter drop for the moment. "I'll start making plans for all of this then. Hopefully I'll be ready by the time we arrive in Deseret."

 Mr. Security went to get a few tools and a flashlight.He then headed for the cargo bay, to inspect the cargo for anything that struck him as odd.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:31, Sat 04 Jan 2020.

Horace let the crew check the cargo as much as they desired, he didn't care.

"No side trading" Einar stated with a nod when Florence talked about setting up her own personal business on the ship. "What you do on leave is your own business, as long as it doesn't bring the law down. But there's conflict of interest if we start parcelling out space in cargo just for your own stock." he said flatly, then sipped his coffee.

"Nothing personal, just served on crews long enough to know that ventures like that cause trouble. We earn as a team, or we lose as a team. If you want to dabble in trade you can go with the XO when he haggles with the suppliers." he nodded slightly and slowly towards Wymp.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:40, Sat 04 Jan 2020.

Florence's eyes harden. "First, I propose to rent the space, not take it for free, second, it's insulting to think I would somehow sabotage the ship's revenues to get my own that I couldn't care less about, third yours is not the only voice to pitch in for those matters. While you may be against it and have the most shares out of everyone, I believe this is the kind of things that would have to be put down to a vote and you do not have a controlling percentage."

"I do not want to 'dabble' in trade, I want to learn, and I believe it would be the best way to do it, without any risks to the ship's revenue or mode of operations." She frowned. "Are you against me trying to learn?"

"I'll teach you Florence, I am a broker."

Florence turned to Horace, without saying anything for a while. Finally, she asked, her voice obviously tightly controlled. "Am I to understand you changed your mind?"

Einar seemed unphased. "Kid. I know you've never served on a ship before, and I respect that your Granddaddy served on this one. I do" he nodded slightly.

"But you bring no money, and no experience. In most ships, entry level, you'd be doing scut work. That goes for the Navy as well. And there many out there that would be glad to have it for the privledge of serving on a ship."

He cocked his head slightly. "If you're gonna call a vote, or throw a fit every time somethin' doesn't go your way, you're not gonna last long here. Or much anywhere for that matter. You want to rent a commercial space on a ship, it's not gonna be on this one. Not while I'm the registered Captain." he said softly but matter of factly.

He glanced to the XO, then back to her. "We good?" He asked the pair expectantly, a calm tone but maybe a little tired.

"I see." Florence glared at the man. "Then consider this my advance notice: I will go to the term of my contract, meaning St. Brendan and back to Deseret, then I will leave." She turned to Horace. "I will of course give your share back as I will not have earned it."

"Aye-aye sir, HE is the captain, HE makes all final decisions. If it were up to me, I'd say go for it, it isn't up to me. I will train you and teach you to be a broker/trader if you want."

Einar nodded slightly. "Fair enough. Let me know if you change your mind." he took a deeper breath. "There may be a little paperwork for the resignation. I'll try to get that to you this shift, and I'll make sure you get paid out for your time." There was a slight parental tone to his voice, like he felt like she was making a poor decision, but would not fight her on it.

Florence shook her head. "He decided he was the captain." She seemed about to add something but shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway, I wouldn't want to work like that."

"I hope you reconsider and stay, I think you will be an asset to the ship."