Upon arrival at the Port, Teddy made his way to the Loire Valley.

<<< Comm "Hello there! Permission to come on board. Ship's Steward reporting for duty" Comm over. >>> Teddy announces over the intercom at the hatch.

He looks around and sees the diplomatic bags being loaded and people standing about. He pulls out his papers for ID as well, waiting for whoever is in charge.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:26, Mon 23 Dec 2019.

"Loire Valley this is Chenonceau.  Getting the craft sopaceworthy will take a bit more time.  We should be able to link up on the outbound passage tomorrow, per schedule."

As soon as the Ley's were settled in, the intercom rang.

<<< Comm "Hello there! Permission to come on board. Ship's Steward reporting for duty" Comm over. >>>

"Excuse me madam, sir", the surgeon apologized as motioned in the general direction of the entrance, "I have to take this."

..I wasn't informed that we had a chef yet.., he thought as he moved away, ..Which reminds me...

Duncan reached for his own comm unit and contacted Aelasaid in his for now usual formal manner, <<< Comm "Duncan here for Second Officer Aelasaid; Mr. Ley and his wife just arrived with the package at the Loire. They are now settling in." Comm over. >>>

He then traced his steps back towards the entrance and opened the door. Oblivious at first, the  ship's surgeon introduced himself as he stood in the doorway. "Good day sir, I am Duncan Halleck, the Ship's ...", Duncan hesitated for a slight moment, ..Something about him.., " ... Surgeon. You are the Steward?", he continued, recovering himself.

"I .. was not informed we had an additional crew member, but things move quickly now.", he made a 'what can you do' shrug. As he reached out his right hand, he asked, "Could I see your papers and ID please?".

..Do I know this man?..
This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Mon 23 Dec 2019.

Teddy handed his papers over to the man at the air lock. "4th Officer Theodore McStubbin reporting, . . . . . . Do I know you? You look familiar." Teddy says. "Doctor. . . .?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:38, Mon 23 Dec 2019.

Duncan took the papers and the ID and gave them a thorough look-over, as much to see if they were authentic as to try and remember where he met the man.

..crap.., He thought as it hit him, .. Just. Crap. ..

He returned the items with a strait face and stated, "All seems to be in order". Stepping away from the doorway he motioned for the steward to pass and said, "I could show you to you the rooms if you'd like", conveniently ignoring the man's question.

As he was about to move back into the ship, he stopped and reached for his earpiece. He then motioned to the Steward to continue as he was interrupted.

<<< Comm Chenonceau, this is the Loire Valley, Message received. Best of luck there and see you tomorrow. Comm over. >>>, the surgeon stated as he dallied just a bit longer.

"Thank you, then the galley and the larder if you please. So much to do to prep for departure."

Deep in thought, the 'ping' from the messages stirred her from her reverie.  Aelasaid looked down at Rafael, she'd been intently perusing the manifest and traffic logs for Tarsus.  The lithe, red-headed pilot leaned over from her vantage point, half-sitting, half-leaning on the edge of the table next to Cortez, to look at the new hire's dossier.  A light smile crossed her lips, as she perused the curriculum vitae - including their new steward's publication list.   "Absolutely," she agreed with the Commander about getting to the ship, "we do not want to miss all of the festivities!"  With the compressed timeframe, it was going to be tight timing no matter what.

She stood, her hands passing over the front of her tunic top, running over the fabric to straighten it slightly.  Then Aelasaid noted to Rafael playfully with a slightly raised eyebrow, "Are you back to a passenger and evaluator then..." given the fact that the Chief Steward position on the Loire Valley was now more permanently filled; though she knew he'd already said he was simply 'an extra pair of hands'.  And assuming that the Commander was still travelling with them.

Ally gestured towards the door with an outstretched hand, falling in by Rafael Cortez's side.  Aelasaid's brain was already ticking over the laundry list of tasks that were piling up (both personal and professional)...

"I remember now, you were in a frat that decided to burn books one night. You made me a best seller overnight paying for the books!"


"I need to order cigars, brandy and wine as well as meat, fruit and vegetables."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Mon 23 Dec 2019.

With the hope that the steward would find his own way during his time on the comm gone, Duncan the accompanied the man upstairs.

.. Blast. Oh well, it was just a matter of time.., he thought as the Steward recognised him.

His demeanour was slightly deflated as the physician grumbled, "Indeed I was", and with a mumble he added, "Though that was a long time ago...". When they entered the lift the surgeon made an inward sigh, straightened himself and stated "I am glad it worked out for you.".

...

After a moment of silence, "An Embassy Staffer and his wife arrived a couple of minutes before you did.", he explained, trying to change topic. "Oh, I don't have much else planned for the moment", Duncan stated, glad that the steward also changed topic, "I could try and find suppliers for you."

...

After another moment of silence he added with a shrug, "On he other hand, I am not really familiar with the culinary world.", knowing how particular some chefs could be with their ingredients.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:52, Mon 23 Dec 2019.

"That's all right, I'll find what I need, hopefully. I'm a little particular on freshness."

"Well, let's see if HR can find an engineer for us before I fully commit to piloting the clipboard," Cortez said as a wry expression crossed his face.

At the iris valve, Cortez motioned for 2nd Officer Mor McLauchian to proceed him and after she did so, Cortez requested permission to come aboard.  It was a bit more formality than the Merchant Marine normally operated with, but Rafael though it useful gesture to ensure that Aelasaid understood she was the Ship's Master, no matter either of their individual ranks.

"I'm sure you'll need to see to a few things Captain, so unless you have something for me, I'll go find a stateroom and send over for my space bag," Rafael said once he was aboard.  He learned long ago that standing over crew was a good way to serve as a distraction.  Performance was best judged by evaluating accomplishments, not methodology.  Especially when it came to economic success.

11:45 - Collace Downport - CMM docks

It was just before lunch before the MFA cargo was finished.  The new crew of the Loire Valley was working diligently to prepare the starship for launch.

OOC: Feel free to cover any logistics or activities that you've been completing over the last 2-3 hours in your post.  If you need any specific information, feel free to ask in the OOC thread or your private message threads.

Teddy was working on a cold lunch for the crew with an awesome supper under way. Fruit and sandwiches for lunch, steak and potatoes and steamed broccoli for dinner. An hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. The Vargr to be treated with a steak scared by the flames it was so rare!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:34, Tue 24 Dec 2019.

Aelasaid had to chuckle slightly as Commander Cortez paid her the formality of requesting permission to board.  But she did appreciate the gesture.  With a simply, yet ritualistic, "Permission Granted." and a sweep of her hand, the red-haired pilot acknowledged Rafael and gave him license to wander the Loire Valley.

With a curt nod, Ally also acknowledged that there was plenty to do.  There were a lot of inspections and test diagnostics to be run.  She was there primary (and secondary, really) bridge crew as far as she could tell.  Of the four registered crew, Aelasaid was the one with training on stick, charts, sensors and comms as far as she knew; Kaelra could also pilot, but she was going to be needed in the engine room.  Ally herself had very little experience there.  She dearly hoped that HR came through.

But that was out of her hands.

Making sure that everything was ready to fly was her job.  Which meant that additional personal software was likely in order.  This is where the personal and professional intersected; she'd need some matter expert agents to help with astrogation calculations and other ancillary bridge duties such if she was going to be doing double duty on station - anything to make her life easier.  So much to do, so little time to shop.  But, it was necessary.

Trotting down the corridor, Aelasaid moved with a fluid grace that showed she'd been down similar sets of manufactured hallways.  She read the hall markings on the fly and made her way to the bridge.  Standing in the doorway for a long moment, she took in the layout before deciding which to make the main piloting station.

Sliding into the pilot's chair, Ally slipped on the five point harness almost without thinking.  Even though she didn't expect to move the vehicle at all, securing the buckle was virtually instinctual.  She began with a quick survey of the panels and controls, before booting up a session on panel before her.  Even before the session had fully initialized, the lithe pilot began to customize the display layout.  She knew how she liked everything presented and even with the upgraded sensors and computer core that the Loire Valley had, the user interface always had to be tweaked.

Aelasaid also knew that the internal and external sensor feeds would need to be monitored as well.  And she knew exactly how she liked those... customizing the alarms, proximity limits, and general configuration would take a bit of time - but, she'd always found it worth it in the end.  Pushing a lock of red hair behind her ear, Ally started the cascade of diagnostics on the various systems... comms, guidance, telemetry, sensors, astrogation, central core... the list was long, and there was very little time to lose...

When Aelasaid and Cdr. Cortez walked past the galley he looked up, smiled and waved and then returned attention to the comm he was on to continue ordering provisions for the trip.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:33, Thu 26 Dec 2019.

After having accompanied the Ship's Steward, Duncan went to the crew common area and poured himself an glass of water. He went into the stateroom he had claimed and started organizing the transfer of his equipment. Something he hadn't had time for yet.

It wasn't much thought, he was used to travel light. But he had acquired a few personal possessions during his time as an officer. The the notables were an aquarium and a personal fitted and equipped Combat Environmental Suit.

When that was arranged, he started searching for some online suppliers. Having found a fair number of them, he started researching comparing what would be a good fit. He was however wholly unfamiliar with commercial transportation and brokering, and it was quite a surprise when he was suddenly being contacted by a supplier of Manufactured Goods.

"Well, you called me ... How about 10k"
...
"No, no that won't do."
...
"Look, you obviously want a seller, we can take some right of your hand..."
...
"Sure, 13k sounds good"

The surgeon let out a long sigh as he closed the conversation. This was definitely not his forte. On the other-hand, he was proud that he got the price he did. He just hoped the rest of the crew agreed with that assessment.

Play-time over, Duncan returned the empty glass at the galley and went for the bridge looking for the captain he heard arriving. Seeing her busy at the pilot chair he started saying, "Ma'am, I ...", but the workload of the pilot interrupted his though process and instead he stated, "Oh, Have some training in comms and sensor systems. Could I help you with some of that?". He then explained the reason he was actually here, "I would like to have a word in private.", he stated calmly, his body language emphasizing that he was in no hurry, "but it is something that can wait. It is about the cargo and some personal business."

OOC:
I managed to broker for up to 40t of Common Manufactured Goods for 13k each, or 65%.
Referee, I would like to buy one ton and pay for shipping to Tarsus.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:19, Thu 26 Dec 2019.

Teddy overhears the Dr. making arrangements for 1 ton of cargo! "Why not more Doctor? Say ten tons or more?"

"Well, ten tons is a bit much for my budget I'm afraid.", Duncan replied while rubbing his neck. "But I figured more of you will want to join in", he continued, "so I'll send you a message on your comm about it." And the doctor reached for his handcomp and forwarded the message to the crew.

"Let me know how much you want, just keep in mind the extra freight costs.", he added while typing, the he lifted his head and stated "Oh and keep in mind we need some space for buy-in from the ships funds."

"We can try to take the entire 40 tons between us and the ship, I can adjust down if you want me to. Or need me to, the ship does have to pay for itself. Perhaps we can incorporate and start a company between the crew for when we do this sort of thing."

Aelasaid took a moment before she addressed Dr. Halleck, she finished setting up the third set of core diagnostics on the Loire Valley's mainframe - configuring the alarm parameters before locking the screen and turning her seat to face Duncan.

"Thank you for your offer, Doctor." she noted with a casual smile, "I can always use help on the bridge, but only if you are done with inventorying the med bay and ship's locker."  The lithe redhead seemed genuinely grateful, giving no hint that the doctor would be intruding on her domain or anything of the sort.

Tilting her head in a slighly quizzical, if entirely feminine, way, Ally smiled slightly at Duncan's hesisitation.  "Please, Doctor," she soothed idly, "Feel free to speak freely."  The last thing Aelasaid needed was for the crew to be withholding information.  With her left hand, she gestured to one of the nearby station seats, prompting, "What's on your mind?"  The bridge while, theoretically not private, contained only the two of them.

After listening to the good doctor's 'issue' concerning speculative cargo, Aelasaid looked thoughtful for a contemplative moment.  "Well," she ventured, even as Teddy joined the conversation - making it less private, but probably more relevant, "I applaud and appreciate your speed and initiative, Doctor.  You've negotiated a very reasonable ..." she'd almost said surprisingly reasonable, but had stopped herself in time.  It was is, in fact, quite good - especially given what was listed in his crew dossier that she'd seen, which was little to no actual negotiation or trade arbitrage experience, "... price for that cargo."

"Ms. Suedzuk may have more to say on the matter - given that I believe she has the most brokering experience." she noted, at least based on what she'd seen, and her tone took on an air of authority on the matter as she'd been briefed on the crew roster, "but as far as I am concerned, it is likely a deal we should pounce on.  However, in the future, please clear transactions with her, if possible."  She contemplated trying to get Kaelra on the line, since the rest of the crew seemed hot to trot.  Her fingers pressed a button to open a commlink to Kaelra in case the vargr engineer were available.  And perhaps the young, furry canid would be inclined to, uh, apprentice the others on the crew; Aelasaid would probably have to ask her later about that.  Ultimately, most of this informal briefing/information dump, she'd prefer not to have to repeat if possible - but, of course, would repeat it as necessary.  They all needed to be on the same page.

In any case, she tried to reign in a bit of the burgeoning mercantile enthusiasm, "Boys, let's remember that we have already signed onto a corporation of sorts here.  While, the CMM doesn't necessarily require exclusivity in employment; we do have to be mindful.  Paying into the CMM and the operating fund isn't a bad thing."  She patted the console for emphasis, "None of us could afford something this large on our own.  And they are being lenient, by giving us discretion in our cargo allocation - safest for them would be us hauling short jump freight all the time until they gave us different orders."

Her burgundy lips curled up slightly, when she added, "Of course, then none of us would have signed on."  And Ally gave the others a sly wink.

"Now that said," and she moved on to the business at hand, "We have discretion on the remaining fifty tons in the hold.  From what I understand, there are fifteen tons of mail available for us to haul; I am inclined to pull that ticket - unless anyone has real concerns.  And when we take on passengers - which only makes sense given personnel ..." and she inclined her head towards Teddy, whose cooking prowess preceded him, "... and the living space we have onboard and are already paying for, some of the hold will have to be reserved for them - especially if they are high passage."  Standardly, each high passenger was reserved a ton of cargo space as an amenity.  "Once we account for both of those," Aelasaid ticked off, "We'll only have about thirty tons of space left."

Which wouldn't be enough space to house the entire 40 ton lot that Duncan had found.  "Of course," Ally added, "Even taking on thirty tons would require more liquidity than what we could currently cover - even with the entirety of the operating fund we've been allocated."  She shrugged slightly, "We can't really risk using the entire fund on a single venture, anyways.  I could see using perhaps 50% of the fund on speculation, but the rest really is required to keep the ship operating.  We can't have it fully tied up in speculative cargo at any given time."  The red-headed merchant seemed entirely adamant on that.

"Now, barring one of you having a cool half a million credits lying around and burning a hole in your pocket ..." which Aelasaid could definitely say didn't apply to her personally and would have to make her serious question why they were signing onto the CMM at this point, "we can take on as much speculative cargo people are willing and able to contribute.  And round out the hold with incidental cargo."

Her spiel over, Aelasaid simply looked towards both Duncan and Teddy with a raised eyebrow, "Questions?"

"No, I have 150,000 credits to speculate with in this, I'll share the profits with the crew and ship too."

"Where's the bar at on this ship?" Commercial Service Officer Marin asked, before he had even dropped off his luggage in a stateroom.  "I always have a scotch and soda to calm my stomach before leaving a gravity well," he declared to no one in particular.

Over the next few hours, more cargo, passengers, and supplies arrived.  The new crew of the Loire Valley directed and stowed each appropriate.

OCC: Ok, unless there's anything else, my first post in 2020 will be the with LV lifting off in the wee hours of 016 to rendezvous with the Launch (which is currently docked at the Highport). 

Teddy plays bartender and pours a scotch and soda.

03:00 Collace Lower Atmo

It was very early in the morning when the Loire Valley received clearance to depart.  With Aelasaid at the controls, the ship carefully maneuvered away from the busy downport and after just a few minutes, was in open sky and heading toward the Highport in geosychronos orbit.  Thanks to the gravitics technology used by starships such as the Loire Valley the passengers experienced a very smooth ride.  Ally however, could feel a bit of pull in the flight controls however, the ship leaned left, so to speak, and keeping her on a straight line required careful trim adjustment.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:24, Wed 01 Jan 2020.