"Yeah.  I think it is The Rage..."

Rig, the voice saying that is around the corner.

You all pulled into Wyltz's high port and got the repair work done.  The chief who's crew handled the repair work is doing the final walk through with you.  They did a fair job.  Not the best you've ever seen, but certainly passable.  Part of the issue is the fact that the high port has been flooded with ships coming up from Wyltz.  You guys parked Tia ahead of them.   But the onslaught is still stretching the high port resources thin.

In any event, the two of you are outside on the high port dock, walking around Tia.  The chief is pointing out the patch jobs.  You are coming around the back side when you hear the voice ahead.

There are two guys standing there, staring at Tia's thruster tubes, like frat boys staring at a fine girl's ass, arms crossed, and nodding their heads.  They both look like they've been tramping around the Black for decades.

One of them is saying, "I thought she'd been blown up."

"Nah.  I heard the Navy got a hold a' her."

The second one scowls. "Is it true?  Them stories about Ichabod Helser?"

The first guy laughs. "Ichabod Helser.  There's a name I hadn't heard in a while.  Who knows?  Anyway.  Let's go get drunk."

As the two start to walk off, the crew chief holds up a holo-clip board.  "If everything looks good, can you sign off?  How much longer will you guys be in berth, ya know?"

---

Parket fills up the shotglasses.  "Well.  One last round I guess."

He pushes your cups towards you, Ledo and BB, before he raises his glass.  "To the Pawny Paws.  Weirdest detail I ever pulled."

The three of you are sitting in a dock bar at Wyltz highport.  When you berthed, station authorities pulled everyone on the ship in.  The three of you got debriefed (obviously sticking to the story you'd arranged ahead of time Ledo) about the situation planetside.  Parket offered to buy a bottle before he and his crew shipped out.

"You gonna stick with your kid?" Parket glances at you BB.  It's pretty obvious you could parlay some work out of him.

He turns to you Ledo.  "Way I see it, I owe ya.  And I like to pay my debts.  So."

He takes out his handcomm, punches some buttons, and turns it around so the screen is facing you.

There's a message on the screen.

Request for Report on Activity of the Crew of Tiamat's Flight

Security Forces Duch requesting a full report and bio on events re: Wyltz.  Specific all info on contact with crew of the ship Tiamat's Flight.

Priority: Red

Parket flips the screen back around once you've read it Ledo.

He shrugs.  "Might be nothin'.  You guys are the heroes of the hour after all.  But the 'Duch' stands for Duchess.  As in the Duchess.  Lady Kaylin of Mora."

Duchess Kaylin of Mora.  The closest thing the Spinward Marches has to an Archduke.

Parket puts away his handcomm.  "My company sent me this message earlier this mornin'.  And I've been in debrief with station security all day.  I'll get around to writing it up later tonight.  Post it tomorrow.  Late tomorrow.  Since all these events are makin' my little head swim, I'll leave out the names and faces of your crew I didn't personally say hello to.  But fair warning:  they probably already have files on them all.

"Anyway.  You've blipped on Mora's sensor's now."

He finishes up his glass and stands.  "I sent my contact info to your comm.  If you ever need us and we're in system, drop me a buzz.  You guys fly straight."

He gives you both a final nod and walks away from the table.

---

The lady behind the counter smiles and taps the screen Tepha.  600,500 creds.  The jewels that woman gave Ledo are appraising for that much.  Not the haul you guys would have scored from the race.  But it's what you got in hand.

You look at the earrings again.  Really, they should be worth more.  At least 750,000.  But this store has given you the best price on the high port thus far.  The problem is all the refugees.  The banks planetside are still dealing with 'virus' isssues.  And so all the refugees from planetside are cashing in their jewels and handheld valuables to pay for their stay up here at the highport.  It's a buyer's market.

You can take the cash at hand.  Or you can hold on to them.  Maybe another stop down the line will be more agreeable.

Assuming Silver is either with Tepha or is rounding up cargo.

As per your reward from the CEO's lady, your repairs and refuel are paid for.  You can roll three times on the trade tables.  What cargo you roll up, she will buy for you.  So you can leave port with a full hold.

---

Paws are kaput?  So sad.

As if.  They suck'd muuuuuuccchh

Haters gotta hate.  Y no new upload?

You fuck.  We were standing on top of that building for too long!  Went up there cos U said 2.  WE coulda died

Not too late.  Go die now

Will feel so good to sink my knife into your soft warm gut

Getta room. Or help.  Or both

Wyltz is a real mess.  Thanx for sharing the vids.  How awful

The rest of the comments run along those lines.  A few blame you for making the situation worse Nero.  A couple point out you had no way to know the city's pumping station would be sabotaged.

But most are more upset about the Paws coming undone.  Overall, that's the big news.

You are staring at your site's comments when the intercom buzzes again.  It's that crew member.  The one named Fritz.

Hello.  I think they left some biscuts and gravy in the hot tray in the kitchen.  Should still be good.  Why not go help yourself?  Can't mope around all day can you?

Ledo had quickly realized that their stay in the Sisters was coming to an end. There was a lot of traffic heading to nearby independent space and he figured with all the heat they had been bringing down on them recently it was time to cool off for a bit.

"Alright crew, I've put in a course for us to head to Forine to finally get rid of that extra something we'd picked up awhile back. We can also stop by some other planets, namely Iderati along the way to do some shopping and upgrades.

We also have some jobs we can pull along the route as well to get us legitimate cover. Food to an asteroid belt and taking a film crew to an ice moon.

We ended up with a solid chunk of credits after that last mission so we might want to consider putting that money to work. Until then though keep it quiet and tight. Tepha I need you to make sure all of our passengers are departing. I think that streamer kid is still holed up in Silver's room.

Silver, we'll get your room back, don't worry. In the mean time I want you to keep an eye on things around here. The Duchess is getting awfully interested in us and I want to make sure it doesn't go beyond that. Rig, Fritz, keep doing what you're doing. I want us ready to fly as soon as we get our new cargo and passengers loaded. Dismissed!"

Nero stared at his screen with dismay. His "Free The Pansy Paws" funding campaign had barely been touched. For all the terrorism charges they would be facing the online estimators he had looked up suggested something around 10-20 million but he had so far raised less than a thousand credits.

He threw his comm onto the bed and scowled at the ceiling. When he heard a knock at the door he scowled at it. The knocking continued and he shouted at the door.

"Go away!"

After a few seconds the door announced a crew override had been used and it opened anyway. It was that woman, the girlfriend of the captain's. The redhead. Nero turned in his bunk and to face away from her.

"Hey, Nero is it? It's been three days. We're getting ready to take off again and Silver wants her bunk back."

Nero didn't reply, he just huffed. He didn't have a long term strategy but right now he figured they would have to drag him kicking and screaming from the room. Maybe that would make him feel better.

"I know it's been a rough couple of days but you should consider what is going to happen next. By filming what happened down on Wyltz you developed a huge following. Tens of thousands of followers, isn't that something worth continuing?"

"What's the point. Of any of it. None of it matters."

Nero could hear her sigh. She had been checking up on him for the past couple of days but every time he had pushed her away. By now she should have turned around and left but she stayed. Maybe Nero would get his dramatic exit sooner than later.

"What if there was something new for you to film? You ever hear about Black Sun Entertainment?"

Of course Nero had but he didn't bother responding. Still she must have picked up on that because she kept talking.

"We're going to be transporting them to a frozen moon over in Noctol. That might be worth a trip, right? BB said you were just traveling around looking for material for your channel so our ship is as good as any. I bet I can get the Captain to cut you and BB a good going rate for the ship. What about it?"

Nero felt like he should throw the offer back in her face but it was an intriguing one. Behind the scenes footage of a hot new blockbuster would be interesting, at the very least it would take his mind off of Ansley for a bit. Besides if he got thrown off this ship he would have to find a place to stay or another ship to book passage on and that was just exhausting. It sounded like this ship was a tramp going all throughout the stars and if he could get a good passenger rate maybe it would let him stay out for longer. He agonized over the decision for what felt like hours.

"Fine. Fine we can do that."

He turned over and sat up, surprised to see that Tepha had waited patiently, scrolling through news feeds on her phone as she leaned against the wall. When he agreed to it she smiled.

"Great. We'll get you and BB set up someplace. Welcome aboard!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:21, Wed 02 Dec 2020.

At their next crew meeting Ledo pulled out his comm and waved it to the others.

"Payday everyone. Tepha has sold the jewelry and we moved that...other payment...to an account we can then split and pay out."

Nobody had officially talked about it but it had become crew policy to never mention the OLF or their dealings with them ever again.

"For the hundred thousand that was an even split as per our charter. The jewelry I am splitting as per ship rules as it was basically a series of transport missions and the Tia took the brunt of the damage and danger."

Nobody argued with that but when they all clicked over to their bank accounts Rig was the first to notice that his share was a little light.

"Hey boss, I think you might want to double check your math. A quarter split is 25 grand, not 20 grand."

Ledo nodded and had a seat.

"As majority ship owner I've made a decision to cut Fritz in as an equal partner and 5% of ship's profits."

There were a couple of raised eyebrows in surprise but Ledo continued before they could object.

"Be honest, if it wasn't for Fritz we would still be stuck on the surface. As for his ship cut I am taking it entirely out of my own percentage so nobody else is getting touched. Fritz I know we talked about this and you said you don't need payment but that wasn't sitting right with me. We'll get a bank account set up and I'll be depositing money into it same as everyone else. If you never touch the money so be it but back when we first struck a deal with you I wanted you to feel like you were flesh and blood, the same as the rest of us and this just reinforces it. It is quite clear you're a tremendous asset and are far and beyond a simple tool or program so you deserve fair compensation the same as anyone else. Does anyone have an objection?"

Rig shook his head and Tepha actually smiled at the development. Silver arched an eyebrow, tapping at her screen.

"Not an objection per se but shouldn't his heist money come out of your share as well?"

Ledo rolled his eyes.

"It's 5%, Silver. You'll live. Good luck arguing he doesn't deserve a cut after that last job, though."

Silver thought about raising an objection but after chewing it over in her mind she gave Ledo a nod. Losing credits and splitting the pie to add in another wasn't great but she had to admit that he was incredibly helpful and it would be better to throw a few credits his way to keep on his good side.

She patted the wall panel next to where she was seated and grinned.

"You hear that, Fritz? You now have hooker and blow money!"

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 4):

Guys...I don't know what to say.  I've never had worldly possessions.  Thank you so much!  I promise that I will do my best not to kill any of you any time soon!  Or ever!
 I will do my best to keep you all alive!

Fritz sounds genuine in both his excitement and pledges.  Whether that makes it more  or less alarming is up to you.

---

The courier sends a message from the hotel <puple>BB</purple>.  It appears it got hit by some looters...

Just to be a jerk:

Make me a test.

Roll a 2, everything is gone.

Roll a 3-5, pick one item that got looted.  She gets the rest back.

Anything else, she gets all her gear.

---

Rig, a day after the last meeting you get a report that a new program has been created.  It's chewing up enough memory to have made it on to your system's report.  But it's not so large that it is a concern.

A quick call to Fritz clears the mystery.

Oh!  Sorry.  I thought since I have funds now maybe I should think about investing them.  So I was running a model of stock trades for several of the sectors we will be passing through.  I'll delete it.