So Beto gathered all investors at a discreet booth, and told them this :
"32 years ago after 8 years into the Merchant Navy, I had the opportunity to buy my boss's A3Lc Far Trader, which had been built only 8 years before, with a rebate.
You've got to imagine he was my lover then, I was an astonishing brunette 33 year old, and my very first investigation had just gotten his ass, his company and myself out of legal trouble...
Anyway, 25% of the trader belonged to me only, and with the help of then-BF acting as guarantor, I could obtain a loan for the other 75% - MCr70 - at the Imperial Merchant's Bank of Empire - Tobia Subsector, 2711. I'm not making the name up!
Duration of the loan : 32 years ; interest rate : 4%. Yearly installment : MCr3.58 - remember that figure.
However, as soon as I became the owner of the "Lady's Hope", I realized I was pregnant with Gemmie. I soon left the Merchant Marine instead of bearing the burden and responsibilities that come with managing both a trader and a baby. I also wanted to try my luck in investigative journalism.
However, I did want to keep
her - the ship - for my old years. So I rented
her to an experienced crew who had lost their own ship.
For 26 years, 3 different honest captains took care of
her, and paid the installments more or less regularly, earning enough to repay MCr3.58 every year, on top of all expenses.
But then, 6 years ago, an Aslan crew became the tenant, and they just ran off to the Hierate with
her, and of course never paid any installments. The ship was irrecoverable. The re-insurance paid the remainder of the loan to the bank.
From what I learned, the Aslans renamed the ship "Roarl-Ooargl" and accepted trans-realms transportation contracts in the subsec - the Hierate, the Glorious Empire, you name it.
But when the cargo was valuable, they just stole it and came here into the League, to Thrush, to sell it. The last time, the value of the goods stolen was MCr14. But also that last time, they fell in a police trap.
The criminal justice in the League is peculiar; in the Imperium, the court would try to ascertain if the Aslans committed multiple thefts; while the court of Thrush had to decide whether what the Aslans did was a crime. As the ship was still to my name on the papers, their lawyer claimed they just
borrowed it... The jury was divided, but in the end they settled I could get the ship back only if I repaid the 14 millions
to the owner of the cargo...
14 millions for a 40-year old ship which has a market value of 70 millions, I didn't hesitate... But of course I didn't have the money and I had to find 14 millions before the insurance on Empire got wind of the ship's reappearance...
I contacted Credo 'the Hyena' Laffinger; for an usurer he's quite reasonable, and demanded only a 30% interest rate, provided that :
- I repaid MCr20 in 4 installments of MCr5 - one every 13 weeks, within one single year
- The ship was pledged as collateral - I can't sell her before Laffinger is repaid.
- No change could be done to the ship without his approval - of course the idea of selling spare parts for cash had crossed my mind...
- If I failed to repay the loan, she'd be his - the ship would belonged to him.
- The Florian League justice system gets sure the arrangement is respected
I'm too old to skip out on repayments, jump to distant systems and start a new life. I'd be logged down as a criminal in the databases - and I'd like to keep my TAS membership, thank you ;)) I'd be hunted down by the Hyena's henchmen; the Florian naval vessels ; and the insurance's ship tracers (bounty hunters) when they hear about it!
So here we are. I'd like to keep an ownership of 25% of the "Old Lady's Hope". I open 75% of the capital of the ship to investors : a value MCr52.5
The investors and myself have to gather 20 millions within a year to repay The Hyena. For every million invested now [one share], you own 3.75% of the ship.
When the usurer gets his 20 millions back, the ship is ours, and we could sell her for MCr70. Or keep it, if the majority wants.
3.75% of MCr52.5 is 2.625. For each MCr1 share you invest now, you could get MCr2.6 in one year, a fine windfall, right?
Of course there are risks: we have to respect each of the four installments. The installment are not refundable and Credo wants us to fail to repay. The insurance might wake up after 6 years and start long proceedings. While we're traveling to earn money with it, many things could happen to the ship : breakdown, pirate attacks, takeover, jump mishhaps... you know
those risks.
Within a year, I could free 5 ships shares, maybe more. That leaves MCr15 to raise.
If I add up all your shares, you may invest 12 millions between yourselves. That leaves us with 3 millions to earn within a year... which is within reach since my tenants could earn more than MCr3.6 each year!
I'll transfer to you now all the papers, supporting documents and contracts. Take your time to study them. I'll take questions and suggestions any time.", concluded Beto, now very tired.
She sank in an armchair and helped herself with a full mug of kaff and whisky.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:57, Sat 16 Sept 2023.
