Episode 108. Part 5
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Wednesday, 28 Sep 2518
Kuiper II Class Summer’s Gift
Deadwood
Blue Sun System
14:37 hrs, local time
Harbinger is waiting for us on Deadwood when we arrive. As a location, Deadwood is pretty unprepossessing. The town where we’ve arranged to meet sports the same name as the planet, a one-horse dorp with a single dirt road running through it, board and batten buildings on either side. Frontier western-y. Scrub brush. A distinctive rock outcropping in the short distance, like the prow of a maritime ship sinking nose-up into the landscape, is the only interesting feature to catch the eye. The landing facilities aren’t much more than scorched dirt. We pay up on our docking fees, fill up the Gift’s fuel tanks and sort out who’s going and who’s staying aboard.
Mike, knowing full well he’s a liability and his life is forfeit if anyone in the clandestine community discovered his condition, opts to stay aboard the ship. Rina opts to stay with him. Nika takes Christian, Arden and Donovan with her to meet Harbinger’s crew.
Connolly and Kramer are already at the Rusty Nail Bar in Deadwood when Nika arrives. Donovan goes straight to the bar and buys a round for the table and a few extra drinks for himself.
Arden: They seem a little on edge about something.
Nika: You guys go and hit the bar for a couple of minutes.
The men retreat to the bar and Nika continues on alone. Donovan eyes the people waiting for her at the table, sees they are indeed nervous…not necessarily about Nika, but about something, and decides to keep his eye on the Captain. Christian finds a chair to sit down and relax in. Arden remains standing at the bar and discreetly checks out Kramer…one good lookin’ woman, that one. Nika approaches her old friends easily and drops down into a chair they’ve got waiting for her.
Nika: Sorry about the crooked message.
Kramer: Yeah, sorry if we seem less than welcoming than usual…
Nika: Yeah, well…
Kramer: Nothing will change the years you were on the ship. That’s always there. Unless there’s something you need to tell us or ask us?
Nika: Well, I could’ve used a little back-up, you guys’re stuck out here...that’s okay, though.
Kramer: Just understand that…well. Why don’t you tell us what’s going on?
Nika: Well, we’ve picked up a passenger, down in Georgia, who got pulled up by a nasty little chemical called Chempliance. Heard of it?
Kramer: Hm. Yeah. It was in the news recently.
Nika: (sarcastically) Yeah. The news. Yeah, that’d be the one.
Kramer: So you were with the--? (gestures vaguely)
Nika: Yeah. Unfortunately.
Kramer: It doesn’t take a lot to piece together where your ’waves are comin’ from and what’s been goin’ on.
Nika: Didn’t know what I was getting’ into.
Kramer and Connolly both look a little relieved when Nika says this.
Nika: Ran some cargo for Solon Massoukis, picked up some cargo from him and took it to Beaumonde. Wound up putting out some feelers for a little more lucrative cargo than what we’d been runnin’ and sorta got pulled in. Didn’t know what Nguyen had goin’.
And lemme tellya what—He’s got some crap goin’.
Kramer: Of course, because he’s a terrorist.
Nika: Precisely. All I was gonna do was run cargo. He said he could use some extra hands, we needed the credits, took the job. Didn’t ask enough questions. Really sucked.
Kramer: Well, it certainly hasn’t helped the situation here.
Nika: I’m sure not. In addition, it got one of our old friends caught in the middle, which is why I wound up in Georgia, where we had to pull him out of a friggin’ clinic down there…the Alliance had him in.
Kramer: One of our old friends?
Nika: You remember a guy named Carter?
Kramer: He was in Alliance custody?
Kramer sighs heavily.
Nika: And pumped full’a crap.
Kramer: And where was this cli—
Connolly: Don’t ask that.
Nika: Don’t ask. Do not ask. We did spring him. He’s not in custody anymore.
Kramer: All right. Well.
Nika: What in the hell is goin’ on out here?
Kramer: Here it’s just man, which is why there isn’t anybody out here…but….people are starting to move faster than may be such a good idea. We’re kinda easing back out of this and I’m glad to hear that you’re not a big fan of those tactics.
Nika: (you gotta be shittin’ me!) Um, no. I’m flyin a friggin’ cargo hack. Got no interest in that kinda crap with a cargo hack…and a crew that knows jack and shit about anything.
Kramer: Well, at least you got a factory. That’s pretty good.
Nika: That was sheer stupid luck. Seriously. Sheer stupid luck. It’s been a mess. And I crossed fuckin’ Potemkin. I don’t know if you know his name or not, but if you hear it and there’s a problem, let me know, please. Cuz didn’t I hire out with him and wind up with a stolen ship.
Kramer: This is where you end up after it’s—
Nika: Well, not right after, but that’s how all this got started, yes.
Kramer: You're not a Dust Devil, that’s what we were worried about.
Nika: Um, no. And I half expected you to have Harry sitting outside to kick my ass as I came in the door.
Kramer: And the rest of you crew? They feel the same?
Nika: Yeah, the feel the same. Well…my passenger may or may not, he’s kinduva—whatever.
Kramer: Well. (gestures she’s shelving that topic.) I assume you’ve seen the ’Wave.
Nika: Oh yeah. I’ve seen the ’Wave and the crap they pumped Carter full of before we picked him up is a descendant.
Kramer: I hate to tell you, but that man is gonna be marked.
Nika: Oh, hell yeah. We took him from an Operative.
Kramer: No, I wouldn’t worry about the Alliance. That’s the least of your worries. All your old friends….well, not all of your old friends—
Nika: What do you mean, marked?
Kramer: Carter knows a lot of—
Nika: Oh, that? Yeah, I know.
Kramer: Okay. If you know where he is—
Nika: Don’t ask, don’t tell.
Kramer: (continuing)— and we don’t want to know, but you might not want to advertise that you know.
Nika: I’m not advertising anything except with you people.
Kramer: Well. We’re gonna go for a little … sightseeing tour in a little bit. I thought you should know about that. But that’s what we wanted to talk to you about. If all we get what we expect, then we should be fine. If you don’t hear from us for a while, that might be a good reason why.
Nika: Oh, good.
Kramer: Well, the ’Wave was a long thing, but people say it’s fraudulent.
Nika: (getting it now…) You are n—You have…You have got to be pulling my leg. Really.
Kramer: You know this ship.
Nika: I thought you were a little sane.
Kramer: A buncha cracked-out Reavers. We think most all have probably been dispersed by the Alliance fleet. You know those ships can’t do anything to us. So we’re gonna check it out.
Nika sighs a long despairing sigh and just looks at her former Captain. The woman is nuts, just fuckin’ nuts, going into Reaver space to ‘check it out’… and there’s not a thing Nika can do about it.
Kramer: We’ll let you know, if you want, what we find.
Nika: Yeah, I want!
Kramer: All right.
Nika: Good Lord. Is there anything I can do to talk you out of it? You’re insane. that’s more insane than I have been for the past three months, and I’m tellin’ ya, that’s sayin’ somethin’.
Kramer: Actually, we have reason to believe it’s not going to be so dangerous. I mean, if a Firefly can get in there…. how hard can it be? Those things are a piece’a crap. You all know that.
Nika: (letting it go…God) Well, I got obligations here. Who’s flyin’ for ya?
Kramer: Oh, we got this kid. He’s pretty good. He’s crazy, but, you know, that’s okay. We already know what the ship can handle because of you, so, as long as he flies no worse than that…
Nika: I’m getting a headache. The more you talk, the bigger my headache gets.
Kramer: All right. Just so you know. Well, then, I hereby put a moratorium on all discussions of plans and pasts.
Nika turns in her chair and waves her crew at the bar to come and join them. When everyone settles, Kramer looks them over.
Kramer: So this is the crew you chose over the Harbinger.
Nika: No.
Kramer: (grinning) I got it.
Arden: More the crew she got stuck with.
Nika: These are the people I stole the ship with.
Arden: We didn’t steal the ship.
Christian: We returned the ship to its proper owner—
Arden: —Who gave it to us.
Nika: Who then gave it to us, yes. (starts laughing) This is a big long story. (to Connolly) You’re buyin’.
Connolly: Oh, I’ve done more than that. In another twenty-five, thirty minutes we’re gonna have barbeque like you’d never believe.
Nika: Ohhhh…..
Connolly: (smugly) I bought myself a cow.
Nika: I love you. You are so gettin’ laid.
Arden: (incredulous) Is that all it takes? Barbecue?
Christian: I could’ve made barbecue.
At which point, Connolly’s comm goes off: An Alliance cruiser is coming straight for Deadwood.
Kramer orders her ship and crew to climb aboard and bug out. The barbecue is cancelled and Nika swallows her disappointment.
Seeing as how we’re also trying to stay off the Feds’ radar, we take off from Deadwood on Harbinger's heels. We have a heading: We’re going to Osiris to see if Arden’s friend can help Mike, and that is where we go when we leave Deadwood behind. It will take 27 days (ETA: Tuesday, 25 Oct 2518) to get there and resigned to the downtime, we settle in for the long haul.
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