| <br>Meanwhile, Christian makes it to the Bosun's quarters unhindered and once there, takes the dead man's gun. He shoves it in his sock, since it is now the only free gun on the ship. He pulls his pants leg over the weapon, concealing it. Rina arrives and strips the Bosun's beds of its sheets.<br><br>Christian: Why…?<br>Rina: Shroud.<br><br>They're in the middle of wrapping the Bosun when Ivan breaks in via the intercom.<br><br>Ivan: That body off ship yet?<br><br>Rina growls at the interruption and gives up, ties the sheet ends down tight with double knots and gets to her feet. Once she's safe in the corridor, they seal the airlock and vent the body. Rina crosses herself: head, chest, right shoulder, left. Russian Orthodox, of course.<br><br>So long, Grimes.<br><br>Over the remainder of the trip, we don't have much opportunity to conspire: Ivan's alcohol consumption goes down and his periods of drunken stupor decrease as a result. He carries on suspiciously—eyeing the food Christian puts in front of him, watching everyone as they go about duties…<br><br>You know, suspicious.<br><br>Unfortunately, though his drinking has moderated, his temper has not. He's carrying on like a bigger dick than usual, being hung over and in a foul mood over the entire business.<br><br>Such is the face he shows to the crew.<br><br>To the passengers he shows a different face: giving his apologies; how these days, the crew, you find them and they are scum of the earth, so it is best when you are not eating you confine yourself to your quarters; he has everything under control, the crew is attending to their duties, they will not be harassing you anymore or bother you.<br><br>We watch our step, follow his orders and do what we can to stay out of his way, even as we try to prove to him we have nothing to hide and he has nothing to fear. Christian keeps to the galley cooking, or swabs the decks. Rina scrubs toilets and spit polishes the equipment in the engine room. Nika follows orders. We eat our meals in the crew lounge with the Captain, the better for him to keep an eye on us. No talking, keep eating, you have twenty minutes, he says. Rina chokes down the tofu and the protein paste as best she can, aware she's being watched and any refusal on her part will hink the Captain more than he already is. Christian helps her where possible, but there aren't many options available to him in the galley. We get through it.<br><br>When the Captain sleeps, he locks down the bridge before turning in, shutting off access to it and his quarters immediately aft.<br><br>It's when he sleeps we can get together to plan what we're going to do next.<br><br>Christian is keeping tabs on the Captain's pattern of activity and after some observation, he nails it. That night at dinner, he carefully writes in a thin line of sauce on our plates—hidden from the Captain's line of sight by piles of food—'''N/R's room. 1 AM.'''<br><br><br>Monday, 06 Oct 2517<br>Nika and Rina's quarters<br>01:03 hrs, ships time<br><br>Christian knocks on the door. Nika lets him in. Door closed, everyone settles on the two bunks available. Christian draws his gun and puts within easy reach.<br><br>Nika: (Of the gun) What's that?<br>Christian: Bosun's gun. In case.<br>Rina: (grim smile) Awesome.<br>Nika: (not pleased) You don't think the Captain's pissed off enough?<br>Christian: I'm at this point wondering if we're going to reach the planet alive.<br>Nika: We're gonna reach the planet alive.<br>Rina: And there's any number of places we can stash that gun.<br>Nika: He might be royally, royally pissed off right now, but the fact of the matter is, we went to him and we in essence saved his cargo. And potentially saved his life, because if the Bosun had taken over, he probably would've just taken the Captain out. So, pissed off or not, we're gonna make it where we're goin'.<br>Christian: He's also a murderer. Not that we're not that particularly innocent either, except he killed two of them—<br>Nika: Exactly.<br>Christian: Except he wasn't doing it directly in self-defense.<br>Nika: Yeah, sort of.<br>Christian: They had no choice.<br>Nika: The only regret I have is not knowing if the other two were even involved with the Bosun. The engineer obviously wasn't. There's no real way to say… So if Potemkin's skimming off the top, his brother doesn't know about that. If the Bosun's skimming behind the Captain and planning to basically kill the guy…<br>Christian: I wonder if he could pilot the boat…No, it doesn't matter. It's all speculation and it's in the past. You just want to ride it out?<br>Nika: It's our only option.<br>Rina: We'll just keep our eyes open.<br>Nika: My contract, at least, was—<br>Rina: I mean, look—where are we going to go?<br>Nika: —to the company. I did sorta promise the owner that—<br>Rina: —It's not like we can step outside and hitch a ride out of here—.<br>Nika: —I could follow orders from the Captain. Which, you know, is actually what I did, except for the fact that the Captain wasn't involved in that part. So as of yet, I haven't actually disobeyed any order except for turn around and take us to that vessel.<br>Christian: Uh-uh. I fairly certain that, not in front of the Captain, to drug the entire crew is disobeying—<br>Nika: I did not disobey an order.<br>Christian: —a non-implicit order.<br>Nika: There's no such thing as an implicit order.<br>Christian: Anyway. All right. (Pointing at the gun) It's here in case we need it. He's probably not sleeping much. He's still drinking a little—<br>Nika: I highly recommend you don't hide that in here.<br>Christian: I—<br>Nika: Or in the galley. Or in your room.<br>Christian: What would you have us to do with it? Or let her decide what to do with it, since she likes them so much.<br><br>He stares pointedly at Rina. She stares right back.<br><br>Rina: (velvet over steel) There are any number of places we could stash it in the public areas where it will be hidden, but we could get to it.<br>Nika: That would be the only prudent course of action, as far as I'm concerned. Because if the Captain takes it upon himself to decide it's time to search our quarters and make sure we're following orders, he finds that here, he's gonna space the lot of us.<br>Rina: Exactly.<br>Christian: (not liking it) True.<br>Rina: Of course, true.<br>Christian: I'll put it back in the Bosun's quarters. I'm assuming he's already searched them. And taken any personal effects he can keep them for himself.<br><br>The women disagree with that assessment. The bead they've drawn is that now that the Captain's made a sufficient show of manly force, we are all cowed by him and will do what we're supposed to. He had to make an example to us scurvy lot.<br><br>Nika: I'm actually sorta fine with the example he's set so far. Aside from the whole, you know…<br>Christian: Spacing?<br>Nika: Well, technically he was in the right, Christian.<br>Christian: I am aware that—.<br><br>Nika: Technically he was in the right. We couldn't prove one way or the other whether they were and we had already done all the searching the Captain would've done. So the options are: take the chance they were in fact mutineers—<br>Christian: Actually, we never searched their quarters. But, anyway….I don't disagree completely and I don't agree completely. The whole situation is—<br>Nika: —is nothing I'm happy about, mind you—<br>Christian: —a nasty horrible mess and I agree we probably should just wait until we reach there (pointing rearward, at the derelict). At least he's not going back and exposing us to whatever killed those people, that ship full of people.<br>Rina: (morosely) Well of course, if this ever comes to trial, we are now accessories to the crime of murdering those two people.<br>Christian: It won't come to trial because it's just—<br>Nika: —Even if it came to trial—<br>Christian: —his word—<br>Nika: —in space, the Captain's best judgement rules.<br>Christian: She's right.<br>Rina: I'm not arguing that. But I also agree with you. That this doesn't sit well with me, either.<br>Christian: (agreeing) No.<br>Nika: I didn't say I was happy. I'm just saying that in space the Captain's best judgement rules. That it's highly probable that even if we went to trial for this, the court would find he did what would be required. Because he had no real way to…it's not like we have a real brig to throw them into. We couldn't keep them secure.<br><br>Christian picks up the gun.<br><br>Christian: The Captain has his own head, right? I say we duct tape this to back of the toilet in the crew head.<br>Rina: (pained disbelief) Could you think of any more obvious place?<br>Christian: He has his own bathroom. He doesn't go in there. You got a better place, tell me now.<br>Nika: If he doesn't go in there, it's probably safe enough….<br>Rina: Oh, god. Where do I start? There's any number of hatches for access to conduits, electronics—.<br>Christian: That's why I gave you the gun in the first place. Go.<br>Nika: Why don't you put it in cold storage<br>Christian: Because that's the reason I didn't put it in the galley, because I'm the only person who goes in there. And therefore I'm immediately culpable.<br>Nika: I see.<br>Rina: It should be someplace any three of us could it if we needed it.<br>Christian: Or anybody in the crew. Just if they discovered it… Put it somewhere we can get to it easily and go about our purposes.<br>Rina: Great. I'm figuring there's an atmo vent, about yea-high, put the gun in there, duct tape it so it doesn't rattle, snap the vent back in place.<br>Nike: Real good.<br>Christian: Okay.<br><br>The gun's a six-shooter. Rina checks to see if it's fully loaded. It is. <br><br>Rina: Six shots.<br>Nika: Here's hoping we don't need 'em.<br>Christian: Yes.<br><br><br>01: 25 hrs, ships time<br><br>Rina makes good on her plan, popping the panel off an atmo vent in the corridor midway between the crew and the passenger lounges, portside and just aft of the heads. She stashes the gun as planned without anyone seeing her do it. She pats the panel for luck and walks away.<br><br><br>Wednesday, 08 Oct 2517<br>Crew lounge<br>09:03 hrs, ships time<br><br>The Captain has us all pursuing tasks that keep us apart, ostensibly to prevent us fomenting another mutiny. He has Rina cleaning out the bilge filters, greasing the ball bearings on the grav rotors, and basically slaving over the machinery. As if telling Rina to go play with the engines and the workings is a problem. Dude, she's on it like white on rice. Arden is closeted with JJ and Christian's busy fulfilling his steward's duties.<br><br>Pursuant to those duties, over the next two days Christian works at bringing the Captain subtly to a calmer frame of mind. Christian does this by being a little flattering, using all the lovely little tricks he'd learned growing up as a Companion, trying to get the Captain to the point where he won't be ready for us to act.<br><br>After all, Christian relates to us later when we're out from under Potemkin's eye, tense Captains are shoot-y Captains.<br><br>Nika: `Shoot-y Captains'?<br>Rina: (laughs) Oh, I like that. Shoot-y Captains. "Now, don't get all shoot-y, now…".<br>Christian: Well, other than that I guess we're riding it out. Unless he does something stupid. Other than, you know…his existence.<br><br><br>Bridge of the MakeMake<br>13:12 hrs, ships time<br><br>Nika is alone when a signal comes in while standing bridge duty, a coded message sent directly to the bridge comm. It's from Potemkin Colonial Services HQ. Josef. Nika checks behind her for the Captain, sees the coast is clear, and opens it up. Looking at the time stamp on the message, Nika sees there's now a three-hour SOL delay.<br><br>Message: Status report. Send back your situation. Tell me what is going on.<br><br>Nika quickly fires off a reply.<br><br>Reply: MakeMake on course for Jiang Yin. ETA (gives estimate). Problems encountered en route but resolved. More information on arrival.<br><br>Nika opts not to reveal anything about the attempted mutiny, going for discretion over honesty. She hits send, thinking on what will happen on arrival: Big talk of mutiny. Big talk of shooting all of us….It's going to be ugly. Yeah. So much for discretion.<br><br>(After which Nika fires off a message to Josef as to current conditions on board...)<br><br><br>Passenger Lounge<br>18:35 hrs, ships time<br><br>Christian serves the passengers, the Robinson family, their dinner and after a leisurely meal Mr. Robinson approaches Christian to make some inquiries.<br><br>Robinson: Does it seem like there's fewer crew members than there used to be?<br><br>Great. The man's done a head count. We're humped. Christian keeps his expression guileless. <br><br>Robinson: I mean, it's not that big a ship. It's been a couple of days since we've seen that guy from Dyton and I haven't seen the regular pilot…<br><br>It's apparent to Christian that Robinson is the parental figure trying to maintain an aura of calm leadership, but the situation is making him unsettled.<br><br>Christian: I think that might be a question you'd best ask the Captain, sir.<br>Robinson: That's probably a good idea. Um, okay. We don't want to cause any trouble.<br>Christian: I understand.<br>Robinson: We thought we'd heard gunfire.<br>Christian: You should mention that to the Captain as well. And perhaps ask what he's done to secure your safety.<br>Robinson: So…he talked about discipline and all that. Is he suggesting that there's some sort of punitive measures and the crew is confined to quarters or something? It seemed an awful long time—.<br><br>Christian is torn. He could direct Robinson on the Captain and thus reduce his chances of letting anything slip, but Robinson's family is bunking in one of the cargo modules….and the Captain has already shown no scruple in venting them.<br><br>Faced with revealing the facts as his conscience dictates and playing it smart as his experience demands, he does what any intelligent person would do.<br><br>He shaves the truth.<br><br>Christian: They are in a place where they won't bother anyone, yes. Quite honestly, sir, I don't think you have much more to worry about. We're only a few days out from your destination.<br>Robinson: Okay…<br><br>Christian knows his job is keeping the passengers happy and content and unafraid. So he stresses to Robinson that if he has any questions, he should take them to the Captain. If he wishes to speak to the Captain, Christian would be happy to arrange it.<br><br>(And privately thinks that it would be best if Robinson did this when his family was out for their meal and not sitting-duck targets in their container unit. Which thought he wisely keeps behind his teeth, thank you very much…) <br><br>Christian: (concluding) I think you'll find the Captain most approachable during that period.<br><br>Robinson seems a little overwhelmed by this but agrees and goes back to his family. When the man is out of sight, Christian risks calling the others immediately for a quick conference.<br><br>Christian: I might be a little paranoid here, but I don't think it's the worst thing in the world: Is there a way to make sure that the Captain can't do to the colonists' module what he did to the seed module?<br>Rina: (getting it) I'm sure I can find a way to fritz that circuit from the inside where he can't see it.<br>Nika: You've got to be kidding.<br>Christian: The colonists are suspicious. If the Captain thinks they're a threat to his continued survival—<br>Rina: —He'll space them.<br>Christian: He will. With no problems.<br>Nika: I can see him spacing any one of us, okay? I can't see him spacing innocent colonists.<br>Christian: Why? They've already paid their fees.<br><br>Nika: That's beyond the pale. That's bad business.<br>Christian: I'm going to let you think about that for a while. This is just a precaution.<br>Nika: He'd have to explain that [spacing the passengers] when we got where we're going.<br>Christian: No, because you know what he'd do after he did that to them? He would do it to us.<br>Nika: (Yeah, right.) And land the ship himself.<br>Christian: I don't know if he can. I don't know if can't. He could always say—<br>Rina: He could send out a distress signal and make up any story he liked to whoever picked him up.<br>Christian: Or send for a shuttle from the planet with a pilot to pick him up.<br>Nika: (She can't believe this rot) I am trapped with the Paranoid Twins.<br><br>Rina: Two heads work better than one.<br>Christian: Would you rather find out now that we're right, would you rather take that precaution? Or find out later?<br>Nika: All right…all right—.<br>Rina: —I'm on it.<br>Christian: Wait til he falls asleep first. And keep in mind he has the engineer looking for power fluctuations.<br><br>Rina thinks fast. She knows that hacking the door circuit in a way that it doesn't show and still give them control over it is long and complex, and doing it without being seen carries a high probability of discovery. In engineering and on the bridge, the status boards for the doors would give her away. OR she could ruin it so the doors cannot open once they're closed, or fix it so they cannot close once they're opened. The best she could hope for would be to damage the controls just enough to warrant constant tinkering in search of a fix, yet not damaging the controls enough that they'd haywire and either vent the occupants or obey a remote command to vent from the bridge or engineering.<br><br>Shit. Faking a reactor failure with steam and strobe lights and sirens would be easier than pulling this job off…<br><br>She decides to work on the controls from inside the modules. The module power systems are outside the ship's power systems, so the power fluctuations from her tinkering won't register in engineering or on the bridge. She could futz the controls in such a way as to register with the module programming as a malfunction—one that would not endanger the occupants yet activate the failsafe systems, making detaching the module a five-minute process instead of a five-second one. This way, the occupants could still make their way in or out, no matter how twitchy the Captain's finger was on the vent button.<br><br>Rina: (to Christian) If nothing else, in five minutes we can run to get the gun and shoot him in the head before he kills those people. Sucks to be him, but those people would be saved.<br><br>Or she could just hit him, Rina admits. She's already demonstrated on Grimes how lethal her punches can be. Nika thinks this mighty funny and even Christian can see the humor in it.<br><br>Christian: We could have a Russian versus Russian brawl.<br>Rina: Guy on Girl. Russian versus Russian. Anybody want to take bets?<br>Christian: No. No, no, I don't want to go on and think about that.<br><br>Rina finds a time when she's not actually assigned to a duty that the Captain would know about and enters the module with a story about checking the module portals against the danger of accidental decompression. And then accomplishes her task under their very noses. It takes her about an hour to complete and the Robinsons are happy to let her have at it.<br><br>And the Universe smiles on her for once—the Captain didn't notice a thing.<br><br>Later, that same evening, Mrs. Robinson buttonholes the Captain. Christian catches up with her en route, hoping to head off a confrontation—he's seen her expression and knows that look.<br><br>Christian: Ma'am, is there something you need?<br>Mrs. Robinson: I just want to talk to the Captain. There's some strange things on this ship. And I want some answers.<br>Christian: Well, all right.<br>Mrs. Robinson: My husband's talked to you. You with your ….long hair and your…yes, we all know about that.<br>Christian: (unperturbed) My long hair. Yes. I don't try to hide it.<br>Mrs. Robinson: I know. I've seen it.<br><br>Christian has already foreseen where this is going and he's way ahead of her. The Robinsons have a teenaged daughter and Christian hadn't missed how the girl has been looking at him…and making transparent excuses to be in the same room with him whenever possible. Yes, he knows where this is going and has taken pains to give the girl no openings whatsoever to make a fool of herself with him.<br><br>Convincing her mother of that, however, is another matter entirely.<br><br>Joyous.<br><br>Mrs. Robinson turns on her heel and leaves Christian in her dust. He follows discreetly to monitor what she tells the Captain. She finds Potemkin and Christian pulls a fade.<br><br>He listens in.<br><br>Mrs. Robinson: Captain. Don't think we don't know that something's going on on this ship. There are some obvious questions that need to be answered. What has happened to the crew? Why is this journey taking so long?<br><br>Since we'd gone two days off course one way and took another two days to get back on course, four days is a noticeable delay.<br><br>Ivan: (clears throat) Space travel. Is complicated thing. There are hazards in space that must be navigated around. I assure you everything is fine. Crew is doing what they are supposed to be doing.<br>Mrs. Robinson: So. I'm not going to get an answer from you? A straight answer? Are they—are they even on the ship, anymore?<br>Ivan: There is nowhere to leave. You cannot leave ship in space. You would die. So certainly, they did not leave. Not of their own will.<br><br>Christian nearly chokes. He's lived all his life amongst people trained to be the ultimate diplomats, the utmost polite and suave and personable people in the Universe. And hearing the Captain now, Christian is just flabbergasted.<br><br>Just. Flabbergasted.<br><br>Luckily, Mrs. Robinson misses the implications of the Captain's last sentence. Instead she bulls on.<br><br>Mrs. Robinson: Be assured that when we get to Jiang Yin we will be alerting the authorities about this.<br>Ivan: Of course. You are free to do whatever you wish when you leave here. I think flight would be more pleasant for you if you don't think about these things for the next few days. When we get to Jiang Yin, when you see your new home, you will be excited. The children are looking forward to playing in the fresh air…so…I have many things to attend to here, so if you will excuse me, I am sure our steward will—.<br><br>Christian shows himself to head off any more disastrous slips the Captain might make.<br><br>Ivan: Ah! There you are.<br>Christian: Yes, Captain.<br>Ivan: (to Mrs. Robinson) Mr. Edge will be happy to provide you with some amusements. Mr. Edge, if you would escort Mrs. Robinson back to the passenger area.<br>Christian: Yes, of course, Captain.<br>Ivan: And in future, bridge area is for crew only.<br>Christian: Yes, Captain.<br><br>Ivan has already forgotten her. Mrs. Robinson isn't quite ready to be fobbed off so easily, however, and bends Christian's ear. <br><br>Mrs. Robinson: I've dealt with people like this before. You won't hear the last of this. I've been in space before. I know people who know the Alliance shipways, and the Navy…<br>Christian: Yes, Ma'am.<br><br>Christian gently escorts her to her quarters, thinking as he does so it's time for another strategy session with his fellow crewmen.<br><br><br>Nika and Rina's quarters<br>23:19 hrs, ships time<br><br>Christian knocks quietly on their door.<br><br>Tap-tap.<br><br>Rina: That better not be a candy-gram.<br><br>Christian slips inside. He wastes no time but gets right to it.<br><br>Christian: Mrs. Robinson had a little conversation with the Captain today. She's threatened to report him to the authorities. And then later threatened his license. <br>Rina: For what?<br>Christian: Well, she and her husband have noticed the sudden lack of crew on the ship.<br>Rina: What if she reports him to the authorities? Do we care, so long as we're not aboard when it happens?<br>Christian: In general, honestly no.<br>Nika: Is there any reason no one's answered her questions?<br>Christian: I don't know why the Captain hasn't seen fit to answer her questions. That is a good question.<br>Nika: Assuming you're the first line of defense, why didn't you answer her questions?<br>Christian: The Captain's job is to answer her questions.<br>Nika: (Right!) 'Way to pass the money….<br>Christian: I am still technically under his orders.<br>Nika: Were you under orders not to tell her anything?<br>Christian: Was I given orders not to tell her anything?<br>Rina: (shrugging) What could she do? If you told her, what could she do?<br>Nika: It depends on what questions she's asking. <br>Rina: I wouldn't know.<br>Christian: "Where are the crew?", "Why is the ship taking so long?"<br>Nika: The trip is taking so long because we had to—<br>Christian: Hazards of space, blah-blah-blah—<br>Nika: —take a detour around something. And?<br>Christian: Hopefully nothing will come of it.<br>Nika: You couldn't answer that convincingly?<br>Christian: (A beat)… She said something about my long hair and walked very quickly in the other direction.<br><br>Silence.<br><br>Rina: For some people it's snakes. For others, it's hair.<br>Nika: Okay. Whatever.<br>Christian: Honestly, at this point should it come up again…I don't know. I didn't want to a) alarm them and b) give them more worried and make the Captain upset. Or more cause.<br>Nika: It's a valid concern…<br>Christian: It is a valid concern, that they go about asking about how he's a murderer and they are going to report him to the authorities—.<br>Nika: You could have just told her that some of the crew were confined to their quarters.<br>Christian: We did tell them they were in a place where they wouldn't bother anyone. (heartfelt) Ever, ever again.<br><br>Nika looks at him, incredulous.<br><br>Nika: (please tell me you didn't) And you answered her in that particular tone?<br>Christian: (annoyed) No. You know I know how to deal with people. At the moment, there's not much we can do, either. I recognize when some are so irate that nothing you can say will affect them and they are getting to this point. Hopefully, we will get there soon and this will all end. Pleasantly.<br>Rina: Couldn't you just slip kortine in his coffee or something?<br>Nika: (swatting her) Oh, stop.<br>Rina: Couldn't you slip kortine in my coffee?<br>Christian: You don't want to know what's in your coffee in the morning. Here's a hint: it's not "coff" and it's not "ee".<br><br>Christian stands.<br><br>Christian: Well. I'm going back to my quarters.<br><br>When he's gone, Rina looks over at Nika.<br><br>Rina: Tell you what. I'm making sure that everything of mine is packed and close to me as possible, like a rat leaving a sinking ship.<br>Nika: So much for signing on with this ship.<br>Rina: Um-hm.<br><br>We reach the Prairie Paradise of Jiang Yin without further incident.<br><br><br>Saturday, 11 Oct 2517<br>Juniper Springs Settlement<br>Jiang Yin, Red Sun(Zhu Que)System<br>07:28 hrs, local time<br><br>We find the coordinates for the colonial seat easily and when we land there we find it's a mite more…fortress-y…than expected.<br><br>It's like a scene out of the pre-Exodus movie, The Road Warrior. Buildings huddle together closely, bristling with parapets, watch towers and barbed wire. No doubt the area around the fortified town is mined to hell and back.<br><br>Wonderful.<br><br>When we land, it's no real surprise nobody comes out to meet us initially. The fact that there was a beacon to guide us down, instead of an official port authority, is starting to make sense, now. Our LZ happens to be on one of the more rural continents and coupled with lack of port oversight, a ship could shake-n-bake to the surface anywhere it wants. Scuttlebutt for such places is that while it's been inhabited for a while, people have just found places where they want to live and have gone off into the wild, some have even gone native.<br><br>Perhaps this is what's happened to this outpost?<br><br>And here we are, landing into the middle of an armed camp…without our guns. The Captain still has them.<br><br>So, there being nothing for it, we start off-loading our cargo. In doing so, we find out that contrary to our belief, the Captain hadn't spaced the contents of the seed container. He had merely opened the hatches just long enough to vent the bodies and quickly shut them again, leaving the contents secured inside. Minus a few bags, the seeds made it to their final destination intact. At least we won't incur cargo-loss fees.<br><br>Christian tells the Captain he's leaving.<br><br>Christian: You can off-load all you want. I'll be packing my bags and going off, too.<br>Ivan: You'll be leaving?<br>Christian: Um-hm.<br><br>Rina is nearby and speaks up.<br><br>Rina: You really want to live here? Look at this place.<br><br>She throws her hands wide.<br><br>Christian: Are you planning on getting back on this ship?<br><br>Caught on the spot with the Captain looking on, Rina daren't say anything. Damn you, Christian. Nika stops and speaks for herself.<br><br>Nika: It could be months before another ship comes this way.<br>Christian: (to Nika) Are you planning on getting back on this ship?<br>Nika: I was, actually.<br><br>A group of colonists approach from the fortified …um, fortress…forestalling anything the Captain would say to this near-mutinous conversation. They want to book passage on our ship, amazingly enough.<br><br>Ivan wants to know what is going on. They fill us in on the skinny. It's short and sweet.<br><br>To wit: They don't want to be here any more. They want to leave. <br><br>Rina: (muttering) Mrs. Robinson is not going to be pleased to hear that.<br>Nika: It would make up for the profits you lost.<br>Colonists: We will have money when we get to wherever you take us.<br><br>Christian: What's wrong with the planet?<br>Nika: (continuing) Were you planning on an actual cargo returning, at all? Pure profit, if not.<br>Ivan: I have place to go.<br>Christian: Yes, remember he has to go salvage a—.<br>Nika: Yeah but they don't have a timetable.<br>Ivan: We have adequate food for more?<br>Christian: We wouldn't have, but granted that we're several mouths short...<br>Nika: I realize this isn't a regular spaceport, but we shouldn't have too much trouble to get provisions enough, wouldn't you think?<br>Christian: You would think, yes.<br>Nika: Fuel would be my primary concern, more so than food.<br>Christian: (to the colonists) Which one of you is the leader?<br><br>A man steps forward.<br><br>Leader: We've been dealing with bandits of some kind. They've made it impossible to live outside the walls. We had to build the walls to deal with the bandits. We haven't gotten any farming done. I can't live like this. This isn't what we've signed up for.<br>Christian: How many people are we looking at, right now?<br>Leader: About three dozen.<br>Christian: I don't think that a ship like this is going to be able to take that many people, sir.<br>Leader: It's a big ship. You can fit thirty people on that ship, no problem.<br>Christian: You could. But you're not going to have the food. Or the oxygen or the water to get them anywhere. If you want to take thirty people out and have half of them die on the way…<br>Leader: All right. We gotta do some kinda system like….(whispers) I got some money, I can buy my way on. (louder) Most of the people don't have any money, but they might say they do back home. They'd take anything.<br>Christian: Well, that's up to the Captain.<br>Ivan: We shall see. You have interesting idea. <br>Nika: Our primary concern will be consumables, both fuel, air…water….<br>Ivan: (thinking it through) We have one way back to spot. Four days from there to Burnadette…so, if each person can bring eleven days food…you can keep engines running to produce adequate oxygen, I assume?<br><br>It's possible. The oxy on board is primarily recycled before the incremental loss is renewed via the off-gassing from the algae tanks.<br><br><br>Nika: And we'll need to check the fuel.<br>Rina: (backing Nika) Yeah, definitely.<br>Nika: Fuel and water are my primary worries.<br>Ivan: There should be adequate fuel.<br>Nika: Even with the additional weight?<br>Ivan: One…two…three…four bursts…I don't think we have enough fuel. We'll have to stop on the way.<br><br>We'll have to stop at one of the Heinlein moons or St. Albans, maybe at Dandelion Station, to refuel. Now that's settled, Nika gets down to business.<br><br>Nika: So for the people who want to get on board, they'll have to pay at least half up front—.<br>Ivan: No. They pay full.<br>Nika: As you like, Captain. And the timetable is four days longer than it should be so we that we can detour back.<br>Christian: I'm curious, Captain. When you get to the …midpoint…<br>Ivan: Da.<br>Christian: How do you plan on getting what's there onto your ship?<br>Ivan: We talk and check to see if there's anyone.<br>Christian: Who?<br>Nika: Before we do that—.<br>Christian: No-no-no. Who?<br>Ivan: With crew.<br>Christian: Um…she's not crew. (He points to Rina.) And it's not in either of our contracts.<br><br>Ivan: You crew on ship. You do what I tell you. You wish to stay here with these people, you stay with these people. Are you continuing mutiny, too?<br>Christian: (drawing it out)…I'm thinking…That… it would be wise if you're taking on passengers, to go directly to where you're going. Without that…well. You do what you wish, sir.<br>Ivan: I'm not sure what you mean. It be wise for me to do what?<br>Christian: Well. You're going to take a bunch of people. You're going to stop and they're going to wonder why you're stopping in the middle of nowhere—<br>Ivan: We will leave them on one of those other planets we mentioned.<br>Nika: We can leave them at St. Albans.<br>Christian: True. I suppose that's true. We could do that.<br>Ivan: Or at station.<br>Nika: We could just tell them that "That's as far as we'll take you. You'll have to pick other passage from there.".<br>Ivan: They'll have to pay us first.<br>Nika: That will actually make the return trip profitable.<br>Christian: You might want to consider a trade in goods. The entire population of this city is…I'm sure…that there's nothing, that anything here that would be theirs to trade has been taken.<br>Ivan: Yes, but. What's here. Plows…<br>Christian: Well for one thing, they didn't get out the farm…all their seeds.<br>Nika: What kind of bandits are we talking about, anyway.<br>Rina: Yeah. How many?<br><br>Good old fashioned sorts. About a dozen or so. On horseback.<br><br>Rina: A dozen? They've got them outnumbered (meaning the colonists).<br><br>Yes, but they don't have very many guns and they aren't warriors. Remember, this is the Alliance. They've been dropped off with a shovel and a few tents. What few guns they have are used on animals for hunting and protection.<br><br>Rina: And are we taking the Robinsons back if they take one look outside this door and say `this isn't what we signed on for'?<br><br>She nods toward the Robinsons in a group huddle by the cargo bay doors, obviously having a family discussion about that very issue.<br><br>Rina: You may have to deal with them all the way back.<br>Nika: You have two options here, Captain. We can make the return trip somewhat profitable. If we were traveling back with an empty ship, anyway, there's pure bonus there. Bearing in mind, we will have to drop them off somewhere along the way because your little illegal salvage operation—.<br>Ivan: There is nothing illegal about it.<br>Nika: (not buying it) Mm-hm.<br>Christian: Really. I didn't realize you worked for United Salvage.<br>Ivan: I am not talking about any salvaging. I have business—.<br>Christian: With a bunch of dead people.<br>Ivan: Well, if they are dead—<br>Christian: —then it would be salvage—<br>Ivan: —but if they have goods I have already purchased, then it won't.<br>Christian: Well. I'm not a lawyer.<br>Nika: In any case, the derelict vessel sitting out there that might have your goods on it—<br>Ivan: Yes.<br>Nika: That's between you and…whatever….when we get back. The other option you have here is to be potentially make a little money, help out the colonists and figure out what the heck the stupid bandits are doing and get them off this planet.<br>Ivan: We aren't at war, here.<br>Nika: Meh! We have a ship.<br>Ivan: An unarmed ship.<br>Christian: I'm certain if you land this ship on top of a bandit, he'll go squish.<br>Nika: There you go.<br>Christian: I'm fairly certain a rifle won't penetrate the hull.<br>Ivan: If we did this….don't like sound of it. We take paying customers with us, if they wish to come, and we go about our own business. Make this profitable. You help me, may get some profit from this yourselves. You play ball. But then, it is between me and you.<br>Nika: In the future, however, when we schedule such jaunts, if you have stoppage along the way, we schedule it in…so your brother stops climbing people's backs trying to figure out what you're doing.<br>Ivan: (sighing) My brother thinks he knows much of what goes on. He thinks we not know of transmissions and responses to transmissions.<br>Nika: You saw them. They're in the public logs. I told you your brother hired me to watch out for you.<br>Ivan: Yes, I remember this. So…you are interested in helping out the colonists. You talk to them, find out who can pay the most, we bring on, what? twelve? We can manage twelve?<br>Nika: So long as they bring nothing but clothing and food, yes.<br>Ivan: All right…we bring in twelve, maybe fifteen if they pay more….we can take as far as…we have to check charts to see if either Dandelion Station or if one of the Heinlein moons is closer…whichever one is closer, and it is likely going to be Dandelion Station, since it's stationed in apogee…<br>Nika: We'll just haul them as far as we can take them and drop them off there. Go about the rest of the business from there and…<br>Ivan: Is very good. So you handle that?<br>Nika: All right.<br>Ivan: I suppose we not off-load compartments until we are there… unless they need space for sleeping and such…(to Christian) to you, I will hand off them.<br>Christian: Actually, unless you take them all, I'm taking my rifle and staying here.<br>Ivan: Take all of them. And where do you suppose we put all of them?<br>Christian: I don't. That's the problem. But I'm not going to leave these people here totally defenseless. If I can help I will. You're free to go.<br>Ivan: Well, that's one more space.<br>Nika: How many can we fit in a cargo compartment. We put up a family of five in one of them.<br>Ivan: We can put hundreds of people on ship.<br>Nika: But air consumption becomes a problem. Water consumption becomes a problem.<br>Ivan: We stay few days. You figure out all kinds of plan. figure out way to get more oxygen, whatever we need…<br>Nika: We'll see. If we absolutely can't—<br>Ivan: There are settlements on Jiang Yin. Perhaps we can drop them off at another city.<br>Nika: There's an idea.<br>Ivan: For a small fee.<br>Nika: A little transport fee as opposed to a big ticket fee.<br>Christian: That's actually a good question. Do they have a radio? Have they tried to contact the other settlements?<br>Nika: If it's broken, could they?<br><br>They have, but the response has been unfavorable. They've even appealed to the Alliance military and the response has been the standard "We'll get to you on the return trip in our rounds…"<br><br>Nika: Let's see if any of the other settlements are willing to take them and if the colonists are willing to go. That may cut our numbers, too.<br>Ivan: You will burn much fuel through atmo. So you figure out what you need to do. You have two days.<br>Rina: Yeah, and I figure you can offer not only mouths to feed, but equipment they can bring with them and supplies—<br>Nika: And we have our cargo hold full of stuff that—<br>Ivan: But if there are bandits, the airlock stays closed, so none of them on board.<br>Rina: Well of course, no going off the ship to take a piss and let the aliens on board behind your back. Yes, definitely. We'll have them pee in a can.<br><br>All right. We're agreed. We've got two days of hauling ass. We will call around, shuffle the settlers and their supplies to the whatever settlements will take them in and burn atmo with the rest to dump elsewhere. All for cashy money, making the return trip pure profit.<br><br>Under a possibly unstable Captain and unruly load of passengers.<br><br>Oh yeah. This is going to go well.<br>
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