Episode 203: Gibraltar Blues
Air Date: 04 Aug 2009 Present: Maer, Terri, Bobby, Jay and Tony.
Monday, 22 January 2520
Kuiper II Class, Summer’s Gift
Gibraltar Space Port, Newhope
Georgia (Huang Long) system
15:30 hrs, local time
The TSE continues to claim more victims and the majority action has been to contain the disease instead of finding a cure for it. Arden spends his time in transit trawling the Cortex for information on the TSEB treatment and cure. The name of Dr. Kell Lawrence catches his eye. Arden had read the man’s work as a medical student on Osiris. Lawrence was in all the medical textbooks and now it seems he has posted his research, now fifteen years old, on what he’d called ‘left-handed prions’ which can be used to artificially create ‘anti-prions’. His work was controversial in its day, declared quite off the edge, causing academic ridicule and his ignominious retreat from the medical establishment. And now it looks as if his work might be on to something, fifteen years later. Lawrence has resurfaced on the online forums and in one thread, he mentions that he’s had some success in using left-handed prions to deal with the TSE of scrapie. His news is still as controversial as ever, judging by the forum replies. Arden fires off an email to Lawrence, saying he’s interested in hearing more about his theories and his research and that he’d like to help Lawrence in his research if he needs it. Lawrence’s addy is from St. Albans, in Red Sun.
We arrive after a two day flight from Boros at Gibraltar Space Port on Newhope, a world that gets by on mining (mountains) and rice and fish production (everywhere else). Gibraltar is a giant rock edifice rising from the surface of Newhope, rather like its Old Earth namesake, and Gibraltar Space Port is built for the most part right into the living rock itself. Landing pads are carved out of the vertical cliff face like giant stair steps zigzagging toward the summit, and a narrow switchback road serves them all. Cargo containers are lifted to the ships above via a cable car device that rises from the Docks proper at the base of Gibraltar below. Between the actual blue water port with its Docks and the summit of the Rock lies the town of Gibraltar.
Landing at the pads is a tricky business, thanks to the thermals rising up the cliff face. Nika just takes it in stride, citing it a fun ride. Definitely an E-Ticket.
Rina’s on the bridge, shipspotting now the hazardous business of reentry is over, and below us she sees a big damn ship: the 170,000 ton freighter, Estelle Mersk, of Shu Lan Mersk Lines., a Vanderdecker class. By contrast, Summer’s Gift is only 1000 tons. The Estelle Mersk is capable of shipping 342 cargo containers to our 10. She is, quite simply put, huge and compared to her, we’re a gnat.
Scuttlebutt has it the Shu Lan Mersk lines makes a tidy profit by using Estelle Mersk’s size as a go-between with other ships in the Shu Lan fleet. Estelle Mersk would park in space, have other Shu Lan ships dock and off-load cargo, and take off in another direction, thus cutting down turn-around time considerably. The plotting of the various courses is an arcane nightmare of sychronicity and astrogation but Shu Lan Mersk has a computer program to make work for them.
We approach the landing pads and are told by Traffic Control that we have arrived during a High Security situation and are ordered to dock at our landing pad and wait for further instructions. For our own safety, we are not to leave our ship.
Docking Pad 9 is assigned to us. Nika parks us on it. We sit and wait.
Christian spins up the news channels, hoping to get a bead on current events. No luck. Nothing less than a week old is available. A news blackout has been put in place. Week-old cricket scores are about the best Christian can get.
Due to the recent disease outbreak and Quarantine, the majority of food production is slated for off-planet consumption and as a result, the people of Newhope are starving. Food riots are prevalent and upon our arrival we are advised by the Port Authority to remain on our ship during our stay. Gibraltar cannot guarantee our personal safety should we decide to leave the security of our landing pad. Dockworkers are dispatched to off-load our cargo and some security personnel show up with them to insure our ship is unmolested by any would-be looters. Or worse.
We make contact with the various buyers of our cargo. The meds are coming from a person by name of Song Jiang, a name of some importance on Newhope. There is even a small town bearing that name about 100 km outside the Port. We arrange for the meds to be brought to the Gift for lift off. The food cargo’s buyer is Vladimir Byshek, is in town, and arranges a meet with Christian at a restaurant in Gibraltar Town. Nika goes with him as back-up and at the appropriate time and the two of them take a cab down the Rock for the Town.
Jake is still a cameraman and wants to go down to the Docks to film what he can film, and Rick is eager to find some ceramic throwing knives, the better to slip a knife past any metal weapons detectors. And because they are just plain cool. Rina goes with to keep them out of trouble—not that she much thinks she can—and to provide backup in case things go south. She takes a comm with her, and wears her favorite triple threat whenever she steps off the boat: vest, gun and knife. Two extra clips go in her pockets with the rest of her usual pocket tools. Thus prepared, she goes down the Rock with her two shipmates and hopes for the best.
Arden elects to stay behind to watch the ship, our new kitten, and young Lem Kurpinski. It is also best if someone were aboard to take messages in case the others call.
Once down off the Rock, Rick gets word of where he can pick up those throwing knives. Jake is filming everything he can, from the state of the buildings and businesses of Gibraltar to the people protesting on the Docks. The crowd there numbers only a couple thousand, though reports have stated some protests and riots have involved even more, and Jake is determined to get closer to the ruckus to film it. Rina and Rick go with him to provide what protection they can. Banners with scrawled slogans like “Eat Locally, Think Versally” and others wave aloft. Jake films everything he can get and it isn’t long before Rina notices they’ve attracted the attention of both the crowd and the Federal Marshals. Twitchy enough as it is, she manages to get Jake to stop filming for now and follow her and Rick to the knife merchant.
They get out of there with footage and freedom intact.
The party makes it into the older section of town and the atmosphere is very Old World, Old Earth. Like Prague or Budpest. Gibraltar, even. And it’s there in the stews of the Old Town that Rick finds his knives and buys a sweet pair from an individual a touch too shady to bear close scrutiny. Both sides of the exchange walk away happy. Rina hits the narrow streets, glad to be out of there, and they all turn back for the Docks and the winding road back to the Gift.
The protest hadn’t abated during our absence. In fact it seems to have tipped over into a full scale riot and Jake runs toward the danger even as our crew drag him and his camera away toward safety. Safety in this case means cutting through a small gap in the hurricane fence surrounding the Docks and climbing on top of a stack of containers to continue filming. Which Jake does, with a running commentary. Rina and Rick flank him, keeping an eye for anything untoward….which there is a lot of, with a riot going on in front of them.
