Solo Traveller - Episode 27: Commerce

Date: 351-1106

arrive Zalba/Foreven (2037 E100447-A Ni Va)

There's an 800t mercenary cruiser ahead of us. They musta just jumped in a few minutes before we did. They're headed towards the port too, near as any of us can figure. They won't respond to hails at all.

Speaking of not responding, Heldamin and Veev still aren't talking. They had a row almost as soon as we jumped, I'm not sure what about, but when the screaming stopped they went silent and wouldn't even acknowledge the other one the whole length of the trip. So she's been out in the common room a lot, and the doc, and also Orneev and Diula, have been hiding in their staterooms to avoid her. Herself and the marine have mostly been keeping her company. I though they were starting to come round to like her, but then I accidentally overheard her saying to him that they need to keep her onside so had better start treating her nice.

[jump event: Two passengers have a blazing and unresolved argument. It needs resolving!
ship encounter: 800t mercenary cruiser - Ignore you, will not answer comms]


Date: 352-1106

Clock ticked over whilst we were still inbound. Made it in to "port" roughly the same time as the mercs. Took about 12 hours, all told. Zalba's really tiny, but the 100d limit of the gas giant it orbits makes for long transit times.

The port is just a bunch of craters with the bottoms smoothed over with plasticrete. There are like no facilities here, but the port authority is very active. I guess trying to sell fuel when you're only a few thousand kilometres from a gas giant don't go over so well. But that means it's going to be another tankful of unrefined fuel for the trip out. But I don't like to think of that right now.

We had the option of a bare crater at normal berthing rates or a "deluxe" berth for cr500/day. Deluxe just means there's a pressurised rail tube leading to the main transit hub. I opted for a normal berth. We can just walk across the surface. But I got a feeling it's going to be pricey here.

. . .

Later: The merc cruiser put down in one of the fancy craters. We had to wait in a holding pattern for about 25 minutes before we got our landing clearance. I guess their money is better than ours.

There's a few other traders out where we're docked, and one fat trader in a nice berth. There's also a type-S scout ship in for repairs. Looks like it got shot up real bad [this was a random scout vessel, and actually rolled much later; one of the reasons I always play ahead a bit of my posting schedule is so I can include these sorts of details: the hysteron proteron of solo-gaming].


Date: 353-1106

Everyone had been awake way too early when we exited jump, and by the time we were finally docked most of them wanted sleep again. But not me and Orneev. We suited up and headed off to the commerce centre to drum up some trade.

We bounded across the rocky surface, leaping more than walking. Didn't seem that hard [Inty has Zero-g-combat-1], but Orneev complained the whole time and even fell on his arse once or twice. I said I thought he'd appreciate getting to be in a vacc suit the whole time. He just grumbled and said how he grew up on a world with proper grav plates! I'm starting to think that being outside anywhere isn't his forte. (Note to self: should prolly buy a sealed air/raft since there's a fitting for one built into the Empress-Marava class A2.)

Despite the whingeing it wasn't so bad a hike to the nearest transport station. The maglev trains are pressurised and everything. The passengers are a mix of people in vacc suits and street clothes. The street clothes were decidedly looking down their noses at the vacc suits. Maybe they should take some of that cr500/day and buy manners lessons instead of fancy berths!

The transport tube lets everyone off at the commerce centre main station. They don't have a customs area as such, but there is a big sign reading NO VACC SUITS, NO FIREARMS. And lots of armed security about the place. They do provide 24-hour locker facilities to store your vacc suits and guns whilst you move about the settlement -- for a fee of course!

At least the commerce centre seems to be a round-the-clock affair too. It didn't take long before Orneev had lined up a buyer for the cybernetic parts in our hold. Girl had to talk to her boss, so we agreed to meet back after lunch, but it was worth the wait, made half a million credits in the sale. Even if Orneev says that once we deduct the cost of our dinner, our profit is about 10 credits. And his levstaan was undercooked.

[sell cybernetic parts: 6 +3 (broker) +4 (Ni world)= 200% : cr500,000]

Didn't find any decent cargo to buy yesterday though. When we got back to the Hekabe, we found out that Herself and the marine took Diula into town on a shopping trip to buy groceries. "I forgot to tell you, don't eat at any of the restaurants here if you can help it," Eshtam says to us when we got unsuited. "the food is really nasty. There's a reason no one exports it." That explains the metallic aftertaste I still haven't gotten rid of!

Looked for more cargo today, but there was nothing good on offer. Well, there were some speeders, but way overpriced. Too bad. [O&I find cargo: aircraft @1mcr each...]

On our way back to the ship, we must a strayed too close to the mercenaries' berth. We were just bounding along, minding our own business, when these 4 louts in armoured vacc suits carrying what I swear had to be plasma weapons come out and chase us away and tell us not to come within one kilometre of their position if we know what's good for us [encounter: guards. react=6, unreceptive]. Man I hate mercenaries.


cr78,584 ship's fund

     -100 berthing
  -14,000 life support
 +500,000 sell cybernetic parts
 -275,729 mortgage (paid 3 days early)
---------
cr288,755 new ship fund

next mortgage due 20-1107