Action 2: A Long Road

[DadsAngry]

Eugene - Navigator on shore leave

Eugene speaks to Loraine Zane and Isaac Heinlein "Not that much here historically but there seems to be a few sights to see. I'm going to see about getting a ride outside the dome either of you want to join me?."

OOC: When is pay day. Eugene is broke and could use a little spending money to see the sights.

[Keehnelf]

Pay day comes monthly, but I can pro-rate it since you've got shore leave. 1/4 of your monthly pay deducted from ship's funds and sent to your account!

[GreyWolfVT]

Carter Jacks will join Eugene and those with him.

[Grognardsw]

Isaac C. Heinlein, explorer

Eugene speaks to Loraine Zane and Isaac Heinlein "Not that much here historically but there seems to be a few sights to see. I'm going to see about getting a ride outside the dome either of you want to join me?."

"That sounds interesting," answers Ike. "Let's hit a bar first for some grub and food."

[DadsAngry]

Eugene - Navigator on shore leave

Isaac C. Heinlein, explorer
"That sounds interesting," answers Ike. "Let's hit a bar first for some grub and food."

Eugene's stomach rumbles at the suggestion.
"Good idea Ike. I didn't realize I was hungry until you mentioned it. Let's try that place."
Eugene points to a eatery only a few steps away 'Caffe Trieste'.
"and look they have live entertainment."

[Keehnelf]

Vinnie, September and Samantha:

September aids Vinnie in tracking down a pair of local hired goons with their own concealed body armor and slug-throwers to work as bodyguards for the duration of the day at 1,000 credits apiece. The muscle obtained, the five head over to the temple to meet up with Raihar Benjik. Benjik is short, dark-skinned and squat and seems built of a single slab of muscle, with five attendants of similar stature. The group meets with him standing in a high-ceiling but narrow and cramped chamber. Benjik is seated at a heavy dark wood desk obviously imported from off-world but of no obvious provenance. He suggests that he believes he could arrange for the goods to be unloaded from the group's ship without drawing official notice for a generous sum of 200,000 credits. It would take eleven hours to arrange and complete the work. 37 hours remain till lift-off.

[Keehnelf]

Eugene, LZ, Ike, Carter:

The group enjoys a relaxed lunch at the Caffe Trieste, with authentic Arcturan cuisine straight from a recombinant waste-purification terminal in the dive's kitchen. It has a distinctive smoky flavor, even if the food items themselves are indistinct, and the drinks are potent local concoctions that probably do a lot to relieve the dome-madness that sometimes overtakes residents of enclosed worlds such as this one.

At a nearby table a group of kamoor beryl miners is discussing the sight of the thousand-ship funereal fleet in orbit above the planet which has recently departed, some of them relating how folks they know jumped world to travel along with the fleet. Several off-hand comments overheard suggest that the miners believe, or at least hope, that the death of the high priest and the assemblage of the funereal fleet are indicators that a bid for independence from the Republic are in the cards for the near future.

The live entertainment turns out to be a solo saxophonist who performs classical muzak covers of ancient Golgafrincham folk ballads. His hollow eyes reflect the complete abandonment of any dreams of success he might once have harbored. 38 hours remain till lift-off.

[Nuke66]

Samantha inquires about any possible outbound freight.

[atpollard]

Vinnie, September and Samantha:
September aids Vinnie in tracking down a pair of local hired goons with their own concealed body armor and slug-throwers to work as bodyguards for the duration of the day at 1,000 credits apiece. The muscle obtained, the five head over to the temple to meet up with Raihar Benjik. Benjik is short, dark-skinned and squat and seems built of a single slab of muscle, with five attendants of similar stature. The group meets with him standing in a high-ceiling but narrow and cramped chamber. Benjik is seated at a heavy dark wood desk obviously imported from off-world but of no obvious provenance. He suggests that he believes he could arrange for the goods to be unloaded from the group's ship without drawing official notice for a generous sum of 200,000 credits. It would take eleven hours to arrange and complete the work. 37 hours remain till lift-off.

"Please, excuse me. While I would normally enjoy the challenge of a prolonged negotiation, time is something of an enemy ... for both of us. So let me be clear about what I am offering. I am not peddling junk at a garage sale. I have two tons of the finest quality TL 14 parts ready for immediate delivery. I have had time to do a quick examination of the market and we both know that I could post a notice in the paper and sell the cargo all by myself from the back of an air/raft for 300,000 to 400,000 credits for the two ton load. We also both know that I could cut a broker in for 5 or 10 percent and sell the cargo for 420,000 to 560,000 credits."

Vinnie places a hand on his arm and leans in to whisper in a conspiratorial tone "Of course we both also know that I don't have a week to sell the cargo myself or through a regular broker. So I am offering you the same 10 percent 'finders fee' if you can close this deal for me. If you have a buyer willing to pay the 560,000 credits for immediate delivery of two tons of premium parts, I am prepared to place 56,000 credits in your hand for your efforts. Of course delivery costs come out of your end, but that's still a heck of a payday for a few hours work."

"Oh, one other minor detail. Do not think to use my time sensitivity against me, as I said earlier, time is the enemy for both of us. I will be in another system where these parts will be in high demand in two weeks. So your opportunity to grab Fifty-six THOUSAND credits that are just waiting to fall into your hands, is also a prisoner to my time dilemma."

"Just to prove that I am here to negotiate in good faith, I am sending complete specifications on the cargo to your computer along with my personal comm code ... and here" Vinnie holds out 1000 credits "is a little money just to pay for your time to make a few calls and see if you can find a buyer. Call me if you can make this happen."

"Now, if you were interested in selling a few tons of the right cargo at a good price, we might be able to sweeten the deal."

OOC: I wasn't completely sure if it was obvious, but my price for the goods is reasonable (if high) but my offer to the man is low. I expect him to counter-offer. The whole point of offering a kickback is to sell the cargo for a high price ... I can do better than 200,000 credits at the next world with no bribery and only average rolls.

[DadsAngry]

Eugene - Navigator at the Caffe Trieste

"Well this place is not going to be on my return to list. What is this I ordered anyway? Carter what does this look like to you?" Eugene tilts his plate up to show. "It's supposed to be Arcturan BLT but it looks exactly like yours" he motions to Carter's meal "and yours" then to LZ plate. He leans forward and sniffs his plate. "It smells right."

[GreyWolfVT]

Carter shrugs "Not really sure. Does it taste off you? To me anything is better than what we ate as scouts."

[Grognardsw]

Ike, Trieste Cafe

He's not sure why, but Ike finds himself ordering sautéed squid and a cup of purple fungi soup.

"Mmm, good," mumbles Ike.

Staring into his dish, he has sudden insight into a non-Euclidean geometric problem he has been apparently noodling over in his sleep.

[DadsAngry]

Eugene - Navigator at the Caffe Trieste

Eugene sniffs his food again and places a little on his fork and tastes it. "Doesn't taste off, very smoky though. Doesn't really have much of taste past the burnt flavor." Eugene goes for his glass of blueish green liquid and washes away the charred meal. "Wow, that has some kick. Woo! It definitely masks the flavor of the food." He raises his glass again and takes a long drink. "This stuff is pretty good. I forgot what they called it? What ever it is we should get some to bring back to the ship." Eugene looks over at Ike. "Maybe I should have ordered what you got."

[GreyWolfVT]

Carter again looks puzzled "Again anything tastes better than rations." he eats what remains of his food. Drinks the odd drink and thinks nothing of it tastes bad, off or smokey. "Eh no kick to me on the drink either guess your pallets is a bit more intuned than my own Eugene." He looks at what Ike is eating "Even that looks good to me."

[DadsAngry]

Eugene - Navigator at the Caffe Trieste

"Huh, I guess so. It's a good thing I left the service before by taste buds got corrupted. I will agree with you on one point those rations they had in the service were terrible. Do you remember the one that looked like a gelatinous glob of yellowish meat with specks of orange an green in it? Sometimes I swear I still have that taste it in my mouth. That had to be the worst one for me." Eugene then turn his questioning to LZ and Ike. "Where you two every in the scout service?"

[Grognardsw]

Ike, culinary explorer, Cafe Treiste

"Would you like a bite?" offers Ike to Eugene.


"Yes, I served three terms in the Scouts," Ike answers. "I was ready to move and do my own explorations."

[DadsAngry]

Eugene - Navigator at the Caffe Trieste

Eugene looks at Ike's plate once again. Though Ike's plate looks more appetizing than his own Eugene has seemed to have lost is appetite.
"Thanks but I'm not really hungry anymore" and he puts down his utensils.
"Three terms, I was in for two myself. I couldn't wait to get out. They had be stationed out in the middle of no where monitoring communications. Not what I signed up for. Carter here served 3 terms just like yourself. Did you get to explore and discover new places?"

OOC: Grognardsw, love the visual.

[Keehnelf]

Vinnie, September, Samantha:

The priest spends quite some time attempting to haggle and negotiate and it becomes clear that he would love to provide a payment much closer to the full asking price but that something is preventing him from committing to doing so. The group does a bit of prying and determines that his buyer is himself, and a good chunk of his money is currently tied up in an investment that went a bit sour. Apparently, he bought in on a large shipment of Denner that was set to be shipped through Trieste and the individual responsible has slipped off to one of the outer domes without delivering. This presents a serious problem for Benjik because: a) officials of the Kamoor Temple are not allowed to engage in mercantilism for personal gain, and b) they are certainly not allowed to engage in drug trafficking. So if his involvement in any of this were to become public, he would be in serious trouble. He would be willing to offer 540,000 credits for the goods if Vinnie or his representatives would be so kind as to retrieve the individual so that Benjik could reacquire his lost money.

36 hours remain until lift-off.

[Keehnelf]

Eugene, LZ, Ike, Carter:

The group finishes their "meals", pays and then heads off to locate one of the exo-tour service kiosks. Twenty minutes later, the group is outfitted in vacuum suits and kitted in a rented open-topped land-rover style vehicle. Initially, they follow the LED trail markers, and note some interesting rock formations and dry-ice washes with the smoky fog billowing out over the uneven terrain, some of which makes an impression on the seasoned travellers but much of it not. After about an hour of this, the group spots a much more interesting-looking dormant volcanic formation off in the distance that might provide them a more panoramic view of the landscape, and they veer away from the marked trail in that direction.

A half hour later, the group's vehicle crests the ancient petrified ash cone and a vast, wide basin of marbled washes and miniature volcanic plumes opens out before them. Three miles away, directly in the middle of this uncivilized terrain, the group spots what Carter immediately identifies as a Marauder-class Kamoor smuggler transport landed on the marble surface. A large number of small figures are moving hurriedly around the ship on the ground, and a very large ground vehicle with giant all-terrain wheels and a boxy transport module stacked atop it sits parked nearby.

34 hours remain until lift-off.
Edit: fixed a name to account for who was actually here, haha.

[atpollard]

Vinnie, September, Samantha:
He would be willing to offer 540,000 credits for the goods if Vinnie or his representatives would be so kind as to retrieve the individual so that Benjik could reacquire his lost money.
36 hours remain until lift-off.

Vinnie confers with September and Samantha ... "So are we interested in locating a dead beat 'street merchant'?
I can certainly make it financially rewarding, the question is are you interested?
Personally, I find the potential adventure almost irresistible ... just imagine the future contacts we might meet along the way ... but the decision is yours.

Vinnie pauses for a moment, and as if a new thought occurs to him, continues in a different tone. "My father taught me a quote ...

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”.

... That's what this is about. In a few days, we will be sitting around the commons and someone will ask "So, what did you do on Tristie?"
What will we tell them? ... "We went shopping, but didn't buy anything." ... or "Let me tell you about where we traveled, who we met and what we saw and did. It was quite an adventure!"
This isn't really about the money ... the money is just how we keep score." Vinnie smiles, "If we finish this quickly enough, I'll show you how we celebrate a victory."

So which will it be ... shall we join the 'cold and timid souls' or shall we 'strive to do the deeds'?