Chapter 1 - My ship's where?

The airbrakes groaned as Sy pulled them bringing the mass of his Aerostar MCC to a slow stop. The mammoth van housed everything he owned and would likely play a crucial role in his future endeavors with his old acquaintances. He kept his abode clean, though it was lived in. From the silver paint to the heavy machine gun mounted on top the van said "I am a professional" and this van was where he delivered his self help training courses to people around the universe. But that was a part time gig. His full time dream of course like anyone on the psychedelic front line was to explore the universe. This opportunity brought a smile to his face as he whistled the Imperial Corps marching cadence "Two By Two, Hands of Blue."

The cacophonous ambient noise of a High Port can be quite overwhelming to those unaccustomed to it. The voices of travelers arriving or departing mixes with sounds of transport vehicles, advertisements, and the whine of hundreds of air scrubbers working overtime to keep enginee fumes from poisoning the stations breathable atmosphere. Beneath it all, the low thrum of spacecraft M-drives provide a deep bassline that is more felt than heard.

Cas is no stranger to space travel. As a scout (or ex-scout as it where) she has visited many ports but years of solo piloting her small ship through the inky black of space has made her more acclimated to the mute sounds of traveling the drift. So, she is not prepared for the roar of sound that assaults her ears as she steps off the transport vessel into to Flammarion’s High Port. Hastily, she finds a quietish spot off to the side of a thoroughfare just behind a stanchion displaying a digital map of the port. There she collects her wits and fights down the anxiety growing in her gut by breathing slowly and with focus, as her therapist Sy had taught her.

Having successfully staved off a panic attack, she readjusts the straps of the small backpack shed carries, which holds the sum total of her worldly possessions in it, and forces her way into the throng of travelers heading into port. Although she is small, she holds her ground charting a path through the crowd of arrivals toward a cafe favored by members of the scout service. She hopes the proprietor’s goodwill might lead to a meal or a cup of tea because she certainly doesn’t have any Creds to spare. Those will come soon, when she gets her ship back… or at least that’s what she tells herself. As she walks she surveys the crowd looking for any crew mates who have arrived before her. They had planned to meet at a common area which she could keep an eye on from the cafe.

Sy recognized her immediately though they had never met in person. Ever the anxious but brimming with confidence, he saw Cas from a distance and honked twice Stepping out of the Aerostar and waving. "Zǎoshang hǎo. Howdy Pardna over here!" He called by way of greeting, as was customary in frontier worlds using both Mandarin Chinese, and American English.

Life support can be a shitty occupation sometimes, literally so when the chief engineer has put off maintenance of the solid-waste systems for far too long and then assigned the work to the temporary assistant working for his passage to Flammarion. But that job is done at last, and as the ship makes its way to the highport docks Avi is already looking forward to better times ahead.

The starport seems busy but orderly, and Avi is comfortable wearing just his usual ship fatigues, hiring a secure locker to store his armour and weapon, carrying his other gear in a small travel pack. Some might notice the absence of ship's insignia or company logo from his clothing, but otherwise he doesn't stand out among the many ship crew and dock workers here.
His first priority would normally be to check the boards for job vacancies, and then the bars where the merchant crews gather, to listen for opportunities that haven't made it to the boards. But this time is a different: he already has something lined up, friends to meet, and he heads for common area instead. Spotting Cas and Sy talking together by a large vehicle, he can't quite keep the grin from his face as he makes his way over.

The familiar cadence of Sy's particular accented greeting eases some of the tension Cassia was feeling. She had grown quite used to his particular way of speaking through numerous video therapy sessions and hours of meditation recordings she listened to obsessively during the trip to Flammarion.
She smiles warmly and greets him, " Sy, It's so good to finally meet you face to face. I already feel better with you here. I can't tell you how much your teachings have helped me - I actually used one of those breathing exercises when I arrived. It realy worked." As she speaks, she runs her hands through her short black hair, styled in a way favored by scouts and spacers who often wore vacc suits.

"Do you want to grab something to eat?" she points to the cafe they are standing near. A large sign reads "Swords and Spoons" in five different languages over the small entryway.
"This place has real authentic Sword Worlder cuisine and serves the best cup of tea in the whole sector. They use real leaves, not that flavored algae everyone else uses. I don't know where they source it... She pause a moment noticing Avi approaching from across the common area.

"AV-EEE, over here! How are you my friend? How was the trip? She shouts and waves to get his attention.

"Hey Cas! Sy!" Avi shrugs off his pack, hugs each of his friends - his soon-to-be shipmates - then stands back for a longer look at their faces. "So we are really doing this, eh?"

From their spot near the cafe Avi can see across the common area to a large viewport looking out on the dry surface of Flammarion below, and in the foreground a section of the docks with a number of jumpships at berth.
"My trip turned out fine, Cas. I got work on the Língyáng for the last leg in," He nods toward the Far Trader with the leaping antelope hull motif. "Spent most of my shifts belowdecks though, in the bowels of the ship you could say."

"Well Bless my Star it is Avi Villa as he lives and breathes. Ni hao ma?" Sy listened to the brief catch up between Cass and Avi. He perused the menu impressed at the variety. Much of his travels took him to places with less, to go to a place of abundance was culture shock.

"The obstacle is the way." Sy offered by way of reassurance to Cass.

"Ooh curried Noodles!" Sy piped and ordered that and an order of shu-mai with a sweet milk tea.

"Wo hen hao, Sy, my prospects are looking brighter than the last time I ate with you. How have you fared since then?"
Avi orders a pot of tea and a basket of spring rolls.

"Find a better offer? Better than a place on a mortgage-free ship crewed by friends? I don't think so." He says this lightly, but Cassia's caution was serious and it weighs on his mind as he waits for the tea to arrive.

He places the teapot and rolls in the centre of the table along with a stack of small cups, pours a cup for himself and gestures for the others to help themselves.
"Are you concerned the ship might be recalled, Cas?" Glancing to Sy and back to Cas, unsure if he is on the right track: "It wouldn't be the same as when you were in the service before. You'd have a crew to back you up, we'd all be serving together if that happened. Isn't that how it works?"

"Well I'm not the recently rescued captive of a group of terrorists anymore, so things are looking up. Actually I recently just completed a tour of the fringe, made a lot of new friends and my guided meditation program has more subscribers than ever! 12.2 million tune in daily. I know its modest still but thats almost 1/4 the way to viral success." Sy's drawl patently grew as did his excitement, he went from collected gentleman to podunk hick very quickly. He downed a glass of ice water as he allowed his new shipmates to process that. "Hope you'll join me as soon as I get the widecast configured i think it'll really add to the viewers experience to see people benefit from it real time. Not that I will be cross with you if'n you decide against it." Sy effervescent as ever didn't seem to be capable of being cross at anyone. He didn't even have a negative thing to say about his time as a hostage. "Sounds like you're both far ahead of when I seen you last. Say I seen a Zeke Di on the crew manifest, think its our Zeke? I hope so, I spent all these years wondering if he died."

Cassia takes a small notebook and pen from her vest pocket and writes "The obstacle is the way" on a page filled with various phrases and words of wisdom she's heard during her travels. She puts it back in a breast pocket and listens to Sy speak about his latest endeavors. She glances at the empty seat remaining at the table when Zeke's name comes up.

"Last I heard, he was supposed to join us but you know how it is, sometimes things don’t go to plan."

She takes another sip of tea and holds the warm cup in her hands before answering Avi.

"I’ve been going over all the ship transfer documents and there is language in the agreement that gives the Service the right to assign missions to the ship from time to time.
Originally, I assumed this was something a lawyer cooked up to keep ex-Scouts from just sell their ships for quick cash. I mean, the Service has deemed me unfit to be a Scout so why would they assign me a mission? But, I don’t know. I guess I'm wondering why they arranged for the transfer to be here at the ass end of the Sword Worlds, so close to the Five Sisters and the Zhodani situation. But, maybe I’m being paranoid and this is a blessing in disguise. I hear there is good money to be made trading in ancient Darrian Art."

I guess everything will be cleared up tomorrow. Speaking of which, how many beds you got in that van, Sy?"

"Not too keen on the idea of being watched live by 12.2 million people, no that doesn't sound like my idea of a calming experience, Sy. But then, we are going to be spending a lot of time in jump aboard a very small ship, perhaps it would be good to incorporate meditation into that routine."

"Ancient Darrian art sounds like a lucrative cargo, we'd need a lot of up-front cash to finance it though, to get started we are going to need ..." Avi stops and casts an embarrased look at Cas as a few things click into place.
"I have more credits left after my trip than expected thanks to working passage on the Lingyang. Not enough to make any real difference when it comes to operating a ship, but if you need to get anything before the profits start rolling in from our venture ..."
He checks his credit wallet to see his personal funds have arrived in the starport system, authorizes an outward transfer of Cr2000, and offers the wallet's swipe interface to Cas.

"Lunch is on me, please help yourself. I can always write it off as business expenses." Sy offered and pressed a widget on his personal computer that began counting the minutes. "We are on the clock." He offered with a conspiratorial wink.

Looking directly at Cas, Sy took care to answer her question first, because she asked first and it was work related. "Two bunks and a loft is five beds. As to how many? That depends on how much I like them." Sy offered suggestive, with a twinkle in his eye that suggested he was interested in finding out. "But I bet me plus three would fit in the loft if we all really liked another. And the bunks are large enough that I can sleep comfortably. Though nothing is made for heavy grav worlders like myself unless it is made on a heavy grav world." He quickly changed the subject as to not make it sound like he was flirting with Cas or Avi. Who he found quite physically attractive and made no show of hiding it, but preferred not to mix business and pleasure."We have sonic and thats good for light dirt. But if you do end up using it when you're covered in something sticky. Please clean the filter yourself."

Running his hands together he saw his food coming and offered it to Cas and Avi. "Whoa real fish. And pork! I have missed this!" Taking one of the meatballs, and an ample plate of noodles he sliced the Shumai in half with a chopstick and devoured the half. Swallowing, he cleaned his lips with a napkin. "Ancient Darrian art is a good idea. We might also look at stimulants and medical supplies as well. High profit per kilogram. Though I've heard livestock is also truly lucrative to fringe worlds."

Cassia gladly accepts the food Sy offers, deftly scooping noodles into her mouth. She chews slowly, giving her time to process what Sy insinuated. For some reason, she was having a hard time getting past the thought of changing the filter to a communal cleaning unit. Only now was she realizing that certain things she was used to as a solo pilot, like knowing exactly what was in your ship filters and who was sleeping (or not sleeping) in their stateroom, would be quite different with a crew. She takes out the notebook and writes "communal filters" beneath "The obstacle is the way"

" Med supplies are valuable, especially if we deliver them out to the frontier. But, often those who need them the most are the least able to afford them. I’m not sure about livestock. If the ship is still configured as it was when I last flew her then it’s not really suited for animals. She’s only got 12kg of cargo, maybe a little more if we convert a stateroom, but she’s fast and can go a long way without refueling. If we’re lucky she’ll keep her compliment of probes and maybe even a raft. Theoretically, we can fit the van into the docking bay but I’m not sure." Cassia slurps up another mouthful of noodles and leans closer to her crew mates.

"Listen, there are stories of Scouts who come back from some mission or another and just resign. No explanation, no psychological flags, no injuries, no good reason to leave, they just go. And every now and then someone spots them later flying a sleek little yacht or living in luxury on a resort planet near the core. I know what benefits the service doles out when you leave and believe me, it’s not a whole lot. Rumors are these scouts found something, some tech or new trade partner, I don’t know, something really valuable out there. That’s what I want to find. That’s what this ship is made for."

She leans back into her chair. Another transport has docked and the common area is filling with new arrivals. She hopes to spot Zeke in the throng. "I guess that’s my long term goal... she laughs a little "… finding riches beyond belief somewhere out there." She gestures to the stars visible out the star port window.

After lounging and visiting for the afternoon, you retire for the night. The next morning you meet up and head off of Cas's 9am meeting.

Imperial Scout Service office, Flammarion Highport

Welcome to Flammarion Highport Ms. Green. I expect your ready to pick up your ship and head back out to the stars. Unfortunately, there's a snag. Between the time you mustered out and now, the Erebus was assigned to a crew for a few missions. He pauses for a moment and sighs. They screwed up. They ran one mission and it was time for the annual refit of the ship. On their next mission, the drives failed to start after they landed. The managed to make their way to the nearest starport and book passage back here with the diagnostics report from the ship. They thought they would just requisition more parts and be on their way. However, the base commander reviewed their report and is pretty sure that they sold the parts we provided and bribed the Maintenace crew to install secondhand parts. They are currently locked up and their sentence will be determined by just how much damage they did. In the meantime, we've put together a couple crates of parts and a copy of the basic control software that should be enough to get the ship flying so it can be brought back here for a proper refit. We need to hire a team to go retrieve the ship and I assume you would be interested?

"Unfortunately, there's a snag."
The words hit Cassia like a physical blow. They weren't necessarily unexpected, she had anticipated there would be conditions conditions attached before they turned her ship over, but the next part was a complete surprise.
"...they sold the parts we provided and bribed the Maintenance crew to install secondhand parts."
As Anders Casarii continues, Cassia can feel her blood pressure rise. She says nothing but her mind is racing. The nerve of those fuckers. To take my ship, strip her of her parts, and abandon her on some planet -God knows where- for a few creds! She stays silent until the report is finished.
"We need to hire a team to go retrieve the ship and I assume you would be interested?"

Fighting to keep her voice level and controlled she replies "Yes, you are correct, I am interested and I appreciate the opportunity to handle the retrieval operation personally. I think you'll find my interest align more closely with the Scout service's than the previous crew's did. With that in mind, let me introduce you to these two highly capable and experienced individuals whose expertise in ship systems, mechanics, transport, and space travel would be an invaluable asset to retrieve the Erebus.
She introduces Avi, "Avi Avilla is an engineer, mechanic, and expert astrogator."
She turns to Sy and carefully considers what to say. She doesn't know his entire background and suspects it's by design. She settles with a short introduction, "Sy has transport."

"I'm sure it is in the scouts best interest to move with haste to prevent further damage to the ship. The sooner we secure these men’s services and provide remuneration for usage of Sy's vehicle, the sooner we can load parts and be on our way. I assume the Service will be providing passage to the Erebus’s location current?"

Sy didn't have to be a mind reader to see through all the bureaucratic bullshit. Every carefully considered placation, each subtle microexpression. It was telling a tale all its own. No, Sy didn't have to be a mind reader but he was one.

Analyzing the subtext, the context, the posturing. Anders Casarii was telling Sy a story that his words were attempting to hide. Sy just had to pinpoint what wasn't being said. Two green and blue eyes augmented by the combat Implant within them. Recorded every microexpression. Watching for the subtle dilation of Anders' pores, his nose dialed in, for the excretion of apocrine sweat. Sy turned his full attention to the man, looking for the truth he was concealing.

Casarii's brief outline of their task only makes Avi wonder whether it will still seem so straight-forward once they hear all the details, but When Cas introduces him he says: "I'm confident we will be able to handle this to your satisfaction, Mr. Casarii."

" That is correct Ms. Green, the Erebus is on Walston and we have arranged passage on trade ship we have under contract. We will provide you each with Cr1000 for incidental expenses plus we will provide vouchers for life support, fuel and so forth while you are recovering the ship. Once you have returned, we will provide hotel accommodation and Cr1000 while the ship receives a proper refit. Once the refit is completed and we're all satisfied with the ship's condition, we'll assign you the Erebus under standard Detached Duty terms. As to the van, I'm more than happy to find a place here to park it, but the far trader is packed to the gills. Once on Walston, you shouldn't have trouble finding local transportation, should you need it.

"Should be a walk in the park." Sy broke from his scrutiny satisfied that Anders wasn't purposely giving them the shaft, and instead was frustrated with how it would effect his own bottom line.

2000cr might not seem like a lot to some people, but it was more than Cassia had expected. The fact that it would be on top of fuel, life support costs, and transportation to the Erebus made all the difference in her mind. But, perhaps her judgement was being clouded by her desire to get back to the ship. She said nothing, waiting to see what the rest of her companions thought. After all, she wouldn’t be able to retrieve the ship on her own.

Zeke smirked before speaking up. "Dare I ask what kind of hotel accommodations you have in mind for us? Last time I had that kind of an offer, the hotel was a bunk bed in a vermin-infested warehouse with just a hole in the floor for 'waste' disposal. I'd rather not worry if I'm going to be devoured in the middle of the night by insects and the like..."

"Rest assured sir, there are no vermin infested bunks here on the Highport. You'd be staying at one of the hotels on the main concourse."

"Well, I'm happy with the arrangements." The job actually sounds a lot better to Avi than some he has had recently.

"Could we get a copy of the manifest for the parts we'll be taking, please, Mr. Caserii? I'd like to get an idea of which systems we'll be working on ahead of time."

Avi will access the starport's public information system after the meeting to get engineering manuals or whatever other technical guides he can find for the Scout, for study during the trip to Walston. He will also check that any specialist tools needed to install the parts are included in the manifest.

The way Sy was looking at the Scout Service Officer made Cassia squirm in her seat. It was pretty intense and she was thankful she wasn’t on the receiving end of that stare. Evidently Sy didn’t see anything too concerning and was still on board with the retrieval mission. The part about leaving his van behind must have been a blow. Cassia could tell he really loved that thing.

She was glad Avi was satisfied with the offer. His skills as a mechanic would be invaluable to get the Erebus up and running. Besides she like the guy. If it wasn’t for his help getting on that merchant all those years back she probably would still be driving an agricultural algae harvester back on her home world.

Zeke seemed most hesitant. Cassia didn’t know much about Zeke but Sy and Avi both spoke highly of him. She hoped Anders’ assurances would be enough to convince him to come along.

"Everything seems in order to me. How long to we have before the Far Trader is due to leave port?"

"Well, now that we know your onboard, I'll have the parts and tools sent over to the Autumn Gold they should be ready to leave later this evening. You'll have plenty of time to grab you gear and anything else you'd like to take."

"Okay, great. If that's all then I will get prepped to depart this evening." Cassia turns to Sy "Do you need help transferring your equipment out of the van?

Sy shook his head. "Everything I own can be worn or carried in a rucksack. I'll wear my armor for departure as long as we are leaving it shouldn’t be too bothersome." His model was voluntary simplicity, and that was how he lived. While he didn't look like a monk in the traditional sense, Gódi seldom did.

Avi collects his armour and weapon from the starport locker. In his backpack are all his other possessions: breather mask, first-aid kit, radio transceiver/translator, and clothing. He hopes he hasn't forgotten anything as he boards the Autumn Gold.

The two weeks spent aboard the Autumn Gold passed fairly pleasantly. Cassia spent the most time with Avi going over the engineering specs of the Erebus. They’d gone through all the system diagrams so many times that her dreams often revolved around generators, air scrubbers, and sensors. Avi had a wealth of knowledge and taught her more than a few things about the ships systems. Perhaps he might even be able to make some improvements when they started working on the ship.

By the end of the trip Cas was getting a little stir crazy. She tried to meditate with Sy to keep centered and present but still couldn’t stop thinking about finding her ship. It was a huge relief when the far trader dropped out of jump and headed towards Walston. Cassia was first in line to get off the ship. Her goal was to make sure all the correct paperwork and the customs forms were in order well before the Autumn Gold returned to space.

Disembarking Sy didn't even blink walking through customs. Simply presented his I.D. to the customs officer and asked her how her day had been going. "Inactive not retired." He corrected when she, Gladys, had asked. "Here on unrelated business. Venture capitalism, securing a ship." He declared and shortly, escorted around the checkpoint, he found himself heading to the Traveller's Assosciation lobby scoring breakfast and coffee for his shipmates. Which he sent a quick mass text to each "Outside the Traveller's Association lounge with refreshments. Good luck with customs!"

As the cargo was being unloaded, Cassia headed to the customs. She presented the documentation provided to her by the Scout Service to customs agent Gladys. Though Cassia wasn’t as gifted as Sy was at social interactions she felt confident in her ability to navigate bureaucratic necessities after months dealing with the various forms associated with mustering out from the service.
"I’m here to collected the ship Erebus on behalf of the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service." she said in, what she hoped sounded, reasonable and confident voice.
"I have been authorized to make whatever repairs needed to get the ship running and spaceworthy. Could you be so kind as to point me and my crew mates to it’s location?"

Let me get this straight, the ship isn't here because the crew showed up to the star port on an air raft? Cassia sighs with frustration
"Okay, then we'll have to start there. Is the raft still around or am I going to have to track that down, too? Also, I'm going to need a copy of the manifest the Erebus submitted for that "charter flight" with a list of passengers and cargo." She pauses to think for a moment "And, if possible a log of any landing clearances given to the Erebus at in-system star ports for the past six months."
Cassia pulls out her comm unit a replies to Sy's group text:

We have a problem. I'll be over shortly. Make mine a double.

This was the part that Zeke always hated. The waiting. Two weeks of waiting not doing much besides reading and working out on the trip itself, and now waiting again. He was reluctant to wander far from the ship, as he didn't enjoy leaving his weapons and gear behind. Then he saw Cassia's message and he felt a bit of excitement.

Suppressing a scream of rage and frustration, Cassia thanks the Gladys before leaving the customs area."You’ve been helpful, well as helpful as you can be given the circumstances. I might be back later with some more questions. Thank you.

Cassia walks through the lounge towards the Travellers Association. As she walks she keys in another message to her comrades:

Z or A can u watch the customs agent for a sec? Anything sus after talking to me?

S, order me another drink.

If there was enough time during the stop at 567-908, Avi would have tried to visit the observatory for a look. He still likes to observe the stars, although he doesn't have any gear himself. A decent telescope is not a practical thing to carry around when living out of a backpack, but with a place on the Erebus maybe he could look at getting one and taking up the hobby again.

So now he is at Walston starport but the Erebus is not. His hopes that they might get the job done quickly and spend some time exploring the planet at the scout service's expense are beginning to look a little too optimistic. But he collects every tourist brochure he can find anyway.

Joining the rest of the group for coffee and talking over the situation, Avi puts the question: "So, we might as well head into Central Lake, don't you think? If the government offices are not open, well I wouldn't mind looking around the place while we wait. We can leave our crates of parts here until we find out more." He looks through his handful of brochures to see if there are any about transport to Central Lake.

"Looks like standard fare accomodations for Traveller's. I could go see what the TAS rep recommends when we finish up here." Sy sipped a cup of coffee, and picked at a poppyseed muffin. He was still digesting the information, having expected setbacks. Nothing was ever easy.