Episode 10 - Delivery

In transit, Howotro to Suukir
119-221 through 125-221

Once the crew, passengers, and cargo had all been loaded aboard Sister Ione, Margot piloted the ship away from the Highport, while Jordan plotted the jump to Suukir, and Amos prepared the drives. While there were no incidents, Jordan was unimpressed by the young pilot’s competence. Following a power fluctuation during the activation of the jump drive, he was even less impressed by the engineer. After the ship had safely transitioned into jump space, he reviewed the engineering logs and determined that Amos was indeed at fault. Once he determined the problem, he showed the engineer what had gone wrong. Jordan’s mild reaction to the problem seemed to surprise Amos, who promised to be more careful in the future.

Most of the passengers avoided contacted with the crew. Their leader – Roger Steen - reminded Jordan of Marine officers he had met: he was polite but rigid and distant. Steen explained that they were independent contractors specializing in zero-g and vacuum construction projects. They were going to Ushkager to work on a new habitation dome. Thiel continued trying to get a feel for these contractors. He found about half of them seemed like regular blue collar workers, although a little quieter and more reserved than usual. The other half seemed more like professional killers posing as construction workers.

Also curious about the somewhat shady crewmembers, Thiel asked Korbo about Sentinel Express Lines’ hiring policies. He explained that Sentinel hired many young, inexperienced crewmembers and a handful of ex-Navy people to provide training and role models. Many of these kids washed out quickly, but those that survived the first year seemed to develop a strong loyalty to the company.

Suukir
125-221 through 127-221
 After coming out of jump in the Suukir system, they soon discovered that the power fluctuation they experienced on entering jump had left them deep in the outer system. Even with Sister Ione’s powerful maneuver drives, they were at least 120 hours out from the starport. Scanning the system, they found a gas giant fairly close by – they could reach it, skim fuel from its atmosphere and be on their way in less than 60 hours. After the crew discussed their various options, Jordan presented them to their passengers: they could make their way to the Suukir starport, refuel there, and jump out to Ushkager safely but several days behind schedule, or they could make the jump on schedule using unrefined fuel from the gas giant and have a small but measurable chance of a misjump. Steen indicated that it was very important that they arrive on time, and was willing to take the risk.

The fuel skimming operation went smoothly, and as Margot piloted the ship under Thiel’s observation, Jordan worked closely with Amos making the jump preparations as carefully as possible. Sister Ione entered jump space without a hitch.

In transit, Suukir to Ushkager
127-221 through 133-221

Once they were under way, Harim tried to inspect the contractors’ cargo, but found that it was all locked down by extremely advanced security systems. He did not wish to arouse their suspicions by tampering with the equipment, and was forced to abandon his investigations. Meanwhile, Thiel began conversing with both Margot and Amos. He attempted to draw them out about their backgrounds by hinting at his own criminal past. Both of the young crew members remained fairly reticent, but Thiel pieced together enough clues to deduce that Margot’s father was a smuggler and that Amos had pirate connections.

Ushkager
134-221 through 136-221

The ship arrived at Ushkager without incident and Margot brought the ship down in a very smooth landing. While Thiel and Korbo oversaw the unloading of passengers and cargo, Harim dosed himself with enough stimulants to keep himself awake and partying for the 72 hours he was going to be on planet. He soon wandered off to immerse himself in the decadence of the resorts and casinos.

Thinking that the crowds of rich and powerful people vacationing on Ushkager would be perfect customers for the Iskendu beef, Henri began searching for a venue in which to demonstrate it. He soon found that one of the resorts had a regular cooking competition featuring celebrity chefs and exotic ingredients. After speaking with the producers of the show, he arranged for the Iskendu beef to be featured in an upcoming Kitchen Stadium competition.

Jordan worked on the ship making sure that everything was in order after their misadventure in Suukir, while Thiel made arrangements for passengers and cargo for the return trip. He was able to fill the ship fairly quickly, primarily because there were a large number of mercenaries looking for passage to Howotro. Neither Jordan nor Thiel had visited Ushkager before and, once their responsibilities had been fulfilled, they spent some time wandering from dome to dome and gawking at the vast array of entertainments available to them.

The Kitchen Stadium show featuring the Iskendu beef was scheduled for the last night before the ship was set to depart. Harim returned to the ship just in time to join the others on their way to the show. While riding the moving walkway connecting the starport to the resort domes, Jordan noticed a group of men just ahead of them that looked suspicious. After looking around, he also spotted a similar group of men behind them walking quickly towards them. Once he pointed out these men, the group decided to get off of the walkway. They vaulted the railing – Henri stumbling in the process – and ended up in a fairly deserted section of tunnel. The men boxing them in immediately vaulted the railing as well drawing pistols in the process.

While Henri recovered from his fall, Jordan fired his laser pistol at the largest of the attackers, but the rushed shot missed its target. Thiel drew his Gauss pistol and sprayed automatic fire in the direction of the men in front of him. He had only hoped to distract them and keep their heads down while closing to melee range, but got extraordinarily lucky and managed to hit two of them. Harim drew his blade and charged the man nearest him, but couldn’t quite close the distance before the man fired. The shot struck the Marquis in the leg and he crumpled to the floor.

Jordan and Henri fired on the wounded assailants and took them out of the fight. Meanwhile Thiel drew his cutlass and closed to melee range, the powered blade nearly severed the arm of his opponent. Seeing their companions cut down so quickly, the remaining men sprinted down the tunnel away from the combat. Jordan took one last shot at the fleeing men and dropped one more of them.

Other than the shock that had rendered him briefly unconscious, Harim’s wound wasn’t particularly serious and Jordan was able to quickly patch him up and get him on his feet. Several of the attackers - injured but not yet dead – were bound and given first aid. Jordan revived the least injured one and questioned him. The thugs had been sent by a woman named Miriam who seemed to be a minor crime boss operating around the starport. She had thought the group would have been an easy target for armed robbery, and the men she sent had not been prepared to face such dangerous targets. Having disarmed the thugs, the group left them to find their own way home and continued on to their show as if nothing had happened. Afterwards, they took a shuttle back to their ship rather than risk another attack. Deciding they had a schedule to keep and little to gain by pursuing this Miriam person, they prepared to depart Ushkager as quickly as possible.