This page GM'd by Ewan Quibell
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck
Location: Miishakaal, docked at the Skien Starport
System: Ashki
1125.10.4 - 21:30 Imperial Time, 21:28 Vilani Time, 17:45 Local Time
Everyone has finished their tasks as Shiraamer and Lakir arrive at
starboard airlock and let themselves in to the crew lounge and are met
by Gvarokh coming from the bridge. Chuck enters behind them.
"I went looking for some fresh food from the starport shugilii market, and one
of the shugilii gave me these for nothing." Chuck with a look of pure innocence
on his face raises his hand to show the Ashki utensils that fit over the
fingers, exactly like the ones Lakir tried earlier in the restaurant. "They
don't seem too bad. I'll have to give them a go when I get the chance."
About five minutes after Chuck arrives, a Bwap turns up pulling quite a
large cart with what is obviously fresh produce packed in cooler boxes,
some of which have cold vapours wafting from them, and a case or two of
beer and wine. The Bwap complains a little about having to deliver
during "first rest" before asking for Lakir. Chuck looks at Lakir with a
somewhat puzzled look on his face before helping the Bwap unload the
produce and beer and store it in the galley.
Just as the Bwap departs, a grav cycle with a young Vilani woman
arrives. A comm channel to the ship is opened and the young Vilani speaks
"Greetings, I am delivering a meal as was requested by Captain
Siirkasaare. Please would you direct me to where I should lay the food."
Vlad's ears perk up at the mention of food and he says to himself
"Meal?" as he makes his way to the crew lounge.
The smell that greets him is a little mixed but what really catches his nose is
something that is defiantly fish that seems to be heated to body temperature.
Laying out the food is a 20 something young vilani woman who moves with
grace setting out what seems to be a banquet in the crew lounge. Meanwhile,
Chuck is preparing some wine and beer to go with it.
The dishes seem much of the same to Vlad as he looks over them except for a
couple that are presented in a sharp and contrasting manner that seem to catch
his eye. Gvarokh seems to be looking at the same ones, and as Vlad gets closer
the tempting fish smell seems to be coming from those same dishes. His mouth
starts to water as he exchanges a delighted whimper with Gvarokh. Even to humans
the smell in the lounge is mouth-watering.
Chuck puts the beer on the table and the bottle of wine into the fridge. He
programs the temperature for 2 Celsius, specifies a bottle of wine and a minute.
He turns to the vilani woman and says, "This looks fantastic, although I'm not
too sure about those there." He indicates the dishes that Vlad and Gvarokh are
drooling over.
The vilani woman replies, "I think they may be more to your colleagues liking."
She looks at Vlad and Gvarokh while smiling. "The chips would be better suited
for your vargr colleagues at ambient room temperature, if they would like to
participate, and the stewed fruit dish is also good for all." She finishes
laying out the food and bows slightly while saying, "Please enjoy your meal,"
then departs.
There are numerous dishes laid out on the table. One is large fish
steaks served over yellow rice. Another is a dish of battered fish, with
chips to accompany them and what smells like malt vinegar to Vlad and
Gvarokh. There is a strange looking salad, a stewed fruit dish and what
can only be crab claws that are the size of Vlad's paw.
Shiraamer smiles at the layout and isn't sure which delights her more, the food
or the obvious drooling of the crew over the food. "Hello everybody. I just
wanted to say thanks for a good job you've done lately. As long as ship's
secure, help yourself... Don't let me stop you. Lakir and I tasted some of these
dishes so if you wish suggestions or have questions let us know."
Trying not to drool too badly, the stunned Gvarokh looks up and asks, "Now? Is
now a good time?"
"Mmmmmm, this looks good..." comes from Vincent, who then starts to eat, as
Lakir starts to pig out on the fish an' chips he only got to sample before.
The flesh of the fish stakes turns out quite like the consistency and taste to
filet mignon, while the crab has a distinctive taste that is quite refreshing.
The salad of the local sea plants is surprisingly like portabella mushrooms
although a little sweeter and Lakir smiles a little as Chuck tries to use the
finger utensils to eat with. Chuck, like Lakir before him, gives up and just
uses a fork. The fish and chips are good old standard Terran Cod with a really
light and crispy batter that just melts in your mouth and the chips are real
potato; thick cut and deep fried in the same oil as the fish.
Out of the Vargr prepared dishes the battered cod is done to perfection. The
batter is all crispy and light, while keeping the cod inside to body
temperature. It tastes as if it had just been pulled from the sea.
The meal is everything that you hoped it would be and more. The food just needs
to be eaten. Everyone eats far too much than what's good for them. The beer is
also a treat. The mood is a good-natured one where small talk abounds of hands
won and lost, cargos come and gone, and adventures of the past retold for all to
have a good laugh at the poor unfortunate who is the main character of the tail.
Gvarokh and Vlad are lying back on their chairs hands on bellies with tongues
hanging out of their mouths. They haven't even bothered to take off their bibs.
Small noises of delight escape their muzzles every now and again. They're both
sleepy as Vargr tend to be after a good meal. Unsurprisingly, the rest of the
crew feel much the same way.
Shiraamer leans back with the rest of the group and switches to her preferred
beverage of choice at work....strong coffee. After sipping her first cup, she
says, "Ahhh, a wonderful way to end a meal." She then gives the dreaded
announcement, "Gvarokh, see me in 30 to search for cargo. I didn't arrange
anything yet. The rest of you can clean up." She grins as she heads to her
cabin to slip into something less tight.
Gvarokh, seeing the opportunity, grins and leaves for his cabin as well.
Vlad does the same leaving the others to clean up.
When it's finished, Lakir takes Chuck through the inventory of fresh
food stuffs, and recommends he hit Vinny up for some help on the recipe
search on the local net.
Chuck looks at him strangely, but doesn't say anything.
Vincent says "I'll search the local net to get some good recipes for the food
they just brought on board. If I can't find anything there, I'll check some of
the local restaurants to see if they'd recommend anything."
Chuck looks at the two of them, moving from Lakir's face to Vincent's. "I know
I'm not the best liked member of the crew, but you don't need to treat me like a
complete arsehole." He hits a couple of commands on the terminal and continues
with, "It will save the locations of any decent recipes you find. Drop me a
message when you're done." He turns abruptly and leaves.
Lakir heads to his cabin to unpack his new AA-18/12, fieldstrip, and clean it.
He loads the mags and takes the lot down to the ship's armoury. Then he goes to
bum Simrii's weapon sim, for one hour practice in the cargo hold on the AA-18/12
and one hour with the sim set for gauss pistol... just like the bad ol' days.
Character: Slade
Location: Miishakaal Engineering
22:52 Imperial Time, 22:50 Vilani Time, 19:07 Local Time
After dinner Slade makes his way to Engineering to undertake his
favorite pastime: checking the systems. He sits down at the console
and starts up a couple of test routines, checks the systems, and pays
particular attention to the hull following flying through a debris field.
After a little time of staring at number he knows haven't deviated from the ones
he expects, he is waken by himself snoring. Checking the numbers are still
running the way he expects, and he wasn't just dreaming, he falls asleep again
at the console.
Characters: Shiraamer & Gvarokh
Location: Captain's Stateroom on Miishakaal
Shiraamer goes to her cabin and slips into something less tight. It's not so
easy she discovers upon going thru her wardrobe. She finally settles on a Cafkan
style lounging robe and tries to hide how much her stomach that is overfull, as
if it really looks as distended as she feels it does right now. She
makes sure that her new toy is secured and her clothes put away (gotta keep
one of them for poker night---perhaps the pink one) before she lays down. A
quick (set the alarm) 20 minute nap and she'll be ready to go through cargo
stuff with Gvarokh.
23:24 Imperial Time, 23:22 Vilani Time, 19:39 Local Time
After waking up (and not hitting snooze) Shiraamer starts looking for freight
while waiting for Gvarokh to join her. She doesn't have to wait long before her
bell rings and she lets Gvarokh in with a smile.
Gvarokh pulls up all options for non-speculative freight to Sardia, completely
bypassing the passenger lists. The cargo listings come alive and a summary
listing shows:
Helpfully, CargoNet pops up a summary of the available passengers as well:
8 High Passengers
12 Middle Passengers
4 Low Passengers
Shiraamer pulls up info on Sardia to find out what might be best to sell. The
computer splits the holo viewer and shows the orbits of the Sardia system:
****
| Sardia 3208 D236554-B NI 433 Rv K6 III Primary: Coganos, spectral class K6 III. Mass 5.52. Stellar Diameter 504. Luminosity 380. Sardia: Mean orbital radius: 30,012 million km (200.08 AU). Period: 1,204.58 std yrs. Diameter: 3,261 km. Density: 0.336 (icy body). Mass: 0.006. Mean surface gravity: 0.087. Rotation period: 25h 13m 48s. Axial inclination: 35°33'8". Energy absorption 0.767. Two satellites, one ring. Surface atm pressure: 0.24. Composition: std oxygen-nitrogen mix. Hydrographic percentage: 62%. Mean surface temperature: 23.5°C. No native life. Total world population 487,000. Primary cities: Hargiss, 9,880 (orbital); Dros, 9,730 (orbital); Lisson, 9,730 (orbital); Nunn, 9,640 (orbital); Surata, 9,330; Agost, 9,240(orbital); Albro, 9,150 (orbital). World government: feudal technocracy. Tech level- high common 11, low common 11. Primary resources - consumables, metals, ores, documents, crystals, compounds. The Sardia system was bypassed by the Vilani of the First Imperium as a "system of little value." The space travellers of the Rule of Man likewise ignored the system, save for the occasional refueling stop at the system's two gas giants. In the early days of the Third Imperium, the Imperial Navy established a Naval base in the Sardia System. Most of the population listed in the system today inhabit the several hundred orbital stations that are attached to the various Naval installations. The world of Sardia orbits its primary star, a type K6 III, in orbit 11. The orbital period of Sardia at this great distance is over 1200 standard years - meaning Sardia has not yet completed one trip around its central star since the founding of the Third Imperium. Sardia's surface is almost pleasant during the daytime, with temperatures reaching near +20°C. Once night comes, however, the temperature quickly falls to below -200°C, freezing the planet's entire night side hydrosphere solid. The Polar Regions are so cold that they approach absolute zero. Various civilian surface settlements (many of them underground) are engaged in extracting metals and ores from the crust. While the law level of the mainworld is quite reasonable, if an offworlder does happen to break the law, the penalties are quite severe. For instance, the punishment for exposing one's shoulders (considered to be immodest) is a severe beating. Sardia is renowned for its high number of physical-oriented penalties for its crimes, several of which include the death penalty. |
****
Looking at the current cargo manifest she finds to her delight
that the Miishakaal is listing empty.
Checking the cargos they are all listed as freight with a destination of Sardia.
CargoNet offers the chance to search for speculative cargos if you so wish,
with numerous brokerage houses advertising their services.
Hitting further details on a number of the cargos Shiraamer rearranges the
pop-up holo-windows around the display area with ease.
1 lot, 8 tons, Raw Crystals. Is a shipment of the semiconductor
gallium nitride being shipped to Sardia for the computer industry.
1 lot, 9 tons, Ore. A shipment of Talc Ore used in a wide range of
industries including the manufacture of ceramics, paints, paper, and asphalt
roofing.
1 lot, 14 tons, Polymers. A shipment of engineering polymers for
the plastics industry, thermoplastic, PA 66, polyamide, and nylon.
1 lot, 9 tons, Records. A shipment of sealed data records, for
the University of Hargiss.
1 lot, 12 tons, Bathing Salts. Luxury bathing salts.
Shiraamer leaves it with 9 tons saying, "We'll run with not going totally filled
up." Since their laws are so strict Shiraamer looks more closely at their
regulations for trading, racial prejudicies etc. but doesn't find anything of
note.
Gvarokh lets out a little yelp and points out by tapping the base of the holo
display that they shouldn't have to worry too much about the market on Sardia as
this is a freight listing, not speculative cargo.
He also pulls up the display of the remaining nine tons of Nitrogen Compounds,
noting with pricked up ears that it would nicely fill the remaining nine tons
of space.
Shiraamer's gently bites her tongue when she is concentrating on what to get and
then smiles as Gvarokh points out the 9 tons of Nitrogen compounds. "Now see
why two sets of eyes are better then one? I had overlooked that there were two
lots for that one. Well done. We'll add the Nitrogen compounds also."
Gvarokh closes all the holo displays windows and manipulates the display to
enable him to send offers to freight the cargo's to the listers. He pauses
slightly with a look at Shiraamer before commenting to the moves, but the
communiqués are sent, and are responded to with auto replies stating that
the people concerned will get back to them at the beginning of second work.
Gvarokh knows he will have to assign cargo detail for when they arrive however
as there has been no acknowledgment to their offers to freight it might be able
to wait.
With the jobs done and the time getting late Shiraamer is all but falling asleep
as she stands. Shiraamer and Gvarokh wish each other a good night and Gvarokh
departs for his cabin.
Character: Lakir
Location: Miishakaal's Cargo Hold
1125.10.5 - 00:52 Imperial Time, 24:50 Vilani Time, 21:07 Local Time
Lakir has been using the sim for a couple of hours now and is feeling quite
tired, and while this means his shooting is degrading as he keeps going he knows
that he is probably improving his performance under stress conditions.
Coming to the end of a scenario he realises he's forgotten to purchase the
bracket for the TL 12 Image Converter Binoculars for his ISAAA-18/12 Automatic
Shotgun, and places a quick call to the 'Satirine Saamlar', to place an order.
He also intends to browse their on-line catalogue for load bearing rigs to
provide a webbing assembly to accommodate more mags over his vest or vacc suit.
The ship opens a comm channel to 'Satirine Saamlar' and is met by a very polite
message informing him that there is no one to take his call at present due to it
being first rest, and if he would like to leave his contact details they will
endeavour to contact him at the first possible opportunity during the next work
period.
His browsing of their catalogue doesn't turn up anything that resembles what he
is after but the search on the catalogue helpfully asks him to leave details of
what he requires and they will attend to his request at the next available work
period.
Next: Cargo Loading