This page GM'd by Ewan Quibell
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck
Location: Miishakaal, docked at the Skien Starport
System: Ashki
1125.10.5 - 05:17 Imperial Time, 29:25 Vilani Time, 25:32 Local Time
Gvarokh starts to come into consciousness due to a buzzing noise that he tries
to place, but can't quite manage in his state of slumber. The sound changes to
a louder buzzing and Gvarokh realizes that it's an incoming communication which
has gone from just his stateroom to ship wide to alert any crew that there is
incoming comm.
The buzzing tone around the ship wakes everyone. Most find themselves in their
staterooms, but Slade finds himself in engineering. His arm is dead as he has
rested his head on it while he slept.
There were seven missed calls. Six are for Miishakaal in general
and one is specifically for Lakir.
The freight firms have all left messages saying that they accept Miishakaal's
kind offer to ship their cargo and are moving the goods to the Miishakaal's bay
for arrival as soon as possible.
Lakir is feeling pretty bad as he has only caught about 3 hours sleep, his hand
and arm are stiff from the gun practice and being woken by the buzzer has put
him in a bad mood.
Vlad is feeling ok. He's had three hours which is not bad for a nap but he knows
his need for sleep is great and it will probably be best if he tries to catch
some more at lunch.
Gvarokh has had five hours sleep and isn't feeling too bad, although he missed
the initial comms calls. He also knows he needs more sleep so is likely to need
to nap around lunch.
Shiraamer is knackered. Five hours is just not enough. Bags under the eyes that
are a bit puffy show the symptoms of lack of sleep. It's liable to be a bad
hair day as well.
Vincent is feeling a little sleepy. He's had close to six hours sleep which is
good enough to see him through the day.
Apart from a stiff neck, and an arm that he needs to massage to
wake up, Slade is only a little sleepy after his six odd hours. He could
do with a shower to smooth the aches and pains, but otherwise he's fine.
Simrii is ok. He's had over six hours deep sleep following the meal.
30 minutes after the comms calls, the first cargo delivery starts to arrive.
Gvarokh gets a call from the guys delivering it, looking to get it loaded.
Lakir checks his message. It turns out to be Satirine Saamlar requesting that he
call them back to talk through his requirements.
After checking his message, Lakir heads to the cargo bay and starts his cargo
upload routine. He downloads the manifest from the computer and checks space and
lashing requirements for the new cargo. He starts prepping the area for its
arrival. Yawning, he thinks it's likely to be a long day.
Vlad heads down to the cargo bay to find Lakir looking at the cargo listings due
to arrive. His smell is somewhat different this morning but it's nothing he can
put his nostrils to. With a small bark and a nod to Lakir he walks to the cargo
ramp to activate the purser's terminal and to lower the ramp itself.
Shiraamer wakes up and, after checking the incoming cargo acknowledgments,
quickly closes her eyes. She thinks it will be a bad day. She figures that she
has two options: go with it or crawl back into bed. She yearns for the days when
she could just crawl back into bed. She knows that this isn't the first time
she's had to deal with life on little sleep, although she keeps hoping it might
be the last. Sighing, she slicks her hair down with water and tries to convince
her body that it really does want to function.
She doesn't hear any activity in the staterooms as she walks downs the corridor,
but upon reaching the cargo hold she sees Lakir and Vlad sorting out the hold
for the incoming cargo. Lakir looks as bad as she feels, though he seems to be
managing fairly well.
Gvarokh checks the messages and finds he doesn't need to send any
acknowledgements for the various cargo deliveries. He does see that they have
all responded stating that they're delivering their cargoes right then. Thinking
he'd like to request time changes for any overlapping deliveries he manages to
contact the factor for the 12 tons of bathing salts and convince them to delay
it for four hours. Other than that, he doesn't have much luck and thinks he'll
just roll with the punches the deliverers deal. He silently curses the
efficiency of the Vilani.
He goes out and about, checking to see who's up. He finds Chuck in the kitchen
looking no worse for wear, putting the morning coffee on and preparing a working
breakfast for everyone. Chuck passes him a fruit juice to drink while putting
a piece of warmed meat and stewed fruits in a fajita for him. Gvarokh barks
thanks and checks the cargo hold. He sees Lakir and Vlad diligently prepping.
He goes back into the crew lounge and calls up Simrii and Vincent to let them
know that the first delivery has arrived.
Vincent replies in a quite chirpy voice that he'll just brush up and will be
there in a moment.
Simrii grunts something unintelligble.
Gvarokh returns to the hold to work with Lakir and Vlad and handle the
paperwork. He give Lakir a tired smile (just a curl of the mouth; no teeth) and
a pat on the shoulder to show appreciation for Lakir's proactive work.
Shiraamer greets Gvarokh with a smile and suggests that she handle the paperwork
to let him organize the loading.
Vincent and Simrii turn up as the ramp lowers. What greets the crew is a bunch
of cargo in various states of disarray.
There are six Vilani males of various ages waiting patiently for someone from
the Miishakaal to sign for their cargo and load it up. They talk amongst
themselves as they approach the ship in some pre-determined order. Shiraamer
suspects it's the order in which they arrived but she can't be sure.
The first in line speaks, "Good Dran. I have a shipment of data records for the
University of Hargiss and your offer of shipment." He passes the data-pad with
details to Shiraamer to verify, and indicates the 9 tons of containers that
need to be moved.
As she makes sure that everything is correct, she wonders how much data is in
the containers. "This seems in order." Shiraamer smiles at the man and nods to
everyone in the hold to acknowledge they should be loaded.
Chuck appears from the crew lounge with assorted sandwiches and fajitas with
drinks that everyone can eat on the go, and hands a coffee to the Captain.
The last Vilani in line breaks with decorum a little and mutters, "I'm going to
be here forever. The first trader to be going to Sardia in the last two weeks
and they have to be inefficient ones." He sits down with a humph.
Lakir, who has just got to the first container and begun adjusting the cargo
loader with Vlad, hears the Vilani's comments and, due to lack of sleep, is
instantly irritated. He snaps back "Well you could get off your arse and help.
That way you won't be stuck here so long being annoyed with our inefficiency."
The Vilani realises that he's being rude and is taken aback by Lakir's reply. He
considers what Lakir said for a moment and stands up. With a perplexed look on
his face he replies, "Certainly. I can drive a cargo loader and I used to crew a
Garu a while back. Where do you want me? The name's Shannash Igadushda." From
his reply, the crew get the idea that helping load the cargo isn't part of the
procedure here on Ashki.
The other Vilani look at each other with puzzled looks on their faces. They all
seem to agree without a word being said. The oldest of the group turns to
Shiraamer, "We have similar skills to our colleague Shannash and would like to
offer our help as well."
Chuck smiles and says "We'll need more coffee then!" He goes back to the crew
lounge to put another pot on.
Vincent adds, "Excellent, then we can get done alot quicker." He doubles his
efforts not realizing that the work will get done much quicker with the added
help.
Vlad barks in what you know passes for a Vargr laugh, "Pinkies...
every time you think you've got them figured out..."
Gvarokh sorts the crew and the Vilani into work teams. They move and stow the
cargo, with all the cargo lifters from the Miishakaal and those that the
Vilani brought.
Lakir says to Shannash Igadushda, "Great. We could use the help. We hadn't quite
expected this response from our ad. Seems like there's been a shortage of
small cap transport recently."
Shannash replies quite off hand, "No, there hasn't been a trader going to Sardia
for the last two weeks, not that I would've taken notice before really. I only
started to take notice of these things since I was asked to keep a track of
shipping movements. It was after Lucan pulled the fleets out of Vland, but I
told the guy who asked to bugger off in no uncertain terms. I haven't seen him
since."
One of the other Vilani replies with a laugh, "Good thing too. I heard that the
Navy and the police are about to round up a bunch of Imperial spies, and they
might have lumped you in with them!" He smiles as the rest of the Vilani laugh
at Shannash's expense.
Another pipes up, "It's true. I have a good friend who works in the port and is
still loyal to Stephan even after the fleets left. The starport authorities said
that they couldn't trust him even though he's never done anything wrong in his
life. So the government took his family 'on holiday' off world, only they didn't
say where they where going and he hasn't seen them since. He makes sure he does
nothing that could be even considered wrong now just in case he never sees them
again."
Following this the mood sobers and everyone gets on with their work. The cargo
loading proceeds at a good pace and before you know it, the job is done.
With the cargo stowed and everyone thinking they've all done a good job,
the crew, without a word, heads back to their respective staterooms. Most to
catch up on some sleep but others to just relax.
Characters: Shiraamer & Gvarokh
NPC: Captain Lishenii
Location: Miishakaal
11:21 Imperial Time, 03:29 Vilani Time, 31:36 Local Time
It's been about half an hour since the cargo was loaded and Gvarokh hit his
stateroom for a nap. He's woken by an incoming comm call that has been routed
to his stateroom.
Upon answering, the other end shows an obviously Vilani man wearing an army
captain's uniform. "Good drandir to you. I believe you are shipping out to
Sardia?" he continues before Gvarokh can answer "Yes. I'm in a party of three
that would like passage. When would be a good time to embark?"
With the suddenness of the query, Gvarokh snaps awake. After an unpleasant
pause to collect his thoughts, he responds, "I am sorry, but I didn't recall
contracting for any passengers. If you would like, I can forward your request
to our captain."
The Vilani Captain looks a little taken aback, "Not contracting for any
passengers?" Again he continues before Gvarokh can answer, "I am speaking to a
representative of the ZSMV Miishakaal, yes? How very strange! Why would you not
be contracting for passengers?"
Gvarokh, now much more awake, ignores the second question. He says, "Yes, I am a
representative of the Miishakaal. As I have already mentioned, if there is a
problem, I can connect you through to our captain." The omission of "ZSMV" is
intentional.
The Vilani Captain still looking a little out of sorts says, "By all means
please do!"
Gvarokh puts the Vilani Captain on hold while he gets Shiraamer on the line.
He opens a connection through to her stateroom where she answers yawning.
Shiraamer stares at the com like it's a snake ready to bite her, "Gvarokh? This
had better be good. That cup of coffee didn't last long. If there are any more
problems to deal with they had best be served with caffeine."
Gvarokh replies, "I am terribly sorry captain, but I have a Vilani Army Captain
on the other line that wishes to book travel to Sardia. I told him we don't
usually do passengers, but he didn't seem to take no for an answer. I offered to
let him talk to you. Will you talk to him?" Gvarokh pauses for a moment, then
adds, "Is there some sort of mandatory passage for Vilani military personnel?"
Shiraamer starts to finger comb her hair, trying to get it to look more
presentable. "Ok, Gvarokh, you may patch him through. I'll talk to him. We might
make arrangements. It would be a profit for us and might end up with a good
contact. I'm not aware of any mandatory passage for Vilani military so it will
cost him." Shiraamer, puts a smile on her face and waits for the patch to
come through.
Gvarokh switches back to the Vilani Captain and says, "I am transferring you to
our captain. Hopefully she can help figure things out." He then transfers the
connection.
Shiraamer waits for the connection and, when it's patched through, announces
herself in a pleasant but firm voice, "Captain Siirkasaare speaking. To whom do
I have the pleasure of addressing?"
The Vilani Army Captain replies rather formally, "Good drandir Captain
Siirkasaare. I am Captain Enli Lishenii of 2nd Battalion Uukegdi, 7th infantry
division, Theton 3rd Army. I would like to book passage with you to Sardia for
myself and two others."
Shiraamer patiently waits for him to finish his introduction, although mentally
rolling eyes at the formality. "I see Captain Lishenii. I am somewhat curious to
find that I have a message from you since I did not advertise for passages. May
I inquire as to how you chose MY ship for passage? Also, I'm sure you
won't object to me asking to see your credentials."
Captain Lishenii looks a little puzzled, "Credentials? Oh ... Yes." His ID comes
up on the screen. It's a standard Vilani Army ID, and the computer confirms it
matches the expected credentials. Still looking puzzled, he continues, "And why
I called your ship? Your destination is Sardia, and the ZSMV Miishakaal," he
says reading from off screen, "is a Garu Class with 8 crew, 11 staterooms and 4
low berths. And I need passage to Sardia for myself and two others."
From what he said, it seems to Shiraamer that he believes that his answer is
more than sufficient justification for placing the call.
Shiraamer looks over his credentials and upon finding them legit smiles at him.
"Thank you so much. There is a reason why I didn't advertise for passengers
though. We don't have fully-fledged medical personnel on board for crew. As
such, I would be lacking as a captain to take on passengers when I could not
guarantee proper medical treatment, if needed."
Captain Lishenii replies, "No medic? Oh that's not a problem is it? No, no.
We'll not be needing a steward either."
Shiraamer gives a low soft chuckle, "Not having a medic is only a problem dear
sir when one is needed. I would expect all three of you to sign papers stating
that you understand that we have no medic on board and that you wave any
liability stemming from not having a medic on board. There would also be the
normal contract also stating that you waive the Steward option."
He nods his agreement.
Captain Shiraamer continues to find something to dissuade him from traveling on
board her ship, "You mentioned two others? Are they military also?
"Two other passengers? Yes, my Colonel and the Regimental Sergeant Major."
In a low whisper and with a smile in her eyes, she continues, "I was sure that
the military would want to see their fine members transported in a style
befitting them and with proper medical personnnel instead of an old, but sound,
Garu class ship like Miishi." She pats Miishi walls.
Captain Lishenii laughs, "You should see the conditions we have to travel under
when we go with the Navy! Your Garu is likely to be luxury by comparison!"
Swell. She tries another tactic, "Is there a hurry to get to Sardia that
you would be willing to travel with us instead of proper military entourage?"
He composes himself, "In a hurry to get to Sardia? No, it's just that you're the
first ship to head that way in two weeks."
She continues on with formalities, "Your weaponry would be stowed and the only
time I expect to see any of you brandishing weapons would be to help defend the
ship during the trip. I would charge Cr 8,000 for each of you for a total of
Cr 24,000."
She suddenly recalls Gishinridu and decides to play the race card, "Another
thing to keep in mind is that my crew is composed of more then one race. If
any of you might have any problems with that, then it is best we
not go further in our negotiations. On the other hand, if you are still
interested, I would like to meet the three of you tomorrow morning for
refreshment and to go over the contracts." Shiraamer patiently awaits his
answer.
Captain Lishenii continues to have a puzzled look upon his face as he replies,
"We would expect a standard middle passage? Hummm .. Yes. As for a meeting, yes,
we would be happy to, at our hotel? For breakfast? Yes, yes. We'll expect you
at what? Say 07:30 Ashki? Excellent, yes, for you and another? Yes. Until the
Dran then Captain Siirkasaare. Good Dir." He sends the details of the best
starport hotel as he closes the connection.
Shiraamer hangs her head in disappointment.
Next: Meet The Enlis - Part 1