I lit my smoke in the cockpit of the transport. More slaves delievered to Malta. Now all I had to do is wait on the shipment of Cardamine to be sent to the dock on the Malta pad. They said it would be a few hours, so I had some time to kill.
My name is Kristine "Halloween" Velencia, also known as Hal. I'm the leader of the Fighter Squadron of the Smugglers Coalition. Although I'm a fighter by heart, I'm still needed to do the deliveries when others are busy with things on Yanagi. I was raised in the border worlds by my father on Malta. My mother kept her distance in Theta on the Freeport, being a Zoner. I'd talked to her on and off during my entire life. My father and her didn't hate one another, they lived different lives, my father a would be criminal to the houses, and my mother a believer in living outside the House system's rule. Thus the differences.
My nickname was given to me by my father when I was younger. The redhead gene in my mothers side must have been the dominant one, because I've got her hair. Bright red hair. I got made fun of a lot for it when I went to school on Malta, but when on the Freeport, I simply got made fun of for being an Outcast. I couldn't win where ever I went. On my 18th birthday, I had a choice. Become a fighter for the Outcasts or help my mother on Freeport 11 with some new studies. I chose neither, instead purchasing an old Transport and fixing it up with the help of my father.
From there, as they say, was history. I began running Slaves and Cardamine between Liberty and other house systems. Bringing back some supplies such as water, food, and medical supplies for Malta, Cali, and other Outcast stations around the Omicron systems. I even ran some supplies down to my mother in Theta for some projects she was working on.
A few months back I ran into a couple of interesting...characters would be the name. They both were smugglers by heart, and turned me on to a few tricks that I never would have learned by myself. We all became friends instantly and decided that there needed to be more smugglers grouping together to protect our shipments from Do-gooders...and so the Smugglers Coalition was formed. A small rag-tag group of Smugglers trying to get the people of Sirius what they wanted, and when they wanted it. Outcasts and the Corsairs wanted Slaves for work, and they wanted their creations and/or discoveries to be delievered into Sirius. It was a fair trade, and we happly obliged.
"Hal, we've got your shipment ready." said the dock worker loading up the Cardi into the back of the transport. I looked up to the Docking ring and sighed as it came into view as the planet spun.
"Thanks Juan. I'll be back in a few days with the next shipment of Slaves." I replied slamming the transport hatch shut and signing some documents.
"Days? It only takes about an hour to get to the House systems if you don't run into trouble."
"Yeah, well...I've got some business else where for a while."
"Ah, I see...just like your father. I'll tell him you said hi and let him know you won't be around for a few days, so he doesn't get worried."
"Thanks Juan. See ya."
I turned on the engines and sighed. Liberty here I come...
"Yeah I hear you bloody computer! Lay down supression extinguishers in those areas and open the bay to space!"
Fire in Bay 2 extinguished. Lost 52 tons of Cardamine
"F***!"
The RM had discovered me smuggling into Liberty and didn't like the fact. For one I was smuggling through their space, second off I was smuggling INTO a house system they wern't too friendly with at the moment. The Firefly I was in was taking a serious beating, but the Jumpgate to the Hudson system was coming up quick and the RM were falling behind.
"D***it Malt! Where the hell is your bomber when I need it?"
A RM Destroyer came on scanners as I reached the Jumpgate to Hudson and quickly went into evasive manuvers dodging the flak incoming from the Destroyer. I reached the gate and jumped. Laughing I made it into Hudson and breathed a sigh of relief. The Freeport was on scanners and I limped through the Tradelane to the station to dock. I cursed as I shook a piece of metal off my foot when I climbed out of the ship. A Mercenary was talking to a few people with a mark in his custody. Some mechanics were trying to fix a torn up Odin VHF and failing.
I brushed off some flakes of metal and as I walked up to the head mechanic he sighed. "Hey Hal."
"Hey Dave. Think you can fix ol' Julianne.?" I replied with a girlish smile.
"Sure, soon as we fix that guy's fighter. Tore the hell out of it catchin' that Xeno. Bastard's crazier than a bat." Dave walked away mumbling inaudable curses at the man who had just been paid what looked like a substantial amount of credits. He smiled and handed over the Xeno to the folks who wanted him caught. He checked the chip and pocketed it. He looked at the fighter and smiled, forcing his hand to his face. His body shook, and at first I thought he was crying. When he looked up he was laughing.
"Keep laughin' Dev and this ship is going out tha airlock." Dave said from near the nose.
"Sorry Dave. I'll remember next time to not fly head on into a Rogue Gunboat."
The man walked away, heading back towards the bar as Dave and the others continued to work on the VHF. I smiled and followed him through, as I passed Dave, he gave me a warning. "Careful...he's a wild one..." I smiled and nodded to Dave as I entered the bar. It wasn't very busy today...for a Thursday it was pretty dead. The man sat at the bar, flirting with the Zoner bartender who continued to give him weird looks. She walked around to the back and I took the seat near him.
"Rum and coke please." I said.
"Busy day Hal?" she replied pouring the drink.
"You've no idea. Got caught up in a tangle with the RM a few hours ago. Also ended with me sucking vacuum."
"You gotta be more careful sweetheart." she said with a smile. "If I need anything, I'll be in the back, this guy is creepin' me out." The barmaid walked away to the back and I smiled to myself. A creep huh? I looked to my right to see him watching the holo-projector with interest. New Liberty regulations on trade incoming from Rheinland. Looks like it was heating up even more. A trade embargo...no trade coming in from Rheinland and they were watching the gates from Bering and Hudson.
"Great." I said to myself.
"You're telling me." he replied. "Most of the things I get paid to do is escorting people through Unioner and Xeno space. With this embargo it's going to be impossible to get through there with out using the Jumphole into Texas."
"Jumphole?" I asked.
"He turned to me and flinched for some reason. He paused and then continued. "Yeah, the Texas Jumphole. Don't you know about it?"
"No. Normally I just avoid Jumpholes when I can up until I reach Frankfurt. The Liberty Jumpholes always like to go out of phase slightly and be a little more rough than the ones in the border worlds."
"Probably because you were raised in the Border worlds." he said with a a smile.
"How did you-"
"Please, I can tell by the air around you. The Outcast defensiveness. Even though it doesn't seem like you've got it up, I can always tell. I'm good at reading people. Well, they should be done with my fighter by now, it was good meeting you..."
"Kristine...I go by Hal though...short for Halloween."
"Interesting name." he replied. "My name is Taviz Fyren. I go by Dev though. The reasons for that I'll keep quiet about. Good luck out there...here's the coordinates for that Jumphole we were talking about. Stay safe." he said walking away.
I smiled to myself and raised my voice. "Looking for a job Mercenary?" He turned around and smiled.
"Why, yes, it looks like a space just opened up to escort a smuggler into Liberty."