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***Transmitting on unsecured channel***

Evening, Captain.

That was a heck of a furball in Manhattan this morning, wasn't it? Don't worry, I grabbed all the good bits from your girl's wreck - they're in a good home now, spacer's honor. A big load of fresh, premium, Liberty steel scrap just about paid off that eye-gouge of a fine you hit me with the other day, too. Kinda appropriate, don'tcha think?

But enough gloating. I got my general secretary to run the numbers on that $25M fine you levied on me, for two businessmen running a grand total of about 5600 Indentured Servants from the slums of Pittsburgh. Turns out that the numbers work out to just about $4640 credits per head - a shockingly low sum, considering that these are allegedly Liberty citizens that are allegedly wanted back in their homes by the Liberty government. In fact, that seems suspiciously low - a quick check with some of my contacts reveals that that's actually below market price, assuming highest bidder.

So how about that, eh? Your government values its citizens less than a box of trinkets for the Manhattan elite, less than a crate of drugs for a stock market tycoon, less than a Starflier's hull or the countermeasure flares you drop in battle. That's even less than their worth in raw, backbreaking manual labour.

I don't know how you Liberty Navy guys sleep at night, propping up this nonsense.

Williams, out.

- - {Transmission Initiated} - -

COMM-ID]: Commander Kingston, Alexander S.
RECEIVER-ID]: Captain Williams, WMD Firefly
SUBJECT]: Take a gander

ENCRYPTION]: Beta - Low
PRIORITY]: Beta - Low

Good morning, 'Captain'.

I'm going to use that term very loosely, as from perspective, anyone who willingly sells the lives of his fellow man for profit isn't 'fellow man'. Now, I'm aware that Pittsburgh sees to the offworld departure of these 'indentured servants', and indeed I do not condone this act. While the people of Pittsburgh may see the need to sell themselves as 'slaves', I do not, and the law, while they may have given consent, isn't so forgiving.

That 25 million credits fine was outlayed to the both of you. While I am sure the fine could have been bigger, you cooperated in the end, and that changed a great many things. Now, I'm sure you're wondering as to the reasons behind, and indeed, I did outline them to you before you dropped the passengers off on Los Angeles. If you happened to forget them, then I will outline them here for you.

Your law violations include, for the both of you:
Resisting Arrest
Evasion
Partaking in Acts of Slavery
Intimidation
Breaking Trade Regulations

Indeed, as you said, 'Quite the laundry list'. The grand total for the crime, including the slight deduction for your eventual compliance, rounded out to the fine you paid. For the both of you, that's 12.5 million credits, and I'd say that's more than a sufficient 'deficit' for you two to overcome.

Regardless of whatever your 'secretary' may have doodled up in the form of numbers, no one person can put a price on human life. The fact that you believe you can is beyond sickening, and honestly makes me lose a bit of hope in humanity in the process. Whatever you 'people' believe is worth the lives you're stealing is complete bogus to me, and the rest of the Navy for that matter.

Enjoy your day, 'Captain'.

Signed,
Commander Alexander Samuel Kingston, Liberty Navy Primary Fleet.

P.S: Also, for the record, I sleep at night knowing that the people I serve for are safe, and the ones that I love are by my side. You ever pull another move like this again, and the fine will be least of your worries.

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***Transmitting on unsecured channel***

Howdy, Commander.

Please, don't mistake my griping for actual salt. We're both perfectly well aware of the terms of the agreement we worked out and hefty fines for contraband are just another cost of doing business. I gotta say, though, for a Navy stick in the mud you're actually not too bad. You kept your word and let both me and my friend leave in peace, which is more than I was expecting given our past encounters with the Liberty Navy. You'll have to forgive me, though, for not actually putting any stock in those threats of yours. After all, you'd have to catch me first. We've already proven that your 'top of the line' gunboat can't actually outrun my lovable rustbucket of a freighter, and I'd be a pretty piss-poor smuggler if I just kept running back and forth on the same route.

It's good to hear that you're sleeping alright, our jobs ain't easy y'know. I know for a fact that my guy on Pittsburgh doesn't sleep so well, especially after I told 'em that these past four loads were bound for a Cryer Pharmeceuticals station. Turns out that if they're decommissioned, disassembled, packed and stored on ice, they not only sell a lot better but you can also fit a lot more in.

Friendly advice, don't eat the meat in your MREs.

Williams, out

Psyentific

Spectre

Psyentific