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+--- Thread: In over my head again... (/showthread.php?tid=4463)
In over my head again... - Jonah - 11-08-2007
Jonah walks through the space port on Planet Manhatten with his sailor's bag thrown over his shoulder. Free at last! Having completed his 7 year contract with Border World Exports, he chose to get off at this famous core system world, the home planet of Liberty, itself. Flush with the credits he had saved during his tenure on a BoWEx transport, he heads out into the Manhatten night to find a hotel, a good meal, and a drink (Bretonian Scotch, of course). Tomorrow, he'll be looking for a small ship of his own... and a life of freedom.
As a young Bretonian man on Cambridge, Jonah had wistfully looked to the stars to escape a life of provincial poverty. He had joined the Bretonian Armed Services as soon as he was a legal adult, reaching the enlisted rank of Petty Officer aboard the HMS Elizabeth by the end of his 6 year enlistment. As soon as his tour of duty was over he signed on with the BoWEx freighter Langston in the New London office of Border World Exports for a seven year contract (where he rose to the corporate title of "Navigator Second Class"). Now, with just enough credits to buy an old freighter, Jonah chose not to renew his contract, but to try and go it on his own. Freedom was what he wanted most!!! Wealth, if even possible for someone, would be an added bonus.
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The next morning, Jonah heads into the seedier part of the space docks looking for a used ship dealer...
In over my head again... - Jonah - 11-08-2007
Three days later, Jonah's new ship sits on a 3rd class docking platform at the Manhattan Space Port. An old, run-down 50 year old Bretonian freighter he bought from a dealer who really should have called himself a junk yard owner, it is still the most beautiful thing he has ever laid eyes on. Jonah does not see a broken down space vessel what he sees is freedom. After days of hard work, Jonah finally has the engine working and some of the helm controls replaced. The ship's computer and nav/comm system is rudimentary at best but is just enough to get into space and get around with hands-on flying and manual calculations.
And Jonah finishes putting a fresh coat of space-worthy paint on the small freighter a group of three rough men approach and ask him if he would consider taking on passengers to Curacao. They offer quite a bit of money (all, of course, upon delivery... which should have been Jonah's first warning). Jonah accepts despite his unease, helps them stow their personal effects and heads into orbit. After all, he needs the money, having spent almost all of what he arrived with on this run-down, little space junker.
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As he approaches the Jump Gate out of the New York system, he feels the cold steel of a pistol barrel against the skin of the back of his neck. The hard, vicious voice behind him says, "Hands up! And step away from the helm! We're taking your ragged little ship."
Jonah shakes, his head, raises his hands and slowly gets up from his seat. He only sees one of his passengers (the others must still be below... maybe going through his cargo or get preparing to blast him out of the airlock. Regardless they are not here & he only has one assailant to deal with). His would-be hijacker turns to look where Jonah in looking and, taking advantage of the moment, Jonah strikes the gun in his hand, sending it flying. With his free hand he hits the switch on the console to close the blast doors to the command cabin, locking the other two passengers out of the cockpit and in the cargo hold.
Suddenly, Jonah... new captain of a ragged and outdated (but freshly painted) small Bretonian freighter... is fighting for his life and his ship. He thinks to himself (between throwing, ducking and receiving punches and kicks), "Well, isn't that just PERFECT! First voyage out and I'm already getting hijacked!"