James Barett walked into the bar. He was a Bretonian, light-skinned but with short dark hair. He had some days' worth of stubble around his chin and was wearing blue jeans, a red leather jacket, underneath which was a white T-shirt adorned with a quote that most people in Sirius would need a time machine to understand. His grey eyes darted around the room to see if she was there.
Planet Curacao
Janurary 818 A.S.
Dave Enfield looked at his watch. He had light brown hair and tnned skin. James showed up from behind a cargo container.
"So," said Dave, "What did you get yourself into this time?"
"Long story..." said James.
Planet Manhattan
May 819 A.S.
She was leaning against the bar, bottle in front of her. She was staring intently at the screen of her PDA.
This was James' girlfriend, Catherine Herstal. She was an albino, with snow-white hair and skin, with piercing red eyes. She was wearing a white leather duster with dyed white jeans and a pair of generic stilettoes. Underneath her duster was a practical tank top. Catherine was usually at Rick's, a diner two and a half blocks north that used to be a DSE-owned Rhino.
"Hey, Cath. Long time no see," said James.
"OK, what did you get yourself into this time?" replied Catherine, knowing what to expect.
"Dave was asking me the same thing back in January, on Curacao,"
"Really? I bet this is gonna take a while. Wanna go over to Rick's?" Catherine got up and walked towards James, whispering "Don't tell the bartender, but the tequila here may as well be hamster piss!" as she walked towards the door.
"Hey, Cath. I'm on Waterloo Station. It was a long ride and we almost lost the cargo a few times through the Independant Worlds, but it was worth it. I've now got 20 million credits and command of the transport Parabellum! I'll be back when I can. I've just got to load up the cargo. and then I'll-"
The transmission was cut off. The error message said that there were ion storms in the system. Resigning himself to the bar, James wondered if he'd ever get the Parabellum flying bound for Manhattan, and himself for Catherine's apartment there, which he'd paid for after they first met.
Catherine was a Junker, either combing debris fields for anything useful or fixing up her old CSV, which she'd inherited from her grandparents after they'd both retired. They met on Newark Station, when James had first signed up with Interspace as a crewman on the Parabellum, back in August.
"Hey, J. I've got the manifest fixed. Now we just have to wait for the ion storm," said Steve. Steve (short for Stephanie) Wesson was the first officer, promoted after Captain Cahal had been discharged on medical grounds. She had dark skin and hair that was almost the same shade, with amethyst eyes that almost shone in the right light. She was known to be naive and idealistic, but still good at her job.
"Good work Steve. So, what are we gonna do in the meantime?" replied James.
"I hear they're showing the New London 350 in the bar,"
"Sounds good," The New London 350 was the last race in the Sirius Tour, a racing challenge that went from system to system in a test of speed. Last week had been the Barrier Run, which started in the Tau systems and took pilots down through Tau-23, into 29 and through Baffin, Coronado and Cortez, finishing at Planet Curacao.
The next day, the ion storms had cleared up and the Parabellum was given permission to launch. It was in Manchester, between Sheffield and the Magellan gate when they were attacked by Lane Hackers.
"This is the Lane Hackers speaking. Drop that cargo, or we open fire," came the transmission.
"Steve," said James, "Can you get a message out to Sheffield?"
"They're blocking all communications except to them!" said Steve.
"We're not dropping the cargo,"
"Big mistake," said the Hacker. "All ships, open fire!" The Hackers opened fire. There was no hope for the transport; the escort couldn't make it and the Hackers had brought torpedo bombers.
"Everyone to the escape pods!" bellowed James, and everyone scrambled.
Several bulkheads collapsed, trapping most of the crew.
"No..." thought James.
"REACTOR CORE BREACHED." came the announcement. James dived into the first pod he saw. Only a few of the crew had escaped. Scanning the emergency channels, there was no sign of Steve.
Planet Curacao
January 819 A.S
"What happened then?" asked Dave.
"I was taken aboard one of their ships. I'm not too sure what happened to anyone else who got out, but after a few weeks, I was able to find my way on a Junker ship that was headed to Curacao, and so here I am," replied James.
"Right," said Dave, "I can get you to Barrier Gate. I've got a friend there who has an old broken-down Stiletto heavy fighter he can give you, but you'll have to fix it up yourself,"
"Guess I'll have something to do then," said James.
Barrier Gate Station
May 819 A.S.
James stared at his now-spaceworthy Stiletto.It only had two Adv. Flashpoint cannons mounted, but he could get some more. He'd sold the Countermeasure Dropper after he'd got that fixed, leaving him with enough credits to get some cargo and sell it elsewhere. His first destination would be Manhatten. It had beena while since he'd seen Catherine and he was getting lonely after several months on Barrier Gate.
My name's James Barett, age 27. I'm a freelancer, finding work wherever I can. I lived most of my life on New London, with my parents who worked for the government. I got a job with Interspace Commerce aboard the transport Parabellum under Captain Joseph Cahal. My first job took me from Waterloo Station to Newark Station in New York, and that's where I met Catherine.
Catherine Herstal is my girlfriend. She's a couple of years younger than me, but it's not much. She's a Junker, grew up on Rochester. Her ship is an old CSV that's not always intact, but it's served her well for the past few years. She's a bit weird, but I'm OK with that. She's got a lot of spark. In many ways, she's the perfect contrast to...
Dave Enfield. I've known Dave for many years. He's old, lived mostly on Southampton Shipyard. He sometimes takes flights elsewhere, but he's almost never planetside. He does work mostly on transports, but repairs damaged ships that pull into the shipyard if they can pay. He's the one that set me up with my <strike>current</strike> previous ship, a beat-up old Stiletto that I've fixed up and got back running.
James staggered off the freighter, weary from the long journey from Curacao to Barrier Gate. He looked at the piece of paper Dave had given him.
Leon Beretta, Table 3
His first destination was the bar. Leon was at table 3, as promised. He was about the same age as James with short blond hair. James stepped over to him.
"Are you Leon Beretta?" he asked.
"Why, yes I am," said Leon in an irritating Liberty accent, "You must be James. David said you were coming. I've got that ship for you,"
"Cool. So, what needs doing?"
"You'll have to take out the Cardamine pump unless you want to fly around stoned, and from there you'll need specialist parts. The Outcasts built this thing for themselves,"
"Where do I get the parts?" asked James.
"The Taus, I should think. How much money you got?"
"Not much,"
"Then you'll have to steal them. I can set you up with a smuggler who can help you get them," said Leon, "Ah, here she comes!"
And then, coming out of nowhere, was Steve.
"James! It's been a while," she said.
"Steve? What where you doing?" asked James excitedly.
"There's no time. We'll need to move quickly if we're gonna get those parts,"
The plan was as follows: Steve would fly James over to Cali Base in Tau-23, where he would then take the crate and have it loaded into Steve's freighter. He would then have a few minutes to get on the ship before she took off back to Barrier Gate. Once there, it would take a few months to install the parts and the Outcasts are likely to be investigating the missing shipment.
"So," said James, "Let's go,"
May 819 A.S.
James had just finished installing the final part of the Stiletto when his antics aboard Cali came back to haunt him.
"Are you James Barett?" asked a burly, tattooed man.
"Yeah, why?" replied James.
The man drew out an Ageira AS-19, a hefty automatic shotgun that few could fire without breaking something. James ran. There was amuch smaller man armed with a knife in his way. The airlock was about 25 metres to his right. Got it! James turned around and grabbed the large man by the shoulders. He may have been big, but he wasn't smart at all. James managed to wrestle him into the airlock, dodging a thrown blade from the other. The airlock depressurised, sending the large man into the cold vacuum of space. OK, now to deal with the little guy. James decided to get back in his ship. He was halfway to the Cortez jumphole before the other would-be assassin caught up. James opened fire, tearing through his shields and then piercing his hull. With him out of the way, James pressed on.
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