Niverton Base is one of the most populated Liberty Rogues stations, due to the fact of being located far from the main trade lanes, and deep inside a big asteroid field. This makes the station less open to attack by the Liberty Navy, and therefore many families of Rogue members have chosen this location as residence.
Because of that, it's one of the Rogue stations with the heaviest traffic of trade ships. Not only slavers and cardamine smugglers, but all kinds of cargo converge here, to supply the population of well over a thousand living at Niverton.
The base was built inside an asteroid, and therefore has plenty of 'room' to expand, if needed. So, even as the overall Rogue activity has decreased in the last year, Niverton's population is on a slow but steady rise.
On the lower level of the station, a new Bar has opened. The owner is a Liberty Rogues Veteran, called Crazy Lou. A long time cardamine smuggler, after the dissolution of the Rogue's Council he decided to base himself on Niverton, as the station has a heavy demand for cardamine and a steady supply of fresh slaves. He chose a new open area on the station to base his operations, and decided to set up a bar there, a decent one. It was to be his 'office' in between runs, and also a place where he could play his guitar...
Coming out of the elevator on the lower level of Niverton, one would walk through a long corridor, and then would be greeted by the bar logo:
After that, a big 'door', an opening in the rock, leads to a big cavern hall, that was properly decorated as a bar, with some furniture being imported by Lou. Or robbed, mostly. In any case, it's a step up from the common unlawful station bar, with those rusted metal walls and tables.
Lou, more often than not, is away on some smuggling run, so when new arrivals get to The Cave for the first time, they are greeted by Moe, the Bartender. He is an old Rogue, too old to fly, so he was hired to take care of the place while Lou is away. Don't get fooled by his aparently dumb face, he is the meanest bartender of all Sirius. Mind the shotgun behind the counter.
"Hello there. I'm Moe... So, do you want something or what?"
Niverton Base - Pennsylvania System
December - 822 A.S.
Exiting the elevator in the lower level of Niverton, Lou walked the corridor until he arrived at The Cave, the bar that he recently inaugurated. The room, carved in the rock of the asteroid base, was empty, except for Moe, the bartender. Lou did not care. His main purpose was not to make money selling Liberty Ale to drunk rogues.
"Moe, bring me a whiskey, will'ya?!" - he said to his only employee.
Lou went to his prefered table, at the corner, where he could see the whole hall. Moe soon returned with the molly beverage.
"How's it goin', boss? Are the mechs done with you ship yet?"
"Well, not yet. They will have to replace the engine, after all. It took too many hits in my last run..."
Moe grunted in disapproval, and left. Lou took a sip of his whiskey, and lighted a spliff up. The waiting was the worst part. He had a few hundred workers ready to go to Malta, and with each day of delay his costs were going up as well. He needed reserve ships, for an occasion like that. Perhaps hire an extra pilot, or an escort... He kept smoking and drinking in silence, contemplating his options.
Niverton Base - Pennsylvania System
December - 822 A.S.
Ted entered the bar, glancing a moment towards the only other patron before walking up-to the bartender, he was twitching a little, and was scratching at his arm. They had a small conversation between them before Moe nodded towards the man in the back of the bar. Ted walked up to him, still twitching slightly.
"Hey man, I'm told your the guy to talk to for a fix, I'm in a Jam a the moment my ship isn't flight ready and my stash got jacked."
Lou didn't even notice when the nervous fellow entered the bar. He was lost in his thoughts. When the man talked to him, Lou almost jumped in his seat. Instead, he looked up at the guy, releasing small puffs of blue smoke while he talked.
"I'm sorry, friend, I'm no street corner dealer. I deal with tons, not in... " - the guy was in really bad shape. Looked like orange withdrawal. Lou turned to the bar - "Moe, bring my guitar case, will'ya?" - looked back to the man in front of him - "Well, kiddo. Sit down. I will get you something. Don't want you dying on my brand new bar... So, tell me your story. What happened to your ship? Oh, and by the way, how did you get here withot one?"
Ted took a seat and alternated between drumming on the table or twitching in his chair while he talked "I mean like where do I start. This whole shebang started about a week ago when I was on Freeport 10. All I needed was to top off the water supply for the Slaves and we were going to be sitting pretty for the last leg into Malta. But get this as soon as I land I'm boarded buy a bunch of masked marines and told that I'm not allowed to fly my own ship anymore, I mean can you believe that!!?" Ted grabbed and held his head at this point "And then all my accounts got frozen as well, so I had to call a buddy who called a friend who called Frank to go get me. He loaned me his Freighter which I've been running around in. But now the main manifold is shot too and the last batch of slaves didn't make it so I'm basically broke. "
That was really orange withdrawal. The way the guy didn't stop moving for a nano. Luckly, Moe arrived with the guitar case. Lou put the case on top of the table and opened it. His guitar was not inside, since it was sitting on its pedestal, plugged in the amplifier at he other side of the room. Instead, a small stash of outcast sniffers were hidden in a compartment in the bottom.
"Dunno how you like it, kiddo, but I have these sniffers. They are useful when negotiating with the 'casts." - he put one over the table, in front of his guest - "C'mon, take it. We can talk payment later. Now, about this freighter of yours... How long will it take to repair it? Manifold, you said?" - Lou was seeing an alternative there. His ship was undergoing a full engine swap, what could take a full day on the hands of the undertrained and understaffed repair team.
Ted eyed the package then snatched it from the table and hooked up a vial to his arm, he sighed appreciatively "Thaaaats the stuff". Ted fell into a quiet stupor for a few moments before sitting up and taking a full breath. "Wow that's some good cardi. Anyways the Freighter needs a Manifold on the port engeine, I've done the repair myself before, only takes about an hour, problem is I'm flat broke and the junkers don't sell nothing without at little scratch. The name is Ted by the way, whats yours?"
The guy knew his way around a sniffer. The transformation was evident. In seconds he looked much more confident and controled.
"Hey hey! Go easy on it, kiddo, this is not candy. And a manifold is no problem, I can get it for you. What's the name of your ship? I have some 'passengers' to be taken to Malta, perhaps we can do some business, ahn?" - Lou extended his hand to the man - "Name's Lou, by the way..."
Ted grasped Lou's outstretched hand. "Alright Lou, help me I'll help you, the ship name is Daily Derby. Its down on hanger 2 port 4. You wanna see her? Its just your standard Bactrain though." He let go of Lou's hand and shrugged and smiled a little. "Your call bossman."
That would be a good test. Also, the more time he waited, the bigger his losses would get. If the guy would to disappear with the cargo, at least he would not spend more credits on it.
"A Bactrian, ahn? That should be easy enough." - Lou picked up his NeuralNet pad, and opened a comm channel - "Hey, Burt, it's Lou. No, no, it's not about the Side Effect, no. Bay 2, pad 4. A Bactrian. I want you to replace the... port manifold, was it? Yes, port manifold. I need it fast. Yes, finish the Sidey later. Thanks, buddy. Lou out." - Lou looked back at Ted - "By the way, cut the 'bossman' talk. This is a business deal. Your ship, my slaves. We are business partners... at least for now. Wanna drink something, while we wait?"
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