Nothing could possibly ruin this day, Eugene thought to himself as he disembarked on Curacao. The engines behind the bridge were still quite hot, since he'd landed scant moments before, but he didn't care. He had to see his very first load of passengers leaving the ship. His timing was just a bit off...the ramp was just starting to lower under the bow as he reached it.
Smiling, he gave his ship's oddly-shaped prow an affectionate pat as he waited for the ramp to descend. It was a small group this time; he hadn't had the money to provide accommodations for a full load of passengers on the first trip. But still, they were his passengers...he grinned, waved, and shook hands with his passengers as they left the ship, and wished them all a good day, of course.
When the last one had left for one of the waterbound resort's many attractions, Eugene headed towards the small corporate offices off to one side of the landing pad - not to file a report, but to meet the cruise director the OSC had assigned to him and his ship. He didn't know anything about her, but was looking forward to having someone to organize the passengers' activities so he could concentrate on flying and navigation.
But as it turned out, he didn't even get to enter the building. When he was still a good ten meters away, the door flew open and a woman of indeterminate age strode out. Not middle-aged, but not young, she nonetheless had lines at the edges of her mouth from forcing a smile too much, and a datapad in her hand that looked as though it was grafted there.
She barely even looked up from it when she reached Krank and held out her hand. A quick shake; all business. "You must be Captain Krank," she stated; and without waiting for an answer, she continued. "I'm Brenda. Okay, first thing's first: let's get one thing straight. You fly the ship and man the guns, but I am in control. Understood? I'm in charge of making sure everything happens on time, which means no diverting to blow up a few pirates or other such nonsense."
Eugene started to say something, but she cut him off. "No, no, I know what you freelancer types are like. No need to try and explain yourself, you'll only wind up with your foot in your mouth. Just keep to your job, and I'll keep to mine, and we'll get along just fine. Alright?" He nodded. "Good. What's the next route? I need to start planning."
"Shetland, Edinburgh."
"Okay, that's a fairly short trip. We'll-"
"Be flying empty."
"What?" She shot him a confused look, as though he'd just informed her that he'd be filling the fuel tanks with a combination of towels and soda cans.
"I don't like having a lot of valuable cargo when I'm going somewhere I've never been before. We'll go empty, and visit a few other planets in Bretonia before picking up our next load of passengers."
"...what?"
"You've never been to the Border Worlds, have you?"
"Well, no, but I don't see what that has to-"
"Pirates are out there, and if I don't have any valuable cargo, there's nothing they can take. After the first dry run, we'll have a better idea of where pirates are and where they aren't; and we'll map a few jump holes as backup routes, just in case. Then, and only then, will I risk the lives of passengers. Just so we understand each other, you see."
Her eyebrows furrowed for a minute, and she stared at him, as though expecting him to burst out laughing and tell her it was a joke. He didn't. "Fine. I'm just responsible for the passengers; not my fault you won't make any money not carrying any. Let me get my things, and we can be on our way."
"Alright. I'm ready to go when you are."
Without another word, Brenda walked back into the building. Eugene walked back towards the bridge, but paused by the aft port turret to stare out at the sea. Not unlike space, really...except on the ocean, if you go far enough in one direction, you'll wind up back where you started. Though it sounded vaguely philosophical, Eugene had no idea if it really meant anything; so he shrugged and continued back to the bridge to wait for the cruise director to get her stuff.
Well, if nothing else, at least this'll be interesting.
Upon reaching New London, Eugene had received a summons from Curacao. An uneventful trip, and he was given the 10M starting bonus that'd been promised...and thus was finally able to take on a full load of passengers. That was good, and he and Brenda were both happy.
Until they reached the California system, that is.
An irate Brenda entered the bridge, and quickly became even more upset. "Why have we left the trade lanes? And why are we flying through asteroids?! Are you mad?"
"Nope. Quite pleased, actually. There's a shortcut here."
She took a few deep breaths, and forced the smile back onto her face. "Mr. Krank, I really think it would be better for the passengers if we just went back to our planned route."
He shot her a lopsided grin, knowing full well how she'd likely react to his next statement. "What, and deny them the chance to see a Liberty Rogue base from less than 8k away and fly through a jump hole? I wouldn't dream of it!"
Brenda's smile looked as though it was about to crack her face, so rigid was it. "Captain Krank, I remind you that your responsibility is to keep us all safe."
"Oh, we'll be fine. This baby has thick shields and a thicker hide. That, plus these Liberty laser turrets, will keep us as safe as if we were flying through a...umm...through something safe." That was lame.
At last, she could hold her smile no longer. It flipped into a scowl, and her voice began to rise in pitch and volume. "You are a cruise captain, not a freelancer anymore! Do you understand that? It's your job to AVOID stuff like this, and here you are flying straight through the middle of it! And I had all kinds of activities planned for the New York system!" Breathing hard, she waited in silence for Eugene to turn the ship around.
He didn't.
Her nostrils flared, but she managed to regain some of her composure, at least. "Very well...just know that I will be sending a full report to Curacao about this."
Eugene waited until she'd left before keying the intercom with a smile. "Passengers, this is the captain speaking. If you'll all look to port, you'll see a Liberty Rogue base..."
This time, when Brenda entered the bridge there was no question; she was positively livid. "Explain yourself." A simple demand that spoke volumes.
I guess an excited passenger let slip my plans...I shouldn't have told them while she was asleep. "Yep, we're going to Omega-11. It really is a beautiful system, the red giant is quite a sight to see."
"Oh, and I suppose the intense ship-killing radiation is just going to microwave our food for us? And if that doesn't kill us, the Hessians will!"
"No, they won't. 1: this ship is an armored transport. Armored. She'll keep us safe. 2: the Hessians won't bother us too much. I've got an understanding with them."
It took a moment, but Brenda quickly grasped it. "You paid them, didn't you?"
"Yep."
"They're pirates! You just threw profits at some pirates so you could treat the passengers to a fatal bath of solar radiation?!"
"Not just pirates, dearie. Long story, I'll tell you later. And I paid them using money I made flying my mining ship; my personal funds, not OSC money. And if you think Omega-11 is crazy, wait till you see destination: unknown."
"Unknown? So...we're just going to wander aimlessly? How's that different from what we do now?"
"Har har. I thought you cruise director types were supposed to be always nice and polite."
"Only to passengers, boyo. You're no passenger, and frankly, you're driving me up the wall."
How nice. "Well, we won't be wandering aimlessly. But it doesn't matter right now; we'll be doing some simpler runs first. I guarantee you, the passengers will love it on Primus!"
The Pacifica was not a large ship; passenger cabins were forward, and the observation deck/cafeteria were aft below the bridge, with a pair of skylights. That left just the relatively cramped bridge, and the captain's cabin behind it. Among Brenda's "stuff" had been a slab of metal that'd required a dozen workers to carry in and install, turning the captain's cabin into two smaller rooms. There was also a tiny galley between the cabins and the bridge; those four rooms were the only private ones on the whole ship for the captain and his one-woman "crew".
And, after an incident in which Eugene had accidentally left the intercom on during one of Brenda's tirades, they had decided not to have any more "spirited" discussions on the bridge. And so it was that their back-and-forth moved into the galley, where they could yell and fuss at each other over coffee and donuts or something. There was even a set of windows, allowing a decent view out into space. At the moment, the view out the windows was dominated by Omega-11's red giant, which cast a moderately eerie scarlet glow on everything.
It was time for an early breakfast in orbit before picking up their load of diamonds from Solarius Station. In between munching on his bagel and sipping his coffee, Eugene began, "I have good news and bad news for you. Good news: I'll have more time to devote to this ship, and so we'll be able to upgrade to a Kusari liner sooner, meaning you won't have to live in such close proximity to me anymore. Bad news: until then, you'll be stuck with me more often. I'm decommissioning my mining ship."
The cruise director scowled, wiping crumbs daintily from her chin. "Why? I thought you loved that horrid thing."
"I did, but it's just too vulnerable. Can't escape into asteroids, can't maneuver into jump gates or docking rings to escape a hairy situation...so I'm essentially getting rid of it. With the money I'll make from selling it, we may be able to get a Kusari liner within a week."
For a moment - just a moment - Brenda almost looked concerned. "You still didn't answer my question. None of that's new, which means something's happened to make you aware of it. Or you suddenly came to your senses."
Eugene sighed, and put on his hat. "Well...some Junker punk pirated me right off the dock at The Ring in New Berlin. In any other freighter, I would've just entered a trade lane or docked back at The Ring or somewhere else to escape...but in that fat thing, I didn't have a choice but to give in to his demands."
"So? Why not just buy a different ship?"
"Because frankly, I enjoy this much more than ordinary trading. I like interacting with people, I get lonely. That mining ship is awful big for just one person, even when the smelting floor has been converted to haul low-paying passengers."
Brenda smirked, and picked up her plate to take to the sink. "Are you trying to say you actually enjoy my company?"
"Better than nothing."
"Ha! High praise indeed. Jerk. Well, then I guess I'll keep tolerating you...but what did you mean by 'destination: unknown' a few days ago?"
Having finished cleaning off the table, Captain Krank opened the door to the bridge, pausing only to speak over his shoulder. "It's out in the Omicrons; kinda dangerous, but we'll be fine. You'll see."
Brenda's scowl returned. The sooner we get that Kusari cruise liner, the better.
Ahh, I love this ship...a bit odd-looking, but agile and tough. Soon, even Brenda will share my confidence...but not after a bit of a trial run. At his request, the passengers had gathered in the cafeteria; Brenda was there as well, standing off to one side. A few passengers were missing, of course, but they would get word of this announcement soon enough.
Eugene lowered the lights, turned on the ceiling-mounted projector (usually used for movies) and began his presentation.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Eugene Krank, your captain and host for this voyage - you are all adventure-seekers, I know. You know your destination is remote, and is a Zoner base; but beyond that, nothing, and still you signed up and boarded my ship. Your curiosity will soon be satisfied!"
With flourish, Eugene pressed a button on the tiny remote, bringing up a three-dimensional image of what looked like an entire solar system within a green tunnel, which - from the scale - must be vast beyond comprehension. "Are any of you familiar with the Omicrons?"
A few hands went up.
"Now, how many of you have ever visited the unnamed systems?"
All but one hand went down.
"You, sir - do you remember what you found there?"
"Aye. Nomads. Blew my fighter out from under me, they did!"
There was a discontented stirring in the passengers at that, and the captain had to wait a moment for it to settle. "What class of fighter was it?"
"Dragon."
"I see...this ship has, with the armor upgrade I recently installed, more than ten times the armor of your Dragon. Also, we will not be engaging any dangerous foes we encounter; we will be fleeing from them. And I assure you, I do have some skill in that."
The passengers were, understandably, somewhat less than assured.
"Very well...not to worry, we'll be stopping at Corfu Base in Omicron Theta before we enter the Unknown systems. Those of you that wish to may leave there, and the Zoners can take you to wherever you want to go. However, those of you with a more adventurous spirit may stay, and see the wonders of Planets Primus and Gammu...not to be missed!"
After nearly an hour's worth of questions, he was finally able to return to the bridge....Brenda was strangely silent. She simply went to her cabin without a word. Though that worried Eugene a bit, he tried not to let it bother him, and distracted himself as he often did: reviewing his ship. The more familiar with this thing I am, the better chance I stand of getting everyone to their destinations safely.
Though the Kusari liner was considerably larger than the armored transport, it was still not a terribly large ship. It took Eugene only a couple of minutes to make his way from the cafeteria to the bridge, which was twice as large as the armored transport. I miss the windows, though...this thing has no windows on the front, so the only view I get is from cameras. I know they're good, but it's not quite the same. Eh well, to business.
After checking the autopilot, he pulled up the liner's blueprints on the main screen. As he sipped his tea, he examined what he knew of the vessel's layout. Let's see...coach-class cabins are all in the wings, with no windows; they're pretty secure from attack, though a bit annoying to get to. The first-class cabins are in the central fuselage, with windows; easier to get to, but I don't care how tough they say they are, those windows are a weak point. Heh, maybe that's why they didn't put any on the bridge.
Six turrets; two with aft firing arcs only, two with forward firing arcs only, and two with 360-degree firing arcs. A nasty space directly below the ship where no turret can reach. Not good. At least this thing is pretty agile...though I hear they're giving the whole class a major overhaul soon. Okay, so don't get attacked from below, use agility to flee...that's about it. Not much else to review, really. Since Brenda and I both have special cabins right by the bridge, even closer than the rest of our small crew, that's no issue.
Crew...it was odd to Eugene to have one, as he'd never really had one even on his "Fatso", the mining ship. Now he had a small galley staff to feed the passengers, a couple of engineers to look after the engines and other heavy machinery, and a number of janitors and maids to keep the whole ship, well, shipshape. Still feels weird having people to order around...and constantly bothering me about something. C'est la vie! Eugene switched the main screen back to its standard forward view - what it would've looked like if it'd been a window - and leaned back. And life isn't looking too bad right now.
But before he'd gotten halfway to Theta, Eugene's world took a turn for the worse. The comm beeped with an urgent message...not thinking much of it, he finished setting the ship's next waypoint before opening it.
Quote:Message to: Captain Krank, OSC
Comm ID: Yokohama Shipyards
Location: New Tokyo
All Kusari cruise liners are urged to return to a shipyard immediately for an overhaul. We are constantly striving to improve our ships to better suit your needs; to that end, we have doubled the Beetle's passenger carrying capacity at the minor cost of some maneuvering thrusters. We're sure you'll be more than satisfied with the vastly improved Beetle, and-
Before he could even finish reading the message, another popped up.
Quote:Message to: Captain Krank, OSC
Comm ID: OSC Requisitions Department
Location: Curacao, Cortez
All Kusari cruise liners in our service are required to return to a shipyard to be upgraded to the latest variant. We understand that some captains may not like the new, improved Beetle; if you don't like it, dock it at Curacao so we can assign you another ship...but be advised that the ship you will be assigned will not be as good as the one you gave up. We recommend-
Eugene angrily turned off the main screen before he could finish reading the message. I was depending on this thing's agility to keep us safe! How many thrusters are they getting rid of? Must be a lot, if they've doubled passenger capacity... A few more commands, and he'd brought up the relevant information regarding the newest Beetle specs. They cut the agility nearly in half? I can't fly this thing into the border worlds like that!
As fickle fortune would have it, Brenda chose that moment to walk in. She'd never really seen him angry or upset, and so for a brief moment, she was speechless. Then she took a quick glance at the screen, and put two and two together. "She's not a fighter, Eugene. Why do you care if she starts handling like an actual liner? I told you half the ships in Sirius were getting overhauled."
"You did? I sure don't remember."
"Yes, I did. You asked why your old AT went to the shipyard, and I told you that was why."
Eugene's face lit up, and he began punching in a new search. In moments, he had it. Brenda, however, didn't like it.
"Surely you're not considering what I think you're considering?"
Eugene leaned back in his chair, sipping Curacao coffee (he hadn't been able to drop by Gran Canaria yet for the good stuff) and feeling pretty good about things. Brenda, as usual, failed to share in his optimism. To her credit, though, she was getting better. She didn't break down completely into a screaming fit when she found out they were in Omicron Gamma...though she came close when she saw a certain something outside the window.
That's one of my all-time favorite memories, now...ha! On how many cruises do you get to hear your captain say, "And if you'll look out the port windows, you'll see a Nomad battleship patrol." Honestly, that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, something these folks will tell their grandkids about. "Papa! Is it really true that you saw a Nomad battleship?" "Yeah, sonny, and lemme tell ya...that thing was a mile long if it was an inch!"
Or, "And off to starboard you'll see Crete. Oh look, there's a wing of Titans coming to intercept us." I'm sorely tempted to continue on through the depths of Nomad space, and onward to Omicron Alpha, and Malta, and the Hispania herself, and the rumored systems that can be reached via the thick gas cloud...but if I did, I think that Brenda just might have an apoplectic fit. As it is, she's planned almost all of the cruise activities so that she doesn't have to actually be present.
For about the millionth time since entering the Omicrons, Eugene stared down the endless green tunnel, wondering how many light-years long it was. I don't think this view's ever gonna get old... They'd already visited Gammu and Primus. Most of the passengers hadn't really cared about the robot planet - they saw robots all the time, what was such a big deal about a planet of them? - but Primus caused quite a splash. They'd spent a whole week there with the simians, and Eugene had already marked in his log to make the planet a stop every time he was out here.
But now, it was time to return to Augsburg Orbital Colony. Not back through Gamma, however....no, he had something more interesting planned...
Oh, crap... Eugene reached over and yanked a red lever. All over the ship the lights dimmed from white to red, and klaxons sounded. As he hit cruise, he keyed the mic: "Attention, this is your captain speaking. Please return to your cabins or the crash chairs in the observation area, and secure yourselves for evasive maneuvers. You have ten seconds before the maneuvers begin."
He checked the scanners again...long-range showed that there were Keepers in Delta, but there were loads of Corsair heavies back in Gamma...nowhere to go but forward.
"What's going on?!" Brenda demanded, charging onto the bridge in a bathrobe with her hair still wet.
"We're jumping into a system with nasties, and in case we have to evade I don't want anyone getting hurt. You included, so strap in, 'cuz we're jumping." For once, she did as he asked as the jump commenced.
When the windows finally cleared of the typical jumphole madness, the space around them appeared clear. Short-range scanners showed nothing; long-range scans showed two Keepers in-system. Brenda jammed her finger down on the cruise button before he could, and in five seconds the massive engines roared to life, sending the armored transport streaking towards Freeport 11.
"Are you sure we shouldn't just continue? Use this as a chance to sneak past them?"
"No...." Eugene replied, not taking his eyes off the scope. "They're very territorial, I hear, and they might pull back home just to hunt us if they catch us. We've got no choice but to dock on the Freeport...unless you'd rather run back to Kappa, one jump away from all those Corsairs?"
Brenda didn't answer.
Switching to the system-wide comm, Eugene again keyed the mic. "This is the OSC AT Pacifica...is the Freeport clear?"
A Zoner Republic Albatross-class battlecruiser answered him. "Freeport 11 is clear."
"Yes, it's clear," a female voice chimed in; Jinx, one of the more prolific defenders of the Freeport.
In a few too-long moments, the station came into view, along with its protectors...who were not engaged with Keepers. "Phew..." Keying the mic, he continued, "Thanks. We're going to dock here until it's clear." Not very professional wording, perhaps, but he was too relieved to care.
As the docking sequence began, a Black Squadron-tagged Osiris came into view, as well as a Zoner Republic IMG gunboat and a TAZ IMG gunboat. Looks like we'll be okay, as long as they don't bring a battleship...but I'm not going to mention the possibility of a battleship, no need to panic the passengers.
Flipping the red switch again, he again keyed the mic, this time for the ship's comm system. "This is your captain speaking; there is Keeper activity in-system, but as you can see, the defenders of Freeport 11 have it well under control. We're just going to hole up here until the Keepers go back home, so please feel free to enjoy the exotic wares and amenities the Zoners have to offer. Thank you."
It had been a month since the scare with the Keepers in Delta, but Eugene had yet to return to Omicron Delta. Instead, he'd been guiding the Pacifica on the same old route each time...to Augsberg Orbital Colony in Munich. The tourists loved the biodomes over the beautiful planet Bodensee, and paid good money to be taken there. Several enterprising young pilots made a living in Augsberg taking tourists into the upper cloud layers of the gas giant for photographs and the thrill of being tossed about in winds beyond comprehension. Eugene still didn't understand how they managed to keep their ships insured with that kind of risk.
A side-effect of setting up a daily grind, however, was that Brenda became downright personable, even cheerful. She loved having a dependable schedule, a destination she could count on, and a regular route that changed little over time. She said it was because she was forever fine-tuning her cruise activities for the passengers, pruning things that didn't go over well and adding new ideas that she thought would be a hit...but Eugene suspected it was actually because she was just a boring person.
