Dr Weiss

[argyle]

Ralph Weiss was very troubled. Had he done the right thing? His meal ticket was gone, and the future uncertain. Just about all the money had been spent already. A life of luxury, gone. Still... the science came first; it was more important than money, and luxuries ...wasn't it? He continued to think, staring into the bulkhead of the shuttle's cabin.

The deal had been struck with Planetform. The Darmstadt had been sold, and the research licensed. It was all gone, but the reward had been irrestistable: more money than most researchers can even dream of, and there was talk of a professor's title from Cambridge after he published his research on alien organisms and the practical applications of it.

The deal had been sealed a long time ago, electronically, but these were junkers: they haggled and tried every angle to suck another few credits out of him. It took three hours to get them to agree to the agreed upon agreement - more or less. "Then we have an accord mr Weiss" the ship dealer said beaming a hundred million credit smile, literally, at him. "Doktor", Weiss said absentmindedly, still gravely concerned, and began the process of retinal scans and DNA registrations. A few hours later, the registrations had spread to every database throughout Sirius via the gate system. It was official: there was a new DSRV Darmstadt.

Weiss waited anxiously on the station's observation deck, while his new ship was being flown to the staion. His assistant and crew were with him; the scientists wouldn't be brough onboard for at least another month. The ship needed rebuilding and repairs, and lots of it. And then just like that, the ship left the planet's shadow and became clearly visible from the station, as if it had been uncloaked. "Gott im himmel..." The rest of the crew fell into a chorus of murmurs, reflecting his words.

The TTR-1130 "Pilgrim", or "slave liner" as it was digracefully referred to these days, was a sight to behold: an ancient behemoth of days gone by. In sheer size it rivalled a navy battlecruiser. Weiss tried to decide if what he had done was a stroke of genius, or sheer madness. His smile was reflecting the same thing, making him look dileriously happy as well as certifiably insane.

"Let's... let's... get to the docking bay..." Weiss' voice barely carried, even in the deadly silence of the observation deck. The crew started to move out. There was no talking; everyone had been briefed in explicit detail about the ship and the first voyage weeks ago. The excitement and tension was apparent, despite the modest purpose of the first voyage: take the ship to Oder shipyards, to spend the rest of the money -close to a hundred million credits- on the very best in Rheinland engineering.