Evangeline Anastasia McDowell

[Bazza]

Entry#: 019
Date: 04 - 09 - 817 AS @ 18:15 SUT
Title: Misaka is a popular girl

After all but abandoning the log for the last fortnight or so I feel the latest events warrant an entry. Turns out Misaka is a very popular girl amongst pirates, adding the other day to the tally it makes 4 people who've demanded her and one more who has pictures of her birthday suit pinned to the wall of his quarters somewhere.

I was pelting down the trade lanes in Shikoku after a world-speed-record dash across the rest of Kusari when I encountered a defunct ring, caused, unsurprisingly, by the ship immediately nearby. The scanner returned a call sign of Nova OPGsomethingorother. I had no idea who the pilot was or what his plans for me were, but I figured I'd be leaving sans money or blood.

The pilot demanded I drop my cargo, something I've heard a fair few times in my life. I didn't want to get myself in trouble in Kusari (again) so I obliged. It was only some Niobium I picked up from the Tau border worlds a week or so ago after offloading the fully legit cargo I bought in Liberty. Rather than collect it as most pirates do he simply shot the containers in space and destroyed them, spilling their ore contents into space. Rather unusual, I thought, but I wasn't going to push the issue lest I get the same treatment..

He then demanded I "hand over the Golden Chrysanthemum I had on board", that being Misaka.

Of course, there ain't no way in hell I'm handing her over to anyone, as I've said on multiple occasions and I made this known. I don't care who a guy is nor how many guns he totes - I'll fight back or run like all hell first.

He said something about taking Misaka back to Ainu base. That, his accent and the ship - which I saw a few of during my pilgrimage across the Kusari badlands - led me to believe the pirate was a Blood Dragon. With this changed way of thinking I told the pilot a greatly shortened version of how Misaka came to be on the ship. I told him how we had the Golden Chrysanthemums' approval to leave the base and how we had sought permission from the station's Patriarch herself.

My hunch paid off and the demand changed from "hand her over" to "take her to safety". It also explained why he had destroyed my cargo - the Dragons don't care much for foreigners, after all.

I agreed to the unusual demand and left the pilot to himself at the tradelane. I flew through open space to more comfortable territory in the independent worlds before rejoining the tradelane network in Kepler and heading back home to Rochester.

I think I should get a big sticker that reads PROPERTY OF EVANGELINE McDOWELL DO NOT TOUCH and affix it to Misaka's buttocks. According to her it's a dumb idea and I should turn the computer off and come to bed. Which I think I will do....

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