The mass evacuation of Leeds has produced an interesting legal issue with a most unique solution. While OSC is happy to pay the costs of maintaining its ships and fleets for the greater good, the complex agreements and understandings that allow OSC to have free access across partner house space nominally prevent refugee transport with language centering on "paid berths." Luxury liners like the Hawaii skirt the line between space station and transport vessel, and house governments wanted to ensure that OSC would not create semi-permanent habitats that could evade police investigation.
However, OSC is nothing if not creative. "The law demands paid contracts for us to transport people," said Jonathan Seabourne, captain of OSC Breezewood. "So a contract is what we give them."
Strictly speaking, OSC hasn't transported refugees, only passengers. Every Leeds resident that steps on an OSC vessel pays a nominal fee of one credit, enough to constitute a binding contract. This keeps OSC vessels in full compliance with House law for insurance purposes, but also serves a deeper purpose.
"These people see themselves differently when they have a ticket in hand," said Seabourne. "Bretonians are a proud folk with a lot of stiff-upper lip. Give them the smallest trappings of civilization, and it will remind them that they are not animals. They aren't refugees rushing the gates of our space ports, they're passengers queuing up at our ticket window, confident that another shuttle will come along shortly."
The nominal tickets also give a sense of normalcy to the strained crews working the vessels. "Yes, the five of us running a skeleton crew of the ship are worked to our limits," said Seabourne, "but it is our job. We're not trained to deal with masses of refugees, what do you say to someone who has barely escaped their homes with their lives? But passengers, passengers we know. They are our entire reason for being. So long as they have a ticket in their hands, we both know the roles we play and the decorum that is expected of us."
As Seabourne stepped back into Breezewood's secondary shuttle PuddleJumper, he shouted one of OSC's driving mantras over his shoulder with a smile.
"We carry clients, not cargo."
Orbital Spa and Cruise Planet Curacao, Cortez System