Getting up to a third story flat in this part of town without anyone noticing the shotgun you're carrying is easy; no one ever sees anything in a dump like this. A small handful of creds to the slumlord what runs said dump and I have the access code to the front door.
Woolery was sitting at his table enjoying a smoke and a cup of coffee when the door unexpectedly opened. He began to rise and say something... nobody'll ever know what. His head exploded as thunder roared from the smoking barrel of my recently aquired Detroit Arms Special Service 12 guage. Ensuring the deed was done I smugly noted to good ol Chuck 'Now that's how you end someone suckerfish'. Calmly making my way back the way I'd come I had the thought that there's worse ways to go.
It was a festive atmoshere back on Vieques as my crew and I celebrated our recent victory. The image on the holonet was the same picture that had been running as top story all day. 'Hey, turn it up!' someone hollered ' This never gets old'. General laughter filled the bay we're calling home unitl our Sallie's up an running.
"Sources within the LPI reported today that the as yet unnamed Gateway executive arrested in yesterday's raid will face charges of smuggling in addition to the possession charges he's already facing. Officers recovered a briefcase in the perpetrators private residence containing a hundred units of Cardamine after a concerned citizen sent an anonymous message to police about the drugs.
A member of the somewhat controversial organization the Junkers Congress, Ortog Ashford, provided Liberty Navy officials with scanner shots of a Democritus docking at Rochester with a cargo hold full of Cardamine; 1500 units of the illegal substance. Although the log record had the name of the Liner blocked as it is evidence in an ongoing crime it is clear from the recording that the Congressman repeatedly ordered the smuggler to not land and when ignored he called for assistance from Navy pilots within transmission range. Unfortunately as the officers came within hailing range of the liner the pilot engaged cruise engines and evaded the Navy. Mr. Ashford has been quoted as saying he just felt it was the right thing to do.
Apparently the suspect in custody was planning on running soon, as investigators discovered that he suddenly emptied his bank account of several hundred million credits. Officials have not been able to track where exactly the credits were sent, but there is an ongoing investigation being conducted into the matter. The ship registered to the gentleman in custody has yet to be recovered but sources within the LPI assure us that yatchs are rather rare and it's only a matter of time until they confiscate the vessel. Our legal correspondents assure us the money will be uncovered as the current 150 million credit fine for smuggling within Liberty carries an extensive prison sentence if not paid. The exectutive will "remember" where his money went when faced with years in Sugarland.
The living quarters on our Salvager sure will be nice once we strip that Democritus the Rogues aquired for us. They certainly earned the cargo as a bonus. We don't deal in that stuff anyway.
I got another private transmission from Ortog asking me to meet him in a bar on Planet New London. He says he has something important to discuss with me. I take Nick with me to meet with him; after what happened last time I met a guy in a bar I figure it'd be best to have a friend along. When we step in from the bright street our eyes take a moment to adjust. The bartender hollers for us to come on in! Other than him the place is empty. As we walk over I notice it's Ortog himself behind the bar. Smiling warmly he pours us each a shot and sets beers down behind em. He says the owner was happy to give us a bit of privacy, for the right price of course.
He holds up his shotglass and raises the toast 'to Junker justice!' Nick and I hoist ours and reply "to Junker justice!" Sluggin em back we slam the glasses on the bar and chase em with a long draw o' cold beer. After dispensing with the how do you dos and such he gets to the why we're here. 'I hope you don't mind' he says, 'But I've been telling a few of my mates about how you handled yourself in this situation'. He takes a draw of his beer and starts again, 'As you know I am a member of the Junkers Congress and we like how you and your crew take care of business, in fact we'd love to get you onboard. We believe you would make an excellent addition to our little group. So wha you say, interested? I'll gladly sponsor you'.
Now I'm not one to jump into things half cocked, but I know a good thing when I see it. If it weren't for the Congressmen I'd met in the past I wouldn't be where I was now. I smile and look to Nick, he smiles back and nods his approval. "Ortog, I'm honored. If y'all will have my crew and I, we're all in!"
What with the story of my adventures being passed around and Ortog's endorsement it wasn't no time before I heard back bout my application. JT himself sent the transmission; it read 'With Ortog willing to sponsor you and all the work you have done I am approving your membership to join the Congress'. Man oh man! Congressman Zann, I sure like the sound of that.
The flashing light on my comms board alerted me I had a private message in the que. Punching in my access code I was greeted by an interestin sight. There's this fella with wild hair and a braided beard smiling broad as a Cheshire Cat. "Cheers, Congressman! Welcome aboard!" He says. "Can't wait to fly wit' ya'z. Anythin' ye need ye just holler at ol' Finn. I hear yer puttin a Sallie together. Jes know that House Gordon is mor'n happy to elp laddy! Inverness Yards are always chock-full of parts, hulls, etc."
I know better'n to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I send back a howdy myself and let ol' boy know I'd be headin his way to talk about his offer in person. Boy oh boy, he wasn't tellin tall tales. I've never seen a more well stocked setup than what's going on up there. Not only did he have everything I still was needin, he wouldn't take nary a cred for payment. Called it a housewarmin present, at least I think that's what he was saying. Cool guy, talks a bit different.
Oh yeah, remember what I said before about men in skirts lookin tough? That'd be him.
Finn's people shipped the supplies I was needin back to Vieques. He offered I should stick around a few days and enjoy a bit o' Clan Gordon's hospitality. I decided to take him up on it. My crew is competent and excited to get our new home finished.
I got word my third day on Invergordon that a Firefly pilot was lookin for me. If he's askin around here for me I figure it can't be anything too shady. It wouldn't go well for anyone crosses them Gordon boys in their own home I can tell ya. They're the kinda folks that treat guests like family; mess with me, you messed with them.
I find the fella in the pub and he smiles as he approaches. He's carrying a small box with a single red ribbon attached. He says it's from my crew and they said not to leave without putting it in my hands directly. I open it up and it's full of cigars with a pink band around em. Figuring there's got to be more to this I dig through em and at the bottom of the box is a picture. Dang, she's beautiful.
While celebrating the completion of my new Salvager Finn asked me to join him in his office. A private transmission for me had come in from James Trenton. Seems I would have the chance right off to start contributin to the good o' the Congress. They've been needin a vessel capable of defending Puerto Rico and had worked out a deal with the Rogues to pick up a scrapped Scylia they weren't using anymore. The message said proceed to Cassini and meet with the dockmaster there. He'd be expecting me and would show me the ship I was to help put together for the Congress.
Even with an invitation I prefer to not go wanderin into the Rogue guard system without an escort. Katie contacted our friend who'd heisted the yatch for us and asked if he would mind arranging the meet for me. He was so pleased with the bonus we'd threw him he not only set up the meeting, he offered to take me there in his new Bactrian. Seems the cardi we let him keep helped get him into a whole new line of work moving contraband. It was a smooth trip to Cassini.
You never know exactly what to expect when dealing with pirates. I've met some who'd cut your throat as soon as look at ya, there's folks just scrapin out a livin best they can, and still others for whom it's just business; deadly business, but just business. These guys were the latter. The dockmaster made sure I was who I said I was and then had one of his men take me to the ship. To someone else she'd look like a rusty old bit of scrap. I saw right past all that. It would take a lot of work, but she was going to be a thing o' beauty once we'd finished with her. Yessir, she's gonna be one fine lady.
Having let JT know that we'd have to tow the Scylla back to Puerto Rico I'd done all could be done in Cassini. There are some pretty disturbing things going on back home. This isn't just a casual project they've trusted me with. Nomads in Puerto Rico, what the heck?! I have a lot to do and not much time to get it done. My first priority is to get back to my crew and get flying. I need to do some heavy thinkin about the best way to get this tub up and running quick.
We usually handle our own shipments, but with the action around San Juan we're stretched thin. I expect we'll contract out some of the components. I don't have time to wait forever on permits and such either. We'll be using alternative methods to aquire some of the more sensitive items we'll need. I'll be using my own Salvager to help move the hull back to Vieques. With the need to increase patrols at home I can't see using valuable combat power to escort us back. We can fly slow and low using jumpholes to get her home. Besides, there are folks what might not understand us moving what's usually a pirate boat through their systems no matter what our reasons are.
I linked up with another Congressman to move the ship to Vieques. Once she's in her new home I'll let the boss know what's up.
For my own part in this it wouldn't hurt to recruit some more muscle for my crew. All of us can take care of ourselves, but things are gettin a bit feisty and as the old sayin goes, the best defense is a strong offense. I asked around discreetly on Beaumont if there was someone who migh fit the bill. I heard of a set of brothers actually; Shamus and Angus. Seems they were a tag team act in the Galactic Wrestling Federation some years back. They found themselves on the wrong side of the law a couple years ago when they had the bright idea to play Robin Hood. They knocked over a shipment of diamonds coming in to Manhattan and gave the loot to a passing freelancer in a Starflier. They didn't wear masks and were apparently well known on the holovid.
They ended up in Sugarland, but as often happens, them being the biggest men around and famous every tough guy in the joint wanted a shot. I hear tell the stack of medical bills from would be champs inspired the Warden to make other arrangements. Last word was they were slavin away in the mines on Pittsburg. A short trip to New York, meetin the boys and makin sure they wanted on board, a handful of creds into the foreman's account and I find myself plus two mountains, er men, on my crew. Welcome to the family boys!
Covered in grease, dirt, and oil I make my way back to my room on Vieques. Going over this Scylla has been more than a full time job the last few days. I can't complain though. There's fellas out fightin for our lives against them darn jellies. I wash my hands and face before headin over to the pilot's lounge.
A couple a good ol' boys I know from Beaumont are settin at the bar as I enter. They see me come in and wave me over. 'I wish there was something we could do to help with the trouble y'all are having round here' one of em says looking down at his half filled glass. He sighs and continues, 'but me and Hank here are just plain ol' scrappers. We ain't no good at fightin'. Smilin wearily I nod. "Nothin to be ashamed of boys. If you really want to help I have something needs doing and I'm just too darn busy to get it done myself". They both lean forward so I continued, "See, I got the coordinates a bit ago to a couple a wrecks supposed to have Cap Thrusters on em. I sure could use em back here at Vieques. It'd directly help us defending our home". They nod resolutely and slide off their stools, calling the barkeep over to settle their tab. 'You can count on us brother'. As we're going over the details the alert sirens go off again. "Dang, they're gettin more frequent. The sooner you can get me them thrusters the better boys".
Back in the bowels of the Scylla Nick hollers down a hatch that there's two guys brung in a present for me. "Is it bigger than a breadbox?!" I holler back. He just laughs and tells me it's what I was waitin on. That's one less thing to worry about. It may help ease the news when I send the next list of stuff we're needin to JT. As if he doesn't have his hands full already.
At least I hear tell Finn's here with a big stick to wave at them jellies. It'll be good to catch up with him later, but for now I've a reactor to get runnin, an engine to rebuild, and eventually I might even sneak in a bit o' sleep.
What a stroke of good fortune today! I feel bad for the crew of the LR Destroyer got taken out, but you play the game long enough your number's bound to come up. We all know space is dangerous. The indi junkers what saw the good o' the situation were right on the money. Towing in the bridge section will save us at least a months work. It sure is encouragin to see things going our way.
The defensive platforms are well on their way to being complete. Finn's big ol' baddie is home to help with trouble. I hear tell Ortog's working on something up Kusari way that might give us an advantage. JT's coordinating our defenses and Junkers everywhere are chippin in to do what they can. My crew is hard at work on the Scylla rebuild. We have plenty of volunteers working night and day to help make her right.
After lookin over the bridge section I'm definately gonna need some parts to get her functional. I didn't have the heart to bother JT with more requests. I've done all I can for now on the build. Everyone knows their role. I think the best help I can be for now is to help get us some of what we need to bring the major systems online. The best place for the helm parts is Kusari. Too bad they have no love for us Junkers. Ortog is out that way. I'll give him a holler and see if he may be able to help out with this part of the job. Besides, I've been curious to see Yanagi for a while now; I hear the fields out there are ripe for the pickin. You have to keep one eye on the future; trouble never lasts forever.
I sent off a private message to Congressman Ashford letting him know I'd like to meet him at Yanagi. What I have in mind is best kept close to the vest. While secured comms are great and all, it's not the same as a face to face. I love my Salvager, but it feels good to be flying my Recycler again. Besides, you never know when a pair of Novas might come in handy.