3 Salas 1117: Jumpspace
I made my usual rounds of the ship this morning. Everything was still quiet, and I noticed that Varan was upstairs in the passenger lounge and helping Shelly. Hopefully, his finally deciding to vent yesterday had calmed him down. Checks complete, I pinged everyone and told them to meet in the crew lounge at 1400 for a pre-landing briefing.
When the time came, I went to the lounge to see Jami was already there and wearing a VR headset, but she pulled it off as I headed towards the dispenser.
“Heya Derek,” she said, dropping it back into its base. “Was just waiting for you to come in.”
I shrugged as I pulled out a beer. “Didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
She waved a hand. “I’m good. I was checking out this game the LSP passengers loaded on the pax system. Some sort of underwater jousting thing is the best way I can describe it. Don’t think I’m going to grab it.”
I frowned. “You didn’t load that onto the main system, did you? Not without letting Saahna check it first anyway?”
She frowned in annoyance. “Captain! I’m not exactly an idiot here.”
I raised my hand. “Sorry, sorry. Wasn’t meaning that.” I sighed. “I guess I’m still a bit paranoid after that last Jump.”
“You still worried about that?” she said with a scoff. “While I won’t say it wasn’t kinda fun, I’m assuming we’re leaving all that behind us.” She shook her head. “Maybe I’ll finally be on a quiet ship for a while.”
“I hope so. I really hope so.”
At that moment the iris to the bridge opened and Do’rex just stepped to one side and leaned against the bulkhead, but Saahna made a pass at the dispenser before heading to the sofa.
“We should tumble out of Jumpspace sometime tomorrow afternoon,” Do’rex told us. “It will probably be around 1600, so we will be late getting into the starport.”
I shrugged. “It’s a belt system and an A port. They’re busy constantly. No day/night to worry about there.”
He clicked. “I am aware. I was just letting you know.”
I waved. “No problem. Thanks.”
At that moment the iris to the passenger lounge opened, and Shelly expertly slid down the ladder. I raised an eyebrow. She was catching on fast. She paused, looking upwards for several long seconds before Varan appeared, climbing down a bit more carefully.
I waved greetings as they both headed for the dispenser. “Is Carma joining us?” I asked as Varan passed.
He looked at me sharply, then continued to the dispenser. After pulling a bottle free and opening it, he turned to me. “Was she invited?”
I shrugged. “Do you want her here?”
He looked at me for a moment, then dropped into a chair beside the main table. “Not really… No.” He sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”
I held his gaze a moment, then shrugged. “OK, fine.” I looked around the room. “All right, for those of you who didn’t hear, we’re hitting normal space around 1600 tomorrow. Fortunately, it’s a belt so we won’t be too far out, but expect it to be around 1800 before we touch down. We’ll wing it after that. They’re an A-rated starport, so we shouldn’t have too many problems getting the passengers and cargo off.”
I looked around the lounge, then continued. “OK, I know some of you are worried about how the things that have happened over the last few weeks will affect us. Short answer? They won’t. Long answer? I won’t let them. We’re heading rimward from Gimisapun; towards Tlianke. The further away we get from these ‘JEDI’ people, the less they will have to do with us. Jestin or that Elijah Green’s people? They never promised us anything so we can ignore anything we hear from them. We’re following our own course. OK?”
Varan frowned. “What about our passenger Dr. Korvusar?”
I shrugged. “She’s actually never asked anything of us. Except for better wine. I’m not sure if she really thinks we’re important or if she just wants to get away from the mess the Imperial Navy is about to get pulled into. If she ever does want something? She can quit being a passenger.” I shrugged. “We don’t owe her anything except a passage. Besides, from everything she’s said I think she just wants to be here to help us. I don’t think she wants anything except transit.”
There was a brief silence. “You aren’t kicking her off?” asked Varan finally.
I shrugged. “Why? Again, she has never asked us to do anything. She’s a passenger. I don’t question all of them as to why they are Travelling with us.”
He frowned. “I don’t trust her.”
I shrugged again. “I’m pretty sure Carma is with us because Commander Winters planted her on us. Should I kick her off too?”
He stood up at that, his face flushing with anger. “Hey, Carma is…”
I raised a hand. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just giving a reference point. We can’t second-guess everything that happens from now on. We’re operating for ourselves, but I’m not going to cut off credits until I have to. We’ll leave Boilingbrook’s area of influence and hope they forget us.” I laughed. “The credits they are spending on us are less than a rounding error in a subsector polity’s budget. Hopefully, they’ll forget about us.”
He stared at me for a long moment, then sat down. “He’ll probably remember the ship he almost got killed on.”
“Yeah. He will. Everyone else in the Boilingbrook government, or whatever they’re going to call this new polity of theirs? Not so much.” I shrugged. “We’ll be fine.”
“So we’re dropping everything?” Jami seemed almost disappointed.
I nodded. “Yeah. We’re a Free Trader. We answer to ourselves. Boilingbrook might have some leverage on us through their subsidy, but if we’re nowhere near them?” I shrugged. “If they pull their support then we’re on our own again. We’ve survived before. We’ll just make a few fewer credits than we would otherwise…”
There was silence for a few moments as everyone looked around. Finally, Varan spoke again.
“OK, fine. I guess… I guess that’s the best plan we have right now.” He stood up. “Anything else?”
I shook my head. “Not that I know of. Anyone?”
I looked around. When no one said anything, I nodded. “Good. Just remember, be ready for Jump tumble around 1600 tomorrow.”
Everyone nodded and stood up, heading for different parts of the ship. Varan quickly headed up the ladder and, after a wave in my direction, Shelly followed. Do’rex had already returned to the bridge, and Shelly quickly retrieved the VR headset and put it on.
Saahna had been standing beside the sofa but came up to me after everyone else had left.
“Are you sure about this?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. It’s probably the best plan for all of us.”
“We don’t want to make any more enemies.”
“This should hopefully get us fewer enemies. Once they realize we’re trying to stay out of all of these politics, maybe they’ll leave us alone.”
She looked at me for a long moment. “You really wanted to stay involved, didn’t you?”
I shook my head, perhaps a bit too forcefully. “No! Why would I want that?”
She smiled. “Because, despite everything, you’ve actually been in a better mood the last week or so.”
I was surprised to hear that. “What? I’ve been making myself sick worrying about what I had gotten us into.”
She laughed. “Really? Well, you’ve been hiding it well.” She leaned closer. “Especially around me.”
I smiled at that. “Really?” I put my arms around her and pulled her closer. “Maybe we should take advantage of that while we can. Especially since tonight is our last night together for a week.”
She pulled away at that and frowned. “You aren’t going to make this a problem again, are you?”
I sighed and looked away. “You’re still here after I nearly got all of us killed. And, as you say, you always come back at the end of the week.” I sighed. “Look… I… don’t like it. You know that. But, I guess…”
I turned to look at her. “Look, there are things you don’t know about me. There are things I don’t know about you. But… if this is what I have to do to keep you with me? Then… OK. I’m fine with you being on your own. As long as, at the end of the week, you come back.”
She frowned, but I could see her relax as she did. “That’s all I’ve ever asked of you.”
I smiled. “OK, then.” I stepped forward and put my arms around her again. “Then… let’s go be alone for a while.”
She frowned again. “I need to recheck the weapon systems since Varan is ‘distracted.'”
I nodded. “Sure. I’ll be waiting.”
She smiled and nodded in return. “I’ll hurry.”