Planet Manhattan, New York
So I'm back. The Office of the President has issued a full pardon, the Rheinland State Chancellery has issued a declaration of Citizen-Extraordinary against my name, and the Shogunate of Kusari has declared me an honorary subject of the Shogun. The Bretonian Parliament seems to have forgotten about me completely — but I plan to set that record straight as soon as possible.
In addition, the Liberty Treasury paid a reward as a token of their thanks. And I can tell you, it was only a token. A payment of $20,000 from the thankful people of Liberty didn't even cover the costs of the jaunt, while the goods I carried in my hold, once sold, made considerably more than that. Juni sounded more upbeat, thinking that it was a handsome bonus. I hate to say it, but the poor girl is only on a government salary, so of course she'd think it was a sweet amount of cash. Maybe it is, if you don't run your own business.
Anyway, all told and sold, I started back at Manhattan with about $100,000 and a Guild accreditation level of 19. The market trader seemed pleased to see me and was keen to relate all the events of the recent weeks. Did I know that Rheinland had declared war, he asked? Who in the Libery Security Forces could have had it in for me to abuse the situation and hound me out of Liberty? Did I have any news from Kusari? And so on. It got so tiresome, I wrote my order on a slip of paper, put it in his hand and told him I had a hot date at the bar.
Well, it was half-true. I did go the bar, but all I got was a reminder of how poorly the Liberty security apparatus paid. It seemed hardly worth the effort even of reading the sits. vac. columns, so I wandered round the bar asking after some old friends, and then returned to my ship.
The talkative marketeer had done as I asked and loaded 70u of luxury consumer goods. My trade journal reminded me that I could get a decent price on my goods if I headed north to Kusari space, so I dragged up the maps and had a look at the surroundings. I was aware that there should be a passage to Shikoku via Colorado and either Galileo or Kepler, but had never done those routes.
I logged a flight plan to Colorado as far as the Galileo jump gate (merely a formality) and left Planet Manhattan.
In addition, the Liberty Treasury paid a reward as a token of their thanks. And I can tell you, it was only a token. A payment of $20,000 from the thankful people of Liberty didn't even cover the costs of the jaunt, while the goods I carried in my hold, once sold, made considerably more than that. Juni sounded more upbeat, thinking that it was a handsome bonus. I hate to say it, but the poor girl is only on a government salary, so of course she'd think it was a sweet amount of cash. Maybe it is, if you don't run your own business.
Anyway, all told and sold, I started back at Manhattan with about $100,000 and a Guild accreditation level of 19. The market trader seemed pleased to see me and was keen to relate all the events of the recent weeks. Did I know that Rheinland had declared war, he asked? Who in the Libery Security Forces could have had it in for me to abuse the situation and hound me out of Liberty? Did I have any news from Kusari? And so on. It got so tiresome, I wrote my order on a slip of paper, put it in his hand and told him I had a hot date at the bar.
Well, it was half-true. I did go the bar, but all I got was a reminder of how poorly the Liberty security apparatus paid. It seemed hardly worth the effort even of reading the sits. vac. columns, so I wandered round the bar asking after some old friends, and then returned to my ship.
The talkative marketeer had done as I asked and loaded 70u of luxury consumer goods. My trade journal reminded me that I could get a decent price on my goods if I headed north to Kusari space, so I dragged up the maps and had a look at the surroundings. I was aware that there should be a passage to Shikoku via Colorado and either Galileo or Kepler, but had never done those routes.
I logged a flight plan to Colorado as far as the Galileo jump gate (merely a formality) and left Planet Manhattan.
posted by Phil Walker at 9:12 AM
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