Partwork story: Old Ships Are Best - part 1

[DredgerMan]

Hi all, usual disclaimers, this and the following Old Ships are Best stories are supplied under Creative Commons License Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 2.0 which allows you to copy, distribute, display and perform the work and to make derivative works, under the conditions that you must give original credit to me, Adrie Geuken, and that you may not use this work for any commercial purposes and that you must distribute the resulting work under a license identical to this one if you alter, transform or build upon this work.

Now the intention for me is to write the story (I know what will happen but not yet how it will happen) with assistance from you, the Oolite community. My idea is for every part to take at least one of the available OXP's and give them a highlight by weaving the OXP into the storyline. If you have an OXP that you would like to receive some limelight, please send me a PM and I will gladly add it to the main plot line. Please note that because this is written fiction any technical issues that may have prevented you from adding certain features to the OXP does not necessarily mean that those features could not work in the story. Just let me know what you wanted the OXP to be able to do and if possible I will gladly add that.

I am not sure how long this story is going to be. It could be of novelle length or it could grow into a full blown novel, all I know is that it is definitely going to be longer than a short story. There will be deep space dredgers, battles, spies, Thargoids and so on but mostly it will be the story of a 'simple' trader who tries to make ends meet and was caught out at the wrong time in the wrong place, a fact that will change him for the rest of his life.

And now ....

I hope you will enjoy......

Old Ships are Best, part 1.

Gepodyne Twoggler stepped out of the airlock onto the gantry surrounding the berthed ship and walked to the edge, grasping the railing of it before he stopped. He closed his eyes, counted inwardly till five and turned round. Then he opened his eyes and cringed as he saw the evidence of the mauling that the 'Buccaneer Basher II' had received. His right side suddenly spasmed as if in terrible pain.

He closed his eyes again and cursed. This was far worse than he had expected. He sighed again and leant backwards against the railing as he re-opened his eyes. His eyes glanced along the starboard side of the Python Special ET, counting the gauges that the lasers had left near the nose, some of them still gleaming eerily green, following them further towards aft until they stopped at the deep gashes that marked the start of the starboard engine blister. Gepodyne's eyes narrowed as he looked at the deep holes left by the tharglet as it had rammed them when the aft shields were almost depleted. It had of course been a freak accident, the tharglet having lost all controls a long time before the crash when the last of the Thargoid warships had blown itself up when it realised it was the last capital ship of the huge Thargoid fleet that had attempted to invade the Usraerian system.

Fortunately the navy had learned about this planned attack and sent a mobile fleet to boost the defenses of that anarchic system. And with that fleet three squadrons of reserve navy pilots had been called in to assist, namely the 4th Light Reservist, the 7th Light Reservist and the 22nd Heavy Reservist. Gepodyne nearly grunted at the thought. Reservists, a nice name for a bunch of civilian pilots with their civilian ships acting as nothing more than glorified cannon fodder. But knowing what would happen if the Thargoids wouldn't be stopped kept many skippers joining up with the reservists.

Gepo had been part of the 22nd when he had jumped into the system, his place there earned by the ship's sheer size and heavy weaponry. As with the regular navy, it was the intended role of the heavies to check the enemy's movement by massed long range heavy weapon's fire so that the lighter craft could slice off little chunks of the enemy section and engage them in close combat, sometimes assisted by the additional firepower the heavies or indeed one of the navy's battle carriers or frigates could bring to bear. And it was the task of the heavies to make sure the lights wouldn't get jumped by one of the Thargoid battle cruisers or battleships. It seemed to work quite well. Well, for the first minute of battle after which it all turned into an extremely chaotic free-for-all, a slogathon where both sides just hit as hard and as many times as they could, the winner being declared as being the last one standing.

This time the victory had gone to the navy, even though it had been a close run battle. But the fact that the navy had kept their two frigates together who could protect each other through cover fire and where necessary combine their firepower onto their hapless victims had ensured that this time the bugs had been routed. Unfortunately, as usual, victories come at a huge cost. Of the original 16 navy and 18 reservist vessels a total of 15 had made it back. And those 15 had all come back scorched and maimed, some limping and some burning.

Gepo's eyes checked out the ship's damage again, suddenly noticing a crescent shaped sheet of Thargoid red and green metal peeking out of the deep gash near the starboard engine, oil dripping from it. Gepo shivered as he suddenly imagined it to be blood.

"S'Bad"

Gepo looked down at the figure hobbling out of the airlock. He sighed then looked back at the ship. "I know." he said to the blue skinned dwarf. "I can see. How bad?"

Morgas, the dwarven engineer, looked at the notebook in her hand. "Bad bad. Qurium lining almost all gone, starboard engine is bad, needs new core, needs new facings, needs new controller."

The dwarf looked up at Gepo. "Need new engine. Completely. Outer hull mostly good. Few scratches, but lick of paint will cover. Some small leaks already repaired. Port crew quarters are bad too. Looks like torpedo crashed through hull and went bang inside. "
Morgas stopped then with a knowing glance added. "Thargoids not using torps."

Gepo snorted. "They don't have to, we do it for them. Another .... friendly fire incident, no doubt. Mind you, we don't really need the port crew quarters, do we? There's only the four of us. Anyway, can you fix it?"

Morgas froze for a second then peered at her notebook again.

"Sure," she mumbled. "Morgas can fix it. Will take time. Much time. Three months? Likely four. Need lots of parts. Quirium system need new grounding and new lining and new seal. So station-gits will want to test Morgas' work. So Morgas say, let gits do it. Probably be cheaper too. Morgas not very known in engine market. Them gits are. And them get parts easier than poor Morgas. And Beebee could do with full maintenance round anyway. Yeah, let gits fix it and do maintenance then Morgas will unfix git's work and make it work properly, no?"

Gepo grinned for a fraction of a second then nodded. "Ok, we'll let them deal with it. Can you let the station engineers know?" He stared at the dwarf until they made eye contact. "In a friendly way." he finished.

Morgas sighed. "You's skipper. If skipper say jump, Morgas jump. Morgas not like jumping but Morgas will do what skipper wants."
She peered up at him. "How friendly?" she asked then after a stare from Gepo she sighed again. "Okies, okies, Morgas will be very friendly."

Gepo nodded.

"Thank you," he said as he turned towards the airlock. "Thorrrrrrrmas?" he yelled.

He had to wait for a half minute before the feline first officer stepped through the airlock onto the gantry. Gepo nodded at him. "Take Milbron with you and arrange some accommodation for us. It's going to be a long stay so don't make it too fancy. Something planet side perhaps, if you can find anything safe and decent. Then have Milbron collect our gear and drop it off at our quarters. Oh, and split up the bounties. What did we bag this time?"

The feline looked at Gepo and nodded. "Scorrre is thrrree crrruiserrrs, no battleships, five warrrrships and ..... twenty seven tharrrglets for a total of twenty nine hundrrred and fifty five crrredits."

Gepo whistled through his teeth. "Not bad. So that's .... five ninety per share? We've had worse. Ok, transfer the shares to the accounts and add another hundred from me as a bonus. It's been a rough pair of months."

Thorrrmas nodded in thanks then typed a few commands into his command box and passed it over to Gepo so he could place his thumbprint on it. Gepo handed the box back after he did so and walked closer to the ship. He laid his hand on the cool metal of the hull and tapped it.

"You've done well, Beebee. You've been brilliant. We wouldn't have made it out alive if it wasn't for you. Thank you. Old ships are still by far the best."

He sighed and patted the ship's side once again until a slimy voice behind him spoke up. "Excuse me? Are you Commander Twoggler?"
Gepo turned round half frowning and examined the man that had addressed him. The man was at least two heads smaller than Gepo, who wasn't that tall himself. The man wore dark glassses, a dark hat and a long black overcoat. "Galcop official," Gepo thought then nodded.

"Yes," he simply said, wondering what the man wanted.

"Commander Gepodyne Twoggler? Commander of the Python Special ET Buccaneer Basher II, registration code Alpha Yankee Zero Niner Zero Seven?"

"Yes?"

"Good. My name is not important but I represent InterGal. A request has been made by the Galcop representative for Zaragete to inform you that your assistance is required regarding an ongoing investigation and that you are to remain in this system until a representative of the representative for Zaragete has had an opportunity to discuss this with you. Here's the official GalCop summons. You may wish to verify its validity. Have a nice day, Commander."

"What?" Gepo looked down at the GalCop card in his hand then at the man as he walked away.

"Wait!" he yelled. "What's this about? Zaragete? That's galaxy 2. Why would someone from another galaxy want to speak to me here in galaxy 3?"

The InterGal agent stopped for a second.

"I would not know, Commander Twoggler. I would assume that you would know, but that assumption is based purely on speculation on my part. But then again, you do not need to know that either, do you? All you have to do is to remain here and assist the representative with the ongoing investigation. I would assume that is sufficient to know?" The man turned to face Gepo.
"That is, unless you do not wish to assist? That would not be a wise move, Commander. And surely not one that you will want to make. It would make things ..... difficult for you. Very difficult. Good day, Commander."
The dark clad men slipped away before the flabbergasted Gepo could respond.

-To be continued-

[DredgerMan]

Gepo sighed and he lifted the glass in front of him and swirled the liquid, examining the purple liquid inside until he drained the contents in one gulp. He looked over his shoulder and nodded at the waitress before he turned back to examine the empty glass.

He sighed again and placed it on the table as he leant back and closed his eyes. Life simply wasn’t going his way. It was bad enough that every day the base-engineers were finding another fault with Beebee that required more repairs and more testing and led to more things going wrong but after three weeks the Galcop inspector from Zaragete had still not shown up and Gepo’s crew was beginning to get restless. Milbron, their gofer, had already been found looking at vacancies on other ships, and Thorrrmas was showing ever more signs of anxiety, like a caged animal. The only one who kept behaving normally was Morgas, unfortunately. Every morning Gepo was woken up by another call from the base engineers with one more complaint about the blue dwarf and his persistent interfering with the ship’s repairs. It was good in a sense that the dwarf felt so close to the ship and if things had been different, Gepo would have continued to congratulate himself every day for finding the dwarf in a rundown rock hermit’s base. But it would be nice, even for one day, if Gepo could wake up undisturbed without the need for additional credits to smooth things over.

Gepo sighed again. Credits. These three weeks were eating faster into his savings than he had expected. He still had enough to pay for the repairs and find a new cargo but he wasn’t sure that that would still be the case in another two weeks. Plus there was the question of the ship herself. Gepo knew that she was aging and Gepo quite often placed her in harm's way because of the need to make a specific run in time. His savings were meant to provide a little extra for when the time came that a new ship had to be obtained and at this rate in another three weeks all he would be able to afford was an Adder with both engines missing.

*THUD*

The sudden clang of a glass being forcefully dumped on his table broke Gepo’s line of thought. He looked up at the waitress who sneered at him before turning back, causing another sigh from Gepo. That was another problem. People were starting to regard him as a fraud. Sure, at the beginning, just after the battle against the Thargoid fleet, they all had celebrated the pilots that had returned to the station as their saviours. But after several weeks, especially weeks where Gepo was the only Captain who had not come to the defense of the base when Thargoid war parties had attacked it, some people were starting to wonder if Gepo had actually participated in the previous battle or whether he was just another loud-mouthed conman, who had trashed his own ship just so he would not have to fight. It was easy to believe especially if you would have done the same, given the chance.

“Dredge?”

Gepo looked up.

“Burpo?”. He started smiling at the sight of the rotund trader, who he met for the first time when they were both assigned to the reservist squadron, Gepo with his Python and Meddelfurt Gangrist with his brand new Boa Class Cruiser. They had survived their first battle together and started drinking together and kept drinking together ever since.

“You still here?” Meddelfurt asked as he forced himself on the bench opposite Gepo, signaling to the waitress for another round of drinks. Gepo nodded with a frown after which the trader frowned.

“After three weeks???” The trader snapped his mouth shut then leant over to Gepo.

“You expecting someone?” he hissed. “There was this Galcop character in the entrance hall and she was asking after you. If you … uhhhh … need to skedaddle I would do it now, rather than later.”

“And go where?” Gepo said with a grunt. “The ship’s still in dock and there’s nowhere where I could be safe unless I give up my life as a trader and I do not want to do that just yet.”

“A wise choice,” a third voice suddenly spoke up as a woman, clad in black, nodded at the two before sitting down next to Gepo. “I’m Inspector General Talsi of the Galcop Investigation Bureau. I believe you were expecting me. Since I have been fully briefed on this case and I did my homework, I was aware of the connection between you and Burgher Gangrist so when I saw him, I asked him if he knew you, expecting him to lead me straight to you. Thank you, Burgher. It saved me some ….. legwork.”

The nod was brief, almost non-existing. The woman opened a bag and took out two cylinders and placed them on the table. Then she took a pad and switched it on before placing it next to the cylinders.

“Just to make sure we all understand each other, this is a simple, routine investigation. No crimes have been committed that I am aware of and nobody is under suspicion. You, Burgher Twoggler, are here simply to assist me with finalising the investigation and once we are done, we can all go our own merry ways. And as this is a simple investigation, you may choose a witness to be present at all times during the proceedings. In fact, I would strongly suggest that you do, to prevent any misunderstandings later on. I assume Burgher Gangrist will be acceptable to you?”

The Inspector General turned away from Gepo before he could nod and stared at Meddelfurt.

“Just so we understand, Burgher Gangrist, your role will be solely as witness, you are not required or even allowed to take an active part in these proceedings. And neither will be ……. Now where did he go?”

The woman looked up and along the row of tables in the bar.

“He was behind me just a moment ago…. That’s all we need, more delays. Oh, there he is.”

She nodded towards a man who had just run into the bar, breathing heavily. The heavily sweating man approached their table and looked down at the benches on both sides of the table, the one that was fully occupied with Meddelfurt and the other where GIB-officer and Gepo were sitting.

The officer didn’t shift as she briefly nodded at the newcomer.

“This is Burgher … Mitfurst, wasn’t it? Anyway he is here as the representative of His Most Sincere Father Lorgnum, the present ruler of Zaragete. It is on his behest that I am here. Are we ready?”

“It’s Milfirst,” the man hissed as he looked at the table, figuring that there was no place on the bench carrying the heavy trader but when he moved towards the GIB officer she made no attempt to move clearly blocking the man from sitting down himself.

Talsi didn’t seem to have heard him or if she did she made a point of not acknowledging him. She picked up one of the cylinders and turned it round to flick a switch on the bottom of it. A black cloud emerged from it which formed a black globe that completely enveloped the four people, creating a separate universe for the inhabitants, ensuring that no sounds or light could enter or leave the globe.

“Good, now that we have some privacy, the reason for this all is this.” Talsi said as she activated the other cylinder, which formed a holographic picture of a spaceship.

“This is the SS Durocotorum, one of the five Aegidius class spaceships that were built twelve hundred years ago. Burgher Twoggler, I assume that you recognise it? Anyway, this ship was owned by one of the forefathers of Burgher Lorgnum and has been in the Zaragetan Navy ever since as flagship and personal transport of the Zaragetan ruler. Unfortunately six months ago the Dauff, the person destined to take over the rulership of the planet once the current ruler dies, took the ship out for a …. I believe the correct term was .. a little spin? He was jumped by a squadron of Thargoid warships and the Dauff apparently panicked and activated the escape pod. The problem is that the ship is more than just a ship. It’s a status symbol, a sign that the ancestors approve of the actions of the current holder. And Burgher Lorgnum lost it. But now over to you, Burgher Twoggler.”

Gepo looked at the woman then at the holo-image. He nodded.

“I remember her. She was a beauty. Quite big, as well, as long as a Python but with a lot more grace and beauty. When I found the abandoned ship, I made several tours around her, not having seen one before. Every curve of the ship was deliberate, almost exquisite in detail. There were no ungainly bumps, just one surface of smooth curves. I would have loved to make her mine but all I had was a salvage droid. I had despatched of the Thargoids with the assistance of a Viper Cruiser, who had come to the scene, probably alerted by the calls from the …. Dauff? Strange though, the way the Thargoids behaved. They had already launched their thargons and had them surround the ship but didn’t fire on it. It was more like the thargons formed a shield around it with the warships protecting the shield. Anyway, we were able to take out three of the warships and the Cruiser took care of the other three and then left me with the ship as it returned to the starbase. I scooped up the tharglets and then, according to space law, as the ship was clearly abandoned, I salvaged it. The salvage droid had some trouble accessing the ship’s systems but finally managed to make the correct links. I received a message that the HMS Braben was awaiting the ship. There were some pirates along the route to the space dredger but they didn’t really persist and we received a salvage bonus of about five thousand credits.”

The Zaragete-representative made a sound like he was being throttled but kept quiet after a stare from Tasli. She then nodded to Gepo.

“That ties up nicely with the report I received from the cruiser commander. Only he was quite certain that you took care of four Thargoids and he despatched two. But that is a moot point. Is there anything else that you wish to add? Anything else that you want to share, anything strange?”

Gepo frowned trying to remember the circumstances. “Now that you mention it, there was something strange. The captain of the dredger, a Commander Bell, invited me for a visit. Apparently he was quite pleased with the ship and he wanted to know everything I could tell him about where I found it and what the circumstances were. I assumed that he wanted to make sure that the ship was obtained completely legally. I didn’t get the impression that he wanted to sell the ship on, though, which is what dredgers tend to do with derelicts that they receive. I got the feeling that he wanted to repair her and make her his own.”

The Inspector General looked at Gepo.

“And do you know where the Braben is now? Did this Captain say anything about where he intended to go next?”

Gepo shrugged. “They go wherever they want to go. They would not share that information with anyone outside their clan. Perhaps they might hint something to other dredger captains but they are quite secretive and insular. They trust no-one from the outside.”

“Not even you? I understand you have a history with a dredger? Which is why you are called Dredgerman?”

Gepo looked at the woman then looked away.

“Especially not me. Even on the DSD Hood I was nothing more than a slave, just allowed to perform certain tasks for them. I was made aware that my presence on that ship was only tolerated because I was picked up by them as a baby from a wrecked ship. Use me? Sure. If there was an asteroid that needed mining, I would be called upon. But trust me? Hell no. It might have been different if I have decided to stay on the ship, continuing these menial tasks. Then, after thirty or forty years they might give me a second look. Until then, I was nothing to them. But instead of continuing these tasks I decided to leave them and make my own mark on the universe. And for that I am a pariah. Which is why the invitation was so strange. I am sure Bell knew about my background, they all do.”

Talsi pulled a face.

“I see. So much for finalising this investigation then. We knew about the HMS Braben already since you logged it when you returned to the station but as you may have deduced, we are currently having a few difficulties making contact with the HMS Braben. We know she still exists but wherever we look, we get a door slammed in our face. But that is not your problem. Thank you, Burgher Twoggler. We will continue our investigations. Oh, and for your information, since there were only five ships built and the designer died almost immediately afterwards, the estimated current price for one is seven and a half million credits, give or take a few million. It would look that you were taken for a ride, Burgher. And quite severely. Five thousand credits? Ridiculous. But that is not my concern. I would suggest to make it yours though. I would impress on the both of you the need to keep whatever you have heard here to keep amongst yourselves. I do not want anybody to waylay my investigation. Officially, since this is not a criminal case, I do not have the authority to demand your silence, but you would do well to remember that GalCop has means to make life difficult. Like ordering a tax-review for a trader who had gained access to some ….. questionable income from the Dramaga sector, was it not, Burgher Gangrist? Not that I am particularly interested to find out but if I get cross I might be. But again, thank you for your time.” She nodded then turned off the holo-cylinder first before switching off the other and the dark cloud disappeared instantly. She got up from the bench and waited for Gepo to get up, once he got the notion that it was indeed over and he was expected to leave.

He looked almost helplessly at his friend who shook his head with a warning look at Gepo. “Come on,” Dredgerman,” Meddelfurt said as he extracted himself from the bench. “I have a few bottles of Mazargian schnaps on the Rose of Samarkand. Let’s have them like in the old days, eh? Officer Talsi, Burgher Milfurst.”

Gangrist nodded to the two then laid his arm around Gepo and guided the man away, squeezing him a few times, just when Gepo tried to open his mouth. Gepo looked at him, a million questions running through his mind. Finally he decided that a stiff drink and a safe place to talk would be best in these circumstances and he let himself be swept away by his friend.

-To be continued-

[JazHaz]

Enjoying the story so far, can't wait for the next instalment. I've added it to the Oolite Stories page on the wiki.

[DredgerMan]

Many thanks, Jazhaz.

You know, the best stories have so many twists and turns that you don't know whether you are coming or going.

So lets see if we can muddy the waters a bit with special thanks to ShipBuilder.

----------------

Talsi watched the two men leave slowly shaking her head. She sat down and picked up the holo-imager and put it away. She shot Milfirst a glance but eyed him longer when she saw his face.

“You have a problem, Burgher Milfirst?” she asked.

The representative placed his hands on the table and lowered his head so it was close to hers.

“You were rude!” he hissed, earning him a little smile from Talsi which cut him short.

She seemed to think things over for a while, then nodded. “I was, wasn’t I? How nice of you to notice.” Then her hand suddenly shot up, grabbed Milfirst by his jacket and pulled him down on the bench opposite her. She activated the veil as the man landed heavily on the seat. She eyed him for a while.

“And can you think of a reason why I might have done that? Could it be that I did not want to have this session go awry as well? We were doing quite nicely with the Viper Commander until you decided to open your mouth and started accusing him. A GalCop Commander does NOT link with unapproved organisations like the Link. Nor has he a vested interest in creating problems for a planetary government.”

As Milfirst opened his mouth to interject she waved her hand to shut him up.

“I’m not finished yet. Neither am I too pleased about having to haul a child-minder with me wherever I go. I am quite capable of performing investigations on my own and I do not particularly need the assistance from an untrained and unprofessional oink. YOU are here JUST as an observer and only because my superiors requested it of me. It is only aggravated by the fact that you seem to be uncommonly thick and unable to grasp any instruction you receive from me. Now I do not know how your leader managed to get my superiors to instigate this investigation. The facts are quite clear and show that no GalCop crimes have been committed. Salvaging a vessel that has been abandoned by its crew is a common occurrence and quite legal. The fact that you may have planetary laws that state differently or that the vessel is of particular interest to you is of no consequence. The salvaging took place in GalCop controlled space therefore GalCop legislation applies.”

Talsi fell silent as she examined the ring she wore on her right hand. She turned the ring until she felt a slight bump and pressed it. Having deactivated her recording device, she looked at the Zaragete representative.

“I apologise, if that makes you feel better. In the interest of ensuring future mutual cooperation and all that. Can I ask you a question? Off the record.”

She showed him the deactivated ring. “You may scan it if you wish.”

Milfirst snorted. “I’m not scared. What do you want to know?”

Talsi stayed silent for a moment then took a decision.

“Chimera gunships. One of the newest and most potent of the single pilot gunships. I understand Zaragete bought a fleet of one hundred a few days after the loss of the Durocotorum. Then just after we told you we found another lead in this galaxy we hear that fifty of those new Chimera’s are about to tour this star group? Coincidence?”

Milfirst shrugged. “If I said it was, you wouldn’t believe me anyway, would you? Unfortunately it is. Our Asps having been in the field for quite a while and were in need of replacing. But we had the order in the books long before we …. uhhm … had the mishap with the Durocotorum. Galtech Industries would otherwise have never been able to deliver the first batch a month ago. I must admit that the fact that we had the … uhm … mishap is probably one of the reasons that our Most Sincerest Father decided to send half of his new fleet out on a goodwill mission across the fellow Singular leaders in all star groups. We have to show that we are still strong, despite the … well, you know. Io knows that things were difficult already, with GalCop’s inability to deal with the terrorists who seem to target our enlightened states purely because we believe in the strength of one rather than the political ramblings of the many or the coldness that erupts from the credit disciples of the Corporate states. Yet we are the target of those terrorists who call themselves the Link. Us, not the slaver Communist states. Us, not the air-headed Confederates. No wonder we have to continuously upgrade our vessels. We have complained to GalCop many times about their base in the Edanso system, but will GalCop ever do anything about it?”

Milfurst shook his head. “Don’t bother. I know the drill. GalCop regulations and GalCop rules. Too bad that they are self-proclaimed terrorists but if they don’t hurt any so-called innocents, our hands are tied, right? Which means that our vessels and citizens are guilty? Of what?”

Talsi shot him a look. She kept her face as impassive as she could.

“I do not deal with political issues, only with investigations. Like this one. And I would like this one not be waylaid by any political issues. It’s hard enough as it is. You are welcome to try and see if your ships can locate this dredger ship but I would expect to be notified as soon as you do. Not that I think that we need the additional ships. We had quite a stroke of luck today. Five thousand credits for the salvage? The best reason for Twoggler to find that dredger again. A ship like that should have brought in at least seventy five thousand. And there is a code of honour amongst the dredgers. Any dredger that will hear of this shortfall will need to assist. Not us, of course, but Twoggler. He only has to look and ask the right questions. Quite lucky for us, really. Which reminds me. You know the base engineers detained him here upon my request? But this meant that his repair bill has only grown and grown and I doubt he was doing that well to begin with, going by the state his ship was in in the first place. So if you want him able to start looking for dredgers immediately, I would suggest that you … arrange his repair bill for him. Since you were the cause of it in the first place. It’s only forty three thousand and something. Peanuts when compared to the value of the Durocotorum, wouldn’t you say?”

Milfirst opened his mouth, then snapped it shut before opening it again. It stayed open for a while until it audibly snapped shut again and the representative simply nodded.

“Stellar,” was all that Talsi said as she turned off the cloak.

-To be continued-

[Shipbuilder]

I've really enjoyed reading this Dredgerman. A great piece of work and I am looking forward to reading the next installment.

[Shipbuilder]

Dredgerman - Just wondered if you are still working on this (I hope so I am very much enjoying the story so far).

[DredgerMan]

Dredgerman - Just wondered if you are still working on this (I hope so I am very much enjoying the story so far).

I'm afraid not, Shipbuilder. But I just restarted my OOlite experiences after a couplde of years and this story is back on the list. I am thinking of a re-write of some sections anyway as it didn't flow the way I wanted it to flow, but I am getting the writers juices flowing again.