It is a bit slow to start but things will heat up soon!!
EDIT 1/4/04 : just edited this a bit to make it read easier
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Chapter 1 - The Innocent
"This meeting is driving me crazy, changing me.
I will never trust anyone again". Pearl Jam.
Piotr guided his bulky freighter into the docking port of the delexian wheat farm. As the factory gates opened and admitted him he relaxed after the trade run and looked forward to seeing his aunt on the station.
Before leaving the Lifter Piotr checked that the sale had gone through as had been agreed before he docked. The vidscreen showed a profit for this trip of 5,000 credits. Seeing the transfer the young trader once again thanked his lucky stars, and more specifically, his uncle who had left him the ship that had allowed him to make a fairly decent living. Not many people owned their own cargo ship at just 22 years of age.
'Nice going, now let's try and find that bar again tonight' he thought to himself as he half remembered a drunken evening the last time he'd been docked there.
Piotr had to barge his way through the crowds at the ship dock to get to the main entrance, a passenger ship had just docked and the station manager had no idea about station security, but then again why worry, this was Argon prime after all. After a few bruises from forcing his way through the crowd Piotr eventually got through to the transport lifts and started on his way to his aunt's place.
"Piotr! You are early!!" Aunt Petuniac rushed out of the door to grab him in a bear hug. Piotr wasn't small but he was winded when his aunt finally let him go. Dragged in to the main room by his aunt's strong grip he smiled as his nose brought him the scents of dinner cooking.
"Yes, Piotr we are baking some meatsteak casserole tonight just as you like it, with some stott spices!!", Aunt Petuniac smiled kindly, not so long ago this young man standing before her had been a shy and awkward nephew given in to her charge after his parents had died when he was 10 years old.
Eventually, after being nagged by his aunt for any news Piotr eventually got to eat. The dish prepared was his favourite, chunks of meatsteak casseroled in a spicy stott sauce, accompanied by a rich delexian wheat bread.
As he spooned down the tasty stew he thought about his business. He was doing ok, but the routes he used were becoming more popular with other indepenent traders and his profits were being squeezed as a result. It wouldn't be so bad but he had to support his aunt, and as he knew to his cost, she had some strongly held beliefs about keeping up appearances.
"Auntie, I need to find a new trade route, business is slowing down with all the new traders around", Piotr braced himself for the inevitable reply.
"Nonsense Piotr! You know what I always said, don't leave the safety of Argon Prime, I can't be worrying about you out there in those other sectors!". And so with this sentence his aunt repeated what she had said a thousand times before, never leave argon prime - it would mean leaving the security of the argon prime defense forces, and it would make her worry.
Piotr didn't say anything in reply, but started eating again. His aunt was always happy when he ate, at least it kept her quiet.
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After his aunt had gone to bed Piotr headed out to find that bar he'd thought about when he docked.
After a few wrong turns (his memory of the place wasn't too good, probably due to all the space fuel he'd had there last time) he found it and managed to grab the seat he'd had before. The seat was by a vidscreen looking out over the docking port and gave an ever shifting view of the stars and the ship traffic coming and going around the sector.
He didn't recognise any of the others in the bar, so whilst the live band played in the background (the band was based on some of the classic rock bands found on archived data from a terran ship that had arrived in Argon space years earlier) Piotr pondered his situation.
His aunt and uncle had taken good care of him and he cared deeply for his aunt. When Piotr was 16 his uncle, a cargo hauler, had died in an accident in a neighbouring sector. He'd been travelling on a transport ship to visit some old friends in Cloudbase South West whilst his Lifter was undergoing a maintenance overhaul back in Argon Prime. The transport ship had been caught in crossfire from a pirate raid, an Orinoco pirate fighter had crashed into the transport and all lives had been lost.
His uncle had made few savings and Piotr's aunt, in spite of her grief, had had to keep the business going (using an android to pilot the freighter) to support herself and Piotr as he went through School. The business had brought in sufficient income at first, thanks to the kindness of her husband's past associates, but times became more difficult as more and more independent traders came onto the scene. Piotr's aunt had found it increasingly difficult to make a decent profit, she was 70 years old and just not ready for the burden that the business carried. Organising trade routes, negotiating prices, scheduling regular maintenance checks - these are only some of the things that a haulage business entails.
At 18 Piotr left school. He took his pilot test and passed, getting a grade F license, weapons resricted. The license allowed Piotr to fly cargo ships and small M5 light fighters (without weapons). The same day he got the licence he had taken charge of the cargo hauler business with his Aunt's blessings (after he'd promised to never leave Argon Prime Sector).
The business, with Piotr in control, had not done badly, partly because of continuing help from some old friends of his uncle and partly because Piotr didnt mind taking some of the less glamorous, less profitable, jobs. He wasn't out there to make a fortune, he just wanted to be able to support his aunt and himself so they could live comfortably in her place on the Delexian wheat farm station.
This business approach had worked to date but now the ever increasing competition meant that profit margins would be increasingly difficult to maintain on trade routes within Argon Prime. Piotr knew he had to start taking on some jobs across sectors to help improve the cashflow situation - the costs of maintaining the Lifter and supporting his aunt were not cheap.
Just as Piotr had made up his mind to find some cross sector jobs (without telling his aunt) he saw one of his childhood friends enter the bar. Grinning he waved him over, looking forward to a night of heavy drinking and catching up on all the latest gossip.
"Hey Piotr! Good to see you! I saw your ship had come in and thought I might be able to track you down here after what you got up to last time!". Fredic was tall and skinny, but Piotr knew that Fredic was deceptively strong - despite the fact that he worked down on the wheat farm itself and spent most of his time driving a harvester.
"Hey Fredic, what's up then! Get you a drink?"
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The next day, after having recovered from his hangover of the night before, Piotr decided to head back to his Lifter.
Aunt Petuniac stopped him before he left, "Remember Piotr, don't leave the sector, and keep in touch, let me know when you're coming back!".
"Don't worry auntie, I'll be back before you know it!", Piotr grinnned at his aunt, gave her a peck on the cheek and strolled out the door. His doting aunt waved him goodbye as he walked down the corridor to the waiting transport lift.
When he got to his ship Piotr thumbed his caller. "Fredic? Hi...it's Piotr...look, what we talked about in the bar last night, that's right, you said I could get a good purchase price for 600 units of ore at the ore mine in Ringo moon, I'm on my way there now to get some. I just wanted to check that I remembered right!." As he listened Piotr grinned, what he heard equated to a 12000 profit for the trip, a lot better than he'd been getting to date.
"Thanks mate! See you soon!". Piotr wasted no time, He quickly hooked himself up in the pilot seat and, after initial ship safety checks, asked for departure clearance.
"Lifter AM4PK-12 you have cleareance for departure" the station docking controller repied.
