[Begin a Session: (37) Seemingly unrelated situations are shown to be connected. +1 Momentum (10)]
Breaker's Log - Day Nine
Dr. Jeffries and I had spent the previous day planning for my trade mission while Project ground crews refueled and serviced Scrounger to the best of their ability. Our quarters for the evening were modest but comfortable - but if there was one thing that made the trip worth all the danger and trouble, it was the food. Ramshackle's little subsistence farm was just enough to sustain a hundred people, but the diet was limited and there wasn't much for the hunter/gatherers to bring back to supplement it.
As guests of Dr. Jeffries, we were treated to the very best of Petrichor's foods. Their population was seventy times larger, and in addition to a variety of crops and livestock, the game animals and fruits in the wild were exquisite. And they had real coffee - none of the chicory/buckwheat substitute we drank on Mirage. Fran ate like she had never seen food before, and I had to gently remind her to be well-mannered and not to overeat. I was just beginning to establish a rapport with Dr. Jeffries, it wouldn't do to have a nine-year old puke on her shoes.
As the new day began, we boarded the Scrounger and checked the systems. The hold was full of food, lumber, and textiles - but it was not meant for Ramshackle. I had sworn to carry out this mission, so absconding with it was out of the question.
We were to travel to the ocean world of Thalassa to trade for chemicals that the Project required for its research and farming equipment. Thalassa is a mostly unpopulated world whose only land masses are small islands, remnants of volcanic activity in the planet's past. Vast subsurface petroleum deposits could be found beneath the ocean floor, and these were being extracted by a large industrial concern known as the Ebon Domains. Their operations were being conducted by large mobile drilling rigs with onboard refineries.
[Set a Course: +Supply, 4+5 vs 5/6. Strong Hit.]
Travel along the route that Jeffries provided was safe and uneventful, and 40 hours later we emerged from the Drift into the Kitalpha system. The glowing orange star warmed the blue-green ball of water below. I couldn't even fathom the concept of this much water all in one place. There weren't many bodies of water on Mirage - aside from the polar ice caps, most standing water was found in small alkaline lakes.
From orbit, I could see vast patches of green floating in the sea. These were the floating kelp forests that Dr. Jeffries had told me about. I located the beacon for the Ebon Domains rig and guided the Scrounger down for a landing.
As we exited the ship, we were met by a large, muscular man. He wore overalls over his bare chest. His skin was covered in grease, but he had a friendly face underneath his hard hat.
"Thank you, Ogre," I replied. "You can call me Breaker. That there's JONES, and my little sister Franny."
Ogre knelt down in front of Fran so that she wouldn't be frightened. He placed one gigantic paw gently upon her shoulder and smiled. "A pleasure to meetcha, Sira Franny. It's kind of a dangerous place here, would you feel safer on your ship?" She nodded meekly, clutching her little grub dolly.
I turned to the bot. "JONES, take Fran back to the ship. If she needs anything, raise me on the comm. Lead the way, Ogre."
[Make a Connection (Ogre, Dangerous): +Heart, 3+2 vs 4/9. Weak Hit.]
The huge rigger took me on a guided tour of the facility. I had to admit, I was impressed. He told me how the rig could move to the location of a new pocket when the existing one ran dry. The flame atop the cracking tower cast an orange glow upon everything. The scent of complex hydrocarbons was familiar to me and kind of made me homesick.
As we made our way across the rig, I noticed signs of damage on some of the rails and equipment, and crude glyphs and slogans painted along the massive legs near the surface. Ogre seemed troubled by them.
"We get attacked by the natives from time to time," he admitted. "They have these big floating junk cities that they roam around in, fishing and harvesting the kelp forests. They see our presence here as an affront to 'Mother Ocean' or some superstitious drek. It's starting to have an impact on our production, and we can't afford damage to the rig. The Company has asked me to do something about it, but I'm not sure exactly what my options are yet."
We made our way into a small office and Ogre parked his massive bulk behind a desk, in a chair that seemed impossibly too small to bear his weight. He opened a drawer, and took out a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses. He poured two fingers of amber liquid into each - and as I've already mentioned, those are some large fingers.
Ogre raised his glass in salute. "To business," he proclaimed, downing half the glass in one gulp. I took a more careful sip. I could taste the notes of iodine and salt and peat.
"Tastes like the sea," I said, admittedly having never seen a sea until today. Ogre grinned and nodded.
"This is the good stuff, Breaker," he announced. "There's a distillery on one of the larger islands here. An independent operation, but their sole export is enough to keep them comfortably in trade for all of the things they need."
After we finished our drinks, Ogre tapped out some commands on his desk terminal. He reviewed the manifest that I had brought with me and frowned. "Well," he said with some measure of disappointment, "our Dr. Jeffries is asking a lot from us. Mind you, it's not that it's an unfair trade... it's just that these attacks have put a dent in our output, and every person I post to guard is another hand that can't be used as a roustabout."
"I get it, Ogre," I told him. "Unfortunately, my hands are tied here. I swore to complete this trade and I can't just go back with less than what she negotiated. How are we going to rectify this matter?"
Ogre leaned back in his chair, which gave a perilous creak, and placed his feet up on the desk. His boots were large enough to be used as lifeboats if we needed to evacuate the rig. "There's only one thing we can do about it, Breaker. Tell you what - if you can find a way to put an end to these attacks so we can get back on schedule, I will not only fill this order, I'll throw in a little extra as a commission for you." He slid a drawer open and placed another full bottle on the desk. "And I'll even add a bottle of 20 year old Bowsprit to sweeten the deal. Can you help?"
So, to keep my promise to Old Jin, I had to keep my promise to Dr. Jeffries, which meant I had to make a promise to Ogre... this was getting a little crazy. But I had no choice. I didn't know how I was going to go about it, though.
[Swear an Iron Vow: "End the attacks on the Abyssal Frontier" (Dangerous) +Heart, 2+2 vs 2/9. Weak Hit.]
[Develop Your Relationship: +2 boxes (2)]
I unclasped my wrench from my hip and placed it on the desk with a loud thunk. "By my grandfather's wrench, Ogre, I vow to put an end to the attacks on the Abyssal Frontier."
Ogre nodded in satisfaction, and refilled our glasses. "I'll drink to that, my friend," he rumbled.
