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MRO Shelter – Comorro Station
This room is rather simply furnished, with a fairly open common area. There are a few circular tables and some chairs, and a small holoviewer is set into the wall. In the center of the room are a few longer tables. There is a smaller room with a modest kitchenette off to one side. In the rear of the room the walls are lined with beds, most of them bunked. This place is clearly meant for temporary residence, providing its inhabitants with the basics -- shelter, a warm bed and a nourishing meal -- until they can improve their circumstances. The shelter is accessible from Comorro's Tradeport via a very thick door, and through a less sturdy-looking door against another wall.
Ken Pennebaker is, at the moment, sitting on a fold-out cot. He's perusing his PDA, rather oblivious to the outside world as he listens to something through the blue plastic bulbs poking out of his ears.
Kethren stretches a bit as he comes wandering in, once again with his attention pretty firmly fixed on some holograms being displayed over his pda. Every so often the calico kittenferret on his shoulder nudges his neck a bit from one side or the other to keep him from walking into something. The cranky guard following along behind rolls his eyes at the ferret guidance system, and the white tiger padding along at his side continues to pad along, keeping an eye on things and twitching her tail as she pleases.
Micky shows up with a milk jug in hand. It is full of some kind of dehydrated person's pee colored liquid. He's eating a hamburger which means his other hand is full. Then, there's a duffel bag on his back. He manages to eat, carry stuff, and walk without the help of a guide animal. Maybe he should invest in one, though, because he almost trips over somebody else's boots.
Ken Pennebaker notes the arrivals in the corner of his eye. He raises his eyebrows, then sets his PDA down long enough to pluck the buds from his ears. "Gentlemen," he says. "Good afternoon."
Kethren looks up from the pda, his eyes coming back into focus as the changes in the hologram slow down considerably "Ah, afternoon there." Floriana offers a cheery wave from his shoulder, and Nuala just looks over at the guy curiously.
"'Sup?" says Micky as he occupies a table in the center of the common area. The jug gets set down as he sits down. He finishes off the hamburger.
Ken Pennebaker offers a grim smirk. "What's up is my belongings remain in limbo, somewhere between here and Earth. The best my people have been able to determine, they're being held in what is described as 'secure storage' on Tomin Kora. I wish I could blame the hauling company, but it appears that their ship was approaching the rift when they were waylaid by Lord Fagin's brigands. I am told the Pirate King's people will release my belongings for an additional fee."
Kethren nods as he takes a seat "Well... that certainly sounds inconveniant, alright. How much of a fee are they trying to squeeze you for?"
"Well," muses Micky as he takes off the cap of the jug. It doesn't smell like piss, but it does reek like alcohol. "Might as well give 'em your middle dollar offer and let the negotiations ensue. Don't go to low. Might insult 'em. They'll break stuff, and I'd hate to see Otis hurt."
Ken Pennebaker grimaces. "Negotiate? I don't want to pay those jackasses a single credit. I've got my people making calls to the Vanguard to see if the military can take action. This *is* a crime against the Stellar Consortium, after all. I'm not the only person affected by what they've done."
Kethren nods "Also an option."
While Micky doesn't just up and laugh at Ken, he does make it very clear that it is taking every fiber of his being in order to prevent that. He tilts his head back, lifts his eyebrows, and pulls a weird face in order to convey this information.
Ken Pennebaker frowns at Micky. "What?"
Kethren continues to watch the exchange fairly quietly, scratching that tiger at his side idly.
"I'm sure that, uh, documentary makers are finally getting the full respect and admiration that they deserve and all in this new, modern era of liberal, tree hugging, wombat loving, happy hippiness, but - and I ain't no expert on the other side of the rift while in a trade where it pays to know these things - but, I really doubt they goin' to try to put a hurt on Tomin Kora over your ship being hijacked. If they was in that kind of position, they'd have already took control of the rift. That's what governments do. They seize control of assets where they think the benefit outweighs the cost. Since they ain't done that for a portal to another universe, I doubt they goin' to do it to save Otis and a couple of original prints of the Jungle Book or Superman or whatever," explains Micky.
Ken Pennebaker grunts. "It's the principle of the thing."
Kethren nods "Any backup plans if this one doesn't pan out?"
"Well, principle and profit start with the same two letters," shrugs Micky. "So, they're kinda close, I guess? Anywho, good luck with that."
Ken Pennebaker headtilts. "I had considered Red Eclipse as my backup plan." He shrugs. "But if not, I may have to suck it up and just pay them off."
Kethren nods, as does Floriana "Well, from what I've seen they're a good organization."
"I can't commit the outfit one way or the other," notes Micky before he takes a drink from the milk jug. He burps, continues, "But, I mean, I can tell you we aren't much for the full frontal assault on planetoid holding pirate kings, so if we agreed, it might take a minute to come up with a plan that'd get your stuff and us out in one piece. Pirate king and wayward salvage outfit present different challenges."
Ken Pennebaker sighs. "Maybe I *should* just go the easy route. Pay the money, call it good. I just hate the feeling that I'm giving in to extortion. I've greased palms before - sometimes, that's just something you've got to do to get access. But this is just insane."
Kethren nods "Might be the cheapest option, alright. Although of course, sometimes when it's the principle at stake, one might spend more to uphold that." Folks are just sitting around. Talking. The architect has his usual ser/tiger/cranky guard around, Micky's got his usual duffel and 'booze'.
"Act like a government," suggests Micky with a shrug of his shoulders. "Cost and reward, risk and benefit. As a rule of thumb, any principle you gotta pay money for ain't much of a principle. Whatever."
Ken Pennebaker picks up his PDA again. "I'll make them an offer. Won't be as much as they're demanding. Maybe they'll come down in price."
A pile of blankets, made mobile by a black-clad set of legs, enters the shelter proper. The gray, woolen tower makes its way through the made of furniture and people to the first of the rowed beds, where they are plopped down, and promply topple to one side. From behind them, a petite femme leaps forward, catching the freshly laundered blankets before they can hit the less-than-prinstine floor. After dividing the stack in half, and placing the now dual tiers beside one another, the female begins toward the door. Stopping short, Fisher turns toward a familiar voice, and its accompanying conversation. "Hey, Micky, Kethren." A wobbled nod of recognition is tipped in the direction of the unacquainted Ken, as well.
Kethren looks up at the figure what was previously behind the stack of clothes and offers a wave, though not quite as enthusiastically as the ser on his shoulder does. "Afternoon, Fish."
"Ma'am," greets Micky as he tips an imaginary hat. He then nods towards Ken, saying, "That fellow there'll make you a movie star if you ain't careful. Ken Pennymaker."
Ken Pennebaker gives a faint smile toward Alenya. "Baker. Pennebaker. Hello."
Alenya extends a hand toward Ken. "Pleasure to meet you." The next comment is thrown toward Micky, a roll of her eyes accompanying it. "It would be the worst move ever, in my opinion...and the worst movie ever!" Smiling bemusedly at her own pun, the rogue's green and gold gaze then sweeps toward Kethren. "How are things? And hello to you as well, Florianna."
Kethren smiles a bit "Oh, things are decent enough. Just finished up a spell of medical research on Olympus. Hopefully the results will prove useful."
"I'm gonna be a movie star myself," Micky explains to Alenya. "It'll be super awesome. There's going to be a whole marketing campaign behind it. Millions of hek-bucks, billions even."
Ken Pennebaker busies himself tapping something into the virtual keyboard of his PDA, muttering under his breath as he does so.
Alenya shrugs and allows her hand to drop to her side; apparently Ken isn't the physical contact kind. "Mm, well, then I expect to be taken out to dinner at least once, though I prefer before you are famous-I don't want to get crushed by fangirls." The statement is meted out over a wide grin to Micky, while a nod is turned to Kethren. "Research on Olympus for what?"
Kethren reaches over to scratch Nuala a bit "Awhile ago I was helping Leu to retrieve a ship that had gone adrift... the pilot looked to be rather sick. Micky there felt it was a fine plan to board their ship without proper protection... I'm assuming that the copious amounts of alcohol in his blood prevented any lasting damage. But we did need to take some time to research the illness and find possible cures in case of outbreaks."
"Hiding from them now," admits Micky as he glances towards the entrance. He takes a drink from his jug o' yellowish stuff. He explains to Kethren and Alenya, "That apple a day stuff is nonsense, but a couple of gallons of booze a day'll fix what ails you." Since he's looked around everywhere else, he now settles his gaze on Ken.
Ken Pennebaker leans back on his cot, staring at the PDA as if willing a response from it.
Some time later…
Ken Pennebaker sits up again, switching off the PDA. "Fuckers," he growls.
Kethren wanders back in with the same company as previous. "No dice?"
Ken Pennebaker shakes his head. "Even worse. After I tried haggling them down, they doubled their demand *and* put a clock on it. If I don't pay within 48 hours, they'll ship me a hoof. They'll take another hoof every 24 hours after that. When they run out of hooves, I'll get Otis' head in a box."
Kethren winces as he takes a seat "Well... that doesn't sound terribly good, no. Who's Otis, by the way?"
Ken Pennebaker clips the PDA to his belt. "My pet goat. He talks. If my guess is correct, they must've gagged him by now. He can be a little bitch when he wants to be."
Kethren nods "Ah... yeah, don't wanna lose him then... I'd hate to lose Floriana... although pet is... really not the right word for her."
Ken Pennebaker grumbles. "Well, I guess I'll make a few calls and get the money together. No sense delaying. Apparently, Fagin's people don't screw around."
Kethren nods "Can't say as I've had any dealings with him myself yet, but it does sound like the appropriate action for the present."
Ken Pennebaker scratches the back of his head. "I'm tapping deep into savings for this. Means I'll need to do something to raise new revenues to fund my project." He stands from the cot, stretching. "Kamir artifacts are worth a lot, right?"
Kethren sighs "Well, they're certainly rare enough, so I'd imagine so, yeah. Spend more time dealing with business contracts, trade agreements, and selling houses and armors, myself."
Ken Pennebaker arches his eyebrows. "I admire your entrepreneurial spirit, but I don't have the patience or the skills for that. Generally, I understand that Kamir artifacts are relatively rare most places. But my research indicates they may be fairly common on Aukam."
Kethren nods as he reaches over to scratch Nuala lovingly "Well, one does what they have to. Architecture was my stock in trade before rifting, and circumstances forced me to branch out a bit. As to Aukam... well, from what I hear it's considerably less than safe right now. What with the jungles having consumed the cities and all the good landing sites. Pity, that. I'd been meaning to pay them a visit to see the buildings."
Ken Pennebaker sets his jaw before clasping his hands behind his back. "Dangerous jungles. Treacherous landing sites. Should mean minimal competition for resources. Someone going after those artifacts could make a killing just taking a percentage of the proceeds."
Kethren nods "But it would also mean a substantial increase in operating expenses. Back in my time on Earth it wasn't uncommon for people to seek out sunken treasure. There was never much competition to find a given ship, but the recovery costs almost invariably outstripped whatever monetary gain there might have been."
Ken Pennebaker chuckles. "So someone would have to be crazy to try it." He looks toward Kethren and says, "Guess I should start advertising for lunatics. I certainly can't do it on my own."
Kethren smirks "Well, checking with REM might be a good start. Maybe put out a classified ad. Post some flyers in the cities on settled worlds."
Ken Pennebaker nods. "I'll do that." He crosses his arms. "What do you know about this Narai fellow? The Opodian who offered to put me up on his ship? Is he aboveboard?"
Kethren stretches a bit "Only met him twice that I can recall. He was part of Danu Chroi before he split off to explore the farthest reaches of space. I don't bear him any grudge there, though. Everyone has to follow their own path through life. Which ship was he going to put you up on?"
Ken Pennebaker frowns. "I forget the name of it. I think it was a flagship of some kind. If that's even the right word."
Kethren nods "Probably the Prominence. You could do a lot worse than lodging there."
Ken Pennebaker snaps his fingers. "That's it, yes. The Prominence." He muses for a few seconds, then shakes his head. "I doubt it'll work out. I will talk with him, of course, but he's Opodian. I know how Opodians feel about their Kamir ancestry. If I ask him to participate in what amounts to pillaging sacred ground, I would fully expect him to balk."
Kethren nods "And rightly so, really. Still, enjoy that ship while you can. Not a lot of places you can find that are that nice."
Ken Pennebaker smiles. "I will do that. First things first, though." He switches the PDA back on and walks toward the door. "Time to get the ball rolling on Operation Free That Goat. Good talking with you."
Kethren nods "Indeed. Don't waste any time on that one." Floriana chitters agreeably.