Post # Ship Wrecks

Posted on Sun Jan 19th, 2020 @ 1:18pm by Skye & Korel
Edited on on Sun Jan 19th, 2020 @ 1:37pm

1,645 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 102 - The Rising Tide of War
Location: Star Base 400
Timeline: Concurrent

On

Korel had sold his business and with the latinum he had found niw set out to buy himself a cruiser. If the Ferengi could do it then so could he, Korel concluded.

He had an able bodied Caitian pilot H'rall but he would need other crew to maintain a scavengers living.

Shuffling through the for sale section of the station want ads he happened upon a possible buy. For only 700 pieces of latinum he could purchase a clipper class cruiser.



The seller seemed legit as she or it approached his table .

" Your station Welcome. Ship you seek? Money you have?" she said talking in riddles.

" Yes I seek. But I want to see it first." the Klingon replied.

" Ship is stranded inside a meteor belt. Have it you can for 700 but get it yourself you must." the vendor added.

" Deal but no payment until I get it out of the belt." stormed Korel.

" Agreed. Here are the coordinates."

Korel accepted the disc and finished his flask of blood wine as he watched her exit. H'rall joined him. " Get the shuttle we have work to do."

H'rall yowled.

Downing her drink, Skye rose from her spot at the bar and headed in the direction of the Klingon and his friend. “Sounds like you two are going on quite the adventure,” she observed with a bright smile as she slid into an empty chair. “For a small fee, I’d be happy to help. How rude of me... I’m Skye. Computer specialist and engineer.”

She took another drink of her beer, sure he would throw her out on her ear. Here she was, wearing her finest ripped jeans with her her hair an unruly mess of red curls. Barely old enough to be served at the bar and obviously so. “I’m guessing you want to be able to recover your new acquisition. In which case you need me.”

" I do not hire children. I am a legitimate propriator." Korel first replied.

“I’m not a child,” she countered with indifference, “but if you want to let foolish rules cause you to waist all that money ... well, your loss. And of course you are. I’m merely offering you my services for hire. I’m new around here and find myself with time on my hands. Speaking of hands, as a show of good faith...”

Extending her arm towards the Caitain she opened out her hand, “yours. You should take care of your valuables.”

Rising she held up her beer, “if you two change your mind, come find me at the bar with the other kiddies.”

H'rall purred and Korel cleared his throat.

" We do need an engineer for this venture. I will pay you a fair wage for a fair job done....agreed?" Korel asked. H'rall smiled and walked around her chair purring.

Skye paused, considering. She hardly needed the money but she knew idle hands would inevitably attract the wrong kind of attention. She raised an eyebrow at H’rall, “deal. When and where? And what equipment do you have?”

" H'rall is my aquisitor. He will have the essentials. Our shuttle is slow but manageable and we are moored at dock 31, sort of. When can you leave?" Korel replied and asked.

Amused at the ‘sort of’ comment, Skye grinned, “now. I travel light.”

" Then let us leave.." Korel replied.

< Dock 31>

The sort of part was the comment due to losing the shop mooring slot. H'rall improvised and docked the shuttle magnetically to the ship assigned there, USS Reprisal. Upon arriving H'rall quickly detatched and got the heck out of Dodge, unaware of the fact the added weight had caused the umbilical support to brake loose, causing the ship to begin drinfting out of its slip.

" H'rall! What have you done?" Korel yelled as he saw the ship tipping.

In native Caitian H'rall yowled.

" Skye the aft is your area." Korel pointed. " Tools and the computer all work surprisingly."

“Sure thing,” Skye grinned, shaking her head as she moved aft to check that was indeed the case. “You sure he knows how to fly this thing, yeah?”

" Yea he is just getting sloppy. H'rall used to be the pride of the Kzinti fleet. I'll fill you in on the plan once we're out of this system." Korel replied.

Slipping off her backpack and leather jacket, Skye simply nodded as she took her first look at the computer system. She gave a low whistle, shaking her head. “When was the last time you upgraded anything on this ship?” She asked incredulously, tapping a few commands.

Korel later joined Skye in the rear of the old Klingon shuttle, heading for the replicator and another round of blood wine. But alas it was not working.

“So, what’s whe plan?” Skye asked him as she pried open the nearby control panel, staring in disbelief at the unorthodox way everything had been thrown together probably in an effort to keep it working just one more day. She reached into her bag, withdrew a pouch and unrolled it to reveal her tools. As she worked she shot him a questioning look, “it’s a miracle ordering that blood wine didn’t blow us up. So... the plan?”

" This cruiser is to be my biggest deal ever, if we survive the asteroids. A clipper class is a marvelous cruise vessel. I plan to use this one for deliveries and gaming. With your help this will be successful. " Korel told her. " Our destination is Smugglers Cove."

“My kind of place,” Skye grinned.


< SMUGGLERS COVE >

SS Roane had once been a magnificent clipper to and from Kitomer and the Federation. But on its last voyage a year
ago it met its current fate. Striking a gravitic mine, the ship lost shields and atmosphere forcing the crew to abandon her inside a gravitic reef if stellar debris inside the cove.

Studying the sensor data, Skye stood with her arms folded across her chest. “It has ... potential,” she concluded as she raised her eyes to Korel, “if we get her out of here in one piece. She’ll cost you to get up and running but they are good ships.”

Korel huffed and looked deep into Skyes eyes.
" We will be there in 6 hours. Myself and H'rall will board the Roane and ascertain if she is ship shape. I'll need you to maintain the shuttle. Once we restore power we will have to disarm the mine it's attached to. Any suggestions on that?" Korel replied.

“Deal with the mine first, then board. Just your footsteps might be enough to set it off,” she pointed out. “Let’s see where the mine is, if it’s non critical we could cut away that section of the outer hull, let it drift and then detonate when it is at a safe distance. Assuming it doesn’t have friends who take us out first. She did not offer you that price for this ship for it to be easy.”

Korel had a scavengers heart and had not considered that danger. He looked again to Skye. " You're right. H'rall new plan, we listen to the girl. I dont have a tractor beam but we did install a grappler for towing. When we get there H'rall will get us close enough to tell what we're up against."

“So... six hours. Got any blood wine?” Skye suggested.

Korel paused as he had been drinking synthhol but he did have a bottle hidden from H'rall.

" Qa'plah....to our success. " he said uncovering the bottle from a box. " Why are you not in Star Fleet. You seem to be very smart?"

“Starfleet ... well, they are big on things like real names and people who spent more than five minutes in a classroom,” Skye observed as she watched him produce the bottle and two glasses. “I’m more of a free spirit.”

" You are definately that. A diamond in the rough. I know you signed on for this job. When we are up and running I could use you as part...." Korel started to say before H'ralls yowel.

" We are being followed," H'rall said clearly from the console.

“By who?” Skye asked.

Korel spotted the blip. " Alter course to Pirate Haven. They may be heading there by coincidence. We need to refuel anyway. "

H'rall nodded and altered the course. Now they were heading to Pirate Haven for supplies and refueling. It would also avail them to see if the shadow was tailing them.

“Believing in coincidence is a fast way to get dead,” Skye warned them as she took a long drink. “I’m not big on getting dead.”

" H'rall all stop. Turn and arm the disruptor. We won't fire until theyre 5000 kellycams out."

“This is going to be fun,” Skye murmured as she took another drink. “You gonna say hi to them first?”

Korel could some how feel energized by the situation and by Skyes comments. " No. Distance to shadow?"

H'rall looked at the blip, which was decreasing in speed. " They are moving off Korel. Three quarter sub warp speed."

" They've lowered their speed which means they wanted to follow us. We will still go to Pirate Haven. Skye you can aquire some items we might need there." Korel added. " H'rall maxium speed to Pirate Haven."

Skye settled down on top of a crate, determined to enjoy her drink. “I do so love to acquire things,” she grinned. “Here’s to a grand adventure boys.”

The shuttle was small but the door closed allowing Korel to converse with H'rall .

" If we do have a tail, the girl could be with them. " Korel whispered.

" I think our seller is trying to renig on out purchase. I trust the girl, I like how she smells." H'rall replied.

" Keep an eye on her at Pirate Haven. I want to trust her too." Korel added.

Tbc....

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