Core of Coreward

[The Pakkrat]

050-1106

Rothksigho (Provence 0809) B88A67B-A Ni Ri Wa VVar

Oh, both the Vargr Trader and our Fast Far Trader had our Turrets locked on target as we passed each other going opposite directions after skimming for fuel. We were vectored and refueled for the mainworld. At over three hours from mainworld Rothksigho, we had plenty of time to posture and growl at each other on Comms. But thank the Ancients, no shots were fired.

The Balkanized, Rich, Water world required another splashdown from Uessae who seemed to like coming down in yielding water, submerging for a short span and then floating up to emerge and drift into the Downport. I had seen and heeded the rumors about the EJ-worlds that were converting to the religion of Faarzgaen. Miss Ka pathed us to Rothksigho instead of cutting straight through that territory of primal zealotry.

The Tin sold well. So that was a thing. The seagoing craft we saw in port were loading monster hunters. Apparently, there is some form of gargantuan cephalopod species that lures hunters from all over Provence Sector to Rothksigho. Rothksi is the name of this species of what, say Solomani might call a kraken. Rothksigho is then the "planet of the kraken". Bag one and your Charisma as a monster hunter provider of some very lean tentacle is assured. But watch those tentacle tips. The slimy barbs are just lubricated enough to deaden a Groat limp. The slime is the anesthetic as well as the coating to penetrate shells of other aquatic species as easily as it slides through Vargr armors.

Media drones again swarmed the waving hunters. Ocean biologists were to follow in grav vehicles and study the Rothksi from afar as the hunters would lure one to the surface. Won't catch me within ten kilometers of such an operation under way. No way.

Immediately after the Tin sold, I was pulled aside by a badge-flashing Law Enforcement Investigator. Detained for the rest of the evening, I told the story that had happened back at Zekhghe. With my arms folded, I made sure that the detective knew just how debilitating Uessae's gunnery had been. Two Critical strikes, one to the enemy Jump Drive and the other to the Maneuver Drive. Okay, so I did boast but did not embellish.

We got a suite in a lodge while the ship underwent Life Support renewal. Miss Ka slept in the opposite room of the commons while Uessae and I whispered in our room. Instead of getting frisky, she rolled over and showed me what she had been doing in port while I sold the Tin and was grilled by the Investigator.

"I found Booster, Ri. Two doses of psi-pharmacopeia."

"I thought we weren't going to use this stuff. Our disciplines are still quite weak to try and enhance them."

"True, but this at least proves to us that there are dealers out there."

"Uessae, I don't want to become dependent on psi-drugs for greater results."

In the shadowy dark, Uessae's eyes can become very deep blue. "Emergencies only then?"

"Dire emergencies." She may have had the higher Charisma to have bought them without consulting me, but my body was still mine to just say no.

With the Drives still hindered at Potentials of 3, our outbound flight to the next jump point took 217 minutes. Loaded with eight Low Passengers and catering to two High Passengers, Uessae, Miss Ka and I introduced Red Wizard to two more proto-gamers. They were hooked even at avatar customization.

"How come Ri never backlashes, even when he's unleashing all he's got?" asked Miss Ka. I had spammed volatiles at a roaming, Thunderer monster in a zone with plenty of wide space. Didn't backlash while Uessae was redlining and Lidus was close to jamming her Shardspitter.

"The majority of my backlash risk is taken when preparing all this alchemy," I explained. My backlashes are in the lab back in town. "If I backlash, you two are safe but my lab is ground zero."

Uessae had knelt on some tall grasses. Her Godstriker reduces her backlash potential when she plays the part of the penitent which also restores her mana resource faster. "Ri also has a portable lab, like an adolescent's chemistry set. It's cute, but if he backlashes out in the bush, he can take us with him if it's a complex recipe." Uessae has been reading the online manual about the Alchemist then.

"You Artificers almost never backlash,” I explained. “Your gadgets, weapons, armor and enhancers just malfunction or have mishaps." I had helped Jack select the Artificer profession.

 

[The Pakkrat]

058-1106

Eg Orrou (Provence 1108) C500300-7 Lo Va C [Warning: Corsair Activity!] VVar

We rode the Maneuver Drive hot for just over ten hours inbound at 3Gs to slow only so we could skim for fuel at a Large Gas Giant. The usual tactic is for Corsairs to ambush a Small Gas Giant because the smaller ones are gentler on the in-system drives with their weaker gravity, requiring less Gs to stay in that sweet, H2 cloud deck for optimal scooping. But that means that a ship with weaker Maneuver can't generally outrun a Corsair rising up out of the clouds and tailing their prey from behind as the Black d'Art had ambushed my Vargr Trader in Naasakiira. We gambled on a Large Gas Giant since Corsairs can't be everywhere.

I took a turn at the helm outbound while Uessae occupied a Turret and Miss Ka sat on Sensors for the ten hours to jump point. The trade-off you see is that the Large Gas Giant takes longer inbound and outbound from and to jump point. Everyone took showers in quick turns while dinner heated in the galley after we jumped for Gaengael.

I was a gentleVargr and showered last as we began jump transit. Finished as the ladies waited on my meaty casserole, (I was going to pick past all the Human-food bits in it), when I moved along the corridor to the Commons and the Galley. One of them must have seen me coming because I heard, "Ri!" just before a blossom of colors lit up my vision and I hit the deck. Ouch from behind and from the deck before as I went down hard and into darkness.

I woke back in my cabin with packing in my nose and bandages about my head. I looked like a burial wrapping overdone. Neither Uessae or Miss Ka are rated in Medical. Pain in my skull was a migraine and my nose was sore all the way up my muzzle.

"Ri?" called Uessae quietly.

"Nyeah?" I responded. Uessae sat over me on the Captain's Cabin bed. She was in her nightshirt with the First Aid Kit on the bed beside her and I.

"An overhead panel came loose and swung down behind you, Ri. It must have hit you for a Critical." She smiled at the Red Wizard reference. "Are you okay?"

After a range of self-tests, I concluded that I had a cut on my head, a migraine, bloodied my nose on the deck and blacked out from both collisions.

The panels on an Empress Marava are impact plastic, but not the metal frames. One panel covers a 1.5-meter square 1.5 meters overhead of a typical Vargr. Coming loose in the ship's gravity, it had just enough swing and acceleration to hit me in the back of the head just right.

"I feel nike I wuz knicked by uh Groadt." My sinuses were still flooded with dried blood and packing.

"Better than being shot in the gut," Uessae compared before pinching her nose closed and mimicking me with, "Ab ah rite?"

The rest of jump transit, I spent time each day re-tightening all the panels in every compartment that had them. What if one had hit the ladies?

 

[The Pakkrat]

065-1106

Gaengael (Provence 1306) B544874-A Pa Ph Pi K VVar

Gaengael was on the cusp of growing in two divergent directions hinged up on its population growth or limitation. If it grew, it could breach one billion Vargr and attain both High Population and Industrial Trade Classifications. If it backed off on its census, it could be considered Agricultural. With a Balkanized world of Factions, any starship captain can see why a 1200-ton Vargr Pocket Battlecruiser was parked in orbit above the mainworld.

A 200-ton Vargr Trader must have received its dose of unstable indecision after spending a few days dirtside or at the Highport being insulated by the warship. We tried to be friendly. With Turrets pointed at each other, we slipped past one another in the shadow of the Empire of Varroerth Navy watching to see our next move.

Docked at the Highport as we wanted nothing to do with the planetary wars to decide the fate of Gaengael, I conducted business under the watchful eye of Naval and Army forces of the Empire.

When the Library Data of the computer aboard the Thuegueus II reported an available update, I queried as to what was offered. That was my Rumor for this stopover. A newer version of the Vargr First Diaspora history along with revised star charts and updated UWPs. This was good for us Travellers to know, but also worried me that history might be undergoing revision by those in power. I allowed both but did not let the computer dump the previous history we already owned.

Uessae Noedhin slipped away and assigned me to Miss Ka after I paid both their Payday wages. Life Support came out of my ship wallet after that. I bet I know what she was going to do this next two days while the Thuegueus II was renewed.

Since psionics is not truly illegal but is not something you tell even your dam about, psi-pharmacopeia can be seen as an illegal commodity. Not everyone can make use of psi-drugs, just us Psions really. This drives up the Demand for them. But sadly, this stigma about psionics keeps Supply low too. If a government doesn't understand what your lab is cooking up for a miniscule clientele, then they will shut it down first, tax it second if they can come to tolerate it, or simply regulate the budding trade.

Miss Ka and I sat in the concourse terminal to compare and contrast the Library Data update. The First Diaspora of Vargr expansion out from Lair was a topic for historians and Scholars. As Travellers, we should have only concerned ourselves with new star charts and fresh UWPs. But if we don't watch our pasts, even a little, we then allow someone else to say who we are today.

Crystals commodities were on the menu this week at the Highport. But with the wars on the mainworld surface, only one ton was available. I snatched it up along with 15 tons of Freight once I had declared the destination world of Kaengku. The wars below us also killed all High Passenger opportunities. I was stuck taking on two Middle Passages and my eight usual Low Passengers desperate to be away from the warring.

I don't personally traffic in illegal cargos. Even though I'm a sleazy haggler, I don't have the streetwise wherewithal to find and land such high-credit and risky cargos. No one aboard the Thuegueus II except maybe deceased Jack had such grassroots smarts.

Forty-eight hours later, Uessae approached the ship's airlock. No luck was worn on her expression and gait, her tail curled. To liven her, I swatted her aboard and said, "Maybe on Kaengku."

Miss Ka came up next to the airlock and questioned me her Captain, "When do I get swatted? When I'm first to the ship?"

"Lidus Ka, you Vilani have that jump dimming habit. Do you really want to take up a second superstition?" It made her face change to one of thinking on the topic. I let her aboard to mull it over.

The Godstriker and the Artificer waited outside my alchemy lab in the virtual town of Red Wizard. "We're waiting, Ri," they intoned together. Us Alchemists take the longest to gear up. I had spent my time making some special, magical ammunition for Miss Ka's Shardspitter. The magical shards sat in medieval crates outside so she could load up. I had gone back inside my lab to get the last crate when they started chanting at me. Then I saw my backlash potential spike to maximum and the lab blew up around me in a towering geyser of magic, equipment, lab furniture and of course my avatar.

I pulled off my goggles and gloves and said to the ladies at the table, "Were you saying something? Because I couldn't hear from the multiple explosions that just killed me."

My Apotheosis Quest cost me my Philosopher's Stone. I'd have to make another, a long process to be sure. The ladies quietly quested together on my behalf as I spent that jump transit cleaning Engineering and brooding in my Vargr Cave.

Scratch an odd one from my Bucket List: get killed playing a game.

 

[The Pakkrat]

074-1106

Kaengku (Provence 1605) A568757-D Ag Ri K VVar

By now, it should be apparent to the reader of this Captain's Log that I purposefully set our route along worlds with Gas Giants. Fuel for this weaponized Fast Far Trader is too expensive even if we had L-hyd to spare in the tanks from a reduced jump range. Topping off when and where possible from wilderness refueling was good business. And I had to save credits where I could if the Thuegueus II was ever to be rated AFT-BS44 again.

The Vargr Liner at 600 tons was interested in our hull. This Vargr company had never seen an Imperium hull this deep in the Vargr Extents. Not even a Scout? Well, the Scouts of the Imperium Second Survey were few and far between Uessae told me.

The single ton of Crystals sold well. In hindsight, I wished there had been more back on Gaengael. The line of available Air/rafts set at KCr600 a pop was far out of my league after the damage done to the Thuegueus II. That was my current project, to bring her back up to factory specs.

Instead, I took on Freight. But before I could decide how many tons to deliver, I was approached by a young Logaksu female Merchant. A tan and smallish thing, she held herself up with more Vargr Charisma than me. She must have seen mine in how I carried myself and my poor luck these past weeks to Patronize me.

Ready for another really long name? The Merchant thirty-something introduced herself as Vidzoengnoezeghz Korrghaeksoeluel. I stumbled over the syllables before she took pity on me and said, "Or you can call me 'Vidz' like in holovids IF you can help me with my problem."

This four-term Merchant told me her story, a Third Officer on a Vargr Packet on its last legs. Her Captain-Owner had completed a contract, his last with a Belter consortium before selling his ship and retiring. With a little severance pay, a couple of High Passages and her family Hunting Rifle-5, Miss Korrghaeksoeluel was let go.

"But Captain Farrghue took pity on me when some of his cargo went to Imbalance," added the small female Vargr. "He gave me six tons of enriched Radioactives, Plutonium to be exact. He gave me no advice on what to do with it as he signed off his ship to its next owner. Captain Dzuerrgksungkorokoutue, I need a Broker for these Radioactives. I was a SensOp, a Medic, even a Gunner aboard my previous Packet. But I never got to run the books. Can you help me?" I had seen this before, Merchants yes, but never given the proper skills to be Merchants. This Third Officer was little more than a glorified deckhand.

But she was not lying about the Radioactives. Once I had confirmed that she had some hot stuff in those sealed and jacketed cargo containers, I took the job. She needed an Admin expert but found better. I was a sleaze-haggler. I took on Miss Korrghaeksoeluel as a Working Passage by lowering my available Passengers to one High and eight Low while loading her six tons of weapons-grade Plutonium. (I did not say "weapons grade" to her as that might have caused her some panic.) This Patron would change our jump pathing but the payout potential...

I had to run to purchase a Special Cargos Brokerage License from the Commerce kiosk terminal in the last hour before we departed Kaengku. The six tons of Radioactives and the rest of the Cargo Hold in Freight was like carrying an illegal amount of cash credits on one's person and then walking the dark alleys of an Industrial world and begging at the top of one’s voice to get mugged. Rated, unofficially of course in Bribery-3, I passed myself off as a Broker that could command 15% commission to the Empire of Varrorerth Trade and Commerce Commission.

I put Vidzoengnoezeghz "Vidz" Korrghaeksoeluel to work immediately on the Thuegueus II, to hide her status as the owner of those six, very hot tons of Plutonium from anyone that may have been watching her. I soon found out why that last haul had been so lucrative on her former captain's vessel. Vidz was an excellent SensOp and cross-trained in Medical (First Aid really), Gunnery and Mechanical. I used all of her ship skills to keep her busy and her mouth shut about the Radioactives. This young female had Prospector written all over her UPP even if it really said Merchant. All the skills she needed to discover excellent resources, but she had been denied the means to cash in on them. I was glad to hear her say there were no bogeys on the Sensors as we headed outbound to 100 Diameters.

With the updated star charts, I was able to find a risky but hungry market for Vidz' hot cargo. After Odhrrigh, (I kept that much original pathing to hide the fact that I had a valuable cargo aboard from any loose tongues in System Traffic Control), I chose Oegninong to market the young Merchant's prize cargo.

"Ooh! You play Red Wizard?!" exclaimed Vidz in a question of familiarity over the console sitting on the table after First Meal. We had just picked up dinner and Miss Ka had brought the device to the table when the young Merchant spotted it.

"You know about Red Wizard way out this far coreward?" asked Miss Ka who was still younger than Vidzoengnoezeghz Korrghaeksoeluel.

"Us younger crowd know about it, yes," nodded Vidz, "but most of the gamers I know prefer racing or shooter games. I'm surprised older folk play a fantasy like Red Wizard." I could feel my facial hair graying at Vidz saying that.

As a Working Passage, Vidz tried Red Wizard with grace. She got to see my blasted wreck of an Alchemist lab after selecting the Elementalist profession. All the fast magic with a little wild-side risk of backlash. We got Vidz up to speed and included her in the earlier game zones, just as we had with Lidus Ka's Artificer.

One of young Vidz' quirks was her propensity for comparing what she experienced in Red Wizard with references to some holovid she had seen and assumed was an inspiration. None of us older Vargr or Miss Ka had seen the latest productions and so had to endure reference after reference as we adventured as wizards. But Admiral Laegh's tactics held out when it came turn for Vidz' to unleash fire, ice, wind and earthquakes upon our foes. She's got a trigger-finger sense of play.

 

[The Pakkrat]

083-1106

Odhrrigh (Provence 1703) B7B2411-C Fl He Ni VVar

It was at last time for the first annual overhaul of the Thuegueus II coming up. But before that was Uessae's birthday. Breakout in Odhrrigh was thankfully quiet and the Corrosive atmosphere of this Fluid, Hellworld was why. Industry was outbound more than inbound.

Last year, we had missed Uessae's birthday on the count that she had been kidnapped by the Bounty Huntress who had been hired by Lidus Ka's father, to capture Lidus and bring back the Naasirka, LIC corporate credit chip card. Uessae had spent a few weeks sold illegally as an indentured worker in a frozen, dirtside cannery. Call it what it really was before I rescued her: slavery, which is illegal in the Third Imperium by decree of an Emperor too far away on his Iridium Throne to back up such Warrants.

With a B-rated Starport under the perpetual winds and downpour of corrosive chemicals being harvested locally, I was not about to let the drydock work on an Imperium hull for the price of an overhaul. Not for Cr141,600 (or more if my estimate was off because of Vargr +/- 1 to 25% uptick) was I going to pay for such here on Odhriggh. Additionally, overhaul takes two weeks. Instead, I paid for Life Support renewal and delivered the 20 tons of Freight while purchasing the unsold, Imbalance surplus 20 tons of Liquor here.

But the overnight stay under the geodesic domes landed us another Rumor, a download really of some needed information on the Lair Protectorate which had seceded from the Empire of Varroerth in 777 Imperial. We added it to our ship's Library for later study as we jumped closer and closer to a benchmark Bucket List item: visit Lair.

Outbound from the acid world of Odhrrigh, Uessae changed vectors without warning as we put distance from the mainworld toward a 100 Diameters jump point. I almost asked why she did this, but then I saw her Pocketwatch-4 sitting openly on her chest as she changed vectors. Seconds later, Vidz announced to Uessae, "Bogey on long range Sensors, ma'am. It's...a 200-tonner, likely a tramp trader." The remote ship was vectored in a different direction.

In a snap judgement and using her Predict, Uessae had changed our fates and could not tell me why until that night after jump initiation. She had seen three forks and chose the most peaceful vector in knowing that I could not afford another repair bill. I still had not told the crew that their Purser had plans for some hot and expensive cargo in the hold. I felt bad not coming out with this commission mission but did not want to raise hopes or invite trouble where none yet existed.

To causally pay for this secretive behavior, I quietly added to our Bucket List: score big on a one-time Broker deal.

We celebrated Uessae's forty-third birthday in jumpspace. She ordered a strawberry and frosted birthday cake and gave the candles ritual her best extinguishing breath. When not all the candles blew out, she said, "Okay. Next year just use two numerals for candles, Ri."

As a present for her birthday, I presented her redecorated Combat Armor-11, re-striped and painted in Corsair Queen with bits, beads, feathers and baubles dangling from the armor as if she was Corsair Leader Nougzoel herself. It got mixed reviews at first, but then Uessae Noedhin began to wear the suit of armor more proudly as it grew on her Vargr Charisma at each SOP breakout from jumpspace. It had an added effect of: Don't mess with me while she went about her secret project of scoring psi-drugs on her own which to me was risky.

In the dead of ship-night, Uessae showed me that she had scored another five doses of Booster, the lowest tier of psi-drugs. "Maybe we can barter them for higher levels of psi-pharmacopeia, Ri," she suggested.

"So, you are a merchant now. Happy Birthday, Uessae Noedhin." We cuddled under the bed covers together now that we had an added crewmember to cover more of each shift.

There was almost no Freight for tramp traders out of Odhrrigh. I was glad to have found the Liquor then sitting in the Imbalances. If it did not sell, I could crack open a ton and drown sorrows if I failed Vidz and her enriched Plutonium.

 

[The Pakkrat]

092-1106
Oegninong (Provence 1802) A4259AA-C Hi In Pz Amber [Warning: Amber Zone!] VVar

Two capital ships of the Empire of Varroerth Navy sat above the Amber Zone-d world of Oegningong. The recent Library data told us that the local Alpha King of the Puzzle mainworld had whipped his people into a near-frenzy of expansionism, both military and economic, the kind to take over the Naval Base in orbit from the Empire. Vidz caught the huge Barbettes and Bays tracking our final approach to the Highport and took snapshot images of the huge warships.

With Freight delivered and having done 120% on the Liquor, without trying any, I paid Berthing. This port of call, I had no Life Support dues and it was not yet Payday for the others.

Lidus Ka was assigned BuddySystem with Uessae and I took Vidzoengnoezeghz Korrghaeksoeluel with me to the market pits of Oegninong Far Skyport. No weapons and with the Amber Zone nature of this world-system enforced on bordering Red Zone Interdiction, I wore my Merchants Guild, maroon jacket to market.

In the market, we would have only so much time to sell Vidz' weapons-grade Plutonium for the best possible price. A window of opportunity.

"Nervous?" I asked my fellow, younger Merchant.

"Very." Vidz had never traded and I had only traded in person a few times in such a loud venue.

Today, the pits were separated by chain ropes partitioning each by commodity. I looked around until I found the one labeled Radioactives, the market for ores and enriched, radioactive elements. Oegninong system has no planetoid belts and so must import what it cannot find on its pitifully few planets.

With Miss Korrghaeksoeluel hanging on my arm, I quietly registered our six tons and received a certified trader chip card for her Plutonium. The floor with its pits was already a cacophony of trading growls, barking, howls of successes and failures. I even saw two groups of Security trying to keep Infighting from becoming deadly two or more pits over.

For her peace of mind, I let Vidz hold the trader card in her pocket and out of sight. Then we gingerly stepped into the Radioactives pit. Trading for Radioactives was on its last legs today as Supply was dwindling. But Demand was still achingly loud on the ears. I stood there and watched the crowd snarling and re-bidding and selling.

I carefully snuck glances at the board for Radioactives or Rads. The price was rising. It was Fiday and the weekend was coming for this Puzzle world. I had signaled ahead of time for the A-Starport to begin two weeks of overhaul on the Thuegueus II, so we had time. But the vicious, cutthroat traders in this pit did not need to know that. We had time on our side. They didn't. The smell of antacids on the breath of yelling traders was detectible. I saw one Vargr day-trader frothing at the mouth from eating too much sodium bicarbonate tablets. Vidz huddled close to me as I stood silently and calmly as the price of Rads rose, the rate climbing as Supply sloughed off. Claw signals and gestured flew across the pit to accent the barking in Logaksu. Tempers flared. Demand was rising. The quarterly report was not so favorable to trading Radioactives I guessed.

From the corner of my eye, I spied of all things a rare Urzaeng, a giant among the Logaksu crowd below him. He was my first real-live Urzaeng to encounter. I had seen images of the oversized Vargr ethnicity in my time in the Dzarrgh Federate, but my home confederation mainly consisted of Logaksu and Aekhu.

As Supply dwindled, I heard Logaksu Vargr griping and bitching, "Let's try Heavy Elements," and "..maybe Polymers" from the traders giving up too early on Rads.

At the last minute of today's trading, I could feel Vidz' claws digging into my jacket sleeve beside me.

"Does anyone have Rads?! Dammit, c'mon!" Similar calls across the pit were yelled as Vargr looked around at each other. That's when the Urzaeng spotted me and Vidz and began moving toward us. Logaksu parted at his massive but insistent push through them.

The last minute of trading was almost over for the week. And in that minute, I saw the board above us tick up to four million per ton. When my eyes came back down in view, the tower of suit and muscle was before me. I thought Vidz was going to draw blood through my jacket sleeve with her claws. I could not hope to win an Infighting challenge against his bulk.

"S-six tons enriched Rad at 4 mil!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, half of the call blocked by the mass of Urzaeng glaring at me. Chaos erupted in that pit as everyone turned at my announcement.

Voices from all around me called for confirmation of a sale. The Urzaeng male before me snatched me up by my maroon Merchant's jacket, up off the floor as claws shot up and gestures fired like machinegun bullets at me. "You'd better not be lying to us," snarled the huge Urzaeng. Dangling from his single claw lift, I shook my head and my right claw gestured for the certified trader card. Into my grasp came the confirmation that I had six tons awaiting sale.

In the last ten seconds of the trading day, the Urzaeng swiped his Hand Computer-11 to the trader card as bodies pressed in hard on Vidz and I. She huddled close behind me as I continued to swing on the claw of this fierce Urzaeng glaring at me. The bell rang the end of the day's - no, the week's - trading. Groans and howls cried as the physical pressure around us let up. And still the Urzaeng who had committed his 24 million credits had not lowered me. I whimpered and needed a fresher but was inwardly elated. Vidz looked at me, the sale, the time and then up at the board at the rate price. Then she squealed a high pitch call in utter excitement. I had sleaze-haggled 24 million credits for the six tons of weapons-grade Plutonium.

The Urzaeng male never looked away from me, nose-to-nose as we were. "Where?" he growled with a low, guttural voice.

"Gate 12A, Terminal A, Concourse A," I stammered still dangling from his claw. I want you to know now that he carried me all the way from the market to my ship, never letting my feet touch the floor. I feared to guess at his UPP card digits.

Bouncing and squealing behind us was Vidzoengnoezeghz Korrghaeksoeluel in elation and repeatedly screaming "Twenty-four million!" I had to shush her up as I was carried. I had sold the second most lucrative commodity in any market at 400%. Scratch one from the Bucket List: score big on a one-time Broker deal.

Laying eyes on the cargo containers and seeing the rad-counter device react, the Urzaeng put me down at last. "Sold," he said with a calmer, deep voice. "Twenty-four million." Vidz was so energetic that she could not stop running around in circles, even after Uessae and Miss Ka came running to see what the commotion was about. Never letting the six tons of containers out of his sight, the nameless, corporate Urzaeng in the black suit personally oversaw the offloading of the Plutonium. Vidz and I explained and witnessed as the credits hit our account, MCr19.4 for Vidz and my 15% Broker commission of MCr3.6. More squealing, tears of joy and running around in circles. I instead hugged Uessae Noedhin.

"Congratulations, Ri Dzuerrgksungkorokoutue," said Uessae calmer than the rest of us. Lidus Ka followed Vidzoengnoezeghz Korrghaeksoeluel around in an attempt to calm the young Merchant.

With a confident and certainty, I updated my UPP Charisma digit to 6. Uessae saw me make the change and said, "Don't let a single commission go to your head, Ri." I stood just a little taller, acted more confidently, flexed my claws more readily and backed up my new Vargr Charisma that had not changed in years.

The two weeks could not go by fast enough as the Thuegueus II was overhauled. Two weeks in a Highport over a Puzzling, Amber Zone world can make one go stir crazy with the need to Travel. It was important to me at least to jump. The sale of the Plutonium would be at that point was so final and irrevocable by courts as to be permanent.

For her safety, Vidzoengnoezeghz Korrghaeksoeluel continued to stay on in Working Passage and keeping her materialistic claws off her credits. I was insistent. In the lowest foot traffic hours of the Highport, we finished out the fortnight.

To pass some of the time, Uessae had brought our Red Wizard console to the lodge so we could play. For though I had a godsend windfall in the real world, I still needed to recoup my losses from the backlash in my Alchemist lab. Meanwhile, Uessae's Godstriker endured arena challenge after arena challenge from local Profaners. Because I was busy away from the virtual arena and trying to build back up my shop and kit, I did not know if she had used Predict with or without a psi-drug.

By the end of the overhaul, Uessae Noedhin's avatar Godstriker was listed as the top of her profession local list in Red Wizard. Absolutely badass and the forum topic of anger and disgust and demands that the developers 'nerf' the Godstriker profession.

Though my wallet balance now read Cr4,156,475, I did not waste more time to consider the full repair of the M- and J- Drives. I still did not have enough credits for either. The Thuegueus II launched outbound for 100 Diameters, still rated at AFT-BS33 as we continued our pathing to the Lair Protectorate.

In another of our late-night Psion meetings, Uessae produced a pill dose packet of Double, the more potent tier of psi-pharmacopeia. "Remember, this is for dire emergencies, Uessae."

She nodded back at me. "I did not use my powers this past week, Ri if you must ask," Uessae said to stand up for herself. "Profaners might rise in power fast, but they have less staying power than us Godstrikers. I was patient to wait before entering any system arena instances, Ri." I believed her then.

 

[The Pakkrat]

To keep Vidz' nose out of the online catalogues, we down-specc'd our avatars to let the new Elementalist rise in the ranks at her pace, just as we had with Lidus Ka's Artificer. After all our play this past year in Red Wizard, our rehashing of zones we remembered was nostalgic and still fun. We had not yet covered a quarter of the game that had been public and live for far longer than we had been playing.

114-1106

Oeghzvar (Provence 2102) A56876-C Ri Pa Ph K VLPr

The responsive Vargr Packet that flashed into normal space off to our port and high welcomed us to the Lair Protectorate. But they added that we needed to register the ship for an acknowledged transponder. We relayed our greetings to System Traffic Control as we dove for a Small Gas Giant. A day later, the Thuegueus II made mainworld orbit without a hitch. Without any cargo or Freight or Passengers, we had nothing to declare as the ship was inspected nose to stern. I paid the Berthing, Life Support and crew Payday without the usual stress of keeping ship funds in the Black. A notion hit me the day we pulled into port and paid our way into the Highport. I stopped at an ATM to get some hard credits. I wanted to see what Lair Protectorate coinage looked like. I also wanted to have real, physical money on me for a change.

Oeghzvar was certainly a Rich mainworld. But at 100 million population, I could see that there was still growling about leaving behind the Agricultural Trade Classification and the road ahead led toward High Population and Industrialization of the world. From the Library data we had studied before breakout, the Lair Protectorate of eight worlds lacked any Industrial worlds. In my opinion they looked better on maps without an Industrial world, but I estimated that on paper the Protectorate could use just one.

Like so many Rich Worlds we had seen with Balkanized world Factions, this Oeghzvar had stymied on indecision. Hence the Pre-Agricultural and Pre-High Trade Classifications which were doing nothing to help its Importance factor.

In coming to the Lair Protectorate, the crew and I could plainly see that these Vargr were dead set on their founding promise to return to Vargr ways, before our race had encountered and been 'influenced' by Humaniti such as the Vilani, Solomani and the strange Zhodani to distant spinward. Here in the Protectorate, we heard no public word from concepts such as the Solomani Hypothesis or special interests such as the Church Of The Chosen Ones or the religion of Faarzgaen. Ancients were acceptable to espouse, but not any of the others. Though the Protectorate was very friendly nigh unto xenophilic, we could see the core racial pride in First Diaspora Vargr, before First Contact with the Vilani.

In this racial pride of the Lair Protectorate, Uessae assigned me to Miss Lidus Ka, to keep the Human close and safe against any chance of puritanical prejudice. And it was bound to happen that Miss Ka and I were chased about the Highport by some prideful Soldiers with a leader taking offense at the Vilani woman. Armored and armed, they hopped out of their Air/raft from the ringway and gave us chase.

We lost the Soldiers in a way that I felt was appropriate to use anywhere. The coin is its own weapon and I know how to bribe like the best of them. I gave my report to Uessae that night after we had concluded Highport business. "Dropping hard coinage on the pavement or deck is not a bribe, Ri."

"It stopped the chase at least," I smiled with my tongue lolling out.

With our jump to Oeghzvar, the credits in our wallets was assured and we departed outbound 25 hours later. We were just one jump from Lair the homeworld of the Vargr. We followed a Vargr Liner which seemed not to mind us tailing it to 100 Diameters. Bringing a High Passenger and 25 tons of Polymers with us, we too flashed from the universe in jump transit on a vector for Lair.

Perhaps we were caught up in giddiness like wide-eyed tourists as we poured over the Library data on Lair. For First Meal, I prepared a wide pan dish from the oven using a recipe from Lair. Even Miss Ka dug into the layered meats. I added her some optional veggies on the side. She and Uessae the Aekhu had to come to an agreement on how to divide up the sides. We watched holovids tours of the planet recorded by grav vehicle survey teams. History blurbs popped up for each continent along with current stats of metropolitan areas. I saw Lidus Ka watching all of us Vargr getting excited. When I turned to the youngest sophont on the ship, she smiled at me.

With overly full bellies, we played Red Wizard. I was back up to snuff as an Alchemist even though my lab still showed pixelated blast marks still on the outside of the structure in the virtual town. Vidz had developed a series of battle cries in Logaksu, one for each element her avatar could toss at foes and magical puzzles in the game. Each was also a reference to some holovid production or another. Uessae's Godstriker was becoming so powerful that she could stand in the center of the group and let her auras do the talking until it came time for her to unleash pillars of holy magic from the virtual skies above a target. With my special ammunition I had congealed for Miss Ka's Shardspitter, she was ripping up the landforms around targets. I blame her duplication device for her seemingly endless supply of what I had concocted.

And each time we passed through the virtual town square, we nodded to Ofo Uegzou's dormant Profaner avatar as if he was still alive and playing. We hadn't the heart to delete his online persona and he stood sentinel in town, breathing and looking around. To us, the avatar was a permanent fixture. The backlash that had leveled my lab was clear across the square from him. He never reacted.

We played Red Wizard as much as we could during our time in the hole so that Vidz could continue solo when we were to discharge her from Working Passage. She did have plans and we coached her on wise investments and making preparations for the long term. I hope she sticks to the plan.

Anxious and nervous, we scrambled to standard operations when we first felt the tell-tale jump rumblings an hour before breakout. As the timer counted down the approximate minutes, I recalled asking Lidus Ka to path directly for 100 Diameters of mainworld Lair instead of Gas Giant skimming. With our recent earnings, I didn't mind paying for fuel from Lair services.

As the silvery gray jump field melted from around us to be replaced by normal space dotted with stars, we beheld a blue jewel in Orbit 3 of Lair / Grnouf (Provence 2402).

END of Core of Coreward

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