RidOv Chpt-21

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==Ridiculously Overboard!! (A Captain Roberts Tale!!)Chapter 21 - A New Course==
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"This ship was built for...
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...one hundred twenty one people, we've got fifty two." Larry Nichols explained, "Which is not even half a crew."
"That means we're going to run into maintenance issues pretty soon, Captain Roberts." Lori added, "You also used a lot of AC/10 and LRM ammunition, some of it will work with the ammo we were carrying on the Luther, but not all of it can even be made to fit your gun systems or launchers, even for the fighters."
"So...we need more people...and what about the stuff from the DropShip?" Amanda asked. This morning she had her eyeball back in, and seemed less...deranged.
Not a lot less, the reddened inflammation on her temple may have been partially covered with hair this morning, but not fully.
"We can trade it, maybe, if we can find an independent world out here that can use the stuff." Larry suggested, "Hell, maybe pick up recruits too. But you've got to stop announcing you're a pirate if you want that, and you'll want that. You can't keep stealing food."
"You heard about that huh??" she asked.
"You wrote it in the log...and as your XO, I updated the logs, so I read it. It explains why the galley's stocked with meals-rejected-by-everyone instead of fresh food. YOu're what, fifteen?"
"Sixteen-and-a-Half!!" Amanda bared her teeth.
"Exactly, you're still growing." He told her, "I have sons older than you back in the Federated Suns...I don't have legal visitation, but they're still my kids..." he paused, "...what about your parents, do they know you-"
She frowned, "I... they...I don't know. the people who did this to me did...other stuff. I don't know. Desmond might know."
"Who's 'desmond'?" Larry asked.
"he's inside my head, I think? maybe I'm just crazy but..."
Larry caught on, "Nevermind about Desmond, okay? we need to focus on making this the best pirate ship in the sky." Lori shot a cross-look at Larry.
"Yeah! okay!" Amanda Roberts perked back up out of her confusion, "So...I keep it low-down and we get good food."
"Right! Now you're getting it! People will do a lot if the food's good." Sam, the youngest from the Larry's Wife's crew chipped in, the engineer had a sorta-funny accent. "If the food's good enough, they even don't mind the incoming fire, so food's a good idea, and not just MREs."
"They're right, Amanda, we grabbed the MREs because you needed immediate fortified nutrition...and you'll still need it, but fresh food helps keep units together in the field."
"Okay...so we need to figure out our next destination."
"We're also going to need to work on a pitch for recruiting." Lori suggested. "I don't think announcing we're criminals is going to do that very well."
"but we are!"
"Smart criminals don't announce it." Larry said seriously, "You think I walked into port announcing 'Hey, smuggler here!' do you? of course not. that gets you arrested or killed or worse, and while you might be supernaturally gifted, the rest of us aren't, and a ship needs a team, right?"
"Uh-huh." she nodded.
"Let me or Lori do the talking until we've vetted new people." Larry admonished, "It'll go smoother and easier."
"Okay. I'll look up possible destinations, places we can maybe show ourselves without drawing a Snow Raven Task Force on our heads?"
"I'd say that's a great idea!" Larry smiled, "Maybe we can look for buried treasure."
"what?" Lori scoffed.
"It's how I got the ship." Amanda said, "A buried treasure...a Naval Database from before the second war with the Star League. Buried Treasure's cool, Pirates hunt for Buried Treasure all the time-at least, the really Great Ones do..."
"Northsun. There was a charging and fueling facility there, and a Star League detachment."
"Let's go to Northsun!" Amanda added.
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After she headed back up to CIC, Lori met Larry's eyes, "Did you see it?"
"The hesitation? Yeah. I think 'Desmond' is more than an imaginary friend." Larry noted, "You think so too, and I bet whoever you were on the HPG with thinks so...were you just going to hand us over to the Ravens, Lori?"
Lori knew she was caught. "Does she know?"
"I purged the data. answer me, were you...are you shopping us to the Snow Ravens? were you just going to set us up?"
"The target were the Sons of Plunder." Lori told him, "my long-term was an assignment keeping track of illicit activities that the Watch can use for foreign intelligence." a small lie, delivered sincerely. "what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to make sure if you try to screw us, the purged info shows up on that little girl's desk." Larry told her. "If you don't try to screw us, well...it would be better if you didn't, okay? I like you, I don't want to have to find out what our 'Captain's' imaginary friend might do if she felt betrayed, savvy me?"
"They want me to arrange for another operative to join the crew, Larry." she told him.
"We can use the hands. Make sure whoever it is, remembers to cover their damn tracks." He told her, "We might end up in a situation where we need your friends to show up in force. The Sons of Plunder have buddies from Tortuga prime on up, once it gets out what took them out, or even if there's a rumor? we might need backup, so for now, your secret's safe with me."
"What are your plans?" Lori asked.
"The kid has a romanticized view of the whole Pirate thing. I want to help steer her toward 'white hat', It's generally safer and it can actually turn a profit, being a privateer...and your Clan buddies are a potential sponsor or client. somebody has to do some regulating out in the Wastes...until they aren't a waste anymore."
"I think we're in agreement, Larry."
"Then don't try to screw us...let's get to work, we're understaffed and there's plenty to do."
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