Justus Lynn

[boxcartenant]

Some time later, Justus woke with a small hangover.

He opened his eyes and sat up quickly, startled by his still-unfamiliar surroundings, then lay back down, feeling sick.. He was hungry, and had to use the restroom. He rummaged through the cabinets in his Stargazer, The Boxcartenant, and ate what little food he found there. He could see through the windows of the cockpit that the lights of the Monterrey base were still lit. I wonder if they ever turn those off... He finished his food, unsatisfied, and resolved to look for a commodity trader to pick up some food rations. Monterrey being a small base, it didn't take long to find the trader.

"Welcome to Monterrey! I haven't seen you around. Are you looking for H-Fuel? I hear people in New London are really looking to trade for it." the trader said, grinning. Justus disliked the man instantly. He hated the thought of swindling people; arguing for a low price on something you know is valuable, then pressuring potential buyers into making the purchase on impulse.

"I just need some food, water, and oxygen," Justus said, and handed over his ID.

"Great, we'll have the oxygen sent to your ship immediately. What are you flying?"

"It's the Stargazer in dock 2."

"A Legionnaire in a Stargazer? You must be a brand new recruit. I'd bet you aren't even officially a member of the Legion yet. Where'd you get that ID?"

Justus glared at the man.

The trader shrugged and said, "Fine fine. But you won't make it very far in that thing. You should look into buying a new ship at the yard."

As much as Justus hated to admit it, the trader was right. He went to the yard to see what was available, but he didn't have enough money for any of the ships there. Besides that, all of the ships were very large, and he preferred light fighters. He would need to make some more money before moving on to bigger things. He headed back to the bar to look for work, only to find that there were no jobs on the job board. That's odd, he thought, but he kept moving. He asked around at the bar to see if anyone knew of a way he could make money, but nobody did. He asked them if they knew of any nearby stations where he could get work, but the bartender said there were likely none.

Left with no options, but a definite need to generate cash flow, he went back to the trader to talk about trade routs. The walk to the Trader was unbearable, and Justus frequently hesitated en rout, trying to think of a better way. He couldn't fly back to Liberty territory with his Hellfire ID on board, and he couldn't ditch the ID -- because flying without ID would only make him a target. He could fly to the Rhineland, but he didn't know the area, and wasn't sure he could find someone to hack his reputation with the Rhineland Lawfuls, much less make it there without being shot-down by bounty hunters.

The trader looked at his card and seemed to consider various possible routs; he finally suggested a weak rout, designed to make a small amount of money quickly, so that Justus could afford to buy a freighter, and then start looking at better trade routs. The rout he suggested was:

1. Consumer goods from Monterrey to Freeport 4.
2. Mining machinery from Freeport 4 to America Base.
3. Light Arms from America Base to Monterrey.

As soon as the rout was described to him, Justus was overcome with distaste for the situation, and left. He flew directly for America Base, where he hoped to find some work, despite what he'd heard from the bartender already.

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Kill a whale; save a giant squid.