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Hawk · 12-01-2010, 01:16 AM,

The three 'stowaways' slipped off the transport very quietly as they had promised. There was not much security to get into Rochester. The security forces would only rear their heads when trouble started. One of the things that made this base so attractive for people in Liberty was that people could come and go without anyone keeping track of arrivals and departures.

Maria was amazed at everything she saw. After coming through the airlock they stepped onto a small catwalk. Below them she could see several large fighters and freighters with dock crews scurrying all around them. There were steam vents belching gas into the bay and the smell of grease and H-fuel was thick in the air. As they passed through another set of bulkheads the area around them quickly opened up. It appeared to be a large open air market with people all around bargaining and making deals for ships, parts, weapons, and cargo.

'Welcome to the underground stock exchange.' Crow said and they passed by away from most of the crowd.

'What exactly does that mean?' Maria asked him.

'Just an expression really. You can buy and sell just about anything here. Stay close though.

They followed Jack to a data screen on the wall. He activated it with a touch and quickly brought up the display he was looking for. 'There's my girl,' he said, 'She's moored a few levels below. We can get there this way.'

The three of them walked through another series of corridors and then went down an elevator. It opened to face out on to another catwalk. As they found the airlock they were looking for Jack opened it and entered a code into a console. The door swung open. 'Honey I'm home.' He screamed into the waiting corridor. A voice called out from one of the upper decks and Sophia came sliding down the metal stairs.

'Welcome back. You guys sure took your time getting here and'¦'¦..uh, who's this?'

'Sophia, this is Maria. She's going to be our passenger for the next few days. See what you can do about setting up a room for her.'

'Passenger? Aren't you full of surprises.'

'I do try. What's the status of the ship?'

'Fueled and ready to fly, where are we headed?'

'Well here's the info. Take that to the bridge and decode it although I suspect our next destination is either California or Magellan.'

'Ok, I'll take a look. Are we going to be hauling anything?'

'Probably, let me go see what I can round up.'

Jack walked back up to his quarters and quickly logged his terminal onto the neural net. There were no urgent messages waiting for him. That was a good thing. No news is definitely good news on a day like this. After he had done that, he headed back off the ship almost as quickly as he had come on.

Jack walked back to the market area. There was a dimly lit bar off to one end. He walked in and ordered a drink and then began to look around. As he spotted a familiar face he headed over to have a chat. 'Hey there Lance, what's happening?'

'Jack Crow. What brings you to my little corner today?'

'Shopping actually. I'm a little low on cash but I want to pick up what I can so we aren't flying empty when we leave. What have you got that's good today?'

'You name it my friend. Are you in the mood for something special?'

'Actually, engine components and electronics will go over very well where we're headed.'

Lance knew better than to ask him where that would be. 'Ok, I think I can help you there. We recently had some new stuff come in. It's been selling pretty well actually.'

'Ok, I can spend about 180k right now. Give me what you can. The Rabbit's moored below, just have it sent over ASAP, we're looking for a quick departure.'

'No socializing today huh?'

'When have you even known me to do that?'

Just then Jack felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He spun around to see yet another familiar face staring at him. 'What's going on Sledge?' He asked the large man.

'Oh, now we're old friends I see. Looks like you've got some money to spend. You wouldn't want to be forking some of that cash over for my boss would you?'

'Hey man, I'm up to date on my payments.'

'I know you are Jack. I just figured if you can be flashing cash around in a place like this you can let a little something go toward you debt.'

'Not this time Sledge. Things are a little tight at the moment.'

'That's not what my boss likes to hear Jack. You owe us a lot of money. We don't like to hear that you're running short.'

'I didn't say I was running short. I said I don't have anything extra to spare at the moment. Do I tell you how you run your business?'

'Mind your tongue Jack, I'm just trying to help you stay right with the world.'

Jack's face grew very grim and he moved slowly up to the man's face. 'Listen to me Sledge. Have I ever missed a payment with your boss?'

'No, you haven't Jack.'

'Have I ever tried to give you guys those stupid excuses that all these idiots offer you?'

'No, you haven't Jack.'

'Then let me do my damn business. I've got 200k to my name at the moment. If I use it to fill my ship I can turn that into half a mil where we're going. Then after that we'll be able to collect enough to make our next two payments. How's about you back off and let me get about that business of mine?'

'Fine Jack, you just go on then. I just don't want to see you getting careless with that business of yours.'

'Tell you what. Just to show how much I appreciate all you guys have done for me I do have a little something extra for you.'

'Oh really?'

Jack reached inside his coat and pulled out the designer pistol he'd been carrying. Sledge jumped back when he saw Jack pulling a gun. 'Relax Sledge, I'm not going to shoot a Junker on a Junker base, how stupid do you think I am. Take this. You may find it to your liking, or you can just make a buck off it.'

'How did you come by a piece like this.'

'I'd rather not say, but it's yours now.'

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