Ian stops chatting with Blackie at the bar when he hears Luxury Liner Shetland's new administrator voice, and slowly turns his head.
Hey Ernst! Come closer to the drinks mate!He then looks at the barwoman.Blackie, meet Ernst Geisshardt, Administrator of Shetland and also a Greyhound Captain. The woman smiles at the newcomer.
Brother! I must say, you are very lucky to find me here. This place has been a tad quiet for a while. I hope this new order we are implementing all together at Orbital brings more captains here.
Ernst walks over casually and grabs himself a seat next to Ian. "Ah yes. The reform."
He turns his head to the barwoman. "Screwdriver please. The cocktail not the DIY tool." He said jokingly.
He turns back to Ian, pulling a straight and serious face. "How are things anyway? I'm interested in how the merger is going. You know, with the main branch and White Spa..." His tone was different now, very much formal and serious.
Ian sips a little of his whiskey before answering to the Rheinlander captain.
Well my friend, I trust that Miss Kim Allen and her associates are doing their best to get the company running on its tracks, but I cant say the same of White Spa. It seems that right after announcing the launch of that company, it's CEO disappeared completely. I am starting to get afraid that something may have occured to him. Do you think we should open an investigation?
The barwoman delivers an orange glass of drink, a "Screwdriver".
Ernst thanks her and takes a sip before replying. "Very strange indeed..."
"And very vexing."
Ernst frowns. "I hope nothing bad happened to him.
He pauses for a while. "How about his company? Even if the CEO disappears, the company should still keep moving."
Another sip of cocktail... "An investigation should be conducted. Company CEOs don't just disappear without a trace."
The man walked quietly to the front bar. - A Bloody Mary please, double the Vodka and the tobasco. No ice.
The waitress nodded before fetching a glass. - I never saw you here
She says, - Your observating skills honor you. - This bar is OS&C Capt and related reserved
She answered, not pooring anything into the empty glass. - Again, I am glad to see you are aware of that fact. Now, would you be a doll honey and tell Ian that JhC is here. We met earlier in space and have few topic to discuss. And don t forget the Bloody Mary, I hate talking with an empty glass...
May Abu d'Dhur, father of the immaterial roads, be favoralble to us and those that supports us.
- Ah, Sir Curtis !
JhC took his hand - Plesure is mine. Please don't bother too much Blackie there.. I rarely show my face outside the ship and this bar is not where it usualy happend.
Something in the man in front of him made him feel less uneasy than usual. - As we talked earlier on the radio, I am well aware of the recent OS&C will for more organisation, and thus your active part in it.
He paused, taking a sip from his drink. - I just haven't decided yet if this was a good or a bad thing for us...We, and by that i mean all sentient creatures living abroad the vessel, are not what you would call your standard OS&C crew...See, this vessel isn't just a tool or a way to make money, it is our home.
They walked together to a quiet corner and sat at the table made of pseudo-ebony, a luxurious DNA recreated wood from ancient earth that was now exctinct...
May Abu d'Dhur, father of the immaterial roads, be favoralble to us and those that supports us.
Well captain, let me apologize for refusing your supply services when you first got in touch with us. I just had to set an example. Our supply protocol is very strict. After saying this he added in a lower tone of voice. Now, please tell me more about the sentient population on your ship, I am amused.
- No, no, you don't go it ! I am not talking about the supply contract for the Shetland, although it is a pity. We always had good relations with the Exiles, or at least some of them... I am talking about what I heard few month ago on the open com : All OS&C IDed ship must now make themselves known to the new head office : register ship, courses, cargo, pilot....And Liners Capt seems to have a tigther policy about the use they can make of their ship.
He took a moment to consider Ian Curtis in the front of him. The man was hard to read, he could go from warm and welcoming to formal and icy cold...
- See, I don't mind reporting my passagengers and leisure cruises when I am doing a leisure cruises, but I used to have an unspoken agreement with the old OS&C HQ (quite laid back lads at the time) to be able to run the course I want, and so they kinda close their eyes on some more 'irregular' use of the vessel.
He made it clear that he will not talk about what or who can be find on the ship any further until he will know more about OS&C new management...
May Abu d'Dhur, father of the immaterial roads, be favoralble to us and those that supports us.
Ian made a signal to the Barwoman and she was there with a refill for their glasses before he could even answer to the captain.
Thanks Blackie. Look captain, you are right now what we at the branched divisions call an 'unaffiliated captain', but that does not make you a second class captain or anything, and you don't answer directly to no one but to the OS&C code of conduct.
He made a pause to drink a bit more.
Of all the things you pointed out, there is none that you are tied to. You don't have to report your runs to any of the branch leaders, nor follow our suggested trade routes if you don't want to. Now, speaking about taste, it is not good publicity for OS&C to have liners transport commodities, I can't force you to quit that behaviour, but things like that make shipping corporations think less of us. We are able to use ships more fit to this, as the Bretonian and Libertonian battletransports for example. He then smiled. We at Greyhound use Shire transports for commodity shipping for instance
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