Sliding Reality: Chapter 10 Part 1 of 2 (Patreon)

Chapter 10:

7/04/2242

The plates finished sliding back, replaced with coffee, grease and warm electronics. Luke pulled his space suit on over his net sleeve, catching a few people staring.

Don't see many people with sleeves in a cafe.

Luke zipped up his coveralls higher. Maybe a week ago he would have proudly showed off his sleeve, now it was like dirty secret. Driving home what he had agreed to.

“Thanks!” he yelled to the person at the front desk, jogging away, in the weird way that came with Zero G, more throw that fall, heading back to where he’d left his family. It hadn’t been an hour.

He picked up his pace, giving him something to focus on, clear his mind.

"Hey watch where you're go-Luke?"

“Oh sorry, Marissa, sis, everyone in the room?" Luke continued down the hallway.

"Nope, they went down to the ship.”

He started to jog that way. “Thanks!”

“They’re checking on the upgrades!" She raised her voice after him.

"Gotcha!” He raised a thumb and kept running.

"I sent you a message! Start buying up scrap!" Luke yelled back down the corridor as he jogged for the docks, grabbing his soft cover.

“What the hell for?”

“Tell you later.” His voice muffled as he pulled it on over his head, sealing it and getting on his gloves, sliding between airlock doors into the working areas of the dock.

He dodged a small train on roof and floor rails, pulling containers of gear and people. Luke grabbed a handle and swung up into a worker compartment.

"In a rush?" An older worker snorted.

"Just trying to catch up," Luke grinned back.

"Ah, yah fool kid, which slip you going to?" The worker grinned.

"Slip seven."

The worker raised an eyebrow. "Going to gawk?" His eyes tracked the tabs and markings on Luke's suit. "Wait a minute. That suit, you're one of the crew?"

"Uhh yeah, its my parent's ship."

"I thought that you were one of the kids that got word of the ship coming in, we've been fighting them off. Word travels fast in these parts."

Luke grimaced.

"Don't worry lad, it might go fast through the station, but not a word will leave it." The worker laughed and pointed past Luke. "Coming up on it"

The slip had a big bolded 7 on the wall.

Luke looked back to see the worker standing for his seat, holding out his hand.

Luke took it.

"What you and your family did was damn brave, but it needed doing." The gruff man gave him a firm handshake and released him.

"Just doing what anyone else would have done."

"I hope that is true, here we are."

The train slowed down as arms pulled off containers workers stepped on and off.

"Thanks!" Luke ran for the slip, spotting Joey talking to several other workers around a screen they had put on a container.

"We could route through the sub-bus here, but then we'd need to upgrade it to take the increased voltage," Joey traced out a route on the screen, getting thoughtful looks from the other workers. "I looked through some upgrades that other crews did to this kind of ship and it should work, though I would want to increase the insulation." Joey pulled out his screen, finding something and flicked it onto the main screen between them.

"That is a cherry of a solution," One of the workers said as they moved in on the screen.

"Joey," Luke called out.

"'Sup?"

"Mom and Dad?"

"Looking at the projectors and the bow protector."

Luke groaned. "A quick review?"

"They're touring it up and down. What you need them for?"

"I think I got our next load."

"Oh? You run it pass Marissa?"

"Yeah, well I gave her the tip." Luke pulled out his screen, seeing three missed calls. "Speak of the devil." He muttered, putting it away and raising his voice. "The suits all ready to go?"

"Yeah, but you're going to need to take them to a pressured locker, ship is open to vaccum in most places for the refit."

"Alright!" Luke waved his goodbye, jogging into the ship as he called Marissa back, linking it to his hood speakers.

"What's up?"

"Luke, why the hell do you want me to buy scrap?"

"Sph-the Legion, they’re willing to buy scrap. Fin and I were crunching the numbers. If we can get the scrap to them they’ll pay well.”

“It’s scrap though.”

"Its easy for them to process the materials. Scrapyards won’t care much who we are as long as we’re getting rid of their garbage and the Legion are on our side. We’re going to be spinning up a station in a few days, so could be some things people want from passing freighters, food, water, coveralls, net suits, that kind of thing. I'm going to find Mom and Dad, see if they're up to do some passenger and scrap hauls."

"Luke this could be huge. You know that most of the yards and the factories will pay people to take their scrap?"

"Well, might be a good idea to see if you can't snatch up all those contracts. Paid on both ends. Plus there are all those traders that aren't trading with the Federation anymore right? Well, maybe they'd be up for running a shipping contract?"

"But, the cost of such a thing."

"All of those paid contracts to take their scrap should give us some base funds. We hire on some ships to add in cargo capacity, have them drop it off say here in Korzh, we just fill up their empty container space with shipping contracts, low cost for them. We come in and grab it, sell it off, rinse and repeat, buying out more and more space among the freighters and even hiring them to do a run for us."

"That's a lot of scrap and material running."

"Everyone creates garbage," Luke dodged a crew that were moving through the gangway tube into the ship and got in through the airlock. "Which makes it the perfect cover for those same ships to pick up paying passengers on their way to the settled systems where we do the pickups. They can move around freely once they get there, or can take a ride with us out to Sphere World."

Luke reached his locker, unlocking it and pulling out his suit. He opened his boots and pulled on the suit in zero-g, holding onto the locker.

"I would suggest," He slipped his legs into the suit and hooked his arm up in. "That we start with the Federation systems and Sol as fast as possible."

"Sol?"

"Just call it an inside track," Luke switched hands, perpendicular with the floor as he got his other arm up into the suit, he altered his grip, bringing his feet back down to his boots as he zipped up the suit and rubbed the seals.

"Alright, okay, yeah let me have a look at this and I can see what I can figure out."

"Have a look at what's up for sale on the open market by the ships that were going to be trading in Fed space."

"Yeah they're going to have low prices just to move goods."

"Food is going to be at a premium, even if its nutrient bars. You know what, the nutri-paste from the suits is going to jump in price probably. See if you can't trace that down. I still have Manager Yalloak's contact information. Could see about buying some net suits and sleeves from him. I didn't see them being made in Sphere World." Luke tapped his wrist pad on his suit and ran through menus pulling up the components and build list. He pulled out his helmet, disconnecting it from its cable and hooked it to his suit and pulled out gloves.

“Wait you think that people are going to be living there?”

“Some might, the factions are being sicks and they need somewhere to stay that isn’t going to lock them up for playing a game, or steal their credits.”

Luke secured his boots and started pulling on his gloves.

"Alright, I'll take a look and see what I can pull together. Damn."

"Have fun," Luke grinned and cut the channel. He walked into the bathroom and sealed the door. He checked the mechanical readouts on the wall.

"Pressurized." He pulled on his space suit gloves, securing them in place, he pulled off his hood, letting it float as he pulled on and secured his helmet.

He checked his wrist pad.

"And we're good." He grabbed the hood, folding and putting it into a leg pocket.

He unlocked the bathroom door, breaking the air seal and walked out. Crews were moving through the ship, in his rooms down into the guts of the ships mechanicals, using expert touches to send themselves gliding through the zero-g ship.

Luke worked his way back to the airlock and out to the dock.