Away on Business

Posted on Sat 5th Mar, 2022 @ 10:11am by Sipov Boros & Candice
Edited on on Wed 4th May, 2022 @ 9:28am

1,583 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: A Good Day to Hunt
Location: Docking Bay 312
Timeline: MD28 0200 Hrs

The lights were dimmed to simulate night as usual and the majority of the docking bay was shut down for grave shift. Considering his ship had been moved to a bay more appropriate for long term storage it was almost a miracle he'd discovered where it was moved to at all. While Sipov wondered who moved it, he presumed his HMS had made the decision on its own. Since the ship didn't appear to be impounded with any sort of inhibitor fields or umbilical's he presumed it was free and clear. Where she'd gotten the money to cover it for all these weeks though, who knew.

Still under his cloak the Vulcan quickly made his way across the bay floor and scurried up the stairs that led up to the middle deck of the ship. He took a quick look around and failed to see anyone else. He quickly entered his access code and while taking what seemed to be a few moments longer than in the past, the door rolled open.

Stepping inside it was obvious the air scrubbers hadn't been on for quite some time, almost as bad as when he first bought the thing. Stepping onto the cargo bay floor the lights came on automatically and he could here systems beginning to initiate which he hoped included life support.

"Candice?" he called out. Nothing. Where was that system at? In the past she'd greeted him every time but not today. Maybe she was mad? But how could a hologram be mad? Shrugging it off he made his way over to the nearest ladder and climbed up to the 2nd deck. Once he stepped into the crew mess he tossed his cloak to the floor and went to the replicator to get some water. A surprise for sure considering his usual choice of beverage but the man had been in hiding for quite some time and dared to show his face even at the odd replimat or establishment. He'd spent the last number of weeks on different transports making sure any sort of tail was thrown off and wouldn't be able to find him.

Once he'd completed his mining jobs, Sipov caught wind of the dangers involved in the cargo transport job from the Ferengi he'd met and opted to not use his own ship. After making the delivery which involved avoiding a number of pirate raids and security groups, he'd been paid handsomely. It wasn't until he learned what the cargo was that his heart sank to his stomach. As a result he'd been on the run, so to speak, just in case anyone had still been tracking them. He'd placed the money into a new account and hadn't touched it since, using what he had left from his mining jobs to live the life of a drifter while managing to avoid drugs or even really any alcohol. It'd been nothing but pure survival and hiding.

Having been alone with his own thoughts he nearly jumped when he looked up to see Candice (T) leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed. "Look who's back" she said. "I wasn't sure whether to treat you as the captain or as an intruder. Candice (P) isn't exactly thrilled about us having been left to manage this while you've been gone, Captain."

Her tone caused him to be a bit taken aback but he quickly regained his composure "This is still my ship, it's your job to protect it, and the rest of your jobs to maintain it in whatever fashion that may be. It looks to me like you've done just that, so my investment was worth it."

The security hologram chuckled "If you only knew what your investment into this ship has been I doubt you'd be in such a relieved mood right now. But that's not really my place to discuss, I'm just security." She stood up straight and gave the man a look of frustration "I suppose I'll go down and make sure no one else snuck in behind you, the sensors should've picked anything up but nowadays with some of the technology these thieves have you never know." She disappeared in a flash and left him to his own devices.

Letting out a sigh he figured he'd clean himself up and change into fresh clothes before doing a walkthrough and seeing how things were around the ship. Making way back into the Captain's quarters he noted everything was still clean and perfectly made up. Candice (P) didn't show up the entire time it took to clean up and change so instead he made his way down to deck 4 to take a look around. It was immediately obvious the cooling systems and a number of manifolds and shielding's had been re enforced with some sort of overhaul. It didn't look cheap either.

"Candice?" he called out once again. "Explain all of this."

Candice (E) made an appearance this time, this deck being her domain and all. "Captain. Welcome back."

"Thanks" he said. He'd still expected the primary template to show but at least part of the system seemed it was working correctly. "So explain all of this."

"While you were gone I took some time to overhaul the engines which included the coolant systems and manifolds. I've had time to make adjustments to the warp core as well to increase our warp capability by a full factor and double our time to sustain maximum rate. Our computer core and security systems have been overhauled as well and as a result we've provided isolated computing power to the station to cover the expense of the ship sitting here in the docking bay." A PADD materialized in her hand and she offered it to Sipov.

"So you have our rent covered but there's no way you paid for all of this with just sharing computing power." The ships computer was pretty decent given it's age but it wasn't that good. Scrolling through the PADD he took note of the expense incurred making note it would've drained his account several times over. At least the accounts the HMS knew about... There was no way the ship paid for this itself and it sure didn't have the capability to enter contracts for loans or otherwise so it begged the question as to where they money came from.

"Ok so you've done one hell of a job" the weapons array had been ripped out and improved as well "but this is almost an entire refit of the craft, not just some standard modernization. Where did you get the money for all of this?"

A voice responded from behind him "From you".

Spinning around, there stood Candice (P) in her purple jumpsuit and a leer that could burn through duranium. "There you are" he replied.

"Oh I've been here, unlike you. You've already spoken to me twice, remember? My sub templates are merely extensions of my system."

"Ya that's great and all but you failing to greet me when I returned doesn't help answer a lot of my questions as to what's happened since I was gone." Maybe having this system wasn't the greatest idea, maybe he could get his money back...

"I know where you've been, hiding. Although I will say you should hide your money better, it only took me a couple of days to find what you were paid for your last job, and I'm not talking about the mining. It's been split up and a good portion of it was put into the ship. You can't leave that much latinum in an account and not expect to get some attention. And if I could find it then imagine how much quicker any authorities searching would've found it instead. Then you'd have nothing."

He couldn't believe it. She'd spent quite a bit and he was looking at using it to potentially start a new business. "But how?! How could you decide what to do with the money you hadn't earned?"

"It wasn't hard to guess your access codes and it's not like I can actually be charged with theft. What are you gonna do? Shut me down? Wipe my memory? You need me Sipov, it's obvious. You can't trust a living crew with some of these secrets and someone has to take care of things while you're away. And you know this system is loyal to you and the ship. We're all you have." The leer remained.

"I want to know where the rest of my money is. I want access to all of it." He was seething with anger.

"Of course." She transferred the necessary information to the PADD and in the meantime had already shut down her engineering counterpart. "I know you've been in hiding, whatever you did to make that much money that fast couldn't have been legal. Or at least moral. I'm here to help you, nothing less. Now why don't we go up to your conference room and I'll have each of the templates give you a run down while I make you a fresh meal. Then get some rest and we'll start anew tomorrow. Say finally take this thing on a shakedown cruise, what do you say, Captain?"

It had been a while since he'd had a fresh meal and did want to know everything that had happened since he'd been gone. "It's a start. Let's get to it....."

 

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