Chapter Six: All the shareholders together?

[Stirling]

Tiberius O'Hare

"Right oh. So Cloud Bank's vision is to buy equity, do the ship up and flog it to the highest bidder.

Joey Sabbana is happy with cutting and running at the right price. If I ever get two and a half Mcr in my back pocket I will know where to come.

Charlie Maputo though has already put all his eggs in one basket and seen them poached. I doubt he will invest further.

None of those options actually aid our present circumstances or answer the question I posed. I have some ideas but I ask again.

Do we refit for trade or for another purpose?

Indrani."

[joertexas]

Tiberius O'Hare

"Right oh. So Cloud Bank's vision is to buy equity, do the ship up and flog it to the highest bidder.

Joey Sabbana is happy with cutting and running at the right price. If I ever get two and a half Mcr in my back pocket I will know where to come.

Charlie Maputo though has already put all his eggs in one basket and seen them poached. I doubt he will invest further.

None of those options actually aid our present circumstances or answer the question I posed. I have some ideas but I ask again.

Do we refit for trade or for another purpose?

Indrani."

"Trade."

[cybersavant]

Reven Stiilpahth looks at the bankers. "Interesting. You'll buy our shares for 500, but sell us yours for 600. Why not make it even?"

[BackworldTraveller]

Cloudbank
To Reven
Profit. It has to be worth our while!

He glances at Indrani
Oh - Trade. Unless you have a better role? You're fitted for guns, so back to the courier trade? I'm not sure PLDES would be interested but there are alternatives.

[joertexas]

Cloudbank
To Reven
Profit. It has to be worth our while!

He glances at Indrani
Oh - Trade. Unless you have a better role? You're fitted for guns, so back to the courier trade? I'm not sure PLDES would be interested but there are alternatives.

"I will leave that discussion to the more senior stakeholders," Indrani replies. "My interest is to get the Queen operating again."

[BackworldTraveller]

Archana
Captain Indrani, I agree that the intricacies of what are dependent on having a working vessel. I vote we get the ship running, fit for cargo and start getting an income. And while that cargo is being moved, we get the passenger quarters up to scratch so we can get a licence to carry passengers. At least that way, some of the expenses are covered - and you don't have to be in port to strip, clean, repaint and redecorate. Also you can find any quirks that won't appear you are tied to a station. So Trade, definitely - but we review in 3 months?

Ngora
Also Trade...I don't want my efforts in court screwed up because you get shut down for piracy! And Nalani - None of your shenanigans. Only legal stuff if you go trading on your own account!

[BackworldTraveller]

At the Queen's Dock
A truck arrives outside the dock and a dock-worker from the Port Authority appears at the airlock.

I've the contents of secure locker 4557 for the Queen of the Belt released by order of the Court. Can you accept the crates?

[Bluetongue]

Arnwulf

Sitting in the bridge upon the Navigator's seat. He has spent a few hours familiarising himself with previous route 'comings and goings', noting the evasive patterns. He reads up on latest manual additions and twiddles with sonar blips, screen settings, chair settings and the coffee making machine.

He notes the arrival of the dockers as the Queen comm interrupts the otherwise quiet afternoon.

"Can we receive the stuff in the bay holding and forklift or pallet truck aboard after we check it all out? After recent incidents, I have been warned of possible 'Trojan' activity." he says to Pranit.

"Don't think allowing folk on board in the absence if other crew is wise."

[The Bindoner]

Ngora
Also Trade...I don't want my efforts in court screwed up because you get shut down for piracy! And Nalani - None of your shenanigans. Only legal stuff if you go trading on your own account!

Nālani turns a calm gaze on Ngora: I have never been accused of any unlawful trading, and have no intention of doing anything anything that would attract such an charge. I think you must be referring to my having couriered confidential packages. A suspicious mind might regard that as "shenanigans", but I assure you it is no more illegal than the PLDES service, merely more discrete.

Of course if the Queen is to be a trade-ship and not merely a freighter, and I am wholeheartedly in favour of that proposition, I shall have no occasion to take private commissions. Any couriering we undertake will be on the ship's account, not our own, for we are all shareholders.

[joertexas]

Archana
Captain Indrani, I agree that the intricacies of what are dependent on having a working vessel. I vote we get the ship running, fit for cargo and start getting an income. And while that cargo is being moved, we get the passenger quarters up to scratch so we can get a licence to carry passengers. At least that way, some of the expenses are covered - and you don't have to be in port to strip, clean, repaint and redecorate. Also you can find any quirks that won't appear you are tied to a station. So Trade, definitely - but we review in 3 months?

Indrani nods in agreement.

[BackworldTraveller]

Arnwulf

Sitting in the bridge upon the Navigator's seat. He has spent a few hours familiarising himself with previous route 'comings and goings', noting the evasive patterns. He reads up on latest manual additions and twiddles with sonar blips, screen settings, chair settings and the coffee making machine.

He notes the arrival of the dockers as the Queen comm interrupts the otherwise quiet afternoon.

"Can we receive the stuff in the bay holding and forklift or pallet truck aboard after we check it all out? After recent incidents, I have been warned of possible 'Trojan' activity." he says to Pranit.

"Don't think allowing folk on board in the absence if other crew is wise."

The driver is quite happy to dump the lot in the bay.

"All I need is for you to sign to say the ship is responsible for the contents."

And he starts bringing down one and a half dTons of crates. Arnwulf recognises the style of a ten of them as Missile Storage/Reload Boxes. The others are more generic cargo crates. They all look to have been painted to obscure their original markings.

[BackworldTraveller]

Ngora
Also Trade...I don't want my efforts in court screwed up because you get shut down for piracy! And Nalani - None of your shenanigans. Only legal stuff if you go trading on your own account!

Nālani turns a calm gaze on Ngora: I have never been accused of any unlawful trading, and have no intention of doing anything anything that would attract such an charge. I think you must be referring to my having couriered confidential packages. A suspicious mind might regard that as "shenanigans", but I assure you it is no more illegal than the PLDES service, merely more discrete.

Of course if the Queen is to be a trade-ship and not merely a freighter, and I am wholeheartedly in favour of that proposition, I shall have no occasion to take private commissions. Any couriering we undertake will be on the ship's account, not our own, for we are all shareholders.

Ngora leans over and whispers "Dad always did say your were too clever to do anything so crass as get caught! Even he never caught you."

[The Bindoner]

Ngora leans over and whispers "Dad always did say your were too clever to do anything so crass as get caught! Even he never caught you."

Nālani relaxes her posture slightly and whispers back: I have never done anything I did not have impeccable paperwork for. Mr Cull was not so prudent. It is a tragedy your father listened to that meiyo nashi Gaichū rather than me.

[Stirling]

Tiberius O'Hare

"Trade. At least that gives us a direction to put our efforts.

So can we draw a line under any thoughts of investigating links between the Queen and it's former crew to the deceased body of Jusu Saffa and his pursuit of faster than light technologies. Leaving that quest to such futuristic dreams to those madmen corporations intent on domineering world breakthroughs, allowing us to gently float on cosmic streams hauling whatever to wherever.

We also don't need to be zipping through Queen backlogs to chase various threads of intrigue to hope to discover for ourselves what the fugitive scientist died to prove? We can purge any remaining intelligence and relics associated with the scientist.

That also means that we relinquish using the Queen to track and apprehend those involved in the attack on our fellow shareholder from Sabah Media . We can wish Noor En Sabah well in her search for personal justice and move on.

We also wash our hands of any entanglements Jinja Busai has got himself into. Shot, kidnapped? We can leave that to the safe hands of Sparks Police to analyse.

Unless we consider other options as valuable but risky alternatives."

[BackworldTraveller]

Archana
You can help Jinga? How?
And I thought that was Raawiya en Sabah yesterday - what has Noor to do with any of this?
And other than finding that body, what has the ship to do with Jusu Safa?
And the queen definitely isn't going faster than light! It slow and (mostly) reliable.
She scans around the table seeking a focus
Nalani, Reven - Is this your doing? And Ngora - has your meddling stirred all this up?

Cloudbank
What did you do that for?
He's looking at Tiberius as if he's just started dancing on the table or turned into a frog

General
The table explodes into chaos as various parties react volubly to the outburst. Indrani somehow managing to keep above it all waiting to reassert authority.

From Outside
The two police that were escorting Archana burst into the room, accompanied by two others - Their entry silences the noise and one of the new guys says in a magisterial voice:

Archana Busai, You are under arrest. Place your hands on the table where we can see them. You have the right to remain silent....

R.R. Sabbana
Archana - Would you care for me to represent you for the moment?
she nods
Officers, - What is the charge?

[Monsieur Rose]

Noor/Sam

Private Message to Tiberius: What are you doing? Who are you performing for?

[Stirling]

Tiberius O'Hare

Receives a message as the ruckus at the table continues. He replies to it.

"Dear Ms Vizier.

I take great offence at your implication that 'I am performing' for anyone. If I did not have your own personal interest at heart I would not shield you at great threat to my own family.

If I was a mercenary I could simply have joined those intent on causing you harm and stripping you of any valuables and assets you carry.

I have offered you a priority option to consider engaging the QoTB and crew to front your own ongoing investigations into the troubles you face This is at great financial cost to myself.

As you can note from current conference themes. All I have done is simply state obvious facts regarding choosing a career path of trading with the Queen. Various circumstances have dragged the ship into links with criminal elements who will continue to harass in expectation if discovering any secrets left behind by the recently deceased.

Consider again please the option I presented over dinner. Should Sabah Media wish to engage the ship and finance it's mission, that should be out on the table so that everybody can confidentially agree to take up such action or opt out.

That would be a preferred choice of mine. I simply will not allow the ship to fly off without a joint vision and plan of action established.

If you feel you cannot trust me any longer, you are free to consider other options to secure the safety you need and justice you seek.

With deepest respects.

Tiberius."

He pings it back thinking it has been typed a bit 'off the cuff' in a hurry but hopes his intents are clear enough.

[BackworldTraveller]

The meeting breaks into a number of small groups - coffee machine, police removing Archana accompanied by RR Sabbana. Other than that you are all, again detained temporarily as the police fumple their way through the formalities of identifying those in the room. The Cloudbank representative - Freddie vaguely comes to mind - interrupts Tiberius as he hits send...(Sotto voce) You are helping Noor? Tiberius can almost see the clicking of the credit signs behind Freddie's eyes.

Ngora looks a bit shocked. This she didn't expect!

Reven recieves a ping from Mr Sood..."Any decisions to report?"

[The Bindoner]

Nālani, seeing no way to avoid it, gets the police interview over with as quickly as possible.

Approaching Indrani she asks Captain Carter? Do you have an idea of how much longer this will take? I have an important meeting at 1pm that I cannot miss, I would like be free by 12.30.

OOC: What is the time?

[Stirling]

Tiberius

The Cloudbank representative - Freddie vaguely comes to mind - interrupts Tiberius as he hits send...(Sotto voce) You are helping Noor?

I thought Amadou & Moussa were the named CB reps, unless Freddie is a new npc?

How does he come to this conclusion? Sorry am a bit confused. Did he look over my shoulder or receive a message? As far as I know in character, Noor is 'present' at the conference by phone (verbally only) or is she visible on screen?

Tiberius

"I am sorry Nalani but this conference should take precedence over every other commitment.

Apart from agreeing to use petty cash to fix the ship and pay debts, nothing else has been ratified. We need serious discussions on raising money to insure, fix and update ship and ensure all shareholders are in agreement with the current mission. We need to agree various legal actions and also discuss implications of the Queen in current investigations into the both Saffa and En Sabah deaths. "