“Heard you were looking for crew...”
Posted on Sat Jun 14th, 2014 @ 9:09pm by Langar Tarn & Walter Jones
1,375 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Session 7: Changes
Location: New Bajor Spaceport Dock 32
[Captain Karlen Lisara’s Quarter’s Bajoran Merchant Ship Karlen Island New Bajor Central City spaceport]
“Because Mendec’s a fool, he came back aboard drunk again and just like last time, he could have got us all thrown in a detention cell!”
“Ok but that didn’t happen Tarn” Karlen said soothingly to her Bosun and current lover “Come back to bed, I’ll talk to my brother again in the morning”
Langar Tarn was sat on the end of Karlen’s bed putting his pant’s back on. Just over forty, Langar was a tall muscular and tanned Bajoran. His dark brown hair cropped short, he turned and looked back over his shoulder at Karlen with his clear blue eyes. “You said that after DS Nine Lisara. Nothing’s changed”
Karlen leant forward and stroked her hands over Langar’s back, tracing the line of a number of scars with her finger tips. “Mendec drinks too much. I’ll talk to him. It won’t happen again, ok”
Her hand ran down his left shoulder and arm, over a large tattoo of a Bajoran python. If you looked closely and knew what to look for, you could just make out the markings of a Romulan penal barcode under the snake tattoo.
Langar shook his head and reached for his shirt “It will happen again Lisara, we both know that! It’s okay for you and Mendec, your father was a Resistance Hero. You guys don’t have a bunch of outstanding warrants. But every time he gets drunk and starts a fight then Security or Constables or Peacekeepers come around and start asking questions. If they push things, you guys will get a fine but I’ll end up in prison!”
He shook Karlen’s hands off, pulled on his short and stood up. “Look, I really don’t want to looking over my shoulder every time we go to a bar” he hesitated. “But…..”
He had been the Karlen Island’s Bosun for nearly ten months. The ship had got a Federation contract to run medical supplies to worlds along the Neutral Zone who were coping with an influx of refugees from the Hobus disaster.
Langar had been a refugee himself, of sorts. After a contract to steal a Romulan warship had gone south he’d ended up with a death sentence from his former criminal employers who had not wanted anyone around to testify to their involvement. He managed to avoid getting himself killed and exacted a little revenge on his would be killers. Stuck on the wrong side of the Neutral Zone he had ended up in the Romulan penal system as an illegal immigrant assigned to a labour crew in a ship maintenance facility.
When Hobus went supernova the facility had been abandoned. The Romulans had brought their prisoners along, intending to find further work for them. Langar and other inmates had different ideas and escaped. While hanging around the spaceport of a refugee camp he had met Karlen and convinced her to give him a job. Five months later they had become lovers and he had the kind of stable life he had not experienced for many years.
Things had gone well until the ship had returned back to Bajor, where the hard working, hard playing, hard drinking crew and in particular the exploits of Mendec, the Engineer and Lisara’s brother had started to bring Langar unwanted attention. Now in the Gamma Quadrant things had not improved and Langar was facing up to having to move on.
“But what?” Karlsen asked, sitting back, concerned now
“I can’t stay here” Langar said quietly “It’s too dangerous.”
“Oh…” Karlsen opened her mouth to say more, then closed it. Merchant starship captains had a reputation for being tough, she was no exception. Tarn had been a pleasant companion for a while but she wasnt going to shed tears over him. “Alright, I’ll pay you ‘til the end of the week. Close the door on your way out”
[ New Bajor Central City spaceport: Dock Thirty Two SS Warden Main hatch ]
Four days later Langar found his way to Dock Thirty Two and the main hatch of a battered Groumall type starship. He’d hung around the bars and recruitment offices of the starport and tried a couple of ships. Nothing had seemed like a good fit.
He’d stopped for lunch in the Frosted Phrophet, the barman had mentioned the Warden was hiring and Langar had strolled by to take a look.
There didn’t seem to be anyone around so he hit the intercom on the hatch panel. A few moments later there was distorted reply filled with static he could barely make out “Yeah?”
“Heard you were looking for crew” Langar replied
“Might be, what can you do?” the voice said
“I was Bosun on my last ship, I can fly, do a little protection and security, handle cargo, I don’t shirk hard work. And I have some experience on Groumall’s” Langar offered, he decided not to mention that experience included the best way to sabotage a Cardassian fleet version or how to bypass the locks on the modular cargo containers.
There was no response for a few moments, then the speaker said “Wait there, the Captain is coming down”
Langar stood back and a few minutes later there was a hiss as the hatchway seal cracked and the door swung open.
Walt's eyes adjusted to the blaring light of the planet. "Cargo huh?" He eyed the man standing before him. Sizing him up. "And Bajoran to boot. Got anyone coming after you?" The old captain grinned at the Bajorn.
Langar considered lying, briefly, but there really wasn't much point in not being straight, although he did not intend to say too much.
He settled for "Lets just say I prefer to keep a low profile, Cap'n" then added "And if there was anyone, like as not, they wouldn't be interested in your ship"
Walt poked his head out and looked left, then right, then left again. "You got credentials? Granted, my credentials themselves are a bit spotty at best but I figured I'd ask anyways."
Langar gave a small smile "Credentials? Sure" He pulled a compact padd device out of his bag "How good do you want them?"
Walt's face turned from that of a suspicious old man to having a big grin upon his face. "I just like to see what people say when I ask them, this generally is a place where we don't ask too many questions about each others past." Walt leaned against the frame of the old hulk, sizing the Bajoran up. "Welcome aboard, you'll get an equal cut of the net from every job, right now we are splitting it six ways, room and board of course. What questions do you have?"
Langar nodded, Jones was making a generous offer on the percentage. Even if he hadn't, Langar was running out of options. "Just so long as the replicators work and the bunks don't have lice, then Capt'n, you got yourself a crewman"
"Can't promise either of those things are in order at the same time, but we're working on it." Walt extended his hand. "Sounds good to me. Welcome aboard"
Langar took the offered hand and shook, it was close enough to an employment contract for him.
"Where you want me to start?" He asked "I'm ready to go as soon as I stow my gear"
"Grab a bunk, we've got quite a few open spaces. We've really automated a lot of the ship functions so you have your choice. After that, we need to get the holds ready for our next freight mission. So take a look at the shape of the holds, they should be alright but, you know." Walt grinned at the man. "Just need to make sure it gets there more or less."
Langar nodded and stepped through the hatchway, following Jones into the ship. something told him this was going to work out...
Walter Jones
Captain
Langar Tarn
Cargo Chief
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