Chapter Two: Hooper's Hope
Overcoming his demons, Ulbar decides to run some goods to the nearby planet of Hooper's Hope. He enters the Exchange and starts up the computer.
When he places his palm on the screen it springs to life, spewing out complicated statistics about the system's economy.
After about an hour of sifting through statistics, Ulbar decides that the most profitable option is to load up on grain. Filling the hold takes slightly over half of his money. But he know he's not worried, knowing that it's a good investment.
He checks the hold of the ship, making sure that it's been loaded up right. It's full of grain in multicoloured crates.
I looked into the different rooms of my new ship. I had a locker to store equipment and a sleeping quarters that I could berth a passenger in, if I could find one. Lastly there's the cockpit...
He sits down and stares at the controls. He doesn't believe he's really here in the seat that he's sat in so often in his dreams. Then he snaps back to reality and prepares the ship for take-off.
The ship shakily lifts off of the ground and up through the atmosphere. Ulbar lets out an exhilarated cry as he feels the acceleration. When he reaches space he hears the artificial gravity machine spin to life. He did it. He's off of Basin. He never has to visit the tilled earth of the farm ever again. He leans back in his chair with a satisfied sigh and sets the autopilot.
A few hours later he was at the jump portal. He had read about them and they taught him a bit of the theory behind them in school but he remembered nothing. He hoped that nothing went wrong as he pressed the jump button...
WHOOSH! There was a flash of light and he felt as if his whole body was split into a million pieces. It didn't hurt so much as it just felt as if his whole body had pins and needles. This sensation could have lasted less than a second or it could have lasted a century. In the place that his mind went time had no meaning. Then suddenly life started again, the only difference being that he was several light years away. He shook his head and wondered how people could ever get used to that.
As he approached Hooper's Hope, Ulbar was shocked by how desolate it looked. For the first time in his life he felt lucky to have grown up on Basin.
The first thing that struck him upon exiting his ship was the harshness of the air. The atmosphere had a metallic tinge to it. It felt as if he was breathing out of a tincan. Then he noticed the people there. They looked depressed and sickly. I guess that's what comes from a life in the tunnels. He walked to the Exchange, feeling rather depressed. This planet made him homesick for Basin, something he thought he'd never feel.
However he cheered up a bit when he sold the grain. Almost 500 credits of profit? After only about a day's work? Back on Basin they made 500 credits a year! But it was clear that to him that he needed to make a lot more to make a name for himself. He had a couple of choices...
1) Start a trade route and ferry cargo back and forth until he has enough to join the Merchant's Guild and can take the high-end contracts.
2) Become a drifter, carrying random cargo to the far reaches of the system, taking work when it can be found.
3) Become a criminal of opportunity, mugging people when they're alone and then quickly getting off-world with both their money and some legally purchased cargo to be sold on the next victim world.
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Topic: Re: Let's Play Acii Sector: Chapter Three, A Dangerous Profession (Read 3933 times)