Session 2

Session 002: May 2, 2010

Date: August 1, EY217

Both the Steel Hummingbird and the Resplendent Dragon dock successfully at The Ashram, the latter by being grappled and pulled in by the station itself. Leena Kadam, the head engineer on the station, meets them and gives an estimate of a day or two to get the rest of it repaired. Chandra Mukpadohay, a scrawny, obsequious man, is also there. He doesn't seem to officially be employed by the station and isn't well-liked, but knows the place like nobody's business and is often used as a runner for various tasks. That's part of what he's here for: he presents Jillian with a bill for the tow cancellation and the docking fee, as well as a receipt for fifteen thousand packets of ketchup that she somehow ended up ordering while lost in the phone tree awaiting a tow. Bishop says that he can head down to the planet and sell the ketchup for them, and Jillian is happy to get rid of the condiment. Jillian gets Chandra on the task of finding out where they can obtain a new sensor array. The crew finds out the reason for all the bureaucracy on the way in: The Ashram has been bought by the Big Sky Corporation from its previous owner, Eberhard Fuchs.

With the bills paid, it's off to the restaurant and bar for food and drink. The bar is named Laila's, the owner is named Gerta, and the restaurant that contains both has no name. Partway through their first round of alcohol and thalis the crew of the Resplendent Dragon show up, having arranged for repairs on their own ship. Everyone has already met their captain, Xao. The other two crew are the pilot, an Indian man named Neet, who is friendly enough, and the gunner/mechanic, Olivia, a rangy British woman who learned her gunnery skills in the military. The Dragons make good on their offer to buy a round, and follow it up with another for good measure. Conversation quickly turns to the pirate attack that crippled the Resplendent Dragon, which happened when the ship was preparing to perform salvage operations off Ganga. The attackers had two ships, one of roughly the size of the Dragon and one a fair bit larger, and the Dragon was lucky to have fought its way out and evaded their subsequent search. Part of the salvage that the Dragon managed to pull out of the wreck is a sensor array, which the Hummingbird's crew is interested in, theirs floating off in space somewhere. During the conversation it becomes obvious that Olivia is interested in Bishop, and he returns her glances with practiced charm. Jillian is well on the way to a booze-filled blackout, and everyone decides to cut their meal and drinks short when the crew of the Thirsty Bitch shows up. An ice transport that runs between Shiva and Ganga, her crew is as subtle and cultured as the name of their ship would suggest.

Leaving Laila's, Bishop and Olivia head back to the Steel Hummingbird together while the rest of the crews go to the Resplendent Dragon to take a look at the salvaged sensor array. It looks good, but Jillian -- the senor expert -- is green and nauseous from drinking, and it's agreed that haggling over its price will happen in the morning. By the time Malcolm and Volkova have half-carried Jillian back to the Steel Hummingbird, Bishop and Olivia are done and he's taken the crate of ketchup packets onto a shuttle and is heading down to Bhopuhr, Shiva's only real city.

Leaving the Bhopuhr spaceport, Bishop carts the ketchup to a nearby Big Sky Bhaji fast-food restaurant. Since the crate hasn't been opened, he manages to convince the manager to buy the ketchup at cost. With properly liquid capital, he heads off to the Bhopuhr Racetrack to try his luck. It's too expensive to import and maintain any mounts large enough to ride on Shiva, so it's trikes that race. Not really knowing anything about any of the racers, he finds a woman who his keen eye tells him will be easy to manipulate. His plan is to make a moderately risky bet and, if he loses the money, try to dupe her into taking the financial fall herself. It's a plan that is risky, unethical, and of dubious worth, but in the end he doesn't need to try it, as his trike ends up winning the race. With winnings in hand, he uses his charms to convince the woman to accompany him to a by-the-hour motel to celebrate. "Celebrations" done, he sleeps for a few hours and takes the next shuttle back to The Ashram, dozing on the flight back up the gravity well. By the time the shuttle docks, he's gotten almost enough sleep, and everyone is pleasantly surprised at how he managed to turn such a tidy profit on the ketchup.

The noise of repairs being carried out on the Steel Hummingbird frustrates Bishop's attempt to catch up on sleep and Jiliian's attempt to survive her hangover. He goes to the hotel on the station, where he has a strange dream: he's getting married, and there is a strange smell. Jillian shuffles her way to the Resplendent Dragon with Malcolm and Volkova to take another look at the sensor array. Loud repairs are also underway on the Dragon, much to Jillian's displeasure. The sensor array looks good, and the Hummingbirders meet up with the Dragons at Laila's. Olivia is reading a book throughout much of breakfast, and it's noticed that Xao's eyepatch has switched eyes. They agree to settle on a price for the sensor array after breakfast. Jillian is forced to eat something and, feeling better, goes off to find Chandra and see if he knows of any possible jobs for her crew. He does: Eleonor, the madam for the station's prostitutes, is looking for someone to take them back to Kali in two days. This fits well with the pace of repairs on the Hummingbird, which should be done tomorrow. The Steel Hummingbird isn't set up for passengers, but crude quarters can be set up in the hold once the cargo of pipes is offloaded, and the trip will be short enough that the rude conditions will be bearable. Jillian warns Bishop not to try anything with the prostitutes unless they initiate it.

Money is spent in various ways. The repairs are paid for. Two very used EVA suits are bought at the general supplies store from Gurdan Kadam, the head mechanic's husband. Now the Steel Hummingbird has a suit for every crew, even if only half of them know how to use the things. It's finally time to negotiate for the sensor array, now that Jillian's feeling up for it, and when the talks are completed neither crew feels that they've managed to pull one over on the other. Upon finding out that the Hummingbird is going to be taking the prostitutes back to Kali, Neet is disappointed; he was hoping to get that job, but there's no way that the Resplendent Dragon will be repaired in less than a week.