Journeys of the Shepherd

Chapter 10: Times Are Changing

After the captain contacted Smith, the Space Shepherd changed course to Ares. Smith was ofcourse more than interested in 200 tonnes of aethirium. But at the same time, the wealthy tradesman was cautious. Selling valuable cargo like aethirium in the middle of Port Liberty would be a very bad idea, so Smith asked the captain to land outside his storage terrain.  It was obvious Smith wanted to keep priers at bay, not only did his terrain lay in the middle of the desert, it was also protected by razorwire fences and snipers in watchtowers.

The Space Shepherd landed near Smith's terrain nine days later, and her cargo was unloaded. Luckily for the pirates, they didn't have to carry the crates of aethirium themselves. Smith had a couple of forklift trucks that transported the five hundred crates to an unknown place, probably an underground vault. 

After the ship was unloaded, the Captain and Smith discussed about the price. After one hour or so, Smith agreed to buy the 200 tonnes of ignsium for the staggering sum of ninety million credits. Of that amount, the captain received 4.5 million credits, Ash received 1.8 million credits, and Luke and Marshall both got around 1.3 million credits. The rest of the crew got a share of around 900 000 credits. What was left, was put in the vault of the Space Shepherd, to be used to buy supplies or to afford repairs to the ship.

''I gotta say, I'm impressed that you managed to steal that stuff.'' Smith said, as he walked the captain and Marshall out of the gates of his storage terrain.

''Well, if we didn't take out those turrets, we would be dead meat. Though I still lost twelve good men.'' Captain Hamilton replied.

''That's true.'' Smith said. ''But I was talking about the patrols.''

''Patrols?'' The captain asked. ''What patrols? Do you mean the border patrols?''

''No, Hamilton. Haven't you heard? Federal and Union fleets are penetrating deeper and deeper into the zone. I'm not sure what's happening, but it looks like some sort of crackdown on piracy and illegal trading. Quite a few ships got intercepted last month, even a trader of mine was ordered to stop by a Federal frigate. I've heard rumors about pirates that were convicted by the Tribunal and hanged.''

''Really?'' Captain Hamilton could hardly believe that the alliances were finally intervening against piracy. For decades, even their biggest and strongest warships wouldn't dare to venture too deep into the zone. ''What happened to your trader?'' He asked Smith.

''Well, the crew was lucky enough that they just delivered her cargo. The trader's hold was empty, so that Fed frigate let her pass. But it does mean I have to change my usual trading routes, it may even mean that I have to send my ships along the outer reaches. That's going to cost me alot of money, and as you know, it's a dangerous route.'' 

''Let's hope your business continues to fare well. I have to pick up some crew in Port Liberty, so Marshall and I better head off. '' The captain and Marshall shook hands with Smith, and walked towards the open storage hold of the Space Shepherd.

'''Hamilton.'' Smith suddenly said. ''There's something I need to tell you.''

''What is it?'' The captain asked him suprised.

Smith walked over to him, he had a serious tone in his voice. ''Listen, I wouldn't be suprised if the Union is after you, Hamilton. Especially after you raided their freighter, and stole their aethirium.  Please, be careful.''

''Don't worry.'' The captain said with a weak smile, and slapped his hand on Smith's shoulder. ''The Shepherd is more than capable of defending herself.''

Smith sighed. ''I know, I know. Just watch your back, Hamilton. Times are changing.''

The captain nodded, after a final farewell, he followed Marshall to the Space Shepherd. After a few minutes, they activated the ships hover engines. The roaring engines blew clouds of dust and sand from the desert floor, and the ship took off.