Delivering a Doctor
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station
16 March YC 127
I took a seat and looked at Sister Alitura expectantly.
She composed herself and said, “We didn’t really learn anything interesting from Mr Azil, but we managed to locate the ship’s doctor. Can’t say that Sisters can take credit for it as we found her by way of ransom demand.”
I rubbed my forehead, “This doesn’t make sense. I understand there is someone who doesn’t want us to find The Damsel survivors, but in such case that someone wouldn’t ask for a ransom. They would just get rid of the witness.”
“I don’t have an explanation. It may be that there is more than one force in play here. Pirates and criminals might have heard about our interest in the former Damsel crew and try to capitalise on it. Anyway, we want the doctor alive and we are paying the ransom. You are to deliver the ransom and retrieve the doctor. Any questions?”
“Just one – what kind of trouble should I expect?”
Alitura shook her head wearily, “I don’t know. If you are asking about risks and my gut feeling, be prepared for a double-cross. I don’t have a rational explanation, but this whole venture stinks.”
I nodded, “Good to know. Thank you.”
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Mission location
I loaded the ransom and warped to the rendezvous point which was dominated by remains of a star base. I approached the container identified as Dead Drop by Neocom, and placed the money into it.
“What’s next?” asked Aura.
“Don’t know,” I replied. “The kidnappers did not provide further instructions. Let’s wait.”
At that moment two red triangles appeared on my overview – Coreli Spy and Coreli Agent frigates – and a female voice said in the local channel, “Look, Kestel, that worked out well. I didn’t expect anyone to pay that much money for a doctor.”
A raspy male voice replied, “You know what I think, Vessa? I think if they are ready to pay that much, they are probably ready to pay even more. I think we have underestimated the doctor. I think we shall keep the doctor, shall keep the money, and shall ask for more. And while we are waiting, we shall kill the egger.”
“Ha-ha-ha,” I laughed and applauded, doing my best to produce loud claps in the pod goo. “It was a brilliant plan all the way to the last part. How do you propose to kill a destroyer with two puny frigates in your wing?”
“How? Let me tell you a secret, brother,” replied the male in a confidential tone, “everyone dies if you shoot at them long enough.”
“Says a guy in a Navitas,” I snorted. “Alright, cowboy, you’ve got one minute before I get bored and start shooting back,” I said and started a timer.
The frigates immediately attacked Kaukokärki. I don’t know what kind of targeting system the pirates had, but in 60 seconds they managed to hit me only four times for the grand total of 14 hit points! I felt I could enjoy that circus indefinitely but a promise was a promise. When the minute had expired, I targeted the pirates and finished both of them in 15 seconds.
“See,” I told the expanding cloud of debris, “sometimes you don’t even need to shoot that long.”
Four more Serpentis pirates warped in. Apparently, at some point the original perpetrators came to a conclusion that they tried to bite off more than they could chew, and decided to share the ransom with their comrades in exchange for support. The plan might have worked if they didn’t bring a knife to a gunfight – the newcomers flew the same unimpressive Coreli Spies and Agents. The outcome of the battle was the same with the only difference being that I had to spend 30 seconds instead of 15 to finish it.
When the last of the pirate ships was destroyed, Aura asked me anxiously, “But where is the doctor?”
“No idea,” I replied. “I just hope she was not on board of one of those Coreli frigates.”
“Neocom says there are signs of life in one of the wrecks. We better check it.”
I turned on the MWD and in a few seconds reached the wreck. It contained just one object identified as Dr Luija Elban, and it was not a corpse! With a sigh of relief I dragged Dr Elban into the cargo hold and warped back to the Sisters of Eve Bureau.
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station
“How is she?” I asked Sister Alitura.
Dr Elban was transported to the station hospital as soon as I docked, and I had no idea what state she was in.
“The doctor was wearing an EVA suit, so no hypoxia. But she did suffer a severe concussion caused by the explosion. You should have negotiated her release before shooting at them,” Alitura replied with a reproach in her voice.
“The time for negotiation was over as soon as they started shooting at me, but I gave them a minute to change their mind.”
“And?”
I shrugged my shoulders, “They kept shooting.”
“I see. By the way, since the pirates breached the condition of Dr Elban’s release, we are not obliged to give them the ransom anymore. Have you brought it back?”
I made round eyes, “Of course not! I was too busy saving the doctor’s life. But don’t tell me that I have to fly back and collect it – it was not in my mission brief.”
Alitura pursed her lips, “No, but I don’t like waste. Given the circumstances, this is an absolutely unnecessary expense.”
“How much was it anyway?” I asked with a mild interest.
The agent told me the sum. My jaw dropped.
“ISK?” I asked incredulously.
“No, ISK is a cryptocurrency and has no physical tokens. The pirates wanted cash. It’s laurons, the local currency on Laurvier IX planet.”
“And what’s the exchange rate to ISK?”
Alitura told me the figure.
I rolled my eyes, “Sister, please. Why didn’t you tell me straight away? Just subtract it from my mission reward and let’s forget about it.”
The agent stared at me for a while, then typed something on her datapad and pushed it to me.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Your consent to reducing your mission reward.”
I shrugged my shoulders and touched the sensor.
“What’s next?”
“That will be all for today, Captain Korff,” replied mollified Alitura. “We have to wait until Dr Elban recovers and I can talk to her about The Damsel.”
That made sense. I bid the agent good-bye and went out in search of a hotel where I could stay for the night.