Around comets in the Koornacht Cluster, Monday morning [FT]
Most jobs in class-three comet mining were hazardous, but nothing compared to the ridiculously dangerous lot of the dustdiver. Warmed by their sun, the porous piles of ash and snow developed crevices for hardy souls to enter, swimming in minimal gravity through volatile conditions that would have confounded a droid. But the very warmth that opened the comets' passages also started a countdown to their destruction. This made - for good reason - dustdiving one of the highest-paying jobs in the Core Worlds.
Except, of course, when the dustdivers were slaves.
Aboard the Sungrazer, a massive mining ship, a reptillian humanoid Koorivar named Sariyah Budan was receiving a report of the collapse of a comet rich in valuable minerals from one of her underlings.
"Deploy all teams aboard Sungrazer to the surface," Sariyah commanded once the report was done. "Divers we've got more of. But there aren't many comets like that!"
"You just saw what happened!" an equine humanoid Nazzar called out. "You can't mean to send us all down there!"
"We've got a quota," Sariyah argued. "And hours before eruptions destroy the whole crop. Thorlide crystals are too fragile. The comet wakes up, or we blast for them, and they crumble to nothing. We've got to find them first where they are. And that requires people like you... whatever your name is."
"It's Qohn. Like you care," the Nazzar spat. "Everyone you send out there dies! This is the Republic! This is a business! There are rules! Why don't the Jedi put a stop to this?"
"The Jedi ran off to fight the Mandalorians, dustdiver. No one will help you now. But tell your people this," Sariyah said. "Work fast, and you might make it to another season. And I won't have to pay to replace you all so soon!"
After listening to all of this, Zayne and Jarael burst into the room, wearing disguises. "We don't think you're paying enough as it is, Sariyah Budan. And that changes now!" Zayne said, holding a blaster up to show that he meant business. Actually, the whole outfit gave that impression, from the leather vest to the black pants and most especially to the blue Crucible tattoos Jarael painted on his face and arms. The fact that Jarael was behind him, also dressed the part and holding a shockstaff, didn't hurt matters. "Our slaves are no longer available at the old prices."
"The Crucible wants more, Koorivar," Jarael warned. "And we're here to take it!"
"We... weren't expecting you today, traders," Sariyah said. "We didn't summon for more divers yet. Our harvest is only beginning."
"Then you'll be calling for more soon," Jarael said, pushing Qohn's head up by the chin to inspect the merchandise. "Once this last batch... what's your term here? Rides the dust. Well, the price for the next shipment has gone up. And we're here to claim part in advance."
Stepping away from Qohn and looking out a viewport toward the docked Hot Prospect, Jarael continued the ruse. "We know your Sungrazer Cooperative won't have cash until the crystals are mined and sold, so we've cut out the middleman. We've brought our own mining ship, to claim part of the harvest ourselves."
"No!" Sariyah cried. "That's our profit for the season!"
"We've got our own problems. You've got a whole fleet of collection ships here. One more won't hurt," Jarael said. "Or we could always just turn and leave. And next season, lady, you can go on the dives yourself!"
"Fine," Sariyah snarled. "Alert your crew, trader. We have a cabin near the ready room where you can wait for the harvest."
"I know the way," Jarael said, starting to head off the bridge. She called back to Zayne, "Follow me below, kid. You can see what becomes of our rejects."
*****
Once they had a little bit of privacy, Zayne called in to the Hot Prospect. "Hot Prospect is in position, Zayne," Gryph confirmed. "And Slyssk has figured out how to work the particle attractor. We collect our crystals and leave, quick and clean. And it's thanks to you, partner! I'm even prouder that you thought of it! You're really contributing to the business! How'd you found out about this deal anyway?"
"Oh," Zayne said. "Jarael stumbled across something about it somewhere. We'll, um, come back across after you've collected the crystals."
"You'd better. You promised quick and clean, partner. No crazy stuff this time!" Gryph reminded him.
Zayne took a moment after the signal cut out before saying, "I don't like lying to him."
"Gryph lies for a living, Zayne," Jarael said. "You don't like my lying to him. But if he knew we were really here to bankrupt my old slaver gang, he'd strand us here with no way home... wherever that is."
"Well, this is a good start. We can save a few slaves and wreck the Crucible's relationship with another customer," Zayne said. And then, a little more uncomfortably, "That... was a good show you put on back there, Jarael."
"I've been here before. Once. As an assistant doing delivery duty, for real," Jarael said. "It's when I learned the Crucible wasn't freeing the slaves that fared poorly in combat training. It was shipping them off to die. For a profit." She sighed. "When your sources said this co-op was still operating, I knew it would be a place to look. Now I've looked. Let's do this and go."
Zayne made his way over to the turbolift and pressed the button. "You find a survey shuttle. I'll find the slaves. You said they kept eight or ten slaves here. A tight fit, but we'll manage," Zayne said. "We'll explain to Gryph somehow when we link up. Maybe we'll say it's an inside joke... like my makeup!"
And then the elevator door opened, revealing Qohn. "Oh!" Zayne said, surprised. Qohn was a little shocked, too, when Zayne got on the lift and started riding down with him. "Umm. They let you move about?"
"Where am I going to go?" Qohn asked. "All part of Qohn's great privileged position. I've survived the longest. I'm the intermediary for the doomed by default. The Koorivar sure couldn't tell us what to expect down there. Not from watching on their monitors."
"How many divers are there?" Zayne asked as the doors started to open after the lift pulled to a stop.
"Checking the inventory, slaver?" Qohn asked. "Well, you won't have to wait long. We're diving at a pace you'd like. There were more of us before you got here this morning. Now we number eighty."
"Eighty?" Zayne asked, looking at the slaves preparing to head out in horror. "I... I thought there were only eight or ten slaves here at a time!"
"Years ago, maybe," Qohn said. "Not now. This is a big business, built on our corpses." Qohn shook his head. "Why should you care how many of us there are? They way that comet's warming, we'll all be gone soon. You can haul your crystals home and bring back more slaves in the same ship!"
"How many dives have you made?" Zayne asked.
"Five. I'm told it's a record. My word is 'miracle,'" Qohn said. "We don't even get propellant. We land, we clamber around, we climb, and we push off. When we find crystals, they disperse the layer safely and scoop them up from the effluence. The cystals, they take care of. Sometimes we die just waiting to be picked up! Even the sensor pods aren't really for our safety. They help the Koorivar keep tabs on us. If we get out of line or off schedule, they send a shock through our suits!"
Qohn finished putting on his space suit and started toward the air lock. "This is the big one, slaver. We're all going out. Let's see if I can make it to six...."
After a moment, Zayne heard Jarael's voice come over the comm. "Zayne, are you there? They know we're not with the Crucible. Our escape is ruined! And worse!"
"It's just as well," Zayne replied. "Change of plans down here, too. But I have an idea...."
[OOC: From The Reaping Part 1 by John Jackson Miller and Bong Dazo. Just as a warning, while this story is just a couple of posts plus an epilogue, the posts are pretty wordy. Moreso than usual.]
Except, of course, when the dustdivers were slaves.
Aboard the Sungrazer, a massive mining ship, a reptillian humanoid Koorivar named Sariyah Budan was receiving a report of the collapse of a comet rich in valuable minerals from one of her underlings.
"Deploy all teams aboard Sungrazer to the surface," Sariyah commanded once the report was done. "Divers we've got more of. But there aren't many comets like that!"
"You just saw what happened!" an equine humanoid Nazzar called out. "You can't mean to send us all down there!"
"We've got a quota," Sariyah argued. "And hours before eruptions destroy the whole crop. Thorlide crystals are too fragile. The comet wakes up, or we blast for them, and they crumble to nothing. We've got to find them first where they are. And that requires people like you... whatever your name is."
"It's Qohn. Like you care," the Nazzar spat. "Everyone you send out there dies! This is the Republic! This is a business! There are rules! Why don't the Jedi put a stop to this?"
"The Jedi ran off to fight the Mandalorians, dustdiver. No one will help you now. But tell your people this," Sariyah said. "Work fast, and you might make it to another season. And I won't have to pay to replace you all so soon!"
After listening to all of this, Zayne and Jarael burst into the room, wearing disguises. "We don't think you're paying enough as it is, Sariyah Budan. And that changes now!" Zayne said, holding a blaster up to show that he meant business. Actually, the whole outfit gave that impression, from the leather vest to the black pants and most especially to the blue Crucible tattoos Jarael painted on his face and arms. The fact that Jarael was behind him, also dressed the part and holding a shockstaff, didn't hurt matters. "Our slaves are no longer available at the old prices."
"The Crucible wants more, Koorivar," Jarael warned. "And we're here to take it!"
"We... weren't expecting you today, traders," Sariyah said. "We didn't summon for more divers yet. Our harvest is only beginning."
"Then you'll be calling for more soon," Jarael said, pushing Qohn's head up by the chin to inspect the merchandise. "Once this last batch... what's your term here? Rides the dust. Well, the price for the next shipment has gone up. And we're here to claim part in advance."
Stepping away from Qohn and looking out a viewport toward the docked Hot Prospect, Jarael continued the ruse. "We know your Sungrazer Cooperative won't have cash until the crystals are mined and sold, so we've cut out the middleman. We've brought our own mining ship, to claim part of the harvest ourselves."
"No!" Sariyah cried. "That's our profit for the season!"
"We've got our own problems. You've got a whole fleet of collection ships here. One more won't hurt," Jarael said. "Or we could always just turn and leave. And next season, lady, you can go on the dives yourself!"
"Fine," Sariyah snarled. "Alert your crew, trader. We have a cabin near the ready room where you can wait for the harvest."
"I know the way," Jarael said, starting to head off the bridge. She called back to Zayne, "Follow me below, kid. You can see what becomes of our rejects."
*****
Once they had a little bit of privacy, Zayne called in to the Hot Prospect. "Hot Prospect is in position, Zayne," Gryph confirmed. "And Slyssk has figured out how to work the particle attractor. We collect our crystals and leave, quick and clean. And it's thanks to you, partner! I'm even prouder that you thought of it! You're really contributing to the business! How'd you found out about this deal anyway?"
"Oh," Zayne said. "Jarael stumbled across something about it somewhere. We'll, um, come back across after you've collected the crystals."
"You'd better. You promised quick and clean, partner. No crazy stuff this time!" Gryph reminded him.
Zayne took a moment after the signal cut out before saying, "I don't like lying to him."
"Gryph lies for a living, Zayne," Jarael said. "You don't like my lying to him. But if he knew we were really here to bankrupt my old slaver gang, he'd strand us here with no way home... wherever that is."
"Well, this is a good start. We can save a few slaves and wreck the Crucible's relationship with another customer," Zayne said. And then, a little more uncomfortably, "That... was a good show you put on back there, Jarael."
"I've been here before. Once. As an assistant doing delivery duty, for real," Jarael said. "It's when I learned the Crucible wasn't freeing the slaves that fared poorly in combat training. It was shipping them off to die. For a profit." She sighed. "When your sources said this co-op was still operating, I knew it would be a place to look. Now I've looked. Let's do this and go."
Zayne made his way over to the turbolift and pressed the button. "You find a survey shuttle. I'll find the slaves. You said they kept eight or ten slaves here. A tight fit, but we'll manage," Zayne said. "We'll explain to Gryph somehow when we link up. Maybe we'll say it's an inside joke... like my makeup!"
And then the elevator door opened, revealing Qohn. "Oh!" Zayne said, surprised. Qohn was a little shocked, too, when Zayne got on the lift and started riding down with him. "Umm. They let you move about?"
"Where am I going to go?" Qohn asked. "All part of Qohn's great privileged position. I've survived the longest. I'm the intermediary for the doomed by default. The Koorivar sure couldn't tell us what to expect down there. Not from watching on their monitors."
"How many divers are there?" Zayne asked as the doors started to open after the lift pulled to a stop.
"Checking the inventory, slaver?" Qohn asked. "Well, you won't have to wait long. We're diving at a pace you'd like. There were more of us before you got here this morning. Now we number eighty."
"Eighty?" Zayne asked, looking at the slaves preparing to head out in horror. "I... I thought there were only eight or ten slaves here at a time!"
"Years ago, maybe," Qohn said. "Not now. This is a big business, built on our corpses." Qohn shook his head. "Why should you care how many of us there are? They way that comet's warming, we'll all be gone soon. You can haul your crystals home and bring back more slaves in the same ship!"
"How many dives have you made?" Zayne asked.
"Five. I'm told it's a record. My word is 'miracle,'" Qohn said. "We don't even get propellant. We land, we clamber around, we climb, and we push off. When we find crystals, they disperse the layer safely and scoop them up from the effluence. The cystals, they take care of. Sometimes we die just waiting to be picked up! Even the sensor pods aren't really for our safety. They help the Koorivar keep tabs on us. If we get out of line or off schedule, they send a shock through our suits!"
Qohn finished putting on his space suit and started toward the air lock. "This is the big one, slaver. We're all going out. Let's see if I can make it to six...."
After a moment, Zayne heard Jarael's voice come over the comm. "Zayne, are you there? They know we're not with the Crucible. Our escape is ruined! And worse!"
"It's just as well," Zayne replied. "Change of plans down here, too. But I have an idea...."
[OOC: From The Reaping Part 1 by John Jackson Miller and Bong Dazo. Just as a warning, while this story is just a couple of posts plus an epilogue, the posts are pretty wordy. Moreso than usual.]