*Eight Months Ago:* [[Aiden Harlan|Aiden]]- “Here’s to not being owned by BioTech for the next twenty years!” You raise your glass in response to [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]]’s toast. “Here, here,” you say, and take a drink. It’s a quiet Wednesday night at Giovanni’s. [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]] brought you here straight after the end of the post-trial press conference to celebrate, and to discuss your next adventure. “You need to buy [[Dirk Yang|Dirk]] some of that ghastly [[Foxglove]] scotch for me.” [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]] shrugs. “You can do it yourself. Kiko has stopped taking my calls. Time to take matters into our own hands.” You were both holding out hope the [[Whistler Defense Force|WDF]] would do the right thing on [[Grove]], but it doesn’t sound like it’s going to happen. “You can take [[IBI Your Mother Was A Hamster|Hamster]]. Go get [[Cara Burton|Cara]] and [[Roland Denhardt|Roland]] out of there.” “I’m going to need more of a crew than that.” “Indeed. [[Tomoe Gozen|Tomoe]]’s already volunteered, she’ll give you some legitimacy on the ground. That means you’ll have [[Julian Felix|Julian]]. [[Dirk Yang|Dirk]] will come too, along with [[Din Strata]], who’s being wasted on one of our ice runners.” “[[Din Strata|Din]]’s a great gumshoe, but we probably need a heavier hitter if [[Cara Burton|Cara]]’s on the run down there.” “Yes, well. You remember that lass from [[Whistler Bureau of Internal Affairs|the Bureau]] who was trying to pin arming the GLA on me?” “Sure, Lady Sherlock. She had you in a panic. What was her name?” “Triggs. Well, [[Whistler Bureau of Internal Affairs|the Bureau]] recently cut her loose for speaking truth to power. [[Harvey Detweiler|Harvey]]’s having dinner with her right now on Eriksson.” You do the mental math. “If you add [[Cara Burton|Cara]], [[Roland Denhardt|Roland]], and maybe a few stray Marines to that, you’ve got a helluva crew for a free trader. Couldn’t ask for better.” [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]] smiles over his drink. “You’re tired of being in a lab anyway, aren’t you?” “To be honest, I really am.” A wave of melancholy comes over you and you can’t help but sigh at your friend of nearly thirty years. “Wish we could do it together.” “Me too…but I…I simply cannot fly anymore. The doctor…” “Yeah, [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]]. I know. I’m a lot smarter than your quack doctor.” You sit in silence for a few minutes while your server clears the table and deposits a carafe of coffee and two small mugs. After you’ve poured the coffee, and after [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]] adds bourbon to it from his flask, you try to get to the point. “You don’t need seventy million to make [[IBI Your Mother Was A Hamster|Hamster]] profitable.” [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]] leans back in his chair and grins. “No, I do not.” “So….” “A different venture. A leap of faith. What [[Indomitable Bastards Inc.|IBI]] was really put together for.” He taps a few buttons on his slate and swipes a document over to yours. You’re expecting to see a business plan, but instead it’s just a simple pro-forma for what appears to be an operating carrier. Moderate cargo hauling and some VIP staterooms. Good flexibility from a sales standpoint but very high operating maintenance costs. You laugh at the joke. “You shouldn’t do this stuff yourself, [[Jack Cartwright|Jack]], that’s why you have [[Harvey Detweiler|Harvey]]. You’ll never get these sorts of rates. These are ‘with escort’-grade security rates. [[IBI Your Mother Was A Hamster|Hamster]] doesn’t have those kinds of teeth for escorting a converted hauler. And speaking of…there’s no mortgage. My kitty plus everything you own can barely pay for the shuttle for this thing, much less the spaceframe. You inheriting a freighter from a rich auntie? Getting back together with [[Charity Cartwright|Charity]]?” He grins and shakes his head. “This is the part I need the leap of faith on. But the numbers are correct.” “You’re not going to tell me?” “Not yet, no. I have a secret, and it will remain as such until it doesn’t need to be a secret anymore. And if anything happens to me between now and then, it’ll be your secret, as my partner in the endeavor.” “You’re serious?” He nods. “Who are the other investors?” “Most of the money is coming from you and I. I expect some of your crew to want to invest. And I intend to gift [[Cara Burton|Cara]], [[Dirk Yang|Dirk]], and [[Tomoe Gozen|Tomoe]] half-shares as part of their contract. That should be enough.” “No debt?” “Not if everything goes to plan.” “You’re really not going to tell me?” “Nope. Want another drink?”