A New Beginning }{ Recruiting

[Lars Engström]

Osiris City, Osiris. DECEMBER 2522

Lars Engström was getting tired of being in one spot. He had posted ads on the cortex, but so far nothing had come of it. He was nonplussed by this fact. "How is it," he mused, as he checked his ads and saw no replies, "that I am here on one of the biggest gorram planets in the core, and there is no one looking for work?"
He sighed and returned to waiting. There had to someone who wanted to fly.

[Trace Kennet]

Trey paused, his curiosity aroused. He had been in the middle of his job searches when a new posting had been added.

Hornet Class Courier - Björn's Star
Seeking crew, including:
Pilot
Medic
Mechaninc
First Mate

He hadn't seen an ad for a pilot in weeks, and had almost decided to try to convince his father to buy him a ship. This could change things though, this could be his chance. He began to get excited as he responded to the ad. This was it, he thought, this was going to be the day it worked out for him. He was going to be free.

[Lars Engström]

As he waited for the man, Trace, to answer, Lars couldn't help but get excited. With any luck, he would be one step closer to getting off the planet.

[Trace Kennet]

Trace was startled by his screen suddenly flashing to an alert.

Incoming Wave
Lars Engström

Well that was fast, he thought. He began to get slightly nervous, he had never been contacted by the captain of a ship directly before. Well, he thought, the worst that can happen is he will say no.

Before he could second guess himself further, he reached out and hit the button on the alert that said Accept and got his first good look at the captain.

[Lars Engström]

Lars jumped a little as the screen changed suddenly to an image of a man, well if you could call him that, he was hardly a man. The youth in front of him was hardly 18, and not exactly what he had expected. He was half tempted to just end the conversation before it had started, but he restrained himself. That sort of thinking would land him with no pilot, and no prospects.
"Hello, Mr. Kennet," He said, "How can I help you?"

He sat back and waited to hear what the boy had to say. Hell, he thought, he cant be that much older than I was when i shipped out. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Remembering his own troubles in getting on a ship, he knew how frightening it could be to talk to a captain. Let's see how he does under pressure, Lars thought.

[Trace Kennet]

"Are you Captain Engström?" Trace asked, "Sir" He added as an after thought. This was hardly what he had expected the captain of a ship to look like. The man in front of him was young, he couldn't be more than 20 years old.
"If you are, then I guess what you can do for me is consider me as the pilot on your ship."
This was hardly the reception he had expected. All his fear began to drain away as he looked into the face of this man. He looked kind, and seemed to be smiling as he looked back at Trace.
"I may be young sir, but I'm an excellent pilot. you can ask anyone around." He wasn't lying, but it felt odd to brag like that. He had never had a problem with that before, it was something about this man, something in his eyes made it seem like he wasn't really interested in talk, or outward appearance, he was more interested in what was on the inside.

[Lars Engström]

Hah, thought Lars, he called me sir. This boy had manners, if nothing else.
"Please," he said, "call me Lars."
He listened as Trace told him that he wanted to be a pilot, and he was pleased to hear that Trace had some confidence in his abilities.
When Trace finished talking, Lars had made his decision.
"Well, you seem to be quite confident in yourself. I like that, but hows about we continue this chat in person. You make your way over to the docks and have a face to face chat with me here in my office? I am not likely to hire anyone without meeting him first."

This could be it, thought Lars for the hundredth time, I think He is quite the find.

[Trace Kennet]

"Ill be there in an hour, Sir- I mean Lars" he said remembering the captains request.
Wow, he thought as he powered off his screen, A real interview. His excitement was building as he grabbed his coat from his closet. I cant believe I am getting a real job interview.
"Mom," He called, "I'm going out!" and he was out the door without waiting for a reply.
It was quite pleasant outside, for December, and he felt more alive than ever as he flagged a taxi, and climbed in.
"To the docks please." he said to the driver and handed him the money for the trip.
Now there is only one problem, he thought as he rode through the city, how am I going to tell my mom.

[Lars Engström]

Well, thought Lars as he powered off his screen and looked about, that went well. Now to go about clearing this place up a little. He began to whistle as he went about tidying things up. He was fairly confident that Trace would make a fine addition to the crew.
He thought about hiring the boy, and then flying to another planet immediately. It was tempting for sure, but no, he stopped himself. It was idiotic to fly without a mechanic. And unless this pilot was also a whizz with a wrench, they would be humped if anything went wrong.

"Computer," he said, "Update the ads on the cortex, I think we have our pilot."

The computer beeped in acknowledgement, "Yes Captain"

Seating himself behind his desk, Lars propped his feet up and waited. Soon, he told himself, Soon. Things were starting to come together.

[Trace Kennet]

As he arrived at the docks, Trace began to look for the ship. This was much more difficult than he had expected. There were ships and people everywhere, and he felt extremely out of place. He hurried to a nearby docking register and scanned for the ship he wanted. There it was, The Björn's Star, and it was docked at pad A-23. he made his way over in that direction, and there she was. She wasn't a huge ship by any means, but she was good looking. He liked her. He walked over to the ship, and paused unsure of how to proceed.
"Well," he pondered aloud, "Where is the doorbell?"

[Lars Engström]

Lars was starting to get impatient. Where was that pilot? He should have been here by now. He was wondering whether he had made a poor character judgement, when it hit him.
"Gao yang jong duh goo yang" he cursed "I forgot to open the door."
He rushed out the door of his office and headed toward the Cargo bay, muttering as he went.
What a way to start off a meeting, locking the poor guy outside. He berated himself for being so careless, and was still mumbling when he arrived in the cargo bay. Crossing to the controls he punched the controls to open the door.
It opened slowly, and then he was face to face with a young man, who looked rather confused and was saying something about a doorbell.
"You're Trace, right?" he asked, as he held out his hand to shake.

[Trace Kennet]

Trace was taken by surprise when the door began to open. He jumped back, and promptly fell on his behind.
The captain was holding out his hand as if to shake, and asking if he was Trace.
"Yessir, I'm Trace." he muttered as he got to his feet and brushed himself off. He reached out and shook the Captains hand.
"Is this the right place?" he asked, flustered. "I mean, I, I'm here for the meeting. Sorry I'm late."
He waited, wondering what was going to happen next. The captain was not ha he had expected at all. He was tall, and handsome, but there was something about him he couldn't place. As he appraised the man, he noticed the sword at the captains side, why did he have a sword?

[Lars Engström]

Lars was amused by how flustered his acquaintance had become.
"Don't apologize for what isn't your fault," he said, "I forgot to open the door for you."
Now, thought Lars, this man is quite the character. I like him.
He spotted Trace Eying his sword. "Don't worry, I wont be needing that today." And he pulled his coat over the sword.
He's perceptive, thought Lars, that's good, very good.
"Tell you what," he said, "Unless you have a burning desire to stand outside all day, let's head up to my office. We can talk there."
He turned and began walking without waiting for a reply.

[Trace Kennet]

"That sounds good to me." Trace said, "Lead the way sir"
But the captain had already begun walking. Trace followed him, wondering what this man was thinking about. He followed the captain through the ship, and looked about him in wonder. This was unlike anything he had seen before. He could hardly contain his enthusiasm, this was what he had always dreamed of doing, and now it looked to be coming true.

He had to be on this ship, something just spoke to him. So, he thought, now I have to convince the captain to take me. This posed a problem, he had had little to no experience in convincing others, as most people had simply done what he asked them to do. He realized that his money meant nothing here, and he felt small. This was going to be a challenge. Fine, he thought, let it begin.

[Lars Engström]

Note: Conversation moved to captains office.