Happy Mani’s Day! Just a reminder this will be a week of fiction instead of the normal posts. Enjoy your holiday presents readers.

Story:

As he laid in Sarah’s arms he began to realize that for the first time he felt the creep of age.  She couldn’t be more than 20 years old but she was one of the most popular girls according to her profile on The Naked Gypsy’s roster.  Curious, Jeremiah had paid the extra fee for the ‘last call’ with her and found the experience more than enjoyable.  For someone so young, she definitely had some serious horizontal skills. It was just the fact she was so much younger than her that bothered him a little.

His age had really bothered him this year in retrospect,  He had noticed a small decline in reaction speed and dexterity and so he took to training on it using the pilot simulator, handgun practice as well as a little brawling and small blade work. That said in the end, it took a lot of work to maintain his reflexes and gain nothing at all.  He felt the same, but the fact is he should have been more for all the training he did, but nope- just the same.

This year he would have described as a wonderfully profitable and boring speculative trade route.  The Countess asked him to find more markets for her good being produced by her fiefs and he went and obliged her to the point she was very pleased.  Full bonus and it was the only part of the trip that wasn’t dull.  He couldn’t;t complain though as it gave him time to keep his body maintained and do some extra reading.  He was starting to gain the reputation of being a reliable Captain.

He credited a lot of that to the fact he would look at a person’s record before hiring them and looked for patterns of good solid work and knowledge.  He rarely took on a rookie as part of his crew but he would remember that Captain Juros would on occasion take on tramps like himself had been and he would take a chance on a youngster from time to time.

Sarah’s arms were wrapped around his neck and her body felt good against his. it wasn’t so long ago that he was that age, becoming a spacer for the first time.  As he looked at the future he knew this next term would probably be his last for the Free Trader service. He just wanted the base retirement and the opportunity to be his own shipowner.  He still needed a little more money.  But his own investments in many of the trades he had done was providing a lot of Megacredits toward that end.

He smiled.  It wouldn’t be long now.  For the moment though he turned his attention back to Sarah.  There was still one activity that made him feel young as when he had first joined and he had paid the extra fee for a lot of Sarah’s time. Time to get his money’s worth.

Megatraveler Notes:

Start:

Free Trader Captain Jeremiah Kilwood

Rank: O5 – Captain   Terms Served: 3

UPP: A67A84   Age: 33  Homeworld: Strouden UWP: A-745988-D N Hi In

Skills: Pilot – 2, Navigation – 2, Engineering – 1, Sensor Ops – 1, Legal – 1, Liaison- 2, Brawling-1, Carousing – 1, Small Blade-1, Trader-2, Turret Weapons-1, Streetwise – 1, Zero-G Combat-1, Handgun – 1, Grav Vehicle – 0, Computer – 0, Vacc Suit – 0

Brownie Points: 7, Bonus Money: 87,500 Cr.

Year Sixteen:

Roll for position availability: 8  + 1 for Intelligence = 9 – position available, serves as Captain.

Roll for assignment: 9 + 1 for Social 5- = 10 – Speculative Trade Assignment

Survival Roll: 11  – Survives easily.

Skill Roll: 7 – Skill acquired.

Bonus:  6 + 1 for Trader-2 – Bonus. Rolls – 6 – 25,000Cr

Roll for Skills: (1 for skill roll) – Rolls on Free Trader Life Table: 1 Physical Cascade – Picks Dexterity + 1

Aging Crisis:

Strength: rolls 9 – no loss; Dexterity rolls: 5 loses one point of Dexterity; Endurance: rolls 9 no loss.  Basically, the dexterity gained was lost due to aging.

End of Fourth Term: 

1 Brownie point for Term served, Reenlistment roll: 7 + 1 (1st Officer rank or better) – reenlists.

Year-End:

Free Trader Captain Jeremiah Kilwood

Rank: O5 – Captain   Terms Served: 4

UPP: A67A84   Age: 34  Homeworld: Strouden UWP: A-745988-D N Hi In

Skills: Pilot – 2, Navigation – 2, Engineering – 1, Sensor Ops – 1, Legal – 1, Liaison- 2, Brawling-1, Carousing – 1, Small Blade-1, Trader-2, Turret Weapons-1, Streetwise – 1, Zero-G Combat-1, Handgun – 1, Grav Vehicle – 0, Computer – 0, Vacc Suit – 0

Brownie Points: 8, Bonus Money: 112,500 Cr.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!