Funny Finding You Here

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt stopped walking, looking down at the girl. Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised, maybe he should have seen it coming, but as a three time champion he couldn't help but be slightly wounded about the comment, not that he showed it. "The Boonta Eva Classic, it's the galaxies biggest Pod-racing tournament. People come from all over to go and see it, happens every year."

He left out that his part in the race.

"Oh. We met on a Trade Station, funnily enough. She lost her job because of me, so I offered her a place to stay. A few stumbles along the way and now she lives with me full time." Kurt said recognizing the slight bit of awkward and shrugging. The tale was odd, but if he told all of it she might not even believe him. "And no, she's not here. She sometimes goes to run errands and such, I'm supposed to meet her on Bestine in a few days. I'll have dropped you off on Byblos by then, so no worries on intruding, besides, she wouldn't mind at all."

Kaile was too kind to think anyone was intruding upon her.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Oh! Pod-racing. I've seen some holovids of those before. That's like those super fast one-person speeders that race around a track that almost everyone cheats at! Yea, I've seen those!"

She remembered that quite often people put large wagers on these races. Gambling was prominent no matter what part of the galaxy you were on, Naboo was really no different. She felt proud of herself for knowing at least something about what Kurt was telling her. "If they were hosted there, did you ever race?" He seemed rather enthusiastic about it. Perhaps he just really liked watching them, or maybe he was one of the lucky few who actually got to take a chance on the races.

She was somewhat relieved that Kaile wasn't there. Even if she was as nice as Kurt claimed, she didn't want to impose herself on someone in such a surprising manner. "I see. Well, okay then. If you're sure."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Yep." He said as they walked up to the underside of The Messa. He reached up and pressed a small panel, the small bit of red metal retracting to reveal screen. Kurt put in a code, the ship letting out a loud hiss as the ramp slowly began to lower to the ground.

The Messa wasn't a very large ship, in fact for a freighter it was actually rather small.

However, the ship was large enough to comfortably hold two people as well as enough cargo to make a significant profit moving the right thing. Of course for Kurt that hardly mattered, given that he usually delivered smaller more specialized packages. What he really liked about the ship was it's speed. The Messa was one of the fastest ships of its size, being capable of moving faster than most heavy fighters and outmaneuvering even some interceptors.

With a pilot like Kurt around, that was invaluable.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

That puzzled her. He was rather short about his answer and offered no further information about his time racing.

"How long were you a racer? And why did you quit? Don't racers tend to end up rather wealthy from their winnings?"

She stood by as Kurt lowered the ramp to the ship. To say it wasn't exciting to step foot into another ship would be a lie. She was practically giddy with excitement, though she tried not to show it. It was like a little surprise each time, finding out where everything was and how it was constructed.

Jamie continued her questions as they stepped up and into the vessel.

"Why give that up to run packages on the edges of space? It sounds like you had a pretty decent life going for you."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt shrugged.

"I was the champion three years running." He said it as though it wasn't a big deal at all, which in truth it really wasn't. Sure it had brought him fame and a bit of fortune on Tatooine, but outside that? Well he was barely ever recognized and hardly anyone knew him by name. It had been exciting then, but as he had gotten older those victories seemed like less and less of an accomplishment. He had been initially driven off Tatooine by a sense of adventure, of joy and fun, of youthful spirit. It had been fun then, and it wasn't something he regretted.

"I figured I'd go out on top." Kurt said as he waved Jamie into the ship, stepping onto the ramp right after she did. "No need to stick around and get beat when I was already the best."

That sounded egotistical, but it was true.

As the stepped into the Messa they would come into the cargo-hold. The space was quite larger, larger than one would expect, it was also mostly empty. On one side of the hold was a small workbench, on the other was a squared off section with some exercise equipment and apart from that the Hold was entirely empty, though it was clear that not too long ago there had been a few packages stacked in one of the corners.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I see." It sounded to her like he didn't much cherish his past glory. That was strange to her. She was proud to have been the best at what she did. She wasn't famous or anything, but it wasn't about the fame, really. She just wanted to be a grand sword fighter. The girl looked around the expansive hold, though it looked to be rather barren at the moment. "Was Naboo your final stop? Or are things just slow lately? There's not much to see in here." She wandered towards some of the workout equipment and inspected it. Staying in shape was something that was instilled on her at a young age. She hadn't had much of a say in it, so regardless of whether she enjoyed it or not, she worked out. Mostly cardio and endurance training. She had limited muscle mass, it wasn't about being powerful or overbearing, just quick, consistent, and flexible.

She propped herself up on one of the benches and looked back at Kurt.

"How long is the fight from here to Byblos? And, um, where do you want me to stay?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He did a short bit of math in his head.

"It'll take a day and a half to reach Byblos. The Mesa is fast, but hyperspace routes tend to slow us down." Unfortunately there was no direct flight path from here to Byblos, the hyperlanes didn't exactly take that route. It was a shame, they could have been to Byblos in a matter of hours if that had been the case. Either way, it wouldn't take all that long to get there. A day and a half traveling further into the core wasn't the worst thing.

"Naboo was the last stop this time around, I have some free time now." That was how the delivery service worked for Sif. You got a job, completed it, then picked up a new one when you felt like it. Obviously it paid to do more jobs more quickly and that was generally what Kurt did, but whenever Kaile went on one of her little trips he tended to take a few days off. It was more fun that way, and allowed for Kaile to have a little bit of lee-way in her comings and goings. "You'll be staying in my room."

That way Kaile wouldn't have to deal with a Stranger having slept in her bed, and he had his own plant for what little sleep he needed. "I'll grab one of the chairs in the cockpit."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"This might be a stupid question." Actually it was a stupid question, she just had no knowledge of starship piloting whatsoever. "But, why can't we just put in the coordinates and then go into hyperspace? There are lanes? Like traffic lanes?" That seemed odd to her, given the mind blowing size of the galaxy. "Oh, and I guess this shouldn't really come as a surprise but, I've never done the hyperspace thing before, so...Am I gonna get sick or something?"

Jamie gave him a rather blank stare when he offered to give her his room and bed, while sleeping in the cockpit.

"Really? Are you sure? That sounds kind of...Uncomfortable."

Sleeping in a small cockpit chair sounded not only uncomfortable but borderline impossible. She needed space, and would likely sleep on the floor before opting for a confined area like a chair.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Yep.

Sif would be good for her, no question.

"Hyperspace is basically just putting the ship on a b-line to whatever coordinates you put in." Kurt began to explain. "Now space is big, really really big, so most of the time that works out perfectly fine, but sometimes, like when you're traveling through the core, things get in the way. Planets, asteroids, all that. So you have to jump out of hyperspace, then drop out in order to readjust your course."

It was simple really, though he was more than willing to bet that most didn't know that.

"I'll be fine. I've slept in smaller cockpits." He insisted as he motioned for her to follow. He wanted her to at least get to know the ship a bit before they took off. He would avoid Kaile's room, however, figuring that it was best to leave that alone. Instead he lead her through the galley and towards his room, where she would be staying the night.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Ohhhhhh..." She said, drawing out the single syllable word for a moment with a nod of the head. "So you would basically just crash into a planet if you didn't do it this way. I get it now."

While she did understand that basic fundamental of hyperspace travel now, she still didn't quite understand why ships couldn't simply navigate around them. The technology didn't exist to navigate around planets and other space obstacles? Odd.

Jamie followed on cue along behind Kurt, observing the design and architecture of the ship. She had no idea of what manufacturer it came, it certainly wasn't from Theed's line of ships. It wasn't nearly shiny enough.

"Okay. If you're sure you don't mind. I mean you could jus-" She stopped herself mid sentence, not sure whether she ought to say it. It might give the wrong idea or something.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Not really." He explained further. "The gravitational pull of most objects would pull you out of hyperspace, but in doing so the ship would likely get torn apart by various forces. You wouldn't so much explode as...well get torn into a thousand little pieces."

He'd heard one or two of his friends dying over-comm like that, it wasn't pleasant.

When she kept speaking he stopped in his tracks, stalling in front of his door. "I could just?"

Kurt punched a small button on the side of the wall, the door in front of them slid open to reveal a decidedly sparse room. There wasn't much located in the tiny space, a small desk, a bed, a poster of Kurt himself standing in front of the Boonta Eve Arena and a model of a pod racer that sat on a small nightsand besides his bed.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Her lips folded inward. "I guess I didn't get it." She sighed. "This space stuff is complicated." If she wasn't nervous about piloting a ship before, she certainly was now. She didn't want to be torn apart by the gravitational pull of a planet at all. Not even a little. "So are there like, maps to follow then? Or how does one learn how to travel through hyperspace without potentially dying every single time?"

The moment Kurt stopped she was ill prepared and bumped straight into him, somewhat startling herself. "Oh! Sorry! Umm." The longer it took for her to consider the right way to say what she had started the faster her face changed color from a palish white to a rosy red.

"I just was saying, um, it's your room after all. I can like, share the space, you know? The bed...Rather than sleeping in a chair. More comfortable and all."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Well that was certainly amusing.

"Yes there are maps, starcharts and such. There's a few companies that actually deal with just navigation. I know that Arceneau Trade has been trying to create a new hyerplane for some time. Hyperlanes are essentially paths through hyperspace that are straight and clear shots through several star systems. Those are generally used as shipping lanes and the like." Also for invasions, but he decided not to mention that since the girls face was already burning a shade of red that could have been mistaken for the sun.

"No, that's fine really." He said, knowing full well that would happen with himself if left in a bed with a woman. "Unless you really want."

His tone was joking, the over enthused waggling of his eyebrows clearly displaying that.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Immediately her head shifted towards the ground. It felt as though her face was on fire. Touching it right then might very well cause second degree burns. "I....Uh..." She had no idea what to say to that. She coughed.

"That's not what I meant at all. There's just no sense in sleeping in a two by two seat when the room here and bed provided is clearly big enough for two people."

Without waiting for a response she stepped inside and began looking around at the various items in the room, keeping her back turned to Kurt as she meandered about. She lifted the small pod-racer from its' resting place and examined it for a long moment. Pointing to the wall, though keeping her face forward she mentioned the poster. "Is that from your win?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He smirked, though didn't say anything to the first part. "It was an advertisement for my third, and last championship race."

Kurt had been quite proud of that. He was younger in the poster of course, only seventeen, but much of the same features held true in the photo of him. He stood confident, tall, his hair a shaggy mess. There was a scar around his neck and a pair of goggles on his head, no sign of a helmet anywhere to be found. The pod-racer in Jamie's hands was the same one featured in the poster, it's oddly sleek body seeming slightly off for Tatooine, too futuristic in its appearance.

"They were all over Mos Eisley before the race." Kaile had managed to buy an old one off the holo-market after his old ship had been destroyed over Contruum. The gift had meant a lot to him, reminding him of his victories back on Tatooine. "They made another kind after I won, but I don't have one of those."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie promptly put the model back down on his desk, careful not to drop it or damage it. Don't touch things, dummy.

"It's really very nice. It's good to have a memento of your accomplishments to carry with you. Helps keep things in perspective when everything feels like its' gone to hell."

Her right hand caught her opposite arm as she turned back around. She cracked a small smile and walked back over towards both Kurt and the entryway to the room. "Good memories should be cherished. My dad told me quite often when I was little that life isn't nearly long enough, so try and make most of it worth remembering." She took another look around the room. It felt lonely to her. The overwhelming vastness of space, and all he had to remind himself of his life before this was a model and a poster. Then again, she had even less now. If she wasn't so determined to make something of herself that both her and her family would be proud of she would have asked him to take her back home instead. Rather than that, she grabbed his hand and stepped back out into the corridor.

"You gonna show me the rest of this place?"

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

He agreed on the memories.

Thats why he had the model after all.

Some would consider it a silly hobby, but it was a way for Kurt to cling to the good times that he had had on Tatooine. It helped that ATC still produced a massive like of Model kits that were based on all the famous pod-racers, his own had been retired of course, stored in a legacy vault and not released on the market anymore. He had always felt that was a nice, respectful touch, one that he appreciated. Not all companies were as heartless as they were made out to be.

"Sure." He said turning around and walking out of the room. "There isn't much honestly, ship's not huge."

The Pilot took her on a rather short tour, showing her the galley, the small dining area, and pointing towards Kaile's room but not actually venturing towards it. Then he motioned her towards the cockpit, which interesting enough was actually on the second level of the ship.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Being that it was only the second time she'd ever been inside of a starship, there was plenty for her to see. It wasn't like she'd ever stood on the command deck of a star destroyer, or flown in a starfighter, so to her everything about the ship was wonderful. The size of it didn't matter so much as how it was constructed and laid out. "Are all the ships used by Sif designed the same? If I take on the job would it be this same type of ship?" The dining area was quaint, small but cute. Though something happened as she passed by Kaile's room. Jamie paused for a moment, raised her hand to her temple and rubbed her forehead. A dull pain came over her as she stood there, followed by an eerie feeling; Something unlike anything she'd felt before. It was almost alien.

Shaking it off she continued to follow Kurt towards the cockpit...

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Kurt thought for a moment.

"Dunno." He said honestly. "Sif used to be a different company, they had all kinds of ships back then."

He himself had flown and ancient VCX-820, one that had been destroyed over Contruum. That ship had been half his life, most of his things and belongings having been on it when it blew up. He still missed that ship from time to time, still ached to fly it. The Messa was a good replacement though, fast, beautiful, and designed to perfection. He supposed it was good enough, though the vessel certainly lacked that odd sort of appeal that the old VCX-820 had.

"Now their ships are all supplied by Vanir Technologies. They have a pretty big selection of ships, and they just give them to contractors that work for Sif. It's actually pretty neat, you lease the ships from them then as you work for them you slowly pay the ship off. Gives you a bit of freedom, the company advertises it's ships, and everyone's happy." Kurt liked the system anyway, finding that it rather suited his style.

Of course, that wasn't to mention his own ship he was building on Tatooine.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie nodded. "Do the contractors choose a ship then? Or are they just given whatever is available at the time they sign up?" She was nervous about being given something she wouldn't be able to pilot. That was problematic, given that she was going to learn a crash course on flying as she made her way to Byblos. Hopefully they were OK with teaching those with no experience. Perhaps she could shadow someone with more tenure for some time before going out on her own.

"How long will it take you to pay this thing off anyway?" She was curious to know if this ship was some kind of life burden, like purchasing a home, where you would spend the next twenty years paying off debt on a ship that would likely need to be replaced in 10.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]