On February 16th, a call comes over the radio on ROCK. The call is coming on the frequency that you set up with Jack before departing, and using the encryption that was set up between Jack's radio and the radio on PEBBLE (and later transferred to ROCK).
JACK: "I found a buyer willing to pay 1400 credits per ton, over and out."
Since you know that there is a slight risk that Serene might pick up on the transmission if you reply, and pinpoint it's location, Jack knows that you will probably not respond. Let me know if you decide you want to reply.
CHASE: Quietly goes over to Vamperina and Max and says, "Well, what we could do here is make sure that we mine our quota and if the amount is more than we currently getting then we use that surplus for the extra credits. What are your thoughts? I know its a bit risky."
GM: This can actually be discussed by everyone in the asteroid belt. I'll assume that you get together on ROCK the following day.
VAMPERINA: "It's not bad. Basically we could make Cr14,000 by loading up PEBBLE with 10 tons of ore and selling the ore through Jack's contact. The problem that I have is the risk. To do it, we would need to risk another trip to a location close to Circle City. We are talking about either a Cr4,000 or Cr8,000 profit, depending on how you look at it. In my opinion, neither amount is worth the risk. I would prefer to make our next trip to Circle City our last trip to Circle City. We land a couple thousand klicks away, hide PEBBLE, get into Circle City by some other means, get our imperial IDs, and then get out. It would probably mean that we would be there for a week or two, but it would be a single trip."
NOBODY: Eli points out that we could do as he had suggested earlier and simply stash the ore far away from the city. What Jack would then do is sell the coordinates of the stashes, probably at a slightly lesser profit, and the clients can go pick it up at their leisure, and we wouldn't have to land the Pebble anywhere near to Circle City. Also, that would allow us a chance to bring up significant amounts of water, to fuel the Rock, on the return trips.
SURGE: "Gaining 400 more credits per ton is better but it does involve more risk and effort on our part to realize. Given the importance of keeping ROCK and PEBBLE secret I'd suggest we simply turn ore over to Serene. If we want to load up ore to sell elsewhere openly, that might be a better solution. However, I think we'll need the credits sooner than later." |