That was it: negotiated, signed, sealed. It felt good, it felt fantastic. She was out here in the great void and already carving a path for herself! The crew hadn’t believed her when she told them, the thirty of them ragged and grimy from keeping Future’s Bounty space-worthy. Shit, she’d pinched herself once or twice in the hours since. He had strode into the dock all ochre and olive, a Matari shoulder cloak flowing behind him, said he had looked her up, and that he was interested in making her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Initially of course she was sceptical, even if he was a capsuleer. But he had been one hundred percent accurate; how could she refuse being offered the financial backing to form her own company! CEO Thedoline. At the age of 20.

The shuttles swooped past the huge viewport, to cheers and encouragement from the onlookers. Sara swilled her drink, a tall concoction that was bubbling even at room temperature, the most expensive thing the bar served. No less than extravagance for tonight. The criticisims of Jenna, first mate on the Bounty replayed through her mind:

“And what of this mystery destination, says he doesn’t yet know himself does he? That’s bull. Nobody pays first timers like us 10 million a pop to lug their wares to a secret location. They go through channels they trust. What if its contraband, do we even get a veto on what we haul through say, Amarr territory!? With their smuggling laws – no way, Sara, too good to be true.”

A slight frown crossed her brow; Jenna could step above her station on occasion.

“Ahh, better luck next time I guess – your money was on the Guristas pilot, yah?”

Revived from thought, Sara took her headpiece off to let brown curls tumble to her shoulders before turning – the voices owner was a tall and dark Brutor, a little too confident in himself, too.

“I’m actually just having a quiet drink... in celebration” she concluded modestly.

“Hey, same here. Just won myself a bomb on the Intaki first past the post, how about we commemorate the evening together, in style?”

Sara looked him up and down, he wasn’t backing off under scrutiny - a good quality. She shrugged, draining the glass that cost a factory worker half a year in wages. Jenna’s niggling doubt be damned, she had reason to celebrate and no one was going to get hurt if she spent tonight doing exactly that. Well... maybe this guy... and just a little.