[tshiggins]

(...continued)

While Henrietta and Doc Bascher learned about the local economy, Frank Moses decided to find out what he could about local law enforcement and any milita the company might have. After asking around a bit, the former Utah State Trooper made his way to the tavern where most of the local law officers hung out.

The cops inside knew who Frank was and welcomed his overtures cautiously. They thanked him for helping with the scythe trees, as a successful infestation of the monstrous plants would have made their jobs much more difficult.

Frank asked about that and, after a few rounds of the local libations, the men loosened up a bit. Frank learned the men were mostly locals who had taken on full-time positions as corporate security for the Nieuw Haarlem Company, and were charged with maintaining order in the area.

They did that with a very shallow hierarchy that reminded Frank somewhat of how the Texas Rangers operated in the through the early 20th Century, on his world. The territory claimed by the Nieuw Haarlem Company was divided into regions, and airships such as the Florin ferried the specialists around to different settlements, at random.

Chronically understaffed, the specialists were expected to exercise the initiative needed to maintain order in the area – by whatever means necessary. The vast distances meant the security personnel couldn’t expect backup, any time soon, and were forced to adopt a “One riot, One Ranger,” type of approach.

The need to operate autonomously meant the corporate security specialists enjoyed considerable leeway in how they accomplished their tasks. Basically, they explained, as long as they maintained the order needed for a stable business environment, the company didn’t care how they accomplished it – so long as they didn’t create more problems than they solved.

In the discussion of said practices, the talk eventually turned to the type of equipment used by the security team. Frank learned that most of them supplied their own weapons and equipment, although the company provided funds for maintenance and ammunition.

Most of the men had reliable revolvers and slung 12-gauge shotguns. The company didn’t provide rifles, the men said, because those were more expensive and careless use of them threatened the integrity of the lifting-gas bladders.

This sometimes put them at a disadvantage against area criminals, they said, but the specialists frequently found ways to deal with the problem. Interested, Frank asked how purchasing worked, and learned that the local Security Chief, Dael van der Berg, exercised some purchasing authority, but any large line-items needed to go back to Nieuw Haarlem for approval.

Frank soon discovered the location of van der Berg’s office, swung by the Paradise to pick up Jimmy Ehrland, and the two made their way to the security office.

There, they quickly made van der Berg’s acquaintance (he also knew them by reputation) and Frank told him about the conversation with his men. Given what he’d learned, Frank asked, would van der Berg have any interest in a couple dozen lever-action carbines taking up space and weight on the Paradise?

The head of security asked to see one, and Frank produced one of the carbines the rest of the group had taken from the bodies of the U.S. Cavalry troop they’d slaughtered. Van der Berg took the weapon outside to the edge of the platform, fired a full magazine and asked some technical questions.

Pleased at the relative simplicity of the weapon, van der Berg asked how many rounds Frank had available. The former state trooper said he could provide 50 cartridges per rifle (the cavalry troop was well-supplied, as the patrol was expected to last a couple of weeks), and Jimmy stepped in to dicker over the price.

Eventually, local head of security agreed to $500 per rifle with the 50 rounds each – more than twice what Frank expected. Jimmy (who had the Merchant skill, which is why Frank brought the native of the 1919 world along) guessed that the metal required for the rifles made them more valuable, in and of itself, as did the brass casings.

Frank said that made a lot of sense, and guessed that the shotguns used by the security specialists probably even used shells with cardboard casings. Brass cartridges would prove a lot more reliable in inclement weather (it did rain a fair amount, in this realm…) and give van der Berg’s men a solid advantage.

Van der Berg wrote out a requisition for the group to cash in at the company bank in Nieuw Haarlem, and sent some of his men along with Frank and Jimmy to take possession of the carbines. Frank and Jimmy handed them over, promptly, and the pleased security officers took them away.

While the rest of the group was wheeling and dealing, and learning about orchard-farming in the orbital realm, Capt. Adriaan van Hoek decided to pay A.J. a visit.

The commander of the Groeningen gave a friendly greeting and asked about the progress of the repairs. After a bit of chit-chat, he got to the point.

Van Hoek said he had another errand in the area and might want some backup. Apparently, a settlement of what he called “poachers” on the edge of Nieuw Haarlem Company territory had started to provide contraband goods – including the fuel and lifting gas declared as company monopolies.

Van Hoek said that, while some poaching didn’t require much of a response, any violation of the company monopolies required harsh object lessons. As such, he asked if the Paradise would like to come along and help minimize the number of those who managed to successfully flee.

Arthur carefully responded that he would need to consult with the rest of the group, but expressed skepticism that they would approve participation in the venture “this time.” After all, he explained, the Paradise had take much more damage than anybody had expected, and A.J. didn’t think the group was ready for another fight so soon.

Van Hoek replied that he understood, and noted that the members of the Red Rock Lodge had no contractual obligation to accompany him. However, the Groeningen’s captain said that any such extra effort would win them some friends with the Esagila Guardians who controlled Nieuw Amsterdam.

Once van Hoek had left, A.J. finished up a few things and then strolled over to the Florin and asked to speak with Capt. Gerry van Andel. Fortunately, the commander was present (not that Boomgard had very many places to go…) and readily agreed to see him.

A.J. relayed van Hoek’s offer and asked for more details. Van Andel shrugged and said this sort of “unpleasant errand” had to be done, now and then, and while the Florin wouldn’t participate in this attack, he and his crew had done so, in the past.

Arthur pressed van Andel for some details, which the Florin commander readily provided. He said the “poacher” settlements essentially sought to take advantage of the orderly environment provided by the company airships, but had no desire to play by the rules so the companies would have the resources needed to keep the area safe.

As long as the “free rider” poachers kept things low-key, and provided contraband that didn’t really interest the companies, anyway, van Andel said, the company limited actions to the occasional search of independent airships and confiscation of cargoes and currency.

However, when the poacher settlements infringed on a company’s core business, that required swift and harsh reprisal, usually by ships such as the Groeningen and her sister vessels. Generally, van Andel explained, the airships stood off and destroyed the settlement with heavy weapons, chased down any poacher vessels.

The escort dirigibles machine-gunned as many who tried to flee as possible, van Andel said, because “nits make lice” and other poachers needed to know to observe the limits set by the companies – both formal and informal.

Fortunately, van Andel explained, if a reprisal proved harsh enough, it could be many years before any company airship ever needed to perform such an action, again.

A.J. said the situation sounded risky enough that the crew of the Paradise would probably take a bye on this particular mission. Van Andel responded that it definitely went beyond the scope of the original agreement with the Nieuw Haarlem Company, and since they had no contractual obligations with the Nieuw Amsterdam Company, whatsoever, the group would face no ramifications for the refusal.

Arthur asked when the Florin planned to head back to Nieuw Haarlem, and said the Paradise would like to accompany her. Van Andel said they planned to depart in about 14 hours, and A.J. said his crew would be ready to go, by then.

With that, Arthur thanked van Andel for his time and made his way back to the Paradise. When the rest of the group returned later in the day, they expressed horror at the notion of wiping out an entire settlement of people – including children – in the name of defending anybody’s business model.

At that point, A.J. shifted to “Devil’s Advocate.” He noted that, by doing nothing, they’d condemn the poacher settlement to destruction and the many of the inhabitants to death. However, if they went along, they might be able to save some people.

Frank argued that the group didn’t know enough about the situation, since they’d just learned about it, and the Red Rocks Lodge utterly lacked the power needed to overcome the Groeningen. As such, they’d probably just get themselves killed if they tried to interfere and, if they didn’t, they’d be painted as mass-murderers on the side of the companies.

(continued...)