Ship Qualifications


    All members of any ship’s company must qualify on the specific ship they serve on before they can formally take on any guild related activity. This includes but is not limited to trading. Each ship has the right to set their own qualification requirements but they must contain safety and operational baseline procedures as outlined by the guild.


    Excerpted With Permission


    Data Trader’s Handbook


    Copyright 3250, Interstellar Data Trader Guild


    “Latency envelope in thirty minutes.”


    While nothing like a “normal” trading ship, life on the Theo had settled down a bit and the four traders were starting to fall into a working rhythm. It still felt odd to Leo that they were working across areas instead of being organized by specialty, but it seemed to be working for now. With Leo, Ramona and Ollu having the authority to make decisions for the ship this left Craig as a “special advisor,” a role he seemed to enjoy.


    Leo hadn’t even noticed when the ship had come out of FTL, he was too busy studying all of the stored applications for this system. Hopefully, no trader ships had been through recently and the candidates were still in system.


    “OK, I see three candidates I like here.” He flicked their jackets over to Ollu and Ramona to review. Craig just grunted and sipped his coffee. “Craig, do you have an opinion?”


    “Yeah, ignore all those scores and crap. You can’t tell if a trader has what it takes on paper, you have to meet them.”


    Ollu nodded. “Yeah, for ship drivers, you have the touch or you don’t.”


    Craig nodded like a wise old owl. “Exactly. Do you know the correlation between exam scores and lifetime scores?” All three traders shook their heads. “Look it up, it’s all in the data. It’s almost zero. None of the top fifty traders measured by lifetime score had an exam score in the top ten percent. None.”


    Leo shook his head. “How the fuck do you know that, Craig?”


    Craig just grinned.


    Ollu waved her pad at Leo. “Because he’s number thirty five.”


    “Thirty five what?”


    “He has the thirty fifth highest lifetime score of any data trader.” Leo just looked stunned. “Ever.”


    Craig chuckled. “Yeah, and my shit don’t stink either.”


    Leo shouldn’t have been surprised, after all, he knew that Craig’s lifetime score was massively large. Larger than he had ever seen personally. However, there had been literally millions of Data Traders over the hundreds of years of the Guild’s existence. Being in the top fifty of any category meant you had really excelled at your profession.


    “So, how do we evaluate them?”


    “Just invite them up and talk to them. Anyone who has passed the exam gets an interview. You never know.”


    As the Theo entered the latency envelope for Gamma Ligne, Leo released the safety locks and the system began to sync. As the system updated, it turned out that there were only four qualified candidates currently in system. Leo extended interview requests to all of them. What the hell, he thought, Craig might actually know what he’s talking about.


    Walking to the personnel lock, Leo did a quick check of his shipsuit. The new Theo patch looked good on his shoulder, he had to admit that Craig was a good artist and the new patch looked really sharp. Looking down, the master’s pips on his collar still seemed odd even though he’d been wearing them for a month now. While normally onboarding new apprentices was a Journeyman’s job, they had all agreed that Leo should take this first batch since he was going to be their boss.


    Waiting at the lock, he checked the time. He counted down the seconds. Three.. Two.. One…. The lock opened and three young men stepped out. They quickly lined up along the wall of the corridor, following Leo’s instructions. “Gentlemen, I am Master Trader Timur. Weren’t there supposed to be four of you?”


    The applicant on the end spoke up, “Yes, master trader.”


    “….and?”


    “I’m not sure, sir.”


    Just then, the door opened, and a fourth candidate appeared. He seemed more than slightly disheveled and looked at Leo with a panicked look on this face. “Sir, I am sorry, but my safety belt did not release correctly.”


    The candidate who had spoken before sniggered but quickly schooled his features when Leo glanced at him. Returning his gaze to the tardy candidate, Leo took note of a device in his hand. “That is strike one for you, candidate. Traders are always on time.”


    “Yes, sir.”


    “You will address me as Master Trader Timur.”


    “Yes, Master Trader Timur.”


    “The four of you, follow me.”


    Walking up the corridor, he made his way to the four conference rooms they had set aside for interviews. “Clarke, in here. James, here. Sloan, here. Wilson, you’re with me.” Wilson, the tardy candidate, followed Leo into the last conference room and Leo shut the door. “Sit down Wilson.”


    Walking over to the opposite side of the table, Leo reviewed the file on candidate Wilson for a moment. In a moment of honesty, he admitted to himself that he didn’t really know what questions to ask to figure out if this candidate would be a good trader or not. He had never interviewed anyone besides Craig and the didn’t think that interview should be a template for future discussions. Hopefully, this one wouldn’t end in violence, at least.


    Leo looked over at Wilson who was beginning to squirm in the face of Leo’s stony silence. “Wilson, why do you want to be a trader?”


    Wilson looked surprised by the seemingly simple question. “Uh, so I can get rich.” After a pause, he added hastily added. “uh, sir. I mean, uh, Master Trader Timur.”


    Leo had to chuckle. “Well, you’re honest at least. Tell me why you think you would be a good trader?”


    “Well, sir, I’ve always liked machines. When I was a boy, my da had to buy broken down machines at swap meets so that I could take them apart. Before that, I took apart my ma’s food replicator but I couldn’t get it back together. My da gave me a whuppen for that.” Wilson shifted in his seat as if he could still feel the bruises.


    Leo looked at the overhead. Could this bumpkin really become a trader? “I assume your mechanical skills have improved since?”


    “Oh, yes SIR! I can field strip nearly everything in my da’s shop. He runs a repair shop down on Lenni station.” Wilson pointed in the vague direction of Lenni prime. “Yes, sir. Wilson’s Universal Repair. We can fix anything!”


    Leo gave the young man a hard look. “Anything?”


    “Oh, yes sir.”


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    “Come with me, Wilson.”


    Leo led the young candidate up to Café one. “See that food replicator there?”


    “Yessssir.”


    “I want it working perfectly, it failed last month.”


    Wilson suddenly looked panicked. He looked around the room absently with an air of pure despair. “Sir, I didn’t know I would be fixin’ things. I didn’t bring my tools with me!”


    Leo made a calming gesture with one hand. “Relax Wilson, I don’t expect you to be a mind reader.” He turned to one of the crewmen eating lunch. “Crewman Landers, can you please help this young man find what tools he needs to repair this unit?”


    “Yes, master trader.”


    Leo got himself a cup of coffee and sat at a table well away from the replicators. Judging from the young man’s nervous disposition, he assumed hovering would only slow down the process. After a few minutes, Ollu came in, got a cup of coffee and joined Leo at the table. “Did you space your candidate?”


    Leo laughed. “No, did you?”


    “Thought about it. Little prick thought he was God’s gift to trading. I sent him home.”


    Leo nodded.


    “Where’s yours?”


    Leo pointed to Wilson.


    “What, behind the replicator repair guy?”


    “No, the repair guy is candidate Wilson.”


    “What the hell Leo?”


    Leo smiled and took another sip. “Well, he claimed he could fix anything.”


    “Hasn’t that replicator been busted for over a month?”


    “Yep.”


    “Didn’t the new maintenance tech we took on at the last system say it couldn’t be repaired and needed to be replaced?”


    “Yep.”


    “Jesus Leo, you’ve been hanging around Craig too much.”


    “Well, I just wanted to make sure he couldn’t do it.”


    Craig’s voice boomed out behind Leo. “Couldn’t do what?”


    Ollu pointed at Wilson. “He’s waiting for his candidate to fail at an impossible task.”


    “Hmm…” Craig wandered over to the replicators, spoke to Wilson for a minute and wandered back to the table with a cup of coffee. “Bet you a guilder he does it.”


    Ollu just looked at him. “What?”


    “I think he can do it.”


    “You know people?”


    “Yeah.”


    Ramona walked into the Café looking perturbed. After walking over to the replicators, she ambled over to the table the other three traders were sharing and sat down with a cup of coffee. “What is that tech doing to the busted replicator? I thought it couldn’t be fixed and had to be replaced?”


    Ollu laughed. “Interviewing.”


    “What?”


    Leo decided to stop the pointless conversation. “That’s candidate Wilson. He’s trying to fix the replicator.”


    “What? Why? Didn’t you tell him it couldn’t be fixed?”


    “Nope.”


    “Why?”


    “To see if he can fix it.”


    Craig chimed in. “If he fixes it, Wilson will be Leo’s first apprentice.” Leo just smiled.


    “I don’t get it.”


    Leo leaned back in his chair. “Remember my story about the Elmos?” Ramona nodded. “At the time I just thought my instructor was a stone bastard. However, now that I think about it, knowing how those systems work inside and out has helped me over the years. If this kid is really that good with equipment, he’ll make a good trader. He’ll see things in the design that others miss.”


    Ramona nodded. “You mean like Ollu’s blockade runner?”


    Ollu spit out her coffee, “wait, what? It’s a fast packet! And why bring me into this?”


    Craig slapped her on the back. “Blockade runner it is!! It’s all about marketing, Ollu.” Grinning, he took a big slurp of his coffee. “Ollu, you’re going to be a great trader because you know ships and you know people. We can teach you how to trade but we can’t teach you about ships. If this kid has a natural aptitude for machines, we can teach him how to trade.”


    Ollu looked at Leo, who nodded.


    After another thirty minutes, Wilson came over to the table where the four traders were lingering over their coffee. “Uh, sir, uh, I mean.. Uh, master, uh trader?”


    Leo gestured for him to continue. “Yes, candidate Wilson, is there a problem?”


    “Uh, yes, I’m sorry but there is. You see you can’t fix this design the way it is.”


    Ollu snapped her fingers. “I knew it.”


    Wilson looked depressed. “Uh, yes, I’m sorry but this design is flawed and cannot be fixed the way it is.”


    Ollu looked smug. “Well, of course, it will have to be replaced.”


    Craig placed a hand on her arm. “Candidate Wilson, can you be more specific? You said ‘with this design’ can you elaborate? Can it be fixed by changing the design?”


    Wilson looked as if Craig had handed him an oxygen bottle in hard vacuum. “Oh, yes sir. Oh, ah, yes, uh Master Trader! Yes!”


    Leo slapped the table. “Well Jesus Christ! Can you fix it or not?”


    Wilson looked down again. “Oh, ah. I reckon I didn’t understand you. My da always says I’m too literal. I thought you meant fix it with the parts you have there.”


    Leo took a calming breath. “Wilson, can you fix it or not?”


    Wilson almost sank into the floor. “Oh yes sir! It’s just more of an upgrade than a fix, really.”


    Craig made a shushing gesture to Leo. “Wilson, please explain. What, exactly would you do to make this replicator work again?”


    Wilson’s face lit up. “Ah, well, as to that. You see, sir, these units have a fatal design flaw in that they don’t have sufficient micro assemblers for their planned function. I think whoever designed them didn’t understand that when people make food they make it in all shapes and sizes. They just had some reference menu and used that. Yaseee, if you put it back into service as it is, it will break again ‘cause the micro assemblers will get overloaded like they did last time. Didn’t do proper testing, you know?” He looked around the table, seemingly unsure if he should continue. Craig waved him on. “So, if I put the old micro assembler in there, it will just break again. Not really what you want, I reckon.” Craig nodded. “Wellsir, I noticed that you have those Elmandorf replicators down the hall there. If you take careful look, you’ll see that the micro assembler in that there unit, you’ll find that it will fit in the food replicator. It’s a standard cabinet size, you see, and….”


    Craig cut him off with an imperious gesture. “Son, I want some fucking enchiladas verdes out of that goddamn machine. Make it happen.”


    “Yessir.”


    Leo just looked at Craig, who smiled. “Sometimes leadership is about clarifying the objectives.”


    Leo shook his head. “Is that what you call it?”


    “Two guilders he fixes it.”


    “No bet.”


    Thirty minutes later, Wilson returned with a triumphant look on his face and a plate of what looked like enchiladas verdes. Grabbing the dish from the young candidate trader, Craig took a big bite. “Bleagh! Terrible!” Craig spit the bite out back onto the plate..


    Wilson was crestfallen. “Didn’t the replicator make the dish correctly?”


    Craig jumped up indignantly. “Are you trying to kill me boy?” Taking the plate in one hand and Wilson in the other, he marched back to the newly repaired replicator. “Open source food! For the love of all that is holy, never serve me open source food again!”


    Leo looked at Ollu. “I guess we’re going to hire the kid.”


    Ollu took a sideways look at Craig’s abandoned plate. “Yeah, I guess.”


    Leo watched Craig show Wilson how to program the food replicator to make custom dishes. “Perhaps Craig would not be the worst person to train apprentices.”


    Ollu rolled her eyes. “No, Leo. Just no. He’s been useful to us, but God only knows what he would tell an apprentice.”


    As Wilson and Craig returned with two plates of steaming enchiladas, Leo waved Wilson over to his side of the table. “OK, Wilson. We’re willing to take you on.” He handed him a data pad. “Sign.”


    Wilson hesitated for a moment and then reached into his belt pouch for the small device Leo had noticed when Wilson had first boarded the Theo. Wilson inserted an earpiece into his ear and then waved the small device over the data pad. After a moment, he nodded and affixed his digital signature. “Thank you sir! You won’t be disappointed.”


    Leo grimaced. “I better not be.”


    Ollu leaned over for a close look at the device in Wilson’s hand. “What’s that kid?”


    Wilson grinned and held the device so she could inspect it more closely. “That’s my reader.”


    “Reader?”


    “Yeah, it reads things for me and then tells me what they say in my earpiece. It’s a life saver, I can tell you.”


    “Why not just read them yourself?”


    Wilson looked ashamed and uncomfortable. “Ah well, as to that… I can’t read gobbledygook like that you know?”


    Leo slammed the datapad on the table. “WHAT!?! You don’t know how to read?”


    Wilson visibly flinched. “Ah, no so. I know how. I just can’t. Not properly, anyhow. You see, I’m dyslexic.”


    Ollu nodded as if this explained everything. Leo was still confused. “Dyslexic? What’s that?”


    Ollu gave him a chilling look. “It means that his brain jumbles the letters. Can’t read complex sentances. With that thing though, he’ll be fine.”


    Wilson looked like he was going to kiss Ollu in relief. “Oh yes sir!!! I can do anything anyone else can do. I just need a little help in the readin’ part.”


    Ollu was now closely examining the device. “Where did you buy the IP for this thing? It doesn’t have any markings or codes.”


    Wilson grinned at her. “Oh no ma’m. I designed and built it. Since they came up with the DNA fix for dyslexia, you can’t really buy them anymore. I had to make my own after researching the archives on how they used to do it.”


    “Wait.” Leo was having a hard time believing this story. “Are you saying that despite not being able to read, you pulled up old designs, reversed engineered them and built this thing?”


    “Ah, yes. Yes, sir… Ah. Master Trader Sir.”


    “And how the hell did you do that if you can’t read?”


    “Ah, well those designs just speak to me, you know? Numbers, symbols lines, arrows, those all work real good in my head. It’s just them long words that get twisted up, ya know?”


    “You mean like a legal contract?”


    “Ah, yeah. Uh, I mean, yes, Master Trader.”


    “Ramona, can you please get Apprentice Wilson situated? We want him to qual in as soon as possible.”


    Ramona grinned. “As soon as possible?”


    Leo grinned back. “Well he will set a new record for this ship, might as well make it a decent time for others to shoot for.”


    Wilson looked confused. “A new record sir?”


    Leo laughed. “Yeah, you’re our first apprentice so you will set the fastest time of any apprentice to qual in by definition. Enjoy the fame while it lasts, kid.”


    Wilson nodded, not too sure what was going on. As Ramona led him away, Ollu shouted after them, “Ask Journeyman Eddington how long it took her to qual in!”


    Leo laughed. Craig just looked confused. Ollu explained, “She set the record on the Reggie. Just under twenty four hours was it?”


    Leo shook his head. “Twenty three hours and thirty minutes.”


    Craig tucked into his lunch with a muttered “damn.”