O'Mallery's book

The year is 2203, it is an overcast day in the capital.

Captain O'Mallery pulled up his merchant spacecraft onto the docking platform, the reassuring grinding of the landing gears and the unmistakable hiss of the airlock opening was a welcome sound. O'Mallery grabbed his bag and headed to the airlock.

"Oi, O'Mallery, ya bastard," was the first thing he heard as he stepped onto the dock. It was George, the docking inspector.

"Aye, George, ya old fart, what's it now?" O'Mallery replied, with a smile on his face.

"Its good to see ya not dead!" George responded with a firm handshake. "But jokes aside, your docking fees are overdue" George stated in a matter of factly manner, dropping his jovial tone.

"Yeah, i know, how much do I owe ya? I just got paid from my last run" O'Mallery said.

"150 Citycoins" George replied.

O'Mallery pulled up the holographic display on this wrist mounted datapad and sighed. "Ahhh, they paid me in Merchantcoins, what's the exchange rate today?"

George pulled up his data-tablet and flicked through it quickly "Looks like its 1 to 0.78, so that will be 193 Merchantcoins"

O'Mallery frowned, "Alright, lets settle the account" he said as he made a flicking motioning over the holographic display. A happy ding sound rang out from George's data-tablet in response.

"Done and dusted" George replied, his tone noticeably shifting to a more friendly vibe. "So, how about a beer after work then?"

"Wish I could mate" O'Mallery said glumly, "but I have family business to take care of"

"Ahhh, not to worry, next time then, let me call you a cab" George replied, tapping his data-tablet.

"Thanks George, I'll catch you later" O'Mallery replied.

A few moments later a little self-driving car pulled up, they said their goodbyes and O'Mallery got inside.

"These little cars are always so cramped" O'Mallery thought to himself as it started to move off. He pulled up his datapad and tapped in the destination. A happy ping sound came back from the car.

O'Mallery looked out the window, it looked it like was starting to rain.

The car pulled into the estate about 30 minutes later. O'Mallery got out of the car and surveyed the estate, it didnt look like it had changed a bit since the last time he saw it.

O'Mallery climbed the stairs and was greeted at the entranceway by the butler. "Master O'Mallery, they are expecting you in the office"

"Thank you, I should hurry" O'Mallery said politely.

O'Mallery entered the office, it was a large room with a high ceiling, grand furnishing adorned the entire office. Rich red curtains draped down from the double sized windows. At the far end of the office was a grand office table made of wood. The family lawyer was sitting at the table with a slew of paperwork and the entire family was gathered around.

"HA late again, boy. I should have named you Latelan rather than Lochlan," It was his father Lord Vincent O'Mallery, an imposing man with an air of arrogance around him.

"I do beg your pardon" O'Mallery replied with a bow.

"At least you still have some manners, get over here boy, we have been waiting over 10 minutes for you" his father growled.

"Oh, don't be so harsh on the boy, we can't all be as grand as you brother" O'Mallery's aunt said as she slapped his elbow playfully with a glove.

"Ahem, now that everyone is present, we can proceed" state the lawyer. "It is a sad day when we lose a loved one, and it with much sadness that we will now go over the last will and testament of Count Bradley O'Mallery"

The lawyer pressed a button on a small remote and giant television screen slid gracefully down behind the desk.

The screen flicked to life and an image of O'Mallery's grandfather, the Count appeared.

"Welcome and if you are watching this, then it is most probable that I have died" Count O'Mallery said solemnly. "But alas, business must carry on. The first order of business, and this comes as no surprise, my formal title, estates and holdings here on Terra 3 will be passed onto my son, Vincent. You are now the new Count O'Mallery. Ha, I bet you waited a long time for that one my boy. Please, look after the children as you see fit.

"Next on the list, my lovely daughter, Biancia O'Mallery, I leave to you my interstellar merchant business and fleet of cargo ships as well as my 51% share in the business, as the new majority shareholder you will take my place on the board of directors."

"Finally, to the black sheep of the family" O'Mallery chuckles as he says this. "Locky, I mean, Lochlan O'Mallery, I leave you the contents of my safe, the code is the first day we went into outer space, thank you all for coming."

The television screen flicked off and went blank. "Humph" Aunt Biancia huffed, "Just like dad to get right into business and leave"

"Hmm, I guess we should have some afternoon tea" The new Count O'Mallery announced, "I will have the servants whip up something for us"

Everyone shuffled off to the dining room while Locky stayed behind. "The safe is just here, under the desk" The lawyer gestured to the desk safe.

Locky knelled down and thought for a second, the "first day we went into outer space" Locky thought for a second, a smile crept over his face as he punched in the code and the safe popped open. Inside was a stack of $200,000 old world dollars and a little black book.

"Old world dollars?" Locky exclaimed "and a book?" Locky sighed and he opened the book. Inside were a set of co-ordinates for an off-world location and a phrase 'Friendship is the real treasure'.

"Come on LATELAN" A voice called from the dining room.

Locky sighed "COMING"

As the evening rolled on and pleasantries exchanged, eventually the evening drew to a close. Lochlan O'Mallery ordered a cab and went back to the spacedock and boarded his ship.

It was only a few days at warp speeds to reach the co-ordinates. It looked like an old mining facility. As he approached the comms came to life. A female's voice announced sternly "You are entering Mallery Mining space, Identify yourself!"

"I'm Captain Lochlan O'Mallery, I was given these co-ordinates by my grandfather, Count O'Mallery" Locky replied.

"Oh, please land at the landing airlock" The voice replied, the stern tone gone from her voice this time.

The large landing airlock opened up and Locky pulled his ship into it. As he exited the ship after the landing procedures were completed he surveyed the airlock. It was a large airlock, well maintained, there were signs of machinery moving about but it wasn't cluttered or overly busy.

A young woman met him at the ship "Greeting and welcome to the Mallery Mining station, I'm Klara Goodwin" she held out her hand and Locky took it and gave her a firm handshake.

"Lochlan, but you can call me Locky, my grandfather recently passed and he left me these co-ordinates in his notebook" Lochlan showed her the book.

"Ha" she exclaimed "I know what that's for." She led him up to the office block and gestured to one with "O'Mallery" written on it.

Locky entered the office and sat down behind the desk. He turned on the computer and the screen flashed up, under 'select user' option there was 'Brad' and 'Locky' Locky selected the one titled Locky and then 'enter password' popped up. Locky opened up his notebook and typed in 'friendship is the real treasure'

The computer whirled and hummed, the screen was empty except for one folder. Locky clicked on it and inside were a few documents and a video that said 'play me' so he did.

On the little screen a video of his grandfather appeared. "Hello Locky my boy! I'm sorry we didn't spend more time together but I want you to know I'm very proud of you!" Bradly said with a smile. "I have many regrets from my life, I spent too much time working on the business, I neglected your father and aunt, but you my boy, I know Vincent thinks you're too reckless but you remind me so much of myself"

Bradley took a breath and continued "This mining station is small but self sufficient, this is where my entire business started but it doesn't appear on my formal portfolios, the employees helped me greatly and I consider many of them to be my friends, they are all shareholders and they all get a share of the profits, I want you to keep it that way. I know you will look after them for me. You will find in this folder the access codes for my ship in the hanger bay. Enjoy the freedom my boy, chase your dreams but also look after these people here because family is important but friendship is the real treasure.