Cline Delivery Company

Every system needs people like us. The big freighters hate taking the small jobs, and charge by the inch for them. Even if they didn't, they'll only deliver to the hubs, the big cities and the OnRamps. It's people like us, doing one-offs and supporting small businesses, that keep systems like ours breathing. It's worth every damn penny I pay to do it.

— Foster Cline

The Cline Delivery Company is a small-scale freight business operating in the Dumas System. Based out of the system's OnRamp, and owning a single vessel, the CDC specialises in delivering freight from the port to the planets and satellites of Dumas, with some capacity for transporting people.

History

Founded in 412 IE by young pilot Foster Cline, the titular company began as a way for Foster to see the system and help people in small ways, while also helping him to pay off the extensive loans on the freighter he had purchased. The first employees were two friends from his hometown to act as primary pilot and mechanic, as well hiring an experienced gunner to defend cargo.
The crew saw significant turnover through the years, notably losing the initial gunner and mechanic at the end of their 2-year contracts, but ultimately settled into a five-man operation - Captain Foster Cline, Gunner Ogawa Yuuji, the later addition of accountant Andrea Seward, and a changing cast of pilots and mechanics. Outside of the previously mentioned, the longest serving crew member was mechanic Amardeep Kaur Joshi, who served aboard the ship for 19 years.
Deliveries are rarely uneventful, with incidents ranging from an attempted space-flight hijacking of the Gersemi to significant technical malfunctions. Most recently, a cargo pick up on Lafère went significantly awry, causing moderate damage to the ship and resulting in the business and ship being transferred to Foster's daughter, Petra Cline.

Operations

The Cline Delivery Company bases itself out of OnRamp Beta in the outer Dumas System, and their sole vessel, the Gersemi, will return their regularly to restock and receive repairs. While in large part due to the OnRamp acting as the system's major port, this is also because the CDC has a deal for a consistent berth at one of the smaller docks in exchange for a small cut of profits, which requires the ship to use the berth at least once a month.
Delivery runs will typically span 1-3 weeks, delivering to Lafère, Vallon, and Satellite Plessis, as well as return deliveries to the OnRamp. Longer runs often involve going between the inner-system locations multiple times, or needing to wait for a specific product to be available on planet for delivery elsewhere. The CDC rarely delivers to Castelmore in the outer system, due to mostly dealing in small-business freight rather than the industrial sector.

Current Employees

Name Role Petra Cline Owner, Mechanic Andrea Seward Ship Captain, Accountant, Pilot Jalen Romilly Ship Lieutenant, Pilot Gideon van der Karmozijn Mechanic Zayvia Eskarra Gunner Gao Xue Pilot

Affiliates and Associates

Name Role/Business Cyrille Savatier

Goods Supplier, Dolphin Integrated Solutions

Lídia Costa do Carmesim Business contact on Vallon Theano Marinou Business owner on Lafère, Theano's General Store Mohsen Akbari Berth owner, OnRamp Beta Laelia Jansdotter Business contact on Satellite Plessis Ritchie & Vin Blakeslee Creditors

Founding Date

6 July 0412 IE 37 Years Ago

Type

Corporation, Transportation

Leader

Petra Cline

Founders

• Foster Cline

Organization Vehicles

• Gersemi

Base

OnRamp Beta

It's a wonder he made any money out of this whole thing. Either that accountant is working miracles, or she's been lying. For the young lady's sake, if nothing else, I hope it's in the green.

— Mohsen Akbari

Contact

A hands-on owner, Foster Cline has worked tirelessly in creating and retaining connections throughout the system that the company can depend on. Many hours are spent talking to people, in person and digitally, and across Dumas folks speak well of Foster's manner.
This friendliness is also extended to current and former crew, with even employees who left decades ago receiving regular well wishes from the captain. It's a rare bridge that Foster burns, and his associates can only think of one worker, a pilot, whom he has no contact with.

While my family has not dealt with Cline's company personally, I had heard of them prior to joining the enterprise. They have a reputation as a good, affordable company.
It will be interesting to see if they retain that moving into the current flux.

— Gao Xue, Plessian pilot