Vedma Oleiro and her crew

In a nutshell

Vedma Oleiro is the foreman and pilot of the Tozuda, an old ship that collects newly woken recruits. With her two labourers, Chemo and Tais, she puts them to work until they have paid what they owe. For many newcomers they are the first people they meet in Aurin.

Who are they?

The Tozuda crew is an induction crew: a small team that collects newly arrived colonists and teaches them the basics of the trade. It works for the Guilds and is paid per head on its feet. The entry on the people of Aurin tells it too.

They are three people and a ship. The ship is the Tozuda, a Tortuga, the most common heavy transport in the system. In the Crónica de Aurin, the crew collects the sleepers woken by the Leva del 47 at the Arca Custodia. They put them to work until they have paid off their thaw debt.

How do you recognise them?

Who	What they are	How to recognise them
Vedma Oleiro	Foreman and pilot. 39. Born in the outer ring of La Cicatriz, in an escape module her mother turned into a house.	Greasy orange overalls and a clipboard in her hand. She tells everyone “we’re not your friends”, so she never has to say goodbye. She closes on the hour, with whoever is inside.
Chemo Ardal	Labourer. 56.	A theory for everything and a tin of food for every theory. Before he worked for Vedma he worked for worse people, and he knows how much worse.
Tais Renne	Labourer. 22.	The best shot in the crew. She aims very well; shooting is another matter.
The Tozuda	Their ship, one of the oldest in the system.	Twenty years of patches, according to her pilot. She always starts at the second try and always lands at the first.

What do they say?

Vedma: “We’re not your friends.”
Vedma: “I close on the hour. With whoever’s inside.”
Vedma: “A ProtoGun is made with your hands and another ProtoGun.”
Chemo: “Scavengers don’t get paid. That’s why they come.”
Tais: “I aim fine. Shooting’s another matter.”

Where can they be found?

They live in La Cicatriz, the Guilds’ capital on Ithera. Vedma puts it this way: it is “where those of us who belong to nobody live”.

The Tozuda collects recruits at the Arca Custodia and takes them to their first job. The crew lends each new colonist a first ProtoGun, the hand tool used to mine rock. They teach them to mine, to build a weapon and to come back with the cargo. For many newcomers, the crew is the first face of the system.

Where do they appear in the Crónica?

Vedma appears from chapter 1, “No Prior Record”, when she collects Ada Lys, the heroine. Chapter 2, “We’re Not Your Friends”, is told through her eyes and introduces the whole crew. All three stay for much of Book I.

This entry gives nothing away: it only tells what is known about them when they are introduced.