Milk Run (Smuggler's Tales From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1) (6 page)

“Really? You’d trust me?”

“No, not really. I thought I knew you better than that. If I just reacted on emotion, I’d toss you out the lock.” She stared at Zoya for several long moments. “The reality is, I’d have invited you along if I thought you’d have accepted. I didn’t ask because you were so tickled about being recruited into the TIC.” Natalya chuckled. “The irony is that it’s TIC that’s forced you out here with me and you’ve been screwed over as badly as I have. If not worse. I’m not sure you appreciate that.” She paused and ran through the arguments in her head. “Yeah. I think we’ve covered the basics. We’re both screwed. If I were you, I’d be pretty peeved with my unseen masters right now. If I’m wanted for murder, you’re an accessory. At least that’s the line we’ve been fed. We’ve got to be on the same side, because there’s really no other side. The alternative is that I’ll sneak up on you while you’re sleeping, smash your head in with a wrench, and toss your lifeless body out the airlock.”

Zoya’s eyes grew as big as platters.

Natalya smiled. “That’s not much of an alternative for either of us. Besides, I need you for bait. You’re my only link to the bastards who set us up and those are the people I want answers from.”

Zoya laughed. It was a quiet laugh. More of a low chuckle that kept going. When she stopped, she looked across the bridge at Natalya. “Sleep well.”

“Keep your eyes peeled. Wake me if anything comes within ten million klicks.”

“Will do.”

“That’s supposed to be ‘aye, aye, Captain.’ Didn’t you learn anything at that fancy pants academy?”

Zoya gave a sheepish looking shrug. “Apparently not as much as you did.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Zee.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

Natalya nodded and turned toward her stateroom, a grin working its way across her lips. “You’ve got the conn.”

After the hot shower, the cool sheets soothed her skin. She lay on her bunk for several ticks wondering if she’d made a mistake in trusting her longtime friend. Sleep took her down before she could make up her mind.

Chapter 6
Dark Knight: 2363, May 27

Natalya couldn’t be sure if it was the smell of fresh coffee or the shift in the thruster noise that brought her out of the depths. She rolled out of her bunk and into a fresh shipsuit before her eyes focused properly. The aroma drew her to the galley where she found Zoya grinning at her.

“Good morning, Captain.” Zoya smirked around a mug of coffee.

“Same to you.” Natalya rinsed her mug at the sink and drew off a fresh cup. She took a tentative sip, letting the warm liquid wash the fuzzy morning feeling from her mouth and throat. “And bless you.”

“You’re welcome. If the navigation notes are right, we’re about two stans from handoff to local traffic control. Or what passes for it here.”

Natalya nodded and took another healthy slurp. “Voice comms. They’ll wanna talk to us before we get too close in case they decide they want to deny docking.”

Zoya’s eyebrows went up at that. “Deny docking?”

Natalya shrugged and headed for the command couch on the bridge. “Sometimes. Not often. Helps if you’re trying to dodge your ex or something.”

Zoya trailed along and flopped into the copilot’s seat. “Is it likely?”

“Why? You have an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend out here we need to be aware of?” Natalya grinned at Zoya’s shocked expression. “Relax. This is just how they do it out here. CPJCT uses automated interfaces and devices to keep people out of the loop. Toe-Hold likes to keep it personal.”

Natalya picked up the headset she’d prepped earlier and locked it over her left ear. She watched the navigation alert counter pip down to zero.

A woman’s voice spoke from the overhead speaker. “
Peregrine
, this is Dark Knight Control. Over.”

“Control, this is
Peregrine
. Over.”

“
Peregrine
, state your business at Dark Knight Station. Over.”

“Control, food, fuel, and gasses. Over.”

“Roger,
Peregrine
. Stand by.”

They sat staring at the speaker for several long moments.

“Why are we staring at the overhead? It’s not like we can see anything,” Zoya said.

Natalya chuckled a little and shrugged. “Habit to look at who’s talking, I guess.”

“
Peregrine
, Dark Knight Control. Docking permission granted for food, fuel, and gasses. Docking bay four-seven-nine. See the docking agent for extended visa. Over.”

“Control,
Peregrine
. Confirm docking permission granted for food, fuel, and gasses at bay four-seven-nine. We’ll see the docking agent for extended visa. Thank you, Control. Over.”

“Welcome home,
Peregrine
. Control, out.”

“
Peregrine
, out.”

Natalya toggled the communications array off and glanced over to see Zoya staring at her. “What?”

“What’s an extended visa and why are they welcoming you home?”

“We’ll be met at the docking bay. One of the station agents will assess our level of threat, whether we have any money, and what we might want to do on the station. If they’re happy with our answers, we’ll be allowed to leave the ship. If not, we’ll stay on the ship and may or may not be given the supplies we need.”

“And the ‘welcome home’ bit?”

“Station records probably show that
Peregrine
has been here before. They looked up that record before replying. Apparently Dad left on good terms the last time he was here.”

Zoya looked up at the speaker and then over at Natalya. “And if he hadn’t?”

“They’d have denied docking and we’d be left hanging until we found another station.”

“Was that a likely thing?”

Natalya shook her head. “Unless it was really egregious and really recent, they’d at least let us dock to see if we could pay for whatever we wanted. They might not want us hanging around, but they’ll be happy to take our credits.”

“Everybody wants their piece. Even here.” Zoya’s mouth twisted into a wry grimace.

“At least here, they’re up front about it.”

“What’s to stop them from taking our credits and the ship, too?”

Natalya squelched the urge to sigh. “You know how every system in the CPJCT relies on every other system to keep them going?”

Zoya shrugged. “More or less. I still don’t see why more of them aren’t self-sufficient.”

“They probably could be, but that’s irrelevant. Every single operation up there has specialized to the point where they can only survive and maintain their quality of life if they work together.”

“That’s right out of the Econ 440 seminar. So what?” Zoya asked.

“That’s with the entire machinery of the CPJCT and all its minions organizing and orchestrating to make it work. You think it’s an accident that everybody has enough fuel, food, parts, and whatever they need to keep going?” Natalya found she had to work hard to keep the exasperation out of her voice.

“Of course not. They have planetary management, logistics oversight, and all the rest to make sure of it.” Zoya’s brow wrinkled as she appeared to be struggling with some amount of frustration of her own. “What of it?”

“Toe-Hold doesn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Zoya asked, sitting back in her couch.

“Every Toe-Hold station is on its own. They don’t have a central clearinghouse authority. They don’t have logistics oversight. Every station operates on its own and does as much as it can for itself.” Natalya paused to let that sink in for a few heartbeats.

Zoya’s breath seemed to catch for a moment and her eyes grew wide. “But they can’t do it all.” Her words barely reached across the narrow console between the couches.

“No,” Natalya said. “They can’t. And they know it. Anybody who thinks they can soon learns otherwise.”

Zoya took a sip of her coffee and her gaze focused inward.

“Reputation is everything out here,” Natalya said, speaking quietly but needing to make the point before they got to the station and Zoya’s ignorance got them into trouble they couldn’t get out of. “The stations that behave honorably, who trade fairly, and who treat visitors well survive.”

Zoya’s gaze met Natalya’s. “I get it,” she said.

“So, heads up, mouths closed, ears open, and we take care of business. They aren’t liars or thieves or crooks or murderers.” Natalya smiled at her friend. “At least not any more than we’d find on your average Confederation planet.”

Zoya snickered.

“They survive by doing business and whether you can accept it or not, the CPJCT needs Toe-Hold way more than Toe-Hold needs the CPJCT.”

“How so?” Zoya’s curiosity seemed to be pulling her out of the fear.

“Safety valve. It’s where they bleed off all the people who don’t fit into the nice, neat, clean boxes. The people who don’t want to be just another cog in some industrialist’s machine.”

“I thought that’s what the fleet was for,” Zoya said.

Natalya didn’t speak. She just lifted an eyebrow and willed her friend to think about what she’d just said.

Zoya’s eyes narrowed for a moment and she opened her mouth to speak but stopped. All that came out was a quiet “Oh.”

Natalya nodded. “Now let’s get busy and figure out what we need from Dark Knight so we can tell them what we want to buy.”

“You have credits?” Zoya asked.

Natalya laughed. “I need to check my credit balance, but it should be enough to pay for groceries until we get set up.” Natalya glanced at Zoya. “Your handlers didn’t give you any contact info?”

Zoya shook her head. “They said a guy would be in touch.” She smiled a rueful apology.

“You never know. Maybe somebody will. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to find out right away. Maybe they figured I’d be taken in.”

Zoya gave a bitter laugh. “I sure was.”

“You’ve really never been in Toe-Hold space?”

“You never once mentioned any of this in all our time together?” Zoya asked.

“I told you. Toe-Hold is not a subject for polite company. I got enough strange looks just for having this ship.”

“
Peregrine
, this is Dark Knight Control.” The voice from the speaker startled Natalya.

Natalya clicked the comms array back up. “Control,
Peregrine
.”

“
Peregrine
, we’re sending you an updated navigation squirt for final approach and docking. Please acknowledge receipt. Over.”

Natalya checked the transmission queue and found the incoming message. She ported it to the navigation subsystem which reset and accepted the new course and speed. “Acknowledged, Control. Approach and docking to bay one-three-three. Over.”

“
Peregrine
, Control. Affirm. One-three-three. Hold at one zero meters from the door for green light. Over.”

“Control,
Peregrine
. Roger, hold at one zero meters for green light. Over.”

“Thank you,
Peregrine
. Control, out.”

Zoya said, “They’re polite buggers.”

Natalya toggled the comms array off. “Politeness doesn’t cost anything. I wonder why they shifted us.”

“Is the bay significant?”

Natalya shrugged. She pulled up the navigational notes and found a rough layout of the docking bays. “It’s a small craft dock. Probably for system shuttles and maintenance craft. Very close in.” She pointed to four-seven-nine. “We
were
being shunted out to the hinterlands.”

“Shuttles to where?” Zoya asked, pulling up her own display to get a system chart.

“They’re bound to have mining stations out along the belts. Maybe even some refineries.”

Zoya zoomed her display in on a gas giant just outside the largest asteroid belt. “Lot of moons there. Suppose they’re developing them?”

“I would. Not like they’re going to advertise. They’re at least skimming that giant for volatiles.”

“So why are we paying for gasses?” Zoya asked, her head cocked sideways.

“Because skimming is slow. It’s fine if you’ve no other sources, but it can take a few days to get a full load.”

“Could we sell excess gas?” Zoya asked, nibbling her lip.

Natalya thought it over for a couple of heartbeats. “Probably. If we can’t find something that pays better.”

“What would pay better?”

“I’m planning on doing data couriers. We could fly data across the Western Annex before radio waves could get it out of the sector.”

“Huh.”

Natalya grinned at her. “You’ll see. We’ll have opportunities that don’t involve jumping drugs, selling our body parts, or slaving in a hot asteroid mine.”

Zoya smiled back and gave her a little nod. “I’ll take your word for it. At least until somebody contacts me.”

Natalya laughed and settled into her couch.

Over the next dozen stans, the station grew in the aft ports. Natalya and Zoya passed the time watching the ship traffic and trying to see as much of Dark Knight Station as they could. What started as a glittery collection of lights resolved into a massive multi-armed collection of galleries, hubs, and gantries. Ships and parts of ships stuck out in all directions. Natalya spotted a huge, mostly rectangular shadow against the backdrop of stars. “Big solar array up there, too.”

“I saw that earlier,” Zoya said. “You think they’re running on solar power? The system primary looks a long way off.”