Pursue the Past: Samair in Argos: Book 1 (42 page)

The trip into Hecate was remarkably quick.  As the
Grania Estelle
moved in system, the sensors picked up a great deal of space traffic.  By “great deal” it meant that there was
any
space traffic.  In many of the systems in what was now called Independent space, there were only a handful of ships traveling around, and here, they could see two ships in orbit, as well as a building slip, with a group of shuttles going up and down from the planet to the ships and the construction yard. 

“This place is bustling,” the Captain commented as they drew closer.

“Yes, Captain,” George commented.  “That building slip has a ship inside, which looks to be nearly completed.”

“What kind of ship?”

“Nothing that the sensors recognize.  I think it might be a new design,” he replied.

“Stella?” he asked.

“Nothing I recognize either, Captain,” she admitted, her image appearing on the left side of the display.  “Though my data banks have no more information than the ship.  In fact, my data banks are the same as the ones in the ship, so I don’t have more info.  At this range, the sensors can’t really pick out details, but based on the size of the hull in that building slip I would say that the ship is probably a light cruiser.  Fast and agile, decent armament, lightly armored.”

“Very dangerous, in other words,” the Captain replied.

The AI nodded.  “Certainly to merchant shipping.  Normally it’s used as a screening element for larger capital ships.”

“And we’re bringing in materials for their hyperdrive.”  The Captain frowned.  “Suddenly, Moxie’s words of caution are making more sense now than before.”

Once they reached orbit, the merchant commissioner called up to the ship, demanding to know their business.

“This is the
Grania Estelle
, recently out of Folston.  We are here to deliver the load of gadolinium originally scheduled nine months ago,” Serinda informed them.

“What?  You have it!” the male voice on the other end demanded, stunned.  “What the hell took you so long?”

“We only came to Folston two months ago, sir,” she replied.  “We had no knowledge of any previous deals to ship the cargo here until we were just about to leave about a month ago.”

“Well, whatever.  It’s finally here!  We can get the
Ganges
launched and get the consortium off my back.”

“Very well, sir,” she answered.  “We await your cargo shuttle and your delegation to arrive to arrange payment and transfer of the goods.”

“Yes!  Yes, we’ll be up there in thirty minutes.”  The line ended.

“Excitable fellow,” Serinda muttered.

“If this consortium is anything like him, I can imagine they’ve been pestering him and his people for months about getting the materials they need to finish the ship,” the Captain said.  “I’m sure they’re even more anxious to get a piece of hardware like that out of the slip and into space where it can actually do some good.”  He looked over the sensor readings as well as the video footage.  “Would you look at that?”

“You
like
that thing, Captain?” Serinda asked, wrinkling her nose. 

He glanced over at her.  “You don’t?”

She shrugged.  “Not really.  It’s all sleek, but if you look closer, it’s clear they didn’t make it for aesthetics sake.  Look, you can see ugly welds, mismatched colors on the hull plating, off the shelf components, especially in the communications array forward, but then new and custom stuff in the weapons amidships.”  She stopped, embarrassed as everyone on the bridge was looking at her.

The Captain chuckled.  “Well, Serinda, I never knew you were such a warship snob.”  The rest of the bridge crew snickered.

She sniffed.  “Maybe I am.  I think that if you’re going to make a warship like that then you should do it right.  Shouldn’t you want your lethal killing machines to inspire awe and fear in your enemies?  Not have them scan the ship and bust out laughing because they think you built it on the cheap?”

“Not only a snob, but a saleswoman,” George said in an undertone.

“I’ve a mind to come over there and slap your face, George Miller,” she threatened, but there was humor in her eyes.

He held up his hands in surrender.  Serinda turned her nose up at him, then smiled.

“You do make a good point there, Serinda,” the Captain pointed out.  “Perhaps the owners of that ship are hoping that the appropriate levels of fear and awe will be achieved by the strength of her guns.”

“I guess,” she muttered.

“Besides,” he went on, “I suppose they could have made it that way hoping their enemies will underestimate them, then get in for a knockout punch.”  Then he grimaced.  “Yeah, I don’t really believe that either.  Still, if it’s as fast and with as strong of weapons as it looks like, I know I don’t want to mess with them.”  Then he smiled as an idea hit him.  “Stella?”

The AI appeared on the screen in front of him.  “Yes, Captain?”

“Tell Moxie that I want her out in her fighter.  Do one of those rude flybys I know she likes doing.”

The AI nodded, then disappeared.

“We might get a little more of a look at her guts,” he said, a trifle smug.  “And satisfy Serinda’s aesthetic tastes.”

Chapter 14

              “Oh, this is just splendid!” the fat little man said, clapping his hands together in delight.  “We’ve been waiting months for this material.  Do you realize? 
Months!
  I can’t express to you how excellent this is having this material arrive.  We can finally get it to the
Ganges
and get the ship completed.  I’ve been speaking to management to try and figure out some sort of alternate solution to getting the gadolinium from Folston, but no one seemed to have a way of solving this particular problem.  Gadolinium is pretty rare, as you know.”

              Taja smiled tiredly as the bilious little administrator yammered on.  “We are very happy we could help, sir.  As soon as the payment is transferred to us, we’ll be happy to release the goods to you.”

              The man eyed her suspiciously, the delight immediately gone.  “Are you trying to hold our shipment hostage?  You signed a contract and you are eight months late!”

              Taja smiled now with some real heat behind her eyes.  “Oh, no, sir, I am not.  I am more than happy to deliver the shipment the instant the money is in my hot little hands.  Or accounts.”

              “You delivered it late!  There is a massive penalty involved!” he said, smug.  He held up a datapad with the contract on it. 

              Taja’s smile didn’t slip one nanometer.  “Yes, sir, that is the original contract that you had with the miners on Folston.  However, that is not the one that we signed with the warehouse people in Folston.  This is,” she said, holding out her own datapad with the contract on it.

              The man snatched the datapad from her and perused the text.  “This has been altered!” he crowed triumphantly.

              “Of course it has,” Taja replied.  “We were not the original shippers.  We were not going to absorb an eight-month old penalty.  We renegotiated with the people at Folston to remove that penalty, though we were willing to deal with a ten percent reduction in payment amount.  We will adhere to the letter of
this
contract,” she said, pointing to her own datapad. 

              The man spluttered.  “This is unacceptable!  This shipment was under contract to be here eight months ago!  Folston doesn’t have the authority to change the contract.”  He looked completely sure of that fact.

              “Very well,” Taja replied, taking back her personal computer from the Hecate man.  “Then once our other business is complete, the
Grania Estelle
will be leaving the system with the gadolinium on board.”

              Now it was the man’s turn to look upset.  “No, in fact, young lady it will not.  You are not going to cheat us out of
our
shipment and then try to fleece us in our own star system!  I you insist on pushing this, I’m afraid I will have to suspend any groundside visits and no other trades will be happening with this ship.  But we cannot allow you to leave with those materials.  If necessary, we will launch the
Ganges
and
take
what is ours.”

              Now she raised an eyebrow.  “You have the authority to attack a peaceful ship with a customer’s property?  I wonder how that consortium would feel about that.”

              His grin was malevolent.  “Oh, I think they should understand in this case.  I mean, we have a ship that is holding property for ransom.  The owners should be completely sympathetic to our cause.”  He held up his datapad again.  “Last chance for a reasonable solution.”

              “I was just going to say the same thing to you,” she replied.

              “Then our business here is completed.”  He sighed, though it was clear he was pleased with this outcome.  He turned on his heel and whistling, he returned to his shuttle in the boat bay.  Under a minute later, the boxy shuttle roared out of the bay, scorching the deck and leaving the stink of exhaust fumes.

              As soon as the shuttle hatch sealed, Taja was on her communicator.  “Captain, we have a serious problem.”

              “He did
what
?” the Captain demanded.  They were in the wardroom, three minutes later.

              “He cancelled all our barters, buying and selling,” Taja repeated.  “He also said that we would not be allowed to leave the system with the shipment of gadolinium.  And to top it off, they’re threatening to launch the cruiser to attack us and take the shipment.”

              “This is unbelievable,” he replied.  “And I suspect that they would be helping themselves to more than just the gadolinium.  It’s a large load, but I’m sure that they will be taking quite a bit more than just that for their ‘trouble’.”

              “I’m sure you’re right, Captain.”  Taja looked worried.  “So what do we do?”

              “We need to get the status of the cruiser,” he told her.  “Stella, what do our sensors show us?”

              “Well, the
Ganges
is currently running on very low power, Captain,” she told him, appearing on the display at the edge of the wardroom table.  “They’re showing no signs of getting underway at this time.  I’d need more data to determine how quickly the ship will be able to get powered up and moving.  Right now they’re still moored to the building slip.”

              “Where’s Moxie?”

              “Tamara is out in her fighter,” Stella replied immediately.

              “Doing a flyby of the big ship I hope?” Taja asked.

              “Yes, Taja, in fact she is.”

              “Get her on the horn, please,” the Captain ordered.

              There was a pause, then a beep.  “Em-One here,
Grania Estelle
.  I’m not seeing a lot of activity here.”  Tamara’s voice was calm.  “Based on the size of the ship, I’d say it requires a crew of anywhere between two and three hundred.  I’m only detecting life form readings enough for perhaps fifty people.  It’s just a guess, but I’m only detecting very small clusters of life signs.  Nowhere near enough for a full crew.”

              “Moxie, are there enough people on board to bring the ship to fighting form?”

              “I’d be very surprised if they could, Captain.  I’d need a much more in depth survey of the ship to be sure, but I’d wager that’s just enough crew to act as caretakers.”

              “Stella, any activity suggesting they are bringing up more crew?”

              “No, Captain, not yet.”

              “Moxie, what is your status?”

              “I’m at seventy percent fuel, all systems normal.”

              “Stay out there for now.  Call in if you see anything.”

              “Copy that.” 

Stella nodded to indicate the channel was closed.  “I’ll monitor for her transmissions.”

“What’s our status?” the Captain asked.  “Do we have enough fuel to get to our next stop?”

“Do you still intend to go to Kazyanenko, Captain?” the AI responded.

He sighed.  “I’d
intended
to stay here for a few weeks and give the crew some shore leave.  I wanted to unload our holds of the building materials we have and make a profit here.  Clearly, it seems that isn’t going to happen.”  He set his face in determined lines.  “Stella, make sure the ship is ready to depart.  I’m going to the bridge.”

              The walk to the bridge took only a few moments. Once there, he turned to the communications station.  Serinda was off duty, but a young hak’ruk female was at the console.  The hak’ruk was an insectoid race, though completely unrelated to the zheen, born on a very hot, desert world.  Unlike the zheen, whose coloring tended to be in the purple and violet range, the hak’ruk were almost universally black.  Kutok, the young female who sat at the controls, was a competent communicator who at that moment was monitoring local communications.  Like the rest of the crew, she wore a ship suit, though it was cut to fit her smaller frame, for she only stood little over a meter in height and with six legs, though her front two were actually considered arms.  Her carapace was a glossy black color and she made sure to keep her talons and pincers well-polished and groomed.  She was a proper lady, though quickly offended by comparisons to the zheen, or if anyone was déclassé enough to call her a ‘bug’.  Her two front true hands had four fingers, each finger topped with a wickedly sharp talon.  Very few were brave enough to try and mock this lady. 

The newly installed communications array made her job much easier than it had in years past, which Kutok appreciated.  She looked up at the Captain with her segmented eyes as he entered the bridge.  “Captain,” she said in greeting, her voice coming out like a purr.

“What do you have for me, Kutok?” he asked without preamble.

“The trade minister’s shuttle has been sending transmissions to the main complex on the surface,” she replied.  “The calls are encrypted but I haven’t attempted to break the cipher.”

“Can you?”

She nodded.  “Of course, Captain.  It will take a few minutes, but I will do so.”

“I know you’ve been recording the calls since he left the ship.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Good.  Once you’ve broken the encryption, go back and find out what he’s been saying since the first transmission after he left.”

Kutok nodded.  “Just a few moments, please Captain.”

The Captain nodded and sat down in his chair.  He knew better than to try and rush her.  She moved at her own pace, though he was glad to see that it was a fast one. 

He called down to the engineering spaces.  “Quesh, talk to me.  We might have some trouble in a little bit.  The locals are threatening to come after us with their cruiser.”

There was a sigh.  “Captain, you’re killing me.  We’ve been working on the rail guns, but they are not ready.  We also have to prep the hard points on the hull to install them and those are nowhere near ready.  I do have two more shield nodes being installed right now by Ka’Xarian and his crews.”

“That’s some good news then.”

“Yes, sir, Captain, a small amount of good, I think.”

“How long are they going to be out there?” the Captain asked.  “We might need to get out of this system quick if the cruiser starts powering up.”

“Can’t you talk to them, Captain?” the Parkani replied.  “Isn’t that what you deck division people do?  We’re a cargo ship, by the stars, not a combat vessel.”

He rubbed his forehead.  “I know, Quesh.  Believe me, I know.  How are the engines?  Can we run away if it comes to that?”

Another sigh.  “If we need to, Captain, yes, my engines will make this big girl run.  But I’m going to want to do some maintenance on them before too long.”

“Are they damaged?” he asked, a tinge of worry in his voice.

“Relax, Captain.  Just normal wear and tear.  We’re just trying to keep up on the maintenance this time around.  I’m not letting my crews slip.  I’d like to keep these engines for years to come, not have to completely rebuild them in six months.”

“I’ll drink to that,” the Captain agreed.  “Far less expensive, I think.”

“Don’t worry, Captain.  The
Grania Estelle
is fully at your command if you need her.”

“That’s good to know, Quesh.  Hopefully this is all just academic.  I’m really hoping the locals will see reason and we can get down to business.”  He cut the connection.  Looking over at the hak’ruk, he saw she was still busy with her console.  To give himself something to do, he checked the status of the various systems on his display.  Fuel was actually good.  Since they were now running the reactor on helium 3 instead of seawater or hydrogen, the power output was much higher than he was used to and, it seemed, much more fuel efficient.  Just before the jump after the rebuild of the main reactor, the fuel tanks were about 90 percent full.  After the trip through hyperspace, they were now at 72 percent.  They were still fine tuning things and Quesh had indicated he could probably get better efficiency on the next jump. 

“Captain, I have it,” Kutok said into the silence of the bridge. 

              He blinked, startled.  “Good.  What are they saying?”

              Her mouth pincers twitched, the equivalent of a snort.  “You’re going to want to hear this.”  She pressed a control.  “It’s audio only.”

              “
This is Steffan.  The freighter jocks are playing hardball.  They’re completely unwilling to listen to reason.
”

              “
Do they have the shipment or not, Steffan?
”

              “
Oh, they have it.  Their cargo wench showed it to me and I checked the purity.  It’s exactly what we need for the
Ganges
engines.  In fact, the cargo labels are from Folston.  It’s our shipment all right.
”

              “
So what’s the problem?  They won’t give up the shipment?
”

              “
They’re not sticking to the original contract.  They apparently renegotiated with Jundlan at Folston and brokered a new deal.
”