Pursue the Past: Samair in Argos: Book 1 (43 page)

              “
Okay, they wouldn’t be the first to try that nonsense.
”

              “
No, they wouldn’t.  But, they are determined that they are not going to pay the penalty.  In fact, they’re trying to gouge us for even more credits than we even started with.
”

              “
So what are they doing?”

              “They’re saying they’re going to leave.  They’re cancelling any leave and said they were just going to keep the shipment for themselves.”

              “What?  The hell they are!  Those are our materials.  We
need
that to get the
Ganges
up and running!  Don’t they understand what they’re doing to our schedules?”

              “They don’t care, Yorik.  They’re all about the money.  They’re just going to steal our materials and waltz off to another world and resell them.”

              “Okay that’s a lie.”  The Captain glared irritably at the display.

              “He’s completely distorting the facts, Captain,” Kutok said.  “We weren’t trying to gouge anyone.”

              “I’m thinking that our good friend Steffan was expecting to get that shipment for a song.  And when Taja decided to actually make him stick to our contract with Folston, he decided to play hardball.”

              “So where does that leave us, Captain?”

              He sat and thought about it for a moment.  “Do they say anything about the
Ganges
?”

              Kutok’s pincers twitched and she pressed a few more controls.  The Captain watched her, always impressed that her very sharp fingertips didn’t pierce the buttons she was pressing.  The transmission resumed.

             
“So what are we going to do about it?” Yorik asked.

              “Can we get the
Ganges
active?  I mean, I suppose we could try and board them, but if we’ve got the cruiser there, we could bring them to their knees and just
take
the shipment.”

             
It seemed that Yorik was considering this idea. 
“I’ll talk with Commander Tyler, see what he says.”

              “How long will it take to get the
Ganges
ready and launched?” Steffan asked.

              “That’s a question for Tyler.  I can’t imagine it would be any less than a few hours though.  What about the freighter?  Are they powering up to leave?”

              “
Grania Estelle
and her incompetent crew have been here before, Yorik.  They pretend that they’re hard traders and hard chargers, but their ship is a wreck.  They’re not going anywhere soon.”

              “Then why waste time with the
Ganges
?  Just send a flight of Centurion fighters up there and get this done.  We’ve been waiting for almost nine months for the
Ganges
to be completed.  I’m sick of listening to Tiberius from Imogen whining about schedules and timeframes.  I want to give him his ship and get him off my back.”

             
The Captain paled a little.  “
Centurion
fighters?  That doesn’t sound good.”

              “No it doesn’t,” Kutok agreed.  “We might want to get Commander Samair in on this.”

              The Captain eyed her.  “She’s not a Commander anymore, Kutok.”

              “She never resigned from the Republic military, Captain, but I take your point,” she conceded.  “But
my
point still stands.”

              “Right.  Get her on the line.”  The hak’ruk pressed a few controls.  She nodded to the Captain.

              “
Grania Estelle
to Em-One, come in.”

              “Em-One here, Captain,” the pilot/engineer replied.  “Completing my second pass now.  I’m still not picking up any signs that the
Ganges
is powering up.”

              “We intercepted a transmission from our merchant friend and the surface.  It sounds like they’re starting the hardball game.”

              “Great.  I’m game,” Tamara replied in deadly earnest.  “I have been
itching
to cut my baby here loose.”

              He snorted.  “I’m sure you have.  But the locals decided they’re not going to wait for the cruiser to be ready for us and said something about sending a flight of their
Centurion
fighters to pay us a visit.”

              “Any idea on how many fighters constitute a ‘flight’?”

              “No, but I would imagine somewhere between four and six.”

              Stella appeared on the bridge holo projector.  “I’ve used the ship’s sensors, Captain, and I’ve found their launching hangar.  I’m detecting thirty-six single-pilot ships there.  Unknown ship configuration.”

              “I imagine those are our fighters,” the Captain commented.

              “You’re most likely correct, Captain,” Stella agreed, “Seeing as how there is increased activity in that area now.  I’m reading a cluster of life form readings in that area.  Possibly a ground crew and pilots.”  The ship’s upgraded bow sensors could see down from orbit, as clear as a satellite picture, able to pick out details as small as a grain of sand.  Unfortunately, as the ship was in orbit, they could only look straight down, but that was fine for their purposes now.  They could see a dozen people rushing from ground cars into the hangars which, sadly, were covered.  But the sensors could detect clusters of life forms in six areas of the hangar, grouped in distinct sections.

              “Looks like it could be as many as six, Moxie.”

              “I welcome all challengers,” she said viciously.

              “You got bloodthirsty all of a sudden, Moxie,” he commented dryly.

              “I just got signed onto a ship, Captain,” she replied.  “I just helped get her back down to her fighting weight again.  Do you honestly think I’m going to let these swaggering braggarts tear her apart again?”

              “You’d better not,” he said gruffly.  “You and I would have a stern chat after that.”

              She laughed.  “I think it might be a good idea to bring your shields up and get your weapons online.”

              “We’ve only got those laser cannons,” he protested.

              “Well, you can try and mount some defense,” she fired back, “or you can sit there and wait to die.  Because while I might, and I stress
might
be able to handle six of them, are you really going to just stand back and do nothing?  Do nothing on the slim hope that one could best six?”

              He grimaced.  “Well, when you put it that way.  You make a good argument.  Well, I need you to get your ass back over here in case they decide to come up.”

              “Please try and talk to them, Captain.  I really don’t want to murder some kids who are just doing their jobs.”

              “All right, stay on channel two,” he told her.  Kutok muted the bridge conversations.  “See if you can contact our good friend Steffan.  I want to try and head this off before someone dies.”

              “Yes, Captain,” she answered, working her controls.  A moment later, “I have the commerce minister on the line.  Audio only.”

              “Put me on.”  She nodded.  “This is Captain Vincent Eamonn on the
Grania Estelle
.”

              Steffan answered immediately.  “Ah, Captain.  Good.  You’ve made a decision?  You’ve decided to see sense?”

              “I’m trying to find some sense here,” he replied.  “My cargo specialist is telling me that the negotiations ended.  What’s the story here?”  He could see that Kutok was trying to get his attention. 

              “Captain, I’ve muted it.  He’s transmitting a second signal on the same encryption as before.  He’s probably talking to the people on the surface.”

              “Record it for later.  Put me back on.”  She nodded. 

              “The story is, Captain,” Steffan replied, sounding as though he was speaking with his nose raised in the air, “is that your specialist is trying to cheat the hard-working people of Hecate.”

              “Well I can’t believe she would do that,” he said, trying to sound completely innocent and confused.  Then he rolled his eyes.  “Taja is normally so reliable.”

              “You will need to speak with your staff, Captain,” Steffan told him.  “Perhaps you and I can get this situation straightened out.”

              “I would like that very much,” he answered, truthfully.  Kutok sent a message to his display, not saying a word.

             
He is in communication with the surface, the same individual as before.  Yorik is telling him to keep you talking while he gets the fighters prepped.  It is my opinion that neither man is interested in dealing with us.  They intend to attack.

              Eamonn was forced to agree.  “So what’s this I hear about a different deal?  I mean, we’re both businessmen.  Let’s get this hammered out.”  He entered a few commands on his display, telling George to get to the bridge and to get the laser cannons online.

              “I’ve spoken with the consortium, Captain.  I’m afraid they are not willing to budge on this,” Steffan went on.  “They are saying they will not alter the original agreement.  And since the shipment is almost nine months late, they will only pay out under those terms.”

              “Come now, Steffan,” the Captain replied.  “We’re both reasonable men.  My ship picked up the shipment after the original transporters abandoned it.  Surely you and I could work something out.  I will admit that the original transporter screwed your client over and I can also understand a reduced payment.  But the full penalty?  That’s just unreasonable.”

              Steffan sighed.  “Of course I understand, Captain.  And I tend to agree, the full penalty
is
unreasonable.  But I’ve spoken with the consortium and they refuse to budge on this.  I can try and talk with them again.  I mean you did come all this way and you do have the shipment.  Perhaps they might be willing to negotiate the price.”

              “I’d like to go with you, if at all possible, Minister,” the Captain put in.  “Maybe if they see me in person showing them some respect, they might be willing to work with me.”

              “I suppose that might work.  Let me speak with them first and see if we can set up a conference.”  Steffan sounded as though he was happy and willing to set this up.

             
Communications from the surface indicate that the fighters are ready for launch.  We only have a few minutes before they leave the surface.
 
He’s only stringing you along.
 

             
Great
, he thought.  He was about to speak, but Kutok sent another message.

             
Tamara Samair indicates that the
Ganges
is beginning power up procedures.  George confirms the readings.  She is requesting instructions.

              It never rains, but it pours. 
“I understood that the consortium was threatening to use their cruiser to attack my ship,” he said, sounding slightly worried.  “I see that the ship is beginning to power up.  This is causing me some concern.”

              “Oh, it’s all bluster!” the man protested.  “The consortium knows that if they started shooting customers over any sort of contract disputes, there wouldn’t be any more customers.”

              “Then why is the
Ganges
showing increased power activity?”

              “I’ve been told it’s just routine diagnostics.”

              The Captain imagined that Steffan was sweating.  If
Grania Estelle
broke orbit now and accelerated for the hyper limit, it was possible that the freighter might get far enough from the planet that the fighters might not dare follow due to fuel constraints.  And if that was the case, he (and by extension the consortium) might not get the shipment needed for the cruiser.  He needed to keep the Captain talking long enough for the fighters to get in range.

             
Captain, sensors show that six sublight craft are lifting off from the surface.  Their vectors are showing they are on an intercept course for us.  ETA four minutes.

              He pressed a stud on the arm of his chair, muting the call.  “Tell Moxie to get into defensive position, or whatever she calls it.”

              He pressed the stud again.  “Minister, I’m detecting six ships leaving the planet on a course for my ship.  Can you explain their intentions?”

              Steffan sighed.  “Please do not resist,” he said.  “We are getting that shipment, but the amount of damage your ship takes will depend on how much you resist.  Our pilots are trained to fight off pirates, they will have no trouble with your freighter.”