Rookie Privateer (15 page)

Once Dad made it through the first door, Ensign Lok turned to me. "Anything we should know about?"

"
Which. My head or my Dad?"

"
Either?"

"
Not really. I got some unwanted attention. Someone wants their ship back and decided to send a message. Dad is looking to install security routines."

"
Marine?"

"
Retired, yeah, how'd you know?"

"
You can always pick ‘em out."

"
Hmm ..."

Ke Lok turned out to be pretty decent. When not surrounded by superior officers, he wasn't much different from Nick and myself. He had four years on us and had just graduated from Mars Protectorate Academy in engineering. Once they got started, it took Nick and Ke a couple of hours to install the nav-computer, software updates and storage systems.

While Nick and Ke worked on the navigation systems, another crewman from the
Kuznetsov
repaired the holes we had drilled into the hull. Billy was called in by Ke to remove the vac-patches. There were a couple of small decompression events aboard the ship while he filled, welded and repaired the damage. The hassle was worth it, though, because this crewman was a welding genius. The repairs looked better than the entire rest of the hull, as if those small areas were the original ship and the rest of it was a sad parody.

By 1100, Billy, the hull-welding genius, had started on the slug-thrower. No amount of welding would fix the barrel and he resorted to repair
-through-replacement. Instead of repairing the single barrel I had damaged, he replaced the entire turret assembly. It was a close enough match to the small guns on the
Kuznetsov
that he was also able to replicate a collar to fit it in. I was surprised at how easily he lifted the old assembly and swapped it with his replacement. It would have been nearly impossible for Nick and me to repair it with the station's .6 gravity, but Billy had brought along a portable lift and made quick work of it.

When Dad showed back up at 1200, Mom was with him. Ensign Lok and Billy were pulling two mostly empty grav-pallets back to the station's main lift. As if on cue, a pallet with our sensor strips, pulled by a guy I recognized but couldn't put a name with, passed the two out
-of-uniform navy men.

I signed for the parts
, then Nick and Big Pete set about installing the sensor strips. The parts were perfectly printed to fit the ship's original design. Unfortunately several of the hull patches that had been applied over the years weren't quite as well installed as they could have been and they had to break out a welder and grinder to finish the job. I joined them after a couple of hours and it was well past 2000 when the last strip was installed. We were exhausted.

"
Too bad you mucked up that turret. We could give that security routine some teeth," Big Pete complained.

"
You were on the ship all afternoon and you still think that turret is messed up?" I asked.

"
Yeah, I saw it this morning when I first got here, remember? I saw the holes you and Tabby drilled out with those lasers."

"
Well, get your eyes checked. We had them repaired." I still didn't want to bring him in on the Navy's involvement.

Big Pete stood motionless
, showing that same look of parental concern he had years ago when he found me playing with his mining lasers before he showed me how to use them. "Hmm. That was fast and must have been expensive." If he had figured it out, he wasn't saying anything. He took a minute on the pad and then said, "Okay, security routine is running. Nick, we missed a couple of connectors up front. I bet the terminals got broken off and we didn't see it. You can get 'em in the morning. You have more than enough to sail her, but be best if you fixed 'em before you do."

We re-entered the ship and I heard Mom humming where the galley was located. She looked up when I turned the corner.

"You all looking for some dinner?" she asked cheerily.

"
Mixed berries?" I said, going for our family joke.

"
No, and who is this Ms. Gellar? Not only did she send along a stack of sandwiches but she also packed a kilo of real coffee beans and something that looks suspiciously like chocolate cake. I thought you were sweet on Tabby."

No good answer here. I looked around the galley. It was quite a bit cleaner than it had been this morning. A silvery metallic table had been pulled down from the wall and stools had been clipped into receptacles in the floor.

"Did you do this?" I was bewildered by the amount of work she had accomplished. I also smelled a delicious scent that I vaguely recognized and associated with the chocolate cake. "And is that coffee I smell?"

Mom smiled with pride,
"Yes, that's real coffee, Liam. It is excellent and this is what old people call elbow grease. I tried to do some damage control on your beds. They're trash, by the way, and son, you don't have a suit freshener. Don't you dare try to fly this somewhere without a suit freshener. Isn't it just like pirates, there's a coffee brewing station and no suit fresheners."

It is hard to explain how much better sandwiches are than meal bars. If you add chocolate cake and coffee, even cracked ribs start to feel okay. I would have to find something nice for Polly Gellar.

After dinner, dad pulled out a few boxes of dart ammo and a gas charger for the propulsion cartridges. He then handed over a flechette gun that was larger than the one I'd found.

"
Never had to use it that much. Glad it's going to a good home." Mom almost sounded nostalgic. "But that was before I got this bad boy." She said with a wicked smile, pulling out a slim, matte black, laser pistol.

The next mo
rning, my head felt much better so I found the instructions for the coffee brewer. I took a sealed mug up to the bridge and turned over one of the pilot chairs. It wobbled, but if I didn't move too much it would be fine. I wondered if we would ever get the bridge fully restored since I knew we didn't have enough money in our accounts to accomplish that. Most of that money was marked for critical systems. Even with the bridge in pieces, the quiet of the room was peaceful and I could imagine us sailing across the vast expanse of space with a load of cargo. I really wanted to get going.

Nick joined me on the bridge after an hour and I helped him turn over the other pilot chair. We sat quietly for a few minutes. Nick was completely unimpressed with the coffee and set it aside. I grabbed his cup, removed my lid and poured the contents of his cup into my own.

"Account is running a little north of twenty thousand. I probably need five of that to get the bridge back online. Won't be pretty, but it'll work." I was worried that we were going to bottom out before we set sail. "What do you think the minimum is to get us up and going other than that?"

Nick took a moment to reply,
"Depends on how far we have to go. If we stick to cargo and no passengers, we're nearly there. We can't fly bonded cargo since we can't afford the bond, and we aren't registered with TradeNet, so it's pretty hard to set up orders. Things are tight."

It was the first time I had heard Nick sound anything less than optimistic.

"Okay, easy. No passengers. What does TradeNet cost?"

"
Fifty thousand to register. Then we have to upgrade our communications gear, pay a minimum of two hundred thousand for the bond, which they escrow and after that each individual bond is a minimum of five thousand per load."

I whistled,
"Two fifty-five upfront? That's an easy decision. How about this. You take over getting the bridge up and running and I'll get us a destination and cargo. Can you have us ready to sail in seventy-two hours?"

Nick brightened,
"I'm in."

Without access to TradeNet, it would be very difficult to figure out who needed items moved from port to port. We had some value in our share of the ammo and it wouldn’t be overly difficult for us, as independents, to find a buyer. It was substantially more complex to facilitate both sides of the transaction. First, we had to find someone with something to sell or move that could fit in our ship. Then, we had to find a way to connect them with a suitable buyer, preferably somewhere we could get to easily.

I spent the morning searching through online publications, want ads, and other sources. I started to appreciate why TradeNet
demanded such a high fee. It was frustrating work. Some people listed mass and others listed cubic meters. I needed both.

I pinged Ordena to set up a meeting.
"Working on filling a cargo run."

His reply was nearly instant.
"Why don't you stop by? I have some ideas."

"
When?"

"
Why not now?"

"
Where?"

"
I am at my office, sending directions."

The address was in The Down Under. That hadn't worked out for me very well last time, but I rejected the idea that there was anywhere on this station I couldn't go. This time I wouldn't leave my flechette at home. If it came to that, at least I'd make sure someone was pulling darts outta their ass for a few days.

"I'm headed out," I informed Nick.

"
Wait, I'll come along."

"
Nope. Get the ship ready. I can handle it." I pulled on my shoulder harness and ejected the magazine clip. Thirty-two darts. If I needed more than that, I would be seriously in over my head. I headed out the airlock with a sense of security nestled under my left arm. I was also wearing my AGBs. I hadn't practiced much with the military prosthetic and arc-jets, but it felt pretty good as I bounded over to the public access lift.

It took me better than twenty minutes riding different lifts to make my way to Ordena's address in The Down Under. The lift dumped me out into L-2 space so I could lower my mask, but I decided to run with a high reflective surface on the face mask. Between that and the holster under my arm, I felt reasonably safe.

The hallway leading to Ordena's office was neglected and the lighting wasn't all working. I had to turn down the mask filter so I could see. It reminded me of the condition of
Sterra's Gift
when we entered for the first time.

His office entrance was only a door cut out of the hallway. There was a pane of peep-glass allowing someone on the other side to see visitors. On my side, I saw my own reflection and
thought I looked kind of bad-ass with my holster and reflective face plate.

I knocked and after a few moments, Xie Mie-su opened the door.

"You are very quick. So, not selling her, eh? Worth a lot of money." Xie took a breath, but before she could get going again, Ordena called her name.

She turned and led me down the hallway. I obviously hadn't paid enough attention when she was on the ship before, but Xie was gorgeous. Her straight black hair hung down her back, settling just above her waist. She walked with a very slight sway that was mesmerizing. I mentally chastised myself for looking, given how I had left things with Tabby, but Xie sure made it hard to ignore her.

I pulled my eyes up just in time to make the turn into Ordena's office. I looked guiltily to Xie, who had a small knowing smile on her face. I'm sure my face burned a little with shame.

"
Thanks for coming down, Liam." Ordena sat back in his chair smiling. His office was disorganized and there were piles of different things all over the place. He gestured to a chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat." I had to move a small stack of boxes.

"
Just put 'em anywhere. So, how is ship ownership treating you?" he asked.

Xie Mie-su pulled up another chair and positioned it to the side of the desk so she could see us both easily. I was momentarily distracted.

"Uh," I swiveled my head back to look at him. "Good. Lots of work."

"
Well, I have something you might be interested in."

That got my attention.
"What's that?"

"
Straight up offer for your ship. Two hundred thousand."

"
We valued it at two-forty a day ago without fuel and ammo. We've put in quite a bit of work since then." The offer caught me flat footed.

"
Okay. How about three hundred?" His hands were steepled in front of him. He clearly enjoyed the negotiation.

"
Not really for sale, Mr. O."

"
Could go as high as three fifty."

I was taken off guard. While the ship was undoubtedly worth more than that, splitting that between Nick and me could go a long way. We wouldn't be able to get a replacement ship, but we could afford to go to school. Could we really give up the dream or
maybe even postpone it?

"
Give me a minute?"

Ordena nodded his head
at me. I stood up and raised my face shield, walked out into the hallway, and initiated a comm with Nick.

"
You'll never believe this. Ordena just offered us three fifty for the ship."

"
You sound interested. What do you want?" Nick answered without skipping a beat.

"
I need to know what you want. Could pay for school, we could go to the same place."

"
That what you want?"

"
Frak Nick, I'm asking you."

"
Understood. Call the play." Nick terminated communication.

That little shit
e could be so frustrating. I walked back into the office.

"
Good offer Mr. O., but we have to turn you down. Just not ready to sell."

"
The offer is solid. Worth more than that ship. You should reconsider."

"
You want to buy it?"

"
No. Someone I represent."

"
Who?" I asked.

"
Can't say. They will be pretty disappointed. You should reconsider." He raised both eyebrows and sat forward with pursed lips. It felt more like a threat than disappointment.

"
Sorry. Just not interested in selling."

He considered me for a few uncomfortable moments and then sat back again with a welcoming smile.
"Well, heck. Okay, what are your big plans?"

"
Trying to put together a load. Best price on the ammo is on Ceres at Baru Manush station and they are nice and close. It would be a good shakeout run for us. You would net fifty-two thousand."

"
I thought we were a lot closer to sixty on that."

"
That'd be gross. Buyer will give us two hundred for the lot. Your lot would go for fuel plus six." I had practiced this one a few times. I wasn't sure he would go for paying six thousand for delivery, but I wasn't going to ship his ammo for free.

"
How about fuel plus four?" he immediately countered.

We haggled for a while and ended up at fuel plus fifty-two hundred on delivery. I suspected he negotiated bigger deals all the time, so I felt good just hanging in on this one. Six thousand was more than a fair price and I should have gotten at least the fuel deposit up front. I also should have started higher so I could get pulled back to that number. I realized that all too late.

"You have any more room to Baru Manush?" he asked.

"
Two hundred meters," I said.

Ordena smiled.
"Here I thought you had a full load and that was why you were stonewalling on the ship. How about I take all two hundred for fuel plus thirty, and one passenger."

I knew I had to separate these ideas.
Passage to Baru Manush was worth ten by itself, but we weren't set up for it.

"
We aren't set up for passengers right now. Can do the cargo for fuel plus thirty, fuel up front."

"
Even if the passenger is Ms. Mei-su?" Ordena came as close to leering as a person could without being obvious.

He thought he had me on that. I did want the extra ten though
, and she would definitely make the trip more enjoyable. It felt like he'd overstepped.

I looked at Xie,
"It will be a pretty gnarly ride. You know the condition of the ship." I turned back to Ordena, "Fuel and ten up front for passenger. Thirty for the cargo." I stood and held my hand over the desk.

Ordena looked a little startled at my standing up, but he stood and shook my hand,
"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Hoffen. Hold on a minute. I will punch it up and we can get it signed."

I sat back down while he typed. I knew I would need to be a little careful since he was a lawyer. I fully expected him to write it up with some gotchas in it. I read it as carefully as I could and didn't find anything glaring. The fuel numbers felt low but I could see his reference to standard rates. I hoped this wasn't a colossal mistake, but it looked good to me, so I signed it.

"We will be at the loading bay of your choice at 0600 in three days. Ms. Mie-su, you can meet us there as well. I hope you will not be too uncomfortable. We expect to be approximately two hundred hours under sail." Total trip time was more like one eighty with the burn plan I had worked out, but Big Pete had always said, "Under promise, over deliver." Words I planned to build a business on.

"
Look for my communication. Good doing business with you, Mr. Hoffen. I hope we will have a chance for more in the future." Mr. Ordena had an odd look on his face, but it quickly cleared to his normal professional appearance.

"
Mind if I accompany you back to the ship? I would love to check out your progress." Xie hadn't said a word during the entire negotiation and that was odd, given her normal chattiness.

I looked at Ordena, who had busied himself with a spreadsheet on his vid screen.

"Anything else?" I shot his direction.

"
No. You kids have fun." He leered again.

Xie and I walked out and headed toward the lift. It felt like I would be rude to mirror my face shield so I kept it down.

"What are you doing on Baru Manush?" I asked.

"
Business trip. Had a deal go bad and need to get it fixed. I have to do it in person."

"
You do that a lot?"

"
What, fix things?"

"
No. Sail between the colonies."

"
Yes and no. It takes a lot of time, but sometimes there is too much on the line not to show up in person."

"
I thought you were an engineer. You sure know your way around a ship. What kind of business are you into?"

"
Trade mostly."

She didn't want to talk about it. Maybe I had her wrong, she wasn't that chatty now. We approached the lift and entered a wide area where several hallways intersected. I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my shoulder. Something had pierced my vac-suit. Then the material healed around the wound and my shoulder was on fire.

"Get down," Xie said loudly in a commanding voice.

I didn't need to hear it twice and dove to the floor, rolling clumsily away from the direction of the attack. On the way down I closed my suit's face mask. Big Pete's security program
showed the warning blips of two people who had entered my safety perimeter. Frak.

On the ground, it was a lot harder to get my flechette pistol out of the holster, but I managed it as I kept moving. I wouldn't make an easy target if I could help it. I heard darts hitting the floor forward of my position.

Xie had rolled to the ground, but with more grace. She came up in front of one of the two attackers and slammed her elbow into the side of his mask. I fired in the direction of the other attacker. My darts weren't even getting close, although he did take cover in the hallway from which he had emerged.

We were completely exposed. I looked back to Xie and watched with awe as she dropped low and spun a leg, sweeping her attacker's legs out from under him. He fell heavily, but was agile enough to bring a foot up and kick her squarely in the chest. She was flung backward, so I took aim and shot him twice in the abdomen. The darts pierced his suit, the tails protruding.
Blood splattered just before his suit started healing over its own wound.

"
Look out," Xie exclaimed.

The other attacker was rounding the corner and lining up to take a shot at me, so I swung my pistol toward him and started firing. He got a couple of shots off but didn't appear interested in seeing it through. He turned tail and ran.