“On a personal level it also gives me the opportunity to pursue my own dreams, as well as affords me the opportunity to get my revenge on her for fingering me on the Smelter Seventeen disaster.”
When the laughter died down, Zoya continued. “Any questions before I turn this meeting over to Kate?”
Butler raised a hand.
“Mr. Butler?”
“Will this change any of the financial arrangements?”
Zoya shook her head. “I will remain owner. I hold the stock. Everything else relating to the company finances remains unchanged except that Kate now gets what my grandmother was getting as salary.” She grinned at Kate. “Well, a little more. I gave her a raise since my grandmother has been collecting the same amount for two decades.” She looked back at Butler. “Big Rock will still be the main office until and unless Kate decides to move it. She’ll have access to the family residence since both my grandfather and I are moving out. Whether she uses it or not is up to her.”
She surveyed the room with as beatific a smile as Natalya had ever seen on her face. “I’m not turning my back on the company. I’m not giving up on the Usoko legacy. I’m giving it the chance it needs to become something better. Something more.” She swallowed hard and lifted her chin. “Thank you for your support over the decades and especially over these last few trying days.”
She turned to Kate and pulled her to her feet. “May I present Usoko Mining’s new CEO—Kate Jonuska.” She stepped back and started the applause.
Natalya waited for Zoya to come out of the chapel after the memorial service, nodding to the exiting employees as they walked past her. She spotted Konstantin’s white hair above the crowd and moved to intercept him as he left. Zoya walked beside him.
“Lovely service,” Natalya said.
Konstantin gave her a warm smile. “She’d have hated it, but she’d also have known it was necessary.” He pulled Zoya under his arm for a sideways hug. “Lovely speech.”
“But I didn’t speak,” Zoya said.
“Not here. This morning.” He kissed her on the forehead. “You make me so proud.”
Zoya teared up then and reached up to kiss her grandfather’s cheek. “Thank you,” she said, her raspy voice not much louder than a whisper.
Natalya fell into step with them as they walked three abreast away from the chapel.
Natalya found she had nothing more to say. She felt content to walk along on Konstantin’s left while Zoya had his right.
Before she knew it, they stood in the quiet and empty family kitchen. Konstantin rummaged in the cupboards and soon had the coffee maker burbling on the sideboard.
“What will you do now?” he asked.
“Who?” Zoya asked.
“Either of you. Both of you.” He shrugged.
“Genevieve has moved in with her daughter on the orbital,” Zoya said.
“I knew that,” he said with a grin. “That’s not what I asked.”
Zoya shrugged. “Kate said we could stay as long as we liked, but Natalya and I are going to move aboard the Star Struck. I need to get some things from my room before we go but other than a few mementos I don’t think there’s much there I need after all this time.”
Konstantin looked at Natalya. “You didn’t take the captain’s cabin?”
“On the Star Struck?” Natalya grinned and shook her head. “Engineer’s stateroom. It’s bigger than my compartment on the Peregrine. We’ll be moving aboard the new ship in a few weeks and I’ll hire a captain to run Star Struck for the company.”
“What about you, Pop-pop?”
Konstantin pulled some mugs out of the cupboard and poured coffee. He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I’ll probably move over to the orbital. Maybe retire and buy a yacht.”
Zoya laughed, a joyful sound that echoed in the near-empty kitchen.
“What?” he asked. “I can retire if I want to.”
Zoya crossed to her grandfather and gave him a hug around his middle. “Pop-pop, you can no more retire than I can run this company right now.” She looked up at him. “What are you really going to do?”
“I really don’t know. It’s only been a couple of weeks and so much has already changed.” He unwound her arms and handed her a cup of coffee. Natalya took one and Konstantin grabbed the last one. They stood there in the kitchen, leaning on the counters and sipping in silence.
“You don’t have a ship,” Natalya asked.
Konstantin shook his head. “All the ships belong to the company.”
“Mine doesn’t,” Natalya said. “I happen to know the captain’s cabin is open.”
Zoya’s eyes danced as she grinned at her grandfather.
Konstantin shook his head harder. “You don’t need me along.”
Natalya took a slug of coffee and stared at him. “You’ve got a master’s license, don’t you?”
Konstantin shrugged. “Of course.”
“You’re rated for the engineering certificate on an Unwin Eight?” she asked.
“Now wait a tick here,” he said, backing up a step and holding a hand palm out.
“It’s a simple question, Pop-pop,” Zoya said. “You’re rated for the Unwin Eight as a solo pilot, right?”
“Well, yes.” He nodded. “But that doesn’t mean—”
“I happen to own an Unwin Eight and it needs a captain. Somebody who can legally haul freight from here to there. I should warn you that some of it will be entering and leaving Toe-Hold space,” Natalya said, enjoying herself just a bit too much.
“Look, girls,” Konstantin said. “I appreciate the offer but no.” He shook his head. “I’ve never been a freight hauler. Don’t care much for the life.”
“What life do you like, Pop-pop?”
He shrugged and placed his mug down on the counter. He leaned back against the cupboards, his palms on the edges and looked at his feet. “I’m a miner. Always have been. Haven’t been able to do it for more stanyers than I care to count.” He shrugged and looked at Zoya. “So, yeah. If I could do anything? I’d get a barge and head for the belts. Maybe give that son of mine a little competition.”
A new voice came from the passage. “How about joining him?”
One of the Usoko security guards stepped into the kitchen with a man that could only be Zoya’s father. “Sorry, Mr. Usoko. He insisted and I thought you might want to see him.”
“It’s all right, Robarts,” Konstantin said.
“Hi, Pop.”
“Nikolai.”
“I came as fast as I could. Barges don’t move that fast.”
“I know,” Konstantin said.
“Just missed the memorial.”
Konstantin nodded.
The man’s gaze swept over Natalya but froze on his daughter. “Zoya?”
“Hello, Dad.”
He swallowed hard and stared at her, his head shaking ever so slightly back and forth. “Congratulations?”
“Thank you,” she said. “For which?”
He seemed to melt a little, his shoulders drooping, his knees all but buckling. “Everything,” he said. “The academy. Every time you succeeded when I wasn’t there.” His chest heaved once. “Your life.” His voice rasped out of his chest, so soft it might have been a caress had it not been so full of pain.
Zoya crossed to him. She seemed taller than he was, more solid. For a moment, Natalya thought Zoya might slug him, but she held her arms open. “Got a hug for your little girl?”
Natalya finished her coffee and placed the mug in the sink before walking up to the guard. “Robarts, is it?”
He nodded.
“I’m never sure where I am in this rock. Could you guide me to the docking gallery?”
Robarts looked over her shoulder at the figures still in the kitchen and nodded. “My pleasure, miss.”
Chapter 74
Margary Orbital:
2369, August 30
The lawyer Ms. Grimes had recommended proved to be everything Natalya needed. “Thank y
ou, Mr. Tham. For everything,” she said.
“You’re welcome, Ms. Regyri. When Ms. Usoko—” He paused and nodded at Zoya. “That is, Madoka approached me, I made certain that you were protected and that all the paperwork would be in order for when you came forward to claim the company.” He offered Zoya a smile. “I’m sorry for your loss. Your grandmother was well known in Margary.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tham. She had a certain reputation that I’m more than aware of.”
Tham nodded and smiled a little broader. “She was a force to be reckoned with, to be sure.” He took a deep breath and turned back to Natalya. “So, I have the logo, the name change. The fees, of course, are prepaid.”
“Can you forward the artwork to Manchester for me?” Natalya asked. “They’ll be rolling that hull out of the ways any day now.”
“Of course,” he said.
“You wouldn’t know a captain and chief engineer who need a job, would you?” she asked.
He laughed. “I’m sorry, Ms. Regyri. The company is set up with a payroll service company so you can pay them, but you’re going to need to hire them yourself, I’m afraid.”
Natalya snapped her fingers. “Ah, well. Never hurts to ask.”
“Is there anything besides that I can help with?”
Natalya shook her head and stood. “I guess we’re off to earn our tickets.”
He grinned. “Don’t you mean your fortunes?
Natalya glanced at Zoya and grinned. “No, Mr. Tham. We already have our fortunes. What we don’t have are our licenses. We’re going to remedy that.” She shook his hand and left his office with Zoya on her heels.
“What do we need to do next?” Zoya asked as they stood in the wide promenade that circled the Five Deck.
Natalya shook her head. “Hire a captain, I guess.”
Both their tablets bipped at the same time.
“Now what?” Zoya asked, pulling out her tablet.
Natalya pulled hers up and read the incoming message. She grinned. “I knew it.”
Zoya looked up. “Ms. Grimes?”
Natalya nodded. “We won the bet.”
Zoya stared at her tablet for several long moments. “She bet I wouldn’t take the job.”
“No,” Natalya said. “She bet you’d do what was necessary for the company. You did. You found Kate.”
Zoya looked over at Natalya. “You think so?”
“You’re the one that caught the wording in her will.” Natalya shrugged. “Have you forgotten?”
“I thought it was just her way of telling me to suck it up.”
Natalya laughed. “We still need a captain.”
“We need two, don’t we?” Zoya asked. “One for Star Struck and one for the new ship?”
“Ideally,” Natalya said. “I asked my father if he wanted it back. He said he’d lease it from us but we traded fair and square. All we need to do is get it to him and get back here to pick up the new ship.”
“You need to pick a name,” Zoya said. “You’ve been dragging your feet on that for weeks. We can’t keep calling it the new ship. Aitken is going to need to paint it on the hull.”
“Oh, I made up my mind when I decided on the company name,” Natalya said.
“I thought it was Regyri Transport.”
“It was.” Natalya smiled. “He’s filing the paperwork now to change it to Regyri Usoko Transportation Company.”
“You can’t do that. This is your company. I already gave mine up.”
“Already done.” Natalya started strolling along the promenade pretending to look in the windows. “You’re going to be the third mate, after all. If my name’s on it, yours should be, too. And you didn’t give it up. You gave it the management team it needs.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Zoya said.
“Madoka,” Natalya said, enjoying the look of surprise on Zoya’s face. “Come on. We’ve got to figure out how to get this boat to my father and get back here in time for the christening.”
About The Author
Nathan Lowell has been a writer for more than forty years, and first entered the literary world by podcasting his novels. His science-fiction series, Trader’s Tales From The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, grew from his long time fascination with space opera and his own experiences shipboard in the United States Coast Guard. Unlike most works which focus on a larger-than-life hero (prophesied savior, charismatic captain, or exiled prince), Nathan centers on the people behind the scenes—ordinary men and women trying to make a living in the depths of space. In his novels, there are no bug-eyed monsters, or galactic space battles, instead he paints a richly vivid and realistic world where the “hero” uses hard work and his own innate talents to improve his station and the lives of those of his community.
Dr. Nathan Lowell holds a Ph.D. in Educational Technology with specializations in Distance Education and Instructional Design. He also holds an M.A. in Educational Technology and a BS in Business Administration with a minor in marketing. He grew up on the south coast of Maine and is strongly rooted in the maritime heritage of the sea-farer. He served in the USCG from 1970 to 1975, seeing duty aboard a cutter on hurricane patrol in the North Atlantic and at a communications station in Kodiak, Alaska.
He currently lives in the plains east of the Rocky Mountains with his wife and two daughters.
Awards for Nathan’s Books
2016 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Independent Writer Of The Year for In Ashes Born
2011 Parsec Award Winner for Best Speculative Fiction (long form) for Owner’s Share
2011 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction (short form) for The Astonishing Amulet of Amenartas
2010 Parsec Award Winner for Best Speculative Fiction (long form) for Captain’s Share
2009 Podiobooks Founder’s Choice Award for Captain’s Share
2009 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction (long form) for Double Share
2008 Podiobooks Founder’s Choice Award for Double Share
2008 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction (long form) for Full Share
2008 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction (long form) for South Coast
Learn More At:
NathanLowell.com
Twitter: @nlowell
Home Run (Smuggler's Tales From the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper Book 3) Page 44