To Fire Called (A Seeker's Tale From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 2)

by Nathan Lowell

  I glanced at Al, with her bald head, huge arms, and just the tiniest hints of surgical steel in various places. For just a moment, I wondered if we’d miscalculated. With the chief backing up Pip out front, it fell to us to welcome them. Of course. We could do this. I was a starship captain. Al was—well, Al.

  “We split this up wrong,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

  “What’s that, Skipper?” she asked.

  “We need a ringmaster in here. That’s Pip’s role.”

  I looked up at her as she looked down at me, a curious look in her eyes and a twisted grin on her face. “The hell,” she said and strode into the middle of the room. “Any spacers in here?” she asked, her voice booming around the room.

  The group lurking at the edge of the banner looked around at each other. I’m not a mind reader, but I swear every single one of them was thinking “What have I done?”

  Al stood in the middle of the floor and put her hands on her hips. She glanced at the bartender and then nodded to the uniformed server at the buffet line. “I asked,” she said even louder than before. “Are there any spacers in here?”

  One skinny drink of water with tightly cropped hair and shiny boots stuck his thumbs in his belt and stepped forward. From where I stood, he looked like he might have weighed in at fifty kilos. He took about three steps out of the pack and stood his ground. “Who wants to know?” His voice wasn’t very loud, but it was steady. I saw a couple people behind him flinch.

  “First Mate Alberta Ross of the Chernyakova. Who’s askin’?”

  “Spec Two Astrogation Dale Jensen, late of the tanker Alabaster. What do you want?”

  Al looked at the bartender and grinned. “Barkeep? Mr. Jensen needs a beer.”

  The worthy at the tap nodded to Al and then looked at Jensen. “Ale or stout, Mr. Jensen.”

  Jensen looked over his shoulder at the crowd of wide-eyed spacers still clustered around the edge of the banner before turning to look at Al again. He bit his lips together and took a deep breath. “S’all the same to you, Ms. Ross? I’d rather a good cup of coffee.”

  A quiet twitter of laughter came from the crowd behind him and I saw Jensen’s jaw clench even from across the big room.

  Al turned her head to look at me. “Skipper? One of yours.”

  I nodded at Jensen. “Mr. Jensen, I’m Captain Ishmael Wang. I happen to know the coffee in this establishment is quite good. Let me buy you a cup and we’ll chat, shall we?”

  Jensen dropped his thumbs from his belt and did a credible not-marching parade from his place near the door.

  When he passed by Al, she nodded. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Jensen.”

  “Thank you, sar. Nice to be here.”

  “Now,” Al bellowed. “Lemme ask again. Any spacers in here?”

  The resulting roar brought a concerned Lori from the back of Rock and Roll, eyes wide. I nodded Mr. Jensen toward the buffet table and smiled at Lori.

  “Just doing a little ice breaker. We’ll keep it down,” I said.

  “I was worried that something had gone horribly wrong,” she said. “That was ... startling.”

  “You should have been in here,” the waiter behind the buffet said with a broad grin.

  “You do have coffee back there, don’t you?” I asked him.

  “I do,” he said and limbered up a tall thermal pump. “It’s pretty good, too, if I do say so myself.”

  “Pour one for Mr. Jensen here, if you’d be so kind? And I’ll take one, too.” I placed the almost empty beer glass on one of the bussing trays.

  Lori and the waiter shared a look before she backed away from the mob of spacers heading for the buffet line. “Let me know if you need anything, Captain.”

  “Thank you, Lori. One of us will holler.”

  She laughed and left back through the connecting door.

  I turned to the drink of water from the Alabaster. “So, Mr. Jensen. What brings you here tonight?” I asked. “Clearly not the free beer.”

  He shook his head and accepted the coffee from the waiter with a nod. “Thanks.” He looked at me and then down at his feet for just a moment. “I saw the ad and I need a job,” he said.

  “You like astrogation?” I asked.

  “I do, sar,” he said. He looked at his shoes again and then back over his shoulder.

  “What do you like about it?” I asked.

  “It’s like magic, sar. You’re out there and there’s nothin’ but these little pinpoints of light all around and you know they’re all movin’ every which way. In spite of it all, you can take a ship from here to there and back again.” He shook his head. “I can’t explain it, Captain.”

  I tapped a star and stuck it on his badge. “I think you just did, Mr. Jensen. Nice talking with you, but I need to circulate.”

  “Of course, Captain. Thank you for the time.” He stuck out his hand and I shook it.

  “Be sure to say hello to Al,” I said.

  “Al, sar?”

  “Ms. Ross.” I nodded at her. She stood across the room near the bar with a gaggle of men and women in various shipsuits and uniforms.

  “Is she really your first mate, Captain?” Jensen’s gaze seemed riveted on her.

  “Yes, Mr. Jensen. And if you like astrogation, she’s your teacher.”

  His head snapped around and he stared at me, eyes as big around as his coffee cup. “She’s an astrogator?”

  “Well, she’s first mate so she put in her time as a second. A skipper I know once said she could plot a course to the gates of hell and back. I’ve no reason to doubt that assessment.” I grinned at him. “And no real desire to test it.”

  He smiled back. “Thank you, sar.”

  “Carry on, Mr. Jensen.”

  I realized the waiter still held my coffee and I took it from him. “Sorry. Distracted.”

  The waiter shook his head. “Not a problem, Captain. I’m enjoying the floor show.”

  I laughed and sidled out of the way so another group of spacers could get at the food.

  A young woman in a dark gray shipsuit with white piping stepped up to me. “Captain? I’m Mary Torkelson, spec two ship handler.”

  I held out a hand and she gave it a good shake. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Torkelson. Are you enjoying our little job fair?”

  She looked around the room and shook her head. “This is nuts.” She stopped, frozen for half a heartbeat. “Sar. That is, uh, I’ve never seen anything like this, Captain.” She glanced up at me as if to judge how far into the soup she’d fallen.

  “You’re right, Ms. Torkelson. It’s nuts.”

  She looked relieved. “So, you’re really looking to hire crew here, sar?”

  I chuckled and looked around the room. “Doesn’t look much like a job interview, does it?”

  “No, sar. It really doesn’t.”

  “What ship?” I asked.

  “Sheila Unwin. Barbell out of Robison in Ciroda, Captain.”

  “What brings you to our little soiree, Ms. Torkelson?”

  “Ship’s in for major refit. She’s going to be tied up for almost a stanyer, sar.” She shrugged. “Unwin Yards. They do good work but I can’t wait that long.”

  “I’m familiar with the yard and the problem, Ms. Torkelson. What’s the biggest problem with sailing a Barbell?”

  She nibbled her lower lip a bit and stared into space. “They’re bricks, sar. Get ’em pointed in the right direction and you’re good, but if they get off the curve, it’s a stone bitch getting them back on the line. That’s also their biggest strength, I think. They’ll punch through a squall line like it wasn’t there. Keep a handle on the sails and your keel stable, they’ll carve right on the curve.”

  I laughed. “You like sailing bricks?”

  “I do,” she said, a bit of wonder in her voice like maybe she never considered it before. “Grew up on fast packets with my folks. Chance came to work on a bigger boat, I took it.”

  “You on the Sheila long?”

  �
�Five stanyers? Started out there as able spacer. Took a while to get up to spec three and just loafed along after that. They didn’t have a spec two ship-handler berth so I didn’t really push it until I realized we’d be here at the yards for so long. I volunteered to be part of the transport crew, but I knew I’d need to find a job when we got her here.” She grinned. “Then I piled on and got the pips on the first try.”

  “How long you been on the beach?” I asked.

  “Since October.”

  “Ready to get off the station?”

  She laughed. “You have no idea, Captain.”

  I tapped a star and pressed it onto her badge. She craned her neck to look down at it.

  “You’ll want to collect the whole set,” I said.

  “Thank you, Captain.” She held out a hand. I shook it and she wandered off.

  The evening went on like that. After the first couple, I had what felt like an endless parade of spacers queued up in front of me. Some I tapped. Some I double tapped. One second mate looked like a keeper until he lost focus, his eyes trailing a shapely able spacer in a shipsuit that might have been a tad too snug about the bottom and chest.

  “Mr. Ulrick?” I asked, drawing his attention back to me.

  “Sorry, Captain, but did you see that?” He turned back to watch the spacer walk away. “That’s fine.”

  “I did, Mr. Ulrick.” I double tapped a star and pressed it onto his badge.

  “Would you like to hear more about my experience on the Mable Maru?” he asked.

  “That’s fine, Mr. Ulrick.” I nodded to the next person in line and Ulrick faded off into the crowd in the wake of the shapely spacer. I suppressed a sigh.

  I don’t think I saw even half the attendees before Pip went to the middle of the floor and held up his hands. “All right, you lot,” he said. “Listen up.”

  It took a few moments for the hubbub to die down but Pip stood there waiting with one hand still in the air. “Here’s the problem,” he said. “You all need to see each officer present. That’s me, the captain over there,” he pointed to me. “Chief Engineer Margaret Stevens.” Margaret waved a hand. “And our lovely and talented first mate, Alberta Ross.” Al stepped up and raised her beer in a toast. “We’ve almost used up our time in this facility, but I’ve made arrangements with the management for another stan. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we’re losing the buffet and bar.” Jeers and catcalls followed that announcement. “You’re welcome to go next door to the Rock and Roll and buy yourself anything you like,” Pip said. “But—and this is the important part—anybody who doesn’t have all four stickers on their badge when the hour is up? Well. You’re out.”

  One spacer stepped forward and raised his hand.

  “Yes?” Pip said.

  “How do we know who we haven’t seen?” He pointed to his badge. “I’ve got two stickers but what do I need?”

  Pip sort of stopped moving for a moment and blinked several times. “You’ve spoken to two officers and can’t remember which two?”

  The poor sod looked abashed but shrugged and nodded.

  Pip shook his head. “I can’t imagine that anybody meeting and speaking with Ms. Ross could forget her any time soon, but I suppose.”

  “Oh, I remember her,” he said, grinning.

  “Did you speak with me?” Pip asked. “My charm and overbearing personality didn’t make any impression?”

  “Uh, no, sar. I haven’t spoken with you, yet.” He shrugged. “I didn’t know I was supposed to.”

  Chief Stevens spoke up from her corner. “How many people didn’t realize you needed to speak to each of us?”

  Most of the hands in the room went up.

  I saw the bottom fall out of Pip’s world as his jaw hit the floor.

  “Hold up, one tick,” I said and pulled Pip aside. “How many people are here? I can’t get a good count on it.”

  He shrugged. “Something over two hundred. I was into my third bundle of badges when I closed the doors.”

  I waved Al and the chief over. “Cattle-call time. We each take a corner and start screening. You checked their public profiles, right?” I looked at Pip.

  He nodded. “Yeah. They each are who they look like.”

  “We’re making it too complicated. This is a sniff test. We get a bunch of glowing badges and bring them in for a second interview,” I said. “I’ve already sniffed a few I don’t want to see again. Tag ’em now. Bag ’em later.”

  “Makes sense,” Al said.

  “Do it,” the chief said.

  Pip nodded and turned back to the crowd. “All right then,” he said. “The four stickers are stars for the captain, a ship’s wheel for the first mate, a wrench for engineering, and mine’s the beer bottle.” That got a laugh. “We’re each going into a corner of the room. You’ll get a tick or two with each of us and we’ll give you a sticker when we’re done. Collect all four and gather in the middle. Questions?”

  “That’s not much of an interview, sar,” one spacer said from the middle of the pack.

  More than a few people nodded and made grumbly noises of agreement.

  “No, it’s not,” Pip said. “We’ll make some decisions and call some of you back for second interviews.” He grinned. “Interviews where we actually sit down and talk. That fair?”

  “Look at it this way,” I said, raising my voice to be heard over the mumbling in the back. “Normally you’d drop an application in our queue and we’d bring you in or reject you based on your jackets, right?”

  Most of them nodded.

  “This way you get to meet us and make your case in person. If you don’t make the cut, at least you had some input to the process beyond tossing your jacket into the void and hoping.”

  Pip looked at me with a grin. “You know, this captain thing seems to suit you.”

  “It’s a curse,” I said. “But it’s mine.”

  He looked back at the crowd. “Anybody who doesn’t understand the instructions, raise your hand.”

  Nobody raised a hand.

  “If you don’t speak English, raise your hand.”

  A smattering of laughter rippled across the room but nobody raised a hand.

  “Captain?” Pip pointed to the corner I’d been backed into early. “If you’d take your post.”

  I walked back into the corner and lounged against the bulkhead. All this standing around had killed my feet, but it wouldn’t be too much longer.

  “If you do not have a star on your badge, you need to see him.”

  A horde broke off from the main group and descended on me. I lost track of what else happened in the room and just focused on the person in front of me. “One line,” I said waving the group to line up along the bulkhead. “Thanks for coming out.” I looked at the first person in line and nodded. “Name and rank?”

  “Annear, Katherine, able spacer, sar.”

  “What are you looking for in a berth, Ms. Annear?”

  “One that’s moving, Captain. I’ve been on the beach for almost a stanyer now and I need to get back out soon.”

  “You ever work on a Barbell?”

  “No, sar. I was on a tanker for a while, went to a mixed freight hauler. Washed up here when she went into the yards and didn’t make the cut to get my old job back when she came out.”

  “You like sailing?”

  She paused and looked past me for a moment. “I never gave it that much thought, Captain. It’s what I do. Can’t imagine doing anything else, but like it?” She chewed the corner of her mouth for a moment. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

  I tapped a star and pressed it onto her badge. “Thank you, Ms. Annear.”

  She smiled and looked down at the star. “Thank you, Captain.”

  She started across the floor toward the chief and the next person stepped up.

  “Name and rank?”

  Chapter 5

  Dree Orbital: 2375, January 7

  My feet throbbed in my boots and my head felt stuffed wi
th cotton candy. The coffee stuck to my tongue. Two extra hours in that cursed room and we finally had everybody tagged.

  That was when we discovered the fatal flaw in Pip’s brilliant plan.

  Nobody had a green badge.

  “How is that even possible?” the chief asked when we put our heads together. “I’d have thought random chance would have given us at least one.”

  “Now what?” I asked.

  Pip chewed his lip and tugged on his ear. He stared at the deck and I could practically hear his brain ticking over. “Two possibilities. Release this group back into the wild and start over.”

  I gave him a squint-eyed stare. “The other possibility?”

  “Find the people who have green votes from you and either Al or the chief,” he said. “They’re not going to be working for me on the ship. At least not directly, so anybody I downvoted but you and Al liked probably deserves an extra look. Same with the chief.”

  “Let’s try that,” Al said. “See what we got.”

  Pip pulled out his pen light. “Let’s do this.”

  He went to the front of the room and raised a hand. Silence fell almost immediately. Some of those people looked more dragged out than I felt and I didn’t blame them. Life on the beach could sap your will to live. I’d never been in the position, but I’d seen what it did to people who had.

  “I’m going to have you queue up here and I’m going to shine this light on your badge. We’ll pull some of you aside, but if we don’t, thanks for coming. It’s not that you’re not a good person, just not the right person for the jobs we have available at the moment. We appreciate your interest in Phoenix Freight.” He paused and let that sink in. “Any questions?”

  Nobody raised a hand. Judging from some of the dark looks being passed around in the crowd, anybody who had a question had better hold it. The night had already gone on too long.