Milk Run (Smuggler's Tales From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1)

by Nathan Lowell

“Was that a likely thing?”

  Natalya shook her head. “Unless it was really egregious and really recent, they’d at least let us dock to see if we could pay for whatever we wanted. They might not want us hanging around, but they’ll be happy to take our credits.”

  “Everybody wants their piece. Even here.” Zoya’s mouth twisted into a wry grimace.

  “At least here, they’re up front about it.”

  “What’s to stop them from taking our credits and the ship, too?”

  Natalya squelched the urge to sigh. “You know how every system in the CPJCT relies on every other system to keep them going?”

  Zoya shrugged. “More or less. I still don’t see why more of them aren’t self-sufficient.”

  “They probably could be, but that’s irrelevant. Every single operation up there has specialized to the point where they can only survive and maintain their quality of life if they work together.”

  “That’s right out of the Econ 440 seminar. So what?” Zoya asked.

  “That’s with the entire machinery of the CPJCT and all its minions organizing and orchestrating to make it work. You think it’s an accident that everybody has enough fuel, food, parts, and whatever they need to keep going?” Natalya found she had to work hard to keep the exasperation out of her voice.

  “Of course not. They have planetary management, logistics oversight, and all the rest to make sure of it.” Zoya’s brow wrinkled as she appeared to be struggling with some amount of frustration of her own. “What of it?”

  “Toe-Hold doesn’t.”

  “What do you mean?” Zoya asked, sitting back in her couch.

  “Every Toe-Hold station is on its own. They don’t have a central clearinghouse authority. They don’t have logistics oversight. Every station operates on its own and does as much as it can for itself.” Natalya paused to let that sink in for a few heartbeats.

  Zoya’s breath seemed to catch for a moment and her eyes grew wide. “But they can’t do it all.” Her words barely reached across the narrow console between the couches.

  “No,” Natalya said. “They can’t. And they know it. Anybody who thinks they can soon learns otherwise.”

  Zoya took a sip of her coffee and her gaze focused inward.

  “Reputation is everything out here,” Natalya said, speaking quietly but needing to make the point before they got to the station and Zoya’s ignorance got them into trouble they couldn’t get out of. “The stations that behave honorably, who trade fairly, and who treat visitors well survive.”

  Zoya’s gaze met Natalya’s. “I get it,” she said.

  “So, heads up, mouths closed, ears open, and we take care of business. They aren’t liars or thieves or crooks or murderers.” Natalya smiled at her friend. “At least not any more than we’d find on your average Confederation planet.”

  Zoya snickered.

  “They survive by doing business and whether you can accept it or not, the CPJCT needs Toe-Hold way more than Toe-Hold needs the CPJCT.”

  “How so?” Zoya’s curiosity seemed to be pulling her out of the fear.

  “Safety valve. It’s where they bleed off all the people who don’t fit into the nice, neat, clean boxes. The people who don’t want to be just another cog in some industrialist’s machine.”

  “I thought that’s what the fleet was for,” Zoya said.

  Natalya didn’t speak. She just lifted an eyebrow and willed her friend to think about what she’d just said.

  Zoya’s eyes narrowed for a moment and she opened her mouth to speak but stopped. All that came out was a quiet “Oh.”

  Natalya nodded. “Now let’s get busy and figure out what we need from Dark Knight so we can tell them what we want to buy.”

  “You have credits?” Zoya asked.

  Natalya laughed. “I need to check my credit balance, but it should be enough to pay for groceries until we get set up.” Natalya glanced at Zoya. “Your handlers didn’t give you any contact info?”

  Zoya shook her head. “They said a guy would be in touch.” She smiled a rueful apology.

  “You never know. Maybe somebody will. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to find out right away. Maybe they figured I’d be taken in.”

  Zoya gave a bitter laugh. “I sure was.”

  “You’ve really never been in Toe-Hold space?”

  “You never once mentioned any of this in all our time together?” Zoya asked.

  “I told you. Toe-Hold is not a subject for polite company. I got enough strange looks just for having this ship.”

  “Peregrine, this is Dark Knight Control.” The voice from the speaker startled Natalya.

  Natalya clicked the comms array back up. “Control, Peregrine.”

  “Peregrine, we’re sending you an updated navigation squirt for final approach and docking. Please acknowledge receipt. Over.”

  Natalya checked the transmission queue and found the incoming message. She ported it to the navigation subsystem which reset and accepted the new course and speed. “Acknowledged, Control. Approach and docking to bay one-three-three. Over.”

  “Peregrine, Control. Affirm. One-three-three. Hold at one zero meters from the door for green light. Over.”

  “Control, Peregrine. Roger, hold at one zero meters for green light. Over.”

  “Thank you, Peregrine. Control, out.”

  Zoya said, “They’re polite buggers.”

  Natalya toggled the comms array off. “Politeness doesn’t cost anything. I wonder why they shifted us.”

  “Is the bay significant?”

  Natalya shrugged. She pulled up the navigational notes and found a rough layout of the docking bays. “It’s a small craft dock. Probably for system shuttles and maintenance craft. Very close in.” She pointed to four-seven-nine. “We were being shunted out to the hinterlands.”

  “Shuttles to where?” Zoya asked, pulling up her own display to get a system chart.

  “They’re bound to have mining stations out along the belts. Maybe even some refineries.”

  Zoya zoomed her display in on a gas giant just outside the largest asteroid belt. “Lot of moons there. Suppose they’re developing them?”

  “I would. Not like they’re going to advertise. They’re at least skimming that giant for volatiles.”

  “So why are we paying for gasses?” Zoya asked, her head cocked sideways.

  “Because skimming is slow. It’s fine if you’ve no other sources, but it can take a few days to get a full load.”

  “Could we sell excess gas?” Zoya asked, nibbling her lip.

  Natalya thought it over for a couple of heartbeats. “Probably. If we can’t find something that pays better.”

  “What would pay better?”

  “I’m planning on doing data couriers. We could fly data across the Western Annex before radio waves could get it out of the sector.”

  “Huh.”

  Natalya grinned at her. “You’ll see. We’ll have opportunities that don’t involve jumping drugs, selling our body parts, or slaving in a hot asteroid mine.”

  Zoya smiled back and gave her a little nod. “I’ll take your word for it. At least until somebody contacts me.”

  Natalya laughed and settled into her couch.

  Over the next dozen stans, the station grew in the aft ports. Natalya and Zoya passed the time watching the ship traffic and trying to see as much of Dark Knight Station as they could. What started as a glittery collection of lights resolved into a massive multi-armed collection of galleries, hubs, and gantries. Ships and parts of ships stuck out in all directions. Natalya spotted a huge, mostly rectangular shadow against the backdrop of stars. “Big solar array up there, too.”

  “I saw that earlier,” Zoya said. “You think they’re running on solar power? The system primary looks a long way off.”

  “It’s possible. We’re in the Goldilocks zone. Rocks and giants outside with one rocky planetesimal inside according to my scans.” Natalya shrugged. “Probably more than one source but I wouldn
’t rule out at least one hefty fusactor in one of those hull sections in there.”

  The navigation computer kicked into the final approach and began applying heavy deceleration, slowing the ship for final docking. It took nearly a stan before the navigational computers were satisfied and ended the program with a triple beep.

  “Peregrine, Dark Knight Local. Over.”

  “Local, Peregrine. Over.”

  “Peregrine, we show you on track to one-three-three. Will you need assistance docking?”

  “Local, Peregrine. Negative. We have one-three-three on visual. Will hold at one zero meters for green light. Over.”

  “Roger, Peregrine. Be advised the management doesn’t look kindly on bumping the door. Over.”

  “Acknowledged, Local. Neither do I. Peregrine, out.”

  “Dark Knight Local, out.”

  “What was that about?” Zoya asked.

  “Just letting us know they’ve got us on approach and we need to be careful not to scratch their paint.”

  The ship faced the station and it stretched out for what seemed like kilometers in a snarl of catwalks and tubes. Small craft docking bays lined up along the nearest gantry with blocky numbers painted on the doors and spotlights shining across the pitted surfaces. Some of the numbers looked like they’d been scrubbed off with sand paper and others seemed to be missing parts of the digits.

  “Not an idle warning, by the looks,” Zoya said, staring at the somewhat battered doors.

  Natalya chuckled. “This is pretty good considering. Wait till you see the Junkyard.” Her fingers danced across the console’s keyboard and the ship twisted to line up with the door marked with one-three-three. “Watch our approach vector, would you, Zee? I’m on Mark One eyeball and don’t wanna look away.”

  Zoya’s keys clattered and she began reading out numbers. “One thousand meters. Twenty meters per second delta-vee.”

  “It looks a lot closer.”

  “It’s huge,” Zoya said. “Seven hundred meters.”

  Natalya punched the thrusters to take a bit of velocity off at one hundred meters and brought the ship to a stop relative to the door at precisely ten meters. A red light strobed above the door, a slow pulse that almost matched her heartbeats. After a few moments, the light turned green and the door slid downward. When it cleared, Natalya moved the ship through an opening that might have handled a freighter.

  “Makes me feel really small,” Zoya said.

  “Makes me wonder if they don’t have a smaller dock.”

  “That, too.”

  They had to wait for the outer door to close and the inner door to open before they could enter the station proper. They found themselves in a docking bay built for small ships. Several nuzzled up to docking tubes against the bulkhead. Natalya saw a few shuttles, a couple of couriers, a mining support skiff, and a large collection that she couldn’t guess about.

  “Big door for little ships,” Natalya said.

  “Maybe they need to let them out all at once or something.”

  One of the docking tubes started to flash a green light. Natalya took a moment to wipe her palms off on her thighs and gripped the helm control again. She settled the Peregrine onto the deck on a big X-marks-the-spot target in front of the tube, rotating the ship so the lock side faced the tube. They watched the tube extend and heard it clamp onto the side of the ship with a soft thunk.

  “Peregrine, Dark Knight Local. Secure engines. Stand by for port authority. Over.”

  Natalya started shutting down the navigation systems as she spoke. “Roger, Local. Securing all engines. Standing by for port authority. Over.”

  Almost immediately the lock-call buzzer echoed in the bridge.

  She pulled off her seat belt and nodded to Zoya. “Come on. They’ll want eyeballs on both of us.”

  Zoya followed her down the short corridor to the lock. Natalya opened the inner door and stepped into the lock. She waved Zoya in and closed the inner door. Two men and a woman waited outside the lock. All of them wore simple jump suits with some kind of logo on the left chest. One of the men and the woman wore sidearms, but the man in front had a tablet and a bored expression. Natalya keyed the outer door open and smiled.

  The front man nodded, looking back and forth between Zoya and Natalya. “Captain?”

  Natalya stepped forward. “I’m the captain and registered owner. Natalya Regyri.”

  “Welcome to Dark Knight Station, Captain. I’m Thomas Russ. I’m your station liaison. How may we help you?” He smiled and it crinkled at the corners of his eyes.

  “This is my crew, Zoya Usoko. We need food, fuel, and gasses. We’d also like freedom of the station. It’s our first visit to Dark Knight and we’d like to look around.”

  Russ’s gaze flicked to Zoya and back again. “Of course, Captain. Docking fees are a hundred a day. Shore power is available, but billed at station rates. Tankage connections are available but you’ll need to arrange for delivery with the chandlery.”

  “That’s satisfactory,” Natalya said. “Do you have a banking terminal handy so we can check our balances before we get too far over our heads here?”

  A tightness in the man’s face seemed to relax. “Of course, Captain. If you’d follow me? There’s a terminal right outside the tube.”

  The two guards led the parade and Russ waved Natalya and Zoya ahead of him. Natalya keyed the outer door closed before following the guards into the station proper. The corridor inside felt positively roomy after being aboard the scout but fell short of the wide, well-kept promenades on CPJCT orbitals. The guards took up station on either side and Russ pointed to a mundane-looking bank kiosk mounted on the bulkhead across from the docking tube. “I trust this will suffice?”

  Natalya nodded and stepped up to the console. She keyed her bank ident and stared into the darkened port. The machine beeped and the screen popped open. She checked her balances and schooled her features to a careful neutral while she queried deposits. Satisfied, she turned to Russ. “Do you need an escrow for our stay?”

  Russ shook his head. “That won’t be necessary, Captain. Can I ask how long you plan to remain on station?”

  “Two or three days at least.”

  He nodded. “We’d ask that you pay for docking fees in advance. A hundred credits for today’s docking.”

  “Routing?” Natalya asked.

  “DKS Services should suffice.”

  She turned back to the kiosk and transferred five hundred credits to the station. “There’s five days. That should do for now.”

  Russ checked his tablet and nodded. “Thank you, Captain. If you should leave earlier, any unused portion will be returned to your account.”

  Natalya stepped back and motioned Zoya to the kiosk.

  Zoya looked at Natalya and back at the console. “Just like home.”

  Natalya nodded. “Same credentials.”

  Zoya looked skeptical but stepped into the kiosk and tapped a few keys. After a brief exchange, she closed the windows and stepped away from the kiosk.

  “Now, freedom of the station?” Natalya asked. “It gets a bit cramped in there.”

  Russ smiled and nodded. “I can only imagine. As for freedom of the station, Mr. Kondur asked if you’d be so kind as to meet him for breakfast at 0700 station time?”

  Natalya and Zoya traded glances. Zoya shrugged.

  “What time is it now, Mr. Russ?” Natalya asked

  “Current station time is 0436, May 27.”

  “In the meantime?”

  “We’d appreciate it if you’d stay aboard until meeting Mr. Kondur. It’s only a couple of stans.”

  Zoya gave Natalya a nod. “I could use a nap.”

  “Me, too,” Natalya said. “Of course, Mr. Russ. Should we expect an escort?”

  “Tony Eng heads up the day crew. Someone from his team will be along at 0645, if that’s satisfactory?”

  “Thank you, yes.” Natalya nodded to Russ and led Zoya down the docking tube to the ship, keyed
the lock open, and stepped aboard. Neither woman spoke until the outer lock clamped down and the inner door opened.

  “That was interesting,” Zoya said.

  Natalya continued down the passageway into the galley. “I thought so, too. In what way?”

  “That kiosk accessed my account from Port Newmar.”

  Natalya started some water heating and picked a mint tea from the cupboard. “It would be more accurate to say the kiosk at Port Newmar accessed your account here. I told you. High Tortuga runs the banking system for the whole Western Annex. You want tea?”

  Zoya shook her head. “I want a shower and a few stans communing with my closed eyelids. What did you find interesting?”

  “Verkol Kondur owns this station. He wants to meet us as soon as we dock.”

  “That’s unusual?”

  Natalya shrugged. “Might be. I’m guessing he’s not available to every rock-knocker and jet jockey who docks here.”

  “Maybe it’s the ship. You said it’s rare.”

  “Possibly.” Natalya looked at the overhead and considered for a moment. “Likely, even, but it’s not the most interesting thing.”

  “What would that be?”

  “While we were flying in from the jump, somebody transferred fifty thousand credits into my account.”

  Zoya’s eyes widened. “Who?”

  Natalya snickered. “That’s the question, isn’t it? The deposit was made at the Newmar Orbital.”

  “So after we escaped?”

  “We didn’t so much escape as got herded.”

  “Herded?”

  “Yep. Somebody wanted us here at Dark Knight Station. Margaret Newmar is the driver but I don’t know what her role in this might be. For that matter I don’t know why they didn’t just hire us to do it. That fifty grand looks suspiciously like a carrot after being chased out of the sector with a stick.”

  “Or evidence that you’ve been bought,” Zoya said.

  Natalya grunted. “Hadn’t thought of that. Bought for what?”

  “Killing Gavin?”

  “But I didn’t kill him. He’s no more dead than I am.”

  “He looked dead to me,” Zoya said.

  Natalya shook her head. “He was supposed to, but we got hustled out of that room real fast and we were off planet before the blood stopped spreading.”