The Jupiter Pirates

by Jason Fry

  Diocletia put down her coffee cup and crossed the cuddy to stand in front of him. She took his face in her hands so that he had to look up at her.

  “Tycho, listen to me,” she said with a smile. “Talking to people and knowing where to go are the most important jobs a captain has.”

  The Vesta Runner’s cargo bay doors were beyond repair, but the bay itself hadn’t been damaged when the Shadow Comet and the Ironhawk blasted their way free. That allowed the two privateers to settle back into their cradles for the long trip to the mysterious asteroid above the solar system. Leading the freighter on the voyage was the Hydra, hastily repaired and attached to her long-range tanks. She was now piloted by Carlo, with Yana and Tycho filling out his temporary bridge crew.

  “Would you look at that?” Yana said wonderingly as they neared the asteroid. It was long and flat, perhaps a kilometer long, and tumbling in an eccentric orbit through deep space, so far from the regular spacelanes that it made the Cybeles seem well traveled.

  But it wasn’t lifeless. Yana put the results of her scan on the Hydra’s main screen. The surface of the asteroid was dotted with pressure domes and pitted with mines.

  “That’s a huge operation,” Tycho said with a long whistle.

  “Yep,” Carlo said. “A corporate factory of that size must demand a lot of labor. And I think we can all guess where they’ve been getting some of their workers. You were right, Tyke. It is a slave camp.”

  “I didn’t say anything,” Tycho said, but he couldn’t resist grinning at Carlo.

  “Incoming transmission,” grumbled the Hydra’s artificial intelligence, a rather disagreeable program that responded—sometimes—to the name Atticus.

  “Put it through, Atticus,” said Tycho. “No visuals on our side of the transmission.”

  The main screen flickered, and the Hashoones were confronted by a scruffy, irate-looking man in a stained jumpsuit.

  “Mox!” he yelled. “You’re late! We have shipments ready for transit back to GlobalRex! And did you bring me new laborers?”

  “Comet and Ironhawk are launching from the Vesta Runner,” Yana reported.

  “You can turn the video feed on now, Atticus,” Tycho said.

  The man stopped complaining and stared at his screen, clearly confused.

  “I beg your pardon,” Carlo said. “There was a slight delay while we were capturing Mox’s ship. Oh, and you might want to prepare for a visit, sir. Starships from the news media and the Jovian Defense Force are about a day behind us, and they’re really interested in what you and GlobalRex have been up to out here.”

  18

  CASE CLOSED

  Threece Suud sat glumly in his chair in the Ceres Admiralty Court, in a plain black suit. Around him, the courtroom was filled to bursting with unhappy-looking bureaucrats from Earth, dour GlobalRex corporate mandarins, smiling Jovian officials, boisterous Comet crewers, Hashoone retainers, and members of the news media, all of them jostling and quarreling.

  “All rise for the Honorable Uribel Quence,” said the bailiff.

  Judge Quence was looking his best. He was wearing a new, freshly powdered wig, for once resting in the proper position atop his head, and his droopy cheeks had been slathered in makeup to ensure he wouldn’t look shiny in the news video feeds. Even the fake plants had been given a good dusting.

  “Be seated,” Judge Quence said. He gave Diocletia and Tycho a brief nod where they sat at their table, then turned to Suud.

  “Secretary Suud,” Judge Quence said. “I understand you have a statement you’d like to make?”

  “Indeed I do, Your Honor,” Suud said, getting to his feet and scanning the rows of camera operators. “Though the recent, um, newsworthy events in the outer solar system do not directly concern this court, I would like to say a few words about them. Let me express both to Your Honor and to all those watching how shocked and appalled I am to discover that a low-ranking member of my staff was engaged in illegal activities connected with a notorious pirate such as Thoadbone Mox.”

  Suud paused for a moment to look into the cameras and bite his lip.

  “As for the scurrilous allegations that I, as a representative of the Earth government, knew of such activities, they are irresponsible and completely untrue,” Suud continued. “If I’d had the slightest suspicion that a member of my staff was violating the law, I can assure you I myself would have marched him to the nearest law enforcement office. I have spent the last several days in close consultation with the authorities on Earth and with GlobalRex’s internal review board, and we intend to conduct a thorough investigation with full cooperation from all branches of the company, its subsidiaries, and His Majesty’s government.”

  Suud nodded at the judge and bowed his head.

  “Thank you, Secretary,” Judge Quence said. “I’m glad to hear you’ll have help, because you’re going to be busy. Earlier proceedings in this case concerned the legal definition of a diplomat. That question must be settled by Earth and the Jovian Union. But this court will not sit idle while diplomatic credentials are issued to employees of enterprises involved in a criminal conspiracy. Therefore, effective immediately, no diplomatic credentials issued by Earth within the last year will be recognized by any admiralty court. What’s more, this court rules that the Hashoone family is entitled to the cargo captured from the Cephalax II, full ransoms of crew and craft, and the Hydra as a prize of war.”

  The Comets leaped to their feet, whooping and laughing. Judge Quence gaveled them into silence with considerable difficulty, then jabbed one thick finger at Suud.

  “Let this be a lesson to you or your successor, Secretary Suud, and to your masters on Earth and at GlobalRex,” he said. “My court will not be used for cheap stunts or dirty dealing. Adjourned.”

  Judge Quence banged his gavel on the podium and vanished into his chambers. As the courtroom once again dissolved into a tumult, Diocletia elbowed Tycho and inclined her chin across the room. Suud was pushing his way toward them, the corners of his mouth turned down. Standing up behind his wife and son, Mavry put his hand on Tycho’s shoulder.

  “Can we help you, Secretary?” Tycho asked when Suud got close enough.

  “You can help me, Master Hashoone, by reconsidering the dangerous and illegal career you have chosen for yourself,” snapped Suud, his cheeks red. “You may be celebrating today, but beware tomorrow. That goes for your brother and sister, too. You’re all on a road to ruin.”

  He stalked off and was swallowed up by a horde of baying journalists. Mavry watched him go, then smiled.

  “What a nice man,” he said. “It’s rare to find a citizen of Earth who’s so concerned with the welfare of Jovian children.”

  The Jovian officials stationed on Ceres waited until after the afternoon’s brief celebration to pull Diocletia aside and tell her that the Hashoones wouldn’t get to keep the Hydra despite Judge Quence’s ruling—Mox’s ship had been seized as part of a criminal investigation into the asteroid factory where the captive Jovians had toiled as slaves for GlobalRex.

  Tycho, Yana, and Carlo were outraged, but Diocletia just shrugged.

  “Oh, I knew they’d do it,” she said. “Carina’s already filed the documents to fight for possession in admiralty court. But it’s not all bad—the Ceph Two is our prize, and the Union gave us head money for recovering its citizens safe and sound. Not bad for a few weeks’ work.”

  Tycho smiled, but his mother wasn’t finished.

  “All three of you kids did a remarkable job,” Diocletia said. “Yana, none of this good fortune would have happened if you hadn’t paid attention in port and insisted that leads be followed, even when none of us believed you. Carlo, if you hadn’t performed some remarkable maneuvers, we’d be dead or hoping someone might come and rescue us. And Tycho, you not only fought bravely aboard the Hydra but were the one who saw patterns beneath apparent chaos . . . connections no one else saw. Threece Suud is a smart adversary, but you were smarter—and the entire Jovian Union ought
to be grateful.”

  Tycho mumbled his thanks.

  “But let me tell you all what makes me most proud,” Diocletia said. “It’s that when it mattered, you three stopped your quarreling and worked admirably as a team. It’s true that only one of you can be captain of the Shadow Comet, but any ship in the Jovian Union would be lucky to have you in her crew.”

  Carlo grinned, his new scar crinkling his cheek. Yana nodded. Tycho leaned back, deciding just to enjoy the moment.

  “I don’t agree with the Union taking the Hydra from us, seeing how we won that prize fair and square,” Mavry said. “Funny thing, though—I made a mistake searching through her computers, looking for information about those nine other Jovian ships. I’m afraid I accidentally downloaded her logs to the Comet’s memory. You’d be surprised how many intriguing chemical signatures and sightings Vesuvia’s already found in there.”

  Tycho looked at his father, astonished, while Carlo shook his head in amusement and Yana threw back her head and laughed. Huff looked up from the new metal hand he’d had fashioned out of gleaming chrome.

  “You broke ol’ Mox’s ciphers?” he asked, surprised.

  “Some of them,” Mavry said. “There’s a lot still locked away, but with enough time we’ll crack those too.”

  Tycho caught his grandfather’s eye, and Huff nodded.

  “I’ve got summat to say meself,” Huff grunted.

  “What’s that, Dad?” Diocletia asked, smiling.

  “I let Mox go.”

  The smile faded from Diocletia’s face. The Hashoones were silent for a moment.

  “You did what?” Carlo burst out.

  “I let him take the Hydra’s gig,” Huff said. “An’ I ain’t sorry, neither.”

  Diocletia gaped at him.

  “Why would you do such a thing?” she asked. “Thoadbone Mox is a traitor—a slaver and worse.”

  “Aye, but he’s summat better, too,” Huff said, his chin held high. “He’s a pirate.”

  “What do you mean, Grandfather?” asked Yana.

  “Everything we been through, it’s a game played by politicians, and we’re the pawns,” Huff said, scratching his bearded chin with the stub of his blaster. “In a few more years, Dio, this’ll be your solar system, and all us real pirates will be out of the way. But we ain’t gone quite yet.”

  “You’re nothing like Thoadbone Mox, Grandfather,” Tycho objected.

  “Yeh might be surprised, laddie,” Huff said. “Mox an’ me understand each other. If I ever see him again, I’ll try an’ blow a hole in him—but I’ll not help put him in a cell. Let him die among the stars, like all us old pirates deserve.”

  A Spacer’s Lexicon

  A

  abaft. To the rear of.

  able spacer. The most experienced class of crewer aboard a starship. Able spacers are more experienced than ordinary spacers, while crewers with too little experience to be considered ordinary spacers are called “dirtsiders.”

  admiralty court. A court concerned with the laws of space, including the taking of prizes. The Jovian Union maintains several admiralty courts in the Jupiter system and abides by the decisions of the admiralty court on the neutral minor planet Ceres, with privateers and warships expected to report to the admiralty court with jurisdiction over the area of space where a prize is taken.

  aft. Toward the rear of a starship; the opposite of fore.

  air scrubber. A collection of filters and pumps that remove carbon dioxide and impurities from the air aboard a starship, keeping it healthy and (relatively) clean.

  amidships. In the middle of a starship.

  armorer. A crewer in charge of a starship’s hand weapons. Most crewers on privateers and pirate ships carry their own arms.

  arrrr. Originally an acknowledgment of an order (“yar”), it has become a nonspecific pirate outburst, adaptable to any situation. The more Rs, the greater the intensity of feeling.

  articles. A written agreement drawn up for each cruise, setting out rules and the division of any prize money and signed by all hands aboard a privateer or pirate ship.

  articles of war. The body of space law governing hostilities between spacegoing nations and their starships.

  avast. Stop!

  aviso. A small, speedy starship used for carrying messages across space.

  aye-aye. An acknowledgment of an order.

  B

  bandit. An enemy starship, typically a small, maneuverable one that’s likely to attack you.

  bandolier. A belt slung over an arm or across the chest that holds carbines, ammunition pouches, and other nasty things.

  barky. An affectionate nickname for one’s own starship.

  beam. The side of a ship, always identified as port or starboard.

  beat to quarters. A summons to battle stations, in ancient times accomplished by beating out a rhythm on a drum, in modern times achieved by playing a recording.

  belay. A ranking officer’s order countermanding a just-issued order.

  belowdecks. The deck of a starship below the bridge or quarterdeck, generally reserved for spacers and officers who aren’t members of the bridge crew. “Belowdecks” also refers collectively to these spacers.

  berth. A sleeping place aboard a starship.

  bilge. In ancient seagoing ships, the lowest part of a hull, which filled with foul water also called bilge. In modern parlance, anything foul or nonsensical.

  blacklist. A list of spacers to be punished for failure to properly perform their duties or for other breaches of discipline.

  blackstrap. Cheap, sweet wine bought in ports.

  black transponder. A transponder that identifies a starship as belonging to a pirate captain, or more commonly transmits a blank identification.

  blaster. A pistol or other handheld carbine.

  boarding action. The invasion of a starship with marines or crewers.

  boarding party. A group of marines or crewers whose job it is to board and take control of a starship.

  bogey. A starship that has been seen on scopes but not yet identified.

  bosun. A crewer whose duties include daily ship inspections. The bosun reports to the warrant officer.

  bow. The front of a starship.

  bow chaser. A gun located at a starship’s bow, designed for firing at ships being pursued.

  bridge. A starship’s command center, generally called the quarterdeck on warships, privateers, and pirate ships. On the Shadow Comet, the quarterdeck is the middle deck and reserved for the bridge crew.

  bridge crew. The officers who serve aboard the quarterdeck or bridge. On many privateers, the bridge crew is limited to the family that owns the ship or its close associates.

  bridle port. A port in a ship’s bow through which the bow chasers extend.

  brig. A room used as a jail aboard a starship.

  broadside. A volley of shots aimed at the side of an enemy ship, delivered at close range.

  bulk freighter. A large merchant ship, typically corporate owned.

  bulkhead. A vertical partition dividing parts of a starship. In the event of a breach, bulkheads seal to isolate damage and prevent the atmosphere from escaping.

  buoy. A marker defining a spacelane. In the modern age, buoys send electronic signals to starships and maintain position through small, efficient engines.

  burdened vessel. A starship that doesn’t have the right-of-way; not the privileged vessel.

  burgoo. A gruel made from shipboard rations, not particularly liked by crewers.

  C

  cabin. An enclosed room on a starship. Generally refers to an officer’s personal quarters.

  cannon. A general term for a starship’s hull-mounted weapons. Cannons can fire laser beams or missiles and are designed for various intensities of fire and ranges.

  captain. The commander of a starship. Traditionally, a former captain is still addressed as “Captain.”

  carbine. A pistol.

  cargo. Goods carried by a merchant
starship.

  cargo hauler. A no-frills class of freighter, typically corporate owned.

  carronade. A powerful, short-range projectile cannon used in combat.

  cartel ship. A starship transporting prisoners to an agreed-upon port. Cartel ships are exempt from capture or recapture while on their voyages, provided they don’t engage in commerce or warlike acts.

  cashier. To discharge a crewer.

  caulk. Thick rubber used to plug holes and seams in a starship’s hull.

  chamade. A signal requesting a cessation of hostilities and negotiations.

  chandler. A merchant who sells goods to starships in port.

  cheroot. A cheap, often smelly cigar.

  chronometer. A timepiece.

  coaster. A starship that operates close to a planet or within a system of moons, as opposed to starships that make interplanetary voyages.

  cold pack. A flexible packet kept cold and used to numb minor injuries.

  condemn. To seize a ship for auction or sale under prize law.

  container ship. A large merchant ship that typically carries cheap bulk goods.

  convoy. A group of merchant ships traveling together for mutual protection, often with armed starships as escorts.

  corvette. A small, fast, lightly armed warship.

  crewer. A member of a starship’s crew; the equivalent of sailors on ancient ships. “Crewer” technically refers to all members of a starship’s crew, but members of the bridge crew are rarely if ever called crewers.

  crimp. A person who captures spacers in port and sells them to starships as crewers, usually by working with a press gang. Navy officers who lead authorized press gangs are never called crimps—at least, not to their faces.

  crowdy. A thick porridge. More edible than burgoo, but not by much.

  cruise. A starship’s voyage.

  cruiser. A fast, heavily armed warship.

  cuddy. A cabin in which officers gather to eat their meals.

  cutter. A scout ship.

  D