“What the hell are they doing back there?” Ekaterina asked, slightly concerned, sitting up straight and pressing a control to activate her display. She started to pull up internal security footage, but Viktoriya shook her head.
“They’re fine.” She tapped her temple and the other lupusan pressed the control anyway, trying not to fume with envy. She wanted those neuro implants. “They’re just drunk and the captain is throwing pretzels at our primary. I’ve tweaked the gravity plates under her just a tad so she can’t quite get herself up. We’ll be docking in four minutes, so it might be a good idea for you to get out there before one or the other of them does something they’ll regret or something messy.”
“Right. And put the gravity plates back,” Ekaterina said, getting up from the copilot seat.
Viktoriya got a faraway look for a moment. “Done, they’re back at standard. Go, quickly.”
The hatch to the living compartment slid open and the lupusan slipped through. “Ma’am, we’re going to be arriving at the Redcap Madness in three minutes. Captain Vosteros?” she said, addressing the man.
The freighter captain looked up at the black furred bodyguard, who had crossed her hands in front of her waist, gripping her own wrist in a patient pose. “You have very soft-looking fur, miss,” he told her, a look of wonder of his face. He extended a hand. “I would really like to pet you. May I?”
Tamara burst into giggles, collapsing on the carpeted floor and clutching her ribs which had started to ache from all the laughter. Ekaterina was less than amused with this. “No, sir, you may not. Though I think you might want to eat one of these.” She dug into a pocket and pulled out a pill packet, which was made of a clear plastic containing one green pill. “Hold out your hand, please, sir.”
He did and she leaned forward, tearing the packet open and depositing the pill into his outstretched palm. Then, with faster reflexes than even the lupusan expected, Frederick leaned forward. He popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed it, but with his other hand he stroked his fingers up the black fur of her extended arm. He frowned. “Damn, it isn’t as smooth or soft as I expected. It’s coarse. You have very coarse fur.” This was a completely disconcerting statement, apparently.
Tamara exploded into more giggles and now proceeded to roll around on the carpeted floor. Ekaterina casually pulled her hand back, and Vosteros, looking somehow sad at his discovery, sat back on the couch. She reached into another pocket in her vest and pulled out another pill packet. “Ma’am, you should take this.”
Tamara, who couldn’t stop her giggling, held out a hand and Ekaterina shook the pill out of the packet and into her hand. She coughed, suppressing the laughter for about ten seconds, which was long enough for her to put it in her mouth and swallow it.
“What did you just give us?” Vosteros asked, a puzzled frown on his face. His left hand still made stroking motions in the air at his eye level and his gaze was firmly fixed on his hand.
“Anti-intoxicant,” Ekaterina replied firmly. “Takes about ten minutes or so to kick in and you’ll start to sober up. But you’re going to want to pound a bunch of water when you get on your ship, Captain. You’re going to feel all dehydrated so you’ll need it.”
“Um… yeah. Thanks,” he said, but he sounded more confused than grateful.
There was a loud beep and Viktoriya’s voice came over the PA. “We’re moving into docking position now. Ten seconds.” There was a pause. “Extending docking tube. We have hard seal.”
Ekaterina held out her hand, huffing out a sigh as she expected Vosteros to try and pet her again. “Captain?” she said. He grabbed her hand and she hauled him to his feet. He swayed a bit, but he didn’t fall. This didn’t elicit more mirth from Tamara, who had managed to get herself up to a seated position now. “I can escort you over to your ship, if you’d like, Captain,” she offered.
He blinked. “Um… no, thank you. Just to the airlock, please, I’ll manage from there.”
“Of course, sir,” she said, gently taking hold of his hand and just under his elbow, escorting him to the airlock. The airlock hatch cycled and slid to the side.
He turned back at the door, just as Tamara had managed to get herself to her feet. It wasn’t the most stable of stances, what with her legs as wobbly as they were, but at least she was up. “It was fun, Tam- Tamara,” he said, then shook his head as though to clear it. “We need to make sure we get together again.”
She smiled and nodded. “Definitely. Though I think next time, we get together on either your ship or somewhere with a chef.”
He grinned and gave her a lazy salute with two fingers. Reaching up, Frederick grabbed the jump bar at the top of the airlock and nimbly swung himself out of the ship and into the docking tube. The guard checked and he easily made it to the far end, landing somewhat unsteadily on the other end, but he was safe. Pressing a control, the airlock hatch slid shut.
“Starting to feel better, ma’am?” Ekaterina asked, looking to her charge.
Tamara nodded. “I managed not to overdo it this time,” she said, staggering over to the bar and grabbing a bottled water. It took a moment for her intoxicated senses to figure out the twist top but she managed somehow. Ekaterina watched as her primary slugged the bottle of water, not stopping until she’d downed the entire thing.
She smirked, flicking her ears. “Not bad, ma’am. Between the two of you, you took that whole bottle. An expensive evening, but clearly you can afford it.”
Tamara tried to glare at her guard, but her heart just wasn’t in it. “You make a decent salary too, you know. Your meager yet undeserved paycheck would be the envy of many down on the planet.” Which was a gross understatement. The amount of money that her guards were getting paid could fund a large hotel, buy a fleet of aircars and have just enough left over for a passenger ticket on a luxury liner all the way back to the capital system of the Republic. Okay, perhaps that was an exaggeration, but not by much. The guards were paid outrageous sums of money, but they were expected to earn it.
Ekaterina laughed. Clearly the anti-intoxicant was starting to work. The primary looked a bit steadier on her feet.
“Airlock is sealed on both sides,” Viktoriya’s voice came over the PA. “I’m retracting docking tube.”
Tamara put a hand to her head and closed her eyes. She started rubbing her temples. Yup, the pill was definitely starting to work, Ekaterina thought. She’ll have a headache for a few minutes and then she’ll be right as rain again.
“Set course for the Samarkand,” Tamara ordered, after pressing a control on the small panel on the bulkhead. “As much fun as it was here, I have some work to get back to.”
“Well that is just great,” Tamara complained, looking at the damage before her. She was standing on the observation deck of Slip 3, looking out into the bay at the huge mess. “How did this happen?”
Eretria scowled, staring out the armorglass port just off to Tamara’s right. “Apparently, one of the bolts the crew was using to secure that beam snapped. I guess Chomsky, the one securing it, leaned against the beam and the bolt broke. He must have been leaning on it pretty hard, because the beam shot away from the rest of the keel and impacted the side of the slip before he could grab it. From there it rebounded and he just hovered and watched.” She ran her hands through her heir, turned and paced around a bit.
“And how did one of my shuttles get slagged? And He3 fuel sprayed all over?” Tamara demanded. Oh, this was definitely not the news that she wanted to be hearing at this stage of the build process.
Eretria winced, though she knew that she personally was not at fault. But as the Yard Supervisor, she was responsible for the incident. “Once the beam rebounded, it flew, unsecured, across the slip and hit Shuttle 14 as it was exiting. If their shields had been up it wouldn’t have been a problem, but the pilot was just spinning them up when the beam hit the ship. Just in the port nacelle housing. He lost control of the ship, ramming the starboard side into the side of the slip. The shuttl
e went out of control and spun off out of the bay and into the open. Thankfully, one of the tugs was quick on the draw and managed to catch S-14 before it went too far out into the void.”
“Was the shuttle pilot injured?” Tamara asked, a glower on her face, but concern was radiating in her eyes.
Eretria shrugged, looking angry. “He got banged up a bit when the shuttle hit the slip wall.” She smirked wryly. “Apparently a sheet of nickel-iron that thick hurts when you crash a shuttle into it. He’s in medical right now.”
Tamara nodded. “And the He3?”
“Well, the beam hit the shuttle and bounced off after crumping the nacelle housing,” Eretria went on. “I guess by this point a few of the workers tried to grab it before it caused any more damage. One of them, Yarsley, managed to get a magnetic grapple on it, but his own grip on the keel wasn’t all that secure. The beam’s momentum whipped it around the keel and tore him loose from his magnetic locks on his boots. Thankfully, his buddy Faros managed to grab him before he spun off out into the void. Of course, Yardley lost his grip on his mag-grapple, and the beam hurtled over and hit one of the storage tanks for He3 on the side of the bay. The beam plunged into the tank like a spear, which ruptured, and of course the fuel sprayed all over. It froze up under the cold of the bay. I’m just thankful it didn’t ignite.”
Tamara nodded. “Small favors. Yarsley and Faros, are they all right? Was anyone else hurt?”
“Chomsky was after I flayed him alive,” Eretria replied. “I have the paperwork all drawn up to toss him out on his ass, ma’am, but I thought I should check with you first.”
“What did the accident investigators say?”
“Nasir worked with the team,” Eretria replied. “He and I and they went over every centimeter of that bolt. The idiot must have shoved it and but good to get it to break off like that. Chomsky said it was slightly out of position and instead of loosening the damned bolt, he just shoved it, trying to get it to swing into the right position.”
“Do you believe it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sterling sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I mean, yes, I believe that he did it, but I don’t know if it was just Chomsky being an idiot or if he did it deliberately.”
“Well of course-…”
Eretria nodded. “I meant whether it was it was sabotage or simply stupidity. Nasir thinks stupidity, and the investigation team agrees.”
Tamara sighed heavily again, matching the other woman’s tired and angry demeanor. “What is your recommendation?”
“I want the little bastard gone,” she said immediately. “That was a serious safety issue. We’re all extremely lucky that only one person got hurt. That doesn’t even take into account the damage to the shuttle, the dents in the slip or the ruptured He3 tank. And the fuel.”
“Fine, he’s gone. Send me the papers to sign and he’ll be gone by the end of the shift. Get him transport on the next shuttle out.” She paused, then looked back at her Yard Supervisor. “What does he say?”
“That he’s being set up,” Eretria replied with another, deeper grimace. “That this was all a horrible misunderstanding and we’re overreacting.”
Tamara chuckled. “He actually said that? Overreacting? I was almost about to change my mind and bust his ass down to my cleaning lady, but after that? Get him gone.”
Eretria took out her datapad and pressed a control. “Done. Chomsky is no longer employed by FP, Incorporated. I’ll be loading him on the next shuttle back to the orbital.”
“Make sure that he’s not in a position to affect anything, like cargo or personnel,” Tamara said. The very last thing she needed was an incompetent and now angry former employee deciding to start trouble now that they’d fired him. She tapped her lips with a forefinger. “Maybe he should take a trip back on the Maitland.” Then she shook her head. “No, I don’t want to pull her off the yard patrol route. Oh, well.”
“I’ll handle it, ma’am.” Eretria nodded to herself.
“Good. Now, talk to me about the build schedules. How much of a setback is this?”
Sebastian Chakrabarti sat in his office, going over the most recent reports from his district. Industry was up; there were two startup companies that had just begun production. He wasn’t sure exactly what they were making, electronics and conduits, something like that. Anything that brought jobs and credits to Ganora District could only be a good thing. Not that he was complaining. Anything that allowed him to stick his thumb in the eye of some of the other council members was just an added bonus.
He had to admit, Vincent Eamonn and Tamara Samair made a ferocious pair. The industry and ambient wealth in this system had increased dramatically in the year since their arrival. Out system goods were starting to come in, the Leytonstone was back to her former glory and patrolling the system, the orbital station was no longer a floating deathtrap, and another convoy of Ulla-tran had just arrived. Ten ships this time, guarded by only a single escort ship, the Adroit again, and the cargo holds of those freighters had to be loaded with more good things. He pursed his lips in thought, wondering if there was any way to get some of those credits and goods into Ganora.
His comm beeped and he sighed. “Yes?”
His personal assistant, Rajesh, appeared on the display. “Sir, I’m so sorry to disturb you. I have Triarch Kozen’ck on the line for you.”
Chakrabarti frowned, tapping the desktop with one finger. “Rajesh, remind me. Did I miss a meeting? I know I’ve been a little involved in the work here…”
But the assistant shook his head. “Oh, no, sir. I checked. There’s nothing on the schedule.”
“That’s all right, Rajesh. Put the good Triarch through.”
“Yes, sir.” There was a pause and Rajesh’s face disappeared and the purple carapace of Kozen’ck replaced it.
“Triarch.”
“Mister Chakrabarti,” the zheen said, addressing him. “I think there is a situation that we need to discuss.” He was seated in his office, and Sebastian could see that the zheen was looking a bit agitated, his antennae were quivering a bit. Which wasn’t like the good Triarch at all.
The man nodded. “I’m at your disposal. What’s the situation?”
“I’ve been giving some thought to this pirate problem.”
Chakrabarti frowned. “I wasn’t aware that we had a pirate problem, Triarch. What’s changed?”
The zheen’s antennae waved. “Nothing, really. I have no new information concerning it, but this is two separate sources claiming that there is serious pirate activity in the nearby area.”
“All right, Triarch,” Chakrabarti said, nodding. “But the Commodore and her ship came into Seylonique in the company of Eamonn and his whale of a ship.”
“You’re thinking that the Commodore and the good Captain Eamonn cooked up a story together?” The zheen didn’t sound all that convinced.
“It is plausible, Triarch.”
The zheen chattered. “I suppose, but from what I’ve heard of the Republic, misdirection through a show of weakness doesn’t strike me as the image they’re trying to put forth. They like to deal from a position of strength. Working with a freighter captain to cook up this story doesn’t sound like their style.”
Chakrabarti frowned. “No. It doesn’t. But the Republic hasn’t been in the system for quite a while.”
“That’s because the previous admin council didn’t want the Republic interfering in our affairs. So they chased one of their ships out of the system with our battlecruiser and told them never to come back. And since the Argos Cluster hasn’t been a serious priority for the Republic since the war, so they didn’t have the ships necessary out here to force the issue. I think that the ship the Commodore came here in was probably the most powerful ship in her flotilla.”
He nodded slowly. “And it required a lot of repairs. Yeah, I can’t see a Republic Commodore thinking that would be the best strategy to impress us with her strength. But it might convince us there was an issue.” But
then he frowned. “So I’m confused. What is the situation?”
“I’m thinking we need some more protection.”
Sebastian blinked. “That’s a surprise. Especially since we just we ran the Commodore out of town a few days ago.”
Kozen’ck hissed in amusement. “That felt better than I thought it would. The look on that arrogant woman’s face when we told her to get out was just… incredible.”
“It did feel good.” And it had. Even working together with that slug Kly and that bitch Cresswell had worked out well. That the entire admin council had voted unanimously to kick out Commodore McConnell had been among the best things to happen since he had joined the council. And the incredible part was that various members couldn’t normally agree on a time to recess for a meal break, much less anything of substance. The fact that they’d come together on this issue was nothing short of miraculous.
“Anyway, I’m thinking that this system would do well to increase its space defense forces, but I don’t want us to be roped into working with the Republic.”
Chakrabarti slumped back in his seat. “Then I’m completely lost, because I don’t know where you’re going with this.”
“I think we need to buy ourselves a few ships.”
“From where?”
“I have four companies that are capable of building what we’d want. R3 Industries, Vulcan’s Forge, Tegean Industries, and First Principles.”
Chakrabarti blinked. “That’s a lot of companies. How many ships are you thinking and what type?”
Kozen’ck waved his antennae in a swirling pattern. “Well, as much as we’d all love another battlecruiser, I was thinking that smaller and faster might be better. Ships that could support Leytonstone if she got into a serious fight.”
First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 Page 43