“Della and I are very good at it, and it turns out we don’t mind doing it as long as we’re getting paid and are free to leave. Besides, I’ve heard that if we’re not busy doing other things, we’ll be scraping platinum foil off the walls.”
“Ah, you might have to do some of that anyway,” Spin said. “It’s probably going to be easier than you think.”
“There’s that at least.”
Spin let Mirra finish help her get ready, and it did go faster, she even ended up wearing a little makeup by the end, something she wouldn’t have bothered to do for herself. “So, today is going to be hard? Maybe dangerous?” Mirra said as the pair left the compartment.
“Yes, and probably yes,” Spin replied quietly.
The Governor was sitting with Dorian in the passenger seating in the middle of the ship. Nigel, Sun and Della were right behind Spin as she entered the main cabin. “We’re in a hurry this morning,” Sun announced. “I’ll get this meeting over with quickly so we can have a real breakfast. It might be one of the last of the like that we’ll have in a while, since the ingredients we have here aren’t common.”
Della didn’t sit down, but kept walking to the galley. On the way there she passed Leland, who was about to open a meal bar and she snatched it from his fingers. He shrugged and sat down with the rest of the crew. Spin watched everyone else take their seats, then the cockpit door at the top of the short stair opened to admit a dark haired man almost as short as she was. She’d forgotten about him, Jorin, who was one of the slaves she rescued from the fungal pools. One of his cheeks was still thickly caked with treatment cream. He nodded and smiled at her briefly before taking a seat. “Our night watch pilot, Jorin,” Sun said. “He did a fine job, considering it was his first watch on a ship.”
“Ever,” he said. “I mostly watched the console from a safe distance just in case any of the displays turned red and kept my hand over the alert button.”
“There’s three quarters of the job, right there,” Dorian said. “Well done.”
“Right. Let’s get to it,” Sun said. “We’re headed to Vernon, an unregulated town outside of the main planetary port. Last night, Nigel finished work on the ship’s protective net, so if anyone or anything touches the hull while the hatches are closed, they’ll be burned to slag.”
“Just fixed a few severed lines, they got cut when the ship was hit aft,” he explained.
“That’s going to keep the ship safe with most of you inside while Spin, Nigel and I go see our old captain. We’ll be scouting him out first, seeing if we can’t connect with a few people we know are trustworthy on the crew. From there it can go one of two ways.”
“Wait, I’m going with you, right? I have a debt to settle with White too,” Dorian said.
“We’ll settle our issue first, since it’s our best way in. If we can connect with friendly crewmembers from the Cool Angel, then we can force a vote for Captain.”
“And you’ll put yourself up as a replacement?” Dorian asked. “They won’t go for that, not if Keith or Denise are still there. Keith is next in line as White’s First Mate and Denise is the favourite Lieutenant.”
“Right, there’s a chance the vote won’t go my way, but that’s slim. Captain White and his lieutenants sold us out, there’s no way his lieutenants didn’t know about this before or shortly after it happened, and if they found out about it shortly after, the rest of the crew would force them to hold a vote to get rid of White.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Dorian said. He threw his hands up defensively in response to Sun’s scowl. “Just sayin’, it’s a greedy crew over there.”
“Right, so while we’re here, the priority is to get the ship ready to sell. Mirra will lead you all in a round of cleaning and light repairs. If you don’t know how to do something, then ask about it. The Governor used to fly several of his own personal craft when he was at home, so he’ll be in the cockpit listening in on us in case anything goes sideways. Any questions?”
“I thought she was Captain?” Jorin asked, pointing at Spin.
“She’s our sponsor, the one with the money and the brains that got us together. She made me captain, and reserved the position of second in command for herself.”
“Ah, okay,” he replied. “Lots to learn.”
“If there’s nothing else, then let’s get to the galley, Della’s serving berry pancakes and something with oranges and grapefruit that I’ve never heard of but it sounds delicious,” Sun said.
Spin couldn’t help but notice that Dorian was the last to stand and join the group. Even through synthetic skin, she could see his frustration.
14
“I wish we’d spent more time off ship while you were in my service,” Sun said to Spin as they made their way through the chaotic market that had grown up around the rough port. Hundreds of kilometers had been sectioned off by Urono Enterprises, then divided with scrap metal fencing into different sized sections for a variety of ship classes. Roads were left between them and that’s where a seemingly endless number of merchants tried to sell and trade.
There was a digital trade board, but when Spin checked it she found the system was clogged with scammers, spammers and advertisers. The data wasn’t even worth looking at unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. There were people buying ships, however, but they paid a tenth of the value or less, their poor damaged transport wouldn’t go for much if they traded or sold where they were. “I’m getting the feeling that I’ll have an accelerated education from here on out,” Spin said as she stepped around a pile of condensation coils and cables still in their package, but piled at a vendor’s feet in the dirt.
“Have you found any of the banks you need here?” Sun asked.
Spin checked and nodded. “The Bur-Shuk have a major branch here, they could probably pay me in about ten hours. Doesn’t look like I’ll lose much to transaction fees either.”
“Do you think Della and Mirra will want to stick around after you’ve paid them?”
Spin and Nigel flinched as a low flying shuttle passed overhead. “Della will probably follow Mirra, and I think she’ll stick around. She really wants to find her place in the crew. I don’t know if she’ll stick around if we join the Cool Angel’s crew unless you’re made captain.”
“You don’t believe in this plan,” Sun said.
“I don’t know, what Captain White did was against the faith of the crew,” Spin replied.
“I think maybe we just can’t call it right now,” Nigel said as he stepped around a puddle only to drop his foot into a thick patch of mud. “Right?”
“Right, but I think it’s worth pursuing. Most of the crew who didn’t know White betrayed us will be on our side, I think.”
What would you do?” Sun asked.
Spin thought for a moment then shook her head. “Your way is the most peaceful way, but the only captain the Cool Angel has ever had is White, right? So I don’t know how that’s going to affect things either.”
“If the crew wants him gone, they want him gone. He can’t do much if no one will follow orders,” Nigel said.
“You have a point.” A sour, sulphurous smell filled the air, and thanks to Nigel’s disgusted expression Spin could see she wasn’t the only one who caught it. Rain followed a moment later, and her suit provided a deep hood for her to hide in. The smell remained.
“From grey skies to grey rain, isn’t this place wonderful?” Nigel asked.
Most of the vendors along the side of the muddy road either had a makeshift umbrella or retreated entirely, returning to whatever shelter they came from. Sun walked to one who was selling a variety of communicators and pointed to a tiny packaged communicator. “How much for the Blip Pod?”
“Three plat,” the vendor said.
“Here’s a pip,” Sun said, handing him a real piece of currency instead of outlaw minted platinum pieces. “That good?”
“Here,” he said, handing her the tiny package.
Sun handed it to S
pin. “Turn that on and find out if it’ll uplink to any UCA ships in the area. We have to know if they’re here.”
Spin did exactly as she was told; unwrapped the flat pill shaped communicator, turned it on and tried to register it on the Unitec Core Authority network and immediately found a node. Using her computer as an interface but blocking all identifying markers, she did a search for the strongest signals. “I see five ships on this hemisphere. Four of them are small corvettes, looks like they’re on the ground, and there’s a bigger ship in orbit.”
“Okay, now do a quick search for any of the Cool Angel’s crew, please.”
Spin did so, and was surprised to see the results come back so quickly. “I think the UCA are connected with the major communications networks here. Whoever runs this place might be happy they’re here. Got the results and saved them on my comm though.”
Sun took the communicator, turned it off, then handed it to the vendor. “My friend doesn’t like it,” she told him.
“You open package, you keep it. No refund with open package,” the vendor said nonchalantly.
“Sure, just sell it to someone else then,” Sun said as she pressed it into his hand. “No refund necessary.” The trio moved on, slogging through the deepening muck. “He’ll sell that thing in a heartbeat or burn it quick. Either way, if the UCA decide to track it, we’ll be long gone. This does give us a reason to hurry this along. Let’s get out of the rain,” Sun said.
“A pip or plat for new legs? A pip or plat for new legs?” a man asked as he moved through the pedestrians in the middle on a beaten hover board. He held a cup up to them as they passed, only a little higher than waist height but politely.
Spin stopped him and held her hand over his cup so he couldn’t see what she was about to drop in. “Is there a shuttle stand nearby?”
“Shuttle stand?” he asked. “No end of shuttles, Miss, no drivers for ‘em. Hopper’s is right there, past that plank walk. You buy a shuttle for nothin’, pay what you would for a ride in some places.”
“I’m Spin,” she told him, dropping five pips into his cup, a donation worth ten or more rough minted platinum. “If I give you my ident, can you be my eyes around here?”
He looked into his cup, then back at her. “You got a friend on Valour Row,” he replied. “Name’s Tiber. Anything unusual happens here, I’ll pass the word to you.”
“Thank you,” Spin said, passing him a temporary identification number. “There will be more pips in it for you later.”
The trio made their way to the next corner as Tiber sought shelter in a rough lean-to made from old metal plating. “You’re better at being off ship than I thought,” Sun said. “I never saw that kind of thinking when you were in my service.”
“Making friends everywhere, it’s cool,” Nigel said.
“It’s how I survived while I was homeless, made friends with the right people, and made sure that they knew I was thinking about their well-being,” Spin replied. “I’d like to take credit, but it usually comes naturally.”
“It’s a good thing, just be careful with how much money you put out there,” Sun said. “That kind of cash isn’t always going to be easy to come by.”
“With the information I have on the Countess, I can’t agree,” Spin said. The trio stepped onto a sidewalk made from felled trees and started heading for a bright red sign that said Hopper’s Ships & Repair that hung above a heavy steel door. The rest of the building looked like a tall two storey bunker. “Tell me how much money and what kind of risk you’re willing to take for it, and I’ll set you up with a mark. With the ship we have, we’re limited, but there are targets we can hit. No, money isn’t the problem, being conspicuous, vulnerable, that’s our problem with the Fleet Feather.” A nagging thought that she should be more careful about how she spoke to Sun, since she was much more experienced and her former boss, was acknowledged and ignored.
“We are under crewed though,” Nigel offered.
“Not at all. There are targets that we could hit where using muscle would blow the whole operation. The smartest objectives we could choose right now are the ones where we don’t have to fire a shot, where we use our brains to get in, and get out before anyone even realizes we’re not supposed to be there.” Off the top of her head, Spin could think of several corporate colonies and operations where that was true, and she was beginning to enjoy thinking about her former master’s assets as potential targets.
“You’ve been holding out on us,” Sun said. “I’m impressed.”
“You shouldn’t be, I helped manage the Countess’ affairs and relationships for years. There are allies who don’t even know what she looks like, they only did serious business through me. The problem we really have is time. The longer we wait, the less accurate my intelligence is, and the more people know I’ve escaped again.”
“I realize that,” Sun said. “It’s the same with all intelligence, really. The older it gets the less reliable it is.”
“Yes, but if I get my hands on any computer connected to the Countess’ corporate network, I can get more. Even if they change the passcodes, I know how they’re generated, I know what I can get into without them. Straight up cash is the hardest thing to get to, but if you want supplies, work sites so you can free more people like us, or hardware of almost any kind, then that’s a lot easier. The shipping routes don’t change often, neither to work sites or where they need heavy transports or large building equipment.”
“What would we do with that kind of hardware?” Nigel asked as they passed through the metal doors.
“Look behind you,” Spin said. “From the looks of this place, it used to be some kind of forest, and they made it a divided lot so they could sell the space for landing ships. I’m sure whoever runs it would pay for heavy excavation equipment or mass recyclers so they could make some of the space better, maybe create a premium area.”
“Man, that is good thinking. Wouldn’t fit in our hold though,” Nigel said.
“Creating a need where there was none before,” said a short, stout woman from behind the counter. “If you’ve come with heavy equipment, then I can set you up with someone whose looking.”
“We’re just looking to rent a shuttle. I’m Sun,” she offered her hand.
“Well, I could rent you something reliable, or sell you something you’ll keep forever. I’m Thenna Bruce, one of the sales people on the floor here.” She opened a pair of double doors to reveal a large hangar with dozens of polished craft inside. At a glance it was obvious that many of them were reconditioned, but some actually looked new.
“I’m afraid buying anything legitimately is off the table,” Sun whispered. “We’ll pay a little more to take something from your backlot though.”
“Not necessary,” Thenna said with a large smile. “We are not only registered with the Core Authority, but with the British Alliance, and they don’t care that you’ve slipped someone’s leash. The registration will take a couple weeks to get legitimized by the British, but it’ll be legitimate. No extra charge.”
Spin inwardly cursed herself for not thinking of the loophole. In the British Alliance territories slavery was illegal, and anyone could own property. It didn’t occur to her that an escaped slave could simply register ownership of ships with them instead of the Core Authority. It didn’t change the illegality of owning a ship in the Core Authority territory, but it made it possible for them to buy a ship legally.
“In that case, we’ll probably leave here today with something,” Sun said. “Just a basic planet hopper though.”
“Are you sure? We have an orbital shipyard if you’re looking for something more extensive.”
“Just something we can use to get around locally without drawing attention.”
“What are we looking for in terms of armaments, then? I got five combat shuttles ready to go, maybe within your budget?”
Spin was keenly aware that she had over thirty thousand in United Core World Currency slips on her, and that wa
sn’t including a pile of pips and smaller slips she had in a small pocket in her boot. “Does the Port Authority watch for armed shuttles?”
“No, check with anyone, anything we have here is too small for them to worry over. It’s the corvettes and over-powered blockade breakers that they keep their eye on. Are we expecting trouble?”
“We’re trying to keep a low profile,” Sun said.
“Well, then I think I know what you should see,” Thenna said, walking them to a sleek looking four-person shuttle with faded paint. It had been polished, but aside from that it was fairly non-descript.
Spin couldn’t help but look around the hangar. Some of the ships were converted robot transports, maintenance and storage bays repurposed for seating and other conveniences. The largest of the ships within the hangar were fairly pedestrian, two old sky busses, and a light military transport that looked older than all three of them combined.
“Hey,” Nigel said, tapping her on the shoulder and nodding towards a longer seven-person ship. It had a sleek narrow wing look and a half deck that Spin guessed had some sleeping or storage space over the aft half. “That’s a Pearson Long Runner. I’ve seen them before. It’s a good model. A little shielding, some sleeping pods, a couple guns. That’s going to be handy.”
“Probably expensive,” Spin said, looking at the blacked out transparent metal portholes and view shields along the front. The clean grey and blue finish looked fresh, most likely recently restored.
“I see your crewmates have spotted a real bargain,” Thenna declared as she shuffled over to the Long Runner. “Long boat to minor military organizations and scout ship to many governments. I can give you a good price on this one.”
“We’re not looking for something overly permanent,” Sun countered.
“That would fit in the Fleet Feather’s hold,” Nigel whispered to her. “If we lock it down to the damaged side. It’s the best thing here.”
Cool Pursuit: Chaos Core Book 2 Page 11