Chapter 3
Aaron led the small group of cargo skiffs back to the ship. He was pleased with the time they had made. There were still several hours of daylight left and they were returning from the last delivery run. He had gotten a little nervous when they took the last ten pallets to Ibet-ak. He didn’t really think the Isheks were dumb enough to rip off the very people who were supplying them with weapons. The chances of the Ishek defeating the elatori in a confrontation were minimal, but without more weapons, those chances went to zero.
As it turned out, he had worried for nothing. As on all their other delivery runs, the Ishek had taken the guns and supplied them with the emethium ore. The Ishek truly seemed an honorable people, and he hoped they survived their coming confrontation with the elatori.
Reaching the cargo bay ramp, Aaron slowed only slightly as he drove the skiff up the steep slope. He sped right on past Terry and parked the skiff neatly in one corner of the hold. The other skiffs were soon parked beside his.
“How’d it go?” Terry asked as he walked over.
Aaron shrugged. “Easy peasy,” he answered and then he stretched. He had worked into the early morning hours restacking the pallets and then had gotten up early to start delivering them; he was looking forward to a nap. A snicker pulled him up short and he turned. Russell, Susan, and Eric were smiling; even Thomas was smirking at him.
“Easy peasy?” Terry asked, and he, too, wore a smile.
“Sorry,” Aaron said, feeling his face go warm. He had heard the term from Molly and he thought he knew the gist of it. “Did I use it correctly?”
“Yes,” Russell answered slowly. “Although, I would’ve bet that you never would’ve used that term, much less actually use it correctly.”
Aaron shrugged. He never would have spoken like that when he was in the military, but his military life now seemed like a distant memory. He glanced at Terry. “Any problems here?”
Terry shook his head. “No, but Eve just got back about ten minutes ago, and she seemed rather excited. Told me to have you come find her as soon as you got back.”
Aaron frowned. He was developing a tendency to expect the worst, but he didn’t think Eve’s news could be that bad. After all, if she really needed to talk to him, she would just have had Terry call him on the headset. He thanked the engineer and then went in search of Eve.
He found her a short while later in the kitchen whipping up some dinner. From what Aaron could tell, it didn’t appear to be anything fancy. Russell and Susan had followed him out of curiosity.
The ship’s kitchen was well equipped but not fancy; it was intended to be functional. It was located on the middle deck in the front half of the ship. The ship was divided into two pieces. The front half was the crew quarters and living area, as well as the bridge. The rear half of the ship was engineering and the cargo hold. Just to the rear of the kitchen were the storerooms and freezer. The ship could hold a rather large number of stores, but they currently only had a limited supply on hand. On the other side of the kitchen towards the front of the ship was the mess hall. It wasn’t anything fancy; it, too, had been designed to be functional. The mess hall consisted of five small tables, each surrounded by a handful of chairs locked to the deck. There was a retractable wall between the kitchen and the mess hall that could be pulled back so that food could be served, but it wasn’t used much.
Eve broke out into a grin when she saw Aaron poking his head through into the kitchen. She left the food she had been preparing in Molly’s hands and hurried over.
“I got good news,” she called out as she got close.
“Good,” Aaron said, the feeling of apprehension lessening some. “What is it?”
“You’re going to have to give me that full share sooner than you thought,” Eve responded with an even wider grin.
Currently, Eve was getting a half share of the profit. That meant that after expenses were paid, anything left over was split among the crew. Aaron, as the captain, got two shares and the ship got six.
Confused, Aaron shook his head. “I’m assuming that you’re not talking about your cooking.”
Eve’s smile faltered a bit, and her eyebrows pulled down in irritation. Aaron knew the woman was putting her all into the cooking, but he needed to distract her if she was trying to renegotiate.
“No,” Eve said slowly. “I think I’ve found us a side job. There’s a small outfitter who’s about to be put out of business by the elatori–”
“Why?” Aaron asked, interrupting.
“Because he’s Ishek,” Eve answered. “He waited too late to flee, and now he can’t get permission to leave. He wants us to get him off of Bathia.”
Aaron considered the idea. He liked her motivation, and he hoped she exercised the proper caution; a spacer couldn’t just go around offering to break the law by smuggling.
The one problem he saw with Eve’s plan was that Bathia didn’t use the standard credit as currency. They still used a paper currency that wasn’t accepted anywhere else in the galaxy. There was a place in the spaceport that changed Bathia’s currency to standard credits, but any large sums that changed hands would draw attention.
“How does this Ishek intend to pay us?” he asked.
Eve’s smile came back in full force. “Did I mention that he owns an outfitting shop that the elatori are trying to put out of business?”
“Yes,” Aaron answered slowly, not seeing where this was going. “Has he been able to store up some credits?”
Eve shook her head. “No, but he’s willing to make a trade; you know, like bartering.”
“What’s he got to offer?” Aaron asked.
“Anything and everything in his shop.”
Aaron blinked several times quickly; it was an offer that had not occurred to him. “And does he have anything of interest to us?”
Eve nodded. “Absolutely. Why don’t we go and take a look?”
Eve led Aaron and Susan back toward the spaceport’s main exit. Molly had wanted to come as well, but Eve insisted the girl finish getting dinner ready. If things went well, they might need to get an early start going through the outfitter store.
They followed the road back to the spaceport’s exit. Although the sun was still up, the customers were already beginning to crowd into the bars. They turned south and walked almost to the end of the road. It was a good distance and most of the traffic cleared out quick once they’d left the area surrounding the bars.
The outfitter shop looked rundown. The exterior paint was peeling and discolored. The rock-fused sidewalk was cracking in several places, and small weeds sprouted from those cracks and arched out over the walkway.
Aaron barely noticed the exterior. His eyes were constantly moving, scanning the street and nearby buildings for anything out of the ordinary. This offer seemed like it was almost too good and that made him nervous. He cast a quick glance at Susan and she shook her head; at the very least, she couldn’t sense anything wrong.
Eve pushed the door open and led the small group in.
Aaron’s eyes widened at the sight of the racks of clothing, ship’s stores, functioning robots, and even some serviceable ground transports.
Eve had been watching him and her smile grew. “Told you,” she said simply.
Aaron didn’t respond. Once again that thought arose, Seems too good to be true.
A small Ishek waited just inside the doorway. He bowed as they approached. “Greetings,” he said simply. “My name is Uri-alo.”
Aaron bowed in return and performed the obligatory introductions and then he paused. He wanted the Ishek to approach the subject of smuggling him off Bathia.
Silence descended for a few moments. Uri-alo also seemed reluctant to suggest any law breaking. The silence was finally broken by Eve.
“So,” she said, seeming slightly put off, “I explained to Aaron the terms of the deal we agreed to. We get you and your family off-world, and we can have anything in the store.”
“Family?” Aa
ron asked, interrupting Eve. “Did you say family?”
Eve’s smile faltered a bit. “Yes. Did I forget to mention that?”
Aaron nodded. “Yes, you did.” He turned to Uri-alo. “How many in your family?” he asked.
“Sixty-seven,” Uri-alo said promptly.
“Sixty-seven?” Aaron repeated, and he glanced toward Eve; the smile was completely gone from her face.
“Yes, sixty-seven,” Uri-alo answered, and he looked resigned. “Is that too many? I will not leave a single one of them.”
Aaron shook his head. “No, it’s not too many. We can carry that many passengers. Things may be a bit tight, but we can make it.” He waved his hands in a generally upwards direction. “So where is it that you want to go?”
“Bella-Sul III,” Uri-alo said quickly. “I have family there and they will help us.”
Aaron was pretty sure that he had never heard of Bella-Sul III, but he still knew exactly where it was located because of the military experiments.
Many times over recorded history, scientists had tried to create cyborgs: half-man and half-machine. Without fail, those experiments always ended in disaster. Eventually the subject went insane and not just insane but psychotically insane. Cyborgs did exist, but they were simple machines—arm and leg replacements, and pacemakers, etc. No cyborgs were allowed that involved attaching computers to a patient’s brain. The scientists who had experimented on Aaron had tried a new approach. Instead of cutting into his brain, they had modified a basic flu virus, altered its DNA to include the galactic encyclopedia, and then injected it into his body. It was an organic computer that interacted with his brain. He had an endless supply of information accessible to him. In this instance, it supplied him with the location of Bella-Sul III.
Aaron found the thought of being a cyborg terrifying. The only one who knew his secret was Susan, none of the others knew he was a cyborg. Susan was a telepath, and Aaron couldn’t have kept his secret from her anyway, but he had another reason for telling her. He had asked her to keep a watch on him, and to kill him if he started going insane. Susan had promised she would, but Aaron doubted whether she would be able to follow through if the need ever arose.
“I’ve already looked the location up,” Eve said. “It’s not far out of the way. It shouldn’t take more than a day or two to divert to Bella-Sul.” She looked nervous, like the deal she was pushing was in danger of falling apart.
Aaron nodded. Based on the information the organic computer was giving him, the side trip should take slightly over a day. The delay in their schedule wasn’t the problem.
He motioned to Uri-alo. “I can carry you and your family to Bella-Sul III. However, I cannot get them into the spaceport. You’ll have to manage that on your own.”
Surprisingly, the Ishek smiled. “I believe that will be easy enough.”
Aaron stared at him. “Easy?” he repeated. “Even with all this security?”
Uri-alo nodded. “I occasionally have family come and help me with the store, and since there are twelve citizen entrances to the port, I can spread the group between the entrances. The security forces will not realize that so many of my family have come here until after we are gone.”
Aaron shrugged. “That’s up to you. You get them here, and I’ll take them off-world. But here’s the catch,” he said, emphasizing the words, “I take off tomorrow, with or without you and the others.”
After a moment, Uri-alo nodded.
Chapter 4
Aaron, Susan, and Eve returned to the Long Shot without incident. Eric and Thomas were leaving as they arrived, but Aaron turned the two cargo men around and, with a bit of grumbling, they all entered the ship.
It only took several minutes to get the entire crew assembled. Both Jessica and Terry looked like they had just woken up.
Aaron realized this was going to be the second long night in a row, but he felt the rewards justified the inconvenience.
“Listen up,” Aaron called in the hubbub of four different conversations going on at once. “Eve has found a side job for us. We’re smuggling a family of Ishek off-world.”
“They’re paying us?” Eric asked, looking incredulous.
“This particular Ishek owns an outfitter store. We have from sundown to sunup tomorrow to get everything we want out of the shop.”
Several eyes widened at this, but it was Eric who spoke. “Does he have anything we might want?” His grumpy look showed his doubt.
“Clothes, food, robots, and even some transports,” Aaron replied, causing even Eric’s eyes to widen. “Now, I want us to concentrate on getting everything here. Get the stuff into the hold and we’ll go through it later. We’ll flush anything we don’t want out the airlock. Any questions?”
“What types of robots?” Kyle Grayson asked.
Kyle was the last member of their crew. He was the son of Charles Morgan, and he was the one who Aaron had been hired to break out of prison. He had liked Aaron’s group and signed on as a member of the crew. Kyle was in his late twenties, black, and in good shape. He wore old-fashioned glasses. Kyle was a natural when it came to computers—programming, hacking, even designing them.
Aaron shook his head. “They’re all kinds, but I’ll let you see them when we get there.” The crew started to climb to their feet, and Aaron quickly raised his hands to stop them. “When we get there, I’ll assign each of you to different areas. Come see me, and don’t get lost.”
“Wait,” Russell said, raising his voice to be heard. “How are we going to move this stuff to our ship? Won’t the security forces question us?”
It was a good question and it quieted the others down. They turned to Aaron, waiting for his answer.
Aaron shook his head. “I’ve been assured that once the gates are closed, the security forces only come out for a major disturbance. Plus, we’ll take a service road that runs along the interior of the port wall. We won’t be passing the main port exit.”
It took about half an hour for everyone to gather their gear and make the trip to Uri-alo’s store. They arrived with less than thirty minutes before the sun went down.
The Ishek was nervously waiting for them inside the front door. “I must go. I am not allowed to remain in the port after sundown.” He pulled Aaron to the side. “I’m trusting you, human. Do not betray me.”
Aaron nodded. Earlier he had wondered what would make the Ishek take such an insane risk. There were a lot of smugglers who would clean out the store and then take off without the Ishek. He had decided that Uri-alo simply didn’t have any other options. He was taking a risk that might save his family, whereas the alternative was to wait for the coming confrontation with the elatori. Chances were that a good number of those he held dear would die.
“Don’t be late,” Aaron said. “If you are late, then you’re on your own.”
Uri-alo nodded. “We’ll be there.”
Aaron waited until the door closed behind Uri-alo and then turned to his crew. None of them were watching him. They had stayed close like he’d asked them to, but they were busy scoping out the store.
Aaron clapped his hands together loudly, causing several of them to jump. “Okay, we only have until the sun comes up, so let’s get started.”
There were four ground transports. The first two were for transporting cargo; they had small cabs in the front and a long bed behind. They both started right up, and Aaron assigned Eric and Thomas to drive them; their job was to keep the transports moving between the ship and the store.
The other two transports were meant for passengers. The larger one had fourteen seats and it also started right up. The smaller transport only had six seats and it would not start. They used the larger one to tow the smaller, as Terry felt confident he could get it working.
The first load that Eric and Thomas drove to the ship consisted of clothing and food. They weren’t picky and they were in a hurry. Clothing of all shapes and sizes were thrown onto the transport, as well as crates of food; they didn’t eve
n bother reading the descriptions of what type of food it was. There would be plenty of time for sorting later.
Eric and Thomas had just left on their first run to the ship, along with Russell, Adam, and Grady, when Kyle called Aaron over.
“What is it?” Aaron said, hurrying over.
In answer, Kyle stepped back, exposing a humanoid robot. “This is CAC,” he said.
The robot was in the shape of a man—two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. It was silver and appeared to be ancient. It was discolored and dented. Many different types of robots used this same form, and Aaron wasn’t sure what CAC’s primary function was.
“Hello, CAC,” Aaron said, and then got right to the point. “What type of robot are you?”
“Hello, sir,” CAC said in a very formal-sounding voice. “I am a command and control robot.”
“Ah,” Aaron said. It made sense. Most modern spaceships had a sophisticated computer that was capable of monitoring the ship while the crew was sleeping. However, older ships required a presence on the bridge at all times. Command and control robots had been developed to automate that function. These days, they were only in use on extremely outdated ships.
“He’s a bit old,” Kyle said, “but I think I can make use of him.”
“By all means,” Aaron agreed. “Is that why you called me over?”
“One of the reasons, but I also wanted to run down the list of bots that are here.”
“All right,” Aaron said. He was impatient, and it must have shown because Kyle spoke hurriedly.
“There are eight repair and maintenance bots. Three of the R30 variety, two R50s, and three R70s.”
Aaron was pleased. The R-series of robots were meant for repairs. They rather resembled spiders, with various arms. The R30s were about a foot long and were the smallest robots. They were meant to make small repairs inside a cramped bulkhead. The R50s were about two feet long, and the R70s were roughly four feet in length.
Kill Shot: A Remnant of the Commonwealth, Book Two Page 3