"Wow, that's over sixty thousand each."
"Yup, about enough to live on a nice green world for three months." Steph said with a smile.
"Only one month if you rent a beach front condo," Ashley added.
"What will you do after this?" Finn asked.
"I'm buying a spot on a Lorander Colony ship and heading out to Elysian. Wanna come?" She asked with a wink and a smile. "We could settle in and start making babies."
Finn turned red and took a long sip from his ice cold slush drink.
Stephanie and Ashley both burst out laughing. "Be nice Steph, no teasing the newbies."
"What? He's cute and Lorander needs people to start having kids as soon as they make landfall."
"I don't think he can afford the ticket, Steph."
"Yup, eleven million is a little steep."
Finn stopped drinking and cringed, squeezing his eyes shut hard and holding his head to the surprise and amusement of his companions.
"Aw look, you're making him cry!" Ashley said through uproarious laughter.
"He's going to blow!" Said the other.
Finn wiped a tear away and massaged his temples. "Worst brain freeze ever."
The Retrieval Centre
"Have you ever seen a drifting station Ashley?" Asked Captain Valance from the command chair. The bridge was fully manned for once. Frost was at the tactical station, Lawrence Silver sat quietly in the co-pilot’s seat, Finn was at the engineering station, and Carl Burke was at the communications station while Ashley sat in the pilot's seat.
"No sir, I've heard of them but never seen one."
"Ever come out of hyperspace into a straight trajectory at fifty five thousand kilometres per second?" Asked Lawrence, he ran his hand over his bald head, it was something he did when he was nervous.
"Yup, faster and near a planetary body too."
"Thank God."
"Sorry sir, what's a drifting station?" Asked Finn from behind Captain Valance.
"It's a station that moves through space between solar systems and major sources of gravity at high speed. They normally follow something like a rogue planet or asteroid. This one follows a cluster of asteroids so it can harvest rare materials. Oh, and stop apologizing," Captain Valance replied.
"Sorry sir, yes sir."
Jake took a look around the bridge. All the other seats were built into their stations, so the crew were reclining comfortably as they controlled the ship. It was more like an extra large cockpit than a bridge and the command chair was the center. He checked over the navigation calculations, ship system status and sent the signal ahead to the retrieval station so they wouldn't take aim and fire the moment they approached.
"Coming out of hyperspace in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," Ashley counted down. The Samson emerged from hyperspace, the exotic particles that surrounded the ship dispersed and were joined by the waste materials from the engines to cause a dissipating trail behind. Waste matter from the engines had to be collected during hyperspace travel. If they leaked too much it would disrupt the energized particle field around the ship and they would slow down disproportionately. The ship would be torn to pieces.
The station was a bulbous collection of segments, like bubbles of metal that had been crushed together to form different sections. There were engines everywhere. The whole thing was just over two kilometres long and too irregularly shaped to guess its width.
It followed the trajectory of several asteroids that were each many times larger than the station. The cluster left a white and gold glittering trail behind as it moved through space. Several segments from the station were moving back and forth with loads of resources from the collectors built onto the nearest asteroid.
"Shields up," reported Frost. "Don't wander into that trail, it'll shred us in seconds."
"Don't worry, I know enough to stay clear," Ashley said as she looked at the holographic image of the asteroids, station and other objects in the area. "Wow, I've never been this close to something like this before, it's incredible. Smaller than I expected though."
“It only looks that way because it's beside something much bigger,” Silver replied.
“I know the laws of perspective hon, just sayin',” Ashley replied quietly.
"Sir, we're cleared to dock. Sending trajectory to navigation," Burke reported from communications. A moment later a clear flightpath appeared on the main holographic display at the front of the bridge.
"Flightpath shows clear. You have a go for docking manoeuvres," Silver said after checking the flight path for debris or other disturbances. He was rubbing his big hand over his head again, slowly from front to back then back to front.
"Everyone sounds so official all of a sudden," Ashley said with a smile as she entered the virtual pipeline that represented their flight path. Her piloting style was aggressive. "I'm getting some drift on the lower port side, are our stabilizers all right?" She asked as the station started to draw nearer. They were less than a kilometre away from the debris trail.
"You're right, we have an underpowered stabilizer," Finn reported.
"Think you can compensate Ash?" Asked Captain Valance.
"Sure can, I was just sayin'."
"Okay, put it on the maintenance list. I want that fixed before we take off."
"Aye sir, top priority," Finn replied.
Everyone kept quiet on the bridge as they closed the distance between them and the station, it loomed larger and larger until docking bay doors opened and the ship touched down. "Best landing at fifty five thousand thirteen kilometres per second ever," Ashley said, leaning back and cracking her knuckles.
"Nice work, buy you a drink?" Asked Silver with a smirk.
"Oh yeah," Ashley replied. "It's been awhile."
"As long as it's something from the galley I'm happy. I don't think we'll be staying long," Captain Valance stated as he stood up. "Frost, make sure the station personnel decouple the maxjack properly then inspect it yourself. If they so much as pull a single arm out of alignment I want you to document it and tell me right away, I don't want to see what happened last time."
"Me neither, I didn't exactly enjoy spendin' three days in a suit repairing it with half the crew in dead space."
"Finn, run a system wide load test, if anything burns out replace it. We get a discount on new parts here, so let's take advantage of it."
"Shouldn't someone with more experience run the load test sir?"
"You have the most training and have to learn about this ship sometime. Here's your chance."
"Yes sir."
"Burke, find us something to watch," Jake said with a little more levity. "We're getting a heavy payday and if we jump back into hyperspace without giving everyone something to do there'll be a mutiny."
"Aye sir, whatever you say sir, with pleasure sir," Burke said with a crooked grin. "I wonder if there are any new Claustrophobia flicks?" He asked himself quietly.
"Oh no, those horror movies had me sleeping with the lights on for weeks and kissing the ground every time we went planet side," Silver complained emphatically, warding the thought off with his hands out in front of him.
“And he'd squirm in his sleep when he had nightmares. Kept knocking me out of bed,” Ashley added.
"Fine, I'll stick to the usual. A few action, a few fantasy, some sci-fi, a couple period movies and some chick flicks for you and the rest of the girls."
Ashley finished locking down her controls and stood up, rubbing Silver's smooth head. "Come on hero, let's go get that drink."
Captain Valance finished locking down the command station and started to leave when Frost stopped him. "Think we're picking up a contract here sir?" He whispered.
Jake shrugged. "I can't say. Why are you asking?"
"Pardon me sayin' but I've looked at the armaments on the Ferret. If that thing got into the air there's no way the Samson would be able to chase it without gettin' slagged in three shots. They had a grav cannon and two disruptors."
"That's why we took them on th
e ground. Don't worry, I'll make sure we can handle whatever we get. This isn't my first day."
"Yessir."
"Now make sure that retrieval goes smooth, our maxjack is old, these station techs probably haven't seen anything like it."
"Aye."
Captain Valance made his way through the ship, watching the crew attend to their duties along the way. There was something very satisfying seeing everyone at work, except for his piloting team, who were hanging out in the galley with their feet up, as expected. On his way to the starboard airlock, where a gangway was extended and affixed from the station, he met the retrieval and accounting team from the station.
It only took him a moment to tell them where they would find the four bounties and to sign the forms for transfer. The captures wouldn't be awakened. They'd remain in stasis as the retrieval team moved them into the station's holding area. Three were to be tried sometime in the next few days. The fourth would be transported to the planet he was accused of several murders on so his trial could take place in front of the victim's families.
As Jake Valance walked down a station hallway, its floors and walls polished to a mirror finish, and stepped into an express tube car he couldn't help thinking of what he saw on the retrieval forms for his bounties. He tried not to think too much about a target after he had acquired them and had them in stasis.
Once a job was done it was done. He had learned not to dig too deeply into the details of a bounty after the fact long ago. When he signed on for a number of captures for the premium he was getting paid, it was for all of them. He couldn't pick and choose. The money in that kind of contract was good, but there was always one or two with a bitter story.
Either they were innocent and the court system just wasn't finished with them yet or they had done something that he would have done if he was put in the same position or worse. He had collected on a combined bounty and repossession once. It was a family hauler with no armaments. They caught them just as they arrived in port, grabbed on with the maxjack and hauled them all the way back to the Retrieval Centre. He made the mistake of boarding the vessel and meeting the three generations that lived aboard, including children. They were over a year behind on their payments. As he met members of the family, who understood he was just doing his job, there was nothing he wanted to do more than to cut them loose. If he did his entire crew would be wanted along with his ship. He was forced to carry out the contract. They were the Wickliffs, he still tried to look them up every once in awhile but hadn't found a trace of them since. His cut of that job paid for the ship's brand new energy shields.
He hoped the family just made their way off the grid somehow, that they were able to pay the fines and deal with the criminal charges. He knew better. He was always led to think about his own family, or what he knew of it whenever he was reminded of that job.
His daughter was out there somewhere. What would she think if she knew that he accepted a contract that awarded a huge bonus if he managed to hunt down and capture a family and their ship. Their vessel was more than just a way to get around, it was their livelihood, their home.
He shook his head and brought his mind back to the present. His most recent contract wasn't so bad. There was only one on the list he sympathized with out of the four. That didn't help. He still hated what he was doing, wished he could pick and choose, but the hunters that lived by those rules didn't make half as much money. Catching and returning the Ferret III was a separate deal and the only part of his last run he actually felt good about.
The doors of the tube car parted and he stepped into a grand reception area with a wall covered with plant life. Flowering vines and a tiny trickling faux waterfall made the room smell alive. The other wall was mostly transparent, providing a view of the asteroid's white and gold trail. The receptionist's desk was set in the center of the room. It was a complete circle with a lovely secretary sitting in the middle. "Good evening. I've already informed the Chief Recovery Officer that you have arrived Jake Valance. He's ready to see you."
"Thank you," he replied coldly as he walked past her up the dozen or so steps. He pushed the double doors open and stepped inside the office. They swung closed as he stopped to stand in front of the broad desk. The office window faced forward, with the asteroids on the right and open space on the left. After a moment the image of a Chief Recovery Officer appeared behind the desk, standing up straight. There was no chair, this wasn't any person's office. It was all there for show. So someone could walk up a set of stairs, be forced to open a door and talk in what seemed like a private room with some kind of anonymous authority figure. "Good to meet you Captain Valance, may I call you Jake?"
"Sure."
"I can see from our records that you've managed to fulfil both of your contracts with us; four bounties and one ship repossession. I'm sure you'll be glad to know that your payment has been transferred to the account on file."
"Can you break that payment down for me?" Jake said, sitting in a plush imitation leather chair, not really looking at the holographic avatar.
"I'm sure someone from our accounting department can do that for you."
He looked up to the hologram. It was wearing a perfectly tailored square cut black suit and had a stylish but conservative hair cut. "Can you break that payment down for me avatar?" He repeated less patiently.
The image sighed; "You were paid five million credits for the recapture of the Ferret Three plus a one million credit bonus for its condition and a total of one point two million credits for the four bounties you've turned in, fulfilling two contracts. All funds were in United Core Worlds Currency."
"Thank you. Is there a reason why you called me here in person?"
The hologram looked at him directly, there was something different about it. "You've never been to see a Chief Recovery Officer, have you Jake?"
"First time speaking to something of your rank. I'm not talking to the stock AI here am I?"
"Very astute. I'm an actual company executive speaking to you from a secure location."
"And I'm sure you're not actually wearing the suit or the face I'm seeing."
"I'm wearing the suit, but not the face."
"So, why am I here?"
"Straight to the point. Well, on with it then. You're here because you're one of the best hunters we have. As far as our records show, and there are indications that they are not complete, you've worked for twelve different companies, collected on more than one hundred bounties in the last four years, stolen two ships, destroyed at least seventeen, and repossessed twenty nine including the Ferret Three. There are crews with records that good, but none as small as yours. There's another thing; your criminal record is completely clean, aside from allegations from one Captain who claims that you stole his ship in neutral space."
"My second cargo hauler. The paperwork on that is all in order, check yourself."
"We have, and to our amazement, you have two vessels that haul legitimate cargo year round. Jake, you're talking to me because we want you on our team."
"That's real impressive coming from a hologram."
"If I could be there in person, just to meet you, I would, trust me. Policy prohibits me from meeting with anyone working for this segment of our company, however."
"I don't know if this is better or worse, talking to a hologram that represents a real person, or just an artificial intelligence that exists to tell me how much I'm getting paid and what jobs are available."
"I'm sure you understand-"
"That the company doesn't want to have you physically near anyone who does its dirty work? Yup, got that. Now, before I turn you down flat, tell me what kind of benefits I'd be looking at if I were to sign on."
"We can upgrade your current ship free of charge or provide you with a command position on one of our military vessels. I'm also authorized to offer you a signing bonus of ten million credits with a starting salary of fifty million a year. That's all yours, you don't have to use it to service your ship, pay for upgrades,
docking fees, provisions or to pay your crew."
"Oh, right, what about them? Do they get signing bonuses too?"
"I'm afraid we're not interested in hiring them on at this time. We would be matching you with our best professionals with training and rank to suit any position you need filled. Your pilot isn't even certified, the company cannot insure you under those conditions."
"Ah, I knew there was a catch. I suppose I'd be going after your targets, no questions asked right?"
"Yes, you would be part of our chain of command. We would determine your objectives and work exclusively for us."
"Let's stop right there. I'm not leaving my crew twisting in the wind, and what you're offering is less than I make in a year. The fact that I spend half of it on ship upgrades, bonuses for the crew and good leave destinations is my problem."
"You're certainly aware that at some point in time the market may not require your services. It's been known to happen."
"This galaxy has so many loose ends that you couldn't tie them up with a thousand people just like me. We're out here tidying things up and going everywhere you can't. I know some of those bounties are just people who got away from you and your legal system for all the right reasons. I go after them because they're part of a package deal. For every bad guy I get to bring back I have to go after someone who might not be guilty, but I trust your legal system to figure that out."
"Our figures show that seventy nine point three percent of all bounties are guilty of the crimes they have been accused of."
"That figures, half of the bounties I take are already convicts, that's got to skew things. Like I said, it's a game of numbers and I play it fine. So I'll keep doing it my way."
"You are passing on our offer?"
"Yes."
"I'm authorized to grant you a signing bonus of twenty million in Regent Galactic shares if you change your mind in the next five days."
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