Running With Argentine

by William Lee Gordon

  Sitting at his station, Barry just shook his head.

  ΔΔΔ

  "We've all been a little busy keeping the ship going, not to mention having to keep looking over our shoulders to make sure the People's Republic hasn't sent anyone after us," Argentine started the meeting.

  "The People's Republic or anyone else…" the chief said while looking directly at Barry.

  After taking care of all the details, which included a customs visit by the local authorities, the Pelican had been invited to dock with one of the main orbital platforms. Normally, that courtesy wouldn’t have been extended to a warship but Argentine gathered that their weapons and systems were so out of date that no one took them seriously.

  Before they debarked through the airlock and onto the orbital platform, Argentine thought it would be a good idea to get everyone on the same page about what they should try to accomplish here.

  He was also curious about something…

  "Barry, I think most of us are a little surprised at the reception we’re receiving here. Yet, you seem to think it’s normal. Is it?"

  Barry tilted his head and responded in a way that indicated he was, for once, taking the situation seriously…

  "I'm beginning to understand that you blokes come from a really anal society… Total mistrust and all that nonsense.

  "The real world doesn't operate that way. Tiffany's planet doesn't seem to me to be any different than most places I’ve visited."

  Everyone was silent so he continued…

  "Look, it's just not profitable for the established systems to make it hard to work with them. For the most part, the bigger the technological infrastructure a planetary system has, the more welcoming it's going to be.

  "Or at least it will be as long as you play by their rules. If you're a wacko or on some holy mission bent on destruction or the taking of innocent lives then they're not going to mess with you.

  "Degenerates like that are consigned to the smaller stations and out-of-the-way planets. Which means that those places are less friendly, much more careful, and very dangerous."

  "Okay, so as long as we play nice and abide by their rules we should be safe here. How do we know what the rules are?" asked the chief.

  "A standard set of System Etiquette and Laws should have been sent over to us with the original docking instructions. I can't believe they wouldn't do that…"

  Everyone's eyes turned to Argentine… He hadn't bothered to read everything they'd sent over…

  "Hey, I've been busy…"

  When no one said anything he continued, "Okay Sami, put it up on everyone’s screens. We might as well all go through this together…"

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Fool’s Gold

  Orbital Platform III

  Argentine was frustrated.

  The café was only half-full and he leaned back in the chair at his now empty table. Staring at his half-empty coffee cup he drummed his fingers on the small table's edge

  He'd never imagined life could be so damned difficult...

  Yesterday, they'd been amazed when first entering the orbital platform. In the People's Republic of Chezden, all off planet infrastructure was owned by the government – which meant the military.

  Money wasn't wasted on decorations or convenience; simple functionality was the theme followed by all the architects and designers.

  From the moment they'd stepped onto the platform it was obvious that they weren't in the People's Republic anymore…

  The docking bays were functional, but… organized! There were actually separate accommodations for passengers and freight.

  "Why would they assign us to a VIP docking bay?" Argentine had asked aloud.

  Barry had just laughed, and walked off shaking his head again.

  It was still hard for Argentine to accept, though. Even the portion of the docking bay designated strictly for freight had been built for extreme safety – there were no sharp edges and awkward objects like structural ribbing were all padded.

  But all of that paled in comparison to when they’d left the docking area and entered the main concourse.

  He had never in his life seen valuable space taken up on a ship or station by an artistic sculpture. Especially the size of this one.

  In addition, the concourse was ringed with shops, restaurants, and other various offices. There were even recruitment centers for differing opportunities on the planet below - which is something that had surprised him…

  So he was in a good mood this morning and had every reason to think he was in for a good day.

  It had started bright and early at the platform’s offices for Inner and Outer System Employment.

  There'd been no wait at all and after spending an hour or so responding to a computer-generated questionnaire regarding their background, their needs, their references, and their intentions, he had found himself sitting at the desk of a very pretty red haired and green eyed civil servant.

  Judging from her smiles, Argentine got the impression that she was enjoying the interview as much as he was…

  "Captain Argentine," she'd said (he hadn't bothered to correct her on the title). "The challenge is that you don't have any history with us or any of the systems we cooperate with. We don't have any way to vet you."

  "Well, it's true that we're new here, but we've established our credit and have honest paying jobs to offer… Surely there are qualified spacers that need work?"

  She had again smiled in a not unkind way.

  "Not as many as you might think. At least not so many so that they would be willing to risk hiring on with an unknown ship. Surely you were expecting that?"

  After realizing that he obviously hadn't, she continued…

  "Look Captain, according to what you've told us you're coming from down spiral. If you've never been here before you need to understand that Tiffany's planet sets on the edge of a large swath of independent sectors.

  "We don't share a government and there's nothing official between us, but a number of us do cooperate with each other; especially when it comes to keeping the space lanes, and trade, safe.

  "There's a certain etiquette, or protocol that we all follow. It brings stability and stability brings prosperity. All of our economies are expanding and new planets are constantly vying to prove their worthiness to us.

  "In short, anyone that does choose a profession in space has a lot of opportunities and a lot of choice. From our perspective, we have a growing, stable, and safe society…"

  "But from my perspective," Argentine said…

  "From your perspective," she cut in. "We probably appear as insular, elitist, and biased against outsiders."

  After giving her patented smile again she said, "In reality, I think both perspectives are right. All I can really tell you is that sticking around long enough to become known and respected is worth the wait…"

  "And how does one go about doing that?"

  "It might be difficult here," she admitted. "But there is a major hub world not far away – only a few dozen light-years. On Asperia you could probably secure a few minor contracts to at least get your reputation established. Once you get your foot in the door, who knows? If your employers like you it could lead to bigger things."

  Trying to hide his disappointment he realized he had no other reason to keep sitting there, so he asked, "Would you like to get a cup of coffee?"

  ΔΔΔ

  Mandi, the civil servant, had agreed to take a break and meet him at an open-concourse cafe in another ten minutes.

  Argentine had always prided himself on being a patient man, though nobody else ever seemed to recognize it. He’d taken a deep breath…

  "So you've got yourself your own little paradise here," he’d quipped. "And you have to pay your dues to get in…"

  "Well," she’d laughed. "I wouldn't call it a paradise. We have our challenges."

  Now it had been Argentine's quirky smile that invited her to continue…

  "Just this week our platform
was notified that a major criminal might be hiding out here," she confided in mock seriousness. "A real dastardly villain."

  "What did he do?"

  "She," Mandi had emphasized, "hacked into our planetary database."

  "Is that possible?"

  "It's not supposed to be. No one's ever done it before, at least that we know of. We almost didn't catch it this time."

  "What happened?"

  "I'm really not supposed to be talking about this," she’d confided.

  Argentine hadn't been able to keep from grinning.

  "Well, it's not such a big deal, really," Mandi had said. "I mean it is a felony but nobody got hurt in a bad way. And you probably should be warned anyway...

  "She was hacking into all the inner and outer system personnel files. When a new ship would arrive in-system, like yours, she would approach crewmembers pretending to be with Tiffany Planetary Security. She'd let them know that she was there to arrest them for the outstanding warrants they had from wherever they came from."

  "How would she know about those?" Argentine had asked, trying to hide his own concern.

  "She wouldn't!" laughed Mandi. "She’d use that line on everyone, and when she found someone that actually did have outstanding warrants on them she let herself be bribed out of the arrest on the condition that they left the system ASAP."

  "That's…"

  "Brilliant!" Mandi had finished for him. "Even once we figured out what she was doing we still haven't been able to catch her… She keeps hacking in and changing her photo and physical description in our database."

  "Your people still can't keep her from hacking in?"

  "They say they have it figured out… this time. We'll see."

  After a comfortable silence she’d said, "Captain, you seem like a good enough person and I really do understand how difficult it can be to break in around here.

  "I don't want to get your hopes up, but I may have an idea...

  "About seven months ago a colony ship made an emergency port of call. They had some major equipment malfunction and still haven't been able to get it all repaired. At this rate, a lot of people are starting to think they never will. It's just possible that some of their people might be frustrated enough to look for other work. I've got your list of needs… Would you like me to make some inquiries this afternoon?"

  Argentine gave her his most dazzling smile.

  "That would be incredible," he said enthusiastically. "But you have to let me repay you. Let me take you out to dinner tonight and you can tell me all about what you learned."

  "I… I'd like that," she’d said with a smile.

  ΔΔΔ

  Argentine was frustrated.

  Ten minutes ago Mandi had left the table to return to work and he'd been in seventh heaven.

  He had a valuable lead on recruiting some new personnel that would make everyone's life much easier.

  He had a new destination and the beginnings of a plan in mind to start building their credibility; They could begin building that comfortable life he and the chief had always talked about.

  And to top it all off, he had a dinner date with the most attractive, fun, intelligent woman that he'd met in a long time… And she seemed excited about him as well!

  He'd been in a great mood… Until his comm had chimed.

  "What is it, Chief?" Argentine had asked.

  "Get back to the ship. Right now!"

  "Why? What's up?" Argentine asked, sitting straight up in his chair.

  "A Haven ship has just entered the system. Barry says it's from their Enforcer’s sect. We need to leave, now. While we still can."

  "But… That's Barry's problem! I mean… Chief, we can find crew here…"

  "I know; I know… But Barry says it'll be our problem too if they figure out we brought him here, and I believe him. We've got to go, Frank."

  The café was only half-full and he leaned back in his chair at his now empty table. Staring at his half-empty coffee cup he drummed his fingers on the small table's edge.

  He'd never imagined life could be so damned difficult...

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  You’re A Peach

  Climbing the Gravity Well

  For the next couple of days Barry made sure to stay out of Argentine's way.

  He didn't blame Barry, at least not much… Maybe. He did understand what it was like dealing with some of the radical theocracies, and it had been his decision to hire Barry, but still…

  He didn't have to like the way this had ended up.

  So he wasn't really in the mood for surprises…

  "First, we need to talk," came the voice of Lieutenant Stark over Argentine's personal comm device.

  "Okay, I'm on the bridge," he replied.

  "Ah, do you think you could come to my cabin?"

  Raising his eyebrows in surprise Argentine responded, "I'll be there in five."

  ΔΔΔ

  "What is it Lieutenant?"

  Like for all of the officers, the lieutenant’s cabin served double duty as an office. You entered from the corridor into the office area, and then needed to pass through another doorway to reach the personal quarters.

  He had been at his desk when Argentine walked in.

  "Take a look at this," the lieutenant said while motioning him to his computer's screen.

  "It looks like a power consumption chart."

  "It is, but scroll through the daily readings…"

  "Explain it to me. What am I looking for?"

  "Since we’re so shorthanded I've been taking those readings three times a day instead of the standard once a day. I'm just a little paranoid since we don't have enough people to monitor all our systems in real time. I wanted to make sure that if something started going haywire we’d have a chance to shut it down before it caused any damage."

  "Okay, that makes sense."

  "Take a look at the shuttle bay. The first report I run every morning shows that the shuttle's systems are off, that it’s not drawing any power. But look at these other reports… They show that the shuttle's life-support systems are constantly on."

  "Is it a glitch in our readings… Or, have you checked the shuttle? Did we somehow leave the systems on?"

  "I haven't checked it yet, but I did check our food supply. Best I can tell we’re going through the supply faster than we should."

  Argentine and the lieutenant locked eyes.

  "Chief, report to Lieutenant Stark’s office," Argentine said into his comm.

  ΔΔΔ

  The shuttle bay on the Pelican wasn't very large, but it was always pressurized.

  The three men entered the bay as quietly as possible. They each carried an energy rifle.

  As they neared the shuttle the chief pulled out a piece of equipment and studied it for a moment. He then looked at Argentine and nodded.

  The shuttle's systems were active.

  They gathered by the hatch and Argentine used his fingers to silently count down from three. He had quietly typed in his override code and when his countdown reached zero he hit the hatch's emergency access control.

  As it flew open, he rushed inside and pointed his rifle down the length of the shuttle.

  He heard the other two following behind him, but after just a few steps he stopped in his tracks.

  Sitting at a table not five paces in front of him was a redheaded green-eyed woman eating something from a can.

  Without missing a beat Mandi said, "Care for a peach?"

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  A Chance Memory

  Earth 2330 A.D.

  Admiral Sanchez looked up at the Army Captain sitting before him.

  He then glanced back down at the top-secret report that was still in his hands. It was a wonder they weren't shaking, the abstract thought came into his mind.

  Forty minutes ago he'd been contemplating what he thought was the most sensitive information, and biggest headache, the Terran League (and possibly mankind) had ever run into.

  The Terran Lea
gue had no idea what to do with the discoveries on Betelgeuse. Only recently had the recovered records been translated sufficiently to tell its fateful story.