“It had better get there for that price,” she muttered and took a hasty breath before she closed her eyes and pressed send. There were some definite negatives to being on a world so far from her own.
Stephanie wasn’t alone in being far from home. Todd and his team had been loaded onto the next ship scheduled for departure. No longer a unit on their own, they were now part of a real section with a couple of older hands to steady them on the shuttle ride to their first real-world mission.
“Navy got a report of an outpost of humans and Dreth in Sanmar’s Reach. It’s unregulated so we pay them a social visit, show the flag, get a feel for the place, and make sure they’re a real colony and not a pirate base,” the team leader told them. “It should be an easy run.”
One of the older hands—Arizona, a ten-year veteran—leaned back in his chair, playing a game on his tablet. He looked up as the leader moved forward and set it aside before he leaned toward the new guys.
He elbowed Hollins who sat next to him as he began to speak. “You gotta learn to loosen up now you aren’t in boot camp. Okay? This outpost gig will be interesting for you, but you’ll need to watch your step because it is unregulated.”
One of the team guys frowned. “Like anarchy?”
Hollins shook his head. “Naw, dude. Worse than that. The law in a place like that is usually who has the biggest pair of…guns. Most of them out there don’t mess with the Navy because the Navy will always come back with a bigger gun and more of them. That isn’t a maybe, that isn’t a possibility…that is a promise.”
Arizona nodded and gave him a fist-bump. “Damn straight. So, if we die, know that someone will be there to avenge us. It isn’t much of a consolation, but it’s all they can do.”
The younger man pointed his teammates. “So ‘don’t die’ is the best advice we can give you.”
The guys chuckled nervously as another member of the old team entered. He sat and cracked open a space MRE. “Are these fools giving you advice?”
They chuckled again, and Arizona shook his thumb toward the newcomer. “That guy, Perez, is the meanest kickass in the west. He annihilates danger from miles away.”
The newcomer rolled his eyes. “Here’s the deal as I see it. We’re all a brotherhood but we all go by the code. Our job is to help make it as safe as possible out in the big frontier. We can’t grow a future if we can’t get a foothold.”
Hollins nodded. “That is exactly right. We fight to make that foothold happen for those willing to build lives out here. Plus, there is the occasional opportunity to eliminate pirates and score a little kickback”
The guys didn’t fully understand, and their faces showed it. Arizona leaned forward again. “See, if the Navy capture other vessels, those who are part of the teams will get a cut from the profit for taking them. There’s more for captains, but everyone will get at least a month’s pay. Those doing the boarding get a minimum of three months’ pay. It’s a nice little perk that no one really talks about.”
He studied the new team members for a moment, then continued. “For us, we do it sometimes but only if the opportunity presents itself. There are other teams out there who are real shitstormers. They simply wander around deep space and hunt pirates. Those boys store cash away so that when they get back home, they won’t have a thing to worry about.”
“If they get home,” Hollins pointed out dryly. “The survival rate for deep-spacers like that is less than half a percent. They either break down out there and are never heard from again, or they eventually bite it in a deathmatch with a no-good pirate.”
Before they could ask any more questions, the captain’s voice spoke over the internal comms. “All right, you shit handles, buckle in and get your gear straight. We’re landing.”
After a pause, he added, “And you assholes better not scare the newbies. We’ve asked for a team for too long for you to scare them back to their mommas.”
Todd chuckled. “He doesn’t sound like a captain.”
Arizona shrugged. “He’s a field captain which means he doesn’t have to be a douche like the ones in plush offices. He cares that we eat, sleep, shit, live, and make space safer. That’s it. The rest is all semantics to him. He’ll put on a good face for the dignitaries and we know when to play along, but the rest of the time, he’s like our big brother leading us into the shit but not letting us get too beat up.”
One of the new team members released a relieved sigh. “Thank the Lord. I really thought all captains were like those in boot camp. I didn’t know if I’d survive it.”
The older man stood and clapped him on the shoulder. “You better survive it, shithead. Captain will have your ass otherwise—and mine. Get your gear. We haven’t got all day.”
The guys went to work, retrieved their gear and weapons, and prepared to deploy. There weren’t any windows in the back of the shuttle where they sat, so none of them knew what to expect. Todd merely hoped it didn’t smell as bad as the simulation they’d been dragged out of. He swore he could still smell the stench of the place—and he never wanted to smell it for real.
It didn’t look like he’d have much of a chance, though. The shuttle touched down at the rough and ready spaceport and landed directly in its designated launch bay. The older hands approached the new guys, checked their gear, and made sure everything was in place.
“Good,” Arizona told Todd. “Stick with me. I’ll show you the ropes.”
All around him, the experienced team members did the same and paired up with the less experienced hands before they all exited to form up for the captain’s inspection. For all that he was supposed to be on their side, the man was still formidable.
He emerged briskly from the cockpit, stepped onto the tarmac, and swept his gaze across the surroundings before he focused on them. The look on his face said he wasn’t impressed. Beside him, Todd felt Arizona stiffen and heard the old hand’s muttered, “Damn.”
“You got something to say AZ?”
Again, he heard the muttered “damn.” It was followed by, “Sir. No, sir.”
“Are you sure, Sergeant? Because I distinctly heard you curse.”
“I would never dare sir.”
“And why the hell is that, Sergeant?”
“Because my goddamned captain says cursing is a bloody assenholic habit that no damned trooper has the right to know...sir!”
The captain’s lips twitched into a smile that Todd thought looked like a snarl. “Very good, Sergeant. Now, take my men out for a lookie-see and bring every damned one of them back or I’ll nail your ass to the front of my shuttle and use you as a heat shield. Do you get me?”
“Sir. Yes, sir!”
“Very good, AZ. I’ll take the rear.”
Todd itched to ask if the captain was always like that, but he didn’t dare, and Arizona led them out in double file. The older man surprised him when he began to speak in a muted tone.
“Captain says there’s trouble ahead and we’re to keep our eyes peeled.”
He had? He hadn’t caught a word of that in their short exchange.
“Trust me. This won’t be the cakewalk it’s supposed to be and we’ve gotta keep our eyes peeled.”
They jogged the half-mile from the shuttle port to the town and used the journey to familiarize themselves with the terrain and the town’s layout.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Several systems away from where Todd was marched into Sanmar’s Rest with his team, Stephanie had been unable to put the Federation Navy off any longer. All she wanted to do was wipe the smiles off the representatives’ faces. Instead, she and the team took their places at the negotiation table.
The FedNav team continued to smile from ear to ear. Stephanie smiled in response and allowed a small trace of Morgana to creep into it. Beside her, Lars smiled, too—the hard smile of a man ready to cause serious mischief if need be.
The rest of the team didn’t smile at all but regarded the Naval contingent with cold, hard looks. With their smiles slo
wly fading, the officials cleared their throats and turned to business.
“Thank you for meeting with us today,” Chief Albertson said with a grin. “My captain and I are extremely excited at the opportunity.”
The captain nodded to them and his expression became stern.
Well, now I know who’ll play the tough guy. She raised an eyebrow at him. While she respected what they did, she didn’t like to be bullied or tricked—and she wasn’t having any of it.
She spoke before he could get started and took control of the situation. “Look, here’s the deal. Let’s cut the smiles and niceties. This is business, and as such, I’d like to be straight to the point. No dancing around.”
The captain released a deep breath. “At least someone has some brains here. I’m Captain Thorne. It’s nice to meet you. I believe the chief, here, has something specific to touch on.”
The other man cleared his throat uncomfortably as he flipped anxiously through some papers. She smirked and looked at her guys, then spoke before he had time to finish his charade. “We have decided that we’re willing to help the Navy but not without negotiating first.”
“We would expect nothing less,” the captain replied smoothly.
“Now, to be perfectly clear,” Stephanie said and leaned forward so they would see her intent. “We are willing to negotiate to help the Navy. We do not wish to enlist in the Navy. We know what you do is vital to the safety of the entire Federation and therefore, we feel our assistance is warranted. That said, none of us is interested in signing up.”
The chief looked flustered. “But there is a chance you will be drafted. How can the Navy be sure you are as capable as the stories claim—or that you will be able to function properly in a Navy environment? This affects the lives and safety of our personnel, too, you know.”
“I didn’t think you cared whether or not your draftees were capable,” she replied. “Not when you first receive them, anyway. In fact, I’m reasonably sure you expect to have to train them from scratch, so capability is not an issue here. Besides, we’ve already proved ourselves—”
The captain put up his hand for her attention. “I think all the chief is trying to say is that we need you in the Naval service. With the number of sailors we lose every day, your assistance could be vital. We might even be able to save some we’d otherwise lose.”
Marcus groaned. “Puhlease, the Navy hasn’t cared about how many sailors they lose since before the Federation. You vacuum-seal them and send them into space with only the most basic training and then try to tell us Stephanie is the only thing that can reduce your losses? Don’t put the death of these men and women on our shoulders. If you want fewer deaths, you need to train them better. You need to send them in as humans with the proper equipment for the job and not simply as cannon fodder.”
She reached over and touched his arm, a signal that he should calm himself. “We came here to negotiate a consultancy, not to join. If you can’t accept that, we’ll leave right now.”
The captain shook his head, withdrew a pair of glasses from his pocket, and put them on. “No, no, it’s fine. We have your list of demands and they have almost all been approved.”
“Almost?” Stephanie replied, her expression deadpan.
The captain coughed and set the paper down. “Yes, well…you see, we can’t accept any foreign person in our service. You would have to renounce any non-Earth citizenship you might have.”
She laughed. “Not going to happen, especially since we’re not joining the Navy but offering our assistance—and we know you work with both Meligorn and Dreth units on a regular basis. Nice try, but the fact you’d suggest that such a thing is for the greater good makes me wonder what your motives really are. If you want to draft me, you’ll negotiate my service with the Meligornian ambassador.”
The chief grumbled, “He won't allow it and you know it. He will fight it.”
Stephanie yawned and pointed at him. “Oh, and while you’re at it, the Dreth ambassador needs to be consulted as well.”
They both stopped and looked at her. The captain frowned. “Why would we talk to the Dreth ambassador?”
She tilted her head to the side and gave in to the temptation to smirk. “Oh, you didn’t hear? I have citizenship on all three planets now.”
The man stared at her and his jaw dropped in shock. “You’re bluffing. There is not a single human outside the President of the Federation who has tri-citizenship. And his only lasts while in office. If you’re serious about negotiating, you should start off by telling the truth.”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t read my file?” She looked at him with a bright smile, pulled her tablet out, and set it on the table while she talked. “Are you new here, or did you miss the ceremony where I was awarded the Medal of Decarth as well as the Talon of the Families?”
She flipped through the numbers so they could see and pulled up the Meligornian ambassador’s contact information. “I can get the ambassador on the line. Would that suffice?”
The chief snorted and flipped his hand dismissively. “No. Everyone knows you saved him during the assassination attempt. Of course he would side with you.”
“Good point.” She nodded, flipped through the tablet again, and stopped when she reached the Dreth Ambassador’s information. “How about the Dreth ambassador?”
Captain Thorne rolled his eyes. “This is becoming ridiculous.”
She stared at him and blinked as she turned the tablet and showed him the picture of her and Ambassador Jaleck with the contact information beside it. “I think you should stop calling me a liar. That is something none of them would stand for. So, do I interrupt the ambassador’s morning tea or will we talk like the two independent parties we are?”
He gawked at the information for a moment and shrugged impatiently. “Fine, fine, but before we draw contracts up, we should see what you and your team are capable of when you face a structured military strike.”
“That sounds great.” She grinned. “Why don’t we run through a scenario in the pods? You should get more than enough data from that.”
The captain thought about it for a moment. “Yes, that sounds fair. I will call you when it’s ready.”
He rose as if to leave but she held her finger up. “Before you go, you might want to program a couple of extra spots. People have a tendency to want to join our team. We can’t turn them down if they’re worthy.”
“We’ll do what we can and will send the details of our agreement over shortly,” he replied, clearly annoyed.
He shook Stephanie’s hand, but the chief stood and walked out without even so much as a glance in her direction. She chuckled quietly as she followed her team out of the office. As she passed the front desk, her tablet rang, and she stuck the earbud in and swiped to answer. “Ambassador Jaleck, I was just speaking about you.”
“I hope it was good things,” the Dreth ambassador replied. “Although you might change your mind when you hear what I have to say.”
While Stephanie spoke to Jaleck on Space Station Alerus, Elizabeth sighed heavily and sank into the chair in her office. She booted the computer up and checked for any news on Stephanie’s meeting with the Navy.
Hopefully, the girl had taken her advice because if she had to tell Burt his star had gone off and joined the military, she was sure he’d go rogue—and that would be a very bad thing for Earth’s virtual network.
She checked her email and messages but found nothing. With another sigh, she prepared to play the message from the team again for a little motivation to get her through the rest of her day. It had barely started when the phone rang.
Once she’d paused it, she noted who the incoming caller was and narrowed her eyes. Not sure whether she should be concerned, she answered the call and waited until his fritzing image hovered clearly in front of her. “Mark, how are you?”
Stephanie’s dad smiled. “Good, good. How are you?”
“I’m well, although, I don’t have any updates on S
tephanie.”
He shook his head. “That sucks but it’s not why I called.”
“Oh?” Ms. E sat straighter in her chair. “Then what can I do for you?”
Marc pursed his lips and hesitated for a moment before he simply blurted what was on his mind. “I wondered if you’d be willing to coach me on how to handle an interview for a high-level client. Or if you would know someone that I could use.”
She chuckled. “I’ll do it. We gotta keep it in the family. Let’s start with me interviewing you. Very straightforward.”
“Hi, Elizabeth,” Stephanie’s mom said and waved in the background as the image panned.
“Hi, Stephanie’s mom.” She waved cheerfully in response. “Now, let’s start with the entrance. You want to look put-together—no stains, no really old suits, and no crazy ties.”
“Thank you,” Cindy yelled and turned on her husband. “Did you hear that? You can’t wear your tie with the belly dancing Santa on it again.”
He rolled his eyes and his head. “Come on woman, it’s not Christmas time. I have better taste than that!”
Ms. E raised her eyebrow and continued. “So, yes, no flashy ties. Thin stripes are okay, but only if your suit is solid. If your suit is striped—which I don’t recommend—but if it is, go solid on the tie. So, you enter the office and give your potential client a very firm handshake. Carry a briefcase if you have one, even if there is only one piece of paper in it.”
“Are you taking notes?” Cindy nagged from the background.
“Yes, yes. No flashiness, no stripe on stripe crime, and carry my briefcase,” he said. “Should I clean it out?”
“Yes!” both women shouted.
Elizabeth giggled and immediately became businesslike. “Once you’ve shaked hands, you give the normal niceties, and then do not waste his time. Launch into the discussion on the services you offer. You want to have something for him to hold in his hands because his mind will be everywhere and not only on the business he might have with you.”
Witch Of The Federation (Federal Histories Book 2) Page 58