Jet Black - Gold #13

by John Stevenson

k - Gold #13

  By John Stevenson

  Copyright 2013 John Stevenson

  Rosie lay back in the spa. It was decadent to have so much water all to herself, though in truth it wasn’t just her water, it had been others before, and many more would bathe in what was to be their own water too. But the shortcomings of total recycling didn’t make the perfumed bath any the less enjoyable.

  She tried not to feel guilty while she luxuriated; she knew Chub was in good hands. Indigo had an emergency team waiting as they arrived at the space station, and Chub had been raced to an operating room. She had waited for hours with Jet to make sure he was okay.

  It turned out that his injury had looked more serious than it was, and though the surgeon did his best he said there would always be a scar due to the tearing. That wouldn’t bother Chub; scars were badges of experience.

  The leg had been a compound fracture; made worse by Chub who by his own actions had forced pieces of bone through the soft tissue. It was the possibility of infection and that he had lost more blood than he could afford to, that had concerned the medics.

  And as for Jet, he had taken their last delivery in a spaceship borrowed from Indigo while the Silver Flyer got a little attention to its bodywork.

  All in all their delivery had turned from disaster to an adventure, and she wondered if it had anything to do with the emperors curse: though in their case it seemed to be the emperors blessing. Chub couldn’t remember what he had done; but whatever he had, if it hadn’t been for the explosion things could have turned out far differently. Amnesia was apparently something that sometimes happened.

  Rosie reached for the champagne flute and took another sip; She’d have to get out soon. She smiled thinking of the new frock hanging in the hotel bedroom: waiting until after her hair appointment, when she would wear it for dinner at the restaurant. She was looking forward to the meal; apparently The Pelican did an exceptional spread.

  The restaurant was everything she expected. She was showed to a table and treated as if she was the only diner there; which of course she wasn’t; in fact it had been difficult getting a table until Jet had pulled the Indigo card, after that nothing was too much trouble. She was browsing the wine list and mischievously wondering if she could order a shandy, when a waiter came to her side.

  “Madam…” he began.

  “I’m not quite ready,” she replied.

  “Madam; Mr. Indigo has requested you join him at his table?”

  It was the last thing she had expected. “Indigo?”

  “Yes, madam; he and his companions are in alcove one. If you wish I could show you the way?”

  “Oh… Well yes… Thank you.”

  The man pulled her chair back and waited while she gathered her things. Several of the other guests were looking at her and she felt quite special being escorted into one of the curtained off dining areas.

  Her feeling of being special evaporated as she saw Indigo was there with two other men. One she didn’t know the other was Benedict. She stopped in her tracks and stared at him. “I’m sorry Indigo I’m afraid I will have to decline your…”

  “Please Rosanna,” said Benedict appealingly. “Please don’t go we would very much like you to join us.”

  “I’m waiting for somebody…” The words sounded so childish as she uttered them.

  “If you must, then it is our loss; but if you would like to reconsider?”

  Rosie stared at him and knew that she could walk away, but that would mean he had won. “Why not?”

  The stranger was on his feet in a moment pulling out a chair between him and Indigo.

  Benedict waited until she sat down. “This is James Cooper; James works for the company and of course you know our mutual friend Indigo.”

  Rosie nodded to each in turn.

  “I hear you have had a little misfortune?”

  She was sure Benedict was holding back a smile. “Sometimes things don’t go to plan.”

  “No; how is you friend Mr. Hubli; I hear he was seriously wounded?”

  “Not as bad as it could have been.”

  “But he is still in the medical center?”

  “Only to make sure there is no infection.”

  “Then that’s good news.”

  She was fascinated at how he could show real concern when she was sure he wanted the reverse; still that was why he was so successful. He could charm as well as kill.

  “And Jet he is well?” the question was delivered without animosity.

  “Very; you know Jet, he’s indestructible.” she couldn’t help laying it on.

  “But the poor old Silver Flyer; I hear it was badly damaged?”

  “Not at all,” she said cheerily. “Just a few scratches to the paintwork.”

  “So sad; I was very fond of it; please in future do try to take more care with it?”

  Rosie wanted to punch his smug face, “Well its been… interesting; but I must meet my friend.” She went to stand.

  “Please stay.” Benedict smiled. “I have a proposition you may be interested in.”

  “Excuse me for saying so, but somehow I doubt that?”

  Benedict shrugged. “I know we have had our … differences in the past or perhaps misunderstandings…”

  “Misunderstandings?” She said sharply to stop him. “I think the message was quite clear.”

  Benedicts voice took on an apologetic one “I think we can all attest that things have been said: things done that may have been in the spur of the moment, and regretted later. I am not above making those mistakes. And you have to admit that much of this bad feeling came about after your friends… acquired the starship; it was after all was my favorite; and still is.”

  Rosie wanted to remind him that for a favorite thing he had tried very hard to destroy it, with her inside: but she was intrigued; he wanted something and she needed to know what. “I’m sure we would all feel a lot better if bygones could be forgotten.”

  “Then Rosanna, please sit down, and let us start to turn the past into history.”

  The research station Beta-TelaIV was on a small planet on the very edge of a forbidden zone. It was larger than Jet had expected, then again as the name suggested he had also expected it to be a pure research facility.

  It once had been; created solely to observer its sun; a red giant in its swollen old age, that would one day in the unknown future collapse in a massive supernova. When that happened Beta-Tela would vaporize as the shockwave swept out. Anyone whose misfortune it was to still be there would be spared the devastation that would bathe planets even light years away. Intense radiation could erase all life from any within its zone of destruction. For obvious reasons the authorities wanted as much time to prepare as they could get, and the research facility monitored what was happening, and acted as that point of early warning. This had been and remained Beta-TelaIV primary reason for existence.

  But nothing is ever what it seems and while its population began as a few dedicated scientists it had over time accepted their families. With families came requirements. The medical facility expanded as station staff grew older or children were born; educational facilities were needed for those offspring. More tradesmen were needed to create and maintain the wider facilities; supply agents came to service their needs. Each and every new change created need for more and the station grew. At some time it became a destination and people who had no interest in the original purpose arrived to swell the population; but all the while the research continued.

  Even though one day it would be wiped out of existence Beta-Tela now supported a city and a sizable community. It was to this place that Jet was delivering his cargo. This was a replacement load; his original one was abandoned when they escaped from ki
ng Bazil's watchmen.

  Thankfully the chemical was cheap and abundant but there was nowhere on Beta-Tela where it was made and it was an essential part of the mixture required for the three dimensional machinery that produced almost all that the inhabitants used from toothbrushes to engines.

  Jet landed the ancient spaceship onto the apron. It was surprisingly maneuverable and Jet had: halfway through the journey, decided that instead of dumping junk on him, Indigo had given him a serviceable replacement for the Silver Flyer.

  ‘You can have the Tanatalia in exchange for a seventeen and a half percent cut.’ Indigo had said.

  ‘It’s a heap of crap.’ Was Jets reply.

  “Come on Jet’ Indigo replied in feigned hurt, “Its not that bad; sure its seen some action. It’s an ex-military surplus that I bought for spares; but wouldn’t you know it, it has hardly anything of use to me.’

  Jet knew that Indigo knew he had no other option. “Ten percent?”

  ‘Tell you what make it twenty percent and you‘ve bought yourself a spare spacecraft.’ Indigo held