Colleen had no answer to that, and he gave her a hug before leaving. Adrian Telford met him at the shuttle bay with six security guards – two of them newly installed in that position.
He looked down at the bulge under Clay’s jacket, and nodded in approval. “No idea?”
“Not yet. We’ll ask Mr Singh onto the shuttle, and question him in here. That way, no one will be able to see or hear our discussion.”
Telford frowned. “I’d prefer that, Mr Yrden, but it seems to me that everyone is going out of their way to keep this all a dark secret. Yrdens have never done business that way – inviting the warehouseman into the shuttle – they always go to the warehouse. A change in routine can give away as much or more than the possibility of someone overhearing.”
They took their seats, and Pilot McTavish cast off. “Topside Station in fourteen minutes,” she said over the speaker.
Telford looked up at that. “Fourteen minutes? Isn’t it usually ten?”
“We’re just a little further out than normal.” He shook his head to forestall anything Telford might say about giving things away. “I’m not risking Blue Powder. If anyone intuits that we’re on alert, so be it. I’m using Treverston’s Calypso as a reason for a different position. She’s where we would normally drop anchor.”
Telford pursed his lips, ignoring the anachronism. “We always dock ten minutes out. Everyone knows that. Could be a good thing.”
Clay, expecting a criticism, raised his eyebrows.
“If someone has plans, a four minute – or eight minutes roundtrip – addition will throw their timing off.” Telford looked as pleased as he might – which would take someone intimately familiar with Telford’s expressions to discern.
They passed the rest of the flight in silence.
“Docking in one minute,” McTavish reported.
As usual, McTavish docked with a light-handed touch that made Clay wonder if they had indeed docked. But the green light came on, signifying atmosphere on the other side of the hatch.
“I’ll go first, Mr Yrden,” Telford said.
And how could a mere Captain to argue with Security? He stepped aside.
“Wait a count of ten; give me a chance to look around.” Already he examined the screen, which showed the docking bay looking much as usual.
They opened the hatch, and Telford stepped out with two of his guards. They met the landing bay director, and signed in. Clay stepped out just after the next two guards. He looked around, but could spot nothing suspicious.
“Ah, Captain Yrden, good to see you!” Mr Singh walked quickly towards them, his hand coming out.
Clay took it. “And good to see you, Mr Singh.”
Singh lowered his voice. “I must speak to you in private, Captain Yrden. I have a message from your brother. Truth told, I’ll be glad to pass it on.”
He looked worried under his smile, and Clay wanted to take him directly into the shuttle. He resisted the impulse.
“When and where?”
“Warehouse Office, Captain Yrden. Just go about your normal routine.”
“It’s safe?”
Singh met his eyes. He paused. “So far. We’re short two trolleys. One broke down inexplicably and, suddenly, everyone has need of trolleys, leaving us short. Loading will take longer than expected.”
Clay turned to Telford. “Did you hear that, Mr Telford.”
“I heard. I want to stand with Ship’s Rep when we take on labourers to help move our goods.”
“Excellent.”
Telford knew his way around the underside of most of the stations. And, as the Graysons called Topside Station home, he had a very good grasp of what went on here, having guarded Colleen on her visits to her grandparents.
When they rolled down the passageways towards the Yrden warehouse, even he could tell that the labourers were on edge. They brought four of the guards with them, and Singh had supplied another two.
“Gangs haven’t presented much trouble, Mr Yrden,” Mr Singh said. “But we’ve heard odd rumblings that have us all on the alert.”
And he would say nothing more on the trip. Clay recalled all too well the attack on the trolleys at Liberty Station just after he had married Colleen. Telford had been instrumental in breaking it up with no losses for them. Now, as he watched the man walking beside the lead trolley, he could see what Colleen had seen in him: a very dangerous man.
Of course, he grinned to himself, watching him and Colleen sparring – with dummy blades – had shown him just what Telford could do. But here, now, he fully recognized the man for what he was. And, he had to admit, he felt the safer for it.
They reached the warehouse with no hint of anything untoward.
“I’ll talk a little with the labourers while you talk with Mr Singh,” Telford told him upon closing the doors.
And Telford, no stranger to the transporting of goods, lent a hand in unpacking. He chatted with one, then another.
Clay watched a couple of minutes, while Singh sorted out what went where. Then Singh pointed to the office with his chin. Clay followed him in.
“What’s the message?”
“I don’t really know.”
“What?”
“He gave me a datastick to be given to you – whatever captain arrived to take his freight and passengers on to Manila – when you got here. I’m to pass it on to each Yrden captain in turn. But you’re the first, and I’m happy that I’m no longer the sole possessor of it.”
He opened the safe and brought out the datastick, which he plugged into a reader.
“I’ll wait outside, Captain. I don’t know if I should see what’s on it or not. You can make that decision after viewing it.”
Clay nodded. He waited until the door closed, turned on Privacy, and only when it reported active did he then turn on the reader.
* * *
Brian had left both written and vid messages. Both under the Yrden Captain’s Code. He entered the passcode, and went to the vid first.
“Hello. You’re receiving this because we’re under attack.”
Well, that start ensured the attention of his audience. Clay pressed his lips together.
“By whom, I don’t know, and they have been very subtle about it. Nothing actually appears wrong, but I have a feeling that it’s a coordinated assault by several of the other Families. Like I said, a lot of little things: minor delays in the delivery of goods traded for, damaged containers – still nominally within specs, but likely to fail when exposed to vacuum. Some of this comes from Families close to us, but through others who might have used the opportunity to make us suspect the wrong people.”
Clay bristled. He felt anger growing inside him, and carefully tamped it down. But an attack on Family? Someone would pay. Jenna would see to that.
“Now for the worst. My chief engineer came to me after we left dock at Italia. Someone sabotaged my ship – or at least that’s what he tells me. We found damage,” he smiled without humour, “that could possibly be normal wear-and-tear – but isn’t – to the field generators. Yes, both on-line and back-up. The chief caught them in an inspection, and made repairs, which he swears will last as long as we need them to. But I’m wondering what else they might have done. Chief’s checking everything as fast as he can.”
Clay felt his stomach clench.
“Fifteen passengers left us at Italia. I’m leaving their files with you, along with those of every other passenger we’ve had on Starfield since the previous inspection showed no fault with the field generators. Also, you’ll find included the files of the two other-hires who left us in the past year – and the files of everyone who has departed the ship for duties on stations or other ships, or to go on holidays.” He looked grim.
“I’m taking Starfield in to Haida Gwaii because I can’t be sure that I’ve found everything. We’re due for a refit, and that’s a good enough excuse to give the ship a good going-over.
“You’ll find the records of everything in the text files. Pass
them on to any of our ships you meet, and to every one of our offices – for Captain’s Eyes. If someone makes it back to Haida Gwaii before we do, then get this file to Jenna and Tamm. I decided that I couldn’t take the chance that our messenger wouldn’t access this file and pass it to someone we don’t want to know about it. I also have to wait until my Engineer certifies my Scout-1 before using it.
“The way I figure it, if they don’t know that we know, we’ll have a better chance of catching them in the act. If they – whoever they are – are forewarned, it will make it all the more difficult.”
His eyes bored into Clay’s – or at least that’s how Clay felt.
“I don’t just want to stop this, I want whomever’s responsible to pay. I’ve passing the word of the damaged crates, etc. to the warehouse people, but word of the sabotage stays in the Family. This file remains under Captain’s Eyes. Good luck. Take all precautions; stay safe.”
Hands trembling with anger, Clay opened the text files and perused them. The field generators? If they failed during jump or drop – unlikely, but possible – they could cause the loss of the ship entire. Had the perpetrators intended that, or merely wanted the ship put out of commission for a time – travelling back to Haida Gwaii for repairs when an inspection or automatic alarms showed the faults?
He composed himself, opened the door, and called Singh back in.
The man looked worried. Clay didn’t blame him – he felt the same – but didn’t allow it to show.
“What is it, Mr Yrden?”
“My brother told you about the problems with cargo?”
“Yes, sir. I, myself, brought some of it to his attention, but he told me that the problem is more widespread. Is that what he left for you?”
Clay smiled, feeling nothing like smiling. “Pretty much. We don’t absolutely know that it’s deliberate, but I’m sure you’ll be on guard now.”
“Always, sir.”
Clay nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. Brian also wants all traders on all our ships to be aware, so they can check things coming up on their own shuttles, cargo not passing through the warehouse where you can catch it.”
Singh looked relieved, and Clay wondered if Brian did right by not telling him more. He’d discuss it with Minda and Colleen, and see what they had to say. At least Brian had not reported any direct attacks on their crews; they could relax there, a bit. Maybe. He’d get Pelburn’s and Telford’s opinion on that.
“Well, then, Mr Singh, I’ll leave you to it. I’m going back to the ship, but will return either later today or tomorrow with the family. I’m sure they’ll all be happy to see you.” Then he put on a fierce face. “But no allowing Brian and David to pack cargo.”
Singh laughed. “Those little scamps! They got into it before anyone could stop them.” He smiled in reminiscence. “Haven’t done it again, though.”
Singh accompanied him out.
“Mr Telford. We’re going back to the ship with the first load.”
Telford raised his eyebrows just a fraction, but Clay gave him the sign for ‘later’, and he merely nodded. They accompanied the trolleys back to the loading dock, and watched as the cargo got checked yet again before being put on board.
They strapped in, and McTavish took them back to Blue Powder.
“Another meeting as soon as we get back, Mr Telford.”
“That bad?”
“I don’t feel ready to talk about it, yet. But I’ll want you there for part of it.”
“Very good, Mr Yrden.”
And Telford left him alone for the rest of the trip back.
CHAPTER 6
Blue Powder
Yvonne Yrden, Chief Engineer on Blue Powder for two decades, looked appalled. “The field generators? That’s beyond criminal.”
The meeting consisted of Family heads of departments and Mr Telford – at Colleen’s insistence – though he’d already told the man about the situation. Non-Family heads had already received the lesser briefing, and Clay had dismissed them.
Yvonne lifted her gaze from the reader after studying the pictures. “No Yrden ship has ever let those couplings deteriorate to that extent,” she declared. “At least we know Blue Powder has no such problems.”
“Do we?” Minda asked. “Who worked on her?”
Yvonne bristled. “I spent every day overseeing everything.”
Minda held up her hand. “Yes, and we all trust you with our lives, and sleep easily for that. But you couldn’t be everywhere at once. And if the refitters had one technician subverted, he – or she – could have done something to a system that you’d already checked and certified.”
“I want all preventive maintenance inspections brought up to date, regardless of when they are due,” Clay said. “Start with the most important systems, and work your way down.”
Yvonne nodded. “I’ll begin immediately.”
“And that will go for every system on the ship, not just engineering,” Clay said.
Colleen could barely believe that spacers would do this to other spacers. They lived in danger their whole lives. Space did not forgive errors. Brawl with them in bars on stations or on planets, yes. Perhaps even go so far as to let that enmity go the distance and lie or cheat. But to sabotage a ship? And if they did that to Starfield, what other ships might they have done it to – ships that might not have discovered the perfidy?
“We can’t leave Jenna in the dark until Brian gets there,” she said. “And it’s Jenna’s place to decide which of the other Families to inform. We have close relations with several – and they might get targeted, too.”
Clay shook his head. “We already have orders to take Brian’s cargo and passengers to Manila. We can’t go back to Haida Gwaii and leave the...” his voice trailed off.
“Exactly,” Colleen said. “Scout-1.”
The little scoutship had hyperspace capabilities and could get back to Haida Gwaii.
“Yvonne, change in priorities. Check out Scout-1 first. You have twelve hours.”
Yvonne rose. “I’ll get started now. You can call me if anything else comes up that I need to know.”
Minda stopped her. “Good. Get on it, but blame Clay for it; tell your people he’s still doing drills.”
Colleen raised a hand, palm up, a quizzical expression on her face.
“There’s more than one way to hit a Family,” Minda explained. “One way, as we’ve seen, causes disruption to trade. All those little niggly things point to an FTL conspiracy against us. Annoying and costly in the long run, but not dangerous.”
She paused.
“However, damaging his ship and forcing Brian to dump his cargo and passengers for others to pick up raises the ante. This will cost us real money, as I’m sure you all can see.”
Heads nodded. Minda looked to each of them in turn before continuing. “But, what if it got out that Brian pulled his ship from duty because lax Yrden maintenance allowed his field generators to go down?”
A shiver went down Colleen’s back as Minda continued.
“No one would fly with us. They’d wonder if we took such poor care of all of our ships. And people would stop shipping goods with us, too, not knowing when they would arrive at their destination – wondering if they would arrive at all.”
Colleen’s hands balled into fists as she listened. She slowly relaxed them.
“But Brian’s ship didn’t have a field generator failure, thanks to his engineering team. And he’s continuing his route until he can slowly dump everything. Tradeships aren’t liners, and often make detours if a possibility of profit arises. Everyone knows that. So, he’s taking a chance – a calculated risk – but protecting the Family name.”
Clay nodded slowly, agreeing. “And that’s why he’s sent a ‘Captain’s Eyes’ alert out. This way, only those who need to know will know. Otherwise, rumours would start flying. If we pick up his cargo and passengers for Manila, they’ll all believe that he found an irresistible trade, and that Yrden Lines is covering for
him, putting his passengers to the least amount of inconvenience possible while still taking advantage of the opportunity.”
Colleen turned to Yvonne. “Minda’s right. Put it on Clay. He has broad shoulders, and I’ll explain – as First Mate – that Clay will relax once he gets some time as Captain under his belt. People will grumble, but they will understand.”
“I’ll do that,” Yvonne said, and promptly turned and left.
“Now,” Clay said, returning to the problem. “Who do we send back on Scout-1?”
“Sean Williams and Doreen McTavish,” Telford suggested.
“They’re not Family,” Minda objected.
“Neither am I, and I’m here.” He ignored looks that might have hinted that he shouldn’t be. “Who are our best pilots?”
“Sean’s best,” Clay admitted. “Doreen’s very good, but we have Family that are just as good or better.”
Telford steepled his fingers. “Think it through. Everyone on Haida Gwaii will know that we’ve sent back our scoutship. That means we’re delivering something important to Family Head. And everyone will wonder what it is. You send two Family pilots, and they’ll rightly suspect it has something to do with Family, not trade. Send two ‘otherhires’, and everyone will think it has something to do with trade. Important information, yes; Family-related secrets, no. Next, Doreen and Sean are a couple. Everyone knows that, both on and off our ship. No one would bat an eye at her accompanying Pilot Williams. Yrden Lines are famous for keeping couples together.
“So,” Telford continued, “did we send our best pilot or did we send the next one on the roster with his – or her – partner for back-up as a bonus? With no Family as passenger, no one will suspect urgent Family business.”
He received nods from those present.
“Finally,” he concluded, “I’m sure you’ll agree that both Sean and Doreen are utterly trustworthy; they can’t be bought.”
Colleen felt vindicated. Clay had lightly opposed bringing Telford in for the whole meeting, but had insisted, and her bodyguard made perfect sense.
One Trade Too Many Page 4