Rookie Privateer (28 page)

"
You okay?" I asked.

"
You're right. He knew all about it. He said to do whatever I had to do to help you guys get off the station. You have seventy-two hours to clear out. "

"
Ouch. That's not enough time to get our engines repaired."

"
It's gonna have to be," Marny said unhappily.

The waiter chose this moment to come back. He wasn't bothered by the fact that we were talking and asked if we were ready to order. Marny ordered lasagna and some sort of wine.

"So what do you want from me?" Marny was wound so tight, she seemed ready to explode.

"
Why do you think the Indian government would allow pirates to converge on one of their stations?" I needed Marny to put it together.

"
Clearly they don't have the assets available. Maybe they're not worried about it. Shoot straight. Do you know something?" She was getting hot and I didn't want to let her keep spinning up.

"
Nothing specific. I know general things. Why would the Indian government allow a group of Chinese pirates to raid their station? Rumor has it the Chinese are controlling the Houzi at some level or at least allowing them to exist and they're keeping the Indian government at bay."

Marny wasn't buying it.
"So you want me to believe the pirates are part of the Chinese government and the Indian government is just allowing all of this to happen?"

"
Work with what we know. The Indian government isn't sending help when a credible threat is headed to this station. The why and how of that seems secondary to me."

That seemed to mollify her and she sat back, deflated. The timing was good because the waiter brought out three steaming plates of an incredible smelling dish.

"Careful," the waiter warned. "It's very hot. Will there be anything else?"

"
No thank you. We need privacy for a while. Could you leave the bill?"

"
Swipe here and thank you." He was miffed.

Nick grabbed the pad and swiped payment.

We ate in silence. It was important that Marny be the next one to talk. She could take as long as she needed to process what she had just learned.

She finally broke the silence,
"Hard to enjoy food with all that."

"
Sorry," I said.

"
No, not your fault, not really." She wasn't as self-assured as she had been. "How do I fit into this?" she asked quietly.

"
Gonna shoot you straight, Marny, put all my cards on the table, no bull. Okay?" She nodded. "Nick and I need you. Come be part of the crew. With you we have a chance. We need someone who understands weapon systems and can handle a prisoner. Xie Mie-su eats us for lunch."

"
Quit my job here?" she asked.

I gave her a few moments to process.
"Be part of something new. Something important. Mars Protectorate needs Mie-su to help break these bastards. That device might have a critical piece of information on it that helps them do that. We can't do this without you."

"
Why me?" she asked.

"
When the chips are down, you do the right thing. I've seen your file, Marny."

"
After this job?"

"
Marny, we're looking for a partner, not an employee. What Nick and I are trying to build is bigger than the two of us. It's bigger than even the three of us. With the right people, there's nothing we can't do, but right now we need your help keeping us alive."

"
Let me think about it. What does partner mean?"

"
I'm not sure. How about 33% of whatever we earn on this run and a free ride to Mars. That should be around fifty thousand. If you want to get off there, then we part as friends. If you choose to stay on, we will give you stock options and a salary that you set."

"
You're crazy." She looked over to Nick. "You on board with this?"

"
Ever since I was seven years old," he replied.

0800 came earlier than I would have liked. Nick, Marny and I had polished off a bottle of wine and I had another headache to remind me of the night. I was starting to wonder if wine was such a good idea.

I checked my queued messages and was excited to see a message from Tabby. She wore a cobalt blue suit liner and was sitting in a small cubicle. The suit must have been new because I had pretty much memorized all of her clothing. Her buzz cut still took some getting used to, but I was dealing with it.

"Hi Liam. Gratz on your first load. I knew you would get out of that place! I just didn't think you'd do it before I even got to school. There is absolutely no privacy aboard this freighter so I grabbed one of the offices. We're almost constantly on hard-burn, either accelerating or decelerating, so I've spent the entire time in 1.5 gravity. It's a workout just walking around. They have a nice gymnasium so I am keeping in really good shape. Wanna see?"

Tabby had a mischievous glint in her eyes and she stood and zipped her suit liner down the center to below her belly button. If she didn't have my full attention before, she certainly had it now. It frustrated me that she was somehow able to keep the suit strategically covering a mystery I wanted to explore. I had to admit that she was in incredible shape, her abs were completely ripped.

"Alright. Enough teasing." She closed her suit back up and sat back down. She smiled, knowingly. "Hate to have you forget about me." Tabby continued to fill me in on life aboard a freighter with no luxury accommodations. It sounded a lot like life on
Sterra's Gift
, but without the pirates.

The next message was from Lieutenant Gregor Belcose,
"Captain Hoffen, I have received approval for an open account on Baru Manush for mission supplies, repairs and personnel. Please make all haste to the Mobile Protectorate Platform Valhalla, coordinates embedded. Happy hunting."

I wondered what the Valhalla Platform might be and my imagination ran wild for a few moments.

"Nick, where are you?"

"
Engine room."

I made my way back,
"I heard from Belcose. Slight change of plans. Have we already paid for everything?"

"
Like what?" he asked.

"
Repairs, armor, upgrades."

"
Oh, almost none of it. I paid for the clothes, carpet cleaning bot, and the replicator for the septic parts."

"
Perfect. I have an account number for everything else. Belcose doesn't want to put a price on anything, but we have an open account to cover repairs, fuel, etc. We need to jump it to the next level with the repairs and improvements we can get done before we get kicked out. Pay premiums and bonuses to get it rolling."

"
I see. Does that change things with Marny?" he asked.

"
I seriously doubt it. You got this?"

"
Yup."

My comm channel chirped and I moved into the galley so I wouldn't annoy Nick.
"Hoffen."

"
Got a present for you. How are you set for cash?" It was Bertrand.

"
Solid. What do you have?"

"
Four Samsung Maelstrom missiles. They want fifty apiece. It's a heck of a deal."

"
You think about our conversation last night?"

"
I'm in."

"
Sweet. What's the best way to get those missiles? Will they deliver?"

"
I'll take care of it. Who gets the bill?"

"
Nick or me. When can you start?"

"
Knock, knock," she replied.

I stuck my head around the corner and looked through the airlock windows. Marny's smiling face was on the other side of the door. I let her in and extended my hand,
"Welcome aboard!"

Nick must have overheard because he came down the narrow hallway of the airlock. He sent instructions to the ship.
Add crew member Marny Bertrand. Add exterior access, bridge access, armory access. Make recommendations on security based on the role of gunnery officer. Accept
. The ship's AI was proposing security access.
Accept. Accept. Accept
.

"
I got gear on the deck. Where should I stow it?" she asked.

"
Probably the forward bunk room, BR-1. BR-2 will be converted into a brig for the trip. Meet me in the bridge when you get squared away."

"
Aye aye," she replied.

A few minutes later, I heard her say,
"Permission to enter the bridge."

"
Enter." When she came in, I said, "Grab a seat."

"
I just came from the station. They aren't budging. We have sixty-two hours before we become persona non-grata. Are we going to be ready?"

"
With your help, yes. Nick will get the ship ready to fly, but I need you to get us ready to transport a prisoner and defend the ship."

"
Wish you hadn't sold me all of that ammo," she said ruefully.

"
Can you buy any of it back?" I asked.

"
How much money do you have?"

"
Mars Protectorate gave us an open account."

"
I can buy it back. Captain Stabos is cheap. If I offer him a 50% bonus he'll load it himself."

"
Do it. Let's see what open account really means. I don't want to die because we ran out of bullets."

"
What else?"

"
A crew is coming over to build the brig. Can you coordinate that? If you stick around, you own security. Coordinate with Nick, though. No sense double ordering things."

"
Do you have a ship insignia or ship colors?"

That took me off guard.
"How's that?"

"
We need armor suits. Might as well get them to match. Who is doing the chandlery?"

"
Figured we would go with meal bars."

"
Probably not," she answered dryly.

"
Can you put it on your to do list?"

"
I'll take care of it."

"
Need coffee," I pled.

A workman appeared at the door of the bridge.
"Mind if we take over in here?"

"
All yours," I said.

Lockdown flight controls. Open contractor access
, Marny instructed.

By the middle of the third day
, most of the work was wrapping up. Marny had outfitted the armory with half a dozen high quality blaster rifles. The missiles had been inspected, repaired if necessary, and installed. Sixty percent of the ammunition we had sold had been re-purchased and loaded back onto their original shelves. New armored vac-suits were stowed in our footlockers.

Nick had overseen the installation of all of the vid screens on the bridge and a fully functioning heads-up display.
The HUD was tied into the ship's AI system and could display tactical and navigational information onto the retina of any person on the bridge.

Nick had also installed a refrigeration unit, the Galley Pro
, a dish sanitizer, and our very own Class 2 Replicator. The replicator was large enough to manufacture moderately complex mechanical items with diameters less than twenty-five centimeters.

I sent a message to Gregor Belcose, letting him know when we would be taking off and asked for any up-to-date information he might have on the converging ships. He had sent a few updates and it looked like at least three of the four ships were close enough to be a problem by the time we took off.

We were exhausted, but I felt pressure to get off of Baru Manush. I wouldn’t feel better until we were underway and out of range of the pirates. Baru’s stationary guns could disable one or two attacking ships quite well. But the Red Houzi had enough ships coming to overwhelm the station's defenses if they made a coordinated effort. Somehow I doubted they would, though. The smarter move would be to spread out just outside Baru’s defense system and wait for us to leave.

"
I think it's time to get our prisoner," I announced to Marny and Nick over lunch. The food from the Galley Pro tasted great.

"
How do you want to do this?" I asked her. Marny had done a great job turning BR-2 into a brig. An armor-glass wall with a narrow door and food-tray slot spanned the room a third of the way in. The larger section of the room had only a single bunk in it. A vent circulated air between the brig and the remainder of BR-2. Marny had explained the advantage of the design. By not using the entire room, we would be able to have someone inside, on guard if necessary, with the hallway door locked. The only point of vulnerability would come during trips to the restroom. Marny had thoughtfully provided a privy, which was nothing more than a bucket, for Xie to use in an emergency.

"
Suit up. We are all going. Once we have the prisoner, she will be cuffed and Nick will have a shock cord on her. Liam will lead, Nick will walk beside her with the cord, and I will follow. Liam and I will be armed with blaster rifles. I wish we had spent a little more time training with them, but our armor suits will help with aiming if it comes to that." We had been through this plan a few times already and I had walked our route earlier that day. Marny didn't think we could be too prepared.

I felt a combination of pride and silliness as we walked through the hallway of the station carrying blaster rifles and wearing armored vac-suits.
Just as I had come to expect, Marny radiated power. Her well defined legs were even more impressive with the extra bulk of the armor. She caught me looking at her and simply winked with a slight grin. I think she was used to getting some attention when she armored up.

Xie Mie-su had been held in a cell a kilometer away from our ship. I had tried to figure out if we could move the ship but Baru Manush Defense wasn't interested in granting any us any new permissions, so we took the walk.

Nick looked like he might have swallowed a goldfish or something. His eyes were opened wide and I thought he was going to hurl. Marny noticed it, too, and moved over to walk beside him.

"
Looking pretty fine there, Mr. James."

"
I'm no good at this," he said.

"
And yet when push came to shove you stood tall. Remember, I reviewed those vids."

"
That was different, it all happened so fast."

"
All you can do is prepare and then react. No amount of worrying is going to make it better. You gotta live in the moment. We're just taking a walk," she counseled.

"
Just taking a walk. Fine." Nick still sounded unsure.

"
Have a little faith. Shit hits the fan and I want you to do two things. Get flat on the ground and lay on that shock cord. It won’t hurt her and if she doesn't move, it won't do anything. You aren't carrying a weapon, so she can't steal anything from you. That also means your job is to stay alive. Repeat those two things: hit the ground, hit the shock cord." Marny sounded like she was teaching school.

"
I can do that," Nick said with a little more conviction.

"
I know you can because you did it on Perth when your buddies needed you."

We walked in silence to the holding cell. When we got there, a man in a crisp new uniform greeted us at the door.

"Captain Stabos, I didn't expect you to see us off," Marny said with guarded humor.

"
Sure you want to do this, Bertrand? Offer still stands. The path you are on ends poorly and you know it." Apparently the Captain wasn't one to mince words.

"
Got to see this through, Cap."

"
Your funeral. You're gonna need to leave those rifles here though. Station policy," he said smugly.

Marny's temper flared,
"Since when?"

"
New orders. Just came down. You must have missed the memo. You can fill out some forms and get them back of course. Majeed, confiscate their weapons."

We handed the rifles to Majeed
, who looked a little cowed by Marny.

"
Won't forget this, Cap," Marny said through clenched teeth.

"
I'm sure of that," he replied.

"
The prisoner?" she asked.

"
Majeed, bring Ms. Mie-su out please," The captain commanded.

Majeed put the rifles behind a counter
, then turned to open a door. Xie, dressed in her black vac-suit, walked unescorted through the door.

"
I'll need to search her for weapons. Hands on the wall." Marny was still fuming.