A Brother's Debt (5 page)

“How much is the debt?” Step asked, concerned to hear that his brother’s debt to Carboni was a lot more than his debt to the station, which he had thought was bad enough.

“One hundred and forty eight thousand, five hundred credits.”

It was several long moments before Step regained the ability to speak. “How the hell did Andrei get himself almost a hundred and fifty thousand credits in debt?!” He demanded to know. “I can just about understand how he got himself so much in debt to the station, but I can’t imagine how he could possibly have owed so much money to someone like you.”

“Debts have a habit of mounting up, especially when they aren’t repaid quickly. Your brother was a bad gambler, and a bad business man. I loaned him the money to buy his ship when he first came to the station, and at first he made his repayments without any problems. It wasn’t long however before his drinking and gambling became a problem and the debt started to climb.

“I was perhaps more lenient with your brother than I would have been with someone else, but he did me a favour when he first came here.

“In the end I offered your brother an opportunity to repay the debt and he took my money and tried to cheat me. That was just a couple of weeks before he died.”

“Leaving me with a large debt to the station, and an even larger one to you.”

“Correct. I had no interest in the debt your brother owed to the station while he was alive, though no doubt it would have become a problem eventually. Now, however, I am forced to give consideration to that debt because it is in the way of you repaying what is owed me.

“I have decided to buy your debt from the station and add it to what is already owed me.”

“I can’t afford to pay the station, how do you expect me to pay you what my brother owed you plus what he owed the station? Or do you plan on selling me to the Kargan mines yourself to get the money back?”

“It is unlikely the Kargans would pay me one hundred and eighty thousand credits, even for someone in as good condition as yourself. You would never live long enough to work off that kind of debt, and they always want the best value they can get. I would probably be lucky to get fifty thousand for you, that’s the most I’ve ever heard of them paying for a single person.” All Step could do was sit there and listen as Carboni calmly spoke of selling him into slavery, it was made all the worse by the knowledge that he had come to the one sector of space where it was legal for him to do so. “The We’Oxcas on the other hand, they might pay enough to make it worth selling you to them, probably not the full amount, but they’ll certainly pay a lot more than the Kargans, maybe even as much as seventy five percent of the debt.

“You’ve not heard of the We’Oxcas? I suppose that isn’t such a surprise, given you aren’t from this sector,” Carboni remarked. “It doesn’t really matter that you don’t know who they are, or what they do with the people they buy. All you need to know is that thanks to the debt you owe I own you, and if I choose to I can sell you. I have no wish to do that however.”

“Then what are you going to do with me?”

“Make use of you. It’s your choice of course. I offered your brother a chance to work off his debt, and I’m now offering you the same chance. Andrei took the deal and then turned around and disrespected me, which unfortunately led to his death; I trust you will not be so foolish.”

What Carboni had said didn’t immediately sink in, and when it did. “You had my brother killed!” Step surged to his feet. He immediately regretted the hasty move, not just because his drink sloshed over the side of his glass, soaking his hand; his damaged ribs made a painful protest.

“No, Mr Velkin, I had your brother punished, just as I would have had anyone else who disrespected me, and tried to cheat in my casino, punished. My men were as overzealous with your brother as they were with you however. It’s a shame, but your brother did bring it on himself.

“Now, I am not an unreasonable man, so I am going to give you tonight to consider my offer. You can either agree to work for me and pay off the debt, or I can sell you to the We’Oxcas and clear the debt that way. Let me know tomorrow.

“Crezia,” Carboni raised his voice so it reached his daughter in the kitchen, “show Mr Velkin out, and give him a coms card so he can contact me when he’s made up his mind.”

Chapter Eight

When he was returned to the station’s main concourse, and left there by Crezia Carboni, Step was reminded of how long it had been since he last ate, and that he had missed his previous chance to eat thanks to Carboni’s thugs. The aroma of food assaulted him from all directions, touching off a noisy protest from his stomach.

Without a clue what sort of place it was, or what it had on the menu, Step entered the nearest place that served food. He found a seat at a table and ordered the first meal on the menu screen, without even looking to see what it was.

He was still hungry when he finished his mystery meal, but no longer starving, so when a careful examination of the menu revealed he couldn’t get food to take away there he paid his bill and went in search of somewhere he could. It didn’t take him long to find a suitable place and he joined the queue of people waiting to be served.

The servers were efficient and it wasn’t long before he had enough food to ensure his stomach would be full until morning, at the earliest, and he was on the move again.

Step ate his second meal while at a public terminal, which he used to access both the local, and the galactic net. The cost of surfing the local net was reasonable, but access to the galactic net came at a cost he would have baulked at, if he hadn’t been in desperate need of the information he was looking for.

After about an hour and a half of searching, which was interrupted only by a quick departure from the terminal to discard his rubbish, Step had what information he could find. There was plenty of information on the We’Oxcas, on both nets, and what he read of the genetic experimenters and organ harvesters made it clear he didn’t want to be sold to them. Even if he were able to escape from them he would almost certainly be missing organs, or suffering from the results of whatever genetic manipulation or medical testing they chose to do on him.

Since the We’Oxcas were out as an option he had just two choices open to him. He could take the deal Carboni had offered him and work off the debt, or he could take the deal and run back to the Mulnoy navy the first chance he got. Both options had their downside; he just wasn’t sure which downside was the worst.

His search of the net had confirmed his suspicion that Ettore Carboni was a criminal. He ran an organisation that had links throughout the frontier sector, and had connections with similar organisations in systems belonging to all three factions.

Working for Carboni would mean he was working for a criminal, and make him little better than his brother had become. He had tried very hard to avoid becoming like Andrei, after watching what had happened to his brother, and the trouble he had made for himself. The alternative, however, would have him looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life, wondering when one of Carboni’s associates would appear.

He would only be safe on board a Mulnoy battle-cruiser or on patrol either in a fighter or scout ship, the moment he made port he would have to worry about Carboni finding him and sending men after him.

To add to the complications of his choice between working for a criminal, and spending the rest of his life hiding from gangsters, was his dislike of owing a debt. The debt to Carboni might have been his brother’s originally, but whether he liked it or not it was now legally his, and he was not the sort of person to try and get out of repaying what he owed.

His mind buzzing, Step left the terminal and made his way to The Razor’s Edge. He wasn’t sure drinking was all that great an idea, he had had plenty earlier, but he needed something to take his mind off the multitude of problems he had inherited.

Chapter Nine

For a short while after his eyes popped open Step couldn’t remember why he felt so rotten. He had a fairly large hangover, and knew he had drunk more than was good for him the previous night, before stumbling to the nearest hostel and booking in, he was sure it wasn’t the alcohol that was the cause of him feeling so bad however. At least he was sure it wasn’t just the alcohol.

It wasn’t until he threw back the covers and got to his feet to relieve himself, which prompted a brief stab of pain, that he recalled what the problem was. His bladder was a more pressing concern than the troubles his brother had left him in however, at least at that moment, and he stumbled to the facilities to take care of himself.

When he discovered the hostel he had selected was too basic to include a medical dispenser in the bathroom he had a quick shower, dressed, and left in search of something to cure his hangover, and take care of the lingering pain from his ribs and other assorted injuries.

Step was fishing in his pocket for the money to pay for his hangover cure, thankful the necessary pills were no more expensive on Hanratty than they were anywhere else he had been, when he found the strip of plasfilm Ri Charid had given him. The discovery reminded him of the service for his brother that was due to be held that morning, and he hurriedly checked the time on his chronometer.

He was relieved to see that, depending on how far away was the place where the service was to be held, he had time to get there.

Paying for the pills he downed them before leaving the store and hurried to the nearest information board. He slid the plasfilm and guide card into the receiver at the side of the board and collected the card when it popped back out, programmed to lead him to his destination.

Once the short service was complete, and he had seen his brother properly taken care of, Step returned to the main concourse. He got himself a coffee, heavily laced with sweetener, which he finished off quickly, and then carried a second cup down to the public gardens on the level below.

He was surprised to discover the gardens were better maintained than many he had seen on planets, let alone stations with more respectable reputations. The gardens were so nice he wandered amongst them for over an hour before he noticed how much time had passed, his mind meandering as much as his feet.

He had made up his mind as to what he was going to do by the time he finished his second coffee, he had just been putting off doing it for as long as possible he realised.

With a sigh Step turned and made his way back through the gardens to sell himself into slavery, he could think of no other way to describe what he was about to do.

His bleak mood was lightened a little as he got into the elevator to ascend back to the main concourse. One of the birds that enjoyed the freedom of the public gardens, he had no idea what species it was, flew into the elevator right behind him. The doors closed before it could exit and it panicked, flying frantically round and round until it tired and settled onto the only perch available, Step’s shoulder.

Step kept still, to avoid disturbing the bird, as the elevator ascended and hurriedly ordered the doors to stay closed when he reached the concourse level. He didn’t want his fellow passenger to fly off into an unsafe area and get injured. He then directed the elevator to return to the gardens level, and once there he stepped out.

He stood just outside the elevator, waiting for the bird on his shoulder to realise it was free and fly off; that took a short while.

After he had watched the bird disappear amongst the trees Step re-ascended to the main concourse and located the nearest terminal. He then dug out the coms card Crezia Carboni had given him.

He hadn’t expected the coms card to put him through to Ettore Carboni, so he wasn’t surprised when the call was finally answered and he saw Crezia’s face on the screen.

“Mr Velkin,” Carboni’s daughter greeted Step neutrally. “I take it you have come to a decision.”

“Yes.” Step nodded. “When can I see Mr Carboni?”

“Right now, he’s at his casino, Temptations Galore. I’ll have someone waiting for you when you arrive.” With that Crezia cut the connection, having remained on the line for less than half a minute.

Chapter Ten

Step had just finished the Balito he’d been tempted into buying from a vendor when he reached his destination, fully aware of the irony of giving in to temptation while on his way to a place called Temptations Galore. The exterior of the casino was colourful, but no more so than that of the other casinos and clubs on the parade, with constantly changing displays announcing what was available inside.

For a couple of minutes Step stood outside the casino, watching the displays. He was a little disappointed to see that the temptations advertised were no more exotic than that available on other stations and planets he had visited; they were just offered more openly than he was used to.

He forgot about the displays when he realised he wasn’t going to see advertisements for any of the bizarre, exotic, or disturbing, pleasures he had heard were available in the frontier sector, and made his way inside. The lobby was a riot of sound and colour, with further advertisements of what was on offer in the casino, including prices, times and availability, and directions to where in the building each temptation could be enjoyed.