Back From the Dead (26 page)

Bipasha
: It’s a newer craft, must cost at least a hundred mil new, eighty for current resale.

Kat
: Twenty. Split between Lag’s command as the sponsoring agent and the ship’s corporation, which is traditionally split up on a percentage basis–

Bipasha practically explodes.

Bipasha
: Twenty! Is that all?

Kat examines her for a moment, then turns back to Helton.

Kat
: Yes. Do you know anyone else who is ready to assume all risks and contingent legal liabilities of hacking government encrypted computers and sterilizing them, can certify that this was all legal so you don’t hang for piracy, deals in ships, and has the cash to buy in the next seventy-two hours?

Helton
: Well, no. But twenty?

Kat
: It has to be low enough that no one back home wants to object and push back.

Bipasha
: So, what sort of a split, exactly?

Kat
: Half for Lag and his company. Half to be split among the ship’s company. Normally, about half of that would go to the ship for operational costs, the remaining quarter–

Bipasha
: Five mil.

Kat
: –would be split among the crew.

Helton
: So, hypothetically, how is that normally split among the captain and crew?

Kat
: Half to the captain and–

Bipasha
: HALF!

Helton
: Wow.

Kat
: But considering the fact that Lag has extended a substantial amount of credit to you under the table to get this old beast flying…

Bipasha puts on her game face.

Bipasha
: Would that come out of his half or our half? Or Helton’s half of our half?

Kat
: That would be at his discretion. I think. Because there is no formal prior agreement, you either come to one now, unanimously, or it goes to binding arbitration, which could be … problematic. I advise you get a formal agreement soon for any future actions, too.

Allonia
: Would the injured soldiers and recruits be considered crew?

Helton
: Huh? What?

Allonia
: We did arm them to repel boarders, and Plumon and Horkle are flying the ship back as prize crew.

Everyone looks at her with surprise and consternation.

Bipasha
: And would the recruits' share come from Lag’s company portion, or the ship’s company portion, or…?

Helton
: Oh good Lord.

Bipasha
: It’s going to be all but impossible to get a unanimous–

Kat
: I suggest you come to an agreement now, here and quickly, present it to everyone as a done deal, ask for any major objections, then declare it unanimous.

Helton
: Ooookay, then…

Still in the Officers’ Mess. Cooper and Kwon have joined the others.

Kat
: Any further objections?

Cooper
: I still think–

Kat
(sharply)
: That haven’t been covered already? No? Okay, then. All we need is five seconds of silence after we ask for objections and it’s official.

Bipasha
: So much money, so many ways.

Kwon
: It puts me ahead of where I was yesterday, and it keeps us flying. We need that much for the ship.

Helton
: Enough excitement and decisions for one day?

Bipasha
: I don’t know if you are the luckiest man in the universe, or the unluckiest.

Kwon
: Yes. Yes he is.

AMMO RUN

Short Supply

The parking lot outside Cobb’s is full, the bright sun casting hard shadows around the square buildings and smoothly rounded vehicles. Kaminski, Helton, Sar, and Kwon pull up in a light truck, park, and hop out. Kaminski and Helton carry small range bags and wear holsters with pistols, as does Kwon. They head inside.

It’s much busier than before. Ammo stacks are significantly smaller, and the listed “specials” prices are higher. They reach the counter just as Vera tells a pair of customers, “Sorry we can’t help you out. Nothing more in that caliber, I’m afraid. Don’t know when more will show up.” The man and woman at the counter frown in disappointment and turn to leave. Vera waves to Kaminski. “Howdy, again! Hope you brought your own gun food.”

“What’s up?”

“Been crazy the last few days. Rumors sparked a buying frenzy. We were already getting low, but now?” She waves her hand around the shop and shakes her head. “Nearly out of ammo. Nobody wants to ship it. Afraid of being considered a military target and being hit by cops, Customs, Navy, or pirates. Rumors say even some Customs ships are getting vaporized. Everyone wants to stock up, no one wants to sell.”

“Uh, yeah, we heard some pretty wild rumors about that, too,” Kaminski says. “Don’t believe half of what you hear, though. You know how it is. See something odd on a screen, pretty soon it’s Planet Movers or pirates or something. If a ship really did disappear, probably just the Customs agents stole it to sell and retire on. Can’t you buy any ammo off-world?”

“Got a big order awaiting shipment on Emirate II, Geminorum. The boss found a shitload of mixed-lot mil-surp. Can’t find a shipper, though. So, what can I do for you?”

Kwon and Helton glance at each other. “How big a shitload? What kind?”

“Dunno. He said it was too good a deal to pass up, but sounded like he was stretched thin to finance it. I can check. Why?”

“Helton here owns the
Dutchman
on pad D9,” Kaminski answers. “He’s looking for cargo.”

“Can you check what it is and what he’d pay to get it shipped here?” Helton asks.

“Sure thing. Hang out a few.” She trots off down the counter and disappears through a door.

“That would be good. Ammo is dense and high value. Wouldn’t take a lot of cubes.”

Kaminski nods. “And I’m sure Lag would like to get first crack at buying a supply, too. He said things are tight right now for ammo he’s looking for and that we should keep our ears open.”

“Everyone looks like they’re stocking up for the shit hitting the fan,” Sar says, indicating a man walking by with a hand truck stacked with ammo and emergency food.

“Bigtime. We should lay in more e-rats as soon as we can, I’m thinking,” Kwon agrees.

Vera returns with an amazed expression on her face. “He says it’s about two hundred million rounds. Everything from small-caliber training ammo to 120mm canister rounds. About four thousand tons.” Kaminski whistles. Sar and Kwon raise their eyebrows in surprise. Helton says, “Whoa.”

“
That’s
a Burt-load, alright, even by my standards,” Kaminski says.

“We might just be in business!” Helton says. “Kwon, Sar, see about getting supplies for a trip to Emirate II in the Geminorum system. Talk to Cooper about times. Kaminski, detail what Lag needs. Vera, would you be so kind as to introduce me to your boss?

Stenson is working on a console in Engineering when Helton walks in. “You said it was ready for FTL for real?”

“Think so. Got three cores hooked up and passing tests with the Harmon drives, two with the Sokolovs. Should be solid, but I’d rather not test it with a shipload of injured soldiers on a long trip. And definitely don’t want to test them simultaneously until I get a better understanding of what they were trying to do on the multi-core thing.”

“How about four thousand tons of ammo from Emirate II?”

“Pretty massive load. Should be okay if subspace is quiet. The quickie trans-light test after Transfer Station Two looked pretty good, if not rock-solid. How soon?”

“As soon as we can get loaded up and you say we are ready.”

“A few loose ends to tie up. Call it two days, maybe less. There are a few parts we need made with very tight spec tolerances. Geminorum has some good custom shops. If we can beam plans ahead on a message drone we might even be able to pick them up when we get there. How much can you afford?”

“We can look at the details and figure out the priorities tonight at dinner.”

“Sounds good,” Stenson says. “Harbin and the kids coming with us?”

“He’s been pushing them pretty hard.” Helton answers. “The first phase is over, and a bunch of them got farmed out to other units or cut. There’s only a handful left, not enough to start phase two with until we get some others. He said some R&R on Geminorum would be good for them, if he can work ‘em there and back. Lag has some business there, too.”

“I think Alvarez has family on New Texas as well. Might be able to work in a quick transfer-point stop for him, maybe?”

“We’ll see. Depends on supplies and subspace conditions. Let me know if you need anything else.”

A stakeholders’ meeting in the Officers’ Mess. Helton, Bipasha, Cooper, Harbin, Lag, Kwon, and Sar sit around the table. Quinn’s playing with toy dinosaurs on, around, and under the table.

Cooper
: The latest reports show a swirl going by New Texas. Shouldn’t add more than a couple hours to stop at the transfer station there. Only about eight days universal in subspace using the Harmons, eleven using the pair of Sokolovs. A day for a Geminorum stop, about two subjective. Coming back should be about three either way universal, but about a week subjective on the typical route.

Lag
: The units I’m working with could use the heavy stuff on the list. A stock of the 25mm is always good to have.

Stenson
: Four thousand tons of cargo will be a good systems stress test, too. Not much chance you’d ever have to haul more than that, unless you plan on strapping it on outside.

Bipasha leans back and folds her arms.

Bipasha
: I can’t believe you found a cargo like this so fast! It’s about the one thing you can haul competitively. Just about fill the hold, good tonnage rates. And it just drops into your lap.

Helton
(smirking)
: I thought you said that we couldn’t make this thing work?

Bipasha
: Two lucky one-time freak jobs don’t make a business. Just delays the inevitable.

Kwon
: One step at a time. As long as we are still in business long enough to find the next job. Nice to help people out, and if we can see a bit more of the ’verse while we are at it, it’s all good.

Sar
: Won’t have much extra though. Prices for a lot of the staples are twice what they were last week.

Helton
(shocked)
: Twice?

Sar
: Everyone’s nervous, stocking up. Not just ammo. Food, pretty much everything you can’t print at home. Printer resin is up, too.

Quinn
(loudly, from under the table)
: Why does all of ‘em buy at once?

Sar
: “Why do all of them,” Quinn; she DOES, they DO. Because they all got scared by the same news at the same time.

Quinn
: What are they scared of?

Helton
: The unknown. They might run out of food, or ammo, or whatever, and they don’t know when they can get more. People are like that.

Quinn pops up between Harbin and Lag.

Quinn
: Why not keep more around always? Think they might not eat next week?

Everyone chuckles. Lag ruffles his hair.

Lag
: Lots of reasons, most of them not very good. That’s why you always hear Mr. Kwon talking about stocking up on food, Mr. Stenson stocking up on parts, Allonia stocking up on just about everything, and the First Sergeant talking about ammunition supplies. We know things can run out and resupply might be difficult. We know difficult times can happen.

Bipasha
: Maybe we could stop in on New Texas and get some supplies for cheaper on the way back? Timeline on the ammo delivery isn’t very tight.

Helton
: Not many food product engineering companies there. Mostly just bulk producers.

Helton turns to Kwon.

Kwon
: We can do bulk scratch, no problem. Beans and rice go anywhere. We could convert just about any room on the ship into a fridge or freezer for fresh or frozen meats and veggies.

Helton
: Really? How?

Kwon
: Fire suppression system can chill just about anywhere. I asked the AI about it after a small galley fire. Iced a flaming pan of blazing bacon in a few seconds. Whole room chilled. Something about reversed microwaves, I think. Missed the technobabble.

Sar
: Really slick. Back to work hardly missing a beat. Bacon was still good, even.

Lag
(cautiously)
: That’s a new one to me. Good to know fire suppression works well. Especially if we are hauling ammo.

Helton
: Cooper, keep your eyes on conditions and see if it makes time-sense to swing by New Texas. We’ll see if we can clean out a closet or two to make a meat locker. Now, then–

A chime sounds, and the main wall screen displays an avatar: a knit orange cap.

Ship AI
(brisk male voice)
: A call from Cobb’s about the contract.

Helton
: Put him on.

After a brief pause, the cap icon starts rotating slowly and Cobb’s voice issues from the screen.

Cobb
(gruff and unapologetic)
: Can’t do it. Money guys said they won’t do it unless you got insurance.

Helton
: But, you said. I mean. What? Why?

Cobb
(slowly, as if to a child)
: You got a uninsured ship more than four hundred years old, no history of shipping, and you’re asking to take nearly a hundred million worth of cargo through two war zones. They won’t issue the letter of credit unless you post a performance bond or offer proof of delivery insurance.