Drifter's Run (7 page)

Somewhat surprised, Lando accepted the cube, and began to plug it in. He stopped when he heard Cap's voice. "Lando?"

The pilot turned around. Cap was more than halfway to the starboard lift tube. "Yeah?"

"You'll call me if you see anything strange?"

"Yeah, Cap. I'll call you."

"Good." And with that Cap walked away.

Curious, Lando plugged the cube into the NAVCOMP, pulled it on-line, and read it out. He frowned as the screen filled with orderly rows of numbers. The numbers disappeared as his fingers danced over a keyboard. A pattern appeared. A graphic layout of the belt's known features, the gates, and Cap's course.

It didn't make any sense. Sorenson's course would cause them to crisscross a small section of the belt a dozen times. In doing so they would risk collision with uncharted debris, use a lot of fuel, and waste what could've been productive time. It was a stupid thing to do. No wonder Cap was broke, or the next closest thing.

"Weird, huh?"

Lando went for his slug gun as he turned around.

Cy squirted himself backward and dipped apologetically. "Sorry, Pik. I'll make some noise next time."

Lando nodded, somewhat mollified, but unwilling to let Cy completely off the hook. "I should think so. That's a damn good way to get yourself blasted."

The cyborg rotated forward in agreement. "Sorry, Pik. It won't happen again."

Lando smiled. Something about Cy made it hard to stay mad. Besides, the cyborg was a good sort, and one helluva engineer. By working damned near around the clock Cy had repaired most of the damage done during the pirate attack. "You said Cap's course was 'weird'… as if you were expecting it."

The silver ball made a jerking motion that reminded Lando of a shrug. "I was. Every time we enter the belt, Cap waits till the job's done, and searches for his ship."

"Ship? What ship?"

Cy floated toward the control panel and came to rest on top of the tac tank. "You remember that cyborg named Jord Willer? The one that damned near rammed us off Snowball? Remember how he mentioned the
Star of Empire
?
Well, she was a liner, a big one. The biggest of her time. I even rode on her once when I was a little boy, but that was more than thirty standards back, and before Cap took command. She was a grand ship, nearly four miles long, and loaded with every luxury you can imagine.

"Every year the
Empire
made a tour of the inner planets. And every year two thousand members of the social elite would pay exorbitant prices to come aboard, criticize each other's clothes, and enjoy 'the tour.'"

Cy was silent for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts, or remembering how it felt to have a flesh-and-blood body.

"Anyhow, the way Cap tells it, the
Star of Empire
was in hyperspace, making the jump from New Britain to a nav beacon just off Durna's sun when something went wrong.

"Nobody knows for sure, but Cap thinks that a billion-to-one failure by the NAVCOMP dropped the ship out of hyperspace a fraction of a second too early. Others believe it was a tiny drive fluctuation, or some sort of unusual discontinuity in hyperspace, but whatever the reason… she came out right in the middle of the asteroid belt."

Now Lando remembered. He remembered adults talking, some sort of distant disaster, and the name:
Star of Empire.

He looked at Cy. "If Cap was in command, what's he doing here?"

Cy swiveled from side to side as if shaking his head. "Come on, Pik! When you lose a ship like the
Empire,
your career is over, no matter where you are at the time. And if you're dead drunk, well, a tug's the most you can hope for."

"Cap was drunk?"

Cy rolled forward, then back. "That's right. The first officer got some of the people off, including Cap, but very few survived. Many of those who survived the initial impact with the roid were killed while trying to escape the belt."

Lando tried to imagine. A huge ship, miles long, suddenly appears in the middle of an asteroid belt and crashes into a roid. There's chaos as passengers are sucked into space and klaxons hoot too late.

Men scream as they fight for lifeboats.

Children die as metal bends inward to crush soft flesh.

Corridors are slick with blood.

Air whistles out through a tiny hole as a man struggles to plug it.

An old man smiles and plays the grand piano in the ship's lounge.

An officer yells orders until a passenger kills her, takes her space armor, and heads for a lock.

Lovers embrace as the air is sucked from their lungs.

And somewhere in all this a drunk captain, a limp load over someone's shoulder, wakes to find that his ship is dead.

Lando shook his head in amazement. "So what're you telling me? That Cap's looking for the
Star
?"

"That's right," Cy replied. "There was a lot of confusion after the wreck. Lifeboats went every which way. Many were never seen again. With the exception of Cap and Jord Willer, the entire bridge crew was killed. The ensuing investigation took two years, the trial took months, but they never found the wreck.

"That was thirty years ago, and most people figure she's been pounded into a billion pieces by now, but not Cap. No, he thinks she's a drifter, a ghost ship waiting for his return.

"It takes him a while to get drunk, and if you catch him at just the right point, he'll tell you all about it. For that matter he'll tell the
entire
bar about it. How she's out there, a drifter worth millions in salvage, just waiting for someone to claim her."

Lando remembered Jord Willer, and his promise to be there when Cap found the
Star.
The cyborg wanted more than revenge, he wanted millions in salvage as well.

Cy chuckled. "Yeah, Cap wants her all right, but it's more than money he wants. It's his honor. He left it aboard that ship… and he wants it back."

"What's Daddy want?" Melissa said, putting a coffee flask next to Lando's elbow.

"The
Star of Empire,
"
Cy replied.

"Oh, that," Melissa said, instantly bored. "That's a waste of time… but Mommy said to humor him."

Lando poured a cup of coffee and held it up in a salute. "And we shall. First I'll have a cup of this excellent coffee… and then we're off. Ghost hunters extraordinaire."

Melissa laughed and the conversation turned mundane.

But outside, beyond the strength
of Junk
's
hull, the asteroids continued to whirl and dance. A dance as vast as the solar system itself, as precise as the laws that governed it, and as relentless as time. A dance of secrets kept.

5

Lando wrinkled his nose. The air smelled of ozone, peat smoke, and animal droppings. Not a pleasant mix, but a real one, and preferable to the recycled stuff aboard ship.

Stepping onto a new planet never failed to excite him. New sights, new sounds, and, yes, new smells no matter how pungent. All were a part of the newness. All were welcome. A light breeze touched Lando's cheek and he smiled.

Dista was close to Earth normal, with only a slightly longer day and a touch more gravity. As a result humans felt quite comfortable and, lured by Imperial land grants, were still arriving. That accounted for the fact that the planet boasted three new spaceports.

This one, a largely prefab affair located just outside Dista's largest city, looked just like many others all over the empire. A large repulsor-blackened expanse of duracrete, a scattering of grounded ships, and a utilitarian control-maintenance facility. If you've seen one, you've seen 'em all.

But when visitors stepped out through the spaceport's gates, they took a step backward in time. The effect was so startling that many paused to look around. Lando was no exception. The view was amazing.

At the same time that high-flying shuttles left streaks across the upper atmosphere, Dib-drawn carts creaked down rutted roads, and peat fires pointed smoky fingers toward the sky.

"Hey, Pik! Come on! We haven't got all day!"

The voice belonged to Cap. He and Melissa were a hundred feet up ahead, skillfully sidestepping the dome-shaped piles of Dib dung, and motioning for Lando to hurry.

Cy was still aboard ship, but both of the Sorensons were dirtside, and eager to reach town. Cap had some business to transact and Melissa wanted to play. Lando waved in response and hurried to catch up.

It was market day, and that meant a constant stream of foot traffic, Dib-drawn carts, and crawlers moving into town. They carried everything from produce to freshly cut peat. As the vehicles moved they stirred the mud with Dib droppings and sprayed the resulting mixture over everything in sight.

At first Lando tried to stay clean, but it was a hopeless task, and he soon gave up. By the time Lando caught up with the others he was as muddy and messy as they were.

A cart squeaked by and sprayed guck on his pants leg. Melissa laughed, Cap looked impatient, and the three of them headed for town.

Looking around, Lando saw that the settlers wore similar clothes. Their favorite combination consisted of synthetic trousers, some sort of long-sleeved shirt, and a leather jerkin.

Lando noticed that most of the settlers wore side arms. Not the silly ones that look like jewelry, but real weapons, shiny with use and carefully maintained. Did they use them on each other or the local wildlife? Either way they made a tough-looking crowd and Lando decided to watch his step.

At first Lando had refused to come, pleading poverty and pretending little interest. The truth was that he was secretly afraid of the bounty hunters who might be waiting for him on Dista's surface.

But five boring days spent searching the asteroid belt for a ghost ship had left Lando yearning for some bright lights. Or even some dim ones. That, plus Melissa, had finally changed his mind.

The campaign started soon after Cap announced Dista as their next port of call. Almost immediately Melissa began to tell Lando stories about how pretty Dista was, how friendly the settlers were, and what a good time he'd have dirtside.

Melissa put lots of energy into her arguments, looked very sincere, and didn't fool Lando for a moment. It wasn't him she wanted, it was any adult.

Melissa was afraid that once on the surface her father would get falling down drunk, pass out, and need help. More help than she could give. And seeing her fear Lando agreed to come.

A row of shacks had sprung into existence to either side of the road, and up ahead more substantial buildings could be seen, their solid log walls ready to repel anything short of a force ten hurricane.

Lando smiled when he saw the sign that identified the muddy path as Port Town's "Main Street," but the smile faded when he saw the boardwalks and the people who lined them.

They were predators looking for prey. As different from the townspeople who moved around them as night is from day. There were con artists looking for marks, pimps looking for Johns, gamblers looking for suckers, and, yes, bounty hunters looking for him. Well, not
him
specifically, but anyone with a price on his head.

They sat on rickety chairs, lounged against walls, and engaged each other in desultory conversation. But Lando noticed their eyes were everywhere, checking, comparing, and evaluating potential prey.

Lando turned away and started a one-sided conversation with Cap. Cap's mind was elsewhere, so he answered with a series of semi-articulate grunts and seemed annoyed.

Melissa was everywhere, running circles around them and asking all sorts of questions.

Meanwhile Lando could
sense
memprinted images of his face flashing into the surrounding minds, could
feel
blasters lining up on his back, could
hear
a voice shouting, "Hey you! Pik Lando! Stop or die!"

But the shout never came, and a few minutes later they had entered another part of town, a section where the feel was entirely different. Here huge warehouses lined both sides of the street, the mud was even deeper, and heavy equipment growled about.

"Here it is," Cap said, coming to a sudden stop next to some wooden stairs.

A somewhat faded sign announced, "Lois Joleen, Shipping Agent."

Cap shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Here's hoping she's got some work for us. You two have a good time."

"We'll see you at the port?" Melissa said hopefully.

Lando saw the look in her eyes and knew what she was thinking. If her father met them at the spaceport, there was less chance that he'd show up drunk.

"Naw," Cap answered carelessly. "Town would be more convenient. That way we can walk back together. Let's meet across from the Port City Mercantile at 1600 hours. Don't be late."

Melissa smiled, apparently reassured. "We won't. Come on, Pik! I'll race you to the vidplex!"

The two men exchanged a smile, and Cap watched for a moment as Lando followed Melissa toward the center of town. The pilot seemed like a nice sort, Mel certainly took to him, and that was good.

Cap felt a stab of guilt. He should spend more time with her. Give her some sort of normal life where she could play with other children. Sell
Junk
and settle down. But that would mean becoming a ground pounder, giving up the one thing he did right, and abandoning all hope of finding the
Star of Empire.

The thoughts weighed heavily as Cap climbed the muddy stairs and paused to clean his boots.

A section of metal grating had been installed in the middle of the top landing, along with a raised metal bar and a short section of hose. By alternately scraping his boots on the bar, and squirting them with the hose, Cap removed the worst of the mud.

A wooden mallet hung by a length of chain from the wall. Cap used it to hit the heavy wooden door three times.

He had no idea why Lois Joleen chose this particular kind of door knocker. It was just one of her many eccentricities, and compared to the rest, hardly worth mention.

There was a loud click as the door lock was released. Cap gave the door a gentle push and it swung open. There was no one there to greet him nor had he expected anyone. Joleen worked alone, or Cap assumed that she did, because in all the times that he'd come to visit he'd never seen anyone else.