Home: Interstellar: Merchant Princess (19 page)

Wolf was a small station, efficient and wealthy but with limited dockage, which caused the
Tiger
to dock late and Meriel to worry about Harry’s party. She had prepaid for the party, so they’d not lose the reservation, but Harry’s ship and Anita’s shuttle had rigid departure times.

Meriel signed out and ran to the restroom on the docks where she quickly changed into the clothing of a station cabbie. She rented a cargo cart and paid cash under a phony name. Care was needed now—seeing any of the kids from the
Princess
was a violation of the court order and could land Meriel in jail. It also could put the kids in danger of whatever had hit them on the
Princess
. Harry’s fosters were OK with the contact, but they needed to be discreet.

She had no time to shop for a new link, and her visor was inappropriate for a cabbie, so she took Nick’s loaner link. Her pulse raced, and shimmering silver stars appeared in front of her, causing her to pull over.
God, calm down
, she thought.
Breathe or you’ll pass out. Wouldn’t Ferrell love that, proof of blackouts.

When her head cleared, she picked up Anita, and after some hugs, they went to pick up Harry at the
TanaMaru
’s dock. Harry was there waiting with some of his shipmates. When he saw the cart pull up, he gathered his mates and walked toward the cart, not recognizing either of them. Halfway to the cart, he stopped and stared wide-eyed. Then he ran to the cart and jumped in to hug Anita. They held hands and talked until they reached the play area in white-zone.

At the play area, the other kids jumped from the cart before Meriel came to a complete stop. They all ran to the simulators while Harry dragged Anita to a bench. Meriel sat overlooking the play area and watched them just talking to each other.
Look at that
, she thought.
Even with all the amusements so close at hand, time with each other is what they want most
.

While Meriel watched the kids, one of the bigger boys tried to nudge Harry to the side and dominate Anita’s attention. Meriel signaled Anita, who excused herself, and Harry went to play with the other kids. The annoying boy glared at Meriel as Anita walked over to her, but when Anita looked back to Harry, the fellow changed his expression to a charming smile.
Snake
, Meriel thought.

As Anita approached, Meriel used sign language to ask, “Who’s the muscle?” Sign had been their private language since childhood on the
Princess
, and all of the kids still used it to mock adults or to hold private conversations. No one else signed anymore; no one needed to. Implants, cochlear or cortex, were common from childhood on—Harry got his when he was nine. Other than each other, sign was the single thing they took with them from the
Princess
. It belonged to them alone and bound them together.

“He’s why they kicked me off the
TanaMaru
,” Anita signed in reply, frowning.

“So that’s him,” Meriel signed. This toad had caused the problems that forced Anita and Harry apart. Anita was barely fourteen when this guy, the captain’s son, messed with her, and she hurt him badly. The ship would not renew her contract and took her from her little brother, Harry.

“Want me to talk to him?” Meriel signed.

“No thanks, that would only make it worse for Harry,” Anita said aloud and looked back at Harry.

Meriel noticed that Anita was covering her hands and clenching her fists in her lap. She took one of Anita’s hands in hers and opened her fist to see fingernails bitten to the quick. Anita quickly drew her hand back and looked down.

“Worried, hon?” Meriel asked.

Anita nodded. “Harry’s ship almost didn’t make it.”

“What happened?”

“They got behind on the maintenance, and the
TanaMaru
broke down near Gliese 6. They couldn’t get a loan from the league.”

“Why not?”

“Couldn’t prove they could pay it off, too much overhead.”

“Sounds fixable,” Meriel said.

Anita shook her head. “They’ve got too many kids.”

“I thought they were training them.”

“Not well enough,” Anita said. “Other ships wouldn’t take them. They’re dead wood, including the muscle, but he’s the captain’s son.”

Kids filled the big family ships like the
TanaMaru
because family ships allowed parents to escape the strict population controls on all habitats. On family ships, you could have as many kids as you wanted as long as you could feed them and stay one jump ahead of the social workers. But ships that did not control their populations ended up running the risky routes or taking on too much debt trying to support everyone. Risky routes put the lives of everyone onboard in danger. Too much debt pulled your ship to the auction block and your crew—your family—to the mining colonies like the naive and foolish.

“But they’re flying now.”

Anita nodded. “The troopers drafted the seniors as cadets, but the ship is still running close to failure.”

“I didn’t know his ship was in trouble, Anni. Good you got off when you did.”

“Not so good with Harry still stuck there,” Anita said. She smiled at Meriel and patted her hand. “Thanks, M. I’ve really got no one to talk to.” She looked back over to the play area. “I’ll take care of the muscle.”

Anita walked over to a group of older boys. A few minutes later, one of those boys had the bully up against the wall for a “talking to,” and Anita returned safely to sit with Harry.

She’s learning
, Meriel thought and smiled. She took a serving of ice cream and cake and sat by herself again to avoid the security camera. Then she checked her link for messages.

Anita and Harry brought birthday cake and sat with her while a crewmate snapped vids of them together with Anita’s link.

“Happy birthday, kid,” Meriel said, and Harry jumped into her arms and kissed her.

“Show M the present from Nick,” Anita said, turning to Meriel. “It was waiting at the dock when Harry’s ship arrived.”

Harry put a tiny holo cube on the table. The holo would only be in focus within a few feet, so Meriel did not worry about passersby. Harry tapped the corner, and a hologram popped up of Harry and Anita with their parents on the
Princess
. Anita wore a dress and beamed at little Harry, who ran around her while their parents sat close by. Harry and Anita watched the holo now with big smiles.

“That was Harry’s second birthday,” Meriel said.
Nick must have found it on my sim-chip.

Anita nodded. “I remember.”

That week, the
Princess
had stopped near Sirius for a layover, and Uncle Ed had held a movie marathon. One of the vids was an adventure movie that her father liked—God knew how old it was—about a young princess who rediscovered her home in a land that floated in the sky. The kids converted the mess hall into a castle and acted out every scene with the adults playing the roles of enormous robots. Her father told her that they’d named their ship after the heroine of the story. No one told the kids that the nearby asteroids were embroiled in an immigration war, and the
Princess
had to stay close to the station for safety.

“Harry’s never seen our folks before, M,” Anita said wiping tears from her eyes. “Remember, Harry, this is just between us. Don’t show this to anybody.”

“Sure, Sis.”

“Hey, kid, I saw your new qualification,” Meriel said. “Good work. This is from all of us in your future crew.” She handed Harry a small box that he immediately tore to shreds. Inside lay two silver collar pins signifying his logistics-2 qualification and a small service ribbon for his formal uniform. Harry hugged her again, and Meriel melted into it.

“You OK now?” she signed.

“Sure, M,” Harry signed in reply. “They’re OK to me. I just miss everyone so much, especially my big sister.” Anita leaned over and hugged him.

“We’ll be together, Harry,” Anita said. “It will just take some time.” She bit her lip and looked at Meriel. “M, maybe you can get us on the same ship.”

“I’m trying, hon,” Meriel said. “I’m trying. Your fosters don’t want to leave the
TanaMaru
, and I’d never put you back there, ever. I’m just glad that Harry is a youngster. I’ll get him off as soon as I can.”

“Say, girl,” Meriel continued. “You’re still in with your fosters, right? Do you think they’d crew with us when we get the
Princess
back?”

Anita shrugged but smiled at the idea. “I think they’d want to be near us, yeah.”

“When we get our ship back, we’ll need skilled adults we trust to fill our roster, and who better than people who love us. Is that something you’d be OK with?” Meriel asked, and both siblings nodded.

She looked at her watch. “Time’s up, kids. Gather your crew, Harry.”

Meriel thought this was too perfect and took a party favor as a reminder. Harry rounded up his shipmates, and they all got into the cargo cart and drove back to the
TanaMaru
. His crewmates boarded, but Harry would not let go of Anita’s hand.

“It’s OK, M,” Anita said. “I’m going to say hi to my old foster folks. I can find my way back to the shuttle.”

“Thanks, M,” Harry said. “This was my best birthday ever.” Harry kissed Meriel again and dissolved her fears with a hug.

***

Meriel went to a public kiosk to search for the cargo ID numbers Nick had provided but then thought better of it. Remembering his warning that it might send an alarm, she bought used clothing, a metal cosmetics case, and two old portables at a salvage store, and changed her clothes and hair. Carefully avoiding the security cameras, she walked back to white-zone and a coffee shop where the station folk gathered. She paid for her coffee with cash and sat at a corner table. As extra precautions, she covered the built-in camera with the sticker from her coffee and put her loaner link in the metal cosmetics case.

She keyed in the number “M446,” and the search returned millions of hits and counting. She tried “Mil M446,” which still returned thousands of hits. She keyed in a longer part of the number, and the laptop displayed “research…communications, wide-field disruption with narrow-band tunneling…read more
here.
” She needed to know more and clicked the link, and the screen returned with a pop-up.

Please wait just a moment while we retrieve your data.

The camera light flashed under the sticker, and Meriel knew she’d triggered something—they wanted her picture. Then the audio-record light blinked, and every link in the coffee shop beeped and buzzed. She shut off the computer, pulled the battery out, and left the coffee shop with her head down.

Meriel went into a bathroom to change back into her uniform and disassembled the computer, removing the memory and CPU modules, and made sure not to expose the camera. As she caught a tram back to the docks, she threw articles of clothing and the computer in different trash chutes, keeping the memory and CPU.

On the way back to the
Tiger
, the public tram stopped by the
TanaMaru
, but Anita and Harry had left. The dock was empty, and the marquee blank. She wondered for an instant if the party was a dream, and she reached into her pocket for her link with the vids of Harry and Anita, but Nick’s loaner link had not synched with Anita’s and had not copied the vids. Then she reached into the other pocket for the party favor, but found nothing. Perhaps she had dropped it when she changed clothing.
Or was it just another daydream
?

The party might have been a dream, but her immediate problem was the bot she had triggered when searching for the mil-tech code.
Why would a mil-tech inventory number be used on the manifest
? The answer came to her immediately—to find out if anyone cared and then to detain him.
Crap! I should have listened to Nick. Still, I should be OK
, she thought.
Even if they can trace the search to this station, no one has the resources to search every inch of the station and connect that query to me
.

Meriel was wrong.

***

A flashing blue light and pleasant tone woke him after a long trip and a long day trailing his quarry.

The alt-bridge of the
Liu Yang
, a ship no one should care about and had no recorded owner except an escrow account, had been activated. That meant that security on Enterprise had failed to keep its identity a secret. He had cleaned up that mess, but it was not over. Just now, an anonymous query for obscure mil-tech, R & D codes tripped snares that had been set a decade ago.

He sat at the desk in the small hotel room and turned on the desk lamp. Police files for the Jeannine Aldersen case, files he should not have, lay open on his link. The files held the investigation report, the evidence of Stim abuse, and the ruling of suicide. He knew that it had been a contract murder, a well-kept secret to be sure—much better kept than the secrets surrounding the
Princess
, but exposure of either might unravel an even bigger secret.