The Bright Black Sea (19 page)

I wasn't angry. I should have been and was
embarrassed that I wasn't. But mostly I was just sad.

We hadn't a chance to talk about our future course of
action. She'd reverted to her old guarded self the next day. That's
not quite right. There is a difference. We're shipmates now. Before
I was out of her circle entirely, now I'm in her circle of trusted
people, but she's not ready to share her thoughts with me. Being in
that circle seemed enough for now and I'd left her to her thoughts.
Still, no matter how impulsive this venture was, we should've
talked. I'd thought of us as partners against the dangers out of
the past and had the melted badge to prove it. I should've been
angry as she expected me to be. I wasn't.

At the very bottom of my consciousness, vaguely, like
a reflection in the dark water of a deep well, I'd a vision of Min,
moth-like, flying ever closer and closer to the deadly flame of her
parents' dark past, and there was nothing I could do to stop her.
And, because the Dark Neb had given me a second's glimpse of her
spirit, I feared I was a second moth, destined to follow her into
the flame. If I managed to turn away and let her go, I'd regret it
all my days. But if I followed, well, I'd still regret it all my
days, there just wouldn't be all that many of them.

I shared the first message with Vynnia and Tenry.
They weren't happy. If I'd shown them my private massage they'd
have shipped out on the next ship to Sanre-tay. I briefly
considered doing so, but when I took this berth I made a commitment
to trust Min's judgment, so I followed my orders.

Well, I've jumped ahead of events, so I'd best swing
around and bring this account back into some sort of chronological
order.

02 Fifthday 16 Firstspring

I didn't sleep well. After the fog brightened in the
viewpanel and Min stirred awake, I had her open hatch and I slipped
out to visit the battlefield. Everything lay untouched. I collected
our billyblades, her cap and the wreckage of mine, (my new gold
captain's star, reduced to a small gold blob) and my battered
package. Over cha and biscuits Min outlined the day's priorities,
repair or replace everything that had been damaged in our encounter
so as to leave no trace of the ambush to alarm Vynnia and
Tenry.

We slipped out into the thinning mist and reached
Star Gate Boulevard via the tube. First stop, a shop hardly wider
than its door, drop Min's mech-legs off for rush repairs and on to
Lorof & Staff to replace our com links and her jacket. To my
surprise, Lorof has a whole section devoted to dart resistant
fashion. Min informed me that dart resistant clothing was de rigor
when going off ship in the drifts

'I always got the impression from their yarns that
the Four Shipmates simply dodged plasma darts...' I guess I'm
rather naive, or Unity Standard, as I thought armored clothing
something confined to gaudy space fiction in words or vids.

'I'm sure they did. But I'm going with a dart
resistant wardrobe.'

'What's the point if everyone fires armor-piercing
darts?'

'Well, you only have to dodge half of the darts. Just
make sure it's the armor piecing darts you're dodging...'

I wasn't certain how much of that was teasing. If
any. And so I decided, when in the drifts, be a drifteer, and added
several resistant sweaters, a jacket and a couple of pairs of
trousers to my wardrobe. I replaced my new cap, but had no
intention of wearing it. I can read omens as well as the next
spaceer. We picked up Min's mech-legs and returned to the
Ghost
.

I flew the
Ghost
up. Min wanted to give no
hint to any remote observer that she was alive so I took the
Ghost
up tramp spacer style. Up easy. When I hailed the
Lost Star
I was greeted simply with a 'Meow'.

I suppose I asked for that.

03 Sixthday, 17 Firstspring

I took the gig across the anchorage to the
Silvery
Moon
to help clear the ship and transfer the supplies and
personal effects of my new shipmates to the
Lost Star
.

Vynnia enCarn proved to be everything one would
expect of an ex-Patrol ship commander, a very serious, even
formidable, though attractive woman. Her partner, Tenry Roynay, on
the other hand, proved to be a tall, youthful looking fellow with a
friendly smile and easy ways, not the sort of chap I'd have guessed
spent half century in one of the Patrol's most dangerous
assignments – commanding the boats that boarded and inspected
suspicious vessels. Though very different, each impressed me with
their air of easy competence and experience. I was glad Min
approached them first with the captain's job. With their extensive
experience, I'd felt very uneasy as captain, had they had not been
given the chance before me. They'd easily fit in with us, having
crossed orbits with my crew on the many occasions over the last 30
years when the yachting Mins visited Miccall aboard ship. The only
question is how well they'll take to the tramp life after
commanding a yacht and fifty years in the Patrol. Time will
tell.

After stowing the supplies from the
Silvery
Moon
I signed Min and Vynnia as pilots and Tenry on as an
engineer. I showed them our vacant cabins and invited Min to take
the “Owner's Suite” but she preferred one of the regular
cabins.

Min and I drafted a notice to each of the crew
outlining the changes –
Lost Star
was now a White Bird Line
ship chartered to the Tiladore DevCom for a voyage to Tiladore.
After that we'd likely be sent out of the Azminn system. Everyone
needed to commit to at least Sanre-tay by Thirdday, 20 Firstspring
and department heads should report on the 20th to work up their
list of supplies and repairs needed in view of the extended
voyage.

I spent the rest of the watch in radio exchanges with
my crew, filling in the details and my optimistic assessment of our
prospects. I kept mum about who owned White Bird telling them that
for competitive reasons, I needed to keep that secret for now. I
moved my kit to the Captain's quarters. It was hard, but
necessary.

04 Firstday 18 Firstspring

A quiet ship day aboard ship. The
Silvery Moon
crew left early for the final inspection, completing the yacht's
sale. Afterwards Tenry and I spent half a watch adjusting a davis
and its access tube on the port boat deck to accommodate the
Ghost
. Min took the
Ghost
down to meet old shipmates
off the Aurora. And never returned.

05 Secondday 19 Firstspring

I've mentioned the radio-packets from Min. After
that, I busied myself going through the ship's inventory of
consumables and reviewing our replacement schedules. The department
heads would do the same thing, but I wanted to be on top of their
requests. Unlike them, I knew what our balance sheet looked like
with the pre-Vinden death profits taken off the top.

Late in the fifth watch, just as I was settling into
my hammock, I got a voice call. I touched the my com link to open
the channel.

'Ahoy Wee Willy! I've hear my young
Lost Star
shipmate has blossomed into a majestic ship's captain and is
looking for a systems tech,' said a familiar voice over the
background noise of a crowded tavern.

I recognized that voice immediately – Rafe gil'Giles.
He'd been the ship's systems tech when I'd first signed on, a
position he'd held off and on over the decades. gil'Giles is
another one of those larger than life spaceers, a rolling stone,
never content to spend more than a couple of years aboard any one
ship, but always welcomed back. He's served on all of Captain
Vinden's ships at one point or another, most of them several times.
He's a treasure. He's not only an easy going, fun loving shipmate
and the best systems tech sailing the Azminn system, but he's on
first name terms with every data network in the whole of the Nine
Star Nebula. There's nothing he can't find, and nothing he can't do
on a network. When he's aboard, your ship has the inside track on
any box to be had – he knows what's available, what's coming up and
what rate will get it. It's even said, though he'll blandly deny
it, that he's an intelligence agent of the Patrol as well. It may
be true, though I wouldn't bet on it. Still he seems to know enough
about the Patrol to keep them at bay.

I did't hesitate. 'Didn't know I was, Rafe, but by
Neb, even if I'm not, consider yourself signed on,' I said adding,
'Do I really need a system tech? I've yet to heard from Eljor.'

'Do you ever check your messages, Willy? Or will that
be my job too?'

'Hold on, let me see,' I said, calling up my signals
from the com link via the neural link and sure enough, three hours
ago I'd received a radio-packet from Eljor informing me he decided
to settle planet side for awhile. I hadn't expected that.

'Right. Can you get up here tomorrow? I'd like my
department heads to work up their list of repairs and requirements
with an eye to an extended voyage,' I said, adding in a more somber
voice, 'But I want you to understand that I'm doing this as a
personal favor for an old shipmate. Eljor Pantin's notice is over
three hours old now. The old, in his prime, Rafe gil'Giles would've
been on the line within ten minutes. It's a good thing I've a young
new tech with a shiny new ticket to help you along.'

'Aye, Willy. I can't deny it. I am getting old and
feeble. It's a grand thing you've this sharp young tech a'board.
Can't find my own hand if it's in my pocket, without following my
arm sown these days, but my credits are running low, and I'm
looking for a nice easy berth. I know I can coast along with young
Captain Willy and the old gang. We'll talk more, but I know you're
ready for a nap and Bimbly's buying another round, so I've got to
go.'

'Blast and thrust, Rafe, it'll be great to have you
aboard!'

'Thanks, Willy. Be up tomorrow with the gang.'

'Oh, and don't go blabbing about who our owner is
either,' I added. With his ability to hack into most records, he'd
likely have peeked into who's behind the White Bird Line and
Spectre Holdings before offering his services, and if he hadn't,
the gang would have him on the case any moment now.

'Right. My regards to the young shrimp. 'Nigh,
Captain. Sleep well.'

'See you tomorrow, fair orbits.'

I didn't question Rafe's knowledge of both our owner
and the fact that I was settling in for a nap. Sure, it would've
been a safe guess based on Port Prime time, but being Rafe
gil'Giles and having served a'board
ship
,
I've little doubt he could just as easily have tapped into the
ship's data systems and noted I was in my cabin. (I made a mental
note to ask him how many cats we had on board.)

As I lay back in my hammock I realized that if anyone
could find information about the Azure Night, it was Rafe. It was
likely something he could do in his sleep, or in a tavern between
rounds of free drinks. Still, I'd have to break a confidence and
did I really want to encourage Min? (No.) Rafe could do his digging
in Sanre-tay if she wanted. I'd send a radio-packet to Min about
signing Rafe and let her decide what, if anything, she wanted him
to do when she arrived in Sanre-tay, and drifted off to sleep.

06 Thirdday 20 Firstspring to Firstday, 1
Secondspring

With the return of the department heads, the ship
awoke from its slumber. The prospect of an extended voyage meant
close attention needed to be paid to the fine details of re-supply.
The supplies we'd normally pick up over the course of our usual
round of the planets, like medical supplies, food culture flavors,
and bio waste management ingredients, had to be stocked for the
long voyage. In addition to the expendables, we needed to make sure
all the spare parts that could not be replicated or manufactured
onboard were on hand. With a long serving crew, the process
proceeded expeditiously, and by the end of the first ship day I'd
their lists in front of me ready for editing and approval.

I took a shuttle down to Calissant the following day
to conduct the necessary business at Min & Co and to the Yacht
Club where Min had left the
Ghost
. I'd been programed into
its security system and I flew it up to the ship. I spent two days
in Port Barque-nela with the crew just to get away from the ship
for a while and crossed orbits with Lyrath who was giving Port
Barque-nela a trial run. Everyone returned to the ship early on
Firstday the 24th ready for work.

After consulting Illy, I offered Vynnia the job of
first mate, who reluctantly accepted, not wanting to step on any of
the old crew's toes. I assured her Illy was looking forward to
getting off the bridge to be our purser. The ex-
Silvery Moon
shipmates seamlessly fit into our little community and with Rafe
onboard as well, life aboard ship was going to be a bit more lively
than it's been for several years.

Miclae Midedow, the Tiladore supercargo, arrived with
the first sleeper-pods and oversaw their loading. We worked well
together, and I made certain every box was stowed to her complete
satisfaction. We completed our loading on schedule and departed
Calissant on 1 Secondspring.

Calissant was never more than just another world of
call for me, I rarely had the free time to spend much more than a
night or two downside. Still, as it slipped astern, I'd the feeling
I'd be a different Wil Litang when, or if, I ever saw it again.

It was late in the fourth watch, seven days out of
Calissant. Rafe was pondering an intricate holographic display that
rose from the surface of my desk. I'd my butt attached to one of
the chairs on the non-captain side of the desk just watching him
ponder the glowing web of lines. It was far too complex for me to
follow.