The Bright Black Sea (90 page)

Two days before sailing, Molaye, who was down on
Muirnon making our final calls signaled, 'Good news Captain! I've
lined up a last minute bonus-premium cargo. Pure profit!'

I tried to keep the
What has she gotten us into
now?
thought out of my voice as I answered, 'Great, what did
you find?'

'Subject to your approval, of course, I've got a
container of sleepers. I just happened to be in the office when the
signal came in, and decided to jump at the chance. The Numbia
Mining ship
Deepdrift
Prince
is running late and
won't be able to deliver a relief crew to a refinery five days out
of Creylin. I gather crews get grouchy and expensive when they're
not relieved on time, so it's a high priority high premium item.
The fact that we'd carry the container in our atmospheric hold,
seals the deal as far as Numbia is concerned,' she said, grabbed a
breath, and before I could object, hurried on, 'I know you don't
like passengers, especially on our side of the bulkhead, but as you
said, we're here to win friends, and Numbia is a friend worth
having. Besides, they're all regular employees, so I didn't see any
risks. All I need is your approval and they'll have the box here in
18 hours, and we can sail directly, since the last of our boxes are
due in a few hours. So, should I give them the thumbs up?'

She'd given me enough time by rattling on, to see the
advantages of her rather precipitous arrangement. Since Botts can
monitor and control all aspects of the ship, I was far less
concerned about possible pirates in with the passengers than I
would've been without it.

'Excellent. Well done, First. Sign the
documents.'

'Really?' She said, and I could picture her giving me
a squinty eyed look.

'Really. Then hop over to the Guild exchange and sign
on two pilots. I'll leave the choices to you.'

'Right, Cap'n, I'm on it... And thanks,' she said and
signed off.

I alerted the engineers that we might be sailing a
few hours earlier than scheduled.

CTC ships and freight liners are cushy berths, and
their first class spaceers usually have long careers serving on
them, which meant we had slim pickings for our required pilots at
the exchange. Molaye signed two with long, nondescript records of
service aboard many ships, but lacked any Captains' comments. This
generally implies that they do their jobs, but have other issues
that keep them moving from ship to ship. Still, any planet in a
quantum storm. Only one system tech is required, so I re-signed Kie
on as an apprentice Environmental Engineer, to fill that post. We'd
all been pitching in to fill in for Dyn, and I promised Kie that
wouldn't change – his appointment was only for Guild requirements
and until we could find some better quality spaceers than what was
available on Baidora. Kie didn't kick. He'd take over the
environmental system's management and we'd all continue to lend a
hand in plumbing, electrical, and recycling maintenance.

We sailed less than two days later and made Refinery
no. 177 (known locally as Hell's Sub-basement) 30 days later,
delivering the relief crew on time. The refinery was a collection
of flood light lit space stations and asteroid based facilities
clustered around a vast free floating furnace. Small metallic
asteroids pushed into its gaping maw to be melted, purified and
formed into ingots for transportation back to Baidora.

We spent less than a day at Hell's Sub-basement
before sailing for Creylin.

03

We made orbit around Creylin Station five days later,
and spent most of our first day discharging our cargo to the
various consigned warehouses, leaving only two boxes to be off
loaded.

'Lighter's on its way,' said Lili over the com
link.

'Thanks,' I said and with a sigh, rose from my desk
to head up to the cargo control tower. I still like handling cargo,
but in this case, I'd little option since Molaye was away with the
gig taking our two Baidora-hired pilots to Creylin. They'd decided
not to stay aboard. A mutual decision. That meant we were at least
one pilot short – assuming Illy would once again return to the
pilot's chair – and the prospect of finding a Guild pilot, much
less any better ones on Creylin was nil. My only option was to hire
a drifteer pilot, either on a Guild waiver or as an apprentice.

I didn't – exactly – blame Molaye. All she did was
see that they did their job, and I don't think she was too hard
nosed about it. Just very persistent. Had it been me, I might've
cut them enough slack to get through this voyage without having to
resort to a drifteer pilot, but well, I wasn't the mate. Still,
leaving their performance aside, neither were happy – they didn't
like the food, the ship was too cold, and the crew unfriendly, and
so on. Just about what you'd expect from their record. So perhaps
it is all for the best. Captain Miccall made a point of hiring
young spaceers or apprentices, like myself, when he needed to
replace a crew member since young spaceers are usually more
flexible and can adopt better to our ways. With no Guild Exchange
on Creylin, I'd have to find my own pilot or pilots, and not
knowing anyone here, or how reliable anyone was, it looked to be a
problem.

'Greetings, Captain,' said Elana Colniz, the lighter
pilot, as she gracefully swung her lighter into position over the
open hatchway. 'Anovic's is open for deliveries, so I'm here to
collect those last two boxes.'

'Hi, Elana. You're welcome to them,' I said, as I
raised the cargo crane and called up the location of the two Anovic
boxes.

We quickly transferred the two boxes to the lighter,
in this case, little more than a pilot's pod, two wide spaced
engines set in an open framework. The lighter carried a service-bot
onboard that could be used to attach several boxes together to make
a train of containers, if needed.

'Well, that's it Captain, you're rid of me.'

'Thanks, Elana. It's been a pleasure. Ah, but before
you go, perhaps you can do me a little favor,' I added.

'Of course, if I can,' she replied.

'I'm in need of a pilot or two. The ones I signed on
in Baidora failed to mesh with the old crew. I'm looking for a
young pilot who's flexible enough to fit in. We're not a horrible
ship, just set in our ways making it sometimes hard for spaceers
set in their ways to fit in. I'd be willing to offer a Guild
apprenticeship to the right candidate which can lead to a Guild
ticket in a year or two. Do you know of any young pilots who might
be interested, or could direct me to someone who could help find
some?'

'You're in luck, Captain! I know just the pilot
you're looking for. A cousin of mine, who's in port at the moment.
We were just talking about going off on our own, so I think he'd
jump at the chance. You see, there's a drift tradition of leaving
the nest when you're young to see something of the Neb before
settling into the family's business. I like being a lighter jockey,
but I don't want to do it for the next two hundred years. Anyway,
his name is Dicier de'Vel, and his father, my Uncle Viner de'Vel,
owns three drift traders. Dici grew up aboard ship and has been
piloting for nine years and he's now chief mate at 25. Even so, I'd
think he'd jump at the chance to move to a bigger ship and a Guild
ticket. I know he wants to see more of the Nebula than just rocks
and drift stations.'

'He sounds perfect,' I replied. Could I be this
lucky? 'How do I get in touch with him?'

'I'll tell Dici to get in contact you straight off.
You'd like him. He's easy to get along with, and knows just about
everything about ships and drifts. He's lived aboard'em all his
life.'

'Just what I'm looking for. Pass him the word and
we'll have him aboard to have a look around. And if you know of
anyone else, let me know. I can get by with one, but if I could
find two good candidates, so much the better.'

'I'll ping him directly, and, well, if I think of any
other young pilots, I'll let you know,' she said.

I caught a little catch in her voice, and it struck
me that perhaps...

'You wouldn't be interested in leaving the nest as a
pilot as well, would you?' I asked on the spur of the moment.

'I'm not a space ship pilot.'

'Neither was I when I signed on. I was a rocket boat
pilot and before that, as I mentioned yesterday, a lighter jockey.
I've seen how you handle your lighter so I know you're a rocket
pilot, which is all that's really required. You'd pick up handling
a big ship easy enough. You'd be an apprentice for two years, but
you'd be comfortable piloting the ship by the time we return to
Baidora. Then it's just a matter of putting in your time and
getting to know all the other ship-board jobs. Nothing to worry
about – the old gang has been training young spaceers for decades.
It's all rather fun, in fact.'

'Are you serious, Captain?'

'Aye. What do you say?'

'I... well, yes, if you're willing to make a pilot of
me...'

'You'll make a fine pilot. And with your cousin
onboard, it'd be easier for both of you to leave the nest. But I'll
say right up front, I'm hoping to get into the Amdia planetary
trade. It may take a few years, but you'd best be prepared to leave
the drifts behind for a while. I can't promise much excitement, but
can promise Guild wages, a great crew, and a wide open future.'

'I'm sure we'd find the planets exciting enough –
there's not a whole lot in the drifts to find exciting, or so Dici
tells me. Creylin is dreary enough.'

'Right. See if Dici's interested, but I'll sign you
on without him, so don't let that stop you. Either or both suits me
fine. Ping me and we'll arrange a tour. Bring an appetite since I
want you to sample our ship's cuisine. Our chefs are from
Mycolmtre, in the Artinday system, and the food is not to
everyone's tastes. It wasn't to our last two pilots' taste anyway.
And you know how it is – little things add up when you're not
happy. We'll see how it lifts from there.'

'Thanks, Captain. I don't think food will stand in
the way. We've just about grown up on synth food and will welcome
any change. I'm sure he'll jump at the chance, and if you're
willing to train me, I'll do my best to make it worth your
while...'

Illy, the hounds and I met them at the gangplank
three hours later. Both were the low grav, lanky young people you'd
expect from an asteroid colony. Both were just as nervous as they
should've been. Both were friendly and outgoing and Dici clearly
knew his way around a space ship, even if the ships he'd known were
considerably smaller than the
Starry Shore
. Both made a good
impression on everyone. Elana knew less about large ships – about
as much as I did when Miccall signed me on – but I wasn't
concerned. Like her cousin, she seemed a good fit with the crew,
which was my main concern. This ship had secrets – from Botts to St
Bleyth – and I wanted crew members that would bond with the ship
and crew to keep those secrets, since you can't keep secrets on
ships for long. Having not grown up Unity Standard, I hoped our
secrets would pose no problems for them.

The only person I worried about was Molaye. I didn't
quite know how protective she was of her position as my first
protege. But she was delighted with the prospect of having some
more young people onboard and took to Elana and Dici right from the
start.

They left with everything pretty much agreed to. I
told them to sleep on it and if they were comfortable, we'd sign
them on the following day. The following day Elana's father, Delve
Colniz, came onboard to check things out.

'I apologize, Captain,' he said as I greeted him on
the gangplank. 'They're old enough to make their own decisions. And
leaving the family nest is something we all do when we're young.
But usually it's with someone we know. So you see, I just wanted to
look in so I could tell Dici's folks to rest easy, when their ship
comes in...'

He spent an hour with us. We got along fine. Really,
the
Starry Shore
is a cushy berth even if with a hard nosed
first mate – so Elana and Dici signed on an hour after he left. We
gave them two days to settle their affairs – I wasn't up against
delivery times and, well, I wasn't concerned with profits as much I
should be, so a few idle days was neither dust nor gas. It was
worth taking advantage of our credit balance and the lack of
oversight to put together a happy, reliable crew.

I signed both on as apprentices, handing Dici over to
Illy to look after. Since he was an experienced pilot, all she'd
have to do was break him in to our routine and babysit him on the
bridge. She could do her purser's work on the bridge as easily as
in the ship's office. With his prior experience, he'd be able to
get his ticket after a year's apprenticeship. I'd took on Elana
since I had no assigned watches while Molaye, with her own watch
and duties as first mate, had enough to do.

Dici shaved two days off our Dortag run by taking us
on the drifteer's course through the Dortag reef. No point hiring
local talent and not using it. He proved to be a thoroughly
competent pilot who quickly came to terms with the much larger
ship
. Elana was another natural rocket
pilot, and while it took her a while to get comfortable piloting a
big ship – we'd only had three to four days under power at either
end of our runs to get the feel of her – she took to piloting as
readily as I had. Plus, her style was more like mine than Molaye's
– making it much less nerve wracking to teach than Molaye had
been.

04

I was standing next to Dici at the helm as he was
setting the ship on a course through the twisting Missing Passage,
outbound from the Dortag Reef.

'Shantien next. Ever been there?' I asked.

'Yes and no, Captain,' he replied with a grin.