The Bright Black Sea (99 page)

I can only touch on must relevant events. There are
many yarns to spin, many of them not my own to spin. I'll let the
main characters tell their tales, if they dare. Others, I could
spin, but seem, now, to be minor tales, tales I might set down on
the quiet nights on the porch of my bungalow, surrounded by my cha
trees and the nebula, far over head, far away. And that's an iffy
dream.

So to start, I must to go back four years, to our
safe arrival in Tradonia orbit, with the treasure in our holds. It
took six days to validate our salvage claim with the various
parties involved. The actual payment could not be made until the
cargo was sold and its exact value determined – the better part of
seven months. I knew our 1/12th share of the salvage would be worth
a fortune, but I was still amazed at how much 16 quarter containers
of gold, silver, platinum and rare earths and minerals were worth –
for Tallith Min. We stayed in Tradonia orbit only long enough to
complete the documentation. I wanted to put as much distance
between Molaye and Linnor as possible, as quickly as possible.

They did, as agreed, suspend their partnership upon
arrival in Tradonia. Linnor, being older, wiser, and perhaps more
cool-headed, had insisted on that – though not without doubts which
I could plainly see. Molaye very reluctantly agreed, and was so
heartbroken that I feared she might choose to stay on Tradonia,
regardless. I probably did her an injustice, but I wasn't about to
take the chance. I'd invested too much time and effort in my first
mate to risk losing her, so I sailed for Baidora with only ten
boxes as soon as I could clear the red tape. Molaye didn't object,
but was very quiet and withdrawn. I hoped time and youth would heal
the hurt soon enough. It wasn't as if they'd quarreled or fallen
out, it was simply a matter of expediency. They're careers would,
at least, span several more decades, keeping them apart, which
likely gave them pause...

I found a full shipload of boxes a'waiting for us in
Baidora including 57 boxes for Shantien. Apparently the
Starry
Shore
was now the unofficial official supplier to Shantien. As
much as I wanted to give the drifts a miss and concentrate on
building an interplanetary business, especially after making even
more enemies in the drifts, I found I couldn't pass on a 101 box
load on our old familiar route. And, well, I still wanted to put
more time and distance between Molaye and Linnor. So six days
later, loaded and fueled, we left once more on our old run,
Creylin, to Vilin's Rock, to Dortag on to Shantien, and finally
Hendin, where we turned about for drift stations of D'Jin and
Lyrina, and the small drift world of Ravin. We experienced an
engine shutdown on the Lyrina to Ravin run. Fortunately it proved
to be just a pin hole leak that could be plugged, no doubt a
souvenir of our time in the Kryver Reef meteor plume.

It was on Ravin that the first ghost stirred.

Xin VonBrey, our agent on Ravin, pinged me as we
finished unloading the dozen boxes we had for Ravin. 'Greeting
Captain,' he began as his image came on the screen, 'I've just
received a commission to offer an open-ended charter to the
Starry Shore
at Guild standard plus a drift work premium
rate. Interested?'

My answer was prompt and decisive. 'No. Not in the
least.'

'Not even in learning more?'

'No. I'm sticking to the rocks I know.'

'The charter with the premium pays rather well.'

'Don't need the credits.'

'I'd imagine not,' he said, with a sigh for his
commission. 'Heard about your salvage. Just doing my job. I suspect
that your reputation for not being shy, and a Guild ship to boot,
makes you an attractive charter for certain kinds of drift
work.'

'Don't be fooled. I'm very shy, just lucky. Or
unlucky, I'm not sure which. And I don't even want to think about
what
certain kinds of drift work
you're talking about. Not
interested, Xin.'

'Right. I'll pass along your polite refusal.'

I'd just finished my nightly rounds, when Elana, on
watch, pinged me to say I'd another signal from VonBrey.

'Guild charter rates plus a hazardous bonus, one year
guarantee paid in advance. Still no recognizable name attached,' he
said, adding, 'Just doing my duty.'

'Well Xin, it's still no, and you can add never to to
my refusal.'

The following day I receive this radio-packet text
message,

Litang, I understand you rejected my offers out of
hand. I shouldn't have to point out to you that it's your owner who
makes these decisions, not you. Please have your owner respond to
my offer. I can assure her there is nothing in my offer that a
Guild ship would balk at performing, there are no risks involved
beyond the ordinary drift work which you are currently engaged in.
The hazardous duty bonus is merely an added incentive.

While I regret the necessity of keeping the exact
nature of the charter secret at this point, all will be made clear
as soon as the charter is signed or a meeting with your owner can
be arranged. Please see to it now.

Banton & Co. will handle all further details
concerning a meeting or your instructions upon the receipt of your
acceptance.

I sat staring at that message, trying to calm my
racing heart and trying to make some sense of it. Litang was as
dead as the
Lost Star
, so who not only knew my old name but
the sex of the ship's owner as well? That fact alone had been a
well kept secret back in our Azminn days – though it may've become
common knowledge when Vinden's estate cleared the Ministry of
Death. Calissant tramp ship owners keep a very close eye on each
another. My first thought was that it had to be either Min, Tenry
or Vynnia, trying to contact me. But this obscure method made no
sense. St Bleyth or the Legion simply made no sense either. So who,
on this small, out of the way drift world would recognize us as the
Lost Star
, and what did they want with
us
?

I signaled VonBrey, 'Who is Banton & Co?'

'It's some small trading company. Why?'

'I received the charter offer directly, saying that
Banton would relay our instructions. I'm trying to figure out who's
behind this offer.'

'Sorry Wil, haven't a clue. I was curious myself, so
I've looked into it, but the trail leads nowhere. Banton & Co,
is one of a dozen small deep drift trading companies who have
offices or drop boxes here. I really doubt you'd find anything more
from Banton & Co. They're likely just acting as a middleman. I
really don't know what to make of it. I haven't heard anything out
of the deeper drifts that could connect with the offer.'

'Well, thanks Xin. I think we'll sail hollow this
time around. I don't have a good feeling about this...'

'Oh, my poor commission,' he laughed. 'But I don't
blame you. Fair orbits, Captain.'

I replied to the radio packet via Banton &
Co,

Sir. I am afraid you are under some sort of mistaken
impression. As a check of Guild records will confirm, My name is
Wilcrofter and we are operated by Dyzran Tan & Co out of
LaTrina. My sailing instructions give me full operating authority
to accept or reject charter offers and I can assure you, we are not
interested in your offered charter under any terms.

Nives Wilcrofter, Captain, Starry Shore

01

I made five decisions on our Ravin to Baidora
passage.

First, that I was done with drift work. Period. The
message on Ravin was the final straw. I'd no clue if it was or was
not a threat, but it was simply one mystery too many. It was the
safety and certainty of the Unity and interplanetary trade for me
and my ship, no matter how poorly it paid.

Second, that it was now time to repair the main
engine bell, move the engine back to its proper place and add an
outer shield to the main engine as well. An outer shield is a petal
like arrangement of panels that could be closed over the rocket
bell when it was not in use, protecting it from stray micro meteors
that might damage its lining. It was unnecessary in the
interplanetary trade and considered something of a luxury even in
the drifts, but after two engine shutdowns, and an uncertain future
always in the offing – never knowing if or when
we
might have to run or be called to the drifts by Min,
I decided adding the shielding now, in our general refit would be
prudent. We could afford it.

Thirdly, I decided to have permanent fuel tanks
installed in no. 1 hold replacing the temporary 30 box array we'd
been leasing for the last six years. Like the shielding, we didn't
need them for planetary work or even in the drift work we've been
engaged in, but they had come in handy in our escape from Despar,
and I wanted to retain that option. The tanks would permanently
reduce our cargo capacity by 24 boxes, but that capacity is not
required for profitability and I've yet to turn away boxes with the
current 30 box set, so I could justify their addition with an eye
towards making the ship more useful to Min at some future date.

And as long as we were going to be laid up, we might
as well give the
ship
a new protective coat
of color as well. The coating protected the thin outer,
anti-radiation layer of the hull from erosion. It may take decades
of space travel to erode the D-rad layer to a point where it'd lose
its effectiveness, but now seemed a good time to renew it. With my
intention of breaking into the interplanetary trade, it wouldn't
hurt business to look prosperous. We settled on a powder blue hull
with dark blue trim. Captain Miccall kept the
Lost Star
's
hull well worn and ordinary, which has worked to our advantage, but
if we ever have to run again, it will be to the far side of the
Nebula, so looking distinctive seemed no great disadvantage.

Finally, I decided to increase our defensive armament
by adding a twin turret anti-missile battery also in no.1 hold
along with the new fuel tanks. The whole system only took up the
space of two containers, but included two small pop-up turrets that
could be raised out from both the upper and lower hull, each of
which could launch six anti-meteor (actually anti-missile) missiles
at a time, guided by a dedicated A-level fire control (that Botts
would {illegally} upgrade). Only the fact that the system could be
classified as an anti-meteor/defensive system made it available in
the Unity. The magazine would hold three thousand missiles, though
I'd no intention of fully stocking it as long as we were in the
interplanetary trade. Didn't want to look like we were planning to
turn pirate. Still the fact that I could never rule out returning
to the drifts made the purchase justifiable. I had enemies with
long memories. All this work would exhaust our credit reserves, but
with our salvage windfall in the offing, I wasn't concerned.

Back in Baidora orbit, I put the work out for bids
and based on price and recommendations, I selected the Re'Tze
Shipyards of Constina, with one small misgiving. As far as I knew,
my grandmother, Zilantha V'Ran (the one from the drifts) owned a
spaceers' row dive on Constina. She and Mother weren't close, and
I'd met her only once, when I was a teenager when she visited us
for the first and last time. Interstellar travel is not cheap, so
visits would naturally be rare, but I believe her visit was the
first time they'd crossed orbits since Mother ran off to space. I
gather there'd been issues between them growing up, that were still
only partially resolved. I remember Grandma V'Ran as being
somewhere in those long middle years, looking – and acting – like
Mother's rather hardboiled sister. The issue was that to maintain
the pretense of trading deep in the drifts I'd asked everyone not
to contact their families. So if I called on my grandmother, I'd
not only be breaking that understanding, but perhaps giving away
our whole deception, given the nature of her business. I'd just
steer clear of Constina's spaceers' row for our stay.

02

We had seven weeks before the shipyard could start
work, leaving a month to get some tramping in, if I cared to. Which
I didn't. We all needed a break – and with the crew's leave time
piling up after our years in the drifts, the refitting provided a
good opportunity to clear some of that time. So with the contract
signed, we sailed direct to Constina with a dozen odd boxes. On
arrival I gave the crew an eight weeks leave downside.

Molaye booked a sleeper berth on an express packet to
Tradonia, but the rest of the crew found plenty to do on Constina.
It proved to be a very pleasant planet, reminding me of my home
world of Faelrain. Its cities were larger, since it was one of the
prime worlds of Amdia, but once they were left behind, it was all
lush rural countryside that became rustic, fading to almost wild on
the fringes. There were oceans, beaches and mountains to explore.
Riv was delighted to find zeps in common usage for travel outside
of the cities, so he and Lilm hired a zep yacht and spent their
leave sailing the skies of the southern continent together with
various shipmates as guests. For Dici and Elana this was their
first chance to experience a real planet beyond spaceers' row and
they, along with Kie, quickly took up zep piloting under Riv's
tutelage and hired one of their own to sail the planet. When not
floating above it, the rest of the crew found plenty of other
activities to keep them busy, sometimes together sometimes on their
own.

With the exception of a week when Illy took my harbor
watch to allow me a zep cruise with Riv, Lilm, Rafe and Lili, I
spent my time keeping watch with Botts, the mutts and cats aboard
ship. Botts could keep watch alone, of course, but that wouldn't
lift in the Unity. Still, with it on watch I felt free to slip away
and go downside whenever I cared to for a day. I found, however,
that unlike the last time I had the harbor watch with Dyn, in
Calissant orbit, I was at ease. It was my ship by now and Botts is
far better company than Dyn ever was with its old spaceer claimed
stories from eleven thousand years ago, when all sorts of now
banned technology was still in use, giving them an almost fantasy
quality.