The Stars Came Back (30 page)

Kat: That’s not how the law works, you know.

Harbin: That’s why I’m not a lawyer.

Horkle: Didn’t even notice the uniforms until they were dead. I popped the hatch for Ski, just like a boarding drill we practiced last week. He dove in, I followed, a couple of seconds later it was over. Dead man. I’m a dead man. First mission and I-

Harbin:
No. You are not a dead man, yet. Options?

Kaminski: If we toss ‘em all in the Carbon Recovery Unit, sterilize the weapons and the ship, it can’t be traced to us.

Helton: Destroying evidence?
That’s
gonna look good at trial.

Horkle: (
Sounding ill) I think I’m going to puke.

Kaminski: Why
can’t we just CRU the bodies, strip the hardware, keep it, or sell it? It’s not like
they
need it anymore.

Harbin:
We
are
not
pirates.

Helton: They
attacked us
first, we just won the fight.

Kat: Wait. Maybe… Maybe there is a way. Are any of the injured soldiers pilots?

Helton: I wouldn’t think so, but we can check. Are you taking him seriously?

Kat: Give me a minute. I need to look at something in that word salad Lag calls orders. Don’t touch a
nything, don’t say anything. Go back to our ship, guard the door, secure things, and find a pilot or two if you can.

DISSOLVE TO

INT -
DAY - Corner of the Cargo deck

Recruit Alvarez and Harbin a
re having a quick post-encounter discussion.

Alvarez: I don’
t understand it at all, First Sergeant.

Harbin: What?

Alvarez: Why you put us out there to get killed like that. It was stupid.

Harbin: I’ll overlook the attitude for the moment. What, exactly, do you think was stupid?

Alvarez: Everything. Us just standing there. You said last week that we should never throw away a perfectly good weapon if we didn’t have to. Wearing bright, old fashioned armor when we should be hiding. Throwing AXES, for Christ sake, at guys we expected to be armored and carry guns. It was
all
stupid.

Harbin: If it was so stupid, why was I standing
right there with you? Am I stupid, too?

Alvarez:
No
First Sergeant.

Harbin: Then I must have had something in mind, right?

Alvarez: Uh, I suppose so. But-

Harbin: What would they be armed with?

Alvarez: Carbines, I’d guess.

Harbin: Right, carbines. Rifles can usually punch through a ship’s skin.

Alvarez: What difference does that make? They are shooting at us!

Harbin: You think that particular shield will stop a carbine round?

Alvarez: Uh… yes?

Harbin: Yes. And what does the eye get attracted to
; things that are big and shiny, or small and hidden?

Alvarez: Shiny?

Harbin: Right. Three for three. If they are looking at us, what would they see?

Alvarez: …Us, throwing axes at them.

Harbin: Right. And if you saw someone throwing an ax at you, where would you be focusing your eyes, guns, and thoughts?

Alvarez: At them.

Harbin: Which means you would
not
be seeing… what? Remember tunnel vision?

Alvarez: I wouldn’t be seeing anyone else.

Harbin: And who else had a great view of the door they would have come in through?

Alvarez: Uh… The guys with rifles on
middeck.

Harbin: Yes. Combat vets, some with years of practice and training. Anyone coming in the hatch would see you and ignore them.

Alvarez: So, we were just going to stand there and get shot at.

Harbin: Yes,
we
were. You are recruits with a very little bit of training and marginal marksmanship skills. You were placed in the one spot where you could do some real good.

Alvarez: My first combat,
and I’m nothin’ but
bait
.

Harbin: But you stood your ground. You
held. Yes, I was there encouraging you. Yes, you were scared. Yes, you puked your guts out when it was over. But you
held your ground
when the unknown was beating on the door in front of you, not just in a drill. You didn’t have any idea what was about to come through the door. You followed orders exactly, even when you were not sure
why
you were doing it, because you trusted your leaders standing there with you to not be stupid.
And
you had the guts to ask why later, so now you
do
understand.

Alvarez: But they never came through the door!

Harbin: But they might have, and you thought they were going to. We just had a better plan and better people than they did. Remember that. Work with good people, get a good plan, follow good leaders, get good results. Work with smooth-talking arrogant fuckups and expect to fail spectacularly. Now, go get yourself cleaned up, and see if any of the other recruits have the same questions you did. And see if any of them had a better plan; there is always more to learn.

Marque

F
ADE TO

INT
- DAY - Kat’s cabin

Kat is reading an e-reader, Kaushik and Helton
watch her intently.

Kat: Yes, I think it
will work. Appendix L has some really odd pieces in it, and now I know why. Letters of Marque.

Helton: What?

Kat: Letters of Marque. Legal paperwork granting the power to a private ship to act as a warship in attacking the shipping of other specified nations. An old idea from early in the days of sail. All but forgotten but still on the books. I
think
, that with the proper legal obfuscation and verbiage, we can grant you nominal Plataean warship status to carry out military actions against certain types of “enemy” shipping. In this case, a suspected pirate vessel attacking without announcement, warning, provocation, and only a veneer of legal authority. We give your command a Letter of Marque, declare that ship a lawful target, buy it from you and sterilize its origin.

Helton: You can
do
that?

Kaushik: That doesn’t seem… right.

Kat: It’s technically legal, if not common. It gets us out of this situation. It gets Plataea a cheap ship. It makes you a healthy profit. It’ll only work if we can pilot it out of here to an appropriate Plataean base out-system. If you see any better options, I’m all ears.

Helton: …Now I know why Lag wanted you working for
him
.

Kaushik: Warfare operates at many levels. You and I see only the most obvious. Kat and Lag play a
much deeper game.

Helton: Glad he’s on my side.

Kat: He isn’t.
You
are on
his
. Or, rather, you both happen to be aiming in the same direction right now.

Helton: Comforting thought.

Kaushik: Trust me, there are much worse places to be.

DISSOLVE TO

INT -
NIGHT - Officers’ mess

Helton, Kat, Bipasha, Allonia, and Horkle sit around the table.

Horkle: ME?

Helton: Well, you and a very one-legged Lieutenant Plumon were the only guys with
any pilot experience that we can spare. Cooper and Kaushik we need here, and you have more experience than the Sergeant, anyway.

Kat
: It’ll mostly autopilot itself. You are there as much to take care of Plumon as you are to fly.

Allonia: Just think, not even a fully ranked Private, and you are off on a secret mission of your own!

Horkle: Well, uh, yeah, I guess, but…

Kat: She’s right.
It’s a good career move.

Bipasha: Yo
u’re lucky. You get to jet off among the stars, the rest of us have to stay here to clean up the mess and plod on to the transfer station.

Cooper: (OC on intercom) Kaushik says ship’s cleaned and supplied
. Plumon’s aboard and says it looks easy. Time, Horkle.

Horkle stands up, looking nervous but game. Allonia gives him a hug.

Kat: You’ll be fine. You can’t transition for another eighteen hours or so, and we’ll have all the legal stuff beamed over to you. It’ll be fine.

Horkle: Well, better get going. Hope to see you again soon!

Horkle goes out the door. It closes behind him

Kat: And, as long as nothing happens to them between now and then, it
will
be fine.

Helton: So, how much are we really talking?

Bipasha: It’s a newer craft, must cost at least a hundred mil new, eighty for current resale.

Kat: Twenty, split between Lag’s command as the sponsoring agent and the ships’ corporation, which is traditionally split up on a percentage basis, but-

Bipasha: Twenty! Is that all?

Kat: Yes. Do you know anyone else assuming all risks and contingent legal liabilities of hacking government encrypted computers and sterilizing them, certifying that this was all legal so
you
don’t hang for piracy, deals in ships, and has the cash to buy in the next seventy-two hours?

Helton: Well, no,
but
twenty
!?

Kat: It has to be low enough that
no one back home wants to object and push back.

Allonia: So, what
sort of a split, exactly?

Kat: Half for Lag and his company. Half to be split among the Ship’s company. Normally, about half of that would go to the ship for operational costs, the remaining quarter-

Bipasha: Five mil.

Kat: -would be split among the crew.

Helton: So, hypothetically, how is that normally split among the captain and crew?

Kat: Half to the captain and-

Bipasha: HALF?!

Helton: Wow.

Kat: -but considering the fact that Lag has extended a substantial amount of credit to you under the table to get this old beast flying…

Allonia: Would that come out of
his
half or
our
half? Or Helton’s half of our half?

Kat: That would be at his discretion. I think. Because there is no formal
prior
agreement, you either come to one now, unanimously, or it goes to binding arbitration, which could be… problematic. I’d advise you get a formal agreement soon for any future actions, too.

Allonia: …
Would the injured soldiers and recruits be considered crew?

Helton: Huh? What?

Allonia: We
did
arm them to repel boarders, and Plumon and Horkle
are
flying the ship back as prize crew.

Everyone looks at her with surprise and consternation, then look at each other.

Allonia: And would the recruits share come from Lag’s company portion, or the ship’s company portion, or…?

Helton: Oh good
Lord.

Bipasha: That would be all but impossible to get a unanimous…

Kat: I suggest you come to an agreement now, here and quickly, and present it to everyone as a done deal, ask for any major objections, and declare it unanimous.

Helton: O
oookay, then…

DISSOLVE TO

Helton, Kat, Bipasha
, Kwon, Cooper, and Harbin are sitting around the mess room table, looking frazzled.

Kat: Any further objections?

Cooper: I
still
think-

Kat: T
hat haven’t been covered already? No? OK, then. All we need is five seconds of silence after we ask for objections and it’s official.

Bipasha: So much money, so many ways.

Kwon: It puts me ahead of where I was yesterday, and it keeps us flying. We need that much for the ship.

Helton: Enough excitement and decisions for the day?

Bipasha leans back in her seat, crossing her arms, face inscrutable, and stares back at him.

Bipasha: …I don’t know if you are the luckiest man in the universe, or the
un
luckiest.

Kwon: Yes. Yes he is.

FADE TO BLACK

Short Supply

FADE IN

EXT - DAY - Parking lot outside Cobb’s

T
he parking lot is full. Kaminski, Helton, Sar, and Kwon pull up in a light truck, park, and hop out. Kaminski and Helton carry small gun bags and are wearing holsters with pistols, as does Kwon. They head inside.

CUT TO

INT -
DAY - Cobb’s School of Public Relations

It’s much busier
than before. Ammo stacks are significantly smaller, the listed “specials” prices are higher. They head for the counter just as Vera is finishing up with a customer.

Vera: Sorry we can’t help you out. Nothing more in that caliber, I’m afraid. Don’t know when
more will show up.

The man and woman at the counter look a little
frustrated, make a disappointed frown and turn to leave. Vera waves to Kaminski.

Vera: Howdy, again! Hope you brought your own
gun food.

Kaminski: What’s up?

Vera: Been crazy the last few days. Rumors sparked a buying frenzy. We were already getting low, but now (waves around, shakes head). Nearly out of ammo. Nobody wants to ship it, afraid of being considered a military target and being hit by cops, Customs, Navy, or pirates. Rumors even some of the Customs ships getting vaporized. Everyone wants to stock up, no one wants to sell.

Kaminski: Uh, yeah, we heard some pretty wild rumors about that, too. Don’t believe half of what you hear, though. You know how it is
. See something odd on a screen, pretty soon it’s Planet Movers or pirates or something. If a ship really
did
disappear, probably just the agents that stole it to sell and retire on. Can’t you buy any ammo off world?

Vera: Got a
big order awaiting shipment on Emirate II, Geminorum. The boss found a shitload of mixed-lot mil-surp. Can’t find a shipper, though. So, what
can
I do for you?

Kwon and Helton
glance at each other.

Helton: How
big
a shitload? What kind?

Vera: (
Casually) Dunno. He said it was too good a deal to pass up, but sounded like he was stretched thin to finance it. I can check. Why?

Kaminski: Helton here owns the
Dutchman
on pad D9. He’s looking for cargo.

Helton: Can you check what it is and what he’d pay to get it shipped here?

Vera: Sure thing. Hang out a few.

Vera trots of
f down the counter and disappears through a door.

Helton: That would be good.
Ammo is dense and high value; wouldn’t take a lot of cubes.

Kaminski:
And I’m sure Lag would like to get first crack at buying a supply, too. He said things are tight right now for ammo he’s looking for and we should keep our ears open.

Sar: Everyone looks like they
’re stocking up for the shit hitting the fan.

They
watch a man walking by with a hand truck stacked with ammo and emergency food.

Kwon:
Bigtime. We should lay in more e-rats as soon as we can, I’m thinking.

Vera
returns with an amazed expression on her face.

Vera: He says it’s about
two-hundred million rounds. Everything from small-caliber training ammo to 120mm canister rounds. About four thousand tons.

Kaminski whistles. Sar and Kwon raise their eyebrows
in surprised.

Helton:
Whoa.

Kaminski:
That’s
a Burt-load, alright, even by my standards.

Helton: We might just be in business! Kwon, Sar, see about getting supplies for a trip to
Emirate II in the Geminorum system; talk to Cooper about times. Kaminski, detail what Lag needs. Vera, would you be so kind as to introduce me to your boss?

A
ll nod at each other and head in different directions, Helton with Vera, the others talking into their person com units.

DISSOLVE TO

INT -
DAY - Engineering

Stenson
is working on a console when Helton walks in.

Helton:
You said it was ready for FTL for real?

Stenson: Think so. Got
three cores hooked up and passing tests with the Harmon drives, two with the Sokolov’s. Should be solid, but I’d rather not test it with a shipload of injured soldiers on a long trip. And definitely don’t want to test them simultaneously until I get a better understanding of what they were trying to do on the multi-core thing.

Helton: How about
four thousand tons of ammo from Emirate II?

Stenson:
Pretty massive load. Should be OK if subspace is quiet. The quickie trans-light test after Transfer Station Two looked pretty good, if not rock solid. How soon?

Helton: As soon as we can get loaded up and you say we are ready.

Stenson: A few loose ends to tie up. Call it two days, maybe less. There are a few parts we need made with very tight spec tolerances. Geminorum has some good custom shops. If we can beam plans ahead on a message drone we might even be able to pick them up when we get there. How much can you afford?

Helton: We can look at the details
and figure out the priorities tonight at dinner.

Stenson: Sounds good. Harbin and the kids coming with us?

Helton: He’s been pushing them pretty hard; the first phase is over, and a bunch of them got farmed out to other units or cut. There’s only a handful left, not enough to start phase two with until we get some others. He said some R&R on Geminorum would be good for them, if he can work ‘em there and back. Lag has some business there, too.

Stenson: I think Alvarez has family on New Texas, too. Might be able to work in a quick transfer point stop for him, maybe?

Helton: We’ll see. Depend on supplies and subspace conditions. Let me know if you need anything else.

DISSOLVE TO

INT -
NIGHT - Officers’ Mess

Helton, Bipasha, Kwon, Cooper, Harbin, Lag, and Sar sit at the table discussing details and thoughts, with Quinn listening in.

Cooper: The latest reports show a swirl going by New Texas. Shouldn’t add more than couple hours to stop at the transfer station there. Only about eight days universal in subspace using the Harmons, eleven using the pair of Sokolovs. A day for a Geminorum stop, about two subjective. Coming back should be about three either way universal, but about a week subjective on the typical route.

Lag:
The units I’m working with could use the heavy stuff on the list. A stock of the 25mm is always good to have, too.

Stenson: Four thousand tonnes of cargo will be a good systems stress
test, too. Not much chance you’d ever have to haul more than that, unless you plan on strapping it on outside.

Bipasha: I can’t believe you found a cargo like this so fast! It’s about the one thing you can haul competitively. (
Shakes head) Just about fill the hold, good tonnage rates. And it just drops into your lap.

Helton: I thought you said that we couldn’t make this thing work?

Bipasha: Two lucky one-time freak jobs don’t make a business. Just delays the inevitable.

Kwon: One step at a time. As long as we are still in business long enough to find the next job. Nice to help people out, and if we can see a bit more of the ‘verse while we are at it… it’s all good.

Sar: Won’t have much extra though. Prices for a lot of the staples are twice what they were last week.

Helton:
Twice
?

Sar: Everyone’
s nervous, stocking up. Not just ammo. Food, pretty much everything you can’t print at home. Printer resin is up, too.

Quinn: Why does all of ‘em buy at once?

Sar: “why
do
all of them,” Quinn;
she
DOES,
they
DO. Because
they
all got scared by the same news at the same time.

Quinn: What are they scared of?

Helton: The unknown. They
might
run out of food, or ammo, or whatever, and they don’t know when they can get more. People are like that.

Quinn: W
hy not keep more around always? Think they might not eat next week?

Everyone chuckles
slightly at that.

Lag: Lots of reasons, most of them not very good. That’s why you always hear Mr
. Kwon talking about stocking up on food, Mr. Stenson stocking up on parts, Allonia stocking up on just about everything, and the First Sergeant talking about ammunition supplies.
We
know things can run out and resupply might be difficult. We know difficult times can happen.

Bipasha: Maybe we could stop in on New Texas and get some supplies fo
r cheaper on the way back? Timeline on the ammo delivery isn’t very tight.

Helton: Not many food product engineering companies there. Mostly just bulk producers.

Kwon: We can do bulk scratch, no problem. Beans ‘n rice can go anywhere. We could convert just about any room on the ship into a fridge or freezer for fresh or frozen meats and veggies.

Helton: Really? How?

Kwon: Fire suppression system can chill just about anything. I asked the AI about it after a small galley fire; something about reversed microwaves, I think. Missed the technobabble. Iced a flaming pan of blazing bacon in a few seconds. Whole room chilled.

Sar:
Really
slick. Back to work hardly missing a beat. Bacon was still good, even.

Lag: That’s a new one to me. Good to know fire
suppression works well, especially if we are hauling ammo.

Helton: Cooper, keep your eyes on conditions and see if it makes time-sense to swing by New Texas. We’ll see if we can clean out a closet or two to make a meat
locker. Now, then-

The main screen o
n the wall chimes, showing an avatar: nothing but a knit orange cap.

Ship AI: (OC, brisk male voice) A call from Cobb’s about the contract.

Helton eyebrows rise in surprise.

Helton: Put him
on.

There is a brief pause, then the cap icon starts slowly rotating.

Cobb: (OC) Can’t do it. Money guys said they won’t do it unless you got insurance.

Helton: But, you said, I mean, what? Why?

Cobb: (OC) You got a uninsured ship more than four hundred years old, no history of shipping, and you’re asking to take nearly a hundred million dollars of cargo through two war zones. They won’t issue the letter of credit unless you post a performance bond or offer proof of delivery insurance.

Bipasha: But didn’t you fight off the-

Harbin: (Cutting her off)
Yes
, we are fighters. But Helton and his ship have no
official
track record of trans-light cargo transport. It
is
a lot of cargo for an unknown.

Cobb: (OC) Exactly. I think you
’ll to do your best, but the money guys won’t trust anybody unless you can offer a guarantee against their cash loss risk if you lose or steal the cargo.

They all look at one another around the table.

Helton: Any ideas?

Bipasha:
Maybe. (To the ship AI to send to Cobb) Could you please wait a minute?

Cobb: Sure, if you think you can still swing it.

The screen shows a MUTE icon.

Bipasha: (
To Lag) You said you were interested in buying a chunk of it, right?

Lag: Not personally, but some of the units I’m working with, yes.

Bipasha: What percentage, value-wise?

Lag: About a quarter of it.

Bipasha: Do you think Cobb’s money guys know you?

Lag: Almost assuredly.

Bipasha: You were going to be going with us anyway. If you posted a payment bond for a quarter of it and told them you and a squad of Plataean Space Marines were going as escorts on contract, would that carry enough weight with them?

Harbin: What squad?

Bipasha: You two, Kaminski and Kaushik, the rest of them.

Harbin: All ten of them, if you include Stenson and his engineering and maintenance crew?

Bipasha: Technically, it’s a squad, isn’t it?

Lag: (
Grinning) If you stretch the words far enough.

Helto
n: Which it seems you are good at.

Lag thinks it over.

Bipasha: Maybe you could get a discount on your portion?

Lag: (
Thinking out loud) Hmmm… Yes, that might be doable. Hmmm, Hmmmm, hmmmm… Yes. (Louder, to the ship AI) Back on screen.