Hold the Star: Samair in Argos: Book 2 (57 page)

              “All right.  Try it!” Tamara yelled from her position under the engineering console.  She was aboard the small cargo ship moored at the station, working with one of the engineers from
Grania Estelle
, the zheen Kay’grax.  When the young tech had learned that his former captain was looking to get a ship and get back into space, he immediately wanted to help.  Eamonn, however, wasn’t quite as thrilled with Tamara’s decision to go and work on another ship.

              “I’m not leaving,” Tamara told him just before she’d left for the station.  “Not for good.  I’m taking two days, I’m going to survey Captain Vosteros’s ship and I’m going to see what I can do for him.”

              A look had passed over Vincent Eamonn’s face.  She hadn’t been able to determine what it meant.  “What would you need?”

              “One of our techs and probably some replicator support,” she said, looking him square in the face, challenging.

              He hesitated for a long moment, and then nodded.  “Whatever you need.”  Another pause.  “I owe him.”

              “I’m on it.  And I promise, two days,” she said, suddenly unsure of herself.

              He waved a hand, shooing her out of the wardroom.  “Go, Tamara.”  It was the first time in a long time, if ever, that he had used her given name.  She’d turned with purpose and strode from the wardroom. 

              The ship was actually not in terrible shape.  The reactor needed a good flush, and more than a few components needed some work.  But the ship itself just needed some TLC and effectively a good service to get back into operation.  She and Kay’grax had been tearing into the ship for hours, and after near thirty-six hours of straight, exhausting work, main power was up and the sublight drives were ready for a test. 

              “Bringing sublights on line,” Kay’grax said.  He was emitting a slight hum due to fatigue.  The both of them had been downing stimulants fairly regularly in the last ten hours, coffee and nutrient bars in Tamara’s case, and verigo sap (diluted) and nutrient paste for the zheen.  At this point, however, they were both dead on their feet, but they were so close.

              The tech tapped a few keys on the console and a resounding thrum filled the engineering spaces as the sublight drives powered up.  Kay’grax kept his compound eyes fixed on his displays watching as the readouts slowly climbed into the green.  Engine and core temperatures were all rising, but well within parameters.  “Output is steady.  Fuel flow is nominal.  Everything’s in the green.”

              Tamara nodded to herself and closed up the panel she was working on.  Sliding out from under the console she climbed unsteadily to her feet and checked the displays herself.  A weary smile creased her lips and she clapped him on the shoulder.  “Good job.”  Fishing into her pocket, she pulled out her communicator and flipped it open with her thumb.  “Captain, this is Tamara.”             

              A second later, he responded.  “Go ahead, Tamara.”

              “Sublight engines are up,” she reported.

              “That is excellent news!” Frederick crowed.  “You’re a sorceress, Tamara, seriously.”

              Kay’grax chittered a laugh.  “Thanks, Captain.  Do you have a few minutes?  I want to give a full brief on everything else that needs doing.”

              “Absolutely,” he said.  “Captain’s cabin?”

              “On my way.”

              Tamara walked through the ship, heading for the Captain’s cabin which was on the second deck of the four-deck ship.  The ship was different than what Tamara was used to and it was vastly different from the
Emilia Walker
.  The ship only had one cargo hold, as opposed to the three on Vosteros’s other ship.  The hold was twenty percent larger and had one main cargo hatch that opened to the front.  The bay was the entirety of deck four, the bottom deck.  Above that and aft was the engineering spaces, which took up most of the room, to the fore was the galley, capable of seating eight.  Deck two held living spaces, crew berths and lavatory and showering facilities that offered a decent amount of privacy.  The Captain’s cabin was located in the forward section of deck two, which had a bunk, a desk and a small couch against the bulkhead.  It was enough to do what he needed, with a dedicated terminal attached to the desk.

              The trip to the cabin took all of two minutes and Tamara had to marvel at the amount they’d managed to get done in the short time she’d been aboard.  Frederick had brought the two engineers aboard to survey and if possible, make any repairs needed to get the ship back up and running.  Meanwhile, he and Taja had started on cleaning the ship.  Most of the problems that were affecting the ship, aside from some hull work needed, were cosmetic.  The previous crew, curse them, had neglected and disrespected this vessel.  Trash and filth were everywhere.  It was similar to the condition of the
Emilia Walker
the first time Tamara had come aboard, but thankfully the stench of the other ship wasn’t present here.  It was just dirty.

              So Taja and the captain had let loose with a pair of cleaner bots and with a crate of cleaning supplies had attacked the galley.  In just a few hours, the place looked infinitely better.  Every surface gleamed, every fixture sparkled.  The stained floor was clean, all the crufts of dirt that had accumulated in the corners were swept away.  After that, and a short break, the two had moved to the berthing spaces.  They’d pulled the soiled and filthy mattresses and dragged them down to the cargo bay where they had piled them up for disposal.  The bots, meanwhile took care of the sleeping compartment.  It would need a fresh coat of paint, and the ventilation ducts would need a good going over, but the big, painful, sweaty jobs were getting squared away.

              When Tamara reached the cabin, she knocked on the open hatch frame and Vosteros looked up from where he was scrubbing one of the bulkheads with a soapy sponge.  A suds bucket was on the deck at his feet and he, like everyone aboard, was sweat soaked and covered in grime.  “Welcome to my kingdom,” he said expansively, holding his arms out to the side, soap dripping to the deck. 

              Tamara smiled back, stepping inside and leaning against the hatch cowling.  She started to rub her face with her hands but quickly realized she was just smearing grease onto her skin.  She cursed softly.

              Vosteros chuckled.  “I think you look better that way.”

              Tamara looked up with a friendly grimace.  “I’d give you a disgusting hug, but I think you’d get me more dirty,” she said, gesturing to his sweat soaked shirt.

              “Oh, the glamour of the spaceways.”  He dropped the sponge in the bucket and sat down on the bare bunk.  “So, you said something about a full brief.”  He looked her over, sighed at the sight of her stained and dirty shipsuit then gestured her to the hard plastic chair at the desk.  She sat.

              Tamara was just about to start when a figure appeared in the hatchway, just to her left.  “So I hear things are working,” Taja said, crossing her arms under her breasts.

              Tamara nodded, tamping down on her irritation.  This was about Frederick, about the ship, not any petty problems she and the cargo specialist might have.  Tamara mentally chuckled.  She wasn’t really sure why she even had any problems with Taja.  Her talk before about ‘stealing a captain’ wasn’t true.  It wasn’t as though she had any romantic feelings toward either man.  Her own feelings towards Vincent Eamonn were complicated enough that she didn’t really understand why she stayed aboard
Grania Estelle
, but she was working through her difficulties.

              “Yeah,” Tamara said.  “Things are looking good.  Sensors are working, hyperdrive is up.”

              “It is?” Taja asked, surprised.

              Tamara glared at her.  “Yes, Taja, it is.  This crate isn’t powerful enough to hit the higher levels of the rainbow, but she really only needed a tune up.  She’ll make Yellow level three now, but you won’t get much more out of her.”

              Frederick blinked.  “I’m… wow.  That’s amazing.  You really can get this ship up to Yellow three?”

              Tamara shook her head.  “Not me. 
You
are going to get her that high.  The engines and the shields are tuned, you just need to fly her.  Hyperdrive was in surprisingly good shape, actually.”

              “Wow,” he repeated.  “What about weapons?”

              But she shook her head again.  “You got that one front mounted laser cannon and the one top turret laser.  But they’re not going to really let you win any battles, Frederick.  This is a cargo runner, not a warship.”

              “You like saying that,” Taja said with a smile.

              Tamara smirked.  “I keep saying that because it’s true.  Neither this ship, nor the
Emilia Walker
, nor the
Grania Estelle
is a warship.  They’re all cargo ships.”  The other woman nodded.  “You won’t be able to fight off any serious pirates, Frederick, you know that.  You’re going to have to find some nice safe milk runs to start.”

              He nodded.  “I know.  I’m just not really sure there are any safe milk runs anymore.  Not any ones that have any kind of profit.”

              “Oh, I think I can make it work,” Taja said, smiling a bit.  Frederick returned her smile.

              Tamara forced herself to resist rolling her eyes.  “Anyway, you’ll need to completely replace your algae tanks for the environmental systems, but that’s easy enough.  Other than that, Captain, you are ready for space.  Well, as far as the engineering systems are concerned.  I’m sure you’ll need to stock your pantry and actually secure a cargo.”

              He shook his head.  “I don’t know how to thank you for this, Tamara.”

              She waved it away.  “Don’t mention it.”

              Frederick raised an eyebrow.  “Not to you, anyway.”  He sighed.  “So just how far in hock with Captain Eamonn am I for all this generosity?”  He had a slight grimace on his lips. 

              Tamara shrugged.  “He told me to get this ship up and running.  He didn’t say anything about payment.  He’s paying for my time, and Kay’grax, but as I said, he didn’t mention any kind of remuneration on your part.  You’ll have to speak with him.”  She pushed off the hatch cowling.  “So, I’ve uploaded all the nitty-gritty details to your computers,” she said, pointing to the console on the desk.  “Feel free to peruse.  Oh, I made sure your electronics spares are stocked, but the rest is up to you.  And whatever crew you decide to hire.”

              Vosteros came forward, extending a hand.  “Really, Tamara, thank you.  I owe you big time.”

              She took his hand and shook it warmly.  “You were one of the ones that busted your ass to try and get rid of the pirates, Frederick.  I just wanted to do what I could to try and help out a friend.”

              Before they could say anything else, Tamara’s communicator beeped.  She released Vosteros’s hand and pulled it from her pocket.  Flipping it open, she said, “Samair here.”

              George Miller’s voice came through clearly.  “There’s a convoy of ships approaching the station, Samair,” he said.  “Six freighters and two military ships; frigates, they look like.”

              Tamara felt herself go cold.  “Have they identified?”

              “Not by name,” George replied.  “But they’re all flashing Ulla-tran beacon ID.  And one of the cargo ships we know.”

              “Which one?”

              “
Emilia Walker.
”

              “Triarch, I understand that you and some of your people are a bit hesitant in working with me to get your warship operational,” Eamonn said.  “But surely it can’t be because you think you don’t need it.  Word through the grapevine is that you pulled a reactor from another ship to transfer it to the warship.  You wouldn’t do something like that if you didn’t think it was necessary.”

              The zheen tapped the desk that he was seated at.  Vincent Eamonn had come over to the station to attempt another bid to supply parts to repair the
Leytonstone
.  Triarch Kozen’ck had seemed the most open to the idea, so Vincent had asked for another meeting.  To his surprise, the zheen businessman was willing to meet with him away from his fellows, though his interest in the project was of course, guarded.  They were meeting in the Triarch’s palatial office on the orbital station.

              “Captain, I’m aware that you are very enthusiastic for contracts throughout the system, and I know that this one would be a very large tunnel in your anthill.  I’m aware that you’ve put Kay, Jo’zenit and Simpson on retainer and all of the havoc that they are wreaking throughout the station’s businesses.”

              Vincent smiled.  “Oh that’s a bit of hyperbole, isn’t it, Triarch?  I’ve purchased a pair of tugs, I’m selling ever increasing amounts of helium 3 fuel to the station engineers, none of whom are complaining about that.”

              “You’ve also managed to secure mining rights to the asteroid belt,” the zheen pointed out.  “Don’t tell me that your cup isn’t running over.  I don’t even know how you’re keeping up with all of that,
and
managing what my experts tell me is very serious refit work to your ship.”