The Bright Black Sea (12 page)

'So you see, I'm offering a chance to learn two
trades, shipbroker and tramp ship pilot. You can be Min & Co in
port and a pilot in passage, both without compromise. How can you
lose?' I added with a smile, not returned, but her eyes were
thoughtful.

I'd probably said enough, so I just added, 'Sorry,
I'm not normally given to speech making but, well, this opportunity
just seems so right Tallith... for you and the
Lost
Star
.'

That brought a mirthless laugh. 'You certainly didn't
seem to know when to stop...'

'I was taught negotiations end when one party says No
and means it. You haven't said No. You've merely given me
objections to overcome, which, I must say, I have...'

She looked away. I left her to her thoughts for a few
moments before adding, 'We've a spare davis on the boat deck for
the
Ghost
, so you can bring her along. And I'd not dock your
wages for the extra rocket fuel that hauling it entails...'

'You seem pretty free with ship's accounts, Captain,'
she said quietly.

'Just goes to show how close an eye you're going to
have to keep on me. You're going to need to be on board.'

'I'm beginning to think so,' she said with a glance
back that gave nothing away.

'Right. I'll sign you on right now, if you like.
Think about it – talk it over with Kardea. I'll not fill the berth
until we have to sail, so you've time to decide.'

'I'm too tired to think tonight. We'll see...'

'Fair enough,' I said and looking down to dismiss the
Guild form the words “Tallith Ocila Min” on the form caught my eye.
“Owner, Tallith Ocila Min”.

'Captain?' I heard Min say in the background. 'Is
something wrong?'

I looked up slowly, one thought chasing the next.
'No.' She was Vinden's obvious choice.

'What is? What's wrong?'

'Nothing, absolutely nothing at all,' I said,
extended my hand. 'May I be the first to congratulate you!'

She looked at my hand. 'On what?' she asked
warily.

'On your – no, our good fortune. Look here on this
form – you're listed as the
Lost Star
's owner. That had to
have been one of the documents they were preparing. You are, after
all, the obvious choice to inherit the ship.' I called up the
ship's registration document to be certain and slid it across the
desktop to her.

She leaned over and stared, frozen in place. 'Uncle
Hawk...,' she said softly, eyes wide, but unseeing. After a few
moments she pulled herself upright and glanced at the com link on
her wrist. 'I have several messages from the Ministry. Hopefully
they'll explain what this all means,' she said,

'Oh, I think it's obvious...' I said as she touched
the com link to download the messages.

Though the com link's neural connections can display
the documents as visional memory, it's easier with complex
documents to read them rather than mentally review them, so I
suggested, 'Let's retire to the office. You can put them up on a
screen and read through them. I'll make us some cha.'

She nodded absently and we stepped around to the
ship's office just down the passageway. I waved her to the working
side of the desk and went over to the sideboard to make the cha.
She loaded the documents to the desk viewer and began to read as
Astro and Orbit curled up in the corner by her feet to resume their
naps. I set a covered mug of hot cha on the desk and settled on a
chair to sip mine as she silently reviews the documents. The tiny
random noises of the empty ship only emphasized the silence.

She considered them for quite a while before looking
up to say, 'It appears that Uncle Hawk and Captain Miccall had an
agreement that upon the death of one, the survivor had first option
to buy the other's share of the
Lost Star
. Uncle Hawk
exercised this option, completing the purchase just prior to his
own death. His will stated that I was to receive his share of the
Lost Star
as a gift. The Ministry, with all the relevant
records in hand, saw no reason to delay the distribution of this
asset prior to completing the entire estate. No doubt they wanted
to avoid the expense of paying off and laying up the ship out of
the general estate.'

'Ah. I was wondering how it happened so fast. It's
obvious now, with your interest in space and his daughter's lack of
it, that you'd get the
Lost Star
. Clearly he had it in mind
from the beginning.'

'I don't think it's all that obvious. Cousin Galacia,
even if she's not interested in his shipping business could expect
to inherit it.'

'Well, you're certainly the heir in spirit to the
Four Shipmates. Your stint in the liner service was likely meant to
prepare you for being a ship owner one day,' I suggested.

'I don't think any of them expected to be gone for
decades. This is far too early...' she replied, and turned back to
the documents.

'Oh! The estate is claiming all the profits of the
voyage prior the date of Uncle Hawk's death...'

'Ah, that's rather unfortunate... Let me think...' I
said, doing the rough math in my head.

'How bad?'

'Well, thanks to Captain Jann's boxes, we'll be left
with between 3 and 4 twelfths of the total,' I replied. 'It cuts
our margin of error significantly, but does not preclude sailing
empty to Sanre-tay and perhaps beyond, assuming we take our time
and keep the wages only on the books. But it'd certainly be nice to
land the Tiladore charter.'

Min considered our situation for several moments
before replying, 'Just so there's no misunderstanding, I'm not
poor, but my credit balance won't subsidize the operation of the
Lost Star
without profits for long. My parents seemed to
have arrived with their fortune since Min & Co only paid their
living expenses, and only that in the good years. Dividing their
fortune has left me comfortable, but not rich enough to treat the
ship like a yacht. It has to earn its keep...' She looked across
the desk, rather stricken.

'I can imagine what you're feeling. Felt the same way
when I was appointed acting captain. Just remember that the
Lost
Star
has circled Azminn a hundred times and all Uncle Hawk did
– at least as far as managing the
ship
–
was to transfer his share of the profits to his account twice a
year. We'll take care of you however actively or inactively you
care to involve yourself with the ship. If there's a profit to be
made in the Azminn system, we'll make it for you.'

'If there's a profit to be made...'

'We've a hundred loyal customers on twenty some
worlds – we'll get by,' I said, perhaps not quite as confident as I
wanted it to sound. Times are tough.

'Thank you. I'll try not to worry.... too much,' she
said giving me one of her unreadable looks.

'It's our worry, Tallith. That's part of my job,' I
said. 'I've gotten used to it.' I realized after I said it, that I
was making an assumption that was no longer valid. She gave me a
thoughtful look, but didn't point that out. She went back to
reading her documents.

Later, 'May I offer you dinner?' I asked as she
lowered the view screen. 'We've a wide choice of boxed meals in the
bistro to heat up – leftovers from the banquet. Or I can try my
hand at dinner, but it'd have to be simple. Free fall cooking is at
the far edge of my expertise...'

'Thanks, but it's getting late and I need to be
pushing off. Vyn and Ten will be getting anxious.

'Vyn and Ten?'

'The standing crew of the
Silvery Moon
. Vynnia
Ar'Dim and Tenry enCarn. I've known them all my life. They're like
family. When they weren't needed aboard the Moon, they acted as my
parents' major-domos about the flat and country house. Now they've
taken to looking after me,' she added with a wry grin. 'Whether I
like it or not.'

''Glad to hear that. I pictured you returning to an
empty ship.'

'Would that be any different than going home to an
empty flat?'

I shrugged. 'After spending two days almost alone
aboard this packet, I'd have to say yes. I'm glad you've people to
go home to.'

'Well, you have Astro and Orbit. I'll leave him to
you guys,' she added to the dogs, laying or rather drifting at our
feet, their paws having lost contact with the deck. She rose and
we, the dogs and I followed her into the passageway and down
through the dark, silent ship to the dim-lit landing stage. Here
she paused and stared out into space for a few moments before
glancing at me.

'I'm going to have to give all this a great deal of
thought...' she said, with a quick glance at me.

'I understand completely,' I said, and did. I was
acting captain once more. 'She's yours to do with as you please. I
hope I might stay aboard in some capacity.'

'Of course, I'd hope everyone will stay on. It may
take me several days to sort this all out so I'd appreciate it if
you'd keep all this strictly between us. If anyone asks, tell them
things look promising, but the details will have to wait. I'd
rather not alert my rivals and, well, I'd like to appear competent
and decisive when I've finalized my plans.'

'Right.'

'Thank you, Captain. Fair orbits.'

'Fair orbits, Owner,' I replied as she turned and
made her way along the gangplank to the
Ghost
's open
hatch.

It was the middle of the fourth watch (late Secondday
evening in Primecentra). The bachelor birds were quiet, Astro,
Orbit and Ginger were dozing together in a pile on one of the
fleeting sunny squares, and having finished my last mug of cha, I
was summoning the ambition to stand and drift off to my hammock for
a nap when the
Ghost
lifted out of Port Prime and came
alongside.

Min radioed a brief 'Hello '
Star
' as she
approached, rockets flaring, but held off docking, content to
slowly orbit her ship. I replied with an equally brief 'Hello
Ghost
' and let her admire her tramp freighter. I'd done it
myself.

I remained anchored on a lounge, while the dogs
abandoned me – clattering off to the main stairs and down to the
landing stage to await Min's arrival. Ginger, awakened by the
departure of the dogs, looked around, stretched and curled back up
and closed her eyes again. I used my com link tied into the ship's
sensors to keep an 'eye' on Min's boat.

I touched comlink on my wrist, 'They never spent
credits on the hull. Must have liked the authentic tramp look. Lots
of character,' I said, adding, 'Mostly in the patches, dents and
fading livery...'

'So I see.'

'And, she's all yours, dents and all.'

I'd not heard from Min the entire day. No doubt busy
courting the Tiladore charter and taking formal ownership of the
Lost Star
and its accounts. I spent the day doing odd chores
aboard ship, thinking as little as possible about my future. With
the exception of a few stragglers, most of the worries I've had to
carry since the death of Miccall had been eliminated or passed on
to the new owner.

I noticed
Ghost
edging in towards the
starboard gangplank, so I pushed myself upright and headed down to
join Astro and Orbit on the landing. I found Dyn waiting as well.
I'd briefed him on Min's inheritance. He knows all and reveals
nothing, so not telling him would've been pointless and petty. We
exchanged a few words as the bright hull of Min's boat appeared in
view, slipping into the gangplank dock without the slightest
tremor. We stepped forward as the safety door-panel slid open. The
dogs charged ahead. We caught them before Min emerged.

'Welcome aboard, Owner Min,' I sung out as she swung
on to the gang plank. She was dressed in her usual blacks and
whites.

'Congratulations, Talley,' added Dyn. The dogs barked
their welcome, bounding under our hands.

'Thank you,' she said with a weary smile as she took
my hand and Dyn's, 'Owner Min, is it, Captain?' she added as she
knelt to greet the dogs.

'It was Pilot and Purser Min and Owner Vinden, so
Owner seems part of the tradition.'

She shrugged. 'Talley, or Min if you care to be more
formal, will be fine, Captain.'

'I rather like Owner, but Talley or Min it is, if
you'll call me Wil. We're not much for formality, are we Dyn?'

He snapped to attention and said in his always
unexpected show of wit, 'No sir, we're not.'

Min laughed and I just sighed. 'I rest my case.'

She hesitated a moment before saying, 'I believe I
need to have a conversation with each of you...' she said, looking
from Dyn to me.

Dyn spoke up, 'We can talk whenever. No hurry. I'm
delighted you're our owner – it's the way Fen and Captain Vinden
envisioned the future of the
Lost Star
. You have my
blessings as well as theirs.

Min took his hand again. 'Thank you Dyn. I appreciate
your blessing. I hope I can live up to your expectations. And
theirs. We'll have a long talk later.'

'You'll do just fine. I'll leave you to talk to
Captain Litang,' he said snapping a salute and heading back to the
engine room and on to his inner hull realm.

'You see what I have to put up with. I don't suppose
the captain of the Aurora would put up with that, but , we're tramp
spaceers, and we have our own way of doing things.'

'So I've found, Captain.'

'Er, yes. The ship's office or awning deck?'

'The awning deck would be fine.'

The light of Azminn was now slanted down through the
fabric awning and lanterns from the banquet as we arrived. We
talked quietly in the bistro bay while I brewed two mugs of cha.
Min told me about her talks with the Tiladore Planetary Development
Committee – they seemed content to settle for us without a fuss if
we meet all their requirements – and her adventures within the
Ministries of Probate and Trade tying up the details of the
transfer. Luckily she could call on the experts at Min & Co to
reset all the
Lost Star
's business relationships with
customers and suppliers.