The Bright Black Sea (26 page)

'Six months to get to the top of your list?'

He shrugged. 'On the basis of the past four weeks,
I'd say never,' he said with a grim laugh. 'Of course trade'll
eventually pick up, or so Vix assures me. We'll find you a cargo
before never, but we'd be lucky to find that cargo within the six
months. Just about everything going out of system is being grabbed
by the big interstellar lines with a combination of cheap rates and
delivery times you'd not be able to match. You're only hope at this
point is a cargo direct to the drifts, and they're never common out
of Sanre-tay in the best of times.'

'We're counting on you Tat. I'm just going to put
this gloominess down to the time of night. However, just to put you
on notice, I've Rafe gil'Giles as my systems mate, and I'd hate to
see you starve for lack of commission if Rafe finds one before
you.'

'Oh my, Wil. Your luck is indeed red hot,' exclaimed
Tat. ' Still, I'll wager that while Ol'Rafe may find boxes, you'll
not be able to offer the price and the delivery time that'll take
'em away from the liners. To match delivery times you'd have to add
so many auxiliary fuel tanks you'd not come close to their rates
and end up losing more credits than if you went out hollow. Now if
your owner's willing to wait, the outbound market should evolve
into something like its former self over time. We're starting to
see the interstellar lines cutting scheduled runs and putting
smaller ships in the remaining slots, so that the normal balance
between capacity, rates and delivery times should be restored,
eventually.'

'My impression is that our owners are not patient
enough to wait. An idle ship doesn't earn quarterly dividends.'

'All too true, but with Sanre-tay waiving anchorage
fees, laying up here and paying off the crew means they'll not be
losing the credits running hollow will cost, but, well, I'll not
lecture you on the business of tramping, Wil...'

'Not my decision. The thinking is
better now
before other owners decide things aren't going to be picking up and
send their ships out too
.'

'Aye, yet, I've heard others say the collapse of
trade and shipping rates has created so many opportunities for new
businesses with new and different products to break into the
interplanetary export/import market, that it'll snap back much
quicker than you'd expect.'

I shrugged, 'Glad it's not my call. I just go where
the radio-packet sends me. I guess I should be happy life's that
simple for me.'

'Good luck keeping it simple,' said Tat.

'I'm going to try. Well that seems to get our
business out of the way. I grabbed some shut-eye waiting for the
inspectors instead of running down the list of shipping. Who's here
and what's going on?' I asked and spent the next hour
gossiping.

There were many familiar ships and many old friends
who, I'm sure, we'd be crossing orbits with during our stay. These
days even working ships, like Jann's
Comet King
can spend
weeks gathering a cargo, so we could expect a lively time aboard
ship and in PortCity during our stay. But facing a two hundred day
cruise to either Amdia or Aticor, a lively time was welcome.

'Well, we'd best be lifting, Tat. I'm sure the gang
is anxiously a'waiting their mail, and their release...' I said as
I climbed to my feet.

'I should be getting back to work as well,' Tat
laughed, reaching for volume dial. 'Great to see you both, you know
where and when to find me when you need more cheering up. Fair
orbits, Vyn, Wil,' he yelled over the rising tide of music, and
with a wave, began to once more pound out the beat on his desk.

Outside, the multi-story concourse was nearly
deserted. The rim is essentially one vast building straddling the
natural stone rim, tied together by fast vertical lifts and
horizontal velowalks. We walked down to the express velowalk, a
level below the main pedestrian concourse and stepped onboard to
speed walk back to the Terminal. The velowalk's surface layer of
tiny energy fields kept the soles of our boots just suspended above
its surface and propelled us along in proportion to the effort we
made walking, creating the illusion that the velowalk was moving
and carrying us swiftly along, though we were actually gliding
meters with every step we took.

As we sped along, we discussed plans for entertaining
friends and how we'd manage the social whirl of idle spaceers we'd
have aboard. Crew entertainments, and I'm thinking of my engineers
here, if left to themselves, would probably be too unrestrained
even by my relaxed standards. Engineers have a tradition going back
to the beginning of time of being very partial to alcohol, so the
firm hand of an ex-Patrol first mate would likely come in
handy.

My com link registered a call from the ship, which I
answered. 'Litang here.'

'Greetings Captain, Illy told me you're down in
PortCity, so I had her redirect my call.'

I recognized the voice of our owner from the
implanted speaker in my ear.

'Min,' I exclaimed. 'Good to hear your voice. And
yes, Vyn and I have just called at the agency and are on our way
back to the Terminal.'

'Good. I'm here and I'd like to see you. May I
suggest we meet in the NueNova Hotel Terrace Gardens. Pick a nice
secluded table on the upper level. I'll find you.'

'Right. We can be there in ten minutes.'

'Then I'll see you soon,' she replied and cut the
connection.

I turned to Vynnia. 'We're to meet Tallith in the
NueNova Gardens.'

'It will be good to see her. I've been worried.'

I knew what she was going to tell us, I doubt Vynnia
will be any less worried after seeing her.

There'd been a brief radio-packet from Min waiting
for us on our arrival in Tiladore orbit sixteen days ago. It merely
instructed us to proceed hollow to Sanre-tay upon completion of the
charter. We stayed in Tiladore orbit for five days while our
passengers were off-loaded and revived, clearing our charter
without penalties. Shortly before we sailed, I received a second,
longer radio-packet from her.

She apologized again for her abrupt departure. It
was, she said, a combination of impulsiveness to follow the Azure
Night and panic at being swept into a situation that she was far
from sure she was ready to handle. Aboard the Aurora she realized
chasing the Azure Night was not a smart idea – there was little she
could do or discover on her own though she's certain the Azure
Night is connected with both the death of her parents and our
attack. She had Phylea search the records of the ships in Calissant
orbit during both incidents and the Azure Night was the only ship
present at both that did not have a simple explanation for being in
orbit. Still, yachts sail on the whims of their owners, so it was
not conclusive proof, but did seem suspicious.

The Azure Night arrived two days before the Aurora,
refueled and departed for its home port of Jaspoor's Folly in the
Helgot Drift, discharging two “system pilots”. Being a drifteer
owned yacht, not a Guild ship, no information was available on her
crew, save that the owner was Gin Detri, which told her
nothing.

She felt that two unidentified system pilots left
behind might well be an assassin team for a criminal guild hired to
kill her. She admitted that she'd no solid basis to believe that,
but instinctively felt it was the most likely explanation and was
acting on that premise, taking every precaution to stay out of
their likely orbits. She added that with the Last Striker story
making the news, this theoretical criminal guild would have strong
reasons, me still alive,and no mention of her murder making the
news, to believe the whole operation had failed and investigate
further. If they did even a basic data search for her after the
assassination attempt, she'd turn up as a passenger aboard the
Aurora, and her entry, but not exit on Lontria as well. She didn't
know how criminal guilds operated, but she was pretty certain
they'd have to act decisively to rectify their failure – if only
because they were acting for clients out of the Four Shipmates past
rather than on their own account. She was afraid that on my arrival
in Sanre-tay, I'd become a person of special interest to them, and
so I needed to be on my guard.

It was all just plausible enough to make me wonder
again what I'd gotten myself into.

She went on to say that for just these reasons, she
decided not to sail aboard the
Lost Star
. She'd always be a
danger to everyone close to her and she'd not put people she cared
for in danger. I'd be dead now if a wharf rat hadn't knocked the
assassin's hand a centimeter or two, and she wasn't about to carry
that danger aboard the ship. She sounded quite determined. She or
Phylea would act as owner when needed and assured me that she'd
talk Vynnia and Tenry into staying aboard as well. I seriously
doubt that.

Finally, she said that she hoped that by being
completely honest with me, I'd accept her decisions. They'd been
hard to make, but necessary for her peace of mind. She hoped that
with this letter, I'd have time to come to terms with her decisions
and we could work comfortably together without conflict. I sent a
radio-packet to her assuring her I'd follow her orders, as was my
duty. Indeed, I'd tentatively come to terms with her decisions,
though not quite on her terms. To say that I've plans of my own, is
an exaggeration, but I'd ideas, anyway.

If she sent a similar radio-packet to Vynnia and
Tenry, they'd said nothing to me. I rather doubted it, hence a
certain trepidation as we approached the NueNova.

The NueNova Hotel is located high above the Transit
Terminal, rising wide and high over the Rim, overlooking both the
flats of CraterPort on one side and the glowing dome of PortCity on
the other. On reaching the Transit Terminal, we boarded an express
lift to the clearsteel domed roof of the NueNova, whose elaborate
rooftop terraces are open to the public, each terrace boasting
cafes and grotto lounges set amongst trees, flowers, walks and
benches. It was, however, an hour before Lontria's abrupt airless
sunrise and the terraces were largely deserted, populated by only a
few travelers, out of sync with Lontria time. We selected a table
in deep shadows under an arching tree with a wide view of the busy
port and I set out in search of an open cafe and a pot of cha. By
the time I'd returned, Min had found our table and was happily
chatting with Vynnia, allowing me time to study her.

Our table was lit by a low light set in the center of
the table and the turquoise sliver of Sanre-tay low over the
distant crater rims, so it was impossible to get a comprehensive
read of our owner, but I'd have hardly recognized her even in
bright sunlight. She was dressed in loose boots, wide pantaloons
(noted only later) and several layers of thin, patterned blouses
with lots of bangles jangling, and a floppy beret. She looked and
acted differently, which is to say, she seemed relaxed and happy.
She glanced up, 'Ah, Captain Litang, with cha. Always with cha!
Good to see you, Captain, and the cha,' she laughed. 'I was up way
too early today.'

I set the tray down and took her offered hand, 'Why,
you're looking quite refreshed. Lontria agrees with you.'

'Amazing what sufficient credits and the beachcomber
life will do!'

'And I've been spent all that time and effort trying
to avoid the beach!' I said as I sat down, reaching for the
steaming pot to pour our cha. 'Well, in any event, I am glad to see
you so happy. What's your secret?'

'Well, first I'm far from a stranger here. The Aurora
makes monthly calls on Sanre-tay and having served aboard her for
the better part of five years, I've a good friend here who helped
me unravel some of the tension...' she said with a faintly seen
smile, adding, 'That's one of my secrets.'

Well, yes, of course. Min was a spaceer. However I
was rather alarmed, nevertheless.

'I hope your friend is very, very discrete,' I said.
'I assure you there's not much that goes on in port that doesn't
make its way to the ears of companions. And with your story, well,
I hope I don't hear about you...'

'Oh, she's very, very discrete. I trust her. She
knows how important it is for me to remain anonymous,' she replied,
watching me intently, her dark eyes impossible to read in the
shadows.

That may have been a warning a for me – an unneeded
one. And her reassurance did little to reassure me. Too late now
anyway. I'd have a better idea if any damage was done in a few days
after I'd a chance to catch up with Leafa, my friend here. Like all
my companion friends, she knew all the gossip worth knowing.

'Will you be joining us aboard ship?' asked Vynnia to
change the subject.

Min hesitated, glanced quickly at me before
admitting, 'No and I might as well tell you right off that I won't
be sailing with you, either. I know this'll disappoint you, but as
Captain Litang pointed out when I'd inherited the
Lost Star
,
I can be her owner and just collect my dividends, letting you go
about the business of earning them. I don't have the experience to
actively manage my ship, so I'd best stay out of the way and let
you and Captain Litang go about your business. I need far more
experiences in life before I take on running a ship.'

Vynnia darted me a sharp glance, so I said mildly,
'Our original idea was that you'd get that experience sailing with
us as a pilot and slowly taking up owner's role as you learned the
trade.'

'But you pointed out, I'd always be the person in
charge should blast come to lift,' she replied, lightly, doing me
no good with Vynnia. It was, however, true.

'I thought it might work, but the more I thought
about it... Well, I guess my time here on my own – all
responsibilities left behind – has opened my eyes to new
possibilities. I'm not ready to spend my life confined to a metal
box and spaceers' row.'