The Bright Black Sea (42 page)

She stared at me, but realizing the die had been
cast, nodded, 'Right, Captain.'

I returned to my office and had just finished sending
Doctor Han's credits, with thanks, when the lighter arrived with
our quarter box. I suited up and oversaw its loading into no.4 hold
via the extended airlock. Myes and I maneuvered it in the hold with
a system of rarely used winches and secured it on top of the other
quarter box. As we were finishing up, I received a brief call from
Illy telling me my shore crew was on their way back and I returned
to my office just in time to see Vyn and Ten, arm in arm with an
unconscious Min in the middle, drifting up from the landing stage.
Tenry gave me a cheery wave, as they swung into the
companionway.

'As soon as the gig and gangway are secured, we'll
proceed under power,' I said to Molaye as I looked into the bridge,
'Get us set on our course Lucky.'

Ten turned up shortly afterwards and draped himself
on the arm of his weapons station's chair on the twilight bridge –
the viewpanels looking forward, anticipating our departure with
Azminn being directly astern as we prepared to sink it slowly into
a mere star.

'Captain, here to report.'

'How'd it go?'

'Ah, the age of innocence, Skipper. The Mistwine
worked like a charm. Still, I gave her a dose just to make sure
she'd get all the rest she needed,' he said with a wink. 'Vyn's
tucking her into her hammock for acceleration. Wouldn't want her
slipping out,' he added with a wide grin. Yes, clearly he'd not
been pouring his Mistwine into a potted plants...

'Excellent. Get some rest, Ten. You've been on ship's
duty so you're excused from your first watch.'

'Aye, aye, Skipper,' he said with a mock Patrol
salute adding, 'You were a good Skipper, I'll miss ya.' and he
slouched off, heading for his quarters and hammock.

His last remark wasn't missed by anyone on the
bridge, but caused no alarm, only half-hidden smiles. It was clear
they were up to speed on my gambit, Ten probably spilled it when he
called up to the ship to report that they were on their way up.
Ten's last comment may have been meant as a joke, but I wasn't
certain. I'd a feeling there was a general misconception about my
status with Min, which, in truth, even I may have shared. Time will
tell.

Illy and Vynnia arrived on the bridge. Vynnia said,
'Sorry I'm late for my watch, Captain.'

'Nothing to apologize for, First. You've been on
ship's business. Molaye has agreed to cover this watch, I'll take
the second so you'll be fresh for the third. You pilots can sort
the watches out later, if you wish.'

'Yes, of course,' she replied adding, 'Thank you.'
And gave Molaye a quick smile to reassure her all was fine. The
first watch is often the first mate's, it's not an iron-clad rule
and can be switched as necessary.

'Well people, shall we get this packet on its way?' I
asked, looking around to the assembled watch and assorted
hanger-ons.

'Aye, this weary old man is anxious to be on his way
home, never more to wander,' announced Rafe gravely. He was still
acting sorry for himself at being beaten to a cargo by a
companion.

They nodded and took their places, Molaye at the
navigation controls, Riv had the engineering console while Rafe
occupied the communications chair. In addition, Illy, Dyn and Myes
who'd been standing the previous watch had hung around, plus Vynnia
and me. Vynnia looked to be uncertain if she should remain, having
no formal excuse to stay. She glanced at me.

'Stay and see this voyage well launched, Vyn.'

Molaye rung the first warning, a half minute long
ringing bell, designed, I think, not only to warn that free fall
was about to end, but to instill a sense of excitement and
anticipation. I took my place between the engineer's and the
pilot's chairs while the casual observers found places to brace
themselves for the return of inertia's pseudo gravity. The twenty
second silence that followed hung with suspense. Molaye rang the
last warning bell, three short rings, and turned to me,
'Captain?'

'Do you have a course, Molaye?'

'Yes, Captain.'

'Riv, are your engines at ready?'

'Aye, Skipper.'

'Are we clear, Rafe?'

'Clear to Zilantre, Willy.'

'She's yours, pilot. Bring her up easy to mark 5
thrust.'

'Aye, aye, Captain, easy up to mark 5 thrust,' she
said and slowly pulled the tentatively balanced cluster of rocket
control levers back towards her, filling the ship with the low but
pervasive roar of the engines as they unleashed the torrents that
drove the
Lost Star
through the dust and glowing gas of the
Nine Stars.

My legs easily absorbed the gentle shock of the
acceleration, for unlike the
Ghost
, the
Lost Star
did
not jump but took her long, leisurely time getting up to speed.

'Rockets away, Lucky!' I said, under my breath.

Lucky Molaye grinned as the rockets roared beneath
our feet. 'To the stars, lads!' she replied softly.

01

Someone stepped in front of me, hiding the forward
display and interfering with my concentration.

'Captain?'

I glanced up to see it was Vynnia.'Yes, First?'

'My watch, sir.'

I glanced at the chronometer on the console before
me. 'Ah, so it is. That went quickly.' And so it had.

Connected to the ship's systems and its rocket
engines via my com link, I'd been focused on bringing the ship up
to speed while keeping it precisely on course by manipulating the
output of the eight balancing rockets circling the single main
rocket engine driving the
Lost Star
.

The thrust of the main engine is aligned with the
central axis of the ship. The weight distribution of the ship, even
before fuel and cargo are considered, is not quite symmetrical, and
when loaded with fuel and cargo, the functional axis of the ship
never quite aligns with the main rocket's thrust, so that the
smaller balancing rockets are used to compensate for the
asymmetrical aspect of the ship. In addition, each of the engines'
outputs changes slightly as they settle into their burn and as the
engineers tinker with their precious engines, pumps, and injectors,
so that a pilot has to subtly but constantly explore and adjust the
output of each balancing rocket to keep the ship's thrust vector
aligned with its predetermined course – keeping all the dots
perfectly round and aligned on the forward screen being the visual
clue. Minute flaws in the ship's course over time and great
distances can make for a wide miss at the end of a voyage.

With this constant tinkering, my watch at the helm
had quite agreeably flown by. Riding the nine rockets is why pilots
become pilots.

'She's all yours, Vyn,' I said standing up and only
feeling the four hours of intense concentration in my back and
shoulders. Still, with three pilots I wasn't likely to have many
turns at the helm. Assuming I remained captain, that is.

I stretched the kinks and aches out and went through
the change of watch ritual to bring her up to speed on the status
of the engines. Then, after a quick survey of the ship's status, I
stepped around to my quarters for a quick refresh before going up
for a meal. I hit the light.

'Kill that Neb-blasted light,' she growled
huskily.

I killed the light. 'Ah, Min, you're up. Way too
early, I suspect.'

She was a long dark shape sprawled in one of the
office chairs faintly seen in the wan light of the nebula from the
dimly glowing viewpanel in the bulkhead.

'If you've any hope of avoiding wandering out of an
airlock, Captain, you're going to need a better explanation of why
I'm here than I believe even you can invent. You take your orders
from me, mister, at least that was my understanding, and there was
nothing in them to cover this.'

'Ah, yes, that's my understanding as well,' I said,
warily settling into the chair opposite hers.

'Ha! So you say! Ah...' she started to exclaim,
before grabbing her head.

'Why don't I just try to explain,' I said carefully
and softly. 'You can just listen. I assure you I've my story well
rehearsed...'

She waved a hand.

'Right. I was so spooked by my inexplicable fear of
seeing you, that after we talked, I went up the medic-bay and
checked again for tracers again. I discovered that I did have a
tracer in me after all. Back of my neck. The med-scan found it. It
must be inert when out of range so the radio scan I first ran back
didn't pick it up. Stupid of me not to make a more extensive
search. Discovering my trace, I feared I wasn't the only one
tagged. Could Vyn or Ten be tagged as well? They were determined to
travel with you and I could hardly ask them to undergo a med-scan
without telling them why – our understanding tied my hands, you
see...'

'Ha!' she muttered.

'I didn't want to get in trouble with you,' I said
with a smile. She may've glared at me, but it was too dark to be
sure.

'Anyway, The trace tag made me think that you were
likely in immediate danger. Vyn and Ten might protect you, or
merely lead the assassin to you. With just hours to sailing, I felt
that I needed to take immediate action,' I paused.

'I want to make it clear that in this, I acted solely
as your friend, not as your employee.'

'Ha!' she croaked again. 'You've no such
privilege.'

'Well, , let's say I acted on impulse, just as you
had when you took off for Sanre-tay without consulting me.'

'I can do as I please. I'm the owner.'

'True, but a careless one. You made this all
possible. Vyn and Ten neglected to give more than an informal
notice of their intent before the 48 hour deadline. And you, having
skipped once before on Calissant, were either careless or figured
that as owner you were above Guild contracts, and failed to cancel
yours as well. In any event, I'd the legal authority to order Vyn
and Ten to collect you since all of you were under Guild contract.
They strongly objected, but had no real choice as I was within my
rights to your services as a pilot and to order them to enforce
that right.'

I paused again. 'I wonder if you're really that
careless. Not canceling your contract was a minor concern, and
being the ship's owner I could see how you'd think it wasn't
important. Still, you didn't remove your kit from your quarters...
'

She said nothing. Didn't expect her to. 'Tell me some
day... Anyway, I'd a compelling reason and a right to bring you
onboard and chose to exercise it. The responsibility rests entirely
with me. Questions?'

She just sat still and silent, head in hands.

'Really Min, it advances your plans. Saves credits on
a tourist passage while giving you a chance to experience the
tramping life. I'll not be able to pull the trick again so you're
free to go your own way once we reach Zilantre. I doubt our enemies
will get to Zilantre before we do, so we're already one step
ahead...' I paused to decide if I needed to say more. My encounter
with the assassins had two edges, tell her and it'd only play into
her fears. Keep it my secret, and it weakened my case for
shanghaiing her. I decided that keeping Min onboard was more
important than trying to justify my actions and there was nothing
she could do about that now.

'So all, in all, I feel I did what I needed to do, as
friend, partner and employee.'

'And that's your defense?' she asked after a
while.

'Yes.'

We sat in the dark and silence for a while before she
gathered herself to stand. I followed suit. We were under power, so
there was a slowly growing pseudo gravity aboard ship now.

'You're right about one thing – I came to see you too
soon. Can't think, and the sound of your voice hurts my head,' she
said softly.

'I covered your watch this time, Min. Figured I owed
you that much... So go back to sleep. You've got eight hours to
recover. Then you can pilot your ship for the first time.'

She walked to the doorway, paused, turned and said
'Thanks, Captain.'

Even in the dark, it wasn't hard to tell she was
being sarcastic.

As she slid the door-panel closed behind her, I let
out my breath. That went well. It'd been a very long day and the
bar was rather low.

02

Near the end of the fifth watch, after a brief nap, I
glanced in on the bridge to see that the new watch was on hand, and
turned to the main access well and climbed the stairs which circled
it – the pseudo gravity made using the access well unhealthy – to
start the nightly tour of my kingdom. I walked the companionways of
the crew and passenger deck, stopping to chat with Lili and Illy on
the awning deck, before climbing the last stairs to stand in the
dim hollow silence of no. 4 hold, unfamiliar now with the addition
of two drones and two quarter container boxes. I made certain
everything was still secure, and walked back down to the various
offices and workshops of the deck below the bridge and down into
the noise and bustle of the engine room. It's a perfectly useless
procedure. The ship's sensors monitor everything. But while I'm no
more superstitious than any other spaceer, I'm not any less, and
this nightly tour had become a ritual that I felt kept – quite
irrationally – the Neb at bay. A ship's a tiny sliver of a world in
an endless sea of lifeless vacuum and deadly radiation, so keeping
it safe and secure, in any (however irrational) way is a spaceer's
priority, and even more so for a space ship's master.

I climbed up from the engine room and entered my
quarters by my office.

Once more she was waiting for me. She was resting on
the edge of my desk in her black and white uniform and long
mech-legs. She must have been waiting since she had come off her
tick at the helm. While waiting for me, she had taken the time to
get angry again. She looked fit and icy.