Smuggler's Dilemma (2 page)

Words couldn’t adequately express how grateful I was for Tali and Jordy’s help in getting us back alive, so I gave them each a heartfelt hug. If they found that weird they graciously kept it to themselves. Ada followed suit and I was surprised she didn’t linger when she hugged Jordy. Nick and Marny bade them farewell and we all waved as they pulled away in their taxi.

"Let’s deliver that ore, eh?" I said to lighten the mood. We had three barges filled with a spec-load of ore. Two weeks ago, we’d locked in a price and the gain looked good. Unfortunately, Nick and I had given our personal shares to Tali and Jordy to incent them to come on our last trip. It had been a good call - we wouldn’t have survived otherwise.

"You didn’t get many hours toward your master’s license on the way back," Ada poked at me as the four of us walked toward a shuttle.

I was having none of that. "You and Jordy were getting along so well, I didn’t want to get in the way." Marny’s head swiveled toward Nick and I imagined her raised eyebrow.

"What?" Ada sputtered. "No… no… he just gets motion sick."

I wasn't finished, so I pushed. "So you’re saying there’s nothing going on between you two?"

She gave a little smirk and asked, "Jealous?"

Just in the nick of time the shuttle showed up to ferry us out to the waiting
Adela Chen
. Hopefully, my raised face-shield hid a rising blush and if I was lucky, the burning in my cheeks would dissipate before we boarded.

"You want to sail her, Liam?" Ada asked.

"I would. Nick, you and Marny are welcome to watch. There’s a ledge right behind the stairs that isn’t too uncomfortable, especially if I turn down the gravity." I followed Ada up the ladder into the cockpit. It was compact with two comfortable chairs sitting side by side. Like most tugs, the cockpit rotated a hundred and eighty degrees, allowing the captain a clear view forward or backwards depending on whether the ship was accelerating or decelerating.

Display Adela Chen pre-sail checklist
, I commanded my AI (Artificial Intelligence). We punched through the items and I wasn’t surprised to see all greens. Ada was an extremely precise captain and would have made sure things were ready to go before she disembarked to meet us in the shipyard.

"I show we’re clear," she said. "I’ve set a course in to the refinery for you. Navigation Plan Alpha."

I reviewed the plan and ordered,
Engage Plan Alpha
. With Ada, a master pilot on board, I was within my legal right to take the flight sticks and manually sail the tug and its nine hundred meter long string of barges to the refinery. There were some captains who would do it, too, but the risk was too high. With my whole company aboard and a delivery to make, I preferred to allow the ship’s AI handle the navigation.

It was a relief to finally release the barge string above the refinery. We waited for the customary inspection that would record our delivery. A small fleet of robots flitted about the surface of the barges and our wait was short.

Seven point five oh oh two kilo tonnes are accepted
, the AI informed me. Good news. We’d contracted for exactly seven-point-five kilo-tonnes and the extra four hundred kilograms would go straight to the bottom line.

"Liam, you want me to find us a place to stay tonight? Ada, you need a room?" Nick asked.

"I’ll probably go home," she answered. Her father's apartment was nearby and whenever she was here, she stayed with him.

"I see a suite with three bedrooms. Ada, you sure you don’t want to at least hang out for one night?" Nick asked. "It’s going to be 0200 local time when we get down there."

She thought about it for a minute then agreed. "Sure, that makes sense. No reason to wake up Dad."

The hotel Nick found in Puskar Stellar wasn’t anywhere near as nice as the resort we’d stayed at in Coolidge. The beds, however, were comfortable. I’d brought my civvies along (clothing that didn’t immediately brand me as a spacer) and threw them on the room’s only chair. The hotel had a funny smell, like too much cleanser had been used, but I was worn out and fell asleep easily.

After I awoke, I sauntered out to the common room of the suite. Nick and Ada were seated on one of the two couches talking.

"Marny’s still sleeping?" I asked, surprised.

"No, she took off about an hour ago. Wanted to get a run in," Nick explained. "Should be back shortly."

"You all get anything to eat yet?"

"We’re waiting on you and Marny. Thought we’d go out. Ada knows some good restaurants."

I nodded. I was starving. But first, I needed to at least start the conversation. "Ada, I’m glad you’re here. We’d like to talk to you about a business proposition."

"Sure, what’s on your mind?"

"We’d like you to join our company. Full captain’s share and some other perks."

Ada looked at the both of us in turn. "Are you serious? Why would you do that?"

"You’re an excellent pilot, good in a pinch, people like you and we trust you," I’d anticipated her question and had the answer ready to go.

"That’s flattering. What’s the catch?" she asked. "You said there’s more."

The door opened and Marny walked in, dressed in what I’d come to know as her running suit. Her well-defined, heavy, Earth-borne muscles showed the result of a strenuous workout and I had to be careful not to stare. It was incredible to me that she could be so powerfully built and still so attractive.

"You guys up for lunch?" Marny asked cheerfully. She winked at me when she saw me staring. "I just need a quick shower."

"Yup. We were just pitching Ada on the company," Nick said. He was staring too. That woman had grabbed his attention the first time he met her and he'd never gotten over it.

"Save it for lunch, I want to hear the rest." Marny reappeared five minutes later in her standard tight jeans and loose top.

"Let’s eat. I’m starving," I said.

Ada had a restaurant she wanted to introduce us to and directed the cab to its location.

The Southern Garden’s
interior was brightly lit with high ceilings and white painted woodwork. Dark green vines had been encouraged to grow up the thick beams that appeared to hold up the roof and colorful flowers adorned each of the tables.

"It’s one of my favorite places when I’m in this part of town," Ada said. "Everything on the menu is freshly made here in the restaurant." Her excitement was contagious. I had no idea what to order as I was generally satisfied with meal bars, but I looked over the menu nonetheless.

"Okay, spill. What other perks could you possibly offer me?" Ada asked conspiratorially, looking quickly from Marny to Nick and then to me with a slight grin.

A waiter appeared with water, coffee and fresh juice. I chose what Ada ordered and waited for him to leave. Ada looked back to me expectantly.

"The full offer is five percent of the company plus one hundred twenty percent of standard captain’s salary and a captain’s share on the loads you command."

"Am I in charge of setting up my own runs?" she asked.

Nick stepped in. "Not at first, because we'll fly as a fleet. But, we’re open to the idea."

"That sounds fair. Can I have time to think about it? I’d like to talk it through with Dad," she said.

"Of course," I said. "How long do you think you’ll need?"

"Three days. Dad's going to be a pain about everything, but eventually he’ll settle down. The return on the ore-hauling put him in a good mood." Ada’s dad had been an investor in our trip to Jeratorn. He was protective of his daughter after his wife's death, but the family still had to make a living.

The food arrived and for several minutes the table was quiet as we dug in.

Ada finally broke the silence. "So what are you going to do with all your busted up ships?"

"Look for a replacement. We’re headed out this afternoon and tomorrow. Want to go along?" I asked.

She beamed, "What girl doesn’t like shopping? But I promised Dad that I’d see him this afternoon, so how about tomorrow?"

"That works. I’m picking up Tabby at 1100 and expect to be space-side by 1300." I said.

"Great. See you tomorrow," Ada stood and we all stood with her as she handed out good-bye hugs.

"What’s on the schedule for today?" I asked my compatriots.

"You need to do a little scouting to narrow down our ship choices," Nick told me. "I sent you a list of the ten CA-12s between Coolidge and Puskar Stellar. We won’t know what we can afford until we sell the frigate, but you can at least see what the market has to offer."

It seemed like a fun way to spend the afternoon.

REUNION

Early the next morning, I found Nick at a desk in the common room of the suite - obviously working. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a meal bar.

"How’d it go yesterday?" he asked. "You didn’t get back until late."

"Expensive." I figured that explained it. "Every ship was seven hundred thousand or better. Although I did choose to start at the top of the list. I wanted to see what a million got you in a CA-12. They’re nice, but it doesn't seem worth it."

"
Sterra’s Gift
was worth almost that much on our last run," Nick said.

"You mean before I ran it into the back of that frigate?"

"That certainly didn’t help its value," he said. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. "Keep your eye out for a second ship. Something with teeth. Maybe something we could lash to the tug and use if we get into trouble."

"With the prices I’ve been seeing, I don’t know how possible it’ll be," I knew I sounded frustrated, but yesterday was not as much fun as I'd hoped.

"Keep looking," he said. "You’ll find better prices today. Remember we can make parts for it, so it can be a little beat up."

"You should have seen how crappy some of the ships were, though. Are you going with us today?" I asked.

"Nope, we’re on a short timeframe. I’d like to get underway within a week. A ship surveyor is meeting me at the frigate at 1000." He paused and then said, "Oh, I also purchased a container so we can offload non-essentials. Think you could pick that up? I know you want to spend time with Tabby, but you’ll be space-side anyway."

Nick was in full planning mode. The best thing I could do for him was take care of any details I could wrap my brain around.

"Roger that. So, three shipyards today. Give me numbers. What’s my ballpark for the cutter and an attack craft?" I couldn’t wait to check out the darts, although truth be told I didn't think they had enough teeth.

"Six to seven hundred for both. We’ve got one-ninety in the bank and should clear a million for the frigate."

I whistled, "That much?"

"It’s worth at least one point two."

"Roger. I haven’t seen even half of the CA-12s out there and I’ll drop off the container, first thing."

If Nick heard me, he wasn’t saying. He was back to gesturing in the air, dismissing virtual windows and scrolling virtual panes. I had three shipyards to visit. Brinkman’s, Cintani’s and I was saving Weird Wally’s Bone Yard for last. It was three times the size of the other yards and his advertising was pasted all over the space station. Apparently, Wally’s hook was that he was a little unstable and likely to cut you a good deal even if it wasn’t a good deal for him. I didn’t believe it for a minute, but if he had the ships, I was all in.

I had ninety minutes to make it from Puskar Stellar to the Naval Academy at Coolidge where I’d pick up Tabby. Nick had chosen a hotel close to the transportation terminal which doubled as the terminus for the space elevator as well as a stop for the mag-lev (MAG-L) train that joined many of the Martian cities. At the Coolidge terminal I caught a cab and gave it instructions to fly out to the Naval Academy.

The purple-hued Martian forest that had been planted centuries before was beautiful. Flying over it took my breath away. I recognized the landscape from the last time we’d stayed in Coolidge. Nick, Marny and I had really done it up by staying at a beautiful lakeside resort which sat on the same lake bordering the Naval Academy. When the taxi stopped, Tabby was standing outside of the visitor’s center in her dress whites.

"Heya, hot-stuff," I said, opening the door. She jogged over to the cab.

"Privacy screen," she said as she jumped in, dropped her bag, and pulled the door closed. I raised my eyebrows, but wasn’t left wondering very long as she launched herself on top of me. The model of cab I’d chosen was just a big circular couch with a hole in the middle to put your feet. I had made a good choice. She pushed me back into the cushion, straddled me and gave me a kiss that I’ll never forget. After a few minutes of intense welcoming, she finally released me.

"Tell me you’re making up for lost time and if we were together it wouldn’t always be like that," I said, panting for breath. I was half joking, but wow, really only half.

She smiled wickedly and I took a moment to look her up and down. She’d let her hair grow out from the hard-core buzz-cut she’d given herself just before starting at the Academy. Her muscle tone had also significantly increased. When she held me down, I wasn’t sure I’d have had an option to not comply.

"As if a rogue like you would ever settle down with a respectable woman." Tabby was looking at me playfully. I took advantage and pushed her over onto the opposite couch. Two could play at that game. Her lithe body wriggled beneath me and I enjoyed running my hands over the soft skin that covered those firm muscles.

Breathless, Tabby finally broke us apart and shifted so we were lying next to each other. "Jupiter, I miss having you around," she said. "Where are we going?"

It was a friendly reminder that we were still sitting next to the Naval Academy visitor’s center. Our little display of affection would have been trouble for her if she hadn’t requested the privacy screen.

Coolidge Terminal
, I instructed the cab.

"You’ll never guess who I ran into," she said, turning to face me. Her hands trailed along my chest.

My mind blanked. Having her this close to me was difficult enough, but I couldn’t imagine who might have been on Mars that we’d both know. "No idea."