Home Run (Smuggler's Tales From the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper Book 3)

by Nathan Lowell

  “Maybe,” Zoya said. “Let’s make sure our new crew is settling in, shall we?”

  Chapter 64

  Zvezda Moya:

  2369, April 5

  Natalya plopped down in Zoya’s office chair feeling like she’d been chasing sheep around for the whole day. “I’m exhausted.”

  Zoya sat in her chair behind the desk. “I didn’t remember it being this hard the last three buses.”

  “This is the last one, isn’t it?” Natalya asked.

  “Yeah. It should be. We got the two doctors, a few admin types. One of them was our new accountant. I don’t know which one.”

  “Ahokas will like that,” Natalya said. “She hates running the financials.”

  “That reminds me, I need to see Madigan,” Zoya said. “I want to get him established as the fleet operations boss.”

  “Things changing?” Natalya asked. “What did Rachel say?”

  “You knew?”

  “Had to be.”

  “It was. She recommended your father.”

  Natalya let that percolate through her gray matter for a bit before answering. “I don’t know if I should be worried, pleased, or just surprised.”

  “Are you any of those?” Zoya asked.

  “Not really. It’s a small universe.”

  “And there were ghosts in that system, too.” Zoya rubbed a hand across her mouth. “And I’d like to know if he has two Unwin Eights.”

  “Oh, that second one at his dock?”

  “Yeah. It’s a pretty spare operation in terms of personnel. Why two Eights?”

  “Maybe he just likes them. Maybe he keeps one for parts. Maybe it was his girlfriend’s.” Natalya shrugged. “At this point, the bigger question on my mind is what do we do now?”

  “Well, do we want to leave this cozy hole in space and launch ourselves on the mercies of the unkind universe?” Zoya asked.

  “Which is another way of asking if I really want to be an engineering third officer for the next little while, isn’t it?”

  “Basically. The good news is we’ve accrued enough credits that we probably won’t have to work again if we don’t want to.”

  “The bad news?” Natalya asked.

  “I have to deal with my grandparents who are unlikely to be sympathetic to a desired future that doesn’t involve company assets.”

  “That’ll be tough, but what can they do? I mean, ostracize you? Cast you from the hearth and home you haven’t known for the last decade? I don’t know if either of us could spend what we already have unless we blow it on drugs, gambling, or trying to buy a ship.” Natalya shrugged. “We still have the Peregrine. We can go see Panko and get him to build us a new one in exchange for this.”

  “You’d do that? What happened to the ‘this is my home’ and ‘valued gift from my father’ things?”

  Natalya shrugged and wished for a beer. “I’ve gotten to know him a little better.”

  Zoya frowned. “Do we need to book you a little time with Dr. Ashtracan?”

  “Ashtikar,” Natalya said. “Call him Vitya.” She sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  Zoya’s eyebrows crept up her forehead. “You’re serious?”

  Natalya shrugged again. “Couldn’t hurt.”

  “That tears it,” Zoya said. “We’re leaving.”

  “How soon?” Natalya sat up in her chair.

  “How much have you unpacked from the Peregrine?”

  “Almost nothing. My room here looks like it’s vacant.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” Zoya asked. “I know the only time I see mine is when I sleep or need a shower.”

  “That’s about right.”

  “So, how do we con your father into taking the job?”

  A knock on the door interrupted them. Ahokas stuck her head in. “I’ve got Tom Madigan out here. Says you want to see him?”

  “Oh,” Zoya said. “Yes. Please. Send him in.”

  “You want me to sit in on this?” Natalya asked.

  “Stay. Shouldn’t take long.”

  Madigan came through the door smiling. “Two of my favorite people. What can I do for you?”

  Ahokas shut the door behind him with a soft click.

  “Have a seat Tom,” Zoya said. “I’ve got a job for you.”

  He threw himself into the chair with a loose-limbed abandon. “I’ve got a job.”

  “I want to give you a different one.”

  He shot a glance at Natalya before looking back at Zoya. The jocularity evaporated like water on molten iron. “I’m listening.”

  “I want you to be fleet operations boss.”

  He blinked a few times. “I did not see that coming.”

  “You’ve been operations manager as long as we’ve had operations. I need you to keep that job for a while longer but I want you looking at fleet ops as your next step.”

  He squirmed in his seat for a while, staring at the deck in front of Zoya’s desk, before looking up at her. “Why fleet ops?” he asked.

  “The fleet’s growing. It’s already grown over the last year. There’ll be more barges and at least one more hauler by in a few months.” Zoya folded her hands on the desk in front of her. “I need somebody who knows how to manage a fleet keeping an eye on it. Making sure the people on it are properly trained. That they’re happy. That there are enough of them in reserve so if somebody wants to take leave, they can without grounding a barge.”

  “Why do you think that somebody is me?”

  Zoya sat back in her chair and looked at him. Natalya could almost see the wheels turning in her head. “Fair question,” Zoya said. “Let me back up.”

  He nodded.

  “You’ve been an enormous help in getting this station established. We started from zero and I’d either be dead or worse if you and Natalya hadn’t gotten me out of it. I’m grateful. Thankful that we have you working with us.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said.

  “I need somebody who can take over managing the fleet. Somebody who will be able to focus on the people getting the ore from the belts to the grinder. Somebody who knows how that process works from drill head to drop off. Do you know anybody like that?”

  Madigan stared at her for an uncomfortably long time. Neither of them moved until he opened his mouth. “Yes.”

  Zoya gave him a small smile. “I take it, it’s not you.”

  “It’s not me,” he said. “You want Hewson.”

  “Who’s Hewson?” Zoya asked.

  “He was Ruth Houston’s first mate. When Ruth and Chuck Anderson got stuffed out the airlock, Plass made Hewson watch. Plass laughed when they froze. Hewson went berserk, the four guys holding him down beat him into submission. I got him into the auto-doc just before they came for me. He hasn’t been the same since.”

  “Isn’t he out with the fleet now?” Zoya asked.

  “He’s helping Frewer in the galley.” Madigan paused. “He’s the man you want. Not me.”

  Zoya glanced at Natalya who smiled back at her.

  Zoya leaned forward and rested her forearms on the glossy desk. “What do you want, Tom?”

  “I want to see Hewson smile again.”

  “I don’t know if I can do that and it doesn’t pay very well. What job do you want on Zvezda Moya?”

  “I’d kinda like to keep the job I have,” he said. “Production manager.”

  “Why?” Zoya asked.

  He shrugged. “It’s fun. I’m an engineer by training and trade. I worked the barges because they challenged my skills. This job?” He laughed. “This job is so far beyond challenging, I was worried you wanted to see me so you could fire me.”

  “What do you want your next job to be?” Zoya asked.

  He shrugged. “What’s better than production manager?”

  Zoya nodded. “I see your point. How do you get along with Bean?”

  “Rob? He has some astonishing ideas.”

  “Are they good ideas?”

  “They seem to be.” Madi
gan shrugged. “His engineering training is way better than mine. I’ve got him in experience but he’s a hell of a lot faster on the theoretical.”

  “What if I made him assistant production manager? So he’d work directly with you.”

  “You want him to take over from me?” Madigan asked. He frowned. “I don’t get it.”

  Zoya shook her head. “No, I want to develop a deeper bench. Right now there are only a few people in key positions. Nobody’s had a chance to think ahead to the future. I want to get that process started now.”

  Madigan nodded, his eyes widening. “By having the key staff already thinking about what happens if they fall down a ladder.”

  “Or have a heart attack or get sucked out an airlock without a suit,” Zoya said.

  “Who’s yours?” Madigan asked.

  “Ahokas,” Zoya said without missing a beat.

  Madigan frowned. “She’s not ready to step up to that.”

  “No, she’s not. Yet.”

  Madigan smiled. “You’re thinking long-term, then?”

  Zoya nodded. “I want Zvezda Moya to be the jewel in the Usoko crown. That doesn’t happen with short-term thinking.”

  “Pardon my saying so, but you didn’t seem too pleased with being pushed into the job.”

  “I wasn’t.” She shrugged. “I’m still not. I’m working on that.”

  “Which is why you’re getting the foundations built now,” he said, the wrinkles around his eyes relaxing.

  “Yes.”

  They sat looking at each other for several moments. “Who?” he asked.

  “Demetri Regyri. I haven’t broached the subject with him yet.”

  “Micah’s father?” Madigan asked.

  Zoya nodded. “Natalya’s father, too.”

  Madigan started and turned wide, round eyes to Natalya. “You’re Micah’s sister?”

  “Half-sister,” Natalya said with a small shrug.

  Madigan took that bit of information in and subsided back into his chair, his focus somewhere int the Deep Dark over Zoya’s shoulder.

  “Think he’ll do it?” Zoya asked.

  Madigan started nodding, slowly first but faster the longer he sat. “It’s entirely possible,” he said.

  “Can you work with him?”

  “Yes. Of course. Man’s brilliant. He’s been banging around the Western Annex for more decades than I can count. If there’s anybody who knows how to operate out here, it’s him.” Madigan looked at Natalya. “Really? He’s your father?”

  “Gave me my first toolbox,” Natalya said. “Brought me out to the Toe-Holds the first time.”

  “So that scout? That was his, wasn’t it?”

  “Peregrine? Yeah. Gift for my eighteenth birthday. I was able to take it to the academy when I went.”

  “Damn,” Madigan said.

  “Tom,” Zoya said. “I need you to keep this between your ears. I don’t want the crews getting wind of it until I can talk to Demetri and convince him to take it over. If I can’t, I’ll need a plan B. It would be unfair to somebody coming in as the plan B candidate if everybody knew.”

  “Lips, locked,” he said. He paused. “But he’ll take it.”

  “You sound pretty sure.”

  Madigan glanced at Natalya, his eyes suspiciously shiny. “For Micah,” he said.

  Chapter 65

  Last Nail:

  2369, April 8

  They sat in the grove and sipped the coffee. Natalya loved the smell of the trees. To a person who’d lived almost her entire life in the artificial environments of space, the revelation felt almost miraculous. Even Port Newmar with its sea breezes and flowers and newly cut grass couldn’t compare to the pure green smell of the trees.

  “So, is one of you going to tell me what’s going on?” Regyri asked. He looked at Natalya who looked at Zoya.

  Zoya took a deep breath. “What do you want to do next?”

  “Next?” he asked, frowning his puzzlement, looking back and forth between the two women. He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. Hydroponics, probably. I’ve got most of Can Three open now and enough materials that I could probably do it.”

  Zoya shook her head. “Sorry. That’s not what I meant.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me what you want. I’ll tell you if I can do it.”

  “I want to hire you as the director of Zvezda Moya.”

  “Director? What’s that?”

  “Station commander?” Zoya asked.

  “I thought that was your job,” he said.

  “It is for the moment. I need somebody to replace me. You’ve come highly recommended.”

  He raised his eyebrows, then lowered them again, looking at Natalya. “You?”

  “Among others,” Natalya said.

  “That’s why you visited the other day,” he said.

  Zoya nodded. “After seeing this, I was pretty sure you were the person I wanted to sit in the big chair.”

  “This little thing?” he asked. “Yeah, it’s big for us, for me. Compared to your operation?” He shook his head. “You can’t really compare them.”

  “I agree,” Zoya said. “That’s why we needed to get back to Zvezda Moya. I needed to make sure I had adequate support for you coming in. After you’re there?” Zoya shrugged. “That’s up to you. At least I’m confident in the people I have positioned now.” She paused. “And I’m confident that you’re the right person to take my place.”

  “Your grandmother is going to scream so loud, I’ll hear it all the way out here and vacuum be damned.”

  Zoya laughed. “Probably, but that’s on me. Not you. When I came out here and surveyed the damage, I reported back asking for instructions. Her instructions were to do whatever I thought necessary.”

  “Your grandfather came out just a few months ago, didn’t he? Did he say anything?”

  Zoya shrugged. “Basically, keep up the good work. He left just as the residence came online. When we went over for the inspection, I saw the name.”

  “What is that anyway? Zvezda Moya?”

  “Translates roughly to ‘my star.’” Zoya sighed. “When I was twelve my grandfather gave me command of one of the company ore haulers there in Margary.”

  “Twelve?” Regyri’s eyes practically bugged out of his head.

  “Yeah, long story, but the punch line is that the ship was named Zvezda Moya. My Star.”

  “So that’s supposed to be your station, not mine,” he said.

  “I don’t want it. Never wanted it. We came out after the disaster and we’ve held the flag for Usoko Mining for more than a stanyer.”

  “And now you think it’s necessary for me to replace you.”

  She nodded.

  Natalya watched him settle down in his chair, elbows on knees, shoulders slumped, gaze fixed on nothing. She saw his age then in a way she never had before. The way he sat, the shape of his face. In many ways, he looked very old very suddenly. He’d always been much older than she’d thought. They’d celebrated his birthday on occasion, but never the age. She started to speak, to call it off. To tell him it was too much to ask.

  Before she could even get in a full breath, he transformed again. He took in a deep breath, pulling his shoulders up, straightening his spine. The lines on his face remained but they seemed less about weakness and age than about strength and wisdom. His hair was still cropped. Still gray. His eyes, well, his eyes still carried the weight of years but he seemed to shed years with each breath. He looked at Natalya. “What do you want to do next?”

  “I want to get my second officer rating, but I need to work for a stanyer as a third officer first.”

  He nodded. “Think you’ll make chief officer some day?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  He grinned at her. “I do, too.”

  She thought for a moment he might ruffle her hair the way he always did when she was small, but he turned to Zoya.

  “What do you want to do next?”

  Zoya nodded at Nata
lya. “Second mate but, like her, I need to do the third mate thing for a stanyer before I can take the exam.”

  “Do you—either of you—see the irony in needing to step down from managing a multibillion credit facility in order to become licensed as ship’s officers?”

  Zoya laughed. “Yes, I do, actually.”

  Natalya shrugged. “All I ever wanted to do was be a clipper ship engineer.”

  Regyri smiled at her. “Your mother was the same way.” He looked at Zoya. “I assume you’ve got terms and benefits and papers and contracts?”

  “Not with me,” she said. “I thought we’d be able to have a nice sit down over on Zvezda Moya. Give me a chance to show off what we’ve done since your last visit. Make an offer, consider counter offers. Things like that.”

  “You didn’t bring it with you?”

  Zoya shook her head. “I wanted to know if you’d do it before I buried you in paperwork.”

  Regyri nodded. “I’ll do it. I feel a little funny finishing what Micah started, but it also feels right.” He looked back at Natalya. “I have a condition though.”

  Natalya felt her heart skip a beat. “From me?”

  He nodded. “You.”

  “What?”

  “I want the Peregrine back,” he said.

  “You can have her,” Natalya said.

  “Just like that? You’re not going to try to bargain with me, haggle me down?”

  Natalya shook her head. “No, I know why you want her.”

  He perked up a bit at that, surprise in his eyes. “You do? Why?”

  “Because she’s got longer legs than your Unwin. Just enough more that you need two jumps to get over to Zvezda Moya from here.” Natalya smiled. “You’re not going to want to give up this place, so you’re going to want to be able to get here—and back again—as fast as possible.”

  He snorted. “Think you’re pretty clever, don’t you?”

  She shook her head. “It’s what I’d do.”

  “You’re just going to give her to me?”

  “Well, sure. You need her. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Well I won’t take her,” he said, clamping his jaw down and sticking out his chin. “What do you think of that?”