Tanager's Fledglings (The Tanager Book 1)

by Cedar Sanderson

  They ate lunch, hours later, with a group of people who had gathered when Jem sat down. They all expected a story, and Jem gave them an even more abbreviated version of what he’d told Georg. He’d realized some time ago that the man, Rhein, had been very right in his assessment. Jem was easily the most popular man at the market, and overheard snippets of conversation made him sure that his exploits were already being sensationalized. Jem ate a few bites between politely telling his story and answering questions.

  “No, there wasn’t a destroyer. Where did you hear that? It was three light attack craft made up to look like tugs.”

  “Only fifteen men tried to board us.”

  “I had crew helping me.” Jem didn’t explain that ‘crew’ was one slight woman who looked like she might be twenty, even if she wasn’t.

  “Yes, I brought in prisoners.” Jem wasn’t sure what had happened to them, though. Right after he’d landed a contingent of armed policemen, with some who looked more military, had boarded and marched the men off in handcuffs. Four went on stretchers. Jade had handed some medical supplies to the prisoners, but as Jem had explained to the police captain who asked, with two of them, and eight prisoners, they had basically sealed the hatch of the hold once they were sure no one was dying.

  “No, I don’t know if they’d tried it on other ships.” Jem didn’t know. They had decided not to question the prisoners at all. Jade told him she didn’t want to know, because then she would have to do something. Right now, it was in the hands of the Loki forces, and Jade would likely read the report later.

  Jem looked down at Eby, who was asleep with his head resting on Jem’s boot. “If you all don’t mind, I need to visit a few folks yet?”

  Reluctantly, his audience dispersed, except for two people. One, an older man with a hat Jem associated more with New Texas, handed him a card. “I’d like to talk more with you. We’re opening a port on New Texas,” Jem suppressed a smile at his guess being confirmed. “At Baja Corto, and we’d like you to come trade with us.”

  Jem took it, tapped it on his tablet, and smiled. “I’d be happy to talk trade, sir.”

  The older man touched the brim of his impressive hat and drifted off. Jem looked at the last man standing. “Can I help you?”

  Jem stood, gently moving his foot from under the dog’s head. Eby woke up and yawned widely, his pink tongue curling.

  “Well, um.” The man wasn’t any older than he was, Jem realized. Might even be younger. “I, ah, heard that you were hiring.” He got that out all in a rush.

  “I am looking for more crew, yes. I need an engine man, one who’s worked on older ships. The Tanager’s got a few years on her.”

  The boy, Jem had decided he was still a boy, nodded. “I have experience. I know I don’ look it, but I’m 18 and I looked your ship up. I’ve worked on an engine like hers most of my life.”

  Jem couldn’t help it, he felt his eyebrows lifting. He relaxed his face. “You’ve been a trader?”

  “No, well, it’s complicated.”

  Jem looked at his tablet. “I have an appointment in ten. Walk with me and tell me about it.”

  Jade had said to trust his gut, and Jem liked this kid’s eagerness and, well, he was falling over himself like Eby did over his ears.

  “What’s your name?” Jem asked as they left the food booth. He nodded politely at a young woman who was trying to catch his eye.

  “I’m Eduardo Garcia. They mostly call me Ed.”

  “Ok, Ed.” Jem let the boy make the next move.

  “I, um, the engine I’ve been working on is used to power a hacienda. But it came out of a ship, one like yours.”

  Jem looked at Ed. “A hacienda?”

  “Ranch. Papa settled here with his family when he was a baby. They dismantled the ship, i guess because it wasn’t able to lift again, and part got used.”

  “Sounds practical.” Jem thought about it. “So you want to leave your family?”

  “Yes. I want to go to space!” Ed’s face lit up.

  “Two things.” Jem got to the booth where he was meeting Ser Trggyen. “One, I want to see this engine you keep running in heavy grav. Two, I need references.”

  Ed’s face fell. Jem shook his head. “Look, I can’t just pick someone up and lift with them. I need to be sure they know what they are doing, and I don’t have the luxury of time for them to prove it before we’re out in the middle of deep space with nothing around us but black death. Got it?”

  He knew he probably sounded a bit harsh, but he kept thinking about the attack, the men he’d killed, protecting his ship. Being soft and taking on a green kid could harm the Tanager in other ways. Ed scuffed the ground with his toe. “I can provide references, ser. It’s the engine... My father...”

  Jem shrugged. “I’ll check your references. If you can show me the engine and it’s running sweet, good. Otherwise, no go.”

  He held out his tablet and Ed tapped a worn card against it before turning away, his shoulders drooping. Jem shook his head and wondered when he’d become the hardass. Then he went into the booth.

  Tryggen was bluff and jovial, and Jem was left wondering if he’d ever even spoken with the man before. He’d always dealt with Walter, before, and ignored the younger man like he was a shadow. He wondered how he would have been received, alone, without the news of his fight with pirates preceding him. Walter had spent years being stable, reliable, and delivering goods on time and under contract. Jem had been his assistant, and had intended to continue in his shadow. This... was unexpected, and he didn’t like it.

  He stood still for a minute and tapped in a short message to the two men Ed had given him for references. His impromptu interview hadn’t ended well, but Jem was still curious about the boy. He hesitated. He’d intended to post the position on the job boards, but... He left it, opening his message queue instead. The rough filters he’d set up while still on the Tanager helped, but it still felt like a tsunami when he started scrolling through it.

  Eby whimpered and Jem looked up from his tablet. “Yeah, let’s get back to the ship, boy. I can’t do this here and I suspect people may be willing to come to us, this once.”

  It took him a while to return to the ship, even with the best of intentions. The crowd was getting thicker as evening approached, and it seemed every one of them knew him by name and wanted to talk. Jem picked Eby up, after a while, to keep him from being trodden on, and quickly learned that the dog drew almost as much attention as pirate stories.

  Jem had to be quite firm with two... young ladies, he decided he’d call them, when he did finally reach the hatch of the Tanager. Because the only way to dissuade them from following him in was to allow them to tap their cards on his tablet, he wound up shutting the hatch behind him, staring at the screen. “Candy and Cerise? What kinds of names are those?”

  Eby struggled to be put down. Jem, recalled to his surroundings, set the pup on the floor and watched him make a beeline for the inner parts of the ship and his bathroom area. He sighed. “Back to talking to yourself already, Cap’n Raznick.”

  His tablet chimed insistently, and Jem held it up, sliding his thumb along the side to activate the vid holo. A man’s head formed, looking at Jem. “Hello, Captain Raznick. I’m returning your enquiry about Ed.”

  “Thank you for your prompt response.” Jem answered. “He expressed interest in my open engineering position. Can you vouch for his skills and work ethic?”

  “I can happily do so. Lad hasn’t a lazy bone in his body, and he’s a wizard with anything that has an engine.”

  “This is good to hear.” Jem paused for a second.

  The other man filled the silence. “He’s clean, too. I’ve never seen him altered or drunk. His old man’s an evil drunk, but Ed’s never taken so much as a sip.” He punctuated this with a sad shake of his head.

  “That explains why he is so eager to get off planet, then.” Jem said.

  “Aye. Kid’s been champing at the bit since he reached his maj
ority. He’ll be a good worker for you, Captain. Will he be safe, though?”

  Jem felt like the man had reached out of the holo and struck him. “The Tanager is a safe ship.” He knew his voice was tight, and he stopped to swallow and continue in a more normal tone. “Pirates are unpredictable, but in over a dozen years this has never happened to us.”

  “Sorry. Just... he’s a good kid.”

  “I’m sure. I appreciate your concern.”

  Jem thumbed the holo off without waiting on a polite response. A safe ship. An unsafe ship. If that clung to the Tanager... He swallowed, hard, and headed to the bridge. He had work to do, and fretting over everyone’s concerns would do none of them any good.

  Sorting through the messages took just as long as Jem had been afraid it would. He decided it was worth his time when he found the first cargo commission, though, and then the second. By the time he felt he’d waded through waist-high inboxes, he was exhausted and had appointments booked straight through until bedtime, then starting again in the late morning. He finished up by sending Ed a message asking if he would be willing to work as cargo handler for a day or two, to show Jem what he could do. Jem sent a second message to Ser Tryggen asking for recommendations of men who could load cargo. He smirked a little to himself. Tryggen hadn’t committed to haulage of his own goods. Jem’s request would either make him decide that the Tanager was too full, or he’d spring into action and secure space in his holds. Jem really didn’t care which. He just didn’t want to be toyed with.

  Jem stood, stretched, and headed for the outer hatch. It was time to get some business done. This wasn’t trading, it was more like shooting fish in a barrel. Which reminded him to send a message to Misha. They had been discussing a polyculture system for the Tanager, to grow fresh fish for protein through the garden... Tablet out, Jem walked to the hold on autopilot. He’d been too busy to send his usual messages to her, and he hadn’t trusted Tianjin’s system.

  The hatch chimed, and Jem looked at the screen in surprise. His first appointment wasn’t due yet. The person had turned around and was looking back at the city, so Jem couldn’t tell who it was. He triggered the comm.

  “Tanager. Who is calling?”

  The figure turned around and Jem recognized Ed. He palmed the hatch release, losing Ed’s response in the sound of the lock opening.

  “Hey, Ed. I don’t actually have work for you yet.” Jem greeted him, extending his hand for a quick clasp.

  “That’s ok. I thought maybe you’d need a hand getting ready, and, um, I was able to figure out a time for you to see my engine.” Ed shuffled a little in place.

  Jem wondered if he had ever been that young and uncertain. “Why don’t I show you the Tanager? I spoke to one reference and he had good things to say of you.”

  Ed smiled, looking even younger than he usually did. Jem wondered if he should have asked just how old he really was. “C’mon.”

  Jem took him on a quick tour of the ship, pointing out the cabins, the galley, and then showed Ed the engine room. Ed headed straight for the massive generator that powered the Tanager’s systems.

  “It’s clean.” He cocked his head. “You need me to keep this running?”

  He was looking at the engine, not Jem, but Jem shook his head. “No, not to keep it running. Maintenance, repairs if needed. She’s been rock-solid for a couple of seasons now, so I don’t anticipate major problems. I’d just as soon head them off. I need a hand to keep an eye on it while I’m busy elsewhere.”

  This seemed to set Ed’s mind in motion. “You fly her alone?”

  “No,” Jem decided he’d omit that yes, he had been up until very recently. “I have crew that is on leave.”

  “Oh, ok.” For some reason this seemed to relieve the young man.

  Jem wondered if Ed was worried about flying with him on the Tanager. Just how bad was her reputation tarnished by the attack?

  “I’ve got a client coming. Can you open this hold?” Jem led Ed to the hold that had held the prisoners. “And see if it needs cleaning? Don’t have to clean it yourself, I just need an estimate on who to hire, for how long. One, two, even three people. We need to muck out the livestock hold in time, too.”

  Ed grinned widely, flashing all his teeth, “I’m hired?”

  Jem grinned back and stuck his hand out. “You are, I guess. I like you. Welcome aboard.”

  Chapter 31: Chaos and Cargo

  By midafternoon Jem was convinced that hiring Ed had changed his life and how he’d run the Tanager from now on. Having an intelligent person who could hear Jem’s plans out, then turn around and implement them smoothly was a revelation. Ser Tryggen had sent four names for Jem’s loading crew, Jem turned them over to Ed. The first shipment arrived not long after Ed himself, and it wound up sitting on the tarmac for a mere two hours while Ed got the holds cleared. Jem couldn’t even help, he was meeting with potential clients and writing up contracts.

  “Ed.” Jem stuck his head into the nearly-full hold. “Lunchtime.”

  Ed looked up at him, and held a hand out to the man with the float pallet. “Hang on...” He guided the pallet a few inches further. “There, and the next three loads on top. Stabilizers locked on corners, and I will check when I get back.” That part was directed to the man with the pallet, who was easily old enough to be Ed’s father, but he just nodded and locked the pallet in place.

  Ed walked over to Jem. “Optimizing the load, and using gravity protocols, we’re fitting everything in here. I think we can get everything you’ve sent me in this and the secondary hold, leaving the stock hold open.” He looked quizzically at Jem.

  “Yeah. Good work, Ed. Really good. I don’t usually use gravity protocols, since the Tanager has inertial controls, but it’s a good idea.”

  Ed nodded. Jem went on, “I’ve sent you cargo specs as I wrote up contracts. Let me know if anything shows up out of spec. I should have told you that before and didn’t think of it, sorry.”

  Ed shrugged. “I don’t have a problem asking questions.”

  Jem walked into the galley and pointed. “Sandwich stuff. No hot meal today, I’m afraid. I don’t have the time to cook and keep up with everything.”

  “What’s the schedule?” Ed started in on the food.

  “I have to wait on the leave to end. I wanted to get the Tanager ready in three days, looks like it will be four.” Jem touched his face, feeling the prickle of his beard growth. He needed to depilate in the morning. No time now. “But we might not lift for five. So after the holds are full of commissions, I want to take a trip, get out of the capital, look for spec.”

  “Do you have time to see my engine?” Ed asked. Jem thought he was trying for casual, but he missed for a mile. Their employment contract was for the loading, Jem hadn’t yet extended it to engineer and off-planet.

  “Yeah. When is good?”

  “Tonight?” Ed offered tentatively.

  “Tonight?” Jem echoed, thinking. “I have a dinner meeting.”

  “After that would be better, actually.”

  After dark? What was the kid playing at? Jem realized he was doing the eyebrow thing. Was this a sign of adulthood, or just cynicism? He relaxed his face and answered, “Fine by me. I’ll be at the Sora until late, don’t know just when.”

  “I’ll meet you there.” Ed got up. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get back...”

  “Go.” Jem headed for the bridge and yet another stack of messages. Two days on planet and they weren’t showing much sign of slowing down yet.

  On paper, he had the Tanager fully loaded by the time he walked into the Sora. The cargo wasn’t all aboard, of course, and he did still have space for speculative cargo. If it were small-size high-value he’d put it in an empty cabin if he had to. The route had been tight, with Flinders and Tianjin going very much not according to plan. He’d reap the unexpected benefits of publicity here on Loki while he could.

  The remainder of this route lay ahead, Lalibele, Altair, and then Johnsonvi
lle, where he’d meet Peter and hear the reading of Walter’s will. His contract with the Tanager was up, there. Jem didn’t know exactly what the future held, but he was sure that if he could turn a profit, Peter wouldn’t kick him off the Tanager. Jem clenched his jaw. If he could show he was profitable, and Peter did decide to ask him to step down, he’d at least be able to sign on elsewhere.

  Tonight, though... Jem arranged a polite smile on his face with an effort. Tonight he’d enjoy a meal with a prospective long-term client. Ser Tryggen had consigned goods for the trip to Altair, but had hinted at a longer-term and more lucrative arrangement. Something about the man put Jem’s hackles up... Jem’s smile got more natural when he thought of how that saying had become more real, watching Eby. Eby’s short fur didn’t move a lot, but when he was very upset it stood on end like bristles.

  Jem sat looking at the contract, ignoring the tinkling of the music in the background. If Tryggen had meant to distract him, or impress him, by having this meeting take place in a high-end restaurant with live music, he wasn’t succeeding. Jem put the tablet down again and shook his head. “The time constraints are too restrictive. Delays happen, and I must allow for them, rather than promise an arrival time I cannot guarantee.”

  “Like pirates?” Tryggen smirked, and Jem fought to keep his face still. Did the man know something about the attack? Jem finally decided, after a long moment of silence, that as odious as Tryggen was, he couldn’t have known when the Tanager would arrive at Loki. Which was rather the point.

  “Like pirates. Or simply a quarantine.. There are too many factors to allow me to promise this sort of margin. I can say that our deliveries are always timely, but I cannot promise an exact time, I’m sorry.” Jem wasn’t, but he’d learned people liked to hear that.

  Tryggen shrugged. “You may be right. But my business relies on our supply chain running smoothly. Any delay is a problem that costs me money.”