Harris chuckled. “We just like our food, that’s all. And if you want you don’t have to sit with us.”
“No. That would just be rude. Besides, I want to hear what you’re talking about. I just don’t want to watch you eat.”
The meal went off just as disgusting as Trish had expected. The recording device was collected and a jump to Eden space followed.
“So what do we do with this thing? Dump it out the airlock?”
Harris nodded. “Yep. We enable it, check that it’s functioning, and then release it. We should record wormholes opening and to where, ship navigation data, and of course comm conversations.”
“And why is it they won’t detect it?”
“Shielded and passive.”
Why don’t we have these positioned all around New Earth? And why don’t they have them around Domicile?”
“I suppose the ship traffic might be useful. And you know what? They probably both do have them. They just don’t have the decryption we have. At least not that we know of. I tell you though, had we had this during the war it would have given us a huge advantage. Nothing like knowing what the enemy is planning before they take action.”
The device was tested and released at Eden. A jump was made to Midelon, with the Bangor soon settling on the grass. Tawn came out to meet them.
Harris asked, “What’s up?”
“I contacted Haven to check on a few things we ordered. They said they’ve had a number of unidentified ships popping into orbit and then leaving.”
Harris scowled. “Earthers. Hope they aren’t planning on bothering them. There’s nothing there to be had for the emperor. Their trade barely supports that colony as is.”
Tawn scratched the side of her face. “Yeah, I was actually a bit shocked they even reported it to us.”
“You think they’re finally starting to trust us?”
“Maybe.”
Harris said, “Maybe it’s time we went out and mingled with some of the colonists on the other truce worlds. Could be the Earthers are already scouting those colonies for a takeover.”
“That’s what it has me thinking. When do we go?”
Harris gestured toward the cabin. “No time like the present.”
The Bangor rocketed up through the sky as a fireball.
Chapter 16
_______________________
The ship settled on the tarmac beside the Massington III colony town of Tinea. The Biomarines were greeted by a shuttle that took them into town. Tinea was home to a mix of miners and farmers. Land was plentiful and the atmosphere tolerable. The slightly heavy gravity had kept it from being popular with regulars.
The transport driver said, “You in on business?”
“Of sorts,” Harris replied. “Who here would know about ship traffic in this system?”
“That would be our port chairman, Mr. Winkeford.”
“Can you take us to see him?”
The driver chuckled. “That would be easy. He has a permanent stool at our local pub when not conducting port business.”
The transport stopped and Harris tipped the grateful driver a generous twenty credits.
Dimber Winkeford was seated where the driver had indicated.
“Mr. Winkeford? My name is Harris Gruberg.”
“Biomarine?”
“Yes.”
“First one of you I’ve seen out here. What can I help you with?”
“Was curious as to the ship activity in this system. Have the Earthers been active out here?”
“Usual activity from them, I’d say. We have had a few unmarked ships come through recently though. If I was to guess, they would be Earthers, but it might just be someone who doesn’t want to be known as belonging to either side. We tend to get a lot of independents out here.”
Harris nodded. “You wouldn’t happen to have recordings of comm traffic, would you?”
“Recordings?”
“I know you probably keep nav records. Any chance those are kept along with any comm data?”
“Well, that’s all encrypted. What good would it do us to keep that?”
“Was just a question. If you don’t have it you don’t have it.”
“I’d have to say we don’t, then.”
“How are you folks set for supplies out here?”
Dimber rubbed his chin. “Could be better. We have a supplier who goes to New Earth and another who makes runs to Domicile. Both seem to take their time and charge some hefty fees for doing so though.”
Harris glanced over at Tawn. “We happen to run a supply business from Domicile. You have any specific needs at the moment?”
“I do. My cousin is operating a mine. He’s in need of some refining equipment, and a few months after he gets it he’ll be looking for transportation of the product. He has a buyer lined up on Domicile, but he has to deliver.”
“Sounds right up our alley,” said Tawn. “Tell you what, Mr. Winkeford. Put out the word and take a list of orders. We’ll be back tomorrow to give you a quote on fulfillment. Probably looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of cost plus 25%, plus our fuel and labor costs spread over the whole delivery. So the more items under order, the cheaper the delivery cost.”
Harris nodded. “We often get wholesale pricing as well.”
“This first shipment might be a doozy. We have a lot of pent-up demand out here.”
“Just make the list. If we can buy it, we’ll do it for what I just said. If things work out, we’ll try to set up runs on a regular schedule.”
Handshakes were made and pleasantries exchanged. The original mission of coming out to the truce colonies was about to be fulfilled.
As they walked a sidewalk in the town of Tinea, Tawn said, “I have a question.”
“Shoot.” Harris replied.
“How are we gonna make this work? We don’t have the time to be making regular deliveries out here.”
“We won’t have to.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we’ll sub this out. Our new freighter will be perfect for this. We’ll just need a captain and crew. And we’ll only service the Domer colonies. Will give them a chance to grow and spread their influence. We’re no longer trying to be spies for the DDI.”
“I like it. And if we can turn a profit we might even be able to pay for that freighter.”
After getting a ride back to the Tinea spaceport, Harris pushed open the hatch and hopped up into the cabin of the Bangor.
“I wonder how long it would take Mr. Morgan to make up a couple dozen of those recorders? Wouldn’t mind dropping one in each of these systems out here. We could retrieve the contents, have Alex decode them, and pass them off to the colonel’s analyst team. Imagine having the big picture of what the Earthers are up to.”
Tawn sat in the copilot’s seat. “Sounds good as well. I think this has turned out to be a good trip.”
The duo returned to town the following day. An order sheet of more than fifteen hundred items was passed from Dimber Winkeford to the new suppliers. After a jump to Midelon, a comm was opened to Domicile.
Fritz Romero answered. “Mr. Gruberg, good to hear from you.”
“How’s retirement?”
Fritz laughed. “Boring actually. I seem to go from boom to bust. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually miss the challenge that Fireburg brought.”
Harris smiled. “Good. Then you’ll like what I have to say. Remember us talking way back about opening up a supply business to the truce worlds? Well, we believe that time has come. I have an order sheet in hand for fifteen hundred items. I have a freighter that should be coming online in a couple weeks. She needs a captain and crew, and we need an administrator to run this new trading company.”
“You have my full attention.”
“We’d like you to be her first captain, to hire a crew, and to start making deliveries to the truce worlds. And only to Domer colonies. We should have two additional freighters following this first one, all brand new and top-of-th
e-line. Sound like something you’d be interested in?”
Fritz nodded. “Very much so. You stated this was to begin in a few weeks?”
Tawn replied, “Actually we have the orders in hand. I was thinking we could lease a ship for the first delivery or two.”
“And you’re certain this new freighter will be ready in a few weeks?”
“We’ve given Mr. Morgan the go-ahead to expedite it. With this first order we now have a purpose for it.”
Harris said, “You’ll also be doing some data retrieval for us, but I’ll get into that later.”
“Send me the list and I’ll get to work on leasing a warehouse and putting together a staff to manage acquisitions and shipping.”
Tawn held up her credit store. “Here’s a mil to get you started. If you need more, just ask. There are fifteen inhabited truce worlds if you exclude Eden. All have Domer colonies. Let’s see if we can feed them a little growth hormone with some decently-priced goods deliveries. I’ll pass you our contact at Tinea for this first order.”
Harris said, “While you’re getting things set up there, we’ll be paying a visit to some of the other colonies to get the ball rolling. Once you have your crews in place, you can take over that effort as well.”
Fritz grinned. “Thank you for rescuing me from the boredom of retirement. I used to fixate on the time when I would one day be able to kick back and put my heels up. Now I can’t think of anything more revolting. Living is to have a purpose.”
The conversation continued for a short while before they signed off and the comm was closed.
Harris said, “That went better than I expected.”
“And we got the right man for the job. His work at Fireburg was outstanding.”
Harris sat back with a sigh.
“What?”
“You and me. A slug and stump. Regular Joes. We have a billion credits at our disposal. We have a small fleet of freighters being built for us. We managed to fund a retirement planet for Biomarines that now has three hardened domes with rail cannon defenses.
“We’re working every day to see to it that New Earth does not take over our worlds. And we’re sitting here on a planet that no one else in the galaxy can reach. How fantastical is all that?”
“Very. Which is why I try not to think about it in those terms. It becomes overwhelming. An awful lot of that is just from dumb luck, but a lot is from our hard work too.”
Harris chuckled. “Wasn’t long ago we couldn’t afford a meal between us. Both our credit stores were almost dead empty. You couldn’t pay your rent and I couldn’t make my payment on the Bangor.”
Tawn winced. “You aren’t getting ready to try to kiss me or something, are you?”
Harris shook his head. “Not even remotely. Just saying we’ve managed to come a long way as a team, that’s all. This partnership, it works. And not like some creepy relationship thing if that’s what you were thinking. That’s a repulsive thought, by the way.”
Tawn laughed. “For both of us.”
Harris grinned. “What does my partner say to me springing for some chow?”
“Where we going?”
Harris pointed. “To the supply hut. It’s time for lunch.”
“Nothing says ‘springing for lunch’ like an MRE.”
“You’re not coming, then?”
“Didn’t say that.”
Trish, Gandy, and Sharvie were finishing up.
“Sent you a message that we were eating,” said Gandy.
Harris nodded. “Thanks. Got it. We were on a comm with Fritz. We’re finally setting up that supply business we originally went out to Eden to do, starting with the Tinea colony. We’ll be making runs out to the other truce worlds to see if we can set up the same with each of them. We plan on getting one of those recorders to drop in each system. Should give us the big picture of what’s going on out there.”
Sharvie said, “That’s a lot of data to decrypt.”
“Nothing as compared to when we drop one in New Earth space,” said Tawn.
Harris raised an eyebrow. “When was that decided?”
“Would be idiotic to not do. Even if we just decode it and give it to the DDI.”
“We’re finally going to New Earth space?” asked Gandy.
Harris shook his head. “Not until after we’ve eaten.”
After lunch, they opened a comm to Bannis Morgan and ordered two dozen of the passive recorders, receiving promise of a one-week delivery time. On the fifteen truce worlds in question, twenty-two Domer colonies of greater than a thousand residents had been settled. Visits to each saw fourteen eager to trade with the new corporation, freshly named Bio Trading Galactic.
Gandy shoved a recorder into the airlock. With a press of a button, the quarter-meter-diameter sphere tumbled out into space.
“That’s the last of the truce worlds, Mr. Gruberg. We going to New Earth?”
Harris stared at his nav display in hesitation for fifteen seconds.
Gandy asked, “Well?”
“Let’s go.”
A jump was made to New Earth space. The wormhole was opened three hours’ distance from the second-furthest planet in the system.
Harris said, “It’ll take us a full day to get in and place this device. We can’t risk detection or they’ll come after us with everything they’ve got.”
“So we just jump back to Midelon, where it’s safe,” Gandy replied.
Harris shook his head. “I don’t think it’s that simple. We get caught and they’ll flood the truce worlds with ships looking for us. This isn’t like throwing a rock at their window. This is like breaking into their home. That device is clearly from Domicile. Placing it in their territory is an act of war.”
After an extended flight, the Bangor moved into position. “Gandy, let her go.”
The recording device was placed in the airlock. A button press had the air inside the lock vacuumed out. The outer door opened, releasing the device, then closed and sealed.
“It’s away. What’s next?”
“Now we go collect the one from Eden. When you pull this next one in, deploy another. We’ll be taking it back for Alex to play with.”
A short run and a jump had the Eden device in the cabin and a new one deployed. A second jump returned the ship to Midelon.
Harris picked up the recorder. “I’ll be in the bunker talking to Alex while he works on the decryption. I suggest the rest of you move on with your history lessons. I’ll let you know if anything important comes up.”
Harris placed the device on the table in the main room and sat in the chair. The image of Alexander Gaerten came to life.
“Mr. Gruberg, I see you’ve returned a recorder. Is this ready for decryption?”
“Yep. Should have a good bit of comms and nav data on there. If you crack the comms, can you screen the messages for ones that involve or mention Baxter Rumford or the general?”
“I can. Do you have any other specific instructions?”
Harris thought for a moment. “Actually, yeah. If the nav data has Bax’s ship coming or going, highlight those occurrences and link them to any relevant comms she was having at the time.”
The image nodded. “Very well.”
“What kind of turnaround time are we looking at?”
“A full day. There are four thousand two hundred twelve recordings to evaluate. Would you like me to begin?”
“Please. And notify me when you’re done so I can return the device to the Bangor for deployment elsewhere.”
“The device is ready. All records have been copied.”
Harris stood, grabbing the recorder by a pair of handles on its side. After returning it to the ship, he made his way back into the bunker, sitting in his now familiar chair in his usual room. The history lessons continued.
An eight hour session saw two Biomarines emerging with hunger on their faces.
Tawn ripped open a packaged meal from the pacifists at Haven. “How far you gotten.”
“Early twentieth century. You?”
Tawn replied, “Late twentieth. They have nuclear weapons, the first Human astronaut walked on their moon, and a cold war between two of the superpowers of the time just ended.”
“That reminds me, I wonder how that gamma burst bomb is coming?”
Tawn bit into a piece of condensed bread. “If we had it, would we use it?”
Harris nodded. “On Eden? Yeah. Anything to stop that production.”
“We still have spies down there.”
“That would be a sacrifice they signed up for.”
The meal was followed by another eight hour session, more food, and then rest. As the sun came up the following morning, Harris met the others in the supply hut.
Tawn asked, “We checking in with anyone today?”
Harris nodded. “Mr. Morgan. I mentioned that gamma bomb yesterday. Want to know if they have made any progress. Also want to check with him on things there at Domicile. How are the budget cuts shaping up now that he’s seen the legislation.”
Sharvie said, “I finished the history lessons last night.”
Tawn turned. “You’ve moved to the next level?”
“No. I’ve been told I have to wait for the rest of you to catch up.”
Trish said, “I’ve just passed the all electric vehicles mandate. And it looks like east and west are on the verge of war again. That Islamic war in Europe was bloody. Didn’t seem to end well for anyone.”
Gandy added, “I’m at the same spot. We just landed astronauts on another planet. I can’t believe it took months to travel that distance. Can you imagine if we had to do that?”
Tawn asked, “Sharvie, how were the details leading up to our coming out here?”
“I was kind of shocked. It all made sense though. And I’ll let you work your way through it so you’re not biased by any of my thoughts. I want to hear what the rest of you think anyway.”
“Shocking?”
“Maybe not shocking, but not what I expected from the stories we’ve all heard since childhood. And I’ll leave it at that.”
Harris opened a comm to Domicile. “Mr. Morgan, just checking in. Was wondering how your research on the gamma bomb was coming?”
“Moving forward. They’ve managed to overcome several major hurdles. To my knowledge, only two remain. If those can be conquered, we have a viable weapon.”
ARMS Jebwa Atrocity Page 15
