“Uh, Duncan, this guy is trying to vent us into space by burning a hole in the windshield.” Cole nodded as a voice responded. “Yeah, I know it’s not really glass. Mm-hmm, crystalline polymer designed to provide protection against solar flares. I understand but…do you think you could just fly over here and bump him out of the way before it gets really hard to breathe in here?”
Nathan held out a hand, “No, I don’t want them to move. If they do that freighter will just get in our way.” Nathan shielded his eyes with a raised hand and stepped toward the window. It was beginning to glow and minute cracks were spreading outward from the point of the torch. He saw Mickey was having trouble keeping it centered in one place because the thrust generated by the cutting torch was moving the maintenance pod around. Still, Nathan knew the window was going to buckle before too long.
“Strap in,” he said to Cole as he climbed into the pilot’s chair. “We’re leaving.”
Cole walked over to the window and waved a single finger at the work pod. He fell into a chair and pulled the safety harness tight. “Any time you want to go, Nathan”
“Hold on.” Nathan pushed the thrusters to max and the ship lurched but stayed stuck to the dock. A vibration built up and the debris on the bridge floor started rolling around. Empty silver beer cans rolled forward and then back as the ship rocked. Nathan smiled and slapped the comm panel.
“It’s now or never, Mickey. If you maintained the dock clamps as badly as you did everything else in your yard, you know they won’t take this for long. I suggest you get out of the way.”
Cole watched as a melted gob of transparent glass broke away from the window and floated off into space. The work pod cutting torch left a black burn as it skittered across the window. “Time to go, Nathan. The window’s melting.”
Nathan nodded. “I’m trying, Cole. Apparently they maintained the docking clamps pretty well.” He pushed another lever and the ship rocked violently to port. Cole grabbed the arms of his chair as the bow began to move left.
“I thought so,” Nathan said. “I can apply some torque with the steering thrusters.” He grinned and hit the comm button again. “Hey, Mickey, enjoy the rest of your time here on planet dirtball. We’re leaving!”
With that exclamation Nathan jerked the steering thrusters to starboard and the big ship broke free. Cole held up his phone and filmed their get away as the pod banged off the wheelhouse and began spinning. It looked like it was intact but Cole was sure Mickey felt the impact. He grinned and watched as the bow heaved over to the right and then they began moving forward. They went past their ship, the Blue Moon Bandit, and then past the freighter that had tried to block their way. Cole stopped recording and called Marla.
“She wants to know if you’re ready to jump?” He asked Nathan as they accelerated away from the docks.
Nathan checked the gauges one final time and nodded. “Tell her we’ll see her and Duncan at the rendezvous point.”
Cole relayed the message just as space in front of him flashed bright white, then black. There was a familiar moment of disorientation as the freighter folded back into normal space. As far as light speed jumps went, it hadn’t been too bad.
An hour later Nathan and Cole were free of the locked bridge and back aboard the Blue Moon Bandit, Nathan’s personal vessel. Nathan was in the small galley cooking dinner when Marla walked in. She was tall and plain but not unattractive. Her brown flight suit hung loosely on her frame and turned her into a shapeless person. She didn’t wear make up and her long auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
“The Martha Tooey is slaved to our control system,” she said. “We can jump her back home and put her in orbit remotely but we’ll have to board her again to dock her.”
Nathan considered that. “How long do we have until the next warpgate?” Warpgates were used to move between solar systems but they could be placed inconveniently depending on your destination within the system. Having a ship that could travel faster than light on its own could save an enormous amount of time.
Marla held up three fingers. “We’re on course to get there in three hours unless you want to make a light speed jump.”
Nathan shook his head as he tasted the chili from a spoon. “Yeah, light speed jumps are out of the question. Some morons back on planet dirtball were selling the fuel out of her bunkers but I figure we’ve got just enough left to get to the warpgate at sub-light speed and then cruise to Saji’s place on fumes.”
Marla dipped a piece of bread in the pot and tasted it. “You need more Cayenne Pepper.”
Nathan shook his head. “No, I don’t. Last time you made this it kept everyone in the head for two days.”
“But it’s bland.”
He smiled. “You just don’t appreciate the flavor. You’re one of those folks who think anything not visibly on fire doesn’t have enough spice. You need to educate your palate.”
“My palate’s fine,” she teased. “It’s your old stomach that needs attention.”
“My stomach’s not that much older than you.” He shut the burner off. “Dinner’s ready.”
“I’ll tell the boys,” Marla said with a smile.
Nathan smiled back. “They hate it went you call them that.”
She walked out the door and called back over her shoulder, “I know.”
Dinner was a festive affair. Repossessing vessels paid well but repossessing stolen vessels with their cargo intact paid even more handsomely. Nathan’s crew would soon have fat wallets and time off to enjoy them. After dinner he sat back and enjoyed a smoke and the easy confidence of a job done well.
Cole put his feet up on the unoccupied chair between himself and Duncan. “Going to see Kathy when we get back to Go City?”
Nathan nodded. “I think so. She was a little out of sorts when I left but she’ll come around. This here today, gone tomorrow lifestyle of ours isn’t really her thing.”
“She knew this is what you did before she moved in, though,” Cole said.
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean much,” Nathan answered. “I get the feeling that she thought things would be changing.” He shrugged. “Maybe I’m not cut out for domesticated life.”
Duncan leaned forward in his chair and his long dreadlocks fell toward the table. He was the ship’s engineer, black, stocky, and a couple centimeters taller than Marla. “Have you heard from Celeste lately?”
Nathan nodded. “She sent me a message about three months ago. She’s first mate on an ore carrier for a mining consortium.”
Duncan whistled. “She’s not on flying that luxury liner anymore?”
“Better pay.”
“I always knew she would do well,” Duncan said.
Nathan flicked ashes off the end of his cigarette. “As long as she wasn’t here, right?”
“That’s not what I meant,” the big man said. “And you know it.”
“Yeah, I know but it’s the truth. She had too much going for her to hang around here,” Nathan said. “Obviously that big mining outfit recognizes talent when they see it.” He waved his hand around. “Chasing repo jobs on this bucket was a waste of her time.”
Cole set his cup down. “Nathan, I’m feeling too good for this right now.”
“For what?”
“For another round of self pity. You want to be maudlin about your ex-wife, do it by yourself.”
Nathan nodded at Duncan. “He brought her up.”
“I just wondered if you’d heard from her. She’s still a friend.”
“It’s been two years since she left you, Nathan,” Cole said.
Nathan ignored him and turned to Duncan. “She’s your friend, huh? You ever talk to her?”
Cole could swear that he saw the engineer blush. Duncan leaned back from the table before answering. “Well, I send her notes, you know, just to keep in touch.”
“He’s allowed to keep in touch with friends, Nathan,” Cole said. “It’s not like he’s being disloyal to you by talking to her.”
Duncan grinned. “I don’t bring it up because you get like this.”
“Like what?” Nathan asked.
Marla walked into the cramped eating area from the cockpit. “We’re on course for the warpgate, everyone. Our ETA is just under two hours.” She sat down at the table. “What are we talking about?”
“Celeste,” Duncan answered.
Marla stood back up. “You know, I better check the universal positioning settings again just to be sure. That gas giant we’re coming up on has a hell of a magnetic field.” She quickly ducked out of the compartment.
“See?” Duncan said motioning at the retreating co-pilot. “This is why no one brings her up. You get all moody and irritable. Everybody knows it.”
“I don’t get irritable,” Nathan said. “And not everyone thinks I do.”
“Yeah?” Asked Cole. “When’s the last time Fat Eddie asked about her?”
“Or Kenny the Mooch,” added Duncan.
Nathan lit up another cancer stick and blew smoke at them. “That’s all you got? A bartender and the captain of a tugboat who’s older than everyone at this table combined? It’s not like either of them are my closest friends.”
Cole and Duncan looked at each other and then turned their gaze toward Nathan. He looked at the two of them with irritation. “What?”
Cole cocked an eyebrow at Duncan and the big man shook his head and then nodded at Cole. The muscle-for-hire turned to Nathan. “I don’t know how to put this delicately but our circle of friends has sort of…um”
“Shrunk,” Duncan offered.
“Yeah,” Cole said. “Shrunk is a good word. Our circle of friends has shrunk over the last couple years.”
Nathan played with a glass salt shaker, spilling some on the table top. “It’s not like we run with the best people, fellas. Petty criminals, corrupt customs officials and alcoholics don’t generally constitute good company. Besides, our line of work keeps us away from home for weeks at a time. It’s difficult to maintain relationships in that kind of atmosphere.”
“That’s true,” Duncan said.
“Very true,” Cole agreed.
“Don’t patronize me,” Nathan warned.
“We’re not,” Cole said. “What you said is true. Our lifestyle is not conducive to relationships outside of work.”
“That’s what I’m saying,” Nathan responded.
“When’s the last time you heard from Celeste?” Nathan asked.
A pained look crossed Duncan’s face. “It’s not really important.”
Nathan grew concerned. “When was it?”
Duncan exhaled heavily. “About two weeks ago.”
“And?” Nathan asked. Duncan grew concerned about the sudden calmness in his voice.
“Her assignment is going well. The captain likes her and she’s making a ton of money.”
Nathan leaned forward and Duncan noticed he was biting his lower lip. “If you knew that, why did you ask me if I had heard from her?”
“Well, I just wanted to talk about it. Once I saw that you hadn’t heard from her in a while and that you were going to get how you get I decided to drop it. Then you got how you get. And here we are.”
Marla passed back through and stepped into the galley. She returned a moment later with a steaming travel mug of coffee. She tightened the lid down and looked at the three men around the table. “Are we done with the discussion or have we just reached the uncomfortable silence stage?”
“Does she ever mention me?” Nathan asked, ignoring Marla’s question.
“Well sure,” Duncan answered. “It’s not like she hates you. I told her about that luxury yacht we nabbed last month. She got a kick out of that.”
The phone on Marla’s hip started to buzz. She pulled it free of its holder and set her coffee down on the table.
“What is it?” Nathan asked.
She tapped the screen a couple times. “It’s the motion sensor we set up on the Martha Tooey. Someone is moving around the wheelhouse.”
Cole looked at Nathan. “There was a lot of garbage in there. It could be the beer cans rolling around.”
Nathan shook his head. “Duncan cleaned that garbage up while you and I were doing our walkthrough of the crew’s quarters.”
Marla tapped the screen again. “I reset it and I’m still getting alarms. Are we going to check it out?”
Cole looked at Nathan. “We didn’t see anyone.”
Nathan shrugged. “There could have been someone hidden in the engineering spaces or even in the hold. We better get over there and check.”
Cole stood up and thumbed the lock on the equipment locker against the wall. He pulled out two sawed-off shotguns and tossed one to Nathan. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Marla docked the Blue Moon Bandit with the Martha Tooey just aft of the wheel house. Nathan and Cole boarded her for the second time that day, this time in a much worse mood. They made their way down a dark corridor toward the wheel house. Nathan took the lead, walking calmly but purposefully toward the freighter’s wheel house. He was leery of stowaways but determined that nothing was going to come between him and the repo fee.
Nathan and Cole slid quietly along the wall near the hatch once they got close to the wheelhouse. The door was closed. Nathan leaned in close; his ear nearly touching the metal door. It was quiet but he waited patiently. He was rewarded when he heard something bump inside the wheelhouse. He stepped back, nodding at Cole.
Both men took a position against the far wall. Nathan held up his hand and raised three fingers, one after the other. When he reached three he spun the wheel on the door and pulled hard. The door opened toward him and Cole peeked quickly inside and then pulled his head back. He held up one finger to Nathan, indicating only one person was inside.
Nathan stepped to the door. “Whoever you are, come on out. No one will hurt you. This vessel has been repossessed and is being returned to its owner. We have no quarrel with you.”
They heard a chair squeak from inside. A voiced asked; “Where are we going?”
Nathan thought the voice sounded young. “What’s your name, son?”
Another squeak of the chair. “Richie Pearson.”
Nathan stole a look inside. A young man about twenty years old was sitting in the pilot’s chair. “Richie?”
The young man nodded. “Where are we going?”
“Go City,” Nathan answered. “On Earth.”
Richie nodded. “Okay.”
Nathan, Cole, Duncan and their new passenger sat around the table in the galley. The kid was on his second bowl of chili. They figured it had been a while since his last decent meal.
“What were you doing on the Martha Tooey?” Cole asked.
The new arrival pushed himself back from the table. “I’m a machinist mate on the Martha.”
“Why weren’t you put off and sent back with the rest of the crew?”
Richie swallowed some of his coffee. “I hid down near the coolant tanks. I didn’t know what they were going to do with the crew, whether they were going to be let go or press ganged into service on some other ship. You hear stories of that happening, you know?” Nathan nodded. Everyone knew the stories. “Anyway, the guys that seized the Martha weren’t real bright. They never looked around too much after the crew was taken off so I was able to stay hidden.”
“But you got trapped by those guys selling the fuel?” Duncan offered.
Richie nodded. “Man, those two idiots wouldn’t leave. They partied in the wheelhouse and crashed in the crew quarters. They didn’t bother me too much because I could keep out of their way but they cleaned out the galley. After the first week there was nothing left. They couldn’t have eaten it all so they must have sold it. These last few weeks I’ve been surviving on emergency ration packs from the life boats.” He held up his b
owl of chili and spooned more into his mouth. “This is definitely an improvement.”
Nathan smiled. “We can take you as far as Go City. There’s a union office there. They’ll help get you home.”
“I don’t have much home to go to. I need a job. How about you guys? You need a machinist? I’m very good.”
Nathan shook his head and stood up. “I’ve got all the crew I need. Duncan will get you settled into a bunk. You can sack out until we get back to Go City. It will only be a few hours.”
The young man rose and dropped his bowl in the sink. “Thanks anyway. I guess I’ll get some sleep.”
2.
They blew into the Sol star system and put the Martha Tooey in orbit around Earth. The Martha Tooey’s owner, Saji Vy, would have a replacement crew and tender ship take possession in a few hours. Nathan pointed the Blue Moon Bandit toward the surface and arced toward Go City, New Mexico.
Go City was the largest spaceport in North America, located in the desert of the American southwest. Built in New Mexico four hundred years ago in the early twenty-first century, Spaceport America launched the first private space flights. Momentum had taken off and by the middle of the century a city of fifty thousand people were living and working in the area and it was renamed Go City.
Space launches were not the only industry for Go City. It was the center of the spacecraft manufacturing industry in the western hemisphere. America had a second spaceport in Florida, the old Cape Canaveral on the “Space Coast”, but Go City simply had more room to grow. That space allowed the manufacture of spacecraft components, the assembly of modular components and all the restaurants, hotels and retail outlets necessary to support those industries.
Americans had jumped on space travel as soon as private industry brought the cost down. At first, short orbital trips had been the provenance of the extremely wealthy; then technological advancements made it safer and easier to get into space on more robust spacecraft that enabled faster and faster turn around. After a decade the cost of a trip into space was attainable by the upper middle class. By 2040 people could get to the Moon for a vacation and a steady stream of people were rocketing into the darkness of space for pleasure and business.
Milky Way Repo Page 2
