13 Degrees of Separation

by Hechtl, Chris

  “You admit to being a prostitute? At your age???” a man asked, sounding aghast.

  “I said no such thing!” Mairi said, pride coming into the conversation. “I was working for the Yard Dogs out there,” she waved to the berth. “In my Tug. Moving stuff, getting materials, that sort of thing. That''s my work!”

  “But you are underage,” Miss Chambers asked, and then pointed the microphone at her mouth.

  “Who the hell told you that?” Mairi asked, snorting. “I just turned eighteen for your information. That's two count em 2!” She held two fingers up. “Two years older than the legal adult status on Antigua! I am a legal adult!”

  “Oh,” Toni Chambers replied with a slight smile. “And the charges of gambling?” she turned slightly and smirked as her fellow reporters muttered oaths over being duped by their collective source.

  “I don't gamble! When do I have the time! Wait, you... are you mistaking my mother for me!” Mairi's red eyes flickered with rage. “She better not be! She promised me! That was the only reason I paid for her ticket!”

  “You paid?” A reporter asked, surprise.

  “Yes, me. I'm the pilot. I own the tug. I support my mother and myself. I've done it since I was younger,” she said, catching herself before she stated how much younger. She crossed her arms.

  “Perhaps if you told us your side of the story to set the record straight?” Toni Chambers suggested.

  “Fine,” Mairi grumped, running a hand through her sweat stained hair. She badly needed a shower and a nap but fine. She really wished someone would come rescue her. She saw Alice in the background. She shrugged helplessly. No help there. “Fine, if it'll get you off my back. Some of us work for a living you know,” she growled.

  She answered their questions, seething when they hit particular sore points. They obviously had the story mangled. She tried to keep her temper as she answered some of the more stupid questions. However as it went on they started to ask the same questions, or worded them differently. The shreds of her temper began to unravel then. Seeing it, Alice waded into the fray and wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder.

  “She's answered your questions,” Alice said. “She's been more than fair. I think you folks have what you need right?” Toni Chambers nodded but the others didn't say anything. “I think if you have any further questions you can speak to me as the public relations director of the company from now on. Thank you, have a good day,” Alice said, hustling Mairi past Toni Chambers and off down the corridor. The pack of reporters let them go. Some were already doing spin pieces, turning to the camera to wrap the story up.

  “What the hell was that?” Mairi asked, seething. Alice guided her onward.

  “Not here,” Alice finally responded when Mairi opened her mouth to ask again. “Hang on,” she said and guided the girl to her own quarters. When they entered she waved. “Damn kid, what a pong!” she said gasping.

  “Sorry,” Mairi muttered.

  “I'd of thought that alone would have kept them at a distance but apparently not,” Alice joked. She shook her head.

  “I'm working. Quit it. What the hell do you people want from me?” Mairi snarled.

  Alice looked at her and then rubbed her arm before passing her to go to the small kitchenette. Mairi looked around, noting the larger split level accommodations with blue walls and various paintings and pictures here and there. It was rather tastefully decorated, though it reminded her of some show she'd seen on the wall screen. “Tea?” Alice asked. “To settle your nerves?”

  “No, I've got to get some downtime before my shift starts again in the morning,” Mairi sighed, rubbing her brow. “What the hell happened?” she demanded again.

  “Well,” Alice busied herself making tea and then turned, resting her hands on the counter. “You were sandbagged. We're not sure what happened. I'm thinking someone close.”

  “There were some personal questions there. Though they mixed me up with my mom.”

  “Maybe that guy who was after her?” Alice asked.

  “He put them up to that?” Mairi asked, eyes narrowing. “Fucker. I'll stuff his pecker down his throat!” she snarled, turning for the door. Alice rushed forward and caught her by the arm.

  “No no,” she said hastily, stopping her. “No, not a good idea. You do that and you'll not only give our enemies all they want, they'll crucify you in the process.”

  “Um...” Mairi shook her hand off and then held her wrist. She sulked, enraged without a target.

  “What you did, getting the truth out? That hurt him more than anything you could do. He's just gotten the story wrong in a big way. Toni Chambers will follow it up. Believe me. And since the others know it was a hatchet job, that they were set up, they'll pile on too just because they were embarrassed.”

  “They should have gotten their facts straight before hand,” the girl muttered, looking at the door.

  Alice nodded, guiding her to the diner set nearby. “Yes, yes they should have. But they didn't. Now they've got egg on their face, they look like fools and they aren't happy. Let's just say, what goes around comes around kiddo.”

  “It better come around soon,” Mairi replied, sinking into the chair. She rested her elbows on the table and her wrists propped her forehead up. After a moment she dropped her arms and then laid her head on top of them. “Can I sleep here? If I go home I don't know what I'll do to my mom,” she said. “If she's there.”

  “Yeah, but try the couch. It's more comfortable,” Alice said. “After you shower,” she said.

  “Sure,” Mairi sighed. She wasn't sure it was all her mom though, some of those questions... some bothered her. She wanted to mention it but she was just too tired. She rubbed the small of her back and got up. “Shower,” she muttered. Alice pointed to a door down the hall.

  “I'll make you something to eat. Don't fall over in there,” she said kindly.

  “I'm more afraid of falling asleep,” Mairi replied, using one hand to prop herself up as she walked down the hall to the bathroom.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Zap Utilities came forward with interest in their proposals. Alice grinned as she waited for the crew to come in on the next shuttle. Zap himself was rumored to be coming. When Zap did come she shook his hand... and was nudged aside as Malcolm McDougall came in behind her. Ian took her by both arms and pushed her to one side. She turned, fuming as the McDougall brothers smiled brightly to Zap and chatted with him. “Glad you could make it!” Ian said grinning.

  “I wouldn't miss this for worlds,” Zap replied politely, brushing his suit to make sure there were no wrinkles. “So you went over our proposal?” he asked.

  “We did and we think we can work with you,” Malcolm said, still smiling. He turned, guiding the man away. “Let's talk business in a less public arena shall we?” His smile caught Alice just as she scowled. “After all, we don't want anyone stealing our ideas right?” he asked.

  Alice stood there fuming as Zap ignored her. His staff of ten followed him, chattering at each other softly. A mousy brown haired woman with glasses slowed to a stop in front of Alice and then shrugged helplessly. “Sorry,” she murmured, head down. She turned and hurried to catch up with her group.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Alice was in tears when she reported the news to the others. Ralph and Savo fumed, but Clio just sighed. “That was our mistake. We didn't have anyone sign an NDA.”

  “NDA?” Savo demanded.

  “Non Disclosure Agreement. We also didn't get any coverage in case the deal fell through. Now if we try to say anything it will look bad on us, like we're trying to preempt them.”

  “I know one thing, I think I'm going to put a call in to Zap's competitors. Sort of prime them for what's coming and maybe see if anyone's interested in cutting a deal with us,” Alice said, fairly biting off every word of that statement as she got up. She rubbed at her eyes and then dusted her black pencil skirt off. “I'm so mad!” she fumed.

  “Well, do try to get
your thoughts in order and be professional when you make the calls,” Clio cautioned. Alice nodded curtly and walked out.

  “I think I'm going to call Toni anyway. Clio,” Savo said turning to her. “Can you get a copy of our communications logs with Zap? And if possible a copy of that encounter in the dock? I think we should turn it over to Chambers and see if it gives Zap a bit of a black eye and indigestion.”

  “Interesting,” Clio murmured and then shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Dog pile on the Yard Dogs was a phrase coined by Toni Chambers in her next report. Her report, complete with the unedited video of the McDougall brothers pushing her aside in the dock had thousands of views within an hour of the story being posted. The McDougall's compounded the bad publicity with a smirk and a tough luck comment. Zap was put out over the black eye as well as being ambushed by miss Chambers. His staff hustled him out before he made more of a fool of himself.

  The next morning Zap's stock took a hit. McDougall was mostly privately owned, but they too took a hit as did their subcontractors. Each of the companies tried to spin control the bad publicity, announcing the plan to power Antigua publicly.

  When speculation of whether or not McDougall could fulfill the project started making the rounds investors were scared off the project. The black eye and speculation forced Bank of Antigua to pull their support from the project. Zap attempted to secure alternative financing but couldn't come up with it. The entire project was sidelined within a week of Zap announcing it, giving them even more of a black eye.

  Meanwhile Miss Chambers announced Tribecca, a small utility competitor to Zap had entered a pilot program with Yard Dogs Inc. The Yard Dogs would build a solar farm at cost and sell the energy it generated to Tribecca. In turn Tribecca undersigned the loans to pay for the endeavor while they also sold stock to pay for upgrades to their grid.

  Toni Chamber's support for the underdog was helping build her popularity and fan base while also drawing attention to their plight and mission. National pride was starting to come into action as people thought about what it meant for Antigua to have their very own shipyard, one of only two in the sector. Also, the fact that the Yard Dogs was conceived by Admiral Irons helped them, the backlash for the attacks on him was still in the public mind.

  The fact that someone somewhere was doing something, working on bigger grander projects than the frills the station was turning out wasn't lost on many.

  The other media conglomerates took an interest in the stories of corporate espionage and illicit activities, the stories were just too juicy to ignore despite 'Miss Chamber's obvious bias'. The station District Attorney became involved reluctantly. The Veraxin did an interview with Miss Chambers. He tried to keep it light and professional but Toni seemed to rake him over the coals, he was out of his element and knew it.

  Jake, Mairi, Shari, and Harif watched the interview in Ralphs while eating dinner. Mairi had let Harif talk her into the so called double date. Jake didn't look very comfortable, he didn't like crowds, but fortunately it was just the four of them and they had missed the evening crush by a good 2 hours. In fact Alice and Ralph were starting to clean up, occasionally giving Jake sidelong looks to hurry him along so he could help with the clean up.

  Jake asked Mairi what life was like in Senka. She sipped at her energy drink, red eyes studying him until he squirmed. Finally she relented, popped the straw out of her mouth and sat back. She quietly told him about the people there, how they etched a living out of the barren rock. It was tougher every year, and the population dropped. With fewer people skills were lost. “We scraped by.”

  “But what about the pirates?”

  “What about them? When they came around we hid. See, after they tore us up we relocated our bases. Then when a ship comes through they signal a relay beacon. Someone will strip it and then if we're interested in trade we set up a meet. Otherwise they get nothin and they move on.”

  “Oh.”

  “It's the only safe way now. The pirates are a pain in the ass.”

  “I'd say they loot, pillage and then burn?” Taylor Warner asked. “Typical model?”

  Mairi nodded. “Sometimes,” she said with a shrug. “If they find you. We hid. Dig deep, keep quiet. Use relays to bounce signals, never lead anyone back to a base.”

  “Ah.”

  “For some reason they aren't at all interested in the hardware, oh tugs like the bitch yeah, but they are more interested in metal and fissionable stockpiles.”

  “Oh?”

  “Why kill a flock when you can sheer the sheep and then let them go to grow more wool?” Rasha asked, coming into being beside her husband. “After all if you kill the sheep then you have no more.”

  “True,” Taylor responded, catching her hand with his and then rubbing her virtual fingers with his own.

  “You know about pirates?” Mairi asked.

  Rasha cleared her throat, and then nodded to the girl. Taylor grunted and turned, smiling. “Yeah. I... we are officers in the Naval reserve.”

  “AI officers?”

  “We're not AI,” Rasha said, looking up to the girl. “Whatever gave you that idea?” she asked.

  Mairi squirmed under her intense gaze. “I just thought... um,” she looked to Jake for help.

  “We're cybers. People, organic people who are permanently hooked up to the system. Sort of Organic AI I suppose,” Taylor explained.

  “And Clio?”

  “Oh no,” Rasha laughed. “She's an AI.”

  “Oh,” Mairi responded in a small voice.

  “We had our lives. Our son John is the executive officer of the Kiev 221,” Taylor said, smiling proudly.

  “Just as his father was chief engineer,” Rasha murmured, hugging her husband.

  “John?” Mairi asked, now lost. “I, um... John, I thought Savo called the admiral that.”

  “John Henry Warner. He was named after the admiral.”

  “Now I'm lost,” Jake said, shaking his head regretfully. Taylor snorted.

  “We knew John before the Xeno war. John saved each of us. I vowed if I ever had a son, I'd name it after him,” Taylor explained. Finally Jake nodded.

  “You could say the admiral is his godfather. We always did,” Rasha explained.

  “Oh.”

  “If you scraped by, how'd you get the cred's up for a ticket?” Jake asked. Mairi turned a glare on him. He squirmed. “If you don't, um, mind me asking.”

  “I had the money several times but well, let's just say my mother can't handle money worth a damn,” Mairi growled. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair as the Warners looked at her with sympathy. “I... let's just chalk it up to salvage okay? I was so pissed at Irons getting out of Senka so easily it got stuck in my head. I backtracked to where Io 11 picked him up and...” she shrugged. She didn't want to admit that Dig's tug and body had helped pay for the cost of her mother as well as the bitch.

  “Oh,” Jake said and nodded. “Cool. Admiral Irons said something about salvage here?” he asked looking at the Warners. “Is that something we'll be doing?” he asked.

  Taylor shrugged as his wife rubbed his shoulder. “I doubt it. We might get lucky but there aren't that many ships around. The few we have found have already been picked up.”

  “Like the Phoenix,” Rasha replied.

  He looked over his shoulder to her and then nodded. “Right,” he agreed, meeting her eyes for a moment and then turning back to the small group. “What we're going to do is well, repair existing ships, make robots, and tugs, along with platforms and sublight craft.”

  “Okay.”

  “And of course expand the yard,” Rasha replied. She rolled her eyes. “That alone will be a lifetime process if we follow the admiral's plan to the letter.”

  “Why the frack are we doing Tribecca? Isn't this going to set us behind with the yard?” Mairi demanded.

  “Sure it will,” Gwen replied. She'd been brought on board to design the power coll
ection and transmission system. She'd said she could do it in her sleep. She'd roughed the design out using off the shelf equipment in a few hours, and had a running prototype to showcase and test the next day. Of course Riff had complained she hadn't gotten any sleep in that period and had been irritable as all frack until she'd gotten some sack time. Gwen of course had ignored his comment as unworthy of her response.

  “The thing you've got to understand kid, is that the Tribecca contract is a paying gig. With it we get to test out the truss system, show it to others, and show others what we can do. And it's a paycheck that keeps giving and giving. We'll keep adding to the system over time, boosting the power,” Riff rumbled.

  “There's no such thing as a free lunch, it still costs,” Mairi complained. Ralph looked over to her and snorted. She shrugged.

  “True. But we'll get back to the yard. Just give it some time. Besides, what do you care? If you're in your precious tug that is all that matters right?” Savo asked, poking Mairi.

  Mairi snorted, batting his hand away. “Yeah, so why build the yard at all then?”

  “Cause it'll give us bigger pay checks down the road. Lots of them,” Ralph replied.

  “Okay...” Mairi said. “Sounds good, but what will they use to pay for it?”

  “Creds, trade, we don't care,” Clio replied.

  “As long as it's legal we don't,” Rasha amended. “Though I worry about that.”

  “True, but think of all the ships that will come here for our services,” Taylor replied, smiling. “They will be putting a lot of income into the local market. We too will do that. We'll get paid, and we will spend our money on food and resources in turn. It's an economic engine.”

  “I'm more worried about the pirates. We can't build a warship?” Jake asked, looking at the naval officers.

  Taylor shook his head, his wife followed suit a beat later. “No,” Taylor said with regret in his voice. “No, I'm afraid not.”

  “Suddenly I think it was safer in Senka,” Mairi said. “Can't hide with this damn station,” she growled. Jake nodded.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mairi started noticing things missing around her apartment. She was tired, and unsure if it was her fatigue making her blind to the obvious, or if her mother had cleaned. Neither sounded good, and the latter was pretty much a fairy tale. She hunted around for the tablet and then gave up. “Mom?” she called over her shoulder, looking under the coffee table.