by Gary Weston
He thought about Miss Saltoe. When he got back to Home, he would have to meet his new P A. A frightening prospect. Saltoe would see to it that he would have some iron-fisted excuse for a female, keeping him in line. There was a cruel streak in Saltoe that would take great pleasure in passing on her legacy.
Of course. If he didn’t like or get on with the woman, he being Boss, could send her back to the admin floor and select a less formidable P A. But would he have the nerve? He doubted it. A small part of him accepted he needed that touch of female dominance. Was that a fetish thing like with Commander Gordon, he wondered? No. The truth was, and something Councillor Freeman had recognised in him, was the loathing of anything like office work. Not his bag. So, Freeman, and reluctantly now, Raven himself, the Boss did need keeping in line. One way or another they would make it work.
Raven felt the constant sub-tropical temperature and the serenity of Base Three revive his spirits. He would return a fully invigorated man, up for any new challenges, ready to lead the D S I into the future. Yep. He was the man for the job.
Which was when Dixon decided to bring his father out of his introspection with a demand to be changed.
Chapter 376
Dale Martin had some serious thinking to do. As he sat in the dark corner of a down-town bar nursing a drink, he was only just beginning to realise what a mess his life had become. He’d had his F class freighter as an inheritance from his father. That meant at least he owned it outright. He had also inherited an established client base and had even expanded it. He had no family to hand on the business or ship, so he had always thought he would make a modest living with the old bird and when she finally died, that would be the end of it.
The end of the bird, however, was coming far too soon. She was slower than the newer freighters, meaning the newer ships were eating into his business. Spare parts were either ridiculously expensive, or worse, had to be specially made. The old ship had been running rough for some time, and getting her fit for service, would inevitably cost a fortune.
And just how long would that last? Another year? Two? He was too broke and too young to retire. Selling the ship and the business would be at a huge loss and with no way to pay off his debt. Nobody would invest in an old rust-bucket like his ship. He could possibly get a job as a pilot, but selling everything at a loss meant he’d be working for nothing.
He needed help. He needed somebody of influence to have the infringements and penalties wiped away. It had been at the back of his mind for ages. Knowing this day would come, there was one last ace in the hole that a gambler like him could pull out and save the day. The most powerful man on Mars. If ever a man could get all those penalties lifted, it was him.
But he needed back up. A plan was forming. It was time to go back to his ship and get Valiant on his side.
Chapter 377
Thorne had stopped off in the city to dash into stores for things for the puppy. A huge amount of frozen fish. A couple of small balls to throw for the dog to fetch. A collar and a lead he would make on their way back to Home. Once back on the ship, the puppy was let go and she immediately made herself at home by doing her business in the airlock.
‘Off to a nice start,’ said Thorne.
‘She’s a puppy,’ said Casey. ‘She just needs educating. She also needs a name. Shannon. Have you thought of a name for her yet?’
‘Pinky. Because her one ear is pink. And that’s my favourite colour.’
‘Hmm. Pinky. Ok. Pinky it is. But we have to set some ground rules. Pinky is your dog and your responsibility. Mealtimes, exercise. That’s all down to you.’
‘I know. But isn’t she pretty, Karma?’
Casey grinned. ‘Very pretty.’
‘Can she sleep with me?’
Sam said, ‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. She should have her own bed.’
Shannon looked big-eyed at Karma for support and asked, ‘But can she stay in my room with me?’
‘Only if she stays in her bed.’
That seemed like a reasonable compromise to Shannon. ‘Ok. I’m going to see if she needs a feed.’
‘I’ll zap some fish for her,’ said Sam. ‘And I’m kinda hungry myself.’
In the galley, the bulk of fish was put in the freezer and a small amount zapped to cook. With the dog happily eating her meal, the two-legs had a feed, but all the time they were watching Pinky. Once she had eaten, which took just seconds, she was busy exploring, sniffing at everything she saw. Then it lay down and stared up at the funny two-legs, her pink ear doing semaphore signals for attention.
‘What goes in, must come out,’ said Sam, philosophically. ‘Shannon. You have to keep an eye on Pinky and tell us where she does her poos. If we don’t clean it up, this ship will stink up in no time.’
‘Ok, Daddy. Can I play with her?’
‘Yes. With the ball. Make her run after it and bring it back to you. She’ll soon tell you when she’s had enough.’
‘Pinky’s the bestest present ever. Come on Pinky. Time to play.’
Pinky skipped after Shannon to find the new ball to play with.
‘I hope we’ve done the right thing,’ said Thorne.
Casey said, ‘She is one happy little girl. Of course we have.’
The sound of happy squealing came from Shannon as the ball bounced about the ship, Pinky chasing it.
Sam grinned. ‘I think you’re right.’
Chapter 378
‘Let me ask you a question. Who is the most powerful man on Mars?’
Dan Valiant tolerated a lot when it came to Dale Martin. It didn’t matter how stupid Martin’s ideas were, he always got conned into them, somehow. Not this time, though. Martin was in too deep and Valiant had to make sure he wasn’t dragged down by the man.
‘Who?’
‘Fripp Norton. That’s who. Mars Commander himself.’
It had been a long day for Valiant. Whilst Martin had been drinking himself stupid, Valiant had been organising the unloading, pushing the customer for payment, and trying to convince a service company that they would be guaranteed payment once the work on the ship was done. The Martin Valiant Haulage Company, “your satisfaction, our aim” had the worst credit history of all the companies. But, an equally raggedy company had agreed to do the servicing with an upfront deposit of fifteen percent. Valiant had said that would be ok, so they were due in the following morning. Where that fifteen percent was coming from was anybody’s question. Valiant did not need to play twenty questions with Martin.
‘Mars Commander. Your point being?’
‘He owes me a favour. Norton has a gambling problem.’
‘Which is?’
‘He loses. You think we have a load of debt…’
‘Nope. I think you have a load of debt. I just fly the bus.’
‘Dan. Will you put your positive head on? I run a lot of bets for the bookies. Actually, I’d be raking it in if I didn’t bet myself. But, Norton is a big time gambler. I mean like numbers you wouldn’t believe. I’m pretty sure he dips into official funds he shouldn’t do to feed his habit. He also has a partner. Isy Koldart. Now there’s a female you wouldn’t want to cross. She doesn’t know anything about Norton’s gambling addiction or dipping into money he hasn’t got. We just need to suggest in a very friendly manner, if he doesn’t make the impounding go away, along with the other bills, we might have a word with the financial committee and more devastating, tell Koldart what he’s been up to. A stroke of genius on my part.’
Valiant shook his head in despair. ‘And then what? We just fly off into the sunset? We’ll be arrested as soon as we land.’
‘Of course not. Because what I know about Norton’s dirty little secrets, will have him being our puppet.’
Valiant shook his head. ‘This is going too far. I can walk out of here and work for a much more reliable outfit.’
‘Oh? Like who?’
‘Any of them. Them reliable, you not so much.’
Martin said, ‘Su
re. But would any of them make you a partner in their business? I don’t think so.’
‘A partner in what? An antique ship that should be in a museum? A so called business bleeding money? Contracts deserting a stinking ship for anything decent?’
Martin said, ‘Oh, come on. What price friendship? We can do this. Look. We go see Norton. Get him to drop the impound costs, we get the ship fixed up, deliver our last load for a profit and sell the fully serviced ship. You and I then go pull a wage for the rest of our lives. That’s a plan, isn’t it?’
Valiant said, ‘It’s a plan, but is it a good plan. Dale. You have pulled some crazy stunts in your time, but this is ridiculous. I gotta pull out on this one.’
‘Don’t be like that. Ok. Fair enough. We go see Norton. If he doesn’t want to play ball, you and I go our separate ways and no hard feelings.’
Valiant said, ‘Norton will never buy it. Besides. How do we get to see him?’
Martin grinned. ‘He’ll see us. You leave that to me. We can do this, Dan. What do you say?’
There came a moment of deep cogitation. ‘And if he calls your bluff?’
‘I give in. You walk free, get a job as a pilot, I’ll take the heat.’
‘He’ll never buy it.’
Martin said, ‘Have you seen his partner? Koldart is not a woman I’d care to be on the wrong end of. Or the right end, come to think about it. If Norton thinks we’ll tell her, he’ll pull out all the stops to get us off this rock. Come on, Dan. The dirt I got on Norton, it’s in the bag.’
Valiant could hear his own words coming out like they were from some faraway alien being. ‘Ok. We’ll see what Norton has to say.’
Chapter 379
‘We talked about this,’ whispered Sam Thorne. ‘No dog on the bed.’
‘Shush. I’m recording this. This is adorable.’
Shannon had one arm over her head and the other arm around a two month old puppy. Pinky’s bed had been used for all of ten minutes. Pinky’s head was tucked under Shannon’s chin, her paws stretched out as if embracing the girl.
‘Ok. I give up,’ said Thorne. ‘Hmm. It was just a matter of time.’
‘Yep. Now close the door. Quietly. Right. You and I need to talk.’
They went to the galley and Thorne pulled two beers from the fridge. ‘I’m listening.’
Casey sipped her beer. ‘We need to settle down. On Home. Sell the business, do something else.’
‘Because of a puppy?’
‘No. Yes. Sort of. I was saying this before we got Pinky. Shannon needs stability. Full-time school with kids her own age. This is no life for her, flying around in a ship.’
‘Is this the right time to sell up?’
Casey said, ‘I’ve called a few people. Our ship is well maintained. We have a solid customer base. Pundits say the economy is due to pick up. Now is the best time to sell.’
‘We’ll not end up with much when the dust settles.’
‘Enough for a small place to live, where Shannon can settle and live like every other little girl.’
Thorne could see merit in all that. ‘And you and I would do what? We still have to pay our way.’
‘Like I said. The economy is set to pick up. We can sort out a little business and work on that. Will you at least think about it?’
Thorne said, ‘Since you planted the seed in my head, I’ve thought about nothing else. To be honest, after all that with the Masters, I’m amazed we made it this far. You’ve really done flying around the galaxy?’
‘Yes. For a few years now. Sam. Something else you should know. I want to have a baby. Our baby.’
Thorne grinned. ‘The time feels right. Ok. We sell the business and settle down on Home. We can take our time over it, find something we both want and, well, have a baby.’
Casey reached over and squeezed Sam’s hand. ‘Thanks. I know we’re doing the right thing. Having a baby together will complete us as a family.’
‘I’d say we start right now, but you need your NoPreg implant removed.’
Casey stood up and pulled on his hand. ‘We can have a few practice runs in the meantime.’
‘I heard practice makes perfect. Lets go.’
Chapter 380
Mars Commander Fripp Norton pulled up on the commercial ships landing pads and sent his security officer away with the buggy. Norton stared at the biggest junk-pile still flying. At least it would if it hadn’t been grounded. Norton wasn’t a stupid man. He knew the owner of the ship and why it was impounded. He had reluctantly agreed to meet with Dale Martin. This could only mean trouble. The airlock opened and Norton entered the ship, the airlock closing behind him.
Martin didn’t offer a hand to shake. ‘Take a seat, Fripp.’
‘No. What do you want, Martin?’
Martin clutched his chest. ‘Fripp. I’m so mortally offended. Can’t I meet up with an old friend for old times sake?’
‘What do you want?’
‘Me? Oh. Right. Just a little favour. Nothing at all, really.’
Norton said, ‘I don’t play games and I don’t have time for crap like this. Out with it, Martin.’
‘A man of few words who gets straight to the point. I like that in a man. The thing is, there’s been a slight administration cock-up. Something about this ship not being up to date with its service log. Just a mere technicality.’
Norton sneered. ‘It’s a lot more serious than that. After you called me I did my homework. At least two full services short. You’ve been grounded until you’ve had your sorry excuse for a ship fully inspected and serviced. Don’t think I’m going to bail you out.’
‘Ah! That’s exactly what you’re going to do. If those ridiculous penalties are removed, we can take our next payload and get back in credit with everybody.’
‘I doubt that very much. I’ll not help you.’
Martin rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. ‘Such a pity. Oh, well. Hmm. Say. You know all those bets you made over the years? Not the greatest gambler, are you? You made one fatal mistake. On one of the transactions, the stake money didn’t come from your own accounts. It came out of your annual administration budget. I thought that to be so unusual, I made a record of the account numbers and everything.’
‘I paid back that money. Every credit of it.’
Martin smiled and nodded. ‘I’m sure you did. But what would people think of a Mars Commander dipping into the admin fund. That would take some explaining away, I’m thinking.’
‘Why, you dirty…’
‘And how is the delightful Miss Koldart these days? Does she know what a naughty boy you’ve been?’
Norton was stunned for a moment. ‘Keep her out of this.’
‘Well. That all depends. Get my slate wiped clean, I might just keep her out of this.’
Norton snapped. ‘The system doesn’t work like that. I can’t get your impounding fees paid. I have to stay out of commercial enterprises. You know that.’
‘You’ll find a way. I give you until this time tomorrow to sort this mess out. One minute late, I go down, you go down. You go away and think about that.’
Norton glowered at Martin. ‘You can’t possibly get away with this blackmail.’
‘Perhaps not. But if I go down, we both go down. Have a nice day, Commander Norton.’
Chapter 381
For a two month old ball of fluff, Pinky was learning fast. Not to get under two-legs’ feet. It hurt if they trod on her paws. Doing her business anywhere but one particular spot on the ship got her growled at, big time. Why one place was any different to any other on the ship was a mystery to Pinky. But not being shouted at was a good thing, as was the fuss and treats she got when she got it right. And she so loved the one called Shannon, so much. And there was always something happening. Two legs coming. Two legs going. So much to take in, sometimes. Pinky would often settle on Shannon’s lap and just watch it all going on.
‘We’re going to go away, soon, Pinky,’ Shannon had said as she tickled Pinky�
��s odd ear. ‘To a place, far, far away. Out there, somewhere. Millions, and millions and millions of miles away. That’s a lot. And I’ve a proper bed in a proper home. And you can sleep on my bed but don’t let daddy catch you because he’ll go all shouty on us.’
And Pinky would twitch her ears at the strange, soft sounds. It was all good. She felt safe and warm and loved. She wondered where the others like her had gone, but for now, it was just her and the two legs. And then Pinky heard a magical new word.
‘Ok, Pinky,’ said Sam Thorne. ‘This is for when we go walkies. I’ve sacrificed an old belt of mine. This is your new collar. There we go. Not too tight. And this is a lead. I’ll just hook it on here…and there you go. Just like a proper dog.’
‘Pinky is a proper dog, Daddy.’
Sam ruffled Shannon’s hair. ‘Is that right? Well, we’re going to join Uncle Tagg and Aunty Joy in the Base Three Jungle. Aunt Betty said it was ok to bring Pinky, as long as she stays on her lead. So off we go. Karma?’
‘Ready. Just got the last of the picnic stuff. Come on then. Off we go.’
They got out of the ship and shut the airlock up. Then they got into a buggy and set off to Base Three. As they passed the wreck of a freighter, Casey said, ‘Somebody should get that pile of scrap towed away.’
Thorne said, ‘I heard it’s impounded.’
