Running With Argentine

by William Lee Gordon

  He had to be in a lot of pain and it took him a few moments to recognize where he was. He locked eyes with the lieutenant and held his gaze.

  Lieutenant Stark nodded once and then gave way to the doctor as she started attending to her patient again.

  "You!" she said while pointing a finger at Rory. "Bring me that medical bag." She took a moment to look around as if searching for something else but then returned her attention to setting up new IVs and the like.

  The lieutenant walked over to Argentine who, like a lot of others, had gathered in the corridor.

  "When did that happen?" he asked while nodding to Gossip.

  "He got hit while we were commandeering the flitter."

  "And her?"

  "It was a package deal; keep him alive and bring her along."

  They both stood silent for a moment watching her work.

  "I'm assuming she's a doctor?"

  "I think so; at least that's what everyone called her. She seems to know her stuff… But other than that I don't know anything about her."

  "Did she offer to save his life before you promised her a ride?"

  "Yeah, she did. That's the only reason I thought it might be worth the risk."

  "Well, Gossip's gamble certainly paid off for him."

  "No, it didn't work that way. He was already out of it before we ever met the doctor."

  "That's not what I meant," Argentine said. "When you first offered him a job, he didn't know anything about you…"

  Lieutenant Stark didn't say anything and Argentine turned and walked toward the bridge.

  ΔΔΔ

  When the lieutenant turned back around the doctor was standing in front of him.

  "Where's my other bag?" she asked harshly.

  "I don't have any idea what you're talking about," he responded.

  "My other bag. I brought two bags with me. One was the medical supplies and the other was my personal things. The medical bag is here, but Rory says it was the only bag on the shuttle…

  "Where. Is. My. Other. Bag?"

  The Lieutenant had watched many people over his career respond to stressful situations. Some freaked out and lost control; turning the mildest of inconveniences into catastrophes in their mind.

  He was either witnessing this now, or… There was another very self-disciplined personality type that only let their control slightly slip right before their entire universe came crashing down…

  "I really don't know," he said softly. "It must've gotten left behind."

  He now knew which type he was dealing with; she could barely hide the horror behind her eyes.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Another New Mission

  In Dreamspace

  Argentine, Lieutenant Stark, and the chief were in his day cabin discussing their situation.

  "We can't keep bringing new people on board!" the chief insisted.

  "You were the one saying we needed more people to run the ship," Argentine reminded him.

  "We did! And we still do… We just need different people than the ones we've got."

  Argentine was frustrated.

  "Since we last had this conversation, we've picked up a pilot, added a security guard, and brought aboard someone that actually processed some ore… Mandi definitely knows her way around an IT station, and we brought you a family to help with the everyday maintenance. We even found a doctor…

  "And we’re even about to collect on our first long-haul contract," he said with some irritation. "What more do you want?"

  Not to be outdone, the chief replied just as strongly…

  "Our security guard is near death, the professor gets off at the next stop, and I hope Mandi does the same – I don't trust her as far as I can toss a heatsink core.

  "And the unskilled labor we brought on board, well… They all have the wrong kind of skills as far as I'm concerned."

  "The Petulengro family? What have you got against them?" Argentine asked, honestly curious.

  After a moment of grumbling the chief said, "Nothing specific. They more or less do what I ask them to do. The problem is that they do a lot more than what I ask them to do. They're into everything and it wouldn't surprise me if they turn out to be a big bunch of thieves. When they do finally leave the ship I expect to find half my tools missing along with anything else they can haul off."

  "Have they actually stolen anything?" the lieutenant asked, finally speaking up.

  "That depends on your definition," he said adamantly. "When I need something and I can't find it, I know it will be with their stuff. Granted, it won’t be hidden away or anything, and they’ll be quick to give it back saying they were only borrowing the tool for some ship's maintenance or other… But, dang it, I don't trust them...

  "And I don't like the way their daughters are hanging around Rory!"

  "Chief? Is there something else bothering you?" the lieutenant asked.

  "Yes, you better believe there is! It's our food supply! With the extra time we spent in deep space and all the extra mouths we’re feeding we’re going to be running dry by the time we hit orbit…

  "By my calculations, a good part of our profit this trip is going to be needed to resupply… Maybe all of it if we don't leave a bunch of people at Paladin III.”

  Argentine suddenly realized that the chief was as frustrated as he was; he was just letting off steam.

  Everything he’d said was accurate, but it was really a miracle they'd come this far, this fast.

  He almost let out an inappropriate laugh.

  This was really the first time he'd ever been totally in command; he'd never really considered this side of it before.

  He'd had plenty of examples in the People's Republic of Chezden of bad leadership. But up until now, he'd always thought bad leadership to be made up of stupid tactical decisions, selfish political games, or just plain lazy behavior.

  The People's Republic, as far as he knew, had never taught the emotional side of leadership. The concept that loyalty was given, not commanded, was antithetical to them.

  For a while now he’d thought the chief to be his best friend. And in many ways, he was. It wasn't based on a brotherly love, but rather a mutual respect. They had both carved out their individual fiefdoms on the Pelican (as small as they were). They'd more or less left each other alone and shared a few stories and a few cognacs, laughing about the ineptitude on constant display around them.

  Argentine wasn't sure what it said about him that his best friendship had derived simply out of a matter of convenience, but he valued the friendship and realized that the chief had already opened up his small circle of trust about as wide as he could take it – at least for the time being.

  Just then, his intercom beeped.

  "Captain?” Sami said. “Mandi and I would like to talk to you…"

  ΔΔΔ

  Once again the five of them were seated in the cramped day cabin.

  Together, Sami and Mandi had just finished sharing the story of the T.L.S. Roosevelt.

  "So you knew that the Trinity Lords were into genetic slavery and you didn't say anything?" Argentine said to Sami.

  Before she could answer, Mandi said, "Oh, leave the girl alone. I told her it wouldn't be a problem; we were just going to go in and get out and no one would be the wiser. There wasn't any reason for her to think it was important."

  Argentine quietly fumed.

  Sami's eyes were downcast and Mandi appeared only a little embarrassed as she refused to make eye contact.

  "Anyway, it turns out that we might be in a good position to track down that ship."

  "And just how would we do that?" Argentine asked… curious despite himself... "When no one else has been able to find it for two hundred years?"

  "Because we know the ship's vector when it last broke orbit from Paladin III," she said confidently.

  "We do?"

  "Well, kind of… We know the person that knows the vector," she said with a smile.

  "And how would this person
know the vector?" asked the chief.

  "Because she's a survivor from the original crew, silly."

  "I thought you said this all happened over two hundred years ago?"

  "Yes, that's right. Amazing, isn't it?"

  "And why hasn't she told anyone else? For that matter, why hasn't anyone forced her to talk?"

  "Because no one knows who she is; she's been in hiding since before I was born."

  "But you know her and she's willing to give you the vector?"

  "That's right."

  "Why?"

  "Because she trusts me."

  "Ha!" exclaimed the chief.

  Mandi glared at him with a thin smile.

  Argentine found himself rubbing his eyes again…

  He said, "If you want us to believe you, and only the gods know why we would, you're going to have to give us more than that."

  After a moment of thinking about it, Mandi sighed. She then proceeded to tell them a story about befriending a woman that was already old when her father first introduced them all those many years ago.

  They had a special bond, but Mandi claimed to be just as surprised as they were when, just a few months ago, the woman had confided to her about her true past.

  "Why would you believe such a fairytale?" the chief demanded.

  "I… have my reasons."

  "But you do believe her?" Argentine asked, looking her in the eye.

  Holding her head up and his gaze steady, "Yes. I absolutely do."

  The chief seemed disgusted and the lieutenant just shrugged when Argentine glanced at him.

  "Look, this isn't even an option," the chief proclaimed. "We don't have enough credit to buy sufficient provisions for an extended search with this crew. And if we offload a bunch of crew on Paladin III, we'll be too undermanned to conduct the search.”

  "What if I could get you the provisions?" Mandi asked.

  The chief frowned…

  "Well, that's all well and good. But we might not even have enough to go pick up this elderly friend of yours."

  "Oh, that won't be a problem. She's on Paladin III."

  "What a coincidence," the lieutenant said dryly.

  Argentine felt the beginnings of a new headache.

  "Why are you so bent on making this happen?" Argentine said calmly. "You've obviously manipulated this whole situation.”

  Mandi remained silent so he continued…

  "You manipulated the police and customs on Asperia, the Lords of Trinity, one University, and at least one Open Society… Am I leaving anyone out?

  "Why is this so important?"

  "If you can't understand why finding the most technologically advanced ship in this entire sector of space is important… then I don't know what to tell you, Captain," she said with a sarcastic laugh.

  "Oh, come off it! Yeah, it's a big deal if I want to be famous… But how is finding that ship going to help us? You think I'm so stupid as to think anyone is going to allow us to keep it?"

  The chief and lieutenant glanced at each other and then back at Argentine, only slowly realizing what he was getting at…

  "I don't care how advanced or powerful that ship is; it's still two hundred years old and probably doesn't come with an instruction manual. Every government in the sector is going to want to take it away from us and we're not going to be able to stop them.

  "You've obviously thought this through… You've manipulated everyone else and now you're trying to manipulate us! So cut the crap and tell us why it's so important for you to find that ship?"

  "Captain, I'm sure they’ll give you an incredible finder’s fee," she scrambled to respond.

  When Argentine's piercing glare did not waiver, she finally yielded…

  "Because she's dying… Paula Silva wants to die in her own bed on her own ship and I promised I would do everything I could to make that happen," she said with suddenly misty eyes.

  She then held her head high and continued…

  "So just what, exactly, is wrong with that?"

  ΔΔΔ

  "You can't really be serious!" exclaimed the chief. "You're going to trust her? Again?"

  Argentine glanced over at the lieutenant, who didn’t respond.

  "You're no help…"

  "I told you, I'm just along for the ride; all these high-level decisions are really not my style," he said. "But I suppose I could point out the obvious…

  "Assuming we collect on the professor's contract, and assuming that Mandi can get us provisioned on Paladin III without cost, the whole venture just seems like picking up another contract to me.

  "I'm guessing she could be right about us negotiating a finder’s fee… If we don’t die first, we might be able to more or less name our own price. At any rate, I don't see it as being much more risky than breaking an embargo and getting into a firefight with an Asperian military vessel…

  “The best case scenario, is that we each come out of this with a decent sized nest egg, and then we can finally go our own ways – because at the rate we’re going now, it's going to take forever to save enough to do that by just hauling freight."

  "So you think the ship is really out there?" Argentine asked.

  Lieutenant Stark shrugged again…

  "I don't know; I just don't see the downside in looking."

  Argentine looked over at the chief…

  "Chief? What’s it going to be?"

  "You're asking me? What is this, a vote?"

  "Maybe… If we do this I've got a feeling we’re going to need to have each other's backs. I'd prefer that we all agree up front. As a matter of fact, if you do agree the next thing we'll do is put it to the crew…"

  "What? You mean the Petulengro family? You're calling them crew now?"

  "We’re going to need them, chief…"

  "Okay, okay… I'm in. But damn you, Argentine. If you get us killed I'm going to be pissed…"

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  The Sole Survivor

  On Paladin III

  The Paladin-system wasn't as well developed as the other Asperian systems they'd so far encountered, but it was still impressive by People's Republic standards.

  Paladin III and Paladin IV were the only planets in the habitable zone – that ringed volume of space that was the right distance from the star so that planetary temperatures could support life.

  Paladin IV was an interesting place. It had once held an atmosphere and the basins of former oceans were clearly visible. Maybe it had once held life, but those days were millions of years in the past.

  It was also only about 40% of the size of Paladin III, which probably meant that gravity was a nuisance. Even Aerial, where Marco’s Porcelain People were from, had more gravity than that.

  Except for what were obviously mining operations in the asteroid belt and the moons on several of the system’s gas giants, Paladin III was the only inviting planet – and it was lush.

  They space-docked at the planet’s only moon and made arrangements to offload their cargo.

  Before he'd even ordered the hatch open, the Petulengro family was off the ship and aboard the courtesy shuttle that would take them to the station on the moon's surface. Argentine had caught Nico by the arm, but by then most of the family was already gone.

  Nico had promised they would all return. The thought that they might not had risen the chief's spirits slightly until he’d realized they’d left much of their personal belongings aboard…

  Mandi and the lieutenant had escorted the professor to the local shipping guild to verify completion of their contract.

  Argentine had asked everyone else, at least, to stay on board until they returned.

  Following Mandi's advice (which was still something Argentine wasn't comfortable with), and once all their moon-side business had been taken care of, he and Sami had flown Mandi down to the planetary surface in their shuttle.

  They were to meet with Paula Silva.

  She was old.

  She was also somewhat regal. Sitting in a r
ather ornate but comfortable chair, she carried herself with her chin up and a sparkle in her eye.