by S. H. Jucha
“Well, what did I tell you?” Aurelia asked her sister.
“He’s like Harbour. In most cases, there’s little that leaks from her, but when it does there are so many different flavors of emotions that it’s difficult to figure out what it means.”
“I know what you mean … complex, very complex,” replied Aurelia, staring in the direction Jessie had taken.
Jessie located the bridge, but he was intrigued by a trail of empaths carrying personal goods in the direction of the captain’s quarters. He fell in line and found Harbour supervising the disposition of her cabin’s meager belongings. A worn chair sat in a corner with a reading light, which looked out of place with the sumptuous furniture, but somehow it felt right. It was as if it was announcing that the new captain had moved in, but it was Harbour who lived here.
“Good morning, Captain, did you sleep well?” Harbour asked.
“I did. I got a bit of reading done last night before I turned in,” Jessie replied pointedly.
“Did you now? Would you like to take some time and discuss what you read?”
“Love to,” Jessie replied, looking around at the activity.
“Have you eaten this morning?” Harbour asked.
“Not yet.”
“Yasmin, please order some breakfast for Captain Cinders. I’ll have a green. Have them brought to the study,” Harbour requested, indicating a side door off the salon.
Jessie followed Harbour into a room obviously decorated for male tastes, and he winced at their forefathers’ presumptions.
“I know,” Harbour said, closing the door. “It makes you wonder at the attitudes of Earthers a half millennium ago. But to business … did you get through all the files?” Harbour indicated a small table set with four padded chairs.
“Yes, I did. That’s one set of disturbing documents.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Harbour replied.
“Harbour, if I read these documents right, they indicate our entire societal organization … the governorship, the commandant, the Review Board, and our Captain’s Articles … they’re all unfounded or, maybe more precisely said, they’re illegal.”
“That’s my take, Jessie, but that’s what the colonists agreed to, before they joined the expedition.”
“But those people are gone,” Jessie objected.
“True, but does it make their descendants any less responsible for the way it is today?”
“I’ve no idea, but I was wondering who would be put in charge of deciding this … of adjudicating it?”
“Now, there’s the question. We could always leave it up to Lise Panoy.”
“Cheeky woman,” Jessie replied, but he was grinning at the absurdity of Harbour’s statement. “I understand now why you’re setting a trap for Lise. You want to see if she’ll hide these specific files and maybe others from the commandant. If she has them, I bet coin she will. They undermine the families’ power. Are the other appropriated files as damaging as these three?”
“I haven’t read through most of the ones that were taken … the copies, I mean, that we found in the first mate’s cabin. That would take weeks, if not months, and I’ve been too busy rescuing these lost spacers abandoned at Triton.”
“Who greatly —” Jessie started to say, but was interrupted by a tapping at the door, which preceded the entry of two young women carrying dishes and juices to the table.
The smells of food tempted Jessie, but the red orange drink placed before him captured his attention. Sipping on the liquid, Jessie’s eyes closed in ecstasy. “Now that’s a breakfast juice. Okay, which one of you do I have to marry to be served this every morning?” Jessie joked.
“That would be Captain Harbour,” one of the empaths quipped.
“And I’d make the proposal a good one, Captain Cinders. Our captain is particular about those things she possesses,” the other added.
The two empaths exited, giggling, and Jessie’s mouth hung open, the juice glass halfway to the table.
“Not used to bantering with people not of your crew, Jessie?” Harbour asked, when the door closed.
“That will teach me to come better prepared to breakfast aboard the Belle,” Jessie replied, and Harbour and he shared a laugh.
It didn’t take Jessie long to put aside the subject they’d been discussing and enjoy his meal. Harbour sat quietly observing him, while he consumed everything in sight.
“We’re alone, Jessie,” Harbour said, when he finished his breakfast. “You can lick the plate, if you wish.”
“Don’t encourage me,” Jessie warned, draining the last of his juice glass and relishing its flavor. “How is it that you have these types of foods? And are they only for the likes of you and me?”
“There isn’t that sort of hierarchy aboard the Belle. Your people probably had the same meal this morning. The downsiders eat this way regularly. They just don’t share their best with the JOS. We learned long ago that they carefully control the types of food that are shipped topside. Over time, we’ve gained seeds and cuttings and started growing them in our hydroponic gardens.”
“Speaking of downsiders, what do you intend to do with the discovered files?”
“How would I know, Jessie?” Harbour replied, throwing her hands up. “I’m still trying to figure out how to captain a colony ship of thousands of people who are depending on me for competent direction. And what am I doing? I’m exposing them to potential alien contamination and six months of quarantine.”
“As I started to say, we greatly appreciate your efforts, Harbour. That reminds me, we need to discuss how you wish to be reimbursed for your efforts.”
Harbour picked up her comm device, tapped on it for a few seconds, and pointed to Jessie’s device, which sat at his left side.
Jessie opened his unit and examined the per diem schedule of services for Jessie’s crew. The charges were divided into two major groups, services delivered to his ships or enjoyed aboard the Belle.
“Cantina charges with alcoholic drinks?” Jessie asked in amazement. He kept scrolling through the list, amazed at the detail and forethought that was put into it. “This is incredibly complete, Harbour. I had no idea you were such a detailed businesswoman.”
“There are many things you don’t know about me, Jessie Cinders,” Harbour replied, and she stared at Jessie with a determined expression, before she broke into laughter. “Actually, Jessie, I had no idea how to define the services or the prices. This is all Maggie’s doing.”
“Ah, that explains it. Well, a good captain knows when to delegate responsibility,” Jessie allowed. “You’re rescuing us with wonderful food, drink, and accommodations. And we’re here for six months. How can we help you, Harbour?”
“Dingles tells me that we can use some people, if you have crew to spare.”
“Absolutely. I’ll tell Captain Erring and Ituau to call Dingles and get him all the support he can use. I think once word spreads of the great food you’re serving, it’ll be a rush to sign up for duty. Anything else?”
“I was wondering about getting a look at the alien site. You know … the one you and your people activated.”
“Yeah,” Jessie replied, rubbing his chin. “Not our finest moment … technological newbies playing with an advanced alien site.” He didn’t want Harbour anywhere near the site and was furiously thinking of an excuse. “I presume you’re vac suit qualified?”
“I bought one at the Latched On. Dingles recommended the place.”
“Good advice. Quality goods for a fair price.”
“Well, I intended to learn on the way out here, but I needed some personal time.”
“Harbour, I don’t know if anyone’s told you, but if one spacer knows, every spacer will know as quickly as it’s technically feasible.”
“I heard something similar from Maggie. You’re saying that your crews know what happened to me.”
“Yes, and it’s a good thing that Sasha took care of Terror. Otherwise, most of my crew would be locke
d in security confinement cells after they beat Terror within a centimeter of his life.”
Harbour’s eyes took on a distant look, and Jessie hurried to pull her back to the moment. He didn’t want her thinking of the attack or the fact that the damage to her throat had nearly killed her. “I’m sorry to tell you, Harbour, that until you’ve passed basics on the vac suit, there’s no way to see the alien site.”
“What about some form of transport where you never leave its safety?” Harbour asked.
“That’s not how our protocols work, Harbour.”
“Ah, yes, Dingles mentioned that your people travel aboard shuttles with your vac suits on.”
“Safety is paramount to spacers, Harbour. We live by our protocols, and there’s no exception for anyone, not even me.”
“Are you telling me that Aurelia learned these procedures?”
“According to the updates from Captain Erring, she’s a born spacer, and Belinda and she formed a tight pair.”
“Belinda had problems, didn’t she?”
“How did you know that?”
“Conversations with Helena told me a great deal about her daughters. It became apparent that it was Aurelia’s temperament that kept the family sane during their confinement. She would be drawn to someone emotionally troubled and would be hardwired to help. Did she?”
“Belinda hasn’t had an episode of space dementia since about five days after she started Aurelia’s training.” Switching subjects, Jessie said, “Well, Harbour, I’ve got a lot to get started, as soon as I get back aboard the Spryte. I do have one favor to ask, even though it’s me who is completely in your debt, and I mean that.”
“Never be afraid to ask, Jessie,” Harbour said.
Jessie stared into Harbour’s cool gray eyes for several moments and had to focus to recall what he wanted to ask. “I’ve set up a long-lens cam at the alien site with a power supply to monitor the installation, but our ships haven’t the capability to receive the weak signal, once we leave Triton’s space. I think the Belle does.”
“I’ll inform Birdie that you need her assistance, and we’ll provide around-the-clock monitoring of the cam.”
“That’s it? You don’t want to know why?”
“It’s fairly obvious, Jessie. The site’s active, and you have no idea what that means, so you’re taking precautions in case aliens arrive, thinking you called them.” Harbour ended by raising her eyebrows, challenging Jessie to argue with her analysis.
“Yes, something like that. I hope I’m wrong. For the life of me, I hope I’m wrong.”
This time when Jessie stood, it was Harbour who offered her hand. She led him out of the study and through the salon. When she opened the cabin’s door, Aurelia stood there.
“Ready when you are, Captain.” Aurelia announced. “I’ve got the Belle’s layout on my comm unit and can get us back to our bay. The crew is standing by.”
“Very efficient of you, Captain,” Jessie acknowledged to Harbour. “Aurelia, you don’t want to spend more time with your family?” Jessie asked.
Aurelia kept a polite smile on her face, but Harbour detected the young girl’s severe disappointment at the offer.
“I believe your spacer has duties to perform, Captain Cinders, and I wouldn’t want to keep her from them,” Harbour said.
Jessie glanced between the women and was reminded of the secondary level of communication that the empaths enjoyed.
“Thank you again, Captain,” Jessie said to Harbour, offering his hand. “Lead on, spacer,” he said to Aurelia.
-37-
Slush
In the following weeks, spacers flowed from Jessie’s ships to the Belle and back. Many had work duty, and some were enjoying downtime, but, truth be told, anyone assigned to duty on the colony ship thought they were on downtime, as they enjoyed an evening in the cantina and a daily diet served up by many of the residents, who harvested and prepared what the hydroponics produced.
One evening, Dingles and Ituau were sharing a drink and spacer stories, when Dingles turned the conversation to a serious subject.
“I don’t think many people know this, and this isn’t to go any further, Ituau,” Dingles said. “I was in charge of outfitting of this ship crew, equipment, and parts and I can tell you that I just about emptied the ship’s general fund.”
“Well, sharing under the same constraints as yours, I know Jessie can’t pay the per diem charges that are being racked up by our crew when you project it over six months.”
“That means, if or when we make it to the JOS, coin is going to be terribly short. The principals will be broke.”
“Seems that way, Dingles,” Ituau acknowledged.
“The Pearl’s still working,” Dingles allowed.
“Oh, yeah, she’ll produce enough slush to allow Jessie to cover about half of our time out here. I don’t want to be in his deck shoes when he decides whether to use the Pearl’s coin to pay the Belle or the crew.”
“A lot of slush at Emperion?” Dingles asked.
“An enormous amount. Jessie’s been trying to keep it quiet.”
Dingles eyes drilled into Ituau’s, which put the Spryte’s first mate on alert. “Leave your drink and come with me.” Dingles said, and abruptly left the cantina with Ituau hurrying to catch up.
* * *
Jessie arrived at the Belle on the Spryte’s morning flight. His shuttle nestled next to that of the Annie’s, and when he exited the bay, crew waited to help him out of his vac suit.
“Lead on, Ituau,” Jessie said, after greeting his first mate.
“Captain Erring and Darrin are waiting for us,” Ituau said. She was fairly sure that she knew the way, but not wanting to get lost, while leading the captain, she constantly checked her comm unit to guide her. The size of the colony ship had Jessie’s crew depending on a layout app, provided by Dingles, to find their way around.
Ituau tapped briefly at the door of the captain’s quarters, and then opened it before standing aside. She followed Jessie inside, and she took a seat at the table with Harbour, Dingles, Yohlin, and Darrin.
“I called this meeting at the urging of my first mate,” Harbour said. “Dingles, you have the floor.”
“You’ll forgive me for digging my nose into aggregate that isn’t mine,” Dingles said. “But I’ve been made aware through various sources that coin is short for both the Belle and your company, Captain Cinders.” Dingles waited, but no one said anything. He did notice that Jessie’s interlaced hands were tensing. “And Ituau shared with me some details about the amount of slush on Emperion.”
Jessie glanced at Ituau, but she refused to meet his gaze, deliberately keeping her attention on Dingles.
As the only empath in the room, Harbour was fascinated by the tremendous ebb and flow of emotions. Obviously, things were being spoken about in mixed company that needed Jessie’s permission before they were shared.
“Well, let me be the first to clear the air here. The Belle’s general fund is nearly depleted,” Harbour announced. “How are you fixed for coin, Captain Cinders?”
Jessie’s head snapped up, as if he’d been slapped, and his eyes narrowed, as he stared across the table at Harbour.
“Come, Captain, we’re all in the same predicament out here. If we can’t be forthright with each other, how are we going to find a way out of this situation?”
Jessie gazed around the table. Admittedly, they were some of his most trusted people, and Harbour had proven whose side she was on. Although he wasn’t in the habit of sharing financial details about his company, he acquiesced to Harbour’s request. “At the run rate of my crew, I can pay about fourteen weeks of the Belle’s bill, Captain.”
“How about your crew? Does your coin cover your people?”
“No,” Jessie admitted quietly, his hands tightening.
Harbour watched the faces of Jessie’s people fall. As Jessie had said to her, crews wanted to believe in their captains, trust them, but, in these circumstances, the p
roblem appeared insurmountable. Harbour summoned her power, dropped her gates, and broadcast with much strength. Around the table, heads tilted back, as if a strong wind had struck them in their faces.
“There,” Harbour said, shutting down her sending. “Now we can focus on the issue, instead of lamenting how we got here. You were saying, Dingles.”
The first mates were grinning, but the captains were frowning.
“Yes, well, if there’s all this slush waiting on Emperion,” Dingles continued. “Why don’t we wait out the six months at that moon instead of this one?”
“Captain Cinders, if we helped fill the Pearl’s tanks, how much would that add to the company’s books?” Yohlin asked.
“Excuse me, Captain Erring, that’s only part of the idea,” Ituau said, and she saw Dingles nod at her to continue. “I’ve learned from Dingles that the Belle has an extensive number of high-pressure tanks that are sitting empty. Admittedly, their connective lines need a little work, but the tanks are sound.”
“Ituau, I’m sure Dingles informed you that my spacers are retired. They’re not ready to be miners again, and we have an insufficient number of vac suits,” Harbour said.
“How much storage space are we talking about?” Jessie asked. With that one question, he changed the dynamics in the room.
Dingles consulted his comm unit, tapping furiously for a minute, while Jessie waited. The captain was still frowning, but Harbour detected an entirely different blend of emotions from him.
“One of the Belle’s tanks has half the capacity of one of the Pearl’s,” Dingles mumbled, as he worked. “The Pearl has a hex arrangement of tanks. That’s twelve of our tanks to a full load of the Pearl. Our tanks are grouped four by four to the stack. They’re six stacks wide and twelve stacks long, which equals …”
“Ninety-six loads for the Pearl,” Jessie said in awe.
“Dingles and I haven’t figured out the most efficient way to get the slush into the Belle’s tanks, but we figure that’s a problem for the engineers to solve,” Ituau said.
“In six months, the Pearl’s crew could fill their tanks five or six times, but then that drops to three or four loads, when you add in trip time to and from the YIPS, plus unloading time,” Yohlin calculated out loud.
