“Good morning, Captain. Unknown individual on the bridge.”
“You have an AI,” Karl breathed. He’d only heard about technology like this. They certainly didn’t have anything like it in the UPA.
“Dina, this is Karl. He will act as first mate on our next cargo run. Karl, this is Dina.”
“Um, nice to meet you.” Karl waved to the image on the screen, unsure how to act toward the ship’s personality.
“A pleasure to meet you as well, First Mate Karl.”
He cringed. “Just Karl is fine. Thanks.”
When he turned back to Raine, the man was giving him an odd look, eyebrows scrunched together as if deep in thought. Karl didn’t quite know what to make of that. He looked around the rest of the bridge, noting the lack of what seemed to him to be standard bridge equipment. There was no navigator’s helm, no other screens except for the large front wall. A few panels took up the places between the two seats welded into the floor, but Karl didn’t see the standard controls for actually piloting. Did Dina really do all the flying herself?
“Captain, you have fifteen messages from the space port taxation authority. You owe twenty-one hundred on the dry dock.”
“Fuck,” Raine muttered. “Your supplier didn’t happen to advance you any of that cash, did they?”
Still a bit caught up in his thoughts, Karl shook his head. “What? Uh. No. Payment upon receipt.”
“Course. How much you got liquid, kid? I need to pay off the port authority and resupply before we head out.”
Karl had managed to get an account for his use on this mission. It wasn’t unlimited however, and he knew he needed to reserve much of it for the rest of his journey, for getting Sam out even if he had to buy her himself. He did plan on paying Raine for the transport, just not right now. He wasn’t that naïve; he knew Raine could take the money and run. “I can front you a grand,” he said carefully, hoping that sounded reasonable.
Raine frowned. “Damn it. Well, kid, looks like we need to raise some capital before we can get the hell out of here. Luckily, the casinos are open.”
Karl blinked at him. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Gambling to earn money?” It sounded like a terrible idea to him.
“It’s the only way, kid. Unless you can magic up the twenty-one hundred in back taxes, the ship ain’t leaving dry dock. And that means you and me both are stuck here. No cargo gets delivered. No trip to Mendhem.”
“I could just find another ship,” Karl said, marveling at the cheek of this guy.
“Cargo is already on its way to my hold, kid. No spacer is gonna want to step on my toes. C’mon.”
Karl wondered when exactly he’d lost control of the situation. Ever since arriving on Meridian it seemed his steps had carried him along, caught up in what he’d set in motion, unable to stop. He couldn’t go back even if he wanted to. Squaring his shoulders, he bit out, “Fine.”
Raine gave him a lazy smile with heavy-lidded eyes. “You’ll see, kid, it’ll be all right.”
Karl wished he could believe him.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
It’s all about the story…
Action/Adventure
Fantasy
Historical
Horror
Mainstream
Mystery/Suspense
Non-Fiction
Paranormal
Red Hots!
Romance
Science Fiction
Western
Young Adult
www.samhainpublishing.com
Life Class Page 12
