As soon as the door slid shut on the last prisoner, Aaron turned and marched back to cell sixteen. He quickly punched in a code and the door slid open to reveal Kyle. He was standing just on the other side of the door and he was wearing a huge grin.
“I never thought we’d make it,” he said cheerfully.
Aaron returned the smile, but it took just about all his remaining strength. Lack of sleep and the stress of the past several days were taking their toll. “Come on,” he said, motioning back towards the main part of the ship.
“Where?” Kyle asked.
“Want you to help us get a quick meal together for the prisoners. I want to feed them and then I want to sleep for at least a day.”
The three of them turned and walked towards the entrance to the rest of the ship. Presently Kyle asked, “So, exactly how much is my father paying you to get me out of here?”
Aaron considered not telling Kyle the particulars, but it probably wouldn’t matter. “He’s not giving us money—he’s giving us a ship.”
“A ship?” Kyle repeated. “You mean like a freighter?”
Aaron nodded. “And a damn good one too.”
Kyle tilted his head and stared at Aaron. “How good a ship?” Neither Aaron or Susan answered and after a moment Kyle asked, “Not the Solarflare?”
“Oh, you know of it?” Susan asked innocently.
Kyle’s eyes widened and he nodded. “I knew that he had one; I just didn’t know I meant enough to my father for him to give it up.”
They were laughing at that as they stepped from the hangar into the cargo hold of the ship. The hold was quite large and seemed to run to the far end of the ship. The ceiling was several stories above their heads and the vast space would allow for a truly amazing amount of cargo; amazing for a merchant ship of this size. This ship didn’t really compare to some of the hulking freighters out there.
The hold was empty but off to their left was a circular stairwell and a small elevator. The elevator looked rather rundown and none of them fancied giving it a try so they started on the stairs.
The first two stories were taken up by the hangar and cargo hold. They climbed farther and they emerged onto a small landing. The stairs continued on up and a dull blue-grey hallway ran forward and aft. They were still looking around, wondering which way to go, when Adam descended the stairs.
“Good, I’m glad someone’s here who knows where we are,” Aaron said.
Adam grinned at them as he emerged from the stairs. “Welcome to the Sharon!” he said, holding his arms wide.
“The Sharon?” Aaron repeated blankly.
“It’s the name of the ship,” Kyle said helpfully. Introductions quickly followed and Adam shook Kyle’s hand.
“Jessica has Russell in the Captain’s room and she’s treating his injuries,” Adam said.
Aaron repressed a snort as he wondered exactly how she was treating him.
Susan shot a reproving look his way and then asked of Adam, “Is he bad?”
“He’ll live. On the way up, I got the impression that he broke his left arm, and maybe some ribs. I’m sure Jess has treated worse.”
Aaron nodded his head as the exhaustion rolled over him again. “Let’s get some food to the prisoners and then I want to sleep for a week.”
“Sure,” Adam said, and he pointed towards the aft of the ship. “Galley’s this way.”
Susan, Kyle, and Aaron began following Adam and there was a brief silence. The silence didn’t last long, though, and it was Kyle who broke it. “I believe a Solarflare is a class III merchant ship.”
Aaron shrugged. “So?”
“Well,” Kyle began slowly, “any respectable port is going to require you have the proper certifications; meaning you’ll have to have a proper engineer, pilot, etc.”
“True,” Aaron agreed, “I just assumed that we would have your father forge the credentials for us.”
“That might work, but some ports actually will inspect the ship and they’ll expect your engineer to go with them. They’ll know right quick if you’re lying.”
“What’s your point?” Aaron asked. He was tired and was having a difficult time anticipating where this was going.
“Did you happen to notice a prisoner? He’s a tall guy with broad shoulders; got curly blond hair almost to his shoulders, kind of rugged looking.”
Seeming to get more confused by the minute, Aaron thought back. After a moment he nodded. “I remember him; quiet guy; did what he was told.”
Kyle was bobbing his head. “I spoke to him quite a bit while we were on Karbarsh. His name is Terry and I think he’s a good guy, but I know he’s an engineer.”
“Let me guess, he told you so.”
Kyle nodded again. “But I know enough engineering so that I would’ve been able to tell if he was lying. He really seemed to know his stuff.”
“So why was he in prison?” Aaron asked.
“Don’t know, he didn’t volunteer the information and I didn’t ask. I just thought that perhaps you could keep it in mind when you interview him.”
Adam stopped walking and Aaron nearly walked right over him.
“Sorry,” Adam said, “but that gives me an idea.”
“What does?”
“His suggestion that we think about hiring this Terry guy to be our engineer. I’m betting there are quite a few of these prisoners who could be useful to us,” Adam said, starting to get a bit excited. “Even if they couldn’t help with the ship, they might know some people who would hire us.”
Aaron motioned for Adam to start walking again and then he looked to Susan. “What do you think?”
“We have to talk to them anyway, might as well ask some questions about what they know; maybe even offer some of them a job.”
Aaron was too tired to even really consider the idea. He made a mental note to think it over when he had actually slept.
Chapter 29
Waking from a deep sleep that had seemed more like a coma, Aaron rolled over and checked the time. He had slept for nearly twelve hours. He felt better, although his neck had gone rather stiff and he had to pee like nobody’s business.
He stumbled from the bed and made straight for the small bathroom that his stateroom shared with the next stateroom down the hall. The room he had taken for himself was small, but he had fallen asleep as soon as he slumped onto the fold-down bed.
He emerged from the bathroom several minutes later feeling immensely relieved. Now that one of his problems was taken care of, he began stretching his neck—trying to work the kinks out of his sore muscles.
The door buzzer rang and Aaron grinned. “Come in, Susan.”
The door slid open and Susan stood in the doorway. She had obviously been up longer than he had. She looked freshly showered and her wet hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
“Don’t you ever sleep?” he asked.
“I slept for nine hours and feel much better for it, thank you,” she replied. “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to get up.”
Aaron continued stretching his neck and asked, “How are our guests?”
“As ornery as ever,” Susan replied. She moved over and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Adam and I fed them about an hour ago and I was thinking we might start the interviews today. Adam and Jessica treated some of the injured during the night.”
Aaron stopped rubbing his neck and looked up at her. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to keep any of these people with us?”
“Don’t really know yet, but I’ve been giving this some thought and here’s what I came up with. As we ask the questions, I’ll try and get a reading of the person. If I think the person has potential, I’ll tap you once; If I’m undecided, I’ll tap you twice; and three taps–”
“I get it,” Aaron said, interrupting her, “three taps means absolutely not.”
Aaron met up with Susan half an hour later.
He had used the fresher and put on a clean change of clothes, and it made him
feel like a new man. A quick bite and then he had hurried to his rendezvous with Susan. She was already waiting for him at the hangar entrance.
“Anyone in particular you want to start with?” Aaron asked.
“How about Kyle’s friend Terry?” Susan replied. “Kyle seemed to think he friendly enough.”
They turned their steps to the cells and quickly located Terry. Morgan’s people had done a wonderful job constructing the holding rooms—they had even included a small microscopic camera. Using the camera they tracked Terry to room eight.
Aaron knocked on the door twice and then entered the code. The door slid back and they stepped inside.
The cells were just as small as those on the prison transport had been. A small cot was the only furniture, although there was a small camping toilet set off in one corner.
Terry rose from where he had been sitting on the edge of the cot. His clothes were wrinkled and he looked generally disheveled; still, he was an imposing man.
Terry was tall, maybe six foot three or four. He was broad and muscular and his jaw jutted out making him look even more rugged. He sighed as they entered. “Bout time. I was beginning to think you had decided to let us rot in here.”
“You did get breakfast, didn’t you?” Aaron asked, surprised.
“If you can call it that. It probably tasted better on the way out than on the way in.”
He couldn’t help it, Aaron laughed at the man’s vulgarity.
“So you’re here to ask me some questions, right? Find out where I want to go?” Terry asked.
“Yes,” Aaron began, “first, what’s your name?”
“Terry – Terry Magnus.”
“And what did you do to get arrested?”
Terry suddenly looked perturbed. “Hey, wait a minute! I thought you wanted to know where I wanted to get off this tub, not my life history.”
“In due time,” Aaron said. He leaned against the wall next to the door and waved for Terry to have a seat. “Please answer the question.”
“During the day I worked in the navy yards; refitting ships and such.”
“And at night?”
“I sort of repaired and upgraded ships for people that didn’t want any record of the transaction,” Terry said sheepishly.
“You upgraded ships for smugglers?” Aaron asked, a bit surprised.
Terry nodded. “They eventually caught one of my clients and he gave me up.” He shivered. “I can only imagine how the security police were planning on getting the rest of my client’s names out of me.”
“So you were pretty good then?” Susan asked.
Terry’s eyes flicked over to Susan and then back to Aaron. “Yes. So?”
“So why did they waste you in the shipyards?” Susan continued, “Why not put you on a ship?”
“They told me that it would be a waste of my talents. Okay?”
Susan moved past Aaron and as she did so, she patted him once on the arm.
“So,” Aaron began after a moment’s silence, “what were you planning on doing with your newfound freedom?”
Terry shrugged. “Not sure, but I know I don’t want to go back to the Miram Union. Keep me as far from there as you can.”
“No family to miss?” Aaron asked.
“No,” Terry said slowly, and he looked from one to the other. “Say, what’s going on here?”
“Well,” Aaron began slowly, “I just recently got my own ship and I could use an engineer.”
Terry grinned. “Not this tub, I hope.”
“Well, no, not this ship, but why did you say that?” Aaron asked.
“I saw it from the shuttle; the P16’s always had speed to burn, but they were lacking in armor. One good shot and this ship’s done for.”
“Like I said,” Aaron continued, “it’s not this ship. Any interest in signing on?”
“Well, that depends. What are you planning on doing with this ship of yours?”
“It’s a fast, but rather small freighter. I intend to do some cargo hauling.”
Terry grinned. “Legal or illegal?” he asked.
“Whichever I can find,” Aaron answered truthfully. “So, are you in?”
“What’s my cut?”
Aaron blinked. He hadn’t considered that. Susan spoke for him, “One share.”
One share meant that the net profit would be split amongst the crew, Terry got one full share. Aaron finally found his voice, “Captain gets two shares and the ship gets six. The six shares for the ship would be for improvements, not repairs. Any repairs came out of the profit first.”
After a moment Terry nodded. “You got yourself an engineer. Can I come out of this infernal room now?”
Aaron shook his head. “No.” He hurried on as Terry’s face darkened. “I don’t want the others to see you. I want to keep your involvement with us a secret for the time being.”
Terry sighed deeply but nodded. “Can I at least get some better food?”
Aaron and Susan stepped out of Terry’s cube and they waited until the door closed.
“So you think he’s a good fit?” Aaron asked.
“He can be,” Susan answered. “He’s intelligent and I don’t think he was exaggerating his abilities. He sincerely believes everything he told you.”
Although he was nervous about hiring his crew this way, there was a certain logic to it. These men, and women, needed a place to go and he needed people with certain abilities. The trick was weeding out those that would jump ship in a heartbeat, or worse, turn them in to the authorities. All in all, he was cautiously optimistic. “Let’s do another interview,” Aaron said.
“Wait a moment,” Susan said, and she headed to the hangar exit. “Let’s grab a couple of chairs, I don’t want to stand for the rest of the day.”
The next nine interviews all went badly. The prisoners either gave the impression of being untrustworthy, or they were too open about their crimes and Aaron didn’t want them around. They simply got their information and a preferred list of planets each of them would like to be set free on.
The eleventh cell they entered was occupied only by a young girl. Aaron guessed her age at about sixteen. She was short and slim, with red hair that hung down to her waist. She was very pale, but whether that was from lack of sun exposure or just because she was afraid, he couldn’t tell.
“What’s your name?” Susan asked in a calm patient voice. She set her chair down next to the door and Aaron placed his on the other side of hers.
“Molly Jordan,” the young girl answered. She kept her eyes on Susan, and Aaron got the feeling she was scared of him.
“What did you do to get put on that prison ship?” Susan asked. She shot a look at Aaron and he understood its meaning perfectly; Be quiet and let me handle this.
Molly’s eyes got very bright and she began blinking back tears. “We didn’t mean to get anyone hurt.”
Susan nodded and repeated her question, “What did you do, Hon?”
“My friends and I,” she paused and took a deep breath, “we posted some anti-government messages. We were just trying to get people to think,” she paused again and wiped her nose, “we didn’t think they would kill everyone.”
“Kill everyone?” Susan asked. “Who’d they kill?”
A couple of tears ran down Molly’s face and she said, “Everyone. My parents, my friends, and even my grandparents and they weren’t even in the same city.”
“How did you escape?” Susan asked.
“I was off-world; on a school trip. They arrested me when we landed at the port.”
“Then how do you know your family is dead?” Susan prompted.
The girl burst into full blown weeping. “Because they showed me the tapes,” she wailed.
“Bastards!” Aaron exhaled. He’d seen all kinds of monsters, but these had to be some of the worst.
Aaron’s words caused Molly to stop crying and she looked up at them. She was a mess. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked in a quiet voice.<
br />
“Well, that’s up to you,” Susan answered. “Do you have any other family?” Molly shook her head. “How about some friends, you know, outside of the Miram Union?”
Once again Molly shook her head. “It’s just me now. Where am I to go?”
Aaron was wondering that same thing. Perhaps, Morgan could find someone to finish raising the girl and he was just about to suggest it when Susan spoke.
“Would you like to stay with us?”
Molly’s mouth dropped open, as did Aaron’s.
“With you?” Molly asked.
“Yes, we’re getting our own ship. You could have your own room and travel with us. We’ll probably be breaking the law a lot, but you shouldn’t be in that much danger.”
Aaron opened his mouth to stomp on that idea, but Molly spoke first. She actually smiled. “I would love to stay with you.”
“Good,” Susan said and stood up. “You understand that you will have to work on the ship?”
The threat of work didn’t faze Molly a bit. “No problem. I can’t wait to start learning and I promise I’ll do anything and everything asked of me.”
“Excellent,” Susan said, “we’ll be back in a few days. Right now we have to keep interviewing the other prisoners.” Molly only nodded, looking serenely happy. Susan picked up her chair and stepped outside. Aaron continued sitting for a moment longer and then he hopped up, grabbed his chair, and followed Susan from the room.
“What the hell was that?” he asked, even before the door had completely closed. “We’re taking her along? She’s a kid!”
“Exactly,” Susan said, moving to the next cube, “and we can’t just kick her out into the cold cruel world.”
“But why not ask Morgan to find someone to raise her?”
“We can still do that if things don’t work out, or if she finds that she doesn’t like life aboard a spaceship.” Aaron sighed deeply, but Susan continued talking, although her tone had gone more serious. “Listen, most of these people can take care of themselves, not all of them, but most of them. The other ones, the ones who can’t take care of themselves, are still of legal age and can figure things out on their own, but that kid can’t. She’s been through hell and, for the time being, she needs a little help. I want to give that to her.”
Long Shot Page 25
