Privateer Tales 3: Parley

by Jamie McFarlane

  Headed toward the bar, I caught a sweet smell, seconds before a hand brushed across my lower back and pulled me in the direction of its owner. I turned to see the marginally familiar face of Beth Anne Hollise. She had changed from the dark, tight fitting vac-suit to a really tight dress, deeply cut in the back and a little too sheer in the front for my comfort.

  I turned to her and attempted to skillfully extract her arm from around my waist. My skills and her own were in two different leagues. She used my momentum to step in and I ended up brushing closely to her body, becoming very aware of her all at once.

  “Captain. Welcome to my humble establishment. I wanted to personally thank you for delivering my supplies. I was starting to get worried that chivalry might be dead.”

  I pushed her arm down. If I was honest, I’d have to admit that I found her to be extremely attractive. I hadn’t been around such a shapely woman before. I knew my ability to resist her would be sorely tested if I allowed us to stay close together. I wasn’t about to betray Tabby, but there was a small part of me that sincerely regretted that decision. I was a dog.

  “Quite happy to help,” I said. “You’re the owner here? It looks like you’re doing very well for the middle of the week.” I felt like I needed to shout, although my own earwig was already limiting the noise I was receiving in my ear and amplifying Beth Anne’s speech.

  “Yes, I am. And … they’re here because of you, Liam. They all heard that I got a shipment in and knew we’d be flush with supplies. Join me for a late dinner?”

  “It will have to be another time. My friends and I just arrived and I don’t want to leave them hanging.”

  “A loyal companion. Such a wonderful characteristic. Mind if I join you all a little later?”

  “It’d be our pleasure,” I said.

  “Very well.” I started to leave and she turned, perhaps a little too quickly. She stumbled, causing her well-apportioned body to brush against me once again, as she grabbed me and I helped to steady her.

  “Oh, pardon me,” she said as unconvincingly as I could imagine.

  I smiled, despite my desire not to acknowledge the contact. I looked over to see the stevedore, Richard Horten, sitting at the bar, watching the entire interaction. He shook his head at me disapprovingly.

  “I told you to stay clear of her,” he said as I approached.

  “She seems nice enough.”

  “Wait until you owe her something, then tell me what you think,” he said.

  “I hope it never gets to that,” I gestured at the bar. “What’re you drinking? I’d like to make good on my word.”

  “A double of Macallan.” Horten licked his lips as he said this to the bartender who’d walked up. “My new friend here is buying.”

  The bartender, a skinny kid who was several years younger than me, looked at me for approval. I nodded affirmative. The kid pulled down a bottle that didn’t look like it got used very often and poured a measured amount into the bottom of a wide bottomed glass. He handed the glass to Richard Horten who smelled it before taking a long drink.

  The kid held a swipe pad up to me. I was shocked at the price - sixty five m-creds. I didn’t want to give the little troll, Richard, any satisfaction, so I swiped it and then laid my hand on his shoulder. “Have a good evening,” I said.

  As I walked back to the table I noticed that both Tali and Ada were staring at me as I approached.

  “What?” I asked as I sat down.

  “Do you know that woman?” Ada asked.

  “Beth Ann Hollise. She owns the bar and was one of our deliveries today,” I wasn’t about to admit to knowing why they were asking.

  Ada ignored my nonchalance. “You seemed very chummy with her.”

  I felt my cheeks flush. “That’s not how it was happening. I didn’t even know she’d be here. She got chummy with me.”

  “Yeah, you were just fighting her off with a stick,” Tali added.

  I rolled my eyes at them both as they were now giggling at my discomfort.

  “Who was the guy at the bar?” Ada asked.

  “Stevedore. He wouldn’t show me his ident without me offering to buy him a drink. A very expensive drink.”

  “Oh. I hate guys like that. There’s nothing you can do about ‘em either,” Ada said, suddenly serious. “Speaking of …” I followed her eyes over to a gawky looking man who was making his way through the crowd, clearly headed toward us.

  “Who’s that?” I asked just before he arrived at our table.

  “Hi, Elvard,” Ada said.

  “Mind if I join you?” he asked. “I think you promised me a drink. And please, you know better. Call me E.V.”

  Ada looked at Tali and me apologetically, “Uh, sure E.V., we were just getting ready to order dinner.”

  “Oh, that’d be great. I’m starving,” he said.

  I was starting to realize why spacers kept to themselves when they’d visited Colony 40. So far, we’d talked to four or five people and at least three of them wanted something from us.

  “How about instead of a drink, I’ll buy you a protein burger, just like I’m getting,” Ada said.

  “Add a couple of beers to that and we’re even.”

  Ada was about to say something, but I cut her off. “Beers are on me, Mr. …?”

  “It’s Rastikle, but everyone just calls me E.V. Didn’t catch your name.”

  “I’m Liam and this is Tali. We’re sailing with Ada.”

  “Oh, you must be in that cutter. Anything in those missile tubes?”

  “You sure don’t beat around the bush. But no, missiles are out of my budget. If we can’t scare them off with the laser blasters, we can most likely outrun ‘em.”

  “Yeah, makes sense. Lotta folks out here wish they had some missiles, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Three out of the last ten loads outta here got jacked on their way back to Mars. Two of them just completely disappeared.”

  “Who do you think was behind it?” I asked.

  “Who else? Red Houzi, of course,” he said.

  “Seems pretty organized for them. How are they intercepting the ships? They’d need to have deep scanners.”

  “There’s rumors that one of the big boys are backing them.”

  “Big boys?” Tali’s interest was now piqued.

  “Yeah, like EEC, PDC, NAGeK. My bet’s on the Chinese.” E.V. was referring to the different Earth coalitions who’d come together for space exploration and exploitation.

  “To what end?” Tali asked.

  “Expansion. PDC has the fastest growing fleet and they need the materials. It’s the simplest answer,” he said.

  PDC referred to the People’s Democracy of China.

  The beer and burgers arrived and we set aside conversation for the time. Fried potatoes, protein burgers and beer. It was a great combination.

  “You all look so serious.” I recognized Beth Anne’s voice before I turned to see her. “You should be celebrating. E.V., what’re you doing here?”

  “Uh, nothing much, ma’am. I was just catching up with an old friend,” Elvard answered, his voice hesitating in nearly a stammer.

  Beth Anne grabbed an empty chair and pulled it up to the table. “Perhaps you’d excuse us?” E.V. got up and left without so much as saying goodbye.

  “I think he’s afraid of you,” Tali said.

  “Strange little fella,” Beth Anne said. “That’s more likely his guilty conscious; he owes me money. So, Captain Liam, when will you all be heading out?”

  “I imagine that will have something to do with when we can get loaded up. We’re a little concerned with all of the pirate activity we’ve been hearing about around here.”

  “Aww, don’t pay attention to Elvard. That kind of talk can ruin a station and it’s just not true.”

  “It didn’t stop us, but still, I don’t think we should be tempting fate either.”

  “You settled on your return load? Maybe you have a little roo
m for a few off manifest crates? I could make it worth your while.”

  “If you’re going to Mars, you can get anything into Puskar Stellar. There’s no customs inspection,” I said naively.

  “Manifest is still checked. I’d be looking to send some things without necessarily having my name attached to them - if you get my meaning.”

  I really didn’t understand what she could hope to gain by this.

  “I’m thinking a couple thousand a crate?” She was using her sweet voice.

  “We’re pretty full on this run.”

  “Well, you think about it and give me a shout before you get going. Like I said, I’d make it worth your while.”

  Beth Anne patted my leg uncomfortably high on my thigh under the table and then stood up, giving us a broad, welcoming smile. “Enjoy your dinner.”

  Once she was out of earshot, Ada offered, “That was creepy.”

  “Not sure what to think of either of our visitors,” I said.

  “I’d trust E.V. a whole lot further than I’d trust that woman,” Tali said.

  “What could she possibly want to ship off-manifest?”

  “I don’t think that’s important,” Tali said. “Once she gets you to do something illegal, she can use it as leverage.”

  “I suppose.” It wasn’t overly important to me. We weren’t currently looking for help with loads and money was moving fairly easily. I didn’t need to add legal problems, especially since Mars Protectorate had by far the most liberal laws related to free trade when compared to any other space faring nation.

  “Well kids, I think I’ve had enough fun for one night,” Tali said. “I’m going to head back to the ship.”

  “Ada, we’ve got another hour to party. What’s your pleasure?”

  “I think I’ve had enough for the evening also.”

  “Well, let’s get rolling then. We’ve got cargo to load tomorrow morning.”

  Tali and I saw Ada to her berth and returned to the ship, where I found Nick and Marny on the bridge.

  “You’re back early,” Marny said.

  “The bar had a weird vibe,” I said. “Oh, we’re putting on a load for Mars tomorrow morning at 0800.”

  “How many days do we have to deliver it?” Nick asked.

  “Twenty eight days, starting tomorrow. Then we get into penalties.”

  “That should be easy enough.”

  “So … what if Red Houzi’s getting help from a government?” I said.

  “Where’d you come up with that?” Marny asked.

  “Just something someone said tonight.”

  “I hope you’re wrong, Cap.” Marny said.

  “At dinner, a friend of Ada’s was saying that three of the last ten freighters from Jeratorn have been intercepted.”

  “How’s that even possible?” Nick asked. “I can see getting lucky and intercepting one, but three?”

  “What about military grade scanners?”

  “Let’s not even go there. Pirates are one thing, but we don’t want to get mixed up with military,” Marny said.

  “Have to wonder why the Navy’d want to drop a MINT agent way out here,” Nick said.

  “You can drive yourself nuts with speculation,” Marny answered.

  “Agreed. So tomorrow 0800. I’d like to accompany Ada out to the co-op to pick up the barges too,” I said.

  “You hear from Qiu yet? It’s got to have been six hours by now,” Marny said.

  “Not yet.”

  “Hope she’s not going to test us on that.”

  “I just hope nothing’s happened to her.”

  I SMELL A RAT

  I’d excused Marny and Nick from watch that night. I knew I wouldn't sleep much, since I still hadn’t received a comm from Qiu. At 0400, I heard a request to enter the bridge. It was Tali’s voice.

  “You up, Liam?”

  “Yes. Come on in.”

  “Any word on Qiu?” she asked.

  “Nothing yet. I’m thinking about sending a comm off to the Navy.”

  “She’s more than six hours late, and as much as she didn’t want to communicate with us, she wouldn’t jeopardize her mission by ignoring the communication protocol. I’d be careful about sending off a comm, it could be intercepted.”

  I wasn’t thrilled to share with Tali that we had special Navy issued communication equipment. But it seemed like she needed to know, as it could possibly change the way we moved forward.

  “I’d like to show you something in my quarters,” I said.

  “Not sure we’re that good of friends yet,” she quipped. I didn’t initially catch it and then snapped my head around to look at her. A single raised eyebrow and a slight grin clued me in. “Am I really so old you didn’t see that coming?”

  Confusion coursed through my brain as I tried to come up with a face-saving response. Tali was an incredibly attractive woman, but she was also very intimidating, especially after working out with her. Her lithe body had caught my attention more than once, but I didn’t consider myself to be in her league. So many cluttered thoughts left me incapable of answering her with any speed.

  “I’m hurt.” Tali pouted her lips.

  “Oh, no … that’s not … no … I don’t …”

  “Just frakking with you, Liam. Let’s go to your quarters to see your thing,” Her smile was almost predatory.

  I sighed, exasperated, and gave up. “This way.” I knew I was outmatched as I pushed the bridge door open and walked into the captain’s quarters, Tali following close behind. Indicating to her to close the door, I pulled out the chair locked in beneath the desk and sat and palmed the unremarkable panel on the wall next to the hull of the ship. The panel retracted and I pulled out the keyboard.

  “What’s that?” Tali asked.

  “Encrypted Naval comm. It’s coded to a single recipient.”

  “I see that,” Tali said. “I’m familiar with the model. Instant comm within 2 AUs. Very nice, very discrete. Who’s it coded to?”

  “My contact in the Navy and it always takes him some time to get back to me.”

  “Well, he’s holding out on you. Not that it matters, but when I said instant, I meant it. I’d let him know what’s going on either way,” Tali said.

  I typed in, Agent missed check in, six hours late. Please advise. I palmed the screen closed.

  “Did Marny talk to you about the fact that Qiu got off the ship without us knowing about it?”

  This got Tali’s attention. “What do you mean?”

  “Sometime before we made it to our berth, she got off the ship.”

  “You don’t know how she got off? What about the video?”

  “Haven’t looked yet, she was due to get off anyway, so what did it matter?”

  “Don’t know. I just don’t like mysteries.”

  “Easy enough to look through the video, although it’ll be easier on the bridge.”

  “Do you mind?”

  “I’m gonna need some coffee …”

  I started a fresh batch, disappointed that I’d let it run dry. We went back to the bridge to use the holo-projectors.

  Show Lieutenant Qiu leaving the captain’s quarters, yesterday.

  The soft male voice of the ship’s AI replied, No holographic playback available for requested subject.

  Track backwards from our docking at Jeratorn berth to first recording of Lieutenant Qiu Loo.

  No information available for requested subject.

  “Try the mid-point dinner, she was there,” Tali suggested.

  Show seven days ago when the crew of Adela Chen boarded this ship.

  The AI chose to start outside the ship where Ada and Jordy were arc-jetting from the tug over to Sterra's Gift. They cycled through the airlocks and walked down the hallway. Just as they were turning the corner the scene froze.

  No source of data for continued playback.

  “How’d she do that?” I asked aloud.

  “I think we have some idea what Qiu was doing in her room on the
way out. Removing that much data is darn near impossible. It must have taken quite a lot of effort.”

  “Do you suppose that’s just how MINT operatives work?”

  “Maybe, but what if it wasn’t her? What if someone else wanted to wipe out the record of her trip?”

  “Who’d want to do that? Moreover who’d have access?”

  “Governments have been denying the existence of covert intelligence operatives for centuries. It’s just a lot harder nowadays. It’s the same reason the Navy contracted you to deliver her. They didn’t want people to know where she came from. So far, I’d say they’re doing a pretty good job.”

  “So they can just bust into my ship and wipe my records? Doesn’t that put Qiu at a lot of risk?”

  “Probably less than if you had it. Right now if the bad guys, whoever they might be, captured your ship, they wouldn’t be able to learn anything about her.”

  “I suppose. Kinda pisses me off,” I said.

  “Sure. That makes sense.”

  “So, you think we should just drop it?”

  “Think you can?

  It was 0600 and I rationalized that Nick and Marny would want to be informed more than they would want additional sleep.

  Hail Marny.

  “What’s up, Cap?” She sounded like she was wide awake even though I knew I must have just woken her.

  “Nothing imminent, but we have a situation I think you should look at.”

  “Permission to enter bridge.”

  One thing was certain, nobody was ever going to get the drop on Marny. I wondered how she kept herself at the ready all of the time.

  “Granted.”

  Nick followed closely on Marny’s heels and once again he looked like you’d expect from someone who’d just jumped out of bed. Marny, of course, looked like she’d been up for hours.

  I explained the missing video data to them and that I’d sent a request for instructions to Lieutenant Belcose on the Kuznetsov.

  “We might have a response by now,” I said. “I’ll check. See if you can find anything I missed.”

  As I left, I heard Nick providing instructions to the ship’s AI. He wouldn’t easily accept that the data was lost. In my quarters, I opened the panel in my desk, once again revealing the communication equipment.