Myra,: The start of a galactic adventure. (Dave Travise Book 1)

by Richard Dee

  “Anyway,” I continued, “why keep us here for a safety inspection that you and I both know we don’t need.”

  She grinned. “What’s the point of having rank if you don’t abuse it sometimes? I liked the look of you when I saw you, it’s boring here; there’s been no new male interest for ages.”

  “So my ship is being held up because you’re bored?” Her hand moved to my chest, continuing the motion.

  “Don’t knock it, there’s something in it for both of us.”

  The wine was starting to go to my head in the low gravity; Liesh leaned into me. “That’s enough talk,” she whispered into my ear. “Like it or not, and you will, you’re here till the morning.” She took my glass and put it on the table.

  Chapter Twenty One

  I was back on board the Orca before breakfast, with clearance to depart, a sore body and had had little sleep. Cargo work was complete and the used lashings were stowed neatly. I walked into the mess room and Myra was the first person I saw. Before I had the chance to say anything she gave me a filthy look, turned and walked out. Feeling lousy, I got myself a coffee.

  Rixon eyed me jealously and raised his eyebrows when I handed his money back. “You took your time,” he said. “Looks like you managed to persuade her though. I suppose you want a day off now.”

  “I could do with a sleep,” I told him. “But I’ve got clearance; we can go when we’re ready.”

  “Well, get us on our way, set up the voyage and then you can disappear, I’ll cover your watch. All the details are on the chart table.”

  I nodded. “Thanks, I think I’ve upset Myra though, I didn’t want that.”

  “She’ll be alright, she’s an adult. Just leave her alone for a bit.” Spoken like a big brother. Glumly, I took my coffee to the bridge.

  “Good morning, Nancy,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

  “Hello, Dave,” she answered frostily. “Would you like me to speak quietly?” At least she was still talking to me.

  I picked up the papers on the chart table and had a look at our destination, the name jumped out at me. It looked like I was going back to Michael’s Hollow, a place I didn’t really want to see again.

  In all the vastness of the Federation, I had assumed that I had enough room to disappear, but I was being drawn back to the places where I could be remembered; next we would probably strike a deal with my father or my brothers.

  I guessed that any objections I might have to that would be ignored. I was glad that I had grown some facial hair, maybe if I kept out of the way no one would spot me.

  That was a problem for the future, first we had to pick up a load of food and some equipment from a trading station called Coopers Post.

  “New route please, Nancy,” I said. “Michael’s Hollow via Coopers Post.”

  “Will do, Dave. Leave it to me, you sound like you need a rest.” Even her voice sounded judgemental.

  The departure was a lot simpler than the arrival. After we had shut the ramp and disconnected the proboscis the docking magnets had their polarity reversed and we were flung away from the arm, the inertial dampers stopped us from bouncing around too much and I piled the power on as soon as I could to compensate. I engaged the route to Coopers Post and went to my cabin for a sleep.

  I felt like I was stuck, did I want Myra to think that we were leaving because of my overnight activities, or would it be better if I told her about Liesh and that we were delayed because of her desires. Either way, I would end up looking bad, and it made Myra and me less likely. And I realised that wasn’t what I wanted.

  I slept for about twelve hours straight and woke up hungry; my watch said it was the middle of the night. I went to the mess room for a bite.

  Stu was eating when I got there, there were two empty plates in front of him and he was attacking a third, his free arm curled protectively around the meal.

  He waved his fork in greeting as I looked through the boxes, there weren’t so many left now. In the end I chose fish and rice and put it in the cooker.

  “Hey, Dave,” said Stu as I sat and opened the box. “You recovered yet?”

  I tried to make a joke out of it. “It’s a job and someone had to do it.”

  He leered back at me between mouthfuls. “Lucky you, but I think it upset Myra.”

  He was spot on there, I knew that, and it wasn’t what I had wanted. I shrugged. “That’s life, we’re not an item.” I ate a few mouthfuls.

  His perception surprised me. “Oh but you could be,” he said. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you, and Mitch let slip that Myra thought you were… interesting I think the word was. You know,” he warmed to his theme, “the last Nav, he fancied his chances with Myra, but Rixon did the same thing to him, made sure he embarrassed him in front of her, it was all downhill from then.” He bent to his plate and attacked it.

  “What do you mean, Stu?” I wanted to be sure that he meant what he was saying.

  “Well, Dave, you seem like a nice guy, it’s just that Rixon is very protective of his little sister, he feels responsible for keeping her safe.” He chewed for a while. “Funny thing, after she knocked the other Dave back, it was from then that all our troubles started.”

  That was interesting news; it filled in a few gaps in my knowledge. Maybe Stu wasn’t as unaware of things as I had thought.

  “So what?” I asked around a mouthful of food. “Do you think that’s why he started passing information to Vlad Chenko?”

  “Dunno about that, but I know that he was always saying he had no money. Stone broke he used to say he was. He had a couple of stones and he used to fiddle with them, all the time rubbing them together, he kept saying ‘stone broke’ while he did it, like it was some sort of mantra. We used to reckon he was rubbing them for his luck to change.”

  I thought about what Stu had said, it could be enough to betray his crew, and in this world, as I was learning, there were no rules and apparently no honour either. Stu was stirring his food with a face like thunder; the memories had obviously got him wound up. He finally exploded.

  “Those bloody Chenkos,” he shouted, the sudden noise making me jump; clearly they were not on his list either, he jabbed his plastic fork into the defenceless plate with such force that it snapped.

  Cursing, he picked another from the debris around him. “Suddenly they knew every move we made, and it couldn’t have been blind luck. We all play the watching game and sometimes we get ahead of each other but this was every time. Rixon was going crazy and we were making no money. Wherever we went they were there in that old Bishop of theirs, undercutting us and taking the work.”

  My ears pricked up, on the Moth there had been reports of an old Bishop class frigate working as a freighter, but as it had not always been on the Rim it had not been high on our list of priorities.

  So it was the Chenkos, I thought. Instead I said, “Where did they get a Bishop?”

  “They found it,” he answered, as if it was the most ordinary thing. “Abandoned and drifting. It was pretty shot up and deserted, no lifeboats, but they managed to tow it in and patch it up.” His voice took on a contemptuous tone. “They don’t look after it, and you wouldn’t catch me on the thing. Now if you’ll excuse me, my food’s getting cold.”

  I’d finished my meal, so I went back to my cabin. There was a piece of paper wedged in the door: ‘I’ve paid you. R’. Rixon must have been prowling around while I was talking to Stu. Perhaps he had heard our conversation, perhaps not.

  I hadn’t bothered checking my bank accounts since I had become Dave Travise and I suddenly realised that I didn’t have a clue if I could still access them or even if they were still in the same place as Finn’s had been. Panic set in; perhaps Rick had cleaned me out after all. I turned the paper over. To my relief Rixon had written the name of a bank and a series of numbers, which must be Dave Travise’s account details. It was the same bank as I had always had; maybe the accounts were all together. Had he not given me that then I migh
t not have been able to get at my money anyway. Perhaps I ought to take a look. But not now, I tossed it on the desk and went back to sleep.

  I was busy for the next two days, checking all the safety gear in the shuttles and dropships. I had the craft to myself as I worked through my list of inspections so managed to avoid Myra apart from at mealtimes. And then she was always talking to someone else so it looked like she was doing the same. It kept us apart and stopped us shouting at each other, my attempts to explain would probably not have been believed anyway.

  Finally I had the chance, I logged onto the hyperweb and found my way to the bank that Rixon said he had paid my wages into. The login as Dave Travise went without a hitch, using the numbers on the paper; I intended to transfer most of the wages into my old accounts, well out of anyone’s way just as soon as I could. I knew I would have taken over the accounts that the other Dave would have had for his pay, and that there might be a bit left in it as well as what I had been paid, but I wasn’t ready for what happened next.

  When the screen opened I saw that Rick had renamed my two Finn Douglas accounts, they sat alongside the Dave Travise account that Rixon had used. Rick must have been in on the switch for longer than just the day he saw me, to get that much background. To my surprise there were now a total of five accounts listed under my name. I checked both of mine, it wasn’t much but it was all there, so Rick hadn’t taken anything out of either one. And the loan was marked as paid off as well.

  Two of the other three were still password protected but the one that I had come to see had a significant amount, which must have been Dave’s wages. He was paid more than my Navy pay, which wasn’t really a surprise and over the last year he hadn’t drawn much out. All the deposits were from Orca and Co. including the most recent. The account numbers on the other two looked familiar; referring to the note that I had found in Dave’s box showed me that they matched up.

  Maybe the geek on the station was right; the letters were the login code; taking a deep breath I entered them, remembering the case. The screen flashed up, ‘enter your password’. Oh hell, what could that be?

  What would Dave Travise use as a password? Stu’s comment came into my head, ‘he was always saying he had no money, stone broke he used to say he was’. I typed it in.

  The screen went black and then opened again filled with numbers, I nearly fell off my chair.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Altogether there was enough money in the two accounts combined to buy a ship like the Orca, or to use as collateral to equip a start-up colony. I could have my own planet and enough stuff to start up a farm or a factory. After my pitiful Navy pay, and the small savings I had managed to make, these three accounts had more money than I had ever seen in one place, somehow it was all mine.

  Looking more closely through them, one account had been opened eight months ago and was filled with regular transfers from an unnamed account on Basilan, while the other one had no recent deposits, but only interest payments on the considerable capital.

  I debated transferring the whole lot to my real accounts but in the end I decided against it; everything was in the same bank now so there would be little point. Instead I just changed the passwords for everything and logged out.

  Maybe there was something in Stu’s words, if the Chenkos had been paying Dave for information, that would explain the deposits, they had been doing it for a while but why hadn’t they stopped, the last payment was only three days ago? Then I thought, now that the Chenkos knew Dave was gone, maybe they would want the money back. Hell; maybe Rixon would want it as compensation for all the work he had lost from Dave’s spying.

  I sat there numb; suddenly I could see that I was surrounded by people who had a reason to get me alone in a dark corner. Rixon to recover his losses, the Chenkos to get their investment back and Myra because of my dalliance at the station. And of them all, I was most worried about Myra.

  As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, I ticked them off on my fingers; the fear of being caught as a deserter, a change of identity and having to go back to a place where it could all fall apart. That was enough for anyone. Now here was another set of problems. To keep me sane I had tried to put some of them away in the back of my mind; the trouble was, it was getting crowded in there.

  Next time I was on watch, alone in the wheelhouse I asked Nancy for information about Coopers Post. The computer system was turning into my source of information about my new life, I could ask her anything, even the stupid questions. I might get the odd sarcastic comment but at least I was getting an education in the real world.

  Unsurprisingly in the vastness of the Rim, it was another place where I had never been, a genuine frontier world; there were no police, customs or traffic control, or even a proper spaceport, just a large field outside the settlement.

  It was in quite a strategic position, in an area where the proximity of a number of stars squeezed the trans-light routes into a bottleneck. On the back of this, a ship repair yard had grown up. Of course, along with all the legitimate business, the chancers and criminals had moved in and the place had acquired a reputation for being somewhere where anything was available; for a price.

  Nancy was very informative but a bit disparaging about Coopers Post and Nara, the planet on which it sat. She advised me to keep a close eye on my valuables and avoid the bars, especially one called Ma Esters. Apparently it had a reputation. She made it sound exciting and dangerous at the same time; the kind of place Dave Travise, Navy deserter and criminal double-dealer would like.

  We arrived in the system during the local night time and settled into orbit.

  “It’ll be pointless landing before daylight,” said Griff. “Everyone will be drunk or asleep and no use to us. Might as well relax safe up here and arrive after breakfast.”

  Next morning we dropped out of orbit, and at Rixon’s insistence Nancy took over, flying us through thick cloud with glimpses of the ground beneath. Turbulence buffeted the Orca; the dampers were working overtime to keep us level. Rain showers splattered the ports as the wipers struggled to give us a clear view; we were flying below one hundred metres and passed farms and homesteads dotted on the plains. Huge herds of cattle and flocks of sheep ignored us, intent only on the lush grass. We drank half-filled cups of coffee to avoid spilling most of it.

  Rixon was lounging in his chair, drinking his coffee and chatting to Griff, while I stood feeling slightly redundant as Nancy homed in on the landing field.

  “You been here before, Dave?” asked Griff, and when I answered in the negative he looked at Rixon and they smirked at some private joke.

  “Well don’t worry; your namesake never came here with us either. Nancy,” said Rixon, “tell us at fifty kilometres out.”

  “Will do,” she cheerfully replied, it sounded like she was in on the joke as well, whatever it was.

  “We’re crossing the high plains,” Griff told me. “There’s always a lot of cloud here, it bubbles up from the oceans and the lowlands and the wind blows it along. We keep low, there’s nothing to hit and the turbulence is worse higher up.” We were passing an enormous pen filled with pigs, some stopped their rooting around and looked up, we were that close to the ground.

  “Fifty kilometres out,” announced Nancy.

  Looking ahead, I could see a line of clear air between the cloud and the ground; it shone silver and got bigger as we approached. “Hold on to your breakfast,” said Griff as we broke into the clear air, the brightness temporarily blinding ahead. I looked down.

  The land beneath us, which had been so close, suddenly fell away, not just a bit, but by around ten thousand metres, vertigo kicked in and I clutched at the console. Behind me I could hear Griff and Rixon laughing, I was too busy holding on to my dignity to comment. Nancy slowed the Orca and we turned to port, I realised that we had been dropping at the same time as we were turning when the cliffs reappeared above us. Waterfalls streamed over them and at the base; nestled in the shadows was Coopers Post. />
  “Exciting eh?” said Rixon between laughs at my discomfort. “It gets everyone like that the first time. It’s a geological feature; we’re not in a valley here. You can catch someone out next time.” Griff gave me a slap on the back which didn’t help.

  The port was really only a large open space, off to one side of the town and dotted with craft. We dropped into a gap in the line.

  I transferred engine control and Myra acknowledged me, I was glad to hear that her voice sounded a bit less frosty than it had in the few comments we had exchanged recently.

  “Just so as you know, Dave,” said Rixon. “No one ever rushes round here; it takes a bit of getting used to. Especially after your Navy way of doing things. I don’t expect we’ll start loading today. Let’s get into Ma Esters for a beer, Griff; get on to Moraine’s boys and tell him were here. Tan and the GFH can set the hold up; they can go for a beer when we come back.”

  We walked down to the hold where we found Myra; she had changed out of her overalls and looked very presentable in tight jeans and a blouse. Her hair was loose and looked freshly washed. There was make-up on her face and she swung a bag decorated with flowers. “Where you off to all dressed up?” asked Rixon, in big brother mode.

  She gave him a stare. “It’s none of your business but I need some spares. If I look like a helpless bimbo I’ll distract them and I’ll get a better price.” Griff started up the ground car and the four of us headed into town. There was no paved roadway, just a set of ruts in the grass from heavy vehicles. When we got into town it was the same.

  The dusty streets were lined with two-storey buildings; the wooden construction looked strange, festooned as they were with satellite receivers and power couplers. Small groups of people lounged around, watching the world go by. There were bodies asleep on verandas; at least I assumed they were asleep. We dropped Myra off by what looked like a scrapyard, “This is me,” she said. “I’ll meet you in Esters.”