Smuggler's Dilemma Read online

  "The full offer is five percent of the company plus one hundred twenty percent of standard captain’s salary and a captain’s share on the loads you command."

  "Am I in charge of setting up my own runs?" she asked.

  Nick stepped in. "Not at first, because we'll fly as a fleet. But, we’re open to the idea."

  "That sounds fair. Can I have time to think about it? I’d like to talk it through with Dad," she said.

  "Of course," I said. "How long do you think you’ll need?"

  "Three days. Dad's going to be a pain about everything, but eventually he’ll settle down. The return on the ore-hauling put him in a good mood." Ada’s dad had been an investor in our trip to Jeratorn. He was protective of his daughter after his wife's death, but the family still had to make a living.

  The food arrived and for several minutes the table was quiet as we dug in.

  Ada finally broke the silence. "So what are you going to do with all your busted up ships?"

  "Look for a replacement. We’re headed out this afternoon and tomorrow. Want to go along?" I asked.

  She beamed, "What girl doesn’t like shopping? But I promised Dad that I’d see him this afternoon, so how about tomorrow?"

  "That works. I’m picking up Tabby at 1100 and expect to be space-side by 1300." I said.

  "Great. See you tomorrow," Ada stood and we all stood with her as she handed out good-bye hugs.

  "What’s on the schedule for today?" I asked my compatriots.

  "You need to do a little scouting to narrow down our ship choices," Nick told me. "I sent you a list of the ten CA-12s between Coolidge and Puskar Stellar. We won’t know what we can afford until we sell the frigate, but you can at least see what the market has to offer."

  It seemed like a fun way to spend the afternoon.

  REUNION

  Early the next morning, I found Nick at a desk in the common room of the suite - obviously working. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a meal bar.

  "How’d it go yesterday?" he asked. "You didn’t get back until late."

  "Expensive." I figured that explained it. "Every ship was seven hundred thousand or better. Although I did choose to start at the top of the list. I wanted to see what a million got you in a CA-12. They’re nice, but it doesn't seem worth it."

  "Sterra’s Gift was worth almost that much on our last run," Nick said.

  "You mean before I ran it into the back of that frigate?"

  "That certainly didn’t help its value," he said. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. "Keep your eye out for a second ship. Something with teeth. Maybe something we could lash to the tug and use if we get into trouble."

  "With the prices I’ve been seeing, I don’t know how possible it’ll be," I knew I sounded frustrated, but yesterday was not as much fun as I'd hoped.

  "Keep looking," he said. "You’ll find better prices today. Remember we can make parts for it, so it can be a little beat up."

  "You should have seen how crappy some of the ships were, though. Are you going with us today?" I asked.

  "Nope, we’re on a short timeframe. I’d like to get underway within a week. A ship surveyor is meeting me at the frigate at 1000." He paused and then said, "Oh, I also purchased a container so we can offload non-essentials. Think you could pick that up? I know you want to spend time with Tabby, but you’ll be space-side anyway."

  Nick was in full planning mode. The best thing I could do for him was take care of any details I could wrap my brain around.

  "Roger that. So, three shipyards today. Give me numbers. What’s my ballpark for the cutter and an attack craft?" I couldn’t wait to check out the darts, although truth be told I didn't think they had enough teeth.

  "Six to seven hundred for both. We’ve got one-ninety in the bank and should clear a million for the frigate."

  I whistled, "That much?"

  "It’s worth at least one point two."

  "Roger. I haven’t seen even half of the CA-12s out there and I’ll drop off the container, first thing."

  If Nick heard me, he wasn’t saying. He was back to gesturing in the air, dismissing virtual windows and scrolling virtual panes. I had three shipyards to visit. Brinkman’s, Cintani’s and I was saving Weird Wally’s Bone Yard for last. It was three times the size of the other yards and his advertising was pasted all over the space station. Apparently, Wally’s hook was that he was a little unstable and likely to cut you a good deal even if it wasn’t a good deal for him. I didn’t believe it for a minute, but if he had the ships, I was all in.

  I had ninety minutes to make it from Puskar Stellar to the Naval Academy at Coolidge where I’d pick up Tabby. Nick had chosen a hotel close to the transportation terminal which doubled as the terminus for the space elevator as well as a stop for the mag-lev (MAG-L) train that joined many of the Martian cities. At the Coolidge terminal I caught a cab and gave it instructions to fly out to the Naval Academy.

  The purple-hued Martian forest that had been planted centuries before was beautiful. Flying over it took my breath away. I recognized the landscape from the last time we’d stayed in Coolidge. Nick, Marny and I had really done it up by staying at a beautiful lakeside resort which sat on the same lake bordering the Naval Academy. When the taxi stopped, Tabby was standing outside of the visitor’s center in her dress whites.

  "Heya, hot-stuff," I said, opening the door. She jogged over to the cab.

  "Privacy screen," she said as she jumped in, dropped her bag, and pulled the door closed. I raised my eyebrows, but wasn’t left wondering very long as she launched herself on top of me. The model of cab I’d chosen was just a big circular couch with a hole in the middle to put your feet. I had made a good choice. She pushed me back into the cushion, straddled me and gave me a kiss that I’ll never forget. After a few minutes of intense welcoming, she finally released me.

  "Tell me you’re making up for lost time and if we were together it wouldn’t always be like that," I said, panting for breath. I was half joking, but wow, really only half.

  She smiled wickedly and I took a moment to look her up and down. She’d let her hair grow out from the hard-core buzz-cut she’d given herself just before starting at the Academy. Her muscle tone had also significantly increased. When she held me down, I wasn’t sure I’d have had an option to not comply.

  "As if a rogue like you would ever settle down with a respectable woman." Tabby was looking at me playfully. I took advantage and pushed her over onto the opposite couch. Two could play at that game. Her lithe body wriggled beneath me and I enjoyed running my hands over the soft skin that covered those firm muscles.

  Breathless, Tabby finally broke us apart and shifted so we were lying next to each other. "Jupiter, I miss having you around," she said. "Where are we going?"

  It was a friendly reminder that we were still sitting next to the Naval Academy visitor’s center. Our little display of affection would have been trouble for her if she hadn’t requested the privacy screen.

  Coolidge Terminal, I instructed the cab.

  "You’ll never guess who I ran into," she said, turning to face me. Her hands trailed along my chest.

  My mind blanked. Having her this close to me was difficult enough, but I couldn’t imagine who might have been on Mars that we’d both know. "No idea."

  "Commander Sterra," she said. "She gave a lecture on ethics."

  "Did you get a chance to meet her?"

  "Of course, silly, why do you think I’d bring it up? She ate lunch with my whole class. Did you know she knew your dad?"

  I just looked at her dumbfounded, "No…"

  "When he and your mom were in the Amazonian conflict." I must have looked confused. She returned my perplexed look. "Are you serious? You didn’t know they were in the war together?"

  "Mom? I knew Dad was, but…"

  "You Hoffens really need to talk more. So, guess what else?" she asked brightly.

  I smiled. It was fun to see her so energetic. "What?"

  "Guess," she
repeated.

  "Uh, you got a promotion?"

  "Well, true, but that’s only sort of it."

  "You’re… Frak, I don’t know…"

  "I got accepted to Space Combat School," she said.

  "Doesn’t that describe the Academy?"

  She punched me, "No dumb-ass. Space Combat School means I’ll fly a fighter, and I’m going to be assigned to a ship, probably a destroyer."

  "No shite! That’s amazing! When do you start?"

  "At the end of this semester. I’ll take a reduced load and start flying trainers right away."

  "We need to celebrate," I said huskily. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight "Can you stay at the hotel tonight?"

  She kissed me, but before I could get serious, she stopped and said, "I’ve got until 1900 tomorrow. My time was extended since I was promoted to combat-school candidate."

  I whistled, "Two whole extra hours. Big stuff."

  Tabby slugged me in response. I preferred the kissing.

  She sat up, grabbed her bag, and pulled her vac-suit out. "Look away," she demanded and started removing her dress whites. I made a half-hearted attempt to look away, but gave it up when I saw a number of bruises on her ribs and legs.

  "What’s all that about?" I asked, running my finger across her ribs.

  Her eyes followed mine down to the bruises. "Oh, that's nothing to worry about. Hand-to-hand training. We’re supposed to go half-speed, but sometimes it gets a little out of control." That made sense to me. The Tabby I knew didn't do anything halfway.

  The cab arrived at the Coolidge main transport terminal. Waiting fifteen minutes for the next train was easy, I was spending time with Tabby. We grabbed meal bars and sat on a bench next to the track.

  "What are we doing today?" she asked.

  "Non-stop fun," I said, teasingly. "No, really. It's a big day. I rented a hauler so we can run a container over to the frigate we captured. We’re moving all of our gear and supplies out."

  "I didn’t completely follow what happened to Sterra’s Gift. Did you actually ram the back end of that frigate with your ship?"

  "Yeah. We were desperate. That frigate wa-ay out gunned us, it was the only thing I could come up with," I said.

  She nodded, as if seeing the action in her mind. "Do you have the combat data stream? We’ve been dissecting data streams in our fleet maneuvers class. I’d love to share it with my professors."

  "Sure, later tonight we can run through some of it and see if it’s something you’re interested in."

  We’d just stood to get on the train. Tabby was holding onto my arm with both of her hands and she gave me a squeeze. "I’m not sure I like that you keep getting into these scrapes."

  "I think you don’t like us getting into these scrapes without you. You gotta know that’s why we’re shopping for ships. We’re upgrading our offense. I’m tired of getting kicked around."

  "Can’t you keep the frigate? That thing should be loaded for bear," she asked as we stepped into the train.

  We sat and waited for it to start. "It totally is, but the cost to keep it running is incredible. It runs through more credits of ordinance in a minute than we could recover on most trips. We’re better off selling it and stepping back. Besides, a frigate is a fleet vehicle and not really designed for one-on-one combat. It’s all teeth."

  She snuggled against me as the train sped toward Puskar Stellar. I wondered how we would ever make it as a couple. I felt so complete when we were together. It was as if she filled a hole in my life that I didn’t know was there. I hated that we were always having to leave each other. Tabby must have been tired because she fell asleep against me. I wrapped my arm around her and enjoyed a quiet ride.

  I pinged Ada on my HUD to let her know where we were. She was already at Puskar Stellar’s space station.

  Open comm, Ada Chen.

  I smiled when I heard her cheerful voice. "Heyas, Liam. Are you guys getting close?"

  "Yup. Sleepyhead and I are just getting off the train and we’ll be on the elevator in a couple of minutes."

  "Sounds great, see you in a few," Ada said and then cut the comm.

  "Ada’s coming?" Tabby asked.

  "It was last minute, but Nick and I are trying to hire her. She’s a killer pilot. I thought it’d be good to get her opinion about the ships we’re looking at."

  "Really?" Tabby raised her eyebrows and the look on her face confused me. We were heading for bad territory and I had no idea why.

  "Okay, what?" I asked.

  "You didn’t think to mention that you were bringing your gorgeous pilot friend, who you just might be hiring, along on our day out?" She definitely seemed miffed.

  I’d totally missed that angle and wasn’t sure what I needed to do. "I don’t think about her like that. She’s just a friend."

  "You should have seen your face when you were talking to her. You were all smiles."

  The trap had been set. It was right in front of me, but I was completely unable to avoid it. "That’s because she’s always so upbeat."

  Tabby closed her mouth and looked away, her lips so tightly pressed together they were white. We only had a couple of minutes before exiting the elevator and this wasn’t how I wanted us to spend our day. There were things we had to do and I needed Tabby not to be grumpy. With our limited time together, fighting was a terrible waste of time.

  "We’ve had this conversation, but just in case you forgot how I feel…" I grabbed her arm to turn her toward me. She held fast, but I didn’t care. I moved around her and pulled her in close, kissing her face with small pecks. At first she was rigid, but she soon began to melt. Within moments she accepted, started giggling and finally returned my affection.

  I pulled back, "I’m serious, Tabby. As long as you’ll have me, I don’t have eyes for anyone else." Apparently, this wasn’t a bad thing to say because she pulled me back in for another long kiss. I could get used to this.

  I heard clapping nearby and let go long enough to look up. To my dismay, the elevator had stopped and a small crowd of people who were waiting to enter, applauded our efforts. My cheeks burned and I grabbed Tabby’s bag from the floor of the elevator as we slunk off. At least she was also blushing. Once we cleared the crowd, she gave me a quick poke with her fist.

  "Tabby!" I heard Ada’s voice from nearby. I thought it was odd that Ada called her by name since they hadn’t actually met. I turned to see Ada in her vac-suit, approaching at a jog. "Liam said you’d be joining us today. I couldn’t wait to meet you. The boys talk about you all the time." She didn’t hesitate and pulled a slightly reluctant Tabby in for a hug.

  In typical Ada-style she kept right on rolling. "Oh, my gosh! They totally were telling the truth too. You’re gorgeous! Do you ever grow your hair out? I bet it’s beautiful. But I suppose, as an officer you like to keep it short. It’s great to finally meet you!"

  "Liam neglected to tell me that I’d get to meet you today," Tabby said, not yet completely over it.

  "Men. They’re useless." She grabbed Tabby’s hand, led her away and called over her shoulder. "Liam, did you rent that hauler?"

  I trailed along behind them and Tabby glanced back apologetically. She now understood the enigma we all knew as Ada and was helplessly swept along in its wake.

  HMS HOTSPUR

  "You want to fly it?" I asked Tabby while we were standing next to the spindly legged container hauler. It reminded me of the ore-sled I used to fly for my dad on our mining claim.

  "Absolutely," she said. We’d exchanged enough video messages where she lamented her lack of time in the pilot’s chair, that I already knew the answer.

  "Ada’s probably better suited to helping you through traffic than I am."

  Tabby nodded amiably. I popped the bat-wing door on the port side and climbed over the pilot’s chair and onto a back bench. Tabby and Ada strapped into the two front seats and pressurized the cabin.

  "First stop is to grab a container. Nick bought one from the ya
rd where we stored the frigate. I just sent you the nav-plan, Tabby," I said.

  "Got it."

  She smoothly joined a stream of traffic exiting the controlled space around Puskar Stellar Space Station. I was surprised that she was stick flying. In heavy traffic, I preferred to let the AI do the work. In my defense, I’d always been sailing a much larger ship, but I didn’t think for a moment it would have made any difference to Tabby.

  "You’re a natural," Ada said in her normal bubbly way. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought that she was sucking up to Tabby.

  If Tabby thought anything of it she didn’t give any clue, "Thanks. Liam gave me a nice wide nav-path."

  It took twenty minutes of sailing, but Tabby didn’t have any trouble. Once there, she hooked up to the empty container we’d purchased. Having grown up in a mining colony, it was old hat for her as much as it was for me.

  As we sailed over to the frigate, I was pleased to discover that it was designed to receive cargo by placing the open end of a container next to the cargo elevator. Heavy clamps held the container in place and the elevator doubled as an air lock, pressurizing and depressurizing so cargo could be transferred quickly. All in all it was well thought out and it took us less than twenty minutes to secure the container and get going again.

  The first shipyard, Brinkman’s, was a bust. They had two beautifully maintained CA-12s but they were very proud of them and the price reflected it. The second yard had a single CA-12 that was a possibility, but still on the high end. I wouldn’t rule it out. When we finally made it to Weird Wally’s Bone Yard it was getting late. Fortunately, Weird Wally didn’t mind that at all.

  "So, you’re looking for what exactly?" I hadn’t expected to be meeting with Weird Wally himself, but there he was in a purple vac-suit covered by a white suit coat. We’d already sailed through the Bone Yard and seen his three CA-12s. From the outside, they’d seen a significant amount of use, but their prices were also the most competitive. Even so, the lowest price was half a million and we needed to fit repairs and another ship into my max budget of seven hundred thousand.