21 Salas 1117: Tlianke – Tlianke/Hinterworlds – (1104 B664AA9-C M Hi 220 Na M3 V M1 VI)
We both slept late this morning. OK, we both just stayed in the bunk too long this morning. I let Saahna hit the fresher first as I checked my trades. A few more had gone through, but most had not. I decided to give up. I opened our remaining space up for general freight; it was better than nothing.
I was staring into the distance when Saahna re-entered the room.
“What?” She knew me well enough.
“Got a problem. Maybe. Jami has found us a ‘deal.'”
“Do we need any more ‘deals’?”
“Not really, but… I’m really not in a position to tell anyone that they can’t make deals on their own either.” I pulled out my comm and showed her the message from the previous night.
“I don’t know what she has,” I said as she handed it back, “but I can’t afford to ignore something that may help us in the future either.”
“You realize it’s pretty late already.” She glanced at the chron. “We’ve got about an hour to get there.”
“That’s fine. We’ll probably ignore it but, as I said, I really can’t tell the rest of the crew they can’t make contacts on their own. Especially after I’ve done more than a few of those on my own.”
“Yeah, and at the end of the day, you’re still the Captain. I thought we had worked all that out.”
“Hey, it’s my name on the ship’s mortgage. I know what I have to do.”
She nodded. “OK, so… what are you going to do?”
I pulled up my comm and started tapping. “We’ll all meet at this place with Jami. The… Neutrino Signature. In about 90 minutes.” I tapped a bit more, then stood up. “OK, I just told everyone to meet us there. Now? I need a shower.”
“Everyone? Is that a good idea?”
“We’re all in this together,” I said, nodding as I headed for the fresher. “I’m not hiding anything anymore. If we go down, we’re all going down together.”
—
The Neutrino Signature turned out to be near the engineering core of the highport, somewhere between the fusion plant and the primary recyclers. It was mostly locals there, and we stood out a bit in a crowd of jumpsuits and monoculars, but it was less crowded than the other parts of the station. Well, slightly less crowded.
Inside it was surprisingly dark; the tables and bar were only illuminated by dozens glowing globes that were slowly floating about, and most of them were hovering over the bar. There was an empty stage at the far end of the room. About half the tables were occupied; the empty ones were sitting dark. There was no one at the door, so we stopped and looked around, waiting for our eyes to adjust.
One of the floating lights detached from the cluster over the bar and headed in our direction. “Two of you?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, but we’re meeting some people. Jami Wistina? Or maybe the Grayswandir?”
The globe had already started moving. “This way.” It led us around the bar and towards one wall.
There were alcoves in the wall with large, circular tables in them. Not entirely private, but not quite visible from the rest of the bar either. As we approached, I saw that it was occupied by several people. Jami waved as we came up.
“Heya!” she said, jumping up. She gestured to the others at the table, a human woman and a Virikushi. A male, I think. I thought they were the ones she had been dancing with the night before. “This is Tahma and Kol’toti. I was telling them some of our stories last night, and they wanted to meet you.”
The woman had stood up as well and nodded, extending a hand. She was wearing a Tlianke jumpsuit but not a monocular. “A pleasure to meet you, Captain Kodai! From what Jami has been telling me you and your crew live an exciting life! Much more exciting than anything we have here! Please, let me capture an image!”
Before I could say anything, she pulled out her remote and snapped an image of me. She then quickly turned to Saahna and did the same.
“Hey!” said Saahna, obviously irritated. “I didn’t…”
“Oh, sorry!” Tahma said, putting the remote away. “I didn’t mean…” She paused. “Let’s all sit. We have things to talk about.”
“What is this about?” I asked dubiously. “And everyone isn’t here yet.”
“What?” Jami looked at me in surprise. “You invited everyone?”
“Hey, the last time I did something without including the rest of you all of you gave me crap for it. I’m not making decisions in private anymore.”
“Are you sure that is a good idea, Captain?” That was from Tahma, not Jami.
I looked at her, my annoyance was apparent. “And who are you again?”
She didn’t react and gestured towards the table. “Please, let’s talk. I really want to hear about your experiences. Please?” She emphasized the last word a bit too much.
I glanced at Saahna, shrugged, and then slid into a chair. Saahna, a bit more dubiously, sat down beside me.
Jami and Tahma sat down as well, and Tahma immediately started tapping on her thighpad. I frowned but took the time to look at Kol’toti. He had barely moved and was looking from me to Saahna and back. He wasn’t wearing a jumpsuit, or anything else, but the usual Tlianke pattern of stripes had been painted, or tattooed, along his carapace.
After a few moments, Tahma tossed her remote on the table, then tapped something on her thighpad. I saw her expression immediately relax. “OK, the surveillance here is now seeing us as having a random conversation, so we can talk.” She glared at me. “You said you were expecting some more of your crew?”
“I invited them,” I said. What had we gotten involved in this time? “But it was short notice. I don’t know how many of them will show up.” I gestured towards the remote. “And what’s with this?”
“Later. Look, if any more of your crew show up? Stop saying anything until I get an image of them. Then we can go back to talking.”
“About what?”
She sighed and looked at Jami. “You said that you could help us!”
“Hey! I said I’d talk to the Captain!”
“Which you didn’t!” I glared at her for a moment before turning back to Tahma. “All I know is that she had someone who ‘had a deal for us.’ That’s it. So… do you have a deal for us?”
She glanced at Jami, who flushed slightly, then looked back at me.
“OK, what do you know about us here?”
“Only what’s on the datanet.”
“And what does that have to say?”
“A lot? Look, just tell us what you want. I run a Free Trader; to me, this is just another planet. I’m getting the idea that you aren’t happy about something here, but I try not to get involved in politics at anything less than the sector level.” I glanced around at that, but no one else seemed amused by the joke.
Tahma gave me an annoyed look. I could tell that she was trying to decide what to say, but she finally decided that she was already committed.
“You know that we’re… very regimented here.”
“Yeah, I saw that. Everything is pretty much predetermined for everyone, and pretty much everyone seems to be happy with it. And?”
Anger briefly crossed her face, and Kol’toti made a strange, blowing sound. She clenched her jaw before continuing.
“Yes,” she said with a patient voice; one that someone would use to explain something to a small child. “Everyone here says that they are happy. They have to. If they say they aren’t, then they get kicked off the planet. If they can’t afford to leave? They get drafted into the Colonial Defense Corps. So… no one complains.”
She leaned towards me, hands on the table. “You don’t know what it’s like to live here. You’re a Traveller! You get to come and go as you please! You don’t know what it is like to be told, from birth, what your job will be. Who your husband will be. How many children you will have. And what their jobs, and husbands, and futures will be. It doesn’t matter if your husband is a drunken asshole who beats you because you can’t have more children than what the powers-that-be have decided you can. And you can’t leave him because they say you have to stay with him. And he still hates you.” She had been becoming louder as she spoke but stopped as Kol’toti touched her shoulder. She glanced around and looked back at us.
“That’s why the remote,” she said, seeming to change the subject. “We’re under constant surveillance here. That is broadcasting a signal that scrambles the sensors; making it look and sound as we’re talking about the latest buckyball run or something. It’s all we can do.”
I was interrupted before I could come up with a response. “Hey, crewies, what’s up? And look who I found.” I looked over to see Varan, in a far better mood than he had been in for weeks, with Shelly standing behind him. She was looking at the floating globe now heading back towards the bar and trying to image it surreptitiously.
Tahma almost pushed Jami out of her seat in her hurry to get out and snap an image of Varan. “Hey!” he said in surprise.
Shelly turned back at that, just in time for Tahma to snap her image. Almost reflexively, she pulled up her own imager and snapped Tahma.
Tahma stepped back at that and Shelly shrugged. “Sorry, reflex.”
Tahma sighed and slid back into her seat. “Please, sit down.”
“Wait… what in the hells is going on?” Varan had lost most of his newly cheerful mood.
“Just… sit down,” I said, shifting to my left. Saahna followed. Varan looked at me dubiously then slid in beside her, then Shelly after him.
“What have you gotten us into this time?” he asked, glancing from me to Tahma. She had just put her remote back on the table.
“Nothing,” I said. I glanced back at Tahma. “Actually, we haven’t actually been asked to do anything. Yet.”
Tahma sighed. “I’m sorry, Captain. As I said, everything here is regimented and scheduled, including the times that you arrive at places.” She glanced at Varan and Shelly. “We… I sometimes forget that not everyone is forced to be as punctual as we are.”
“Hey!” Shelly seemed annoyed. “I was waiting outside! I’d still be there if Varan hadn’t shown up!”
I waved dismissal. “Not a problem, but for next time… if you show up and we aren’t outside, just go inside and ask. If we aren’t there either then you get to pick the table!”
She flushed slightly. “Sorry…” She glanced around in slight embarrassment and seemingly noticed Kol’toti for the first time. She flinched back involuntarily, then caught herself. “Sorry…” she repeated, flushing brighter. “I’ve never seen anything… anyone like you before. What… who are you?”
I winced at that and saw Jami actually put her hand to her face, but Kol’toti seemed unfazed. Though his having an exoskeleton made it a bit difficult to read reactions, even for me.
“It is all right, Miss,” he said in a voice that was a modulated buzz. “My species is uncommon, even here, though we are happy that Tlianke has welcomed so many of us after our hivehome was destroyed.” He extended a thin, skeletal arm terminating in a three-clawed hand. “I am Kol, of the Toti hive. And you?”
She hesitantly stuck out her own hand and briefly touched his. “Hi. I’m Therry… Shelly Tharis. Of the… from Boilingbrook.” She let out a quick, nervous laugh. “I only left Boilingbrook a month or so ago.”
“Ah.” He inclined his head. “So many things are new to you. Welcome to the Galaxy.”
“Well… yeah! Thanks! Oh, can I get your image?” She pulled out her imager and aimed it at him, but Tahma stuck her hand in front of it.
“Please!” she said, glancing between Jami and me. “Have you listened to anything I’ve been saying!”
Shelly flinched back again, Jami sunk back in her chair, and Varan looked at me in confusion. “Derek, what is this…”
I waved to cut him off. “I’m not totally sure.” I sighed and turned to Tahma. “OK, Living on Tlianke is a bit more oppressive than they like to let on. Fine. But you had Jami ping me for a reason. So… what do you need from us?”
She was barely controlling her anger. “Look, if it gets out that I’m even meeting with an independent trader crew–one that isn’t on the ‘approved’ list–then I’m in trouble. So can you please have some sense of discretion!”
I looked at her as levelly as I could. “Then maybe you should have made sure whoever you were contacting knew that! No one mentioned ‘discretion.'”
She immediately spun to Jami. “I told you…”
Jami quickly raised her hands. “Hey! I contacted the Captain! I didn’t know he was planning on inviting the entire rutting crew!”
I turned my gaze to her. “You and everyone else keeps giving me crap for making decisions without involving you. So… I’m involving all of you.”
“I didn’t mean anything like this! Hells, Captain Barrikus knew when to be discreet!”
“Yeah? And how did that work out for all of you? Maybe mention that next time? Oh, by the way, any idea if the Cygnarus is out of airdock yet?”
It was her turn to become angry. “I thought you were good enough at this to…”
“Make a few megacreds in profit on a planet that doesn’t particularly like us? Because I did. Complain after you get your share for this month if you want. I can always go back to your agreed shares if you would like.”
She clenched her hands, then abruptly leaned back and pulled out her comp. “Fine. You handle it then.”
Tahma looked around the table, then turned to me. “Perhaps… Perhaps contacting you wasn’t our best idea.”
I gave my most disarming shrug. “Hey, we’re here. May as well tell us what this is all about. Since we already know you aren’t happy with the status quo here.”
She glared at me, then sighed and nodded. “Yes. I may as well.”
She took a deep breath while looking around at us, then continued. “Yes. I… we aren’t particularly fond of how things work here on Tlianke. But I’ll admit; it’s too late for us. There are too many people here devoted to Aunt Amelia, and there isn’t much we can do about it.”
“Aunt Amelia?”
“First Citizen Petronis. Amelia Petronis. She likes to go by her first name.”
“OK, but what does that have to do…”
She waved her hands. “Nothing. And everything. Again… it’s too late for us, but the colony worlds still have a chance.”
“Girar and Gashuumi. What about them?”
“And Khumukunar and Zelebex. Yes, I know that ‘officially’ they aren’t client states, but they are in everything but name. The people in charge here haven’t done anything to push that because your Imperium didn’t like the idea of another significant polity rising in the Hinterworlds. But… your Imperium is having… problems.”
“It isn’t ‘my’ Imperium but… yeah.”
“With the Imperium consumed with its own problems the powers that be here on Tlianke have decided that the way is clear for them to forge their own polity. Then… the Boilingbrook people got involved.” She narrowed her eyes at me as she said that.
“Yeah, we had something to do with that. Inadvertently.”
“I understand that you got a subsidy contract out of it. Which is… good for you, I suppose? We can’t offer you one of those, but I will ask you to consider one thing.” She paused.
“Boilingbrook had apparently been making a lot of backroom deals for this ‘Hinterworlds Alliance’ of theirs. The day they announced it they had a half-dozen systems already signed up. That didn’t happen in the last few months; that had been going on for a while. They must have known that the Imperium would move in to stop the rise of any polity that might limit their influence in this sector. So… how did they know? What prompted them to start making their plans?”
“Boilingbrook has always had good relations with the Imperium. Maybe they thought that the Imperium wouldn’t mind as long as they were in charge?”
“Maybe. That certainly isn’t what they tell us here. And it isn’t what I’ve found from other channels. Yes, I know what they tell us here isn’t necessarily the truth, but we’re suddenly in what amounts to a state of war with Boilingbrook and their ‘alliance.’ That’s where you come in.”
“Look. While I may sympathize with your position, Boilingbrook is paying a major portion of our…”
“They’re supporting you. Yes, I know. And I’m not asking you to do anything against them. I… we’re just asking you to carry some cargo for us.”
“Cargo…”
“Yes, cargo. That’s it. Nothing illegal. But we’ll pay you ten times the normal rate to carry it to Girar. It may not be much compared to what you can make on your own, but I know that you aren’t a preferred trader here either. Carry it, and in addition to the payment I can make sure that you get preferred status at Girar.”
I leaned back, crossing my arms. “Customs is going to…”
“Scan the cargo you offload. Yes, I know. All we need you to do is make a second stop; do it on your way out so you’ll be gone before anyone realizes that you did. Actually, with conditions on Girar being what they are, there’s a good chance they’ll never realize you landed outside the starport.”
“And what do we get?”
“Fifteen tons of cargo at ten times the standard cargo rate. And you’ll have approved trader status when you land.”
I glanced at the others. Saahna and Varan were both looking dubious, Shelly was wide-eyed, and Jami seemed uncomfortable at even being there.
“What is the cargo?” I asked.
“That isn’t important. I’ll assure you that it isn’t anything illegal on Girar. We’re just… bypassing normal channels so that it gets to the people who actually need it, instead of it being distributed according to the official priority list.”
“OK, fine. Why us?”
She sighed. “Because, given your well-known association with Boilingbrook, it’s doubtful that you have connections with security here. They aren’t above running false signature operations, but they wouldn’t run one which would actively hurt their political ambitions here. So… you’re basically the only ship we can trust.”
“Or they’re trying to trap us in something.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You think they care about a single free trader?”
“One that was instrumental in helping their ‘biggest rival’?”
“No. They wouldn’t waste their time. They’ve already denied you as much profit as they can on your visit here. They’ve probably figured that is enough to hurt you.”
“They don’t know us very well then.” I paused, thinking. “OK, sure. We’ll take your cargo.” I tapped on my comp then flicked it towards her. “There’s our docking bay; I’ve given your cargo clearance. We’re leaving about 1200 tomorrow, so make sure it’s there by then.”
She nodded. “Good.” She tapped something on her thighpad, then picked up her remote and glanced at it. “The cargo is on its way.”
“Sounds good then. We’ll load it as soon as we get our payment.”
She gave me an annoyed look. “I just took care of that as well.”
“Just making sure. I’m a Free Trader after all.”
“Of course.”
Varan had been glancing between Tahma and me. “Wait… we’re just taking this cargo without knowing what it is?”
“Yeah. Otherwise, we’re going out light this trip and don’t have passenger income to balance it out. If we’re being played, then she needs to remember who our friends are. They won’t be happy if something happens to their investment.”
Tahma glared. “It won’t!”
Varan was still unconvinced. “Are you sure, Captain?”
“This is what I do. Yeah, I’m sure.”
Saahna was nodding as well. She turned to Tahma. “Can we get a copy of that software you’re running? The thing that is making it look like we’re having a completely unrelated conversation?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Because otherwise, we won’t be able to discuss your cargo until we’re off-station? Unless you’re planning on following us around for the next day or so.”
Tahma glanced at Kol’toti, who was already fumbling with something in a harness. He pulled out a remote, tapped something on his thighpad, and then flicked the remote towards Saahna.
“Here,” he buzzed. “Take images of the people at your table, transfer them to the program, then activate it. It will confuse the security monitoring programs. Here, anyway. I cannot promise you that it will work anywhere else.”
She nodded, already looking at her comp. “Yeah, got it. Thanks.”
He made what sounded like a random set of buzzes. “I am happy to assist you. As you are assisting us. Now for you, Captain…” He held up his remote and waited until I had pulled out my comp before flicking it at me. “Load this code sequence into your navigation computer. It will tell Girar that you are an approved trade partner. Just remove it before you come back again; they will probably discover the hack in the next few months.”
“Sounds good,” I said, tapping on my comp. “And thanks.”
“Of course,” he buzzed.
Tahma had put her monocular back into place and was looking at it, shaking her head. “Thank you, Captain, but I think our business here is concluded. Now, if you will excuse us?” She nodded towards Kol’toti. He stood up as she retrieved her remote. “Goodbye.” The two of them headed for the exit.
As soon as they were out of sight, Varan turned to me. “Derek, are you sure…”
Saahna interrupted him. “Wait! Let me get your image first!” She pulled out her remote and pointed at him, then did the same to the rest of us. She tapped on her comp for a few moments, then carefully placed the remote in the middle of the table. “OK, if I’m doing this right then we should be safe.”
“And if we aren’t?”
“I don’t think we’ll be the ones in trouble. Tahma and Kol’toti though…”
“Hey!” That was Jami. “They’re both good sophonts!”
I waved a hand. “Yeah, they are. I get it. I really do. I’d go crazy on a planet like this. Fortunately, we’re leaving tomorrow, and the fact that they weren’t asking to go with us means they can’t. Fine. We’ll do what they asked, It should work out for us.”
Varan was frowning. “Do you think this is a good idea?”
“I hope so. We really got rutted on trade here; our ‘outsider’ status probably cost us about 20 percent. If we can avoid that at Girar then I’ll happily carry a few tons of cargo for them.”
“Even if we have an extra stop on the way out?”
“If things go bad we’ll just avoid Tlianke space the next time we’re in the subsector.” I shrugged. “We’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
“OK then.” I paused as I pulled out my comm and started typing. “We’re here, may as well have our pre-lift meetup here. I’m pinging Do’rex and Dr. Korvusar.”
Varan grimaced. “I thought we weren’t carrying passengers anymore?”
“She isn’t a passenger, really. Yeah, she’s been paying us, but some of that hasn’t been credits. I think we’re better off keeping her with us. We’ll think of… something.”
“OK” He paused. “If you think that’s the best way to go then… fine.”
“Anything else?”
“No, if you’re confident, then I am.”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine.” I hesitated. “So… what about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You. And Carma.”
He sighed and looked away for a long moment. “She’s… on her way back to Kupakii.”
“You OK?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just…” he trailed off.
I decided to drop the subject and looked around. “Anyone else?”
Shelly was looking worried. “Are we… are we doing something illegal?”
“Here? Yeah, probably.” I shrugged. “Remember what I said about being a Traveller. What is standard in one system is unheard of in the next. Being a Traveller means getting above that… especially when you’re a Free Trader like us. We’re fine.”
She shook her head. “How do you get used to all of this! Things… changing! All the time!”
“The only constant to being a Traveller is change,” said Varan, looking around. “And if we’re staying here it’s time for something to drink. And eat.” He waved his arm at the bar and frowned. “If we can get some service, that is….”
I frowned as well. We had been sitting here for some time without a waitbot coming by to check on us. “Yeah… I could use a drink too.”
Saahna was tapping on her comp. “I bet it’s this thing.” She gestured towards her remote. “They probably didn’t want a waitbot coming over and seeing that we weren’t talking about what it looked like we were. No one say anything important.” She tapped a bit more. “OK, now see if you can get some attention.”
Varan waved again, and this time one of the floating globes moved towards us. “Are you ready to order something?”
“Yeah, definitely!” Varan said. He ordered a Counterspin, as did Saahna and I. Shelly got a Taradam and Jami, still looking unhappy, ordered a Gravity Assist; a fairly potent mix of several liquors. I got a basket of tama leaves for the table as well.
“Something wrong?” I said to Jami as our orders arrived. Saahna gave me an annoyed look and quickly tapped on her comp before carefully placing her remote back in the center of the table.
“You need to work on your opsec a bit, Captain.” She emphasized the title a bit too much.
I shrugged. “Whatever. But Jami, seriously. What’s up?”
“Have you never done this before! Hells, how much time have you spent on a Free Trader? You’ve never done a shadowy trade before?”
That irritated me more than it should have. “Usually I get a bit of a heads-up on those. Maybe next time tell me you have a shadowy deal instead of just saying you have a contact. Then I’ll know to be a bit more discreet.”
“Captain Barrikus knew how to deal with these things!”
“And how did that work out for him?”
“Who is Captain Barrikus?” I looked over to see Do’rex standing next to the table.
“Hold still!” Saahna said quickly, grabbing her remote and snapping an image of him. He let out a sharp click, then sat down.
“Sorry,” she said. “Necessary.”
He flicked a tentacle then waved towards the waitbot. When it didn’t respond, he waved again.
Saahna was tapping again. “Ugh. They could have done this a lot better.”
He turned to her. “What?”
“Never mind, for now.”
She tapped a bit more. “OK, try now.”
He waved again, and the waitbot floated over. I nodded towards Saahna as he ordered.
Once his food had arrived, she reactivated the program and put her remote on the table again. “So,” she said, looking at me. “Do we wait on the Doctor?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think she cares. She’ll show up tomorrow, and we’ll just fill her in when she gets on board. If she hasn’t already figured everything out on her own. I’ve learned not to underestimate her.”
Do’rex clicked. “What is going on, Captain?”
I quickly filled him in, then looked around the table. “So… does anyone else have any concerns?”
Varan still looked unhappy. “Are you sure we aren’t getting involved in anything we don’t want to, again?”
“The worst that could happen is Tlianke gets mad at us, which means that we’ll just avoid them in the future. Hells, I’m not sure we’ll even be back through here again anyway. We’re fine.”
“I hope so.”
“Unfortunately, we aren’t in another Sector-spanning conspiracy. Sorry.”
“Hey, works for me.” He waved towards the waitbot, then sighed. Saahna saw him and reached for her remote, but he waved at her to stop.
“I’ll just go up to the bar. Does anyone else want anything?”
We all had a few requests, and he took a moment to make sure he had everything before leaving.
I looked at Jami, who had been silent and had resumed staring into the distance this whole time. “Jami, seriously. Are you OK?”
She sighed, still looking away. “Do any of you have any idea how this works?”
“How what works? I know I made a few megacreds in a system where we aren’t exactly welcomed. And we’ll be better off in the next because of a contact you made. And yes, I thank you for that. But… what the hells are you mad at?”
She spun, glaring at me. “Everyone knows you can’t make a profit being legitimate. How the hells have you been flying for so long?”
“We’ve been doing quite well with our legitimate cargo. Supplemented with a few extras every now and then, sure. But didn’t I just say we made a few megacreds this stop?”
She flushed in anger. “Don’t give me that! No Free Trader can survive on ‘Trade’. If you aren’t carrying questionable cargoes or passengers, then there’s no way you’re operational. Hells, you picked up Minister Trakon, then did… whatever it was you did at Gimisapun. Don’t give me this ‘We’re completely above board’ shit.”
We all looked at each other, but it was Varan who finally spoke.
“OK, yeah… we’ve done our share of ‘questionable’ cargoes but, for the most part, we’ve done quite well being completely legal. Every planet has something that someone else wants, and every world has something they want from elsewhere. You just have to figure out which of those align. Which he does.” He gestured toward me.
Jami grimaced. “That’s… not my experience.”
“Then maybe Captain Barrikus was just a crappy trader. Or keeping too much of your share for himself. I’m confident that I can always make a deal favorable to us. Don’t believe me? Complain after you get your share for this month.”
She hesitated. “We… we’re doing well?”
“All of you should be happy with your shares this month. Hells, I’m worried that some of you might retire.” I smiled as I said that.
“That well?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why weren’t we doing that when Captain Martin was in charge?” Varan interjected. “Hells, I know we had more than our share of bad months!”
I shook my head. “I… really don’t know. I was talking to Saahna about it earlier, but there was any number of systems where we could have made better profits that she seemed to be actively avoiding. I’ve never understood why.”
“Maybe that should tell you something.” That was from Jami, still looking annoyed.
“Hey, it isn’t my fault that Captain Barrikus was a crappy Trader.”
She looked away again. “Fine. Whatever. Just be sure you know what you’re doing.”
“I am. We’re fine.” I looked around. “Anyone have anything else?”
“So… we aren’t carrying passengers this time?” asked Shelly.
I shook my head. “Nope. They’re more trouble than they’re worth.”
“So… what about me?”
“Keep doing your netcasts. Boilingbrook is sponsoring us so they should get some idea as to where their credits are going. Just… maybe don’t talk too much about this latest deal?”
“Yeah, got that.”
“That it then?” I looked around again, but no one seemed to have anything.
“Well then,” I said, gesturing at Saahna’s remote. “Let’s get back to normal and get something to eat. And another round to say goodbye to this place.”
I hope the code Kol’toti gave me works. I think the last planet I was on where I could actually walk around “outside” was way back on Venad and, while it may not be the most ‘Traveller’ thing to say, I need to go outside for a while.