28 Sina 1117: Jumpspace
Today was quiet, the way I like things in Jumpspace. After a quick check on the bridge, I headed up to the passenger lounge.
All of the passengers were out of their cabins. Dr. Korvusar was in an intense discussion with the Phose near the front of the lounge while Kolm and Thompson were drinking coffee near the rear viewscreen. Shelly was heading back to the dispenser with a couple of empty plates when she saw me and nodded in my direction. I walked over.
“Everything OK?”
She fed the plates into the hopper then turned back to me. “Yeah, it’s pretty quiet.” She hesitated. “Varan and Carma up here for a while.”
“And?”
“He’s really pissed at you right now, you know.”
“Yeah, I’ve got that.” I sighed. “I still don’t know what I could have done differently.”
“Not carry random things?” She shrugged. “I get that that’s a Free Trader thing, but… maybe revisit that policy? Under the circumstances?”
I sighed, then nodded. “Yeah. Got it.” I headed back to the iris.
Downstairs, most of the crew had come to the lounge. Jami and Saahna were playing some kind of card game at the table. Varan was standing in front of the dispenser with Carma. I walked over.
“Ms. Quarez, good to see you again. I hope you are having a pleasant Jump so far?”
She frowned. “No! I am not! I am tired of having to stay in that one cabin all week. Why can’t we leave?”
I frowned at that. “What?” I asked, looking at Varan as I did. “You don’t have to stay there for the entire Jump.”
Varan smiled but narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “Just trying to follow your orders, Captain.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you didn’t want another incident like our last Jump, so I’m keeping passengers isolated from the rest of the ship. As you ordered.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “That isn’t what I said, or what I meant.”
He smiled knowingly and turned back to Carma. “See what I mean? He can’t keep anything he says straight.”
“What? That isn’t…”
“You’re just trying to make Varan look bad again, aren’t you?” She put her arm through his and pulled him closer. I frowned.
“Varan… what is going on?”
He smiled politely. “Like I said, just following your orders, Captain. Do you have a problem with that?”
I sighed and tilted my head. “What the hells is this about?”
“Nothing, Captain. Nothing at all.” He pulled something from the dispenser and handed it to Carma. “Now, if you will excuse us?”
“Wait. I need you to go help Shelly. She’s new at this, remember?”
He had taken a few steps away but stopped and looked back.
“I’m the Gunner, remember? I’ll be ready when we tumble out of Jump. Until then? I’m taking care of passengers.” He and Carma returned to his cabin, and the door slid shut.
I sighed and looked around. Both Jami and Saahna were looking at me. “What?”
“You need to talk to Varan,” said Saahna, shaking her head. “He’s not really happy about our new status.”
“What new status?”
“Being at the beck and call of the politicians back on Boilingbrook. He’s… not really good with authority, as you may have noticed. He doesn’t like the fact that we may have to answer to someone that isn’t one of us. You… might want to reassure him a bit.”
I sighed and raised my hands. “Our deal with Minister Trakon saves us just over 150 kCreds a month. That’s potentially 25 k for each of us, every month. How the hells was I supposed to turn that down?”
“By not getting us involved in things in the first place?” She held up a hand before I could say anything. “Yeah, I know. Things just… escalated in ways none of us could have predicted. But he’s feeling that he’s gotten dragged into something he didn’t want to be involved with, and he blames you for that.”
I sighed and leaned back against the dispenser. “So… what can I do about it?”
She shrugged. “Just… talk to him? You need to convince him that we haven’t become a corporate, or government, ship. That we’re still Free Traders.”
“We are!” I was annoyed. “What the hells else would we be?”
She shook her head. “Just… talk to him. Not now, he’s not in a good mood right now. But, sometime before we hit normal space again? Talk to him.”
I nodded. “OK, thanks. I will.” I paused. “How about you two. Are you… OK with what is going on?”
Jami laughed. “Hey, compared to some of the stuff Captain Barikus used to get us involved with this is absolutely safe. And if Boilingbrook wants just to give us credits? Sign me up!”
Saahna glanced at her. “They aren’t exactly just ‘giving’ us credits.”
She shrugged. “We’re heading rimward, right? Another Jump or two and we’ll be out of their area of influence. At that point, it’s just free credits.”
I shrugged as well. “Yeah. I’m hoping you’re right.”
She smiled. “Yeah. Works for me, Captain!” She gave her sloppy salute, and I waved it away.
Saahna nodded. “Yeah. Gods know that I know you better than anyone else on this ship, and I know you would never do anything that would hurt you or the rest of us.” I frowned at that, but she continued. “I guess what I’m saying is… I trust you to be doing the right thing.”
I smiled. “Thanks. That means a lot to me. It really does.”
She shrugged. “And you don’t want to get on my bad side. You really don’t.” She smiled again.
I grimaced. “Yeah. I know you well enough to know you mean that too.”
She nodded. “Good.” She turned to Jami. “It was your play, I think?”
Jami glanced between us. “Oh… yeah. You’re right.” She looked at the cards she was still holding and quickly played one. Saahna smiled.
“I’ll talk to you later,” I said. As I turned towards the bridge, I saw Saahna triumphantly play a card and Jami lean back with a groan.
Do’rex was on the bridge, as usual, and flicked a tentacle at me in acknowledgment as I entered. I climbed up into the Captain’s seat and leaned back, rubbing my eyes.
“Everything OK?” I asked.
He clicked. “Nothing unexpected, Captain.”
“Thanks.” I flicked through my own displays, but everything was fine.
Except for Varan.
I sighed. No one wanted to hear me say, “what else could I have done?” again. Hells, I was getting tired of hearing it, and I was the one who kept saying it. I think it was one of those things where you realize you have made a mistake and keep replaying it over and over again in your head, wishing you could have done it differently.
I shook my head. Even the Ancients had to deal with the consequences of what they did; the fact that they wiped themselves out proved that. I’d try one more time to talk to him; if I could get him away from Carma. Or even if I couldn’t. That way, if she was working for Winters, she could report that we were doing everything we could to put all this behind us. I’m sure Varan has already told her everything that happened.
I sighed again and pulled up a vid. We had a few days left before we dropped back into normal space. There was time.