065-1117 – Gimisapun – Tlianke/Hinterworlds

8 Salas 1117: Gimisapun – Tlianke/Hinterworlds (1103 A000000-B Lo Ni As Ba 603 Na M0 V M2 D)

We stayed out too late last night. I’m actually not sure that the last few places we went to were actually bars, or that the stuff we were drinking was actually intended for consumption. Well, not by humans anyway. So we both slept late and I, at least, was in no hurry to get out of bed when my comm started pinging.

It continued pinging while I just lay back and waited for it to stop. Finally, Kona raised her head, which had been hanging over the side of the bed, and looked at me.

“Are you going to get that?”

I groaned and sat up, pushing her legs away from where they had been draped across my chest. She groaned and slid to the floor as I staggered over to the desk and picked up my comm.

“Yeah?” I said groggily.

There was a pause. “Are you OK?” It was Saahna.

I let out a louder groan. “Ever hear of something called a Kadalan Concoction?”

“What?” There was another pause. “Kaladan Koncoction. Spelled with a K. Yeah, we had to drink it when we graduated from drop school. Why?” Yet another pause. “Wait… did you try one?”

“Maybe?” I said, trying to remember. “Yeah. Two or three, I think.”

I heard a laugh. “Seriously? What the hells have you been up to?”

Before I could respond, I heard a yell from behind me. “Five!” I turned to see Kona staggering to her feet. “You were supposed to drink five!” She fell forward onto the bed and immediately started snoring.

“Um…” said Saahna. “Am I… interrupting something?”

“Yeah. No. Not really. No.” I shook my head, trying to clear it. “We were… celebrating a few things last night.”

“We?”

I sighed, still trying to wake up. “Yeah, we were celebrating Kona making Captain. It… Might have gotten a bit out of hand.”

“…Who is ‘Kona’?”

That woke me up a bit more. “Someone I’ve been working with here. Made a few good deals with her.” I paused, thinking as quickly as I could under the circumstances. “Made us a few million credits. Should be a good payout this month.”

“What!” There was a long pause. “What have you gotten us involved with this time?”

“Nothing!” I almost shouted. I took a deep breath. “Listen, this has no effect on us. Really. Besides the payout. We’re good.”

I heard her sigh. “OK. We’ll… talk about this later.”

“OK, good. Well, thanks. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

“Yeah,” she said. I was about to click off when she suddenly spoke. “Wait! I called you about what you asked!”

“I… what?” My head felt stuffed with cotton.

“Those passengers? The ones with the cargo?”

I paused. Passengers? Cargo? Then I remembered. “Oh yeah! Them! So… what did you find?”

There was a pause on her end as well. “Um… maybe I should just call back later.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. How about I just meet you for dinner. Say… 1600?” I glanced at the clock and figured I could get back to more-or-less normal by then. “Yeah. I’ll… ping you with a place.”

“OK,” she said after another pause. “I’ll… see you then.” She clicked off.

I sighed and looked around. Kona was on the floor on the far side of the bed again. I thought about putting her back in and joining her, but something kept nagging at me.

I glanced at the clock. 0930. And then I remembered.

“Shit,” I said, staggering towards the fresher.

I basically just jumped into and out of the shower then did a quick brush of my teeth and hair. I was back in the room in five minutes and pulling a new jumpsuit from the dispenser.

“We gotta go!” I said, shaking Kona. “We need to get to your Info Broker!”

“Huh?” She looked up at me. “You go. I’ll stay here.” She collapsed onto the floor again.

I sighed, picked her up, and put her onto the bed, pulling the covers up. Then I finished dressing, grabbed a kill-alc from the dispenser, and headed for the door.

—

I was about 10 minutes late getting to the broker’s address. By then the kill-alc had kicked in and I was at least thinking a bit more clearly, even though my teeth and eyes were itching and the familiar acid taste was building up in my stomach.

Inside was a typical broker’s office, all black glass and burnished metal in keeping with the latest megacorp trends. Huge wall screens on either side displayed current commodity prices and shipping schedules and, through the window behind the receptionist, I could see a dozen humans wearing commsets while staring at monitors. I went to the reception desk.

“Hi, I’m Derek Kodai. I’ve got an appointment. I’m a bit late.”

“Certainly, Mr. Kodai,” the man said. He was young, probably in his first work term. “Who are you here to see?”

I frowned politely. “Actually… I don’t have a name. He… it’s one of your brokers?”

“Ah,” he said nodding. Apparently, he was used to clients like me. “Oh, Captain Kodai! Yes.” He gestured to a side door. “Through there, room 6. They’re expecting you.”

I gave a quick thanks and stepped through into a brightly lit corridor. I found room 6, and its door slid open as I approached.

“Please come in, Captain Kodai. I am glad you were able to join me,” came a modulated, male voice.

I entered, and the door slid shut behind me. I barely noticed as I was looking at the being in front of me.

It was a Hiver, of course. Hivers are a large species, but this one was large even among its own kind. One eye looked down at the translator slung around its neck, two looked at me, and two others were looking at displays on either side of it. It perched on a high stool, each of its four arm/legs manipulating a spherical keyboard while its fifth trailed behind it. A faint reptilian musk hung in the air. There was no chair or desk, so I continued to stand just inside the door.

“Thank you for getting me an appointment,” I said. “Sorry I’m late.”

Its body rippled slightly. “It is your appointment time to waste, not mine. But I trust you and Captain Ranis had an enjoyable evening last night?”

I didn’t even wonder how it knew what I had been doing. “I shouldn’t take long anyway, Mr….” I trailed off.

“Radish,” it said. “You may refer to me as ‘Radish.'” It wasn’t actually speaking, of course. Hivers don’t make sounds. Well, not deliberately. They communicate among themselves using sign language. Here, its translator converted my speech into symbols on its display, which then created synthesized speech in return. Though I didn’t see it making inputs. I assumed it had an implant as well.

“OK, I can work with that. Radish. I need some information.”

It flicked its head in what interpreted as amusement. “That is why most sophonts come here.”

“Yeah, of course. So… Since you knew about my date last night I assume you have done some homework on me?”

Another flick of its head. “Of course. I am glad to see that you are not surprised when the sophont you are asking for information knows information about you.”

“If you didn’t I’m not sure how much confidence I would have in what you told me.”

“So what type of information are you looking for?”

“Here’s my situation…” I gave a quick rundown of what had happened between my getting that datastick on Fugitak and our leaving Kupakii. “I’m in the middle of this, and I don’t know what I can do. I need to know who I am up against. I need to know as much as I can about these ‘Spoilsports.’ And these ‘Embers’ too, for that matter. Wait, I think they call themselves ‘Torchbearers.’ I just need to know which side I am on, and what the other side is doing. And where I need to be to not be between them.”

There was a long pause. Radish didn’t say anything for several minutes. I was starting to wonder when he spoke up again.

“Interesting. We had records of the Imperium’s Spoilsport project, but everything we have also shows that it was discontinued about 20 Imperial years ago.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that much I knew.”

“It appears I need to speak to some of my colleagues.” It paused again. “We have nothing on these ‘Torchbearers.’ I will have them investigated as well.”

“Good. So… when do you think you will have anything?”

It rippled again. “Unknown. Certainly not before you leave in two days.”

I grimaced. “Can you forward the info to me?”

“Certainly, if you provide me with a comm code. And an itinerary. I need to know where to send the information, after all.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” I pulled out my comp and looked at it, pulling up the subsector info. I had already announced that we were going to Tlianke next, but hadn’t thought too far ahead beyond that. I glanced through a list of UWPs and popped up brief descriptions of the ones that looked most promising.

“Tlianke next,” I said, “Though you probably knew that already. After that, we’ll hit Girar then Gashuumi. That’ll be five or six weeks. If I haven’t heard anything by then, I’ll send you a further itinerary.” I flicked my comp towards him. “Here’s my comm and crypto codes.”

It didn’t seem to react, but my comp pinged a second later. “There are my codes as well. Now, shall we talk about payment?”

“Of course.”

“Five hundred thousand credits now. Another five hundred thousand after I deliver the information.”

I was taken aback. “What?”

“You are asking for information on not one but two Imperial covert projects. At a time when your Imperium is starting to tear itself apart in what will almost certainly become a civil war. This information will not be easy to obtain. And, even though you did not ask for it, I will endeavor to prevent anyone involved from knowing it was you who asked for the information.” It rippled again. “That is standard for all of my clients.”

I frowned thinking.

“I will also point out that you made several times that amount from the salvage you and Captain Ranis recovered from the wreck of the Flatlander. Plus you should be able to make a favorable arrangement with her for future income.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I got it.” I pulled out my comp again and tapped. I looked at it for a few seconds before flicking the transaction over to it. “Radish” didn’t move, but the transfer was accepted almost immediately.

“Do not worry, Captain Kodai. I am confident that my people will be able to gather the information you have requested. But now, given that our immediate business is concluded, I will ask that you leave. I need to prepare for my next client.”

I grimaced at the impersonal dismissal. “Yes. Of course. Thank you.” I turned and started towards the door, then stopped when it did not open.

“A piece of advice, Captain Kodai.” I turned to look at the Hiver. All of its eyes were fixed on me. “For free. You are engaging in a dangerous game. Friends and allies will be in short supply. I suggest you do what you can to keep them.”

“What?”

“Good day, Captain Kodai.”

The door slid open. With a sigh, I stepped through.

—

A short time later, I was back in my room. The bed was empty, but the door to the fresher was closed. I knocked on it a few times.

“Go away!” came a voice from inside.

“You OK?”

The groan was audible even through the door. “No! Go. Away.” I heard the shower turn on.

I was feeling pretty bad myself, but that was more from the after-effects of the kill-alc than anything else. By now, my sinuses felt as if they were on fire and from the feeling in my gut it wouldn’t be much longer before I would have to head for the fresher myself, occupied or not. But at least I could think clearly. Well, as clearly as I could while my body complained.

I checked the ship’s status, and it looked like everything was OK. The last of the cargo, including the pharmaceuticals from the salvage, had been sold. We also had another request for passage; this one a pair of Highs. I immediately confirmed them and sent configuration instructions to the Grayswandir‘s computer. If I took those two passengers with the cargo, then we would be slightly overcapacity, but the middle passengers could just live with somewhat less cabin space. They would still be within TAS standards, which was more concerned with amenities and lounge space anyway, so I wasn’t too worried.

Finally, the shower cut off and Kona staggered out, completely wet. She made the few steps to the bed and fell into it.

“Um… you need a kill-alc?”

I heard a groan. “Hells no. Those things tear up your stomach.”

“Tell me about it,” I said, standing up and moving towards the fresher myself. “So… do you need anything?”

Her only reply was a groan. I didn’t reply and ran into the fresher myself.

It was more than a few minutes later before I exited, feeling much relieved and closing the door behind me as a courtesy. Kona was still lying face-down on the bed. I went over and started drying her back off with the towel I was carrying.

After a minute or two, she rolled over and let me dry the other side off as well. Then I tossed the towel to one side and lay down next to her. She turned over against me, and we lay there for a while.

Finally, she started pulling at my jumpsuit. “Why do you have so many clothes on?”

I could tell she was still a bit out of it and tried to dissuade her. “I had business to take care of. Are you OK?”

“Yeah, sure.” She sat up and started pulling at my jacket. “For the gods’ sakes, take that off.”

I hesitated, then shrugged. “If you’re sure you’re OK…”

She leaned forward and kissed me. “Rut you…”

—

Several hours later we were both dressed and down in the 7th Parsec. I had pinged Saahna and asked her to meet us there, and we were sitting in a booth off to one side. We had been there for about 15 minutes, long enough to get a pair of beers and a basket of tama leaves, when she appeared. I waved to her, and she came over.

“Derek,” she said, nodding at me. Then she looked at Kona. “And you must be… Kona?”

Kona smiled and nodded. “Kona Ranis. Captain. Thanks to Derek here.” She smiled at me then shook Saahna’s hand.

“Well… I guess that’s something I’ll hear about later.” Saahna turned to me. “So I guess you’ve been having a good on-planet?”

I nodded. “Good for all of us. Kona here had a line on a salvage op that turned to gold. We got a good cargo that I was immediately able to turn around, and she got a ship out of the deal. It’s damaged, but she’ll get it running again.”

Saahna looked between us, her face kept carefully neutral. “OK, sure. That… sounds good!”

“Yeah, I’ll give everyone the details later, at the pre-launch. So… our mystery passengers. What did you find?”

She glanced towards Kona again, then shrugged. “Yeah, them.” She sighed. “They seem to be legit. They’re working for Sitama Biogenics. Yeah, I know. Kind of a weird thing to find in a belt system. But they’ve got a few tons of ‘samples’ that they want to take with them. And they’re very concerned that no one finds out that they have them.”

I pulled out my comp and looked up Sitama Biogenics. Their specialty seemed to be ‘forced mutations’; exposing living creatures to mutagenics and seeing how it affected their offspring. Research of that type was completely illegal in the Imperium–and every other dominant polity for that matter–since it produced horribly mutated offspring a good fraction of the time that needed to be put down. But, occasionally they made a breakthrough that made them enough credits to stay in business.

I frowned. “I’m not sure they’re the type of passenger we want.”

“Two Middle passengers. That’s one and a half kCreds. And a kCred for every ton of cargo they ship.”

“Honestly… We’re kinda beyond that now.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that we’re starting to get a credit flow going. We can make a lot more than a kCred for every ton of cargo. The only question is if we can replace them with other passengers.”

“We’re… turning down passengers now?”

“We aren’t a passenger ship. We’re a cargo ship. I know where we make our credits. Maybe Captain Anna was focused on carrying passengers and having us take care of them, but… maybe that isn’t the best way to go.”

She frowned slightly; that seemed to bother her. “We’ve always been a passenger ship!”

“What do we want? Profits or passengers. Hells, you saw how well our ‘passenger first’ priority worked between Boilingbrook and Kupakii. Maybe we should rethink our priorities.”

“Really?”

“Hey, you were the ones complaining that I was getting everyone involved with outside interests. If we just focus on cargoes and taking care of ourselves, then that won’t happen.”

She frowned at that, then nodded. “Yeah. I… guess.”

“Good.” I tapped on my comm. “I’m telling them we don’t have space for their cargo. We’ll see how they respond to that.”

“OK. You’re the Captain.”

“We’re all in this together now, remember?”

She fixed me with a glare. “Are we?” I just sighed.

The waitbot showed up for another round of food and drink, but Saahna shook her head. “That’s all I’ve got,” she said, sliding out of the booth. “Pre-lift tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “Day after, the 10th. Probably here. Say… 1800?”

“Fine.” She left without saying anything else.

I asked the waitbot for another beer and let it clear away the remains of the previous round. Kona was sticking with beer as well but was looking at me curiously.

“So… that’s her?”

“Yeah, Saahna’s our Navigator. And security. She used to be Gunner but got promoted a Jump or two ago.”

“No, she’s your ‘it’s complicated’ crewmember.”

I tried not to react and covered it by taking a drink of my beer. “Yeah, we have an… Agreement. Together in Jump, not together on the ground.”

“Looks like she’s not particularly happy with that arrangement.”

I looked towards the entrance, lost in thought. If she were right, it would be the first time.

I shook my head. “No… That can’t be it. Actually… I’m usually the one who has a problem with her being with someone.”

She slid over and slipped her arm around mine. “Well… maybe you’ve never made her jealous before.”

“No… She knows I’ll be back on board in a few days.”

She pulled away at that. I turned to see a slightly hurt look on her face.

“Oh, so I’m no competition for her?”

Great, I thought to myself. So much for your famed negotiation skills, Derek.

I smiled back at her. “No, you are absolutely competition but…” I let my voice trail off, and I glanced away. “But we’re Jumping out in three days.”

She sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, try a line I haven’t heard before.” I winced at that, but she slid even closer and linked arms again.

“It’s OK, I get it,” she said, leaning her head against me. “But we’ve still got two days, right?”

I leaned against her and put my free arm over hers. “Definitely.”