Chapter Twelve
“That does it,” Lucky announced. “Our cargo list is now uploaded to the net.” He closed the window on his flatpad and turned toward me. We were standing beside the comm-net board at the entrance to our docking berth on Toula.
The cargo we had taken from the pirate ship consisted of high end electronics—mainly holographic tri-vid players and sensurround music systems. The pirates definitely knew how to select their targets. The council had already valued our new cargo at more than seventeen million Solars. I knew we could get another ten to fifteen percent above that if we were persistent enough.
“Make sure you haggle for the best possible prices,” I said. “I want everyone to know that we’re here with a rich score.”
Lucky gave me a roguish grin. “With everything still new in the box we won’t have any trouble getting top solar.” Lucky had a talent for negotiating the best deals possible on any merchandise. I had no doubt that he would secure an excellent price for our new cargo. And that should make Mr. Smith sit up and take notice.
According to what I had gotten out of Captain Sloan, Smith was expecting to profit from the sale of what was now our cargo. In exchange for supplying Sloan with the flight plans and manifests of target transports, the pirate captain agreed to turn his stolen merchandise over to Smith at a fixed rate of thirty-five percent of the cargo’s value. Smith would then take care of moving the stolen goods and would supply Sloan with information on his next target. Having millions of Solars slip through his fingers was not going to sit well with Smith.
After ensuring that our merchandise had been listed in the system, Morgana and I headed for the hover cab waiting just outside our berth, leaving Lucky to handle the sale of our cargo. Fifteen minutes later we were being shown into the back conference room of the Toula branch of Capital Investments. We were waiting for only a few minutes when Smith entered the room, his smile set on wide and annoying.
“Captain Pell, Ms. Feign, welcome back,” he said, shaking our hands like an old friend and settling into a seat on the opposite side of the table from us.
“Thanks,” I said. “We’re here for the rest of our pay.”
Smith chuckled. “Straight to business, eh, Captain.” He placed his datapad on the table and began typing at the screen, “I trust there were no difficulties with the transaction.”
“No,” I said. “We met your contact exactly where you told us he would be. Why?”
Smith continued typing on his pad for several moments before answering.
“It’s just that you were gone for quite some time,” he said finally.
“I wasn’t aware that I was expected to check in with you,” I said, folding my arms defensively. “We met your ship at the assigned place and time and delivered your shipment as we agreed. Where we went after that isn’t really your concern.”
Smith looked up at me from the tops of his eyes and his smile took on a predatory feel.
“Peace, Captain. I was only concerned that something might have happened to you. I know you were counting on the balance of the payment to perform some maintenance and upgrades to your ship.”
“We had some minor engine trouble and had to stop for repairs,” I said dismissively.
“Nothing serious I trust.”
“Nothing we couldn’t handle.”
“I’m so glad. Ah, here we are.” Smith entered a few last commands into his pad. “All monies have been transferred to your account.”
I pulled out my battered palmpad and tapped briefly on it as I pretended to check our account. I kept the screen tilted away from him as I worked so that he could not see the display. What he didn’t know was that during our first meeting, while his datapad had downloaded a copy of the contract to my pad, mine had uploaded a powerful virus into his. In spite of its size and battered appearance, the palmpad I carried had more raw computing power than a dozen of his. The virus I had uploaded to his pad was something new from the Royal Intelligence Agency. It was a specially designed infiltration program known as a tapeworm that would find its way through every program in his pad and collect information from each file it encountered. The program would continue working its way through file after file collecting data until it was remotely triggered. Then it would download all of its secrets to me. The more he used his pad the more I would learn about his business dealings. I triggered the virus program now and watched the task bar growing across the bottom of my screen as the download began.
“I see you were able to finish moving the cargo we bonded over to you,” I said, covering my actions.
“A simple matter for someone with my extensive contacts,” he bragged.
A moment later the download was finished and I set the pad down on the table.
“The last time we were here you mentioned the possibility of future work,” I said.
“Doesn’t your crew want to take a few days off to relax in town first? After all, you’ve just made a tidy profit.”
“I’d rather we kept busy for now,” I said.
“Commendable,” Smith commented. He settled back in his seat and looked at me briefly, his eyes taking on a distant look, as if he were deep in thought. That look gave me the creeps. Finally, his gaze seemed to snap back into focus and he spoke. “Actually, as it so happens I do have a client who has a shipment to be moved. I was expecting another ship that I usually do business with to handle the run, but something seems to have delayed them.”
Something told me it was Ryder Sloan’s ship he was talking about.
“Sorry to hear it,” I said, sounding anything but sorry. “But then it’s an opportunity for my ship.”
“Yes.” He regarded me silently for a while. Smith sat studying me as if he were trying to reach a decision about something, giving me that creepy, distant look again. When it seemed like he was having trouble making up his mind I decided to force the issue.
“Apparently we’ve come at a bad time,” I said, scooping up my palmpad and tucking it away. “If you decide that you’re interested in doing business with us again you know how to contact me. Right now I need to get back to my ship and oversee some business of my own.” I hesitated before getting up, waiting to see what his reaction would be.
Smith continued to study us for several more moments. Then his expression relaxed and life returned to his eyes as he made up his mind. “Captain, a moment of your time before you go.” He tapped at his datapad briefly and slid it toward us so we could read what was displayed on its screen. I brushed my finger across the display to scroll down the list that was there.
“These items are being offered for sale through the spaceport comm-net,” Smith said. I frowned and waited for him to continue. “I was wondering if you could tell me a little about them.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I said. “It’s the cargo we brought with us this trip.”
“Really?” he said, without a trace of surprise in his voice. “I wouldn’t have thought that you would have had the time to arrange for another cargo, what with making a delivery for us and having engine trouble.”
I leaned on the edge of the table and looked hard into his eyes. “Not that I need to explain myself to you, but after we finished our repairs we took a roundabout route on our return trip to see if we could pick up another job.”
“Judging from the merchandise you are offering for sale I’d say that your efforts were successful.” He slid the datapad back to himself and looked at the list of items we had posted on the net. “This is quite an impressive cargo you managed to acquire. Would you mind telling me how you happened to come across it?”
“Actually, I don’t see how that’s any business of yours,” I growled.
Smith ignored my tone and continued. “The reason I’m asking is because your cargo seems to match a shipment that was recently reported stolen from a transport operating not too far from the area of space you were in.”
Morgana and I exch
anged looks.
“I think we’re done here,” I said. We rose to our feet and turned to leave.
Smith suddenly broke into a laugh. “Captain, wait. Don’t go. This is Toula. No one cares where you get your merchandise. I was only curious about how you managed to come up with a new cargo so quickly. After all, it wasn’t very long ago that you came to me looking for something to fill your empty hold.”
I stopped where I was and looked back at him as if trying to decide whether to stay or go. Smith gestured us back to our seats.
“Please sit down, Captain,” he said. “As it so happens I do have a proposition to discuss with you.”
Morgana looked at me. I nodded and we both resumed our seats.
“I must say, Captain, I had no idea how resourceful you were. Landing such a valuable cargo was quite a feat–however it was accomplished.”
“Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” I said. “Now about that job we were discussing...?”
Smith folded his hands on the table in front of him and resumed speaking. “As with our prior arrangement, an … associate of mine needs a number of containers transported to a confidential location.” He paused to consult his pad briefly. “According to your ship’s specs, your hold should be just large enough to accommodate the shipment I need transported. Of course, that means there won’t be any room for anything else in your hold.”
“Are you offering to take our current cargo off my hands?”
“I think a rate of twenty-five percent of the going retail value–”
“Eighty-five percent,” I countered.
“Captain Pell, be reasonable,” Smith said with a condescending smile. “I need room to negotiate with potential buyers. At eighty-five percent there’s no room for any profit margin on my end. I’m thinking more like ... thirty-five percent.”
“Seventy-five percent,” I said immediately. “And not on consignment this time. You buy my cargo outright.” Seventy-five percent was still pushing things. But if I was right, Smith needed me to accept the transport job he was offering. Therefore he had to take the cargo we were carrying off our hands, even if it cut his profit margin.
Smith narrowed his eyes as he considered my offer.
“Forty-five percent.”
“Come on, Alex,” I said to Morgana as I moved to stand up again. “Call me when you’re serious about wanting to do business again, Mr. Smith.”
“Wait, Captain,” Smith said and let out a long breath. His expression soured to the closest thing to a frown I had ever seen cross his face. “Very well, fifty percent. That is my final offer.”
I sat back in my seat, rested my elbows on the arms of the chair and folded my hands across my stomach as I stretched my legs out under the table.
“Mr. Smith,” I began. I was actually starting to enjoy his predicament. “While I am sincerely grateful for our business dealings so far, I think we need to review our relationship. My ship is an independent transport. I don’t work for you. That’s my cargo up for sale and I know that I can get at least seventy percent of the retail value on the open market. Now I will consider selling my cargo to you at a discount if I can be assured of a job that will make up the difference. Due to our past relationship I’m willing to settle for a rate of, oh let’s say, sixty percent. And that is my final offer.”
Slowly, as if it were causing him physical pain, a smile gradually spread across his face. But it was a smile with his mouth only. His hard eyes were studying me like a predator sizing up his next kill.
“Very well, Captain. Sixty percent.”
“Direct purchase.”
“Direct purchase,” he agreed. “Now that we have that settled, can we discuss the cargo I’d like you to transport for us?”
“Absolutely,” I said, settling myself even deeper into the self adjusting cushions of my floatchair. “I assume it’s the same arrangement as last time. You want us to rendezvous with another ship and transfer the cargo in deep space.”
“Not exactly,” Smith said. “Your ship will be making the final delivery, but you will need to make one stop along the way. My associate is very protective of his privacy. You will rendezvous with a ship at predetermined coordinates in space, but instead of transferring your cargo to them you will take a pilot aboard your ship who will bring you to your final destination.”
I thought about it for a moment then shrugged. “That shouldn’t be a problem–as long as the price is right.”
Smith slid his datapad across to me. I glanced at the figure on the screen and smiled.
“We have a deal,” I said.
Smith reached across and tapped the screen, bringing up a small window with a series of coordinates.
“Your clients really do like to meet in out of the way locations,” I commented after I had read the coordinates.
“This is not a client. In fact, if my associate approves of you he may offer you a long term arrangement that you should find very interesting, not to mention profitable. But you need to be at these coordinates in three days. That would mean you need to lift ship sometime in the next few hours.”
“That doesn’t give us a lot of time. I still have to finish offloading our cargo and then get your containers loaded. Then I need to refuel and top off the air and water reserve tanks. I also need to–”
“Three days, Captain. That’s the schedule,” Smith said, cutting me off.
“Relax, Mr. Smith. I told you I’d move your cargo for you.”
“I’m in your debt, Captain,” Smith said dryly.
“Don’t mention it. As soon as you transfer the money for the stuff you’re buying from me and make the down payment for the cargo you want me to move, we’ll be on our way.”