Chapter 17 Departing Calissant
01
Secondday 19 Firstspring
Wil Litang, Captain, Lost Star
Dear Captain Litang,
I regret I was unable to reach you before my departure.
As you know, I dined with Captain Sylviar and my old shipmates this evening. During the evening the possibility of sailing as a guest aboard the Aurora to Sanre-tay came up. It struck me as offering a priceless opportunity to get a jump on securing outbound cargoes for the Lost Star. I accepted Captain Sylviar's offer and with the Aurora sailing within hours I won't have a chance to inform you of this in person.
Happily, I employ a captain I completely trust. I believe I'm leaving nothing requiring an owner's authorization. Feel free to make any operational decisions. Should any issue arise that you feel is not within your scope, consult with Phylea Kardea and follow her advice. If something serious should arise that neither you nor Kardea feel comfortable dealing with, I can be reached via Min & Co.'s associated agent, Vix Fange & Co, upon my arrival in Sanre-tay
I'll await your arrival around the 4th week of (Calissant) Secondspring.
Fair orbits,
Tallith Min
Her second message read,
Wil,
Sorry. Owner's prerogative. The chartered yacht Azure Night left Calissant orbit for Sanre-tay early in the morning of last Fifthday, (Primecentra time) shortly after its gig returned from the Small Craft Field at Barque-nela, (four hours away from Primecentra via levatrain). Port records show the same Azure Night left Calissant orbit less than a day after a space boat crash over the Trimeta Sea some 27 months ago.
The Aurora should arrive before or very soon after the Azure Night. If you can find any further information on Azure Night's travels and her charter before you leave, please forward it to me. You can reach me via Vix. Thank you. See you in Sanre-tay orbit.
Tallith
P.S. Can you stay angry for a month?
I stared at the messages glowing faintly on my desktop and sighed. Owners can do as they damn well please. The sooner you resign yourself to that fact and that you're employed to humor their whims and shoulder the blame when those whims hit an asteroid, the sooner you can find your comfort in drink.
I wasn't angry. I should have been and was embarrassed that I wasn't. But mostly I was just sad.
We hadn't a chance to talk about our future course of action. She'd reverted to her old guarded self the next day. That's not quite right. There is a difference. We're shipmates now. Before I was out of her circle entirely, now I'm in her circle of trusted people, but she's not ready to share her thoughts with me. Being in that circle seemed enough for now and I'd left her to her thoughts. Still, no matter how impulsive this venture was, we should've talked. I'd thought of us as partners against the dangers out of the past and had the melted badge to prove it. I should've been angry as she expected me to be. I wasn't.
At the very bottom of my consciousness, vaguely, like a reflection in the dark water of a deep well, I'd a vision of Min, moth-like, flying ever closer and closer to the deadly flame of her parents' dark past, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. And, because the Dark Neb had given me a second's glimpse of her spirit, I feared I was a second moth, destined to follow her into the flame. If I managed to turn away and let her go, I'd regret it all my days. But if I followed, well, I'd still regret it all my days, there just wouldn't be all that many of them.
I shared the first message with Vynnia and Tenry. They weren't happy. If I'd shown them my private massage they'd have shipped out on the next ship to Sanre-tay. I briefly considered doing so, but when I took this berth I made a commitment to trust Min's judgment, so I followed my orders.
Well, I've jumped ahead of events, so I'd best swing around and bring this account back into some sort of chronological order.
02 Fifthday 16 Firstspring
I didn't sleep well. After the fog brightened in the view-panel and Min stirred awake, I had her open hatch and I slipped out to visit the battlefield. Everything lay untouched. I collected our billy-blades, her cap and the wreckage of mine, (my new gold captain's star, reduced to a small gold blob) and my battered package. Over cha and biscuits Min outlined the day's priorities, repair or replace everything that had been damaged in our encounter so as to leave no trace of the ambush to alarm Vynnia and Tenry.
We slipped out into the thinning mist and reached Star Gate Boulevard via the tube. First stop, a shop hardly wider than its door, drop Min's mech-legs off for rush repairs and on to Lorof & Staff to replace our com links and her jacket. To my surprise, Lorof has a whole section devoted to dart resistant fashion. Min informed me that wearing dart resistant clothing was standard practice when going off ship in the drifts
'I always got the impression from their yarns that the Four Shipmates simply dodged plasma darts...' I guess I'm rather naive, or Unity Standard, as I thought armored clothing something confined to gaudy space fiction in words or vids.
'I'm sure they did. But I'm going with a dart resistant wardrobe.'
'What's the point if everyone fires armor-piercing darts?'
'Well, you only have to dodge half of the darts. Just make sure it's the armor piecing darts you're dodging...'
I wasn't certain how much of that was teasing. If any. And so I decided, when in the drifts, be a drifteer, and added several resistant sweaters, including a yellow one to Min's dismay, plus a jacket and a couple of pairs of trousers to my wardrobe. I replaced my new cap, but had no intention of wearing it. I can read omens as well as the next spaceer. We picked up Min's mech-legs and returned to the Ghost.
I flew the Ghost up. Min wanted to give no hint to any remote observer that she was alive so I took the Ghost up tramp spacer style. Up easy. When I hailed the Lost Star I was greeted simply with a 'Meow'.
I suppose I asked for that.
03 Sixthday, 17 Firstspring
I took the gig across the anchorage to the Silvery Moon to help clear the ship and transfer the supplies and personal effects of my new shipmates to the Lost Star.
Vynnia enCarn proved to be everything one would expect of an ex-Patrol ship commander, a very serious, even formidable, though attractive woman. Her partner, Tenry Roynay, on the other hand, proved to be a tall, youthful looking fellow with a friendly smile and easy ways, not the sort of chap I'd have guessed spent half century in one of the Patrol's most dangerous assignments – commanding the boats that boarded and inspected suspicious vessels. Though very different, each impressed me with their air of easy competence and experience. I was glad Min approached them first with the captain's job. With their extensive experience, I'd felt very uneasy as captain, had they had not been given the chance before me. They'd easily fit in with us, having crossed orbits with my crew on the many occasions over the last 30 years when the yachting Mins visited Miccall aboard ship. The only question is how well they'll take to the tramp life after commanding a yacht and fifty years in the Patrol. Time will tell.
After stowing the supplies from the Silvery Moon I signed Min and Vynnia as pilots and Tenry on as an engineer. I showed them our vacant cabins and invited Min to take the “Owner's Suite” but she preferred one of the regular cabins.
Min and I drafted a notice to each of the crew outlining the changes – Lost Star was now a White Bird Line ship chartered to the Tiladore DevCom for a voyage to Tiladore. After that we'd likely be sent out of the Azminn system. Everyone needed to commit to at least Sanre-tay by Thirdday, 20 Firstspring and department heads should report on the 20th to work up their list of supplies and repairs needed in view of the extended voyage.
I spent the rest of the watch in radio exchanges with my crew, filling in the details and my optimistic assessment of our prospects. I kept mum about who owned White Bird telling them that for competitive reasons, I needed to keep that secret for now. I moved my kit to the Captain's quarters. It was hard, but necessary.
04 Firstday 18 Firstspring<
br />
A quiet ship day aboard ship. The Silvery Moon crew left early for the final inspection, completing the yacht's sale. Afterward Tenry and I spent half a watch adjusting a davit and its access tube on the port boat deck to accommodate the Ghost. Min took the Ghost down to meet old shipmates off the Aurora. And never returned.
05 Secondday 19 Firstspring
I've mentioned the radio-packets from Min. After that, I busied myself going through the ship's inventory of consumables and reviewing our replacement schedules. The department heads would do the same thing, but I wanted to be on top of their requests. Unlike them, I knew what our balance sheet looked like with the pre-Vinden death profits taken off the top.
Late in the fifth watch, just as I was settling into my hammock, I got a voice call. I touched my com link to open the channel.
'Ahoy Wee Willy! I've hear my young Lost Star shipmate has blossomed into a majestic ship's captain and is looking for a systems tech,' said a familiar voice over the background noise of a crowded tavern.
I recognized that voice immediately – Rafe gil'Giles. He'd been the ship's systems tech when I'd first signed on, a position he'd held off and on over the decades. gil'Giles is another one of those larger than life spaceers, a rolling stone, never content to spend more than a couple of years aboard any one ship, but always welcomed back. He's served on all of Captain Vinden's ships at one point or another, most of them several times. He's a treasure. He's not only an easy going, fun loving shipmate and the best systems tech sailing the Azminn system, but he's on first name terms with every data network in the whole of the Nine Star Nebula. There's nothing he can't find, and nothing he can't do on a network. When he's aboard, your ship has the inside track on any box to be had – he knows what's available, what's coming up and what rate will get it. It's even said, though he'll blandly deny it, that he's an intelligence agent of the Patrol as well. It may be true, though I wouldn't bet on it. Still he seems to know enough about the Patrol to keep them at bay.
I didn't hesitate. 'Didn't know I was, Rafe, but by Neb, even if I'm not, consider yourself signed on,' I said adding, 'Do I really need a system tech? I've yet to heard from Eljor.'
'Do you ever check your messages, Willy? Or will that be my job too?'
'Hold on, let me see,' I said, calling up my signals from the com link via the neural link and sure enough, three hours ago I'd received a radio-packet from Eljor informing me he decided to settle planet side for a while. I hadn't expected that.
'Right. Can you get up here tomorrow? I'd like my department heads to work up their list of repairs and requirements with an eye to an extended voyage,' I said, adding in a more somber voice, 'But I want you to understand that I'm doing this as a personal favor for an old shipmate. Eljor Pantin's notice is over three hours old now. The old, in his prime, Rafe gil'Giles would've been on the line within ten minutes. It's a good thing I've a young new tech with a shiny new ticket to help you along.'
'Aye, Willy. I can't deny it. I am getting old and feeble. It's a grand thing you've this sharp young tech aboard. Can't find my own hand if it's in my pocket, without following my arm sown these days, but my credits are running low, and I'm looking for a nice easy berth. I know I can coast along with young Captain Willy and the old gang. We'll talk more, but I know you're ready for a nap and Bimbly's buying another round, so I've got to go.'
'Blast and thrust, Rafe, it'll be great to have you aboard!'
'Thanks, Willy. Be up tomorrow with the gang.'
'Oh, and don't go blabbing about who our owner is either,' I added. With his ability to hack into most records, he'd likely have peeked into who's behind the White Bird Line and Spectre Holdings before offering his services, and if he hadn't, the gang would have him on the case any moment now.
'Right. My regards to the young shrimp. 'Nigh, Captain. Sleep well.'
'See you tomorrow, fair orbits.'
I didn't question Rafe's knowledge of both our owner and the fact that I was settling in for a nap. Sure, it would've been a safe guess based on Port Prime time, but being Rafe gil'Giles and having served aboard ship, I've little doubt he could just as easily have tapped into the ship's data systems and noted I was in my cabin. (I made a mental note to ask him how many cats we had on board.)
As I lay back in my hammock I realized that if anyone could find information about the Azure Night, it was Rafe. It was likely something he could do in his sleep, or in a tavern between rounds of free drinks. Still, I'd have to break a confidence and did I really want to encourage Min? (No.) Rafe could do his digging in Sanre-tay if she wanted. I'd send a radio-packet to Min about signing Rafe and let her decide what, if anything, she wanted him to do when she arrived in Sanre-tay, and drifted off to sleep.
06 Thirdday 20 Firstspring to Firstday, 1 Secondspring
With the return of the department heads, the ship awoke from its slumber. The prospect of an extended voyage meant close attention needed to be paid to the fine details of re-supply. The supplies we'd normally pick up over the course of our usual round of the planets, like medical supplies, food culture flavors, and bio waste management ingredients, had to be stocked for the long voyage. In addition to the expendables, we needed to make sure all the spare parts that could not be replicated or manufactured onboard were on hand. With a long serving crew, the process proceeded expeditiously, and by the end of the first ship day I'd their lists in front of me ready for editing and approval.
I took a shuttle down to Calissant the following day to conduct the necessary business at Min & Co. and to the Yacht Club where Min had left the Ghost. I'd been programed into its security system and I flew it up to the ship. I spent two days in Port Barque-nela with the crew just to get away from the ship for a while and crossed orbits with Lyrath who was giving Port Barque-nela a trial run. Everyone returned to the ship early on Firstday the 24th ready for work.
After consulting Illy, I offered Vynnia the job of first mate, who reluctantly accepted, not wanting to step on any of the old crew's toes. I assured her Illy was looking forward to getting off the bridge to be our purser. The ex-Silvery Moon shipmates seamlessly fit into our little community and with Rafe on board as well, life aboard ship was going to be a bit livelier than it's been for several years.
Miclae Midedow, the Tiladore supercargo, arrived with the first sleeper-pods and oversaw their loading. We worked well together, and I made certain every box was stowed to her complete satisfaction. We completed our loading on schedule and departed Calissant on 1 Secondspring.
Calissant was never more than just another world of call for me, I rarely had the free time to spend much more than a night or two downside. Still, as it slipped astern, I'd the feeling I'd be a different Wil Litang when, or if, I ever saw it again.