Chapter 69 The Ghost is Me
01
I was downside with Riv and Lilm, interviewing prospective engineers at the Guild Hall of Constina's capital city of Leath when Molaye transferred a signal down from the ship, saying it was from Jardinn Export Services. I recognized the name from our bills of lading.
'Hello, Wilcrofter here,' I said. 'What can I do for you?'
'Greetings, Captain. M'Risha Drae, managing director of Jardinn Export Services. Since you're in orbit refitting, I thought it was the ideal time to get in touch. You've been carrying quite a few of my clients' boxes over the last several years, and I've been toying with a mutually profitable idea for some time. I'd like to talk to you about it.'
'I'm always happy to meet with clients, Director Drae. I've seen your firm's name on many of my bills of lading. However, I have to say straight away that I'm giving up drift trading to work my way into the interplanetary trade. I don't know how that affects your idea, but I'm determined to put the drifts behind me.'
'Well, my proposal would be a mix of interplanetary and drift trade. You see, I'd like to consolidate all my business – we're a small firm – together into a scheduled service using the Starry Shore. You'd collect the boxes from half a dozen planets and deliver them to half a dozen drift stations, just like you have been doing. I have enough business to guarantee you a profit for each voyage, and since I'd not insist on an exclusive charter, you could pick up additional boxes to supplement that profit as well.'
'It sounds promising, but I'm determined get back into the interplanetary trade.'
'All the drift ports are portal stations, nothing deep – some of them you already serve. It'd be two six month long circuits a year with dependable profits. I think it would be beneficial for both of us. I'd appreciate the chance to go over my figures with you in detail. I think you'll find them far more attractive than trying to break into the interplanetary trade on your own, since, I assume, profits matter to your owner. Why don't we go over my plan over dinner, my treat?’
'Well...' I took a breath and rapidly considered my options. The idea had some appealing aspects – profits, calling on more Amdia planets than Baidora, and a regular schedule. And I had been comfortable in our drift work prior to the message on Ravin. And, I did have an owner... In the end, I recalled Miccall's dictum – it pays to keep customers happy, even if it doesn't pay in the short run, so the least I could do was to give the plan a good look.
'I'll make no promises, but I'll be happy to have dinner with you and look over your proposal. When can we meet?'
'I'm free all evening and I gather you're downside.'
'Aye, I've just finished my downside business.'
'Then why not stop by the office now? If you're hungry we can go out to dinner and look over my plan afterward.'
'That does sound rather appealing. What's your address? I'll grab a flier and be over directly.'
She gave it, adding. 'I appreciate this, Captain. I'm sure it will prove worth your trouble.'
Jardinn Export Services had a small office on the edge of Leathport, the sprawling prime space port of Constina. The clearsteel door slipped aside and I entered the office, typical in every way to every other shipbroker's office I've called on. It was early evening in Leath, hours after the end of the work day, and the small office appeared to be deserted. I stood in the reception area and was about to call out, when M'Risha Drae stepped out of her office and hurried over.
'Sorry, Captain, I didn't expect you quite this soon. I'm M'Risha...' she said, extending her hand, and stopped to stare at me.
I took it, and stared back. Something...
'I'm sorry Captain, I seemed to have lost my thread of thought. As I said, I'm M'Risha Drae, the managing director. Welcome...' she said partially recovering, but still studied me closely.
'Nives Wilcrofter, a pleasure to meet you,' I replied absently, looking at her closely. I knew her. Or rather she reminded me of someone. And suddenly it popped into focus. She reminded me of my mother. Only a sharper, sterner, and more businesslike version. A more hard-boiled version.
She must've seen that spark of recognition in my eyes, since she latched on to my arm and said sharply, 'Let's start with dinner,' and deftly steered me out of the office, pausing only to lock the door behind us.
I doubt shipbrokers normally clamp ship captains by the arm and drag them off. Grandmothers, on the other hand, might do that with grandsons. Hard-boiled ones, anyway. I was still processing all of this, and just meekly accompanied her.
As we walked down the corridor to the lifts, she said, 'I'm sorry to be so presumptuous. It's just that you remind me of someone. A grandson – a ship's captain. But his ship was wrecked in the Despar Reef.'
I had the wit, barely, to stay in character, 'Ah, sorry to hear that. My first voyages to the drifts took me to Boscone where I barely escaped some Despar privateers at the start of the late drift war. Luckily they were only small traders which we eventually outran,' I replied, with a glance at her. She was still looking at me, though seemingly lost in thought.
It was only after we stepped into the lift that the full meaning of what she'd just said hit me. Our relatives and friends thought that we were trading in the deep drifts. I'd never seen any report that indicated that the Lost Star was missing or lost. There were only two parties who knew something of the truth – the Despar Navy and St Bleyth. She'd named no names, but it seemed clear from her reaction, I was a tangible ghost to her. And she... well, I doubt Despar would have any need for an agent on Constina. But St Bleyth... She still held my arm, but there was no escape now, anyway.
The lift door opened and we stepped out into the lobby of the landing deck. I turned to her as she dropped her hand on my arm. She was still watching me, and from the look in her eye, saw my dawning realization. She may have even smiled just faintly.
'I believe we need to find someplace to talk freely,' she said. 'There's a nice beach and a good restaurant at the yacht club in Barbeth, a fifteen-minute flier ride from here.'
'Yes, of course. Whatever you say... Sister Drae,' I added watching her.
'It's Abbess, son,' she replied sharply, but with a brief twinkle of a smile. 'But let's hold that discussion until we can talk freely. Right now, I'd like to run through my plan in greater detail, since we have the time...'
I'm fairly sure she did explain her scheme as we boarded a flier on the deck, flew through the towers of Leath and down the coast, but well, as I said, I'm only fairly sure. I, at any rate, spent the time coming to terms with the idea that my grandmother was an abbess of St Bleyth. The most frightening thing about it was that I seemed to be having no problem at all coming to terms with the idea. No more of a problem than I had getting into a flier with an agent of St Bleyth to fly to some, doubtlessly, deserted beach. The jig was up and I only had to learn the piper's price. There was a slight level of relief in it, to tell the truth.
Of course I knew that Grandmother V'Ran, the name I knew her by, was from the drifts. And I knew she was a pretty hard woman as well. She ran a spaceers' dive, after all – at least she did. She hadn't changed any from the one time I'd met her decades ago – a cool and hard woman somewhere in the long middle century. She looked, come to think of it, just like a senior agent of St Bleyth might look. Clearly I hadn't been slandering her when I blamed her for my occasional and regrettable ruthless streak. I guess apples don't fall all that far from the tree.
The curious thing was that I wasn't concerned about my immediate future, nor, for that matter, my long term one. This was the Unity not the drifts, which made all the difference. I knew it wasn't easy to commit a capital crime in the Unity without ending up in Felon's Rift. I wasn't planning on going skinny dipping with Grandmother and turning up drowned, so I'd likely have time to collect the Azurete payout and sail for the far end of the Nebula if need be, and good luck finding me. And well, as I may've mentioned, the drifts have left their mark on me, or perhaps merely rubbed off some of my Unity
Standard veneer. I was, in fact, actually rather eager to hear what my grandmother had to say.
'Set us down on that bluff ahead,' she ordered the pilot, breaking me out of my reverie. The flier swooped down to a broad plain that ended in a low bluff falling to a wide strip of grassy dunes, a white beach with a foam speckled sea washing in from the breaking waves on a sandbar half a kilometer out. We climbed out into the tall grass.
She waited until the flier had taken off before she said, 'Let's walk down to the beach. I brought you here, Captain Wilcrofter, because what we have to say must stay strictly between us. Can I trust you not to record this?'
'Of course, Grandmama. Call me Wil – I chose my new name so it would stay the same in my new life.'
She gave me an unreadable look, and then, to my surprise, took my hand in hers and pulled me along towards the edge of the bluff. 'You nearly frightened me to death back in the office, son. Estimates had only a 1 in 192 chance of the Lost Star surviving the reef passage. I found out my grandson was dead before I even knew he was in danger. I hope you'll believe me when I say that I'd no knowledge of your involvement with the Order prior to the loss of the Sister Sinister,' she said quietly, over the rustling of the grass and the distant sound of the breakers.
'Yes, of course,' I replied, adding rather sarcastically, 'Rather out of your bailiwick, I suppose.'
She gave me a quick, wicked grin. 'It was. The affair was not a matter I needed to be informed of, since I never identified you as a relative. Both the contract to kill and Boscone contract were indeed out of my bailiwick and until the loss of the Sister Sinister, too routine to reach me here, even informally. Had your family connections been on record with the Order, it would've been different,' she paused to glance across at me, and continued, 'I'm somewhat the black sheep of the family and I've served on the outside, and in the Unity, for the better part of a century – by choice. I raised your mother entirely outside the Order because at the time, I was rather on the outs with the Order and her father. The Order was, of course, aware of her, but the fact that I didn't send her to Tienterra, our home world for her education, and that she slipped out of my life before she was eligible to enter the Order on her own meant that her life and that of her children fell outside of the Order's active interest. So when Covert Operations issued an order to eliminate a witness to a botched operation, they'd no way of knowing they were issuing an order to kill someone who was related by blood to two of the oldest and most powerful families in the Order. Had the Covert Operations Directorate known this, I assure you, no order would have been given, at least without consulting your grandfather and me.'
'Which is a star fallen,' I said as we came to the edge of the bluff. 'A planet astern.'
'That depends, Wil, on what transpired in the Despar Reef. That's what I need to know in order to decide how to proceed. Hold on, you can tell me all about it when we reach the beach...' she added, as she started down the narrow sandy path that zig-zagged down the grassy face of the bluff to the wide beach below. Still holding her hand, I followed her down, carefully picking my footholds. I'd been downside often enough in the last weeks to be pretty accustomed to gravity, but I didn't care to go tumbling down the bluff, dragging Grandmama along with me.
Reaching the dunes and grass at the bottom she turned to me, 'The Sister Sinister is a serious affair, Wil. I need to know the truth – the full truth – so as to know how to proceed. Please trust me with the truth – I have your best interests at heart.'
Why not? I thought. I'd nothing to lose now that St Bleyth knew we survived. And perhaps something to gain. So I told her the nearly complete tale as we made our way through the steep, grassy sand dunes towards the sea – including the fact that Min had already sailed – making Nun's mission half a failure before it even sailed – but nothing about Botts or the part it played in saving us. With the breeze and rumbling hiss of the waves, everything I said would've been hard to have been captured by any interested party, which was why we were here – this was the Unity after all, where security was a by-word. Grandmama was taking no chances. When I finished, we stood silently on the hard sand beach as the foam speckled seas slid up and back, while the tall waves crashed and tumbled in white confusion on the outer bank.
'So you didn't continue the battle once you were in the reef?'
'Trust me, once we entered the reef neither of us had the computing power or the missiles to spare to continue the battle. Everything we had was focused on clearing a thin lane through the reef. And since the Sister Sinister was depending on us to do that for them, they'd have been crazy to fire on us.'
'Why did you take the chance? It seems a foolhardy gamble.'
'In the long run we couldn't outfight or outrun the frigate – we were just barely holding our own and eventually we'd run short of missiles. It was only a matter of time before we were destroyed. Even a 1 in 192 chance – and I thought it was better than that – was better than our chances if I continued up the channel,' I replied. 'I'd hoped, however, to shake Nun off just by making a wide turn into the reef and then see if I could make our way through at a more reasonable pace, but that wasn't the way it worked out.
'Can you prove all of that?'
'It's all in the ship's log. And I assure you, neither my shipmates nor I will soon forget it.'
'So why did you survive, and the Sister Sinister didn't? You were the lead ship, after all.'
'Luck and an amazing pilot,' I replied. 'Well, mostly luck. I can't say for certain why Nun's ship took a hit. Perhaps our sensor records could shed light on that. Trust me, I wasn't looking back at the time since we were in the densest part of the reef, constantly blowing meteors out of our way and even then, losing a drone in the process. My guess is that pieces of one of the meteors we blew apart struck another rock and ricocheted inwards, striking the Sister Sinister, causing either the first big explosion or forcing it out of the cleared lane and into the thick reef and the fatal rocks.'
She gave me a hard, sidelong look. 'The truth?'
'On my word of honor, Grandmama. The Lost Star did not intentionally destroy the Sister Sinister. Even when attacked, all we did was defend ourselves. I'm a pretty Unity Standard fellow and all I wanted to do was escape. Nun, in my mind, made the foolhardy decision when he decided to follow us into the drifts. I had to take the risk, he didn't. He must've feared that if we did, somehow, make it through, he'd lose track of us on the outside, if we had survived, since following the passage would've taken him time and left him heading 90º away from our course. He decided not to take that chance and paid the price. And it wasn't the first time I've seen blind devotion to duty in the service of St Bleyth lead to needless death,' I added. 'I rather doubt Captain D'Lay had many illusions about the outcome of his last battle either.'
She shrugged. 'It can be a hard service.' and pointing up the mostly deserted beach said, 'The harbor and yacht club are ahead. We can talk as we walk. I'm planning to get my feet wet, so you'd best take your boots off as well.' And with that, she settled on a steep bank of one of the dunes to take off her shoes and roll up her slacks. I followed orders and did the same.
She hooked her arm in mine as we walked on the edge of the ocean, letting the sheets of cool, foam streaked water wash over our feet and splash up our legs as we walked.
'You're holding something back, son. Are you sure you want to do that?'
'I've told you nothing but the truth, Grandmama. And anything I haven't said is not relevant to what you need to know. You must remember, you're a member of an organization that's actively trying to kill me, and likely my shipmates as well. I don't fear you here and now, and I can run far, far away, so I don't fear for the future – much – either, but, well, we are opponents, and I reserve the right to look after my own skin. Everything I did, I did defending myself and my shipmates from the hired killers of St Bleyth. I've nothing to apologize for.'
She cast me a glance and a faint smile. 'If you've told me the truth concerning the circumstances of
the Sister Sinister's demise, you have one of those hired killers in your corner. One of the, well, unfortunate features of the Order is that families often matter more than the Order. I won't betray the Order for family, but I will fight for my family within the Order. And you're family. I will do everything in my power to dismiss the execution order against you.'
'And against Tallith Min and my crew as well?'
'Tallith Min is a contractual obligation. There's nothing I can do about her. I'd like your word that she's not aboard the Starry Shore, for that would put me in a bind.'
'You have it, as I said, she left the ship on Despar.'
'Good. Then I believe there's nothing preventing me from turning a blind eye to you at the present. If you weren't my grandson, I'd never have known you or your ship as being Litang of the Lost Star. The order against you is an operational decree, and between you and me, a trivial one, which can be rescinded in-house. I'll see to having it rescinded. That's a promise, Wil.'
'Fair enough. I believe I can trust you, Grandmama' I said with a glance across to her. 'But I don't want to put you in any awkward position on my account. I can look after myself,' I added, not without some misgivings.
She smiled, 'Oh, I'm an Abbess, which is not a minor rank. I may be an abbess of an abbey mostly concerned with information and mercantile concerns, but our family, Wil, dates from the foundation of the Order. Plus, your grandfather is a member of the Order as well. And he's far more important than I am, and from an old and powerful family as well. I believe I can interest him in your predicament as well,' she paused and laughed, 'Oh, you're very well connected in the Order, Wil, even if you're only a half-blooded St Bleythian.'
'Well, that's good to know. Who's my grandfather?'
She shook her head. 'Best to keep that secret, I think. We all need our secrets, don't we?' she said with a sharp, but largely benign glance. 'You see, he and I are not on the best of terms. Oh, we're civil on the few occasions when we meet, but having said that, that's all I can say. We weren't a good match and we split before your mother was born. I haven't seen him in years. He's completely indifferent to the existence of his daughter and is completely indifferent to his granddaughter and grandson as well. However, he's not without an ego. Indeed, he has a rather inflated one, which, I think, will work in our favor. I rather doubt he'll look kindly on killing a grandson of his simply because the Covert Operations Directorate wanted to eliminate a witness to a botched assassination. It wouldn't matter if he has no personal interest in you – it'd simply be the principle of eliminating an offspring of his without his consent.'
'And when he finds out about what I've done – foiling assassinations, the Sister Sinister affair, and even witnessing D'Lay's defeat by the berserker – what?'
She laughed. 'He'll be as proud of you as I am.'
'Huh?' I looked at her.
'You have 500 generations of St Bleyth ancestors in your blood. What you've managed to accomplish against the Order, avoiding being killed by someone who was at the time considered one of the best young stealths, destroying the berserker after D'Lay failed, surviving the Sister Sinister and the Despar Reef, and destroying three Falcon Rock pirates... Neb, son, blood will tell.'
'I've been unbelievably lucky.'
'You've made your luck. I don't think defeating that assassin in a duel was luck alone...'
'Well, I have been training with a master two-swords man for twenty-five years now...'
'Exactly. And you knew enough to use the rules of the duel to shift the balance in your favor.'
'I would've been dead, and deservedly so if Cin hadn't come along and pulled me out of the Legionnaire ambush on Sanjoor, and did the heavy lifting in our flight and fighting to reach Port Sanjoor...'
'And you deftly evaded her to make your escape afterward. Your grandfather would probably criticize you for leaving her alive, but well, why quibble? You escaped two sets of determined assassins. And the berserker...'
'I've the best systems tech man and hacker in the Neb...'
'Right, and the Sister Sinister...'
'A poor choice by Nun, and a lot of luck...'
'And an amazing pilot...'
'Aye...' I admitted.
'And the three Falcon Rock pirates?'
'Fired first with a carefully planned and executed volley. I've a talented fire control person...'
She gave me that look again, but simply said, 'Whatever role luck may play, you've more than luck on your side – you're surrounded by a team that seems to be able to do the impossible. In short, you've made much of your luck.'
She was right, so I could only shrug and say, 'I'll readily admit I have a very handy crew, but I don't know if I can take any credit for that... But anyway, Grandmama, this resume of my career should serve as a warning. It seems I'm strangely toxic to the Order. Captain D'Lay and his pilots and Captain Nun and his crew, all died after becoming involved with me. And not just by trying to kill me. D'Lay died defending the Lost Star. And then there's the stealth, Cin. I gathered her career took a decidedly downward plot since we crossed orbits and I rather doubt her performance on Despar will have reversed that. Yet, she probably saved my life more times than she tried taking it. So you see, it appears that mere proximity to me has adverse effects – 500 generations of St Bleyth ancestors notwithstanding.'
'It might seem so. Cin, by the way, was offered an honor mission after Despar, and accepted it.'
'An honor mission?'
'Brothers and sisters who fail to live up to the standards of our martial arts positions are dismissed to laity service. To be dismissed is a disgrace to be endured. Sometimes those dismissed are offered a chance to reestablish their reputation by performing an especially dangerous assignment, usually one which the operatives are not expected to, well, return from.'
'A suicide mission.'
'More or less. But if the honor mission is successful, the honor of the participant and their family is restored in the annals of the Order.'
'Deceased.'
'We all hope to die as honored members of the Order, Wil. Worthy of our families.'
'Well there you are – they're all dead, Grandmama. And believe it or not, I feel sorry for them. Both D'Lay and Cin, when she wasn't trying to hurt or kill me, were companions-in-arms, and Nun – I gave him an excuse to kill me on Despar and he only returned my stun dart. Anyway, you see the odds you're up against. Being on my side is no guarantee you'll avoid their fate and I'd hate for something similar to happen to you. You're rather more than important to me than they were.'
'On the basis of one visit long ago?' she asked, with a shrug and a faint smile.
'On that, and this evening,' I replied, quite honesty. I found I was completely comfortable with Grandmama. 'And perhaps, those 500 generations.'
She smiled. 'I feel the same way. I'll take my chances, son. Don't worry about me. I can look after myself. I'm the senior member of the Order in this system and I've family connections to fall back on, if necessary. Plus, I'll move cautiously. Nothing need be rushed.'
'Obviously you should report my, and my ship's survival, if you're going to claim me as a grandson. If you don't, won't you be running a grave risk?'
She shrugged. 'Nothing I can't deal with, even if it should somehow come to light before I'm ready. In any event, it'll have to be known at some point. If I can secure the support of your grandfather, there'd be nothing to worry about. But he'll have to be approached carefully. Until then, I'll avoid taking any unnecessary chances. So it'll take time and until then, Wil Litang remains dead. But given the odds against you showing up alive, I don't think we need to worry too much about our secret getting out. Why, you've been making my deliveries to the Shantien Chapter House for years without raising any alarm. Your survival will be bitter medicine for some, but we've the connections to administer it. You may eventually have to take some minor orders in the Order, to insure your silence but I don't think that would require you to do any more than agree not to work against
us. But we'll see...' she mused, and adding, 'That's in the future. At the moment, we've several kilometers to go before we reach the club, so tell me, how did you get into this affair, anyway? All I know about it is from Nun and Cin's reports.'
So I told her my yarns, the assassination attempt, the duel, our battles with D'Lay against the Despar Navy and the berserker, my adventures on Despar and the battle in the Despar passage until we reached the harbor and yacht club where we found a bench on the pier where she brought me up to date on her life as well, very discreetly. Which, I suppose, I rather appreciated. The less I know the better.
'I thought you ran a spaceers' dive,' I said.
'Oh, I still do. I'm the proprietor of the Wandering Star, but I run that as Zilantha V'Ran. I prefer, for business reasons, not to have my Jardinn business associated with the Wandering Star. And, as your grandmother, don't let me catch you in the Wandering Star – for several reasons, one of which is that it is used for St Bleyth business, and we don't want to take any chances. Now, shall we go up and order dinner? I think we need to discuss my business proposal once again. I don't think either of us was paying any attention to what we were saying during the flier's flight.'
'Aye. But before we go up, two question. Why? Why run risks for me at all? You hardly know me, blood ties notwithstanding.'
She considered that for several seconds, before saying, 'I like you. And I don't like failure. I was one in my daughter's eyes – a failure as a mother. And well, when I discovered that my grandson had been killed by my own organization without me even being aware of it, I realized I'd failed as a grandmother as well. So when you walked out of the Despar Reef into my office, I realized I'd been given a second chance as a grandmother. And well, Neb-blast-it-all, here you are against all odds, against the cunning and power of the Order itself. I'm proud of you. We're a proud family, Wil. And though I'm rather a black sheep in it, I think both of us can look'em in the eye if or when we ever cross orbits with them. Indeed, I'm looking forward to claiming you as my grandson. I'm a selfish one ain't I?'
'Well, Grandmama, I think selfish or not, I want you on my side. And well, I'm thinking I'll be able to say I was lucky to cross orbits with my Grandmother someday as well. And I hope you'll say that I made my luck.'
'I'll see that I can,' she said and gave me a peck on the cheek. 'What's your second question?'
'Ah... yes – how did you recognize me? It's been, what, more than thirty years since you saw me last?'
'Your mother and I do correspond, son. I've seen the images you sent her as captain of the Lost Star. And being a trained agent, your whiskers didn't fool me.'
'And here I've been counting on those whiskers.'
She shook her head, 'Don't. Now let's talk business.'
We did, over a fine meal on the lawn overlooking the harbor in the fading day. When she came to discussing the drift worlds and stations I'd be calling up, Ravin was mentioned, bringing to mind my encounter with the unknown charter party that knew my name.
'What do you know about Banton & Co, of Ravin?'
'A export firm. Small fish. Why?'
I told her about the message that sent me scurrying back to the Unity. 'I don't know what to make of it. I don't see it coming from either St Bleyth or Despar – couldn't place it at all, or decide if it was a threat or not. Do you have a clue?'
She shook her head. 'I haven't heard a whisper of the Lost Star surviving. 'll make some discreet inquiries, but I don't know what to make of it either. However, as a favored provider of service status with the Order, I wouldn't worry too much. We look after our own.'
'If I become a favored provider of services...'
'You're already unofficially one based on past services to the Shantien Chapter House. I'll see to making it official. And it's on your Grandmother, no strings attached. But I think you'll find my proposal one you won't be able to refuse,' she added with a grin.
And she was right. Of course.
I took Grandmama M'Risha up to inspect the Starry Shore the following day. Standard procedure with new clients. I should've known better. Introduced her to Orbit and Astro, showed her though the ship, engine room to awning deck, introducing her to my crew as we came upon them without noticing anything unusual. It was only when we sat down for dinner – Molaye, the Drays, Riv and Lilm and Lili who happened to be on the ship, that I realized what I'd done.
It was Molaye, of course, who was bold enough to speak up as we settled around the table and started passing the covered entrees around.
Sitting next to Grandmama, Molaye asked, 'You're Captain Wil's grandmother, aren't you? The one from the drifts.' she asked as she passed an entree to her.
Grandmama, as cool as ever, said, 'Why would you think that?' passing the dish to me with a darting look.
'Why, you look ever so much like Wil's mother! Captain Miccall had Wil's parents up for a meal every time we called on Faelrain.'
'And you remember that so very clearly?' I asked sharply. 'The one or two times you were present.'
'Well the others do,' she indicated the rest of the gathered, and grinning crew, who'd met my parents dozens of times over the years we'd circled Azminn. My parents are ex-spaceers who own an export service on Faelrain and were a Lost Star's customer. Having them up for a meal was how Miccall conducted his business, especially if they were ex-spaceers. We'd have old friends, shipmates and customers on board at every planet of call. 'They recognize her. But I can see the resemblance as well. So are you?'
'She is,' I answered for her. 'It seems that we were both sailing under different names, so it was quite a shock yesterday when we crossed orbits.'
'I use two different names. One to run my spaceer's resort, and another to run my export services business. Owning a spaceer's dive provides a great deal of useful information in the trade, but that type of business could be seen as a liability for someone in the small export business, hence the two names. Wil has told me why he's sailing under a new name, and I want to assure you, your secret is safe with me. Indeed, safer, since I'm the sole exporter to the Shantien Chapter House of St Bleyth, so you are already in good standings with them, which will be further enhanced by your connection with my firm.'
'You know he blames you every time he darts someone, don't you? He's become quite the drifteer, and says he owes that to you,' Molaye said with a grin.
'Well, I gather from what he's told me, it's a rather good thing he's become a bit of a drifteer, so I don't mind taking the praise or blame. I was born in the drifts, though I've lived in the Unity for nearly a century now. Wil and I haven't had much time to catch up but I'm very happy that our orbits have crossed and that I now have a chance to get to know my grandson.'
Well, she got to know him a whole lot better by the time I pried her away from my crew and dropped her back down to Leath in the early morning hours. Still, it was one less secret I'd need to keep...
02
With the prospect of more drift work, even if it was all to the tame distribution centers, I ordered the 3000 anti-missile missiles needed to completely stock our new battery and signed on a young Guild engineer to replace Myes, Sar Nil, five years out of the drifts, but with ten years of experience.
I've come to realize that most spaceers are not very Unity Standard. We have our spaceers' rows on every planet – little slices of the Unity where Unity standards of conduct are laxly enforced. Space ship rules, even on Guild ships with Guild regulations, are less confining than those of a planet. Space travel is, by its very nature, less safe and secure and requires something other than a strictly Unity Standard person, which is why many spaceers, even in the Unity come from the moons or the drifts. Certainly the Four Shipmates weren't Unity Standard, and Miccall's old gang isn't either, even those that were born in the Unity like Rafe and Riv and Illy. And well, even before I knew my heritage, I'd become pretty comfortable operating in the drifts. Oh, I'm still a pretty Unity Standard fellow in many ways but I'd be comfortable trading in the drifts if
I hadn't made some powerful enemies, perhaps being heir to 500 generations of St Bleyth ninjas or whatever, has something to do with that. That said, I still wouldn't miss the drifts. I'm looking forward to being a Captain Jann, and saying to any drift-bound spaceer, “I sailed 'em in my youth – better you than me”.
In any event, Sar Nil, seemed to fit right in with both the old gang and my new, younger drifteer crew members. Birds of a feather.
Somewhat to my (pleasant) surprise, everyone turned up when it came time to sail, including Rafe.
'Well, Willy, you've given me a chance to sample retirement,' he explained when I welcomed him back. 'Constina's a nice world. Reminds me of home. But I think I'll put off becoming a groundeer for a little while longer. And after being away for a while, I think I can put up with you a bit longer.'
'I appreciate that, Rafe. I truly do...'
03
We had a banquet for Myes and Nadde while we were awaiting our last boxes, two days before we fueled. I'd a bit of trouble getting Myes up to the ship for the banquet.
'What's the problem, Molaye?' I asked. 'Why is he so vague as to when he and Nadde can make it?'
'I believe he's afraid the banquet's just an excuse to get him aboard again so you can drug and shanghai him.'
'Drug and shanghai Myes? What sort of captain does he think I am?'
'I don't know. Maybe the sort who drugs and shanghaies spaceers.'
'Me? Neb, I'm the easiest going captain this side of Avalee.'
'Well you did shanghai Tallith Min – our owner no less.'
'I did not shanghai Min,' I shot back. 'You and bloody-everyone knows that. I merely enforced a binding Guild Contract. All perfectly legal and above board. And you know my reasons as well. Myes turned in his notice in plenty of time. He's a free man and I've already signed on his replacement. He's nothing to fear, from me anyway,' I added giving her a mock hard look. 'I think it's my hardnosed first mate he fears.'
She laughed and shook her head. 'I do everything by the Guild book. But never mind, leave it to me, I'll get them aboard and we'll have our banquet. And, just so you know, I'll turn a blind eye should you decide to drug their Mystwine.'
'I'd expect nothing less, First.'
She did get them up and we did have our feast, and I didn't drug their Mystwine. It did, in fact, turn into a long spaceer carouse. I stayed sober, as did Nadde and I flew them down to Constina after the party wound down. Myes was more or less asleep.
'You know, Nadde,' I said, as I glided towards the Leathport small craft field. 'I'm not a lifer. I'm looking to be a cha planter, sooner or later, and I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later, which is to say that I can understand, and indeed, approve of Haz being ready to give up knocking about the planets and drifts to settle down with a catch like you.'
She gave me a questioning look. 'So?'
'So, when I say that I'd be quite willing to sign both you and Haz as a team, it's not that I'm so much as suggesting you should, but well, just bring up the possibility. If you'd like the opportunity to sample the spaceer life, you'd always be welcome to sail on the Starry Shore. I'd have brought this up sooner, but I figured you've a life here and probably would not want to just blast off on such short notice, and well, I thought I'd best give you guys time to settle into your partnership. A ship is a pretty small world without a lot of privacy. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I could use an apprentice environmental engineer. Kylan is only doing the job as a favor to me. So if Haz here should get a bit restless, you'd be more than welcome to join us...'
'You're thinking he'll be getting restless. I gather, he's tried settling down before, and always turns up a few months later.'
'That has been the case to date. But I don't think he's ever found anyone like you and he'd be a fool to leave you. I believe things will work out. If he's really ready to settle down, you're always welcome to come up for a visit when we're in orbit. I promise I won't shanghai either of you. But if he's not quite ready yet, well, I've known Haz for twenty years now and think you've got a good man in Haz. So if you're willing to follow him should the old fool get restless, I just want you to know you'd be welcome aboard, even if it’s just for a voyage or two now and again. We can always find jobs for an engineer, and well, we're pretty much a family affair – a big planet trader – so you could sign on just for a voyage. We'll be swinging around to Constina twice a year now.'
'Thank you, Captain. Fair enough. I'll keep that in mind.'
04
We departed three days later for our first circuit collecting boxes on the planets of Blynesta, Barvene, and Baidora before heading out, this time down the Myzar drift in the direction of Zilantre to the drift stations of Kinter's Rock and Shindow, the drift world of Yentri and then on to old Plyra before returning to Constina. A six moth run.
I didn't press Grandmama on just where the boxes we carried were ultimately bound for, but I'd little doubt that most were bound for one St Bleyth chapter house or another. With their home world a closely guarded secret, their outside installations are likely supplied from the Unity, goods purchased with their ill-gotten gains. I've become enough of a drifteer not to let that bother me. Nevertheless, I still have very little regard for St Bleyth in general and none for the way they make their outside living. I make an exception for Grandmama, blood being thicker than water, but the less I have to do with the Order, the better – says the captain of the ship that has become a small, but integral part in their supply chain.
I was not entirely dependent on the Order, since I was able to add half as many more boxes from the various planets and stations I called on. Boxes that had either missed their connections, or were from small importer/exporter operations. I hadn't quite sold my soul to St Bleyth.
I signed Myes back aboard with Nadde as our apprentice environmental engineer upon our arrival back in Constina. For a voyage or two anyway, just to give Nadde a sample of the spaceer life, they claimed. Maybe longer if she took to it. I'd already assured Sar Nil that he was a permanent member of the crew regardless of what Myes did, assuming he wanted to stay on – which he did – so the tentative nature of Myes and Nadde's commitment didn't bother me. It doesn't hurt to have a few more people than regulations require, especially when they fit in so comfortably. (Our share of the Azurete salvage was waiting for us on arrival, so I'll not have to economize on crew and wages for several hundred years.)
'It's actually Nadde's idea,' explained Myes. 'I was enjoying working downside on Constina. Nadde said she could land me a berth with Re'Tze, but I'm too canny for that. I've done enough heavy work in a space suit to know that wasn't for me. I landed a berth repairing taxi fliers. A word of advice, Skipper – take the tube if you value your life. At least on Constina.
'Anyway, I'd get to yarning about my life in space, and she got to thinking it was all so exciting and romantic. I told her she could sample it for herself, if she had a mind too. I was happy putting fliers back together again, but she said we had a berth aboard the old Starry Shore. And well, here we are.'
'And it's good to have you back. I'm sure Nadde will fit in. I expect to have the Jardinn run for years, so you can sail with us or take time off whenever you want. You've the credits now.'
Now, if I had an owner going over my books after every voyage, I couldn't have been that free and easy. But well, I didn't. And I don't expect to have an owner looking over my shoulder for many years. If ever. Min was not likely to give up her quest before it reached its end. Tenry and Vynnia's Patrol commission was an open ended one as well, so I felt like I could operate pretty much as master and owner of the Starry Shore. And with the payment of the Azurete salvage claim, I'd produced half a lifetime's profit for my absent owner already. And with a steady income from Grand mama’s business, I needn't pinch credits. So in addition to signing on Myes and Nadde, I distributed 1/12th of the ship's share of the Azurete salvage equally among the crew members involved in the salvage. Distributing a share of the salvage fee was not a
Guild requirement, but was often awarded by your more generous owners and a 1/12th share was not uncommon. However, given the amount of the salvage, I suspect most owners would have distributed less than 1/12th. Still, I didn't think Min would scrimp, and I knew they'd earned it many times over, and not just with the Azurete salvage either, so it seemed the right thing to do. Of course, I was also giving myself a share of that 1/12th as well, so my motives were not free of self-interest. But then, I'd earned it too. 1/1728th of a treasure ship was enough credits to have Molaye and I pretty optimistic about owning a Crimson Comet z33 – one that was in one piece, as well. Each. Botts objected to its share, saying it'd no need of credits, but I insisted.
'Stash the CreditTokens in one of your access ports. You never know when you'll find yourself on some world with the natives close on your trail with pitchforks and sledgehammers. A few credits might well buy you a passage to safety,' I replied.
'I rather think that's a remote possibility,' it replied.
'We've both survived enough remote possibilities, Botts, to know remote possibilities are not necessarily all that remote in the Neb. Take the credits,' I replied. 'That's an order.'
'Aye, Captain.'
If Botts was what it claimed to be, they'd likely do it no good. But I was far from convinced that Botts wasn't just being coy claiming to be a mere class 8 machine. If Botts was indeed a sentient machine, it could use the credits should it ever find itself adrift some day, hopefully, in the far future.
05
Our second circuit took us around the Amdia system once again collecting boxes and then up the Myzar drift to the familiar ports of Carivon, Hendin and Shantien, Coris and Ravin before heading back to Constina. It was, as promised, every bit as lucrative and uneventful as the Lost Star's Azminn circuits. The only difference was that we'd fewer ports of call and longer runs between them. The uneventful nature of our work lasted until our second visit to Ravin. We'd not stirred up any ghosts on our first visit, but weren't so lucky on our second.