“Well, I shouldn't say more than I have already, but I know for sure that it has something to do with Vindyne tech.”
“Like the stasis pods on the slave train?” Asked Agameg.
“Uh-huh.”
“But there were no biological readings. It must be heavy equipment or something,” Finn added.
“That might explain why it took us eight days in hyperspace and extra time to set up. He's cherry picking,” Douglas said. “It must be a pretty good haul. I smell bonus.”
“I wouldn't assume extra profit,” Agameg replied. He looked much more relaxed. “When we entered the cargo train and saw all those Vindyne stasis pods Captain Valance had a very strong reaction. I would assume he has personal business involving Vindyne. Perhaps they are a subsidiary of Regent Galactic.”
“Well, I've heard a lot about the privateering days from Stephanie. Enough to know that big equipment means a big payday. Either way, we'll find out what's in those containers or we won't. It's not our job to know everything. Besides, I trust Captain's judgement. If we don't need to know, we don't need to know,” Ashley concluded sleepily.
The conversation came to a gentle stop just then. No one was willing to argue that point with her.
Spoils
“How's the Samson Captain?” Stephanie asked as she met Jake in the cargo train management center. It was more elaborate than the one aboard the Vesuvius. Made for longer trains with more mass and complex systems, there was a control ring with positions for two crewmembers. The ring included several control panels and displayed the general status of the interior and exterior of the cargo train through two large holograms.
As ordered Stephanie had only checked the general status so they knew they wouldn't have any problems hauling the cargo off into hyperspace.
“The Samson will survive, as usual. We got away with three small holes, one really big hole. We lost five crew all told, four of them were new.”
“It could have been worse. Do I know the seasoned crewman we lost?”
“It was Feretti.”
“Ah, I don't think they'll miss him in the berth. I hear he stunk the place up pretty bad.”
“He kept his section in pretty good shape. I'm getting tired of training new people,” Jake said as he stepped into the center of the control system and turned the main console on.
“Captain, I've got to know, why so tight lipped about this haul?”
“You know it's Vindyne military gear.”
“Yes, but there's a lot more to it. I've never seen you go through so much trouble verifying a capture. We went almost two weeks out of our way.”
“When there was a much easier capture just a day away.”
“An unarmed hauler, right.”
“Well, for one, this hauler doesn't carry supplies,” he said casually as he brought up the holographic display of the cargo. “These are Marauder class Corvettes. This train contains thirty.”
Stephanie looked at the three meter long hologram of the cargo train outside of the command ring. She couldn't believe her eyes. “They were transporting warships? Why not just fly them individually?”
“When Regent Galactic bought parts of Vindyne they didn't arrange for crews on each vessel. That area of space is in chaos, there are power vacuums everywhere. It's worse than war in that area of space, dozens of solar systems are collapsing. Getting a trustworthy crew together is pretty hard.”
“So they crew one armed hauler and hide the corvettes inside. You're right Captain, this is worth a fortune. You're going to be a hero all over again.”
“That's the plan but whoever crews these won't be thanking me. Aside from solid shielding and an easy to clean interior these ships are cheaply made, cramped and slow.”
“You've served on one sir?”
“I don't know, but I remember them somehow. I can't stand the look of them, but they're familiar. The manifest says these ships were sold as is, so I'm hoping Vindyne didn't get a chance to wipe their databases.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Any records referring to the First Light or her Captain. Oomal said she met me at Zingara station before I started captaining the Samson. That's right inside Vindyne space. I might have friends out there, allies.”
“Maybe a ship?”
“I'm not getting my hopes up. Whatever happened to me was severe. It might have been so bad that I don't want to remember.”
“But you need to know.”
“Exactly, and if anyone knows how I could find my daughter or what she's running from, it would be other people from my past.”
“And in the meantime this privateering is going to make you so popular that she'll know exactly where to meet you.”
“Right. Those are my plans. As for the crew, I think they have one hell of a bonus coming. Just don't inform them yet. I don't know what our allies can afford to pay for these.”
“Did you ever think of taking one? The Samson's a great ship for her size, but she's ageing and we've been going after some serious targets.”
“I don't know why exactly, but even though I know there's good technology aboard, I don't trust these Marauders. I get this mental image of hull plating that's just a couple centimetres thick under all that energy shielding,” he shuddered and started the computer core activation sequence on the Marauder Corvettes. “One big EMP and you're left with nothing but a flimsy hull.”
“Right, in that case forget I asked. No wonder Vindyne fell apart.”
“That won't stop me from stealing several power amplifiers and materializers. That'll have to wait for tomorrow, it'll take nine hours for the computer cores to finish loading up. They're completely cold.”
Just Visiting
The Blue Skipper was built around a very old fashioned concept. The designers had made the ship so it had as much cargo space as possible within a one hundred fifty meter long frame. The vessel was made to carry relatively small amounts of precious cargo, not to haul a long train of containers even though it did have the standard hookups as an afterthought. The hull was shaped as though it was made of large square blocks. The six engines had been retracted so the ship could fit into the landing bay, they were the only round parts to the vessel.
The bulky appearance and grey hull suited her owner perfectly. Bruce wasn't a complicated man, and he believed in the merits of dedication, hard work and little else.
One huge armour plate had been removed from the lower port side engine and Alice could hear someone rattling around inside as she approached. She hesitated for a long moment.
“You've come all this way. No backing out now,” Lewis coaxed through her subdermal communicator.
“Not now Lewis,” she replied mentally. It was her memory of him, the quiet times they spent together and the life she enjoyed with him for just a few months. Ara Enormis wasn't a place she'd choose to call home, but in a short time she had made friends there, found acceptance, had even played the hero once when raiders went after a large convoy and she drove them off. Alice had also fallen in love.
Bruce's head came up out of the engine compartment. His blond brow was furrowed, his shoulder length wavy hair was a mess and he was stripped to the waist. He was frustrated with whatever difficulties he was having down there. At first he didn't notice her, then she stepped forward.
He noticed her, his grey blue eyes looked her up and down then locked with hers. For a moment he still
