Chapter 25
By the time Ayan, Laura, Victor and Jenny were outside the makeshift warehouse there was a heavy hulled, pristine black shuttle waiting for them in the small courtyard. None of them had heard it land. A man in a stiff grey business suit and knee length white coat waited beside the side hatch. When they drew near he bowed and gestured them inside. Ayan couldn’t help but notice there was a severe looking stun discharger up his coat sleeve.
The interior could only be described as luxurious. It was tall enough for everyone to stand full height, but no one would want to. The seating inside was well cushioned, set in a long oval and made for casual conversation. The greeter didn’t join them, but closed the door from the outside. As soon as the hatch closed the environment system cleaned the air, scrubbing it free of the grease and trash odours of the open air landing fields.
“Never been in anything like this before,” Victor muttered, trying to get comfortable on seating that was meant for softer passengers. The body armour just seemed to get in the way no matter what he did.
Jenny’s solution was more demure. Instead of trying to lay back and get comfortable, she sat up straight with her hands on her knees. “Nope, can’t say I’ve ever known people rich enough to have one. The Clever Dream is pretty close though, as far as creature comforts go.”
As much as Ayan wanted to lounge, her focus was on something else. “So, what do you know about Patrizia Salustri, Vic?”
“Well, she was pretty well known around Pandem. She used to drop in on the hot spots to entertain herself, being a pretty big celebrity criminal she drew a lot of attention. She’s probably the best known pirate in the sector.”
“You mean privateer, right?” Laura asked.
“No, pirate. When the Carthans gave her a pardon a couple years ago as part of her privateering agreement, it was a huge deal. She hit everything if you believe the hype, but I think she mostly went after big cargo haulers. I heard about her holding a few yachts for ransom though, so she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. If you were a hauler Captain or well-to-do, the last thing you wanted to see was the Morte Lenta. I don’t think most of the stories about her taking on passenger liners are true, they were probably just morons who said they were part of her crew, fleecing the travellers for everything they had then sabotaging the engines so they could make a clean getaway,” Victor finished bitterly.
“Were you unlucky enough to get robbed?”
“Noooo,” Victor said, his warding hands waving for emphasis. “I just hate people who rob regular travellers. Especially if they’re saying they’re affiliated with someone who has too much class to do it. But they loved her on the holonets. I mean, she’s from an old Earth European family who came out with the late settlers and made a career as a pirate. I mean, that’s what some of my favourite holomovies are made of.”
“She was never caught?”
“Sure, but she’s smart. There was never any actual footage of her doing anything. Even most of her crew were slippery. Until the Carthans actually pardoned her for God only knows how many criminal acts in their territory so she would sign a privateering agreement, no one could prove she’d done a thing.”
“Other than the piracy, she doesn’t sound so bad.”
“There were murder charges,” Jenny added. “I remember now, that’s one of the reasons her pardon was such a big deal. It wasn’t just the company losses that would never get repaid.”
“Yup, they were there, but it never got to a court room, so no one knows if the murder charges are legitimate.”
“Oh, come on! Years in piracy and theft, outside of the law and you don’t think she killed anyone?” Jenny questioned harshly.
“I didn’t say that. I only said they never got to prove it one way or another.”
“You’re hung up on her looks.”
“That has nothing to do with it.”
“She gets a pass because you fancy her, if she looked like most career pirates, there’s no way you’d have a doubt in your mind that she’s killed at least a few people for money.”
“Maybe she did, who knows?”
Jenny regarded Ayan and Laura then. “She has a reputation for being severe when people turn on her. No one ever testified against her, or turned up with independently sourced evidence. To me, that says there are a lot of people who are so afraid of her that they wouldn’t dare speak against her.”
“Then she’s probably a perfect fit for Tamber, from what I’m seeing. I wonder how she ended up with land here?” Ayan asked idly.
“Good question, I don’t think we really want to know. Sounds like the kind of knowledge that could get someone disappeared,” Jenny said quietly.
“So, what do you think of me trying to strike a bargain with this woman?”
“Well, if the crime bosses are taking over in this city, then she might be the one you want to side with,” Victor said. “But be careful. If someone like Patrizia Salustri is interested in speaking with you…”
“Then she probably wants something,” Ayan finished with a nod.
“Remember, we’re playing with a pretty full deck, Ayan.” Laura reassured. “You have a whole fighter wing, the Clever Dream, and six other serviceable ships. Some need more work than others, but that’s a lot more than I think a lot of people here seem to have.”
Ayan watched the oldest of the city buildings, brick and brown concrete structures, go by as the shuttle slowed down. “It’s strange hearing you say ‘I have them,’ all this is getting more complicated by the second. Not to mention strange. All of a sudden I’m the owner of my own fleet and it’s up to the four of us to solve the biggest problems as quick as we can. Now I think we’re about to sit down with a crime boss who’s been at it for longer than I think anyone here knows.” They passed the city and the shuttle picked up speed over the jungle tree tops.
“Just remember how many people you have backing you.”
“How can I forget? They’re sitting in the Dower Wastes right now, depending on us to get them a safe place to park.”
The shuttle stopped and Ayan looked behind her as the hatch opened and the ramp way extended. They had arrived at what she could only describe as a beach side villa. Behind the grand four storey, terracotta roofed house was a tall cave. It had been blocked off with massive armoured accordion doors several metres in, and from the wavering light in front, she could tell there was some kind of energy shielding. Other hatches in the mountainside hid fixtures she would have loved to know more about, but decided to concentrate on getting down the ramp in front of her onto the tall terrace.
The patio ran the width of the lowest level of the main house, and was bricked with fortified yellow quartz, to blend in with the glittering natural white and brown quartz sand on the beach. There were several ironwork tables and chairs, padded deck seating in front of the tan brick and mortar villa. It was as though Ayan had stepped onto a holomovie set, she hadn’t spent enough time on well settled worlds to know if bricked houses were normal, though she’d seen plenty of them in holomovies from different eras. She’d seen more movies with characters that lived in fabricated homes, however, and she could only assume that hand crafted buildings came at a much higher price.
She wasn’t certain whether or not she was looking at a rich home until she caught a glimpse of Victor and Jenny’s faces. They were in absolute awe. The man in the white coat emerged from the front of the shuttle before it soundlessly rose back into the sky, and he invited them with a gesture before walking into the villa through a thick wooden door.
Ayan just took the place in for a moment, looking down the stairs to the beach where there was a small area with a bubbling pool, a pair of shower poles. Then there was the beach. The last time she’d seen that much water she was on Pandem, and it was from afar. From where she sat on the terrace, she could hear the waves, and in only twenty steps she’d be at the water’s edge. Crystal blue water extended from the shore line all the way to the horizon, and she couldn’t remember seeing anything that looked more cool or pure. She could have sat there
