AGU SCI 1: The Star Brotherhood (11 page)

"Well, yeah. I wanted it to be fresh. I didn't have to kill it though. The butcher did that. When we got back to the ship, I gutted it and set the glands aside, then skinned it. After it was cleaned, I put everything in the food preserver. Then yesterday, I dragged it all out and began preparing it. If no one likes it, Vyx is going to have to eat the whole thing."

"Gahhh!" Kathryn said.

"Then let me get started," Vyx said, as he took one of the larger steaks and spooned some of the gravy onto it.

Everyone watched expectantly as Vyx cut a piece off the steak, held it to his nose and breathed deeply to enjoy the aroma, then smiled and popped the morsel into his mouth. As he began chewing, all eyes were watching for his reaction.

Suddenly, Vyx stopped chewing and a horrible expression crossed his face. His fork clattered on the dinnerware as he dropped it and grabbed at his throat with both hands. As a horrible strangling noise issued from his mouth, everyone at the table jumped up, knocking over drinks and spilling food from platters.

Then, just as suddenly, Vyx smiled, picked up his fork, and resumed eating. "Excellent, Albert, excellent."

Everyone at the table just stared in shock, then realized it was a joke and began laughing. As they picked up glasses and straightened the food dishes, Brenda slapped Vyx lightly on the back of his head.

"You scared me half to death," Brenda said.

"Sorry," Vyx said with a smile, "I couldn't resist. You were all looking at me like you expected me to spit it out, so I tried to give you what you anticipated."

Everyone laughed again, then began filling their plates with food, including Tarlovo steaks.

No one said anything for several minutes as they chewed a piece of steak and then another, all copiously covered with gravy.

Kathryn was the first to speak. "I can't believe this is Tarlovo, but I was there when Albert bought it. It's delicious."

"I don't believe it," Nelligen said. "You swapped it with something else. Is this Terran pork?"

"No, it's Tarlovo," Byers said, "and it's magnificent. If you don't believe it, I can show you the head. It's still in the food preservation locker. You know, I can't wait to try the recipe for Wernallo now. That's something else I swore I'd never eat again."

"If no one likes the Tarlovo," Vyx said, "I'll be happy to eat the whole animal, although it may take me a few days."

No one responded because they were all too busy eating.

Several times in the ensuing months, the DeTect system announced contact with another ship, but it was always a distant contact and never represented any threat.

There were no other ships at the rendezvous point when the
Scorpion
arrived. Of course, given the vastness of space, it was difficult to pinpoint an exact location, but the DeTect system wasn't seeing anyone within four billion kilometers. The date was correct, so Vyx transmitted an encrypted message on the frequency given to him, using the appropriate encryption code. The computer would resend the message every twelve hours until it was told to cancel the transmissions. Then it was simply a matter of waiting to hear something back.

With little to do, Vyx and Brenda engaged in their favorite pastime, relaxing in each other's arms while reading their favorite literature. With Vyx it was classic works from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, while Brenda could never get her fill of poetry from the same eras. The
Scorpion's
computer offered almost the full range of work from those periods, so the pair never lacked for something to read.

Two days later the
Scorpion
received an encrypted message that used the correct recognition codes. When it was decoded, it gave a triangulated position for a new rendezvous using current position coordinates of several suns. Vyx entered a new course and engaged FTL, then dropped the ship's FTL envelope an hour later and used the sub-light engines to close with a freighter that appeared to be maxed out at ten kilometers in length.

Normal radio frequencies were so slow that they had to travel for years before anyone intercepted them, but they were perfect for ship-to-ship communications when the ships were in close proximity. Even if the parties chose to talk in the clear— that is, 'without encryption'— they'd be long gone before anyone intercepted the signals and came to investigate. IDS-band communications were used for long-distance communications because the signal traveled at 0.0513 light-years each minute.

"Respond on any RF frequency between three and thirty megahertz," Vyx broadcast on all frequencies in the high frequency bandwidth range as the
Scorpion
came to a stop relative to the freighter.

"Open your cargo bay and prepare to unload your cargo," came back.

"Not so fast. You'll have to send someone over to verify that the seals haven't been broken or tampered with before we unload the containers."

"Unnecessary. We'll perform that step while we're loading the cargo."

"No, you'll send someone over with the authority to verify the seals are intact before I even open my bays. I'm not going to be responsible if one of your loaders gets clumsy and breaks a seal."

"It's unnecessary. We'll know if the seals are intact as we begin to transfer the cargo."

"Send someone over as I've requested or I leave now,
with
the cargo."

Vyx waited for a response for two full minutes. When none came, he transmitted, "I'm powering up and leaving the area. Make sure none of your people get in the way."

"Wait, dammit. We're trying to get permission from the Captain. He went to the head just before you arrived."

"Very well, I'll give you five more minutes before I leave the area."

Four minutes later, Vyx heard, "We're sending over a team to verify that the seals are intact."

"Confirmed," Vyx said. "Use the forward larboard side airlock."

When the shuttle from the freighter arrived and the airlock seal had been verified, Vyx opened the hatch. Standing next to him were Byers and Nelligen. All three were wearing side arms.

The first crewman in the access tube was also wearing a sidearm, as were the other four behind him.

Vyx put up his hand and said, "Hold it right there. One armed man can come aboard, or all of you can come aboard if you leave all weapons behind."

"What kind of nonsense is this?" the Terran crewmember at the fore said.

"My ship— my rules. Take it or leave it."

"What if we decide to leave it?"

"Then I leave with the cargo."

The freighter crewman scowled and removed his holster, then handed it to the man behind him, saying, "Leave your weapons in the shuttle, men."

When there were no more weapons in sight, Vyx allowed the five crewmen to enter the
Scorpion
. Byers led the way to the cargo bay. At the first cross-corridor, the freighter crewmen were surprised to see Brenda and Kathryn on either side, both armed with laser pistols and lattice rifles, and holding their rifles at the ready.

Turning towards Vyx, the crewman in charge of the group said, "You don't take any chances, do you?"

"Being careful keeps me and my crew alive," Vyx said.

"And a nice crew it is," the leader replied looking at the women. "Part of it, anyway."

"The only thing that concerns you is straight ahead. Keep walking or turn around and leave my ship."

The freighter crewmen spent twenty minutes checking and verifying that every seal on all four containers was intact and there was no sign of tampering. When they were done, the lead said, "Okay, you pass. I'm satisfied the seals are intact and no one has messed with the containers."

Vyx held out a viewpad and said, "Put your right thumb on the face and repeat that statement."

"We don't sign for cargo until it's loaded."

"You're not signing for the cargo. You're simply stating that when the containers left my ship the seals were intact and there were no signs of tampering. After you've loaded the cargo, I'll need a statement that you are in receipt of the cargo and everything was okay."

The lead took the viewpad and repeated his earlier words while his thumb was in contact with the viewscreen.

"Satisfied?" the lead asked.

"Fully. We'll escort you back to your shuttle and begin evacuation of the air in this bay so the outer doors can be opened. It will take about a GST hour."

"An hour?"

"It's a large bay. It's actually more than half the interior space of the ship. We can't open the doors until the pressure is equal inside and out."

"Well, make it fast."

"As fast as possible. I don't want to be hanging around here any longer than necessary."

An hour later, Nelligen and Byers were in the hold. The bay doors were wide open on the larboard side, and the two men were suited up in EVA suits and ready to release the first container when a small robotic tug arrived from the freighter. The small tugs were used for moving containers in space and were nothing like the large tugs required to bring containers up from a planet or deliver them down to a planetary surface.

As the free-floating container cleared the bay doors, the tug decided on the best way to attach itself and latched on. In minutes, the container was drifting towards the freighter, guided by the attached tug.

Vyx watched everything from the bridge. He had every one of the
Scorpion's
cameras running and watched for anyone trying to approach the ship from any direction. It was unlikely that the freighter crew would try to 'take' the small freighter by force with an outside attack, but when dealing with people performing illegal activities, it never hurt to be careful.

Seventy minutes after the first container was picked up, the fourth was ready to be taken away, but when the robotic tug arrived, it brought the first container back. Vyx immediately reached for the communications headset.

"What's the problem?" Vyx asked. "Are your refusing the cargo?"

"Not at all. We've transferred the cargo and are giving you back the empty container."

"I don't want your empties."

"The deal is that you return the emptied containers when you return to the planet."

"That wasn't part of the deal. My deal is to deliver four quarter-sized containers. Nothing was ever said about carting containers back."

"That's the way we operate. If you want to get paid, you'll bring the empties back. It's up to you."

"Alright, I'll bring the empties back, but tell your bosses there'll be an additional charge of fifty thousand credits."

"You tell them. We don't get involved. And we don't acknowledge receipt of the cargo until the empties are stored inside your ship. If you space them later, it's on your head. But I'd suggest you not do that. The people in charge would be very upset, and they're not the sort you want angry with you."

Vyx scowled and cut the com link.

Once all four of the empty containers were in the cargo bay and locked down, the great doors were closed and the atmosphere replaced from the enormous storage bottles. The captain of the freighter transmitted an electronic 'receipt of cargo' form and the
Scorpion's
business there was done.

Using the deuterium thrusters, the ship backed slowly away from the freighter. Once they were at a safe operating distance, the small freighter was turned, and sub-light engines were engaged while the envelope was built. Two minutes later, the sub-light engines were shut down and the FTL drive was engaged at Light-300. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief that the delivery was over. Vyx waited until they were out of DeTect range of the freighter and the monitor was clear of any other traffic, then applied full power to the FTL drive. He was anxious to be as far from the freighter as possible, and Light-487 would accomplish that. He'd had bad feelings about the whole deal since they'd arrived at the rendezvous area.

"Let's go check out those
empty
containers," Vyx said to the others. "Arm yourselves."

"Why?" Byers asked.

"In case we've brought aboard a Trojan horse or two."

"You don't think they intend to take over the
Scorpion
, do you?"

"I've been suspicious ever since five
armed
freight haulers tried to get aboard earlier today. Freight workers never wear weapons unless their ship has come under attack. Let's remember that we're dealing with criminals and smugglers, not ordinary law-abiding citizens."

"Yeah," Nelligen said. "That was kind of strange that they all wore side arms just to come over and check the seals."

"What do we do if they did smuggle someone aboard?" Kathryn asked.

"We treat them like what they are— pirates trying to commandeer this ship," Vyx said. "If they want a fight, we'll give it to them. We'll check the containers one at a time. Stay alert. The containers might look empty at first glance, but there may be false walls where people can hide."

"We could just depressurize the hold and leave it that way until we reach Bleadalto," Byers offered.

"If there are people aboard, they would have needed EVA suits just to guarantee survival from the freighter to the
Scorpion
. We have to check the containers thoroughly. Everyone ready?"

~ Oct. 8
^th
, 2288 ~

"No one in this one," Byers said as the three men entered the first container cautiously while the women covered their six from outside."

"Use the distance-measuring equipment to make sure there aren't any disguised hiding places," Vyx said, "and then the monitoring equipment to check for things like heartbeats or tracking devices."

When the measurements were complete, Nelligen reported that the inside was eighty-two centimeters smaller than the outside dimensions. "Of course, that could be attributed to the materials and reinforcement design used in construction of the container."

"It could also mean hidden areas for people or smuggled materials," Byers said.

"Possible, but a real stretch," Vyx said, "given the structural support requirements for the weight they were carrying. Okay, let's check the other three containers for obvious stowaways before we check out the walls of the containers.