Milk Run (Smuggler's Tales From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1) (10 page)

“Where are you going to store it?”

“Under my bunk if I need to, but I think there’s room in the utility closet.”

Zoya shook her head but she had an amused smile on her lips.

Chapter 9
Dark Knight Station: 2363, May 27

A narrow passage led them deeper into the station. The scent of industrial soap wafted in the air, a bit too floral and a bit too sharp. Natalya heard voices behind some of the partitions but nothing she could make out. One of the overhead lights buzzed as they walked under it, the sound fading behind as they walked deeper.

“How far is it, do you think?” Zoya asked.

“Feels like we’re almost back at Main Street, doesn’t it?”

Zoya gave a short laugh. “Much further and I’ll be looking for Margaret Newmar.”

They stopped outside the first door they came to. A small, hand-painted sign at eye-level read “You made it.”

“What the ...?” Zoya muttered.

Natalya stepped back, looked at the door, and laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“The door is the sign.”

Zoya blinked and shook her head. “I don’t—oh.”

What had looked like whorls and patterns up close resolved itself into a sweeping map with the letters spelling out “Cartography” in the rivers and mountains.

Zoya smiled but the frown remained. “We could have walked right by without spotting it.”

Natalya shot her a look. “I think that’s the point.”

“Heck of a way to run a business.”

“You’re not thinking like a Toe-Holder,” Natalya said and tried the knob. The door opened at her touch and they stepped into a fairyland.

When the door swung closed behind them, it left them standing in shadowed darkness. Brightly colored maps—each with its own spotlight—decorated the bulkheads. Some had elaborate frames, a few no frame at all. A fanciful orrery with more than a dozen planets on ovals of silver wire floated without apparent support, its primary a glowing and shifting golden ball. Aromatic smoke wafted from somewhere. A deep-throated chanting filled the space and vibrated Natalya’s diaphragm yet never resolved enough for her to make out whether the sounds were voices, instruments, digital constructions, or all of the above.

Beside her, Zoya said “Wow.”

Natalya drifted toward the nearest bulkhead to peer at the chart displayed there. “This one’s St. Cloud. I’ve been there. Gorgeous place. Great beaches.”

“I’ve visited,” Zoya said. “This one’s Port Newmar. It’s a much fancier version of the charts we used on the academy cutter.”

The sound faded into the background as they moved languidly from chart to chart along the walls. Natalya felt her heartbeats slowing to match the dull thumps of some deep bass drum.

“Can I help you?”

The woman’s rich alto blended so well with the chorus of voices and instruments that it didn’t register with Natalya right away. She looked toward the counter that spanned the back of the compartment and blinked her eyes several times. She felt as if she might be waking from a dream. “I hope so,” she said, her voice sticky in her throat. “We need charts.”

The woman behind the counter all but glowed. Her skin reflected the dim light as if she stood in a spotlight of her own. Even her hair glowed white and lustrous. She wore a halter top with straps that disappeared behind her neck over a lacy under-blouse that traced patterns down her arms to the wrist. She smiled. “You’ve come to the right place.”

“We’re looking for Inky,” Natalya said.

“You’ve found Inge Sonjasdottir. Some find it amusing to call me Inky.” She held her arms out in an odd pose and spun gracefully in place. What Natalya had seen as a lacy top were intricate and colorful tattoos. Her entire torso appeared to be covered, the patterns disappearing under her top and down her back to her waistband.

Natalya found herself leaning over the narrow counter to see more closely. “That’s amazing.”

Inge smiled. “That’s several decades of work, but you need charts.”

“Bobo sent us,” Zoya said, her voice blurting in the soft sounds of gongs and tinkling chimes.

Inge froze. Her gaze sought Zoya’s face and she stared. Hard. “Bobo? Is he here?” she asked after several moments.

Natalya shared a glance with Zoya before answering. “Yes. Where else would he be?”

The woman’s face could have been carved from marble. “Who are you and why are you here?”

Natalya held up her hands, palm out. “Easy. We need an astrogation update for Toe-Hold space. Verkol Kondur send us over and told us to say Bobo sent us.”

Her face, so smooth and cold, seemed to melt. “Why would he do that?” She looked like she might cry.

“Who’s Bobo?” Zoya asked.

“Oh, nobody.” Inge shook her head and waved her hands in front of her face as if to bat away the incense. “It was a pet name for somebody I haven’t seen in decades.”

Natalya stiffened. “Demetri Regyri.”

Inge stared at Natalya. “Yes, but how did you know?”

“I’m his daughter.”

“Natalya, of course.” Her voice barely registered over the temple gong sounds still rumbling in the background. “How is he?”

“Fine, I think. I haven’t seen him for a while. He’s back here in Toe-Hold space somewhere.”

“And you’re flying his old
Peregrine
?” she asked.

Natalya nodded.

“I heard that a scout had docked. I had no idea it was Demetri’s ship.”

“Mine now. He gave it to me when I went away to school.”

Inge’s eyes narrowed a bit and she tilted her head a few degrees to the left. She looked back and forth between Zoya and Natalya. “Port Newmar?”

Natalya shrugged. “It’s a good school.”

“Yes, it is.” Inge smiled. She pulled a data chip from under the counter, holding it out to Natalya. “Toe-Hold updates.”

Natalya took the drive and tucked into a sleeve pocket. “Thanks. What do I owe you?”

Inge shook her head. “Nothing. Updates are free. Just let me know if you find anything that needs changing.”

“Nothing?” Natalya asked. “How can you stay in business?”

Inge’s gaze swept the gallery of charts around the wall before she looked back at Natalya. “What do you think my business is?”

Natalya laughed at herself. “Of course. I should have seen it.”

“Sometimes we look too hard and miss the obvious,” Inge said. “It happens.”

“You said this was an update,” Zoya said. “We didn’t see any Toe-Hold stations on our navigation systems.”

Inge shrugged. “
Peregrine
has a full set. Or at least she did.”

“I know we must have had them,” Natalya said. “I remember using them now that you mention it.”

“It’s not likely he threw them away,” Inge said. “They’re probably just suppressed because you were flying in CPJCT space and didn’t need them. Demetri had a pass phrase that he used all the time. Something about love.”

“The important thing is to be in love with something,” Natalya said.

Inge nodded. “Yes, that’s it.” Her focus turned inward for a moment and a gentle memory seemed to stir her face. “I always teased him about it because it sounded cold and distant. I thought it should be someone, not something.”

Natalya laughed. “I asked him the same thing once. He just shook his head and changed the subject.”

“Yes,” Inge said. “That’s Demetri. Try rebooting the navigation system with that as pass phrase. If that chip is mounted, the update cycle should trigger.”

Natalya nodded. “Thanks. I’ll poke about and see what I can find.”

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Inge asked.

“Thank you, Inge. It was nice to meet somebody who knows my father from before.”

Inge smiled. “And lovely to meet you both. Call again. Any time.”

Natalya led Zoya back into the cramped passageway and blinked in the brighter lights.

“That was different,” Zoya said as they walked back toward the chandlery.

“At least.” Natalya sighed. “Makes me wonder what my old man was up to here before he got old.”

“You really want to know?” Zoya asked, a laugh in her voice.

Natalya shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe not.” She paused before pushing the door open and looked back at Zoya. “She seemed nice.”

Zoya shook her head. “She seemed a little weird to me.”

“Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive, are they?”

“I guess not. She’s really talented, though. Those charts are works of real art.”

“They are that.” Natalya pushed through the door and they headed out of the chandlery, back down the long walk to the ship. “We should be almost tanked up by now and they should deliver our replenishment order shortly. Let’s see if we can get the navigation updates done before that.”

“Anything else we need to do before we leave?”

“Nothing I know of.”

“No flight plans?”

“Nope. And given the job for Kondur, it’s just as well,” Natalya said.

Chapter 10
Dark Knight Station: 2363, May 27

Natalya rebooted the navigation system with her father’s favorite phrase. “That’s disappointing,” Natalya said.

Zoya looked over her shoulder to see “Incorrect entry. Try again.” flashing on the screen. “We know one thing,” she said. “At least there is one. Any idea what it might be?”

Natalya pondered for a moment before typing “Natalya.”

The error message returned.

“Can you look it up from the backside?” Zoya asked.

Natalya shook her head. “Already looked. Encrypted and we don’t have time to crack it.”

“Are you sure it’s something you know?”

“Not really. I didn’t make up my mind to come to Toe-Hold space until last stanyer. He might not have realized I’d want the charts.”

“How long did he have the ship?”

“Not sure. I know he had it before I was born.”

“So he brought it back from Toe-Hold space before that. What’s your mother’s name?”

Natalya typed “Charlotte.”

The error message returned.

“Suppose we can get a full chart load from Inge?” Zoya asked.

“Probably, but if it loads it over the old one, it might just stay hidden.” Natalya bit her lip and pondered. “What did Inge say her last name was?”

“Sonnysdottir?”

Natalya shook her head. “Close.” She typed “Inge Sonjasdottir.”

The system ruminated for a moment before redisplaying the error message.

Natalya groaned. “It shouldn’t be this hard.”

Zoya sighed. “I’m stumped. Suppose it’s just Inge?”

Natalya tried it with no luck.

The lock-call chimed.

“That’ll be our delivery,” Natalya said. “Would you get it?”

“Sure thing. Where do you want the extra coffee?”

“Just put it in my stateroom for the moment. We’ll sort it out later.”

“Aye, aye.” Zoya headed for the lock.

Natalya pulled up the station net and found Inge Sonjasdottir’s contact. She fired off a message and then checked the status on the tankage before going aft. She found two stacks of coffee tubs, a few cases of foodstuffs, a case of spare parts, and Zoya thumbing the receipt for the goods.

“We got it all?”

Zoya nodded. “Everything we ordered and then some. When did you order parts?”

“While we were looking up the chandlery. I kicked a spares inventory update and tagged the replenishment to the tankage.” She grabbed a case of food and headed aft to the walk-in. “Gimme a hand with this and we’ll be ready to rumble as soon as I figure out how to unlock the Toe-Hold database.”

Zoya followed her with another case of frozen food. “You know, I can cook. A little.”

Natalya looked over her shoulder. “I can, too, but realistically, we can be almost anywhere in the Western Annex in less than three standard days. Most places less than one. I just wanted food we could grab and eat until we get docked.” Natalya pulled the latch on the walk-in and dropped the case on an empty shelf.

Zoya looked around. “You think you got enough?”

Natalya chuckled. “Well, CPJCT regs said I needed ninety days’ worth. It’s a good habit to get into and I was a bit short.” She surveyed the shelves. “I’ll need to rotate some of this stock. Something to do while we’re underway.”

They stowed the remaining food and Natalya stacked the extra coffee in her stateroom before securing the spare parts in the engineering cubby.