Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework (27 page)

“Took out a converted customs corvette five
weeks ago,” Ruby said with a proud smile. “Didn’t get much from the
database since it was secured, but we did get a couple patrol
routes from their nav system. Took down an undermanned Galleon
next. There wasn’t enough to fly home when we were done, but my
cutters salvaged a bunch of weaponry from the wreck. Between that
and the customs corvette, we filled the Lazy Breeze’s storage train
up with weapons, Regent Galactic contraband, and xetima.”

“So everything on the Carthan no sale, no
trade list,” Minh-Chu said as the manifest continued to scroll to
the section highlighting luxuries manufactured by Regent Galactic.
“Must have been some Galleon.”

“She was the Stellar Prince. Her captain
signed up as freelance patrol and treated the job like a pleasure
cruise,” Lombardo said. “Right knobhead, he was. Ransomed him back
to-“

Ruby elbowed Lombardo, interrupting him.

“You’re in the right room,” Jake said.
“Talking to the right people. I don’t care how you’ve broken
Carthan law.”

“Well, we ransomed the survivors back to
their families. That worked out, mostly,” Ruby said. “Won’t bother
in the future though.”

“Well, I can tell you that the only thing I
want are the pair of particle accelerator beam sets you have listed
there. If I had more ready cash I’d buy a few things for the crew
from the Regent Galactic list, but that’s about it,” Jake said.

“This isn’t that kind of sales call,” Ruby
said. “But I’ll take a good offer on the P.A.B. pair and throw in a
few extras for your crew. Maybe a crisps machine?”

“Put it beside the slush machine when the
galley’s done,” Minh said, setting his almost empty drink on the
table.

“We’ll see,” Jake said.

Lombardo made eye contact with Minh-Chu and
nodded, offering a little smile.

“If we get caught selling any of this
stuff,” Ruby said, leaning back. “Our privateering contract gets
revoked. It’s worth a good packet in Galactic Currency, but not if
it’s just tossing about in a nebula flying in figure eight.”

“You want me to play salesman,” Jake
said.

Ruby shook her head, jingling her platinum
and gold necklaces as she leaned into the conversation. “You’ve put
a call out for captains to go fight the Order, to make their mark
and earn big for themselves. I’m making a prediction that they
won’t want to do that alone, and the first one they’ll come looking
for is you, clever devil. Before long you’ll have your own fleet,
and it may be like herding cats at first, but you’ll have an
organization before long. When these captains need supplies and
equipment of a volatile nature, there’s going to be a real
opportunity, especially for the things that they can’t just trade
for on the Mackey Exchange.”

Jake let the notion hang in the air, not
saying a thing, offering only the slowest of nods. Minh wanted to
explore the idea, to hear his half of the conversation, but had to
wait for Ruby to continue. She did.

“I don’t know where you’re going, mate, but
I see a ship that may be ugly on the inside and ready to go
regardless. I look around the Samson and can only come to the
conclusion that you’re hours away from taking off, even if most of
your crew have to bed down and eat in the cargo bay. Take us with
you – these runs are easier and safer with two.”

Jake’s eyebrow arched again, a smile forming
beneath. “How about we show you to a port that comes from inside
information. A port where freighters stop in for some R and R
before making the last big push to the Order worlds?”

“And we take down a target there?”

“And we both find targets,” Jake said. “This
isn’t my first time to the show.”

“I know, I checked your record,” Ruby said.
She was smiling back at Jake openly. “It took over a month for
Lombardo to get an answer back, but the Damelian government’s still
pretty grateful for your privateering days.”

“All this,” Lombardo said, gesturing to his
face and body. “And brains, too.”

For the first time that day, Minh saw Jake
laugh. He stood and offered Ruby his hand. “We leave tomorrow
night.”

“We’ll be ready,” Captain Sima said as she
stood and shook his hand.

“One more thing,” Jake said.

“Aye?”

“If you find any information on Lucius
Wheeler, Carl Burke, or Tamera Thurge, pass it to me and I’ll
reward you if it leads to making one of them a permanent resident
in my trophy case,” Jake said.

Ruby Sima looked at the four containment
tubes as if in an entirely new light. “If only I had so few
grudges.”

“Oh, I have one more,” Jake said. “But I
already know where Edward is, and he won’t be in a tube like this
after I catch up to him.”

“Poor Edward,” Lombardo said.

“Thank you, Captain Valent,” Ruby said.
“I’ll start readying my ship and settling business here. It’ll be
good to see the Samson off the ground.”

“You won’t,” Jake said before she could turn
away. “She’s being re-christened as the Warlord.”

Ruby only nodded once before leaving the
room. Minh-Chu waited until the hatch was firmly closed before
regarding Captain Valent. “Good meeting.”

“It was,” Jake said. “She’s right. There
will be other Captains looking to collaborate. I’m not the only one
who doesn’t like the way the Carthans are doing things.”

“I’m wondering what Ayan will think of all
this,” Minh said. A hint of something crossed Jake’s face. Was it
pain? Sadness? Disappointment? Whatever it was disappeared before
Minh could interpret it. “Things aren’t good.”

“Not right now,” Jake said. “No, she tore me
a new one and I think I had it coming.”

“What for?” Minh asked.

“I didn’t take her side in settling,” Jake
said. “And things got bitter. I’d like to think I owe Wheeler, and
whatever happened in that hotel for what she said, but in the end,
Ayan just went for the jugular. Hit pretty hard, too.”

“What did she say?” Minh asked.

Jake thought for a moment then sighed. “It
doesn’t matter. I need to talk to her again before I leave, check
the water and at least say goodbye. I may be a free agent after
that talk though.”

“Give it time, some space,” Minh-Chu said.
“You guys are still getting to know each other, and this fight is
just a bump in the road. Whatever she’s pissed at you about must be
off her chest, judging from the damage. It takes a lot to get you
down.”

“Good thing,” Jake said. “Looks like we have
permission to board the Triton.”

Minh-Chu’s comm unit chirped with the alert
after Jake finished saying it. “Wow, you’re really jacked in.”

“Not like I’ve ever been before,” Jake said,
“but I am. I hear communications like they’re spoken to me though,
not like mental pictures. When I touched that Carthan’s armour I
could see the circuitry, looked right past the software.”

“That’s how you were able to hit his kill
switch,” Minh said. “Because there’s gotta be some kind of code
protecting it, otherwise fighting a Carthan would be pretty
easy.”

“Yup, there was a code protecting it, so
there’s nothing I could have done to him wirelessly, but touching
the armour gave me access to the circuitry, and I just flipped the
switch.”

“So the framework is evolving,” Minh
said.

Jake held up his hand and flexed it into a
fist then relaxed it. “It started on that shuttle. I can take
control now, like I have an instinctive understanding, but I’m
having a problem with a modification I made. I feel stiff, like my
increased muscle density resists for a millisecond before going
into motion. It’s not the same with my heart or other important
bits, but it’s like I have to build momentum everywhere else.”

“Think you’ll be okay?” Minh asked.

Jake lowered his hand and nodded. “I think
so, but I’m wishing this came with a proper set of
instructions.”

“Ah, that reminds me,” Minh said. “Before we
go on this excursion, I have to tell you something about
Ashley.”

“You’re about to recruit her for some bunk
bumping?” Jake asked with a mischievous grin.

“What?” Minh asked, shocked. “No! Well, yes,
but it’s more than that.” He sighed and shook his head.

“It’s fine, you’re probably the first guy
I’d approve of, not that I ever had any control over that. Just
don’t do anything stupid.”

“No, don’t worry. You know me, I’m not
exactly the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. But what you need to know
has nothing to do with that.”

“Oh?” Jake asked.

“Right, what I wanted to tell you was that
she can choose a new commander for the Triton. Liam Grady told me
because he thought I would be the best one to tell her and help her
make a decision.”

“Not a bad call,” Jake replied. “Looks like
you’d better hurry, we’re dusting off in ten minutes.”

A wealthy man approached Alice before she
could leave Port Surmon. The place was simply too expensive; it was
either live in the gutter or sell herself to some wealthy letch and
survive as a prisoner. Leaving was the only option, especially
since she had no underworld connections there. It was a shame –
most of the planet was so beautiful. It would have been a fantastic
place to hide from Meunez for a while. Have a few months of normal
life.

She was brought to Ulrik Svenson, who was a
wealthy collector of magnificent things. Eve recalled the meeting
as if she had been there herself. The experience of slowly walking
through the pristine, well lit gallery and seeing priceless
artefacts was so clear it was barely distinguishable from her own
memories. Under an American flag there was a piece of the Statue of
Liberty. The hologram made the statue look massive, but the piece
was only the length of her arm. Several old black discs were there,
one with a label still on it but the only words she could read were
‘Suede Shoes.’ There were many other items on display, but the
thing that caught her eye the most was an ancient gun. A hologram
of a dire looking man drawing and pointing the weapon cycled over
and over again with a caption that said ‘Smith & Wesson Model
29 From Dirty Harry.’ She was leaning forward, looking at a short
strip of small transparent pictures when Ulrik entered the
room.

“That’s a piece of the movie that gun was
used in. They called it film, and that strip was shown in hundreds
of theatres before they had three dimensional projection,” he said.
“Dirty Harry. Some say he’s the perfect exemplification of the
spirit of American justice. Scholars are still arguing about that
movie, whether it was a documentary or not.”

“He was a law man?” Alice asked.

“He was, but sadly, I believe he was a
fictional one. If you were to remove that gun from its case you’d
find it was never fired. It’s a harmless prop.”

“You could tell the scholars,” Alice
said.

“Why ruin their fun?” Ulrik said, flaring
out the tails of his close cut suit jacket before sitting down.
“Scholars debate and argue until they find the truth or something
more compelling. As long as they keep questioning my friend Harry,
the value of that display keeps going up.”

“It doesn’t look like you need the cash,”
Alice said, looking around the circular, multi-tiered, cavernous
space. The ornate displays seemed to be organized by period and
nation, but it was hard to be sure at a glance.

“Oh, the price is only a shallow
quantification for people who can’t appreciate its intellectual
value. Collecting is about admiration, understanding, and having
what others simply cannot. Bragging rights, in a more common
vernacular, but so much more.”

“Why am I here?” Alice asked.

“You broke into one of my storage facilities
in the Renfrew Hub. The footage was impressive.”

“That’s good,” Alice said, glancing towards
the thick double doors. “The take wasn’t.”

“The Galactic Currency you and your friend
took didn’t add up to the cost of repairs, it was a pittance. What
impressed me was the violation itself. The pair of you were quite
skilful.”

“My partner was talented, but she’s retired
now.”

“I know, Bernice, yes? I’ve never been able
to find a last name, but I did find her, literally honeymooning.
You could imagine my disappointment at seeing her so far away, no
longer for hire.” He stood and straightened his suit. “Come, walk
with me.”

“You didn’t do anything to her?”

“No, no. That’s not my style nor would it
make negotiations with either one of you any easier. I’m a
gentleman. If I wanted retribution I would have paid a bounty
hunter or two to collect her, but that would be a waste. You never
know when I’ll need someone with that skill set.”

“I’ll be checking that for myself,” Alice
said.

“I’m sure you will. You can use my personal
Quick-Comm Satellite.” Alice kept pace with his leisurely swagger
as they descended a staircase into a transparent hallway. Beneath
was a hangar, with a collection of ships and other small vehicles.
“When you’re as wealthy as I am, everyone is worthy of suspicion. I
have three wives, two husbands, and I can say for a fact that four
of them married me because of my resources. This collection is
worth more than those four combined. It wants nothing. It exists
for my pleasure and that of my guests.”

The view was incredible, the ships ranged
from strange to beautiful. Three vessels drew Alice’s attention: in
the centre was a glossy white forty two metre long, broad ship with
heavy engines and no windows, and to either side were its
duplicates in black and red. The savage appearance of the vessels
made her want to get closer, to climb aboard and take one for
herself.

“The Arcyn Starskippers, remnants of my
combat vessel collecting phase. They’ve never been activated,
straight off the line with all the options. The most noticeable of
which are the extended engines. A rare breed, they are luxury
combat ships, out of production. Arcyn makes starfighters now, far
more common. Not worth collecting.”