LIGHTNOVELONLINE 27. Unloading
"So like you already know," Piper said after a swig of her drink, "I have three regular ports of call. Ecclestone's World is the main one, this is where my customer Mr. Lebeau is based. This is where my regular freight runs start and end, and this is where I get paid for doing that job."
She continued, "My second stop is in the Fuminja Cluster. That's an asteroid belt, it takes eleven or twelve days to get there from here with a level-zero jump. Then from there I head over to that mining colony on Regulon-4. That's another eleven or twelve days in Jump-0. And finally I'm back here again, after another nine days at Jump-0. So basically every run takes me about thirty-five to forty days, give or take. There's typically a day layover at the mining colony, and three to seven days here."
Jenny asked, "What is it you're carrying for him? Do you know?"
The four of us were seated around the table in the mess, listening to our captain as she filled in the details on her regular job. Piper had a little glass of the hard stuff, while Sarah and I just got some coffee from the auto-chef.
The boss shook her head, "It's almost always two small cargo containers, but I have no idea what's inside them. It's none of my business, and they're always sealed before they're brought onboard. I pick them up here and take them to Fuminja. Unload them there, pick up two more and take those to Regulon. Drop them off, load up another two and bring them back here again."
"It's probably some kind of smuggling?" I asked.
"Sure," Piper shrugged. "Though I'm not sure it's technically 'smuggling' considering there's no import-export laws at any of the ports involved. Nobody's checking our cargo for customs clearance or anything like that."
Sarah suggested, "It might still be illegal? Like drugs or something?"
I nodded in agreement.
Our captain shrugged again, "I don't think it's drugs. My stop at Fuminja is at a private facility, so they make their own laws. And drugs aren't illegal at the mining colony either, they sell all kinds of crap like that to the off-duty miners. If Lebeau wanted drugs here, he could just get them locally, no need to get them elsewhere. So basically if he was just shipping drugs around the sector there'd be no need for all the secrecy and paranoia."
"If I had to speculate," she added, "I'd guess it's something valuable coming out of the mining colony. Maybe some valuable mineral or something? Maybe he's bypassing the mine owners and doing deals with some of the miners. Except if that's the case, I have no idea what that private facility at Fuminja has to do with it. Unless they're Lebeau's buyers for whatever it is he's getting from the miners."
We were all quiet for a minute or so, till Jenny spoke up again.
"Do you think Mr. Lebeau was satisfied with your answers today?" the AI asked.
Piper sighed, "I'm not sure. I have a feeling he's going to try and confirm my story? If you asked me yesterday I'd have said it was fine, that we had nothing to worry about. Now I'm concerned he might have a contact on Marshal's World. If that's the case then it won't take long for him to send an FTL over there and ask if the Demeter was around recently. If he does that, he'll get an FTL back saying no, we haven't been there in years."
Sarah asked, "Then what? He'll try and attack or something?"
"No idea," the boss shook her head. "I'll try and talk my way out of it and see how that goes. I'll elaborate on my lie, I never said I landed at Marshal's World. Tell him I rendezvoused with a ship in that system. He'll ask what ship, I'll make some other shit up, and hope the problem goes away."
She added, "Like I said, yesterday I didn't think any of this was a problem. Lebeau is a two-bit thug. He dresses up and acts like he's got clout around here, but he's nothing. He's a crook who got lucky and ended up with a very small business enterprise. He might have made friends with one of the big names on this world, but I can't believe he's actually important to any of them. People like him can be bought and sold for a couple bars. Except..."
Piper drained the last of her glass then sighed, "He obviously has a contact on Rolandan-2. Someone tipped him off that I'd taken on crew. That means someone on that world knew I worked for him and knew to be watching out for me, to report my actions to him. I never thought he had any off-world clout or connections before."
I frowned, "You don't think your friend Mel's involved do you?"
"Not a chance," she shook her head. "I trust Mel, the guy's almost like family. And anyways, if it was Mel he'd have reported I had three crew, right? He didn't meet Jenny, but he heard us talking about her. Lebeau knew I had two crew, but not three."
"It had to be someone else at the shipyard though," I pointed out. "Lebeau knew you were selling Imperium hardware. Lots of people saw the three of us together when we were out shopping and stuff, but nobody outside the shipyard knew you were selling that salvage."
The boss grimaced, "Good point. Next time we're back there I'll have to talk with Mel. He's got someone on his staff who's on someone else's payroll, he'll want to know about that."
Sarah asked, "So what's the plan right now?"
Piper replied, "Lebeau's dockhands should be here soon, they'll take his cargo. Then if you two are still interested, I'll take you out and show you around the city. I also have to make arrangements to top up the fuel tanks and take on some supplies, and there's some other business I'd like to take care of while we're here."
"What happens if we're not still interested in seeing the city?" I asked.
My tone must have conveyed my feelings a little too clearly, the captain gave me a sympathetic look and responded "Sorry Amanda. I probably haven't given you a good impression of this world, and Lebeau sure didn't help any. It's really not as bad as all that. This planet has been my main port of call for decades, and I haven't run into too much trouble here over the years."
"All right," I sighed. "It's all been a really big adjustment compared to what I'm used to? I guess I've had a pretty sheltered life so far. Growing up on my home-world life was boring and routine, and life with the Navy was a different kind of boring and routine. The last fifteen days all my boring routines have been thrown out and I'm taking a while to adjust. Some of it's been great, but some of it's been..."
My voice trailed off for a moment, before I admitted "Some of it's been chaotic and frightening, and I still wonder at times if I'm really cut out for this kind of life."
Sarah reached over and gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. "You'll be fine Amanda. We both will. We'll stick with the boss, she'll look out for us and show us the ropes."
"Thanks Sarah," I smiled. "And Piper, and Jenny. I'm sure everything will be ok, even if it is a bit of an adventure and a learning experience."
Our AI crew-mate responded, "And on that note, a grav-sled has just landed in front of the ship. Two um, gentlemen are approaching the ramp. I believe they're here for Mr. Lebeau's cargo."
"Alright," Piper said as she got to her feet. "Jenny I'm sorry to ask again, but I'd like you to stay out of sight. Since we've just got through Lebeau's crap with Sarah and Amanda, I don't want to have to try and explain you to him as well."
Jenny smiled, "Oh I quite understand."
Sarah got to her feet and offered the captain, "I'll keep you company or watch your back or whatever if you like?"
Piper thanked her and the two of them headed for the starboard ladderway to go deal with unloading the cargo. Meanwhile I stayed up in the mess with my AI crew-mate.
"Not that I don't appreciate your company Amanda, but you don't need to worry about me getting lonely or feeling left out," Jenny said with a slight smile. "I spent close to three decades alone in the Demeter's hold, I'm used to it."
I frowned slightly as I thought about that. I'd mostly stopped thinking of her as a computer program, but I still wasn't entirely used to thinking of her as a normal person yet.
"Do AIs not get lonely?" I asked. "Being left alone for that long would probably do some bad things to a human."
She grimaced, "Oh we do get lonely. Especially those of us designed to interact with humans. When I was isolated in the hold I coped with it by putting myself in standby mode. Basically like going to sleep I suppose? I'd wake up whenever Piper needed to make use of my Re/Gen capsule, and for many years those occasions were the only time when I was actually awake."
That led to another frown as I commented, "Even that would probably be really difficult for a human to cope with."
Jenny gave me another little smile, "I'm sure it would. Fortunately I'm not human. Anyways, thanks to Sarah and yourself I'm no longer confined to my capsule. I'm enjoying my newfound freedom, and beyond talking with the three of you I can also interface with the ships comm system and peruse local media broadcasts. So please, don't feel that you need to remain here to keep me company. And if I do find myself lonely, I'll let you or Sarah know about it. Ok?"
"Ok Jenny," I smiled back. "Sorry if I came across as prying or being pushy. I'm still new to having an AI crew-mate."
"Quite understandable Amanda," she responded. "Perhaps we can talk more about that another time? I imagine the four of us will have lots of time together between deliveries, if we continue following Piper's current schedule. Now why don't you join the others? They've nearly finished unloading the cargo so I suspect the three of you will be leaving to tour the city soon."
That made me grimace slightly. I still didn't feel entirely comfortable about this world, but I was determined to give it a chance. Though I was equally determined to stick close to Piper while we were here.
"Thanks Jenny," I said as I made my way out of the mess and over to the starboard ladderway.
By the time I got down to the main cargo hold, the two cases were already loaded onto the back of a flatbed grav-sled. Sarah and Piper were standing at the top of the ramp with one of Lebeau's men, while the other one was waiting in the vehicle.
The business part of the exchange was just wrapping up as I joined the others.
Piper accepted a small bag from the man standing with her and Sarah, which I assumed held her payment for the last freight run. With the transaction completed, he joined the other guy in the grav-sled and the two of them took off while Piper sealed up the ramp and airlock again.
"When did you want to head out to tour the city?" Sarah asked.
Piper replied, "We can go right now if you like? Grab some money first, a bar or two and some loose coin should be more than enough."
Me and Sarah agreed, and the three of us climbed up the ladderway then headed to our cabins. I opened up my strongbox and took out a bar and some assorted coins, while Sarah did the same.
She smiled at me, "I don't know about you but it'll take me a while to get used to this. On the one hand I kind of like the idea that money's a real thing. It's heavy enough you could slip it in a sock and use it as a weapon. On the other hand, it also means it's pretty easy for someone to steal, since they can just walk off with it."
I frowned as I tucked my cash into a pocket of my vest and buttoned it up. "I hadn't really thought about either of those options to be honest. I'm sure the ship has some form of security though, to make sure people can't just walk in uninvited? I mean, it's Piper's home, her livelihood, and it contains her life savings and all her stuff, right?"
"Good point," Sarah replied as we headed back out of our cabin. She stuffed her money into one of her jacket pockets then zipped it closed. "We can ask her before we head out."
