‘’Life pods as shells: that was a brilliant tactic, miss.’’
‘’Maybe but, if I ever encounter other pirates again, which is a possibility, I doubt that the same trick will work twice.’’
‘’I never heard before about pirates actually existing in the system, miss. Maybe this was a fluke incident.’’
‘’I don’t think so, mister. The ship that attacked me was owned before by my uncle and had disappeared without a trace in 2313.’’
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Tina then quickly told him about the story of the MSS RISING STAR, how it had disappeared and how she had recognized it during the pirate attack. That left Shomberg in deep thought for a moment.
‘’So, you have legitimate concerns about the possibility of future pirate attacks, but are not confident about the TCN protecting your ship?’’
It was Tina’s turn to laugh, but with a bitter tone to it.
‘’Them, protecting me? I am not even sure that it was not a TCN officer that leaked my flight plan and cargo manifest to these pirates. I suspect that your answer will be no, but is there any legal way I could have some armament mounted on my ship?’’
‘’None!’’ Answered at once the engineer. ‘’Only TCN ships have the legal right to carry any armament bigger than portable firearms, miss.’’
‘’Damn! I thought so!’’
‘’However…’’
Tina looked with surprise at Shomberg, who was thinking hard. She however didn’t dare break his train of thoughts and waited for him to speak again.
‘’However, you already have aboard your ship most of what you would need to have a pretty powerful ship battery indeed. The work and modifications needed to turn these parts into a weapon system would be relatively minor and could even be done by your own crew while in space. It would be just a question of installing a number of new optical conduits and connecting them to the new sensors turrets that you wish to have installed on your ship.’’
‘’Go on, Mister Shomberg. You certainly have my full attention now.’’
The engineer then spoke for a few minutes, using a few holographic schematics to explain his idea. At the end of it, Tina could only nod her head, impressed.
‘’Hell, that is a brilliant idea, Mister Shomberg. I think that you just sold me on the concept. Uh, may I ask why you told me about this after saying that arming my ship would be illegal?’’
Shomberg stared gravely at Tina as he replied to her in a calm voice.
‘’Because you are a fellow Spacer in need of help, Captain. Because I believe that you have a legitimate reason to want this. Because I, like you, have no confidence in the TCN or in the Terran authorities. Because we Spacers may very well end up having to face the TCN and the Terran authorities in a direct confrontation in the not too distant future.’’
Tina, shocked by his answer, could not speak for seconds.
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‘’But, how could you say that?’’
‘’How? By being able to listen directly to unfiltered, uncensored local and regional news from the surface for years and by thus having a clear picture of what is really going on on Earth, Captain Forster. Earth is ready to implode under the weight of its excess population, its pollution and its depleted resources. Add to that a Terran government unwilling to take the hard measures needed to restore some balance on Earth, but also too willing to make us Spacers the scapegoats in the eyes of these billions of unproductive, often poorly educated Earth inhabitants. You then have the recipe for a disaster fuelled by ignorance, indolence and corruption. Believe me, miss: in some areas of Earth, the word ‘Spacer’ has a pejorative meaning. I know from personal experience.’’
Tina digested his words with difficulty, her stomach churning acid as she stared at the engineer, unsure if he had spoken the truth or had let some bitter incident influence his thinking. Whatever it was, she certainly was going to do her own digging into this subject…and soon. Rising from her chair, she shook hands with Shomberg.
‘’I will certainly keep in mind what you told me, Mister Shomberg. I will be waiting with great expectation for your detailed contract proposal for a refit.’’
‘’You should get it in a week, Captain. You will get the best from Avalon Space Yards.’’
‘’I do not doubt that, Mister Shomberg. We should see each other soon.
Goodbye, Mister Shomberg.’’
‘’Goodbye, Captain Forster, and have a nice vacation with your crew.’’
‘’I certainly intend to.’’
True to his word, Shomberg sent a detailed contract proposal, complete with electronic blueprints of the modifications and work to be done on the KOSTROMA, six days later. Tina signed the contract after reviewing it with Piotr Romanski and with her engineering staff, finding everything to be most satisfactory, including the very reasonable final price tag of 3.18 billion credits. That was actually going to leave her with a much bigger financial reserve than she had hoped for, something that she was certainly not going to complain about. She somehow suspected that the Avalon Space Yards was making her a preferred customer bargain, probably because the yard was going to be able to use up much of the stockpile of unpaid materiel it had been stuck with after the government had abruptly cancelled its own contracts. The next day, she 74
moved her ship to the giant main dry dock of the Avalon Space Yards, a gigantic airtight space structure that could accept ships up to 2,500 meters long and 1,500 meters in diameter and that would allow the refit work to be done in a pressurized, climate-controlled environment. A few days of furious work by her crew were then needed to stash away or temporarily dismantle the equipment and fittings that could be in the way during the refit. Then, Tina was free to let her crew go on their well deserved vacation.
By a coincidence that did not escape her mind, the refit work proper started on April 1st, April Fool’s Day.
16:11 (North American Pacific Coast Time) Friday, April 2, 2315
ENOS LAKE LOG CABIN tourist lodge
North of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island
Canada
Tina breathed a sigh of content as she was about to land on the small landing pad of the ENOS LAKE LOG CABIN, having crossed at low altitude the east coast of Vancouver Island just north of Nanaimo, on the lower Pacific coast of Canada. The magnificent sight of the still heavily forested region and of the waters of the Queen Charlotte’s Straight was like a balm for any Spacer that had not seen nature’s beauty for months or even years. The tourist lodge owned and run by her cousin, Janet Forster, sat on top of a forested hill near the southern tip of Enos Lake, a small lake a bit over one kilometer long. The lodge, being on a dominant feature, also gave a good view of the eastern coast and of the neighboring small town and harbor of Dolphin Beach. Apart of the fantastic panoramic view, the lodge provided accommodations for tourists in a series of randomly dispersed, old-fashioned wooden log cabins connected to the lodge’s main building, also made of logs, by natural stone-paved trails. Whenever she visited Earth, Tina never failed to pay a visit to the lodge, to relearn how to live with nature.
Now that she was the owner and captain of her ship, she had made a point of adding the ENOS LAKE LOG CABIN to the list of resorts to be used by her vacationing crew members. Being presently in the off season for tourism, Janet Forster had been in turn more than happy to reserve twelve of her log cabins to the KOSTROMA’s crew.
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Setting down gently on the pad the light passenger shuttle she was piloting, Tina then twisted her head to look at the 34 men, women and children from the KOSTROMA that had chosen the lodge as their vacation spot.
‘’We have arrived at Enos Lake. You may now disembark and grab your luggage while I power down the shuttle. I will be with you in a minute.’’
Her cheerful passengers did not waste any time to leave the shuttle with their bags, stepping out in the fresh, humid air of a Vancouver Island early Spring. There was no snow on the ground but the outside temperature was around eight degrees centigrade and there was a salty breeze coming from the coast. Mark Cisco, one of the passengers of the shuttle, took a deep breath of fresh air with relish.
‘’Aah, real air! I can smell the pines and spruce trees around. I will love this vacation’’
Joan Ferguson, another passenger of the shuttle, shivered a bit in the fresh wind.
‘’I should have brought a warmer coat with me. It is colder than I thought.’’
‘’Bah! You will have ample opportunities to buy something warm here, Joan.’’
Mark smiled gently on seeing the youngest children in their group break away at a run towards the nearby forest while screaming with joy, two adults after them.
‘’I can easily understand these kids’ rowdiness: it must be the first time for some of them that they can run around freely in the open without a spacesuit.’’
‘’Just seeing this blue sky is already nice by itself.’’ Said softly the stripper. Mark then pointed the Sun, low on the horizon.
‘’Unfortunately, night is approaching. Let’s go to the lodge’s lobby, to get our room keys.’’
‘’Cabin keys!’’ Corrected Tina Forster, who was passing by them on the way to the main building. ‘’Here, you rent cabins, not rooms.’’
‘’I stand corrected, boss.’’ Replied Mark, attracting a giggle from Tina.
‘’It’s Tina for you, not boss, you nice big hunk.’’
‘’Yes,
boss!’’
The trio laughed it out on their way to the main building of the lodge, built in ‘A’-frame fashion with large, varnished wood logs. There were only a few people present in the reception lobby and waiting lounge, including a mature woman standing behind the reception counter, when the group entered. The receptionist immediately walked out from behind her counter to go exchange a warm hug with Tina.
‘’Welcome to Enos Lake, Tina. It has been a while since your last visit.’’
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‘’I was kept busy, Janet. And you? How are you doing?’’
‘’Quite well indeed. Business is good, the husband is behaving and so are my kids, who are growing at a frightening rate.’’
‘’Aren’t they all? Before further personal talk, could I have my group registered first?’’
‘’Of course! After all, we will have many more days to talk together and exchange news, right?’’
‘’Effectively, Janet. Apart from occasional trips back to orbit to check on my ship, I intend to have a solid month of vacation.’’
‘’Your ship…’’ said dreamily her cousin. ‘’That was quite a gift that Uncle Bill gave you.’’
‘’Yes, and I am improving it right now. The KOSTROMA just entered an orbital yard for a major refit. I will however wait until tonight to tell you more about that.’’
‘’Right! Let’s take care of your group of space truckers.’’
‘’Space truckers?’’ Said Tina in a false, outraged tone of voice. ‘’Please!’’
‘’Alright, alright!’’ Replied Janet with false contrition. ‘’Your group of space wanderers.’’
‘’That’s
better!’’
Registering Tina and her group and then guiding them to their respective cabins took Janet Forster a good forty minutes, by which time the Sun had settled under the horizon. The log cabins did possess modern amenities, but these had been built in with discretion, to preserve the old style look of the log houses as much as possible. Of a previous common accord, Joan Ferguson and Mark Cisco took shared occupancy of one of the cabins, not because they were planning on dating each other but because they trusted each other out of their work together at the JUPITER. Unpacking their bags took only a few minutes, following which the two of them decided to return to the main lodge building to have supper. Once out of their cabin, however, Joan was attracted to the sight of the waters of the nearby straight, on which the fading dusk lights were dancing, and stopped near the landing pad to admire the view.
‘’God, it is so nice to be able to see true nature like this. Life on the KOSTROMA is comfortable, but nothing can replace this. When I think that us humans have destroyed much of Earth’s beauty.’’
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‘’Some places have fared much worse than here, Joan. Luckily, this region has been protected for centuries by comprehensive environmental regulations and laws. I have quickly read about the history of the Canadian Pacific coast yesterday. At one time, clear cut logging operations were threatening to erase the forests on this island.
Fortunately, the local people saw the folly of that and convinced the local government to declare much of the island as protected nature areas. There is still some logging done, but it is severely regulated, like the fishing industry.’’
‘’At last, some good sense!’’ Said Joan, still contemplating the coast and sea.
‘’My last visit to the British Islands, some six years ago, was a severe disappointment.
The air there was severely polluted from all the industries, while too many cities and suburbs had been reduced to overcrowded slums full of unemployed people. Going out at night was risky, with gangs of young thugs roaming the streets. I promised myself never to come back there.’’
‘’I can understand you, Joan. My own visit to Detroit three years ago nearly cost me my life. I had made the mistake of going through a particularly bad district at night and barely got out of it, with a number of knife cuts and stab wounds as a bonus.’’
They were silent for a moment, watching the sea in the distance, before Joan spoke again in a low voice.
‘’Mark, do you think that Earth could turn around and regain its past beauty again?’’
‘’Uh, I frankly don’t know, Joan. Unfortunately, the mineral resources that have been depleted can never be recovered. Earth now depends on us Spacers for minerals.
As for the air, water and vegetation, it would be possible in my opinion to clean up our act, but only if the local populations and governments are ready to make the efforts and pay the price for such a cleanup operation. Unfortunately, too many people on Earth now care only about themselves and the short term.’’
‘’But, they managed it here, no?’’
‘’Yes, and it is to their credit, but some regions, like Africa, are now nearly beyond redemption. Earth’s biggest problem, and one that has been one for centuries, is that there is too many people living on the planet. Africa is the most overcrowded, impoverished and polluted continent of all, yet they still refuse to practice birth control there, claiming old traditions and religious practices as excuses. It is also by far the continent with the most corrupt governments. Half of the continent has turned into deserts and there is a severe water and food crisis, yet African administrators are still 78
mostly preoccupied with stealing as much public money as they can before leaving power, if they ever do leave power.’’
‘’And the central Terran government, why isn’t it doing something about that?’’
‘’Maybe because it is about as corrupt and short-sighted as the regional administrations. I am afraid that it will take something major to wake up all those politicians.’’
‘’Something major? Like what?’’
‘’Something like a major natural disaster, or a food crisis, I don’t really know, Joan. I tell you what: how about forgetting all those problems and concentrate instead on enjoying our vacation here?’’
Joan rested her head on his shoulder and crossed her arms to protect her torso from the cold wind.
‘’You are right, Mark. Let’s enjoy our time here while it lasts.’’
04:26 (North America Pacific Coast Time)
Wednesday, April 14, 2315
ENOS LAKE LOG CABIN tourist lodge
The buzz of her wrist communicator woke Tina in her cabin well before the first lights of dawn. Shaking off her sleepiness, she activated the small viewing screen, to see the concerned face of Patricia O’Neil, who was on duty this week on KOSTROMA’s bridge.
‘’Yes,
Patricia?’’
‘’Tina, sorry to wake you up like this, but one of our crewmembers is in hospital in Acapulco, Mexico, and his family is being detained by the local police.’’
That woke fully Tina in a hurry. Throwing away the bed sheets, she swung her legs out and sat up on the edge of her bed.
‘’What exactly happened?’’
‘’According to the wife of Denis Sweeny, who was only allowed to place a call ten minutes ago by the local police, they were harassed in a restaurant last night by some local customers. When the Sweeny’s left the restaurant, those customers attacked and beat up our technician, then pretended that our man started the fight when the police arrived. The police arrested the whole family, charging them with disturbing the peace, and is still holding Misses Sweeny and her three children at the central police station in 79
Acapulco, while our technician has been admitted at the city’s main hospital in serious condition. Misses Sweeny seemed to have been unable to speak freely when she called, but I got the strong impression that the local police is part of the problem here.’’
‘’Okay, send me via my communicator a map with the precise location of the Acapulco central police station and that of the main hospital. I will also need the hospital room number of our technician. Send me as well pictures and short bios of the Sweeny family, so that I can recognize them in Acapulco. Then alert our medical section and have a medical evacuation flight prepared. If our technician can be moved, I will not let him or his family in Acapulco. I will depart from Enos Lake as soon as you send me the maps and info.’’
‘’Understood, Tina. Should some of our security people go with the evacuation team?’’
‘’No! They would have no jurisdiction or legal mandate on Earth. I think that I will have to play nice with the local bastards to get our people out. Thanks for warning me.’’
Tina then closed the link and jumped out of bed to dress as quickly as possible. She was running out of her cabin less than six minutes later, heading for her light shuttle.
She took off two minutes later, having started her fuel cell generators while waiting for the maps and info from Patricia O’Neil. Now armed with that information, she quickly sent electronically a flight plan to Acapulco to the regional air traffic control center, then put her craft on auto-pilot. She took the time of her flight to first study the biographical data on the Sweeny’s. Denis Sweeny was one of the small craft maintenance technicians of the KOSTROMA and had no criminal records, being seemingly a quiet, sociable family man. Next, Tina placed a call to the Acapulco main hospital, trying to get more information on the medical state of her technician. However, she was refused that information, on the grounds that it was confidential and personal.
Giving up temporarily on that, Tina then called the Acapulco Police Department, getting a receptionist that answered in Spanish, then in English.
‘’…Acapulco Police Department. How may we help you?’’
‘’My name is Tina Forster and I am the employer of a man your police arrested last night, along with his family. I would need to discuss their case with your desk officer on duty, please.’’
‘’One moment, please: I am transferring you to the duty desk.’’
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After a short wait, Tina was connected to a burly man wearing the uniform of a police sergeant sitting behind a desk or counter. Thankfully, the man spoke a fair English.
‘’Duty desk, Sergeant Mendoza! What may I do for you, Miss Forster?’’
‘’I would like to arrange for the release of Denis Sweeny, who is presently being treated at the main city hospital, and of his wife and three daughters, who are presently in your custody. I am their employer and am presently flying towards Acapulco. I believe that there was a serious case of misunderstanding in this case.’’
From neutral, the policeman’s expression became nearly disdainful.
‘’No misunderstandings, miss: your employee caused a disturbance, then attacked three citizens in good standing. He got what he deserved and will have to face charges of assault and disturbing the peace.’’
Tina had a hard time not to show fully her anger and contempt then.
‘’You pretend that a family man on vacation with his wife and three young daughters would attack three other men, Sergeant? Those accusations don’t make much sense. And why are you holding Miss Sweeny and her three daughters?’’
‘’They also attacked our three citizens and resisted arrest when our officers arrived on the scene, miss.’’
Tina could sense that the policeman was lying through his teeth, while the man’s arrogant air was infuriating her seriously.
‘’Sergeant Mendoza, I believe that this whole story is a crock and that it wouldn’t hold water in front of any fair judge. I am however concerned mainly with the health and safety of my people and am ready to make arrangements to obtain their prompt release, unless you want me to get some very powerful lawyers on your back instead.’’
The policeman’s stance then changed slightly as he stared back at her on the video screen.
‘’What kind of arrangements are you talking about, miss?’’
‘’I am ready to pay for their cautions and for any compensation claims or fines laid against them. I would however prefer to discuss this in private on arrival.’’
Tina saw from the man’s reactions that her subtle message had come across, something confirmed when the policeman toned down his arrogance.
‘’That could effectively be arranged, miss. When will you arrive in Acapulco?’’
‘’In about two hours. Does your police station have a landing pad?’’
‘’Yes, but it is reserved strictly for police craft, miss.’’
Tina swore mentally to herself, but then tried something else.
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‘’Could I speak to Misses Sweeny and to her daughters, Sergeant?’’
‘’I am sorry, but you will have to wait until you are at the police station, miss.’’
‘’Very well, Sergeant. I should be at your police station at a bit past nine in the morning, local time.’’
‘’We will be expecting you, Miss Forster.’’
Tina, unable to further pretend to be polite with the bastard, then cut the communication link. She took a moment to calm down and chase part of her contained fury before calling the KOSTROMA and getting Patricia O’Neil on the line.
‘’Patricia, I will need you to find quickly how many of our people are in Acapulco right now.’’
‘’Let me get the personnel roster, Tina.’’
Patricia came back on line a minute later.
‘’We have a total of 41 crewmembers and relatives presently on vacation in Acapulco, Tina. Like the other groups on vacation, they are all staying at the same hotel, including the Sweeny’s, at the MARRIOT BEACH HOTEL to be precise.’’
‘’Good! I will now ask you to call all of our people at the MARRIOT and tell them to start packing immediately for return on the KOSTROMA. Tell Valentina Suvarova to fly out with a light personnel shuttle and to go get our people out of Acapulco without delay. I am placing Acapulco out of bounds to our crew as of now. In the meantime, I will be taking care of the Sweeny’s.’’
‘’I’m on it, Tina.’’
Less than twenty minutes later, Tina got another call, this time from her head of security, Bill Morrison.
‘’Tina? This is Bill! I am presently in Acapulco with my family and got your recall order. What is going on?’’
Thanking Morrison’s presence there, which gave her someone with a cool head and strong nerves to look over her people in Acapulco, Tina took a minute to explain the situation to him. Her recount of her conversation with Mendoza made his face harden.
‘’The bastards are looking for a bribe alright. The whole charges must be bogus.
I have to say that I won’t really be sad to leave Acapulco, and neither will the others.’’
‘’What do you mean, Bill?’’
‘’That, while subtle most of the time, there is an undercurrent of hostility towards Spacers in general here. The hotel staff is polite enough, but I understand Spanish and I 82
could overhear a few comments made in our backs in town, especially in the less affluent parts. Us Spacers are not really popular around here, except when we drop money on the table, of course.’’
‘’I see! Could you do something for me, Bill, while I do my best to get the Sweeny’s out of police hands?’’
‘’Sure, Tina! What is it?’’
‘’I would like you to gain access to the Sweeny’s room and to pack up and take away their things, then to pay their room bill. The faster we can all get out of Acapulco, the better. I will reimburse you later for the Sweeny’s room.’’
‘’Don’t worry about that, Tina. Keep me posted on the Sweeny’s.’’
‘’I will, Bill.’’
At three past nine, local time, Tina landed in the Acapulco international airport and took fifteen minutes there to go to one of the airport’s banks, opened 24 hours a day, to withdraw a large sum in cash. She then jumped into an air taxi that got her to the city’s central police station, a big concrete building that had