Free Privateer Tales 3: Parley by Jamie McFarlane Page B

orb in the distance. The variety was endless. A small contrail of vapor was my current thing.
    I jogged through the concourse. It wasn’t that far and I traveled light – just my blaster pistol in a holster strapped to my waist. I placed my hand on a panel next to an airlock. The gangplank between the slip and the ship’s airlock was pressurized, so all I needed to do was unlock and push my way in.
    Marny saw me in the hallway and gave a conspiratorial grin. “Heya, Cap. Welcome aboard. Oh, and you’re late.”
    I rolled my eyes at her but quickened my pace all the same.
    “Captain on the bridge,” Nick said when I entered.
    “Heya, buddy.” It had only been six days but I’d missed him.
    Qiu Loo was seated at the engineering station. I nodded to her. “Lieutenant Loo.”
    “Captain.” I tried to read her expression but got nothing.
    “Would you give us a few minutes, Lieutenant?”
    She didn’t respond other than to stalk off the bridge. I closed the door behind her.
    “Any advice on that?” I looked toward the door.
    “Nope.”
    “Okay. Let me deal with it. Any luck on finding an auctioneer for our load?”
    “Yup. Stevedores will be here in an hour.”
    “Any problems on the legal end?” We’d liberated the cases from a pirate base. I had no illusions that they were anything but stolen goods.
    “Ordena’s on it, he’s working with the auctioneers.”
    “What’s that going to cost?” We’d first met Jeremy Ordena on Colony 40. He was a sloppy looking, easy to underestimate, slightly greasy lawyer. I had mixed feelings about working with him, but no doubt he would get the job done.
    “Five percent.”
    I sighed but didn’t argue.
    “How about repairs and munitions load-out?”
    “We’re scheduled for 1000 tomorrow at the Coolidge Yard. Navy’s giving us a good deal on armor. We’ll have to pay cost on the supplies.”
    “How much?”
    “Fifty thousand.”
    I whistled.
    “New stuff according to Belcose. Very hard for smaller slug throwers to penetrate. Also, we’ll super harden the captain’s quarters and the non-glass portion of the bridge.”
    “How long will they have the ship?” I asked.
    “Eight days and that’s only because Loo put ‘em in a headlock. They’re going to run triple shifts on it.”
    “That’s progress. How about you get us a nice place to stay? Tabby’s staying with us Saturday night.”
    “Which Saturday? Tomorrow?”
    “Tomorrow for sure, I didn’t ask about next week.”
    “That works out well, the shipyard orbits over the town of Coolidge, which is near the Naval Academy. I’ll stick to that area and find us accommodations.”
    “Perfect. Let me grab Loo.” I found Qiu and Marny chatting in the galley and asked them both to join us on the bridge.
    “Lieutenant, it looks like you were successful in getting us an expedited repair schedule. According to Nick, that puts us at eight days. I need to know when you will fill us in on the details of this mission.”
    “We’ve been over this. The mission is too sensitive to read you in.”
    “No, I get it. Fact is we have no interest in the mission per se, but we need to understand what ‘light fire support’ means. You can’t possibly expect us not to prepare for that.”
    “Fair enough. If I’m successful, that won’t come into play.”
    “And if you’re not?”
    “The most likely case is I simply get dispatched.”
    “As in …”
    “Killed. Yes.”
    “How many hostiles are you estimating?” Marny asked.
    “Could be as many as fifty.”
    Marny whistled. “That’s a frak-tonne of baddies. Are you extracting some sort of payload?”
    “Personnel extraction,” Loo answered.
    “Do we have any budget for crew?” Marny looked to Nick.
    “Budget should handle up to two additional,” Nick replied.
    “Lieutenant, can you hook us up with some gear? Mostly standard tac stuff. I can work with your quartermaster once we have crew set,” Marny said.
    “We’ll need it back,” Qiu Loo