Free Crescent by Phil Rossi

more uncomfortable than they already were.
    “I have a job for you. If you are interested. I don’t know what kind of contract you have with Crescent. I don’t really care , to be honest with you. I don’t want Kendall to know about this. I am prepared to compensate you very well— better, I’m sure, than Kendall is paying you for your entire contract.”
    “I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Doc. Kendall is paying me pretty damn well,” Gerald played coy, but his interest was piqued. If he could manage to take in enough cash on the side, maybe he could buy his way out of the contract with Kendall.
    Cortez waved his hand.
    “Money is no object, Mr. Evans. There is a ship—a shuttle. I want you to haul it back to Crescent for me.”
    “A shuttle?”
    “A shuttle,” the elder Cortez echoed. “It is very old and likely very fragile. I’ve been over your files. You have a commendable record, Mr. Evans. So many salvage runs with such a high success rate, and quite the variety of hauls. I think you can handle picking up my little shuttle.”
    “Right. So, you want me to tug a shuttle into Crescent without anyone getting wind of it? How do you propose I do that? Take it apart and stow it my bunk?”
    “No, no. Leave that to me. Vegan and his crew can be bought. The deck hands can be bought. None of that should be your concern. All you have to do is go to the coordinates that I will send you, grab the shuttle, and bring it back to Hangar 19.”
    “And what else can you tell me about this shuttle, Doctor?” Gerald asked.
    “In truth, little. I have reason to believe that this lifeboat is from an old, abandoned mining colony on Anrar III.”
    “Lifeboat or shuttle, Doc? That makes a big difference.”
    “Well. More likely the former than the latter. It should be in the small asteroid belt orbiting moon III of Anrar VI.”
    Gerald tapped at his chin. He looked from the elder Cortez’s eager but cautious face to the daughter’s, which was hidden behind a fall of golden hair.
    “Do you have anything to offer here, Miss…   rather, Dr. Cortez?”
    “No.” She didn’t bother looking up.
    “Doc, how did you come by this information?” Gerald asked.
    “I can’t say,” the elder Cortez said.
    Can’t say, or won’t, Gerald thought.
    “Right. Let’s say I go out there and it’s not there,” Gerald said over the mouth of the beer bottle. He emptied the contents and set the bottle down on the table.
    “It’ll be there,” Donovan insisted.
    “Let’s say I go out there and it’s not there. I’d expect to get paid in full.”
    “Yes, of course, Gerald. I will compensate you for your time, either way,” Donovan kneaded his pudgy hands.
    “And I’d expect a hefty down payment even before I set foot on my ship,” Gerald added.
    “Yes, yes,” Donovan said. He sounded impatient. “All that can be arranged easily.”
    “You know I’m without a ship, right? For at least a day.” Gerald figured the Cortezes had the right to know.
    “What? No. I didn’t know that,” Donovan sighed and looked away.
    “Little accident this morning. Bean is dry-docked until the day after next.”
    “I was not aware of that.” Donovan sounded disappointed, but a moment later he was smiling again. He had the tiniest of spaces between his front teeth. “Two days is a sufferable delay. I have waited this long, after all.”
    Gerald slid the empty bottle across the table.
    “Thanks for the beer.” He stood and began to walk away, but Donovan grabbed him by the hem of his shirt.
    “Wait!”
    Gerald slapped his hand away.
    “Come on now, Doc. That’s no way to behave.”
    Donovan took a deep breath and regained his composure.
    “I’m sorry. This is just very important. That derelict could answer a lot of questions.”
    “If it’s out there.”
    “It’s out there.”
    “Let me sleep on it, Doc. I’ll let you know tomorrow, either way.”
    Gerald left Heathen’s without another