Free Milk Run (Smuggler's Tales From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1) by Nathan Lowell Page A

askin’.”
    “She’s old and she’s a little cranky but she’s sound and she’s mine. Day may come when I need the credit more than the ship, but until then she’s got long legs, low overhead, and she’s paid for.”
    Kondur nodded. “Regyri. I knew a Regyri once. Best rock-knocker in the belts. Son of a bitch could smell the ore, I swear.” He squinted at Natalya. “He was a pretty good pilot, too. Dominic?”
    Natalya shook her head. “Don’t know any Dominic Regyri.”
    “You play close to the vest, eh?” Kondur grinned. “I can respect that. You’ve got his eyes and a fair slice of his stubborn, too, I bet.”
    “Who?” Natalya asked, the hair prickling on her arms.
    “Your father. Demetri. Who else.”
    “You know him?” Natalya wasn’t sure if she believed him, but it wasn’t the first time somebody had commented about her eyes.
    “Yeah. Long time ago we flew together. Did some mining for Mel. Made a few cargo runs for—” Kondur stopped speaking and ran a hand across his mouth. “Well, let’s just say we ran a little cargo. He ever take you out in the belts?”
    “Once or twice.” Natalya shrugged. “I can run a sled but I’m rusty. Not much practice lately.”
    He nodded. “It comes back fast if you need it.” He threw back the rest of his coffee and tapped the table with the empty mug. “I got a job if you want it.”
    “Doing what?” Natalya asked.
    “I need something delivered.”
    “How big a something?” Natalya asked.
    Kondur reached into the sleeve pocket of his jumpsuit with two fingers and pulled out a data chip. “This.”
    “Do I want to know what’s on it?” Natalya asked.
    Kondur shook his head. “Probably not. It’s just boring data. Nothing to see, but I need it delivered over in Diurnia.”
    “Where in Diurnia?” Zoya asked, learning forward over the table.
    “Yeah, yeah. I got it. You can’t dock at a High Liner station. Ever hear of Odin’s Outpost?”
    Zoya shook her head but Natalya nodded. “Rinky-dink station halfway between lost and nowhere.”
    Kondur snickered. “That’s your father talkin’, but yeah. Combination den of iniquity and gateway to the stars.”
    “What’s in it for us?” Natalya asked, hiding her mouth behind her coffee mug.
    “You’ll want to top off your tanks. Maybe buy some food?” Kondur asked.
    “Maybe.”
    “All right. I’ll give you a chit for the chandlery. Whatever you need for supplies and I’ll toss in five kay as sweetener, but you have to leave as soon as you’re supplied and I need this in Gunderson’s hand in forty-eight stans.”
    “You don’t have couriers to do that for you already?” Zoya asked.
    He smiled and nodded. “I do, yes, but nobody’s going to be watching you except to admire that shiny old space ship.”
    “Charts,” Natalya said. “I need a set of Toe-Hold charts.”
    “See Inky at the chandlery. Tell her Bobo sent you.” He grinned.
    “Visa?”
    He nodded. “Half day unlimited. Deliver that chip by the deadline. Come back, might be I’ve got another little job needs doing and you’ll have full visa. Unlimited.”
    Natalya thought about it. “Deal.”
    “Pad?” Kondur asked.
    Natalya pulled out her tablet and put it on the table beside her plate.
    Kondur pulled out a similar unit and pecked a few keys on the screen before sending a near-field message.
    Natalya’s tablet bipped a receipt.
    “Charge what you need to that account. I’ll credit half when you file pre-flight and half on delivery with Gunderson’s receipt.”
    “What if we’re late?”
    “Don’t come back.”
    Natalya nodded. “I can live with that.”
    “Trick is to not have to,” Kondur said, the right side of his mouth curled in a half-smile.
    Natalya extended a hand across the table.
    Kondur shook her hand and slipped the chip into her palm. “Now scoot. See you next week.”
    Natalya nudged Zoya and they both slipped off the bench.
    “You got somebody to escort us back?” Natalya