Free Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race by Kal Spriggs Page A

grumbled.
    "Rent?" Lucius asked.  His gaze went to the shanty town beyond the port hole.
    "We pay rent for the land we occupy on a per-meter rate." A grey-haired woman said.  Her lined face and hard eyes bored into Lucius.  "Utilities too, if we draw water and power, or a 'safety' fee if we run our reactors and power our recycler systems."
    "How can you afford that?" Lucius said.  He couldn't keep the surprise off his face.
    "Most of our... benefactors accept manual labor as payment," one of the younger men growled.  He had black hair with a gaunt, pinched face, deeply seamed with lines.  "Of course, they pay us in food for any excess man hours we contribute."
    "That's abominable," Lucius said.  He had heard that Faraday's elite used the refugees for labor... but he hadn't expected they paid them in just food. That was almost as bad as some of the worlds with slavery.
    "It's that or starve or try to find refuge somewhere else," An older man said.  He looked like one of the few that ate often enough.  His civilian suit looked to be well-cared for, if old.  "Others have left.  Some have returned with tales of piracy and war."
    "Just because some people have sold their fellows into slavery doesn't mean the rest of us need to be grateful, Alec!"  The younger man said.  "They may cottle you as their lapdog now, but--"
    "You would have done the same had you arrived here generations ago instead of in the last decade, Nyguyen."  Alec responded.  His response started a shouting match between several of the groups.  The babble of different dialects and voices made it almost unintelligible.
    "Enough!" Lucius's voice cut through the compartment.  "It's obvious there's bad blood between you and the factory owners... and more between some of you."  He cleared his throat, "I'm in a situation not unlike yours."  He held up a hand before anyone could object.  "I have more resources at my disposal, to be certain.  But I am an outsider, I've come with only my men and my ship and I am without a home to call my own."
    Lucius looked around at the faces.  He saw suspicion, cynicism and doubt.  He discarded his original plan to bargain.  While it would probably be cheapest, he would gain no allies and most likely alienate the only faction with which he felt any similarity.  Besides, these people have been treated like trash, some of them for generations, Lucius thought darkly. They deserved better than for him to treat them the same.
    "The truth of the matter, is that like you, I came here looking for a new life.  As you might know, I put some money into a factory, one whose owner I trust, Mr. Nogita, here."  There were some grunts of acknowledgement.  "When we began to find success, someone set us up.  They've bought up all of the resources we need to finish our contracts.  If we default, then they'll take over the factory."
    Lucius saw no softening of any of the audience.  He hadn't expected it.  "So here's my offer.  We need four metric tons of palladium.  We can't mine it, we can't buy it off the market, and we can't import any.  Palladium is found in your ships in the power systems and engines of your ships.  In exchange--"
    "You want to gut our ships?!" A big man from the back interrupted.  He barged forwards, "That's all we've got left.  We've sold ourselves and our children into slavery for food, but we will not give up our ships, not for--"
    "In exchange, we will refit all of your ships with our new engine systems," Lucius talked over the interruption, his voice level and calm.  "As soon as our current contracts are cleared."
    They stared at him in silence.
    "Your new drives, they're military grade, aren't they?"  Nyguyen asked.
    "They are."  Lucius said.  "To be clear, I'm not offering to do a one-for-one size swap on your ships drives.  The drives we'll build you may be significantly smaller.  But you'll have at least the same acceleration.  We're not custom-building each one, just building a