“Could be a failed colony,” I say gruffly. You hear about that sort of thing sometimes.
“That was my first thought, as well. So I pulled any and all charter records for this planet.” He shakes his head. “There’s nothing. It’s been classified as C-class—inhabitable, in theory. The weather’s atrocious, the atmosphere’s got traces of poison, and there’s too much seismic activity to risk a dome colony. Not that it couldn’t work, of course, but feasibly, it’d be far too expensive and remote for most charters. Just the fuel costs to bring supplies in this direction would be astronomical. Andyou know how much the Batenes are paying us for the kelp delivery.”
I do. A keffing fortune. They’re even farther out than this planet, but it’s sunny and warm there. “So not a colony.”
“It seems not. Which means we must ask the question why. Why are they here? Do they want to be here? Can we be of assistance in some way without compromising our shipment?” His jaw clenches again, and then he continues. “I have decided that we will need to visit her people and determine the situation after speaking with their leader.”
“Determine the situation?”
“If it is a rescue situation or not. We need to know as much as possible before we decide if we are dumping our cargo to take them to the nearest station. And since our schedule is running tight already thanks to our engine troubles, we need to pay a visit to her tribe as soon as possible. We have a window of a few days at most before we need to move on if we intend on carrying out our delivery as planned.”
A few days. My gut clenches at the thought. It seems like so little time. “I’m okay with losing a paycheck, just so you know. If they want to be rescued—and from talking to Farli, I’m not sure they do—then I’m on board with it. But only if they want to be rescued. I’m not forcing her—or anyone else—to go someplace they don’t want to be.”
“If they don’t want to be rescued, that solves all my problems,” Chatav says. He glances over at the picture on the wall again and then sighs heavily. “If we lose this shipment, I’m done.”
I frown to myself. Done? This ship’s the only thing the captain has in his life since he retired. “Pardon?”
“I’m broke,” Chatav says bluntly. “Shipments have been lean, and fuel costs have gone up. I’m barely breaking even. Why do you think we’re running kelp to the outer reaches ofthe galaxy?”
“Because it’s a job?” I don’t ask questions. I just go with the flow.
“Because it pays well. But every credit we spend on unnecessary fuel or repairs means our profit margin grows slimmer and slimmer. And lately there’s been nothing left.” He spreads his hands, and for the first time, I see a flicker of despair on his proud face. “We’ve been bleeding credits for a long time.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I made sure you didn’t. Hard to get crew when you’re afraid you might not get paid for the next haul.” He runs his hand along the wood grain of his desk. “If we don’t make this shipment, I won’t have the money to purchase fuel for future trips. That means if we rescue these people, we’re doing the right thing and destroying ourselves in the process.” His gaze meets mine. “And you’re out of a job. Niri and Trakan, too. And I’ll have to sell theLady.”
I sit back, stunned. We’re not a close crew, but this is as near to stability as I’ve had since leaving the military. To think that it might be gone in a flash… “So what am I supposed to do?”
He shrugs. “Same thing I would, I imagine. File for government assistance.”
The kef he says. Now I’m getting angry. “What about your pension?” I gesture at all the medals on the wall. “Didn’t you get one when you were discharged?”
“Cashed it out so I could buy theLady.” His expression grows hard. “Where’s your pension?”
“Donated it,” I say flatly. I don’t want to talk about this.
“Donated? But didn’t you have an honorable discharge? For valor? You could live comfortably off that for the rest of your life.”
I grind my teeth. “Didn’t want it.” Blood money. Seemedfairer that I give it to the families whose lives I ruined rather than keep it and drink it away. I get to my feet. “We need to make this delivery, then. Provided they don’t need a rescue, of course.” I’m pissed. It’ll be a huge pain to try to line up another job, and I’ll have to eat vend-machine soup until I do, but I’ll manage. I think of Niri, who’s elderly and cranky. It’s going to be a lot harder for her to line something else up, and I know she doesn’t have a nest egg. And the captain… This ship is all he’s got. I hate that I somehow feel responsible for their livelihoods. “When do we visit Farli’s people, then?”
“You seem to have a rapport with her. Talk to her and have her let us know where they are located. We can fly there shortly.”
I nod calmly, even though my thoughts are chaos. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Very good, Vendasi.”
“Mardok.” I glance uneasily at the flag on the wall. Hate that thing. I see it in my dreams. More like nightmares.
The captain flicks a hand at me. “Dismissed.”
6
MARDOK
I’m still seething from the conversation with the captain as I head through the empty halls of the ship. He’s been quiet lately, but he’s not the most garrulous of men, even on a good day. I didn’t think anything of it. To think that I might not have a job—hell, a home—when we’re done here… More than Farli’s tribe is at stake now. Niri and Trakan and Chatav will all be without a job if we don’t get this delivery out. What if Farli’s people do want to be rescued? Do we dump the cargo and screw ourselves out of a living, or do we tell them to wait patiently for the next rescue ship? We could alert the nearest Interplanetary Enforcement station and notify them of the situation, but that opensThe Tranquil Lady’screw to suspicion for being in the area in the first place. They might delay us just for questioning. And if they do take charge, Farli and her people will be shuttled through the system and…I’ll never see her again.
Either way, once I leave this planet, Farli is long gone. Forsome reason, that disturbs me far more than it should. I’ve just met her. I shouldn’t care. Instead, I’m obsessing over her with every waking moment. And as I head toward med bay, I keep picturing how Farli’s going to react when I leave.
