Hold the Star: Samair in Argos: Book 2 (48 page)

              “Now we should bow to your amazing technical expertise,” Kly spat.

              “No, but you might want to listen to your own engineers,” Galina said, her voice low.  “I’m sure they’re impressed with the quality of the parts they’re ‘transferring’ from the
Kara
to the
Leytonstone
, but I know that they’re also telling you that it will take some work to get them integrated into the cruiser.  And,” she went on, “because they’re civilian grade components, they won’t have the endurance or the sheer power of a milspec unit.”

              Kozen’ck raised a hand.  “Very well.  We will speak with the engineers.  But that doesn’t actually answer what you are doing here at this meeting.  You were told not to attend.”  It was hard to tell with his compound eyes, but it looked as though he glowered at her.

              “I asked her to attend,” Vincent asked.

              The other members looked at him, belligerent looks on all their faces, but the Captain didn’t back down.  He’d been on the business end of pirate weapons, he’d watched crewmen executed before his eyes, he’d watched death bearing down on him and his people.  The stern and aggravated glances of the members here did nothing to shake him.

              He shrugged.  “I
did
,” he said, as though he was explaining himself to a child who simply didn’t understand.  “I thought she was instrumental in getting this meeting set up, but when I heard what had happened to her ship, I thought I would need her counsel here.”

              “
Did
you,” Kly said, a false smile on his face.  “And what could a hospital administrator
possibly
be able to contribute to this conversation.”

              Galina’s ears flattened to her head, but aside from that she didn’t rise to the bait.  “As the former commander of the
Kara
,” Eamonn went on, “And the one who had been operating the ship with the upgrades, I figured she would have insight into how effective my engineering teams were and how well all the parts we installed worked.”  He cleared his throat.  “But, you seem to have things well in hand.  I’ll be returning to my ship.  If you change your minds about working together, you have my comm codes.  Please give me a call.” 

              He stood and the others followed.  “Have a pleasant afternoon, all of you.”  As he turned and walked out, the others following along behind, he could hear the voices of the members calling him back, angrily demanding that he explain himself.  But he ignored them and continued out of the compartment.

              Once outside and the door was closed, Tamara chuckled.  “Well that was a productive use of my time.  Thanks, Captain.  If you don’t mind, I’m going to go see if I can find my friend the Chaplain.”  She gave a little bow to Galina, who bowed back, nodded to Saiphirelle, then headed off on her own.

              “What just happened in there?” Galina demanded, spreading her arms wide.  “I thought the point was to get them to agree to your proposal.”

              Vincent nodded.  “It was.  And I still believe that they’ll come around.  But I think it better that they think I’m an arrogant asshole.  And as my associate Ms. Samair proved, you have to be willing to walk away from a deal to try and get what you want.”

              Galina’s ears flicked.  “You really think you can pull this off?”  Her voice was skeptical.

              He shrugged.  “I’m honestly not sure.  Kly wasn’t convinced and nor was Cresswell.  But I think that Kozen’ck might be.  And I don’t know about the others, but I think at least one of them might be interested.  One of the other men, the dark-haired one with the darker skin, he was interested in what we were saying.”

              “Oh, and how do you know that?” the lupusan replied, scathingly.

              “Because his face lit up at the Captain’s mention of milspec components,” Saiphirelle said gruffly.  “What?” she said, eyes sweeping the group, who all had shocked looks on their faces.  “Don’t look so surprised.  You didn’t think I was napping in my chair there, or mentally checking all the people in the room for weapons.  Just because I’m a security officer doesn’t mean I might not have other skills.”

              “You’re right,” Eamonn said, impressed.  “I caught that too.  Sadly, I
didn’t
catch his name, but I’m hoping the good Administrator here knows him.”

              “Sebastian Chakrabarti,” she answered, her eyes on the bulkhead, though it was clear she wasn’t seeing the metal.  “He’s one of the governmental finance ministers.  A leading light in the government and he’s definitely one that holds the purse strings.”

              “One?” Vincent asked.

              “Well, yes,” the lupusan replied, folding her hands under the sleeves of her robe.  “There are three, but only one was in that compartment with us.  And if Chakrabarti is interested then it means we might have a chance.”

              Eamonn grinned, clapping the elder wolf woman on the shoulder.  She gave a slight growl when he did and he nodded in apology, withdrew his hand and stepped back.  “Well that is good news.  I’ll let it stew for now, work on the ship and continue with the fuel collection and sales.  I also want to bring on some more deck and engineering personnel.  But for now, we’ll leave the members in there to discuss their thoughts on my proposal.”  He gave one last look toward the compartment hatch and then beckoned to the two wolfwomen.  “Come on.  Let’s head over to that restaurant on level six.  I could go for a good steak.  My treat.”

              Both of the lupusan brightened immediately.  The idea of hitting an eatery that served fresh beef was definitely one guaranteed to get their attention.  “Sounds great to me, Captain,” Saiphirelle replied.  “Though I do have to admit, that new cook Noken does a good job.”  But then she clapped her hands together.  “But, steaks await!  Come on!” she said, hustling them all down the corridor, all of them laughing at her enthusiasm.

              Tamara was at a loss.  The meeting was supposed to have lasted for several hours, discussing terms and specs, setting up times for surveys, perhaps even looking over schematics for the battlecruiser.  She had planned to be out with barely enough time to run down to Shaunessey’s to meet up with Chaplain Tyannikov.  But in truth, the meeting had lasted less than twenty minutes and now she had many hours to kill before the chaplain would be there at the pub.  She could go wandering aimlessly through the station, trying to find him, but in truth, the idea of what might end up as a fruitless and exhausting search was not at all appealing.

              So she wandered over to one of the cafes to get some lunch.  It was a small joint with only about five tables inside, which was filled with customers, most of whom were human.  The hostess at the door waved her inside.  “Just find a seat anywhere, honey.  That table there, closest to the back is open.”  She pointed.

              “Thank you.”  Tamara threaded her way through the tables, passing by other people who were eating.  She accidently bumped into the chair of a young woman who was sitting with an older man.  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.

              The young woman turned, a slightly irritated look on her face.  But then the features brightened.  “Tamara!” she exclaimed, hopping to her feet. 

              “Taja?” It was her.  “It’s been weeks!  I didn’t expect to see you.”  She reached out and impulsively hugged the woman, who hugged her back.

              “Come, sit with us,” the tiny woman replied, gesturing to the open seat. 

              “You’re sure?”

              Taja gave Tamara’s arm a little tug.  “Stop being an idiot and sit down.”  Tamara chuckled and sat.  She looked to the man sitting at the table.

              “Wow, Captain Vosteros,” Tamara said, flushing in embarrassment.  “How did I not notice it was the two of you here?”

              “Please, call me Frederick,” he admonished, smiling.  “It isn’t like you haven’t called me by my name before.  We
did
used to work together, you know.”

              “Yes, I remember, it wasn’t all that long ago.”

              Tamara picked up a menu as the young waitress approached.  She smiled at the young woman and ordered a salad with what the menu claimed was chicken.  At the prices they were charging here, it was unlikely that the café had actual chicken, even if it was being transported up from the planet.  More likely it was cultured meat grown in a vat, or perhaps some sort of soya product.  Either way, whatever was going to be on the salad would most likely taste like chicken.

              “So how are things on the ship?” Vosteros asked, before taking a bite of his sandwich.

              “Repairs are ongoing,” Tamara replied, leaning her elbows on the table.  “Working to get the new crew up to speed, which is always a chore.  I have to admit, though, it isn’t the same without you two.”

              “I’m sure,” he replied, through a mouthful of sandwich.  Taja’s face had darkened and she was suddenly very interested in her soup.

              “Sorry,” Tamara said meekly.  She pushed on, trying to get past the awkward subject.  “The Captain’s up to some new tricks, looking to open up new lines of business.  So what have you been doing all this time?”

              Vosteros took another bite, chewed and swallowed.  “I’ve been trying to secure a ship.”

              Tamara nodded.  “That’s not surprise.  But in all the time we’ve been here, we haven’t seen any ships leave the station.  I’m guessing you haven’t found one.”

              “Oh, I found one,” he replied with a smirk.  He made a flicking motion with one finger, indicating somewhere near the station.  “There are a few ships that are docked at the station that are without owners, or rather the station leadership owns them.  Right now they’re just taking up space in the docking ports and occasionally they’ll salvage one for parts.  But there are still a few wrecks that might still fly.”

              Tamara started to answer, but the waitress came back and deposited the plate with her salad expertly in front of her.  There were some gray shards of what might be meat on top of wilted leaves with a few ground up pieces of some sort of orange root vegetable.  “There ya go, hon,” the waitress told her and sashayed off.  Tamara’s nose wrinkled at the sight of the food. 

              The others grimaced when they saw it as well.  “Ugh,” Taja said, lifting up one of the pieces of “meat” between two fingers.  “That isn’t chicken, Tamara.  I think it’s slug meat.”

              Gingerly, Tamara speared a piece as well as one of the pieces of lettuce.  Then, with great daring, she popped the forkful into her mouth and chewed.  Then she gagged and nearly spit it out, but she forced herself to continue and then swallowed.  “You’re right, that was slug meat.  And I cannot understand how anyone can believe that is chicken,” she said, setting the fork down carefully on the table, a look of abject horror on her face.  She pushed the plate away. 

              Taja looked at the plate and then at the other woman with sympathy.  “I’m sorry.  I’ll get it for you,” she offered. 

              But Tamara waved her off.  “No, I’m the idiot who ordered it, I’ll pay for it.”  Taking a paper napkin, she covered over it.  Then she looked up, her expression brighter.  “So, you said you found one.  Care to show a lady a good time?”

              Taja threw back her head and laughed, but Vosteros looked confused.  Taja patted him on the arm.  “She wants to see the ship.”

              He gave her a very false smile.  “Yes, I got that, Taja, thank you,” he said, primly and she smiled.  Frederick looked to Tamara.  “Very well.  When are you available?  We have to go all the way out to Hub Four.”

              “I’m available now,” Tamara reassured him.  “I have to get back here to a place called Shaunessey’s by sixteen hundred.”

              The captain nodded.  He gestured to himself and Taja.  “We’ve been there.”

              Tamara couldn’t help a smile from forming on her lips.  “You two have certainly gotten cozy.”

              Frederick smiled, but shook his head.  “No, it’s not like that, Tamara.”

              She looked them both over, the captain seemed sincere, but Taja wasn’t meeting her gaze, again very interested in her soup, which was almost gone.  Then she shrugged.  They were adults and it wasn’t her business who they slept with.  “Of course.  Whenever you’re done, let’s check out this prospective ship of yours.”

              Thirty minutes later they were standing at the armor glass window looking out at the ship in the dock.  It was small, barely eighty meters in length compared to the kilometer long bulk of the
Grania Estelle
.  It had a boxy shape to the main body and an angular look to the bow, similar to that of ground lorries that would tractor large trailers across country.  From what Tamara could see, the ship had two decks, and the cargo area could probably carry about two hundred metric tons.  Not a lot, again in comparison to the bulk freighter she currently served on, but something that looked to be right up Vosteros’s alley.  She was dilapidated, there were large corrosion spots in three places that she could see.  It didn’t look as though it had too much external damage, not from this vantage point, but there was no telling what the interior of the ship looked like.