13 Degrees of Separation (3 page)

“I'm sure,” she replied, taking the vacuum and using it.

“I see you've used one before,” Jane said.

“I've been around the sector a few times,” the older woman said,
working at getting as much dust off as possible.

“Around the sector? I thought you were new?”

“New to your ship certainly,” Annie replied, looking up. Her tight
braid bobbed. “But I've been around as I said. I usually make runs south and
then catch flights back with lighter animals.”

“Really. So you've been on a lot of ships?”

“Sure,” the cowgirl replied absently, going back to brushing and
vacuuming her boots. “Been doing it nearly thirty years.”

Jane whistled. “Any favorites?”

“Wondering how you'll measure up?” she asked, looking at the girl.

Jane squirmed a bit. Finally the cowgirl shrugged, straightening
up. “Pelican's my least favorite. She's an accident waiting to happen. Now, Io
11 wasn't much beyond her a while back, but she's something else now. Pretty
impressive,” she said smiling.

Jane raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah, they picked up a sleeper in Senka and boy has he worked
them hard fixing that ship!”

“Really?” the girl asked excitedly.

“Yes, supposed to be some high muckity muck, a Federation admiral
if you can believe it. I met him on the flight south. Saved the Captain's bacon
when a young stud slipped out of containment and went on a rampage.”

“A rampage!” the girl said, eyes wide with concern.

“Sure, they are big animals and scared. They don't know any better
lass, they are just acting up out of instinct. New place, smells, sounds, they
don't condition them on New Texas, just a slap on the rump up the ramp. So it
all boils out when we get topside.”

“Really?” the girl asked, now concerned.

“Ayup.”

“How did it get loose?”

“He. Though he's most likely in someone's belly by now. He got
loose. Beauregard. Big boy. Young, a couple of months old, even though he stood
16 hands high. They grow quick, what can I tell you,” she said as the girl's
eyes widened comically.

“I'm all for women pulling their own weight but Io's set up was
well, not the greatest when it came to running heavy cargo. I don't mind
showing the boys up, but having a few around to do the heavy lifting make
sense.”

“Wait, I don't understand,” Jane said, wrinkling her brow in
confusion.

“Oh? Sorry. Thought you spacers all knew each other. Io's got an
all female crew. Well, most of them. There are a couple of guys like the
admiral fellow. Mostly passengers.”

“Oh. So um, about the animals. You said they can be dangerous?”

“Not if you handle them proper. Git of a girl tried to be all
lovey with Beauregard and he wasn't her type. And the stupid thing about it is,
the more stress you put on the animal the faster they lose weight. They can
lose a lot on a flight, so the faster and quieter, the better. More room
matters to them too.”

“Oh.”

“You'd think that given that they just stand around and eat and
shit, they'd put on fat. Ain't how it works lass.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It figures to about a kilogram a day loss despite all the
food and love you can give them. A long flight will have them looking like they
are ready for a glue factory,” the cowgirl sighed, shaking her head. “I haven't
found the right way to get them to cope, never did. Conditioning, that's what
my research says, that or stasis. But no one will listen.”

“Conditioning huh?”

“Yes. And if we can get them real food. By the time they get half
way to their destination all they have is freeze dried pellets or recycled
mush. Gives them indigestion every time. Colic can kill. We usually loose 10 or
20 percent of a herd.”

“Oh.”

“Mucking them out daily in such tight spaces is damn dangerous.
Foolhardy. But it's got to be done.”

“Oh.”

“So, no, it's not all fun and games for me either missy. Just stay
in the flight cabin until we're unloaded. Okay?” She pronounced okay with an H
in front of it. Sometimes her New Texas accent slipped in whenever she spoke
fast. She was cosmopolitan, she'd been a spacer since this kid's mother had been
born. But... she put the rumination aside.

“So, tell me more about this admiral guy... what did he do for the
ship that made it so great?” Jane asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Rebuilt it from stem to stern. Dorsal to keel, she's almost as
good as new, or so I heard the crew say. Fast, she did the run in less than a
quarter of the usual time, that's saying something right there.”

“I see.”

“Beta band. High octaves of Beta no less. They were pushing Gamma
near the end of the run when I got off.”

Jane's eyes flared wide. “Wow!”

“I got some stuff from him. A flash chip of reading material. I
can copy it for you...”

The girl smiled as if she was giving her a treasure. Which, in a
way she was, knowledge was vital to spacers. “Sure!”

“Okay, well, let's get em on and move em out then.”

“Yeah ha!” the girl said, bouncing about.

“I'll make a cowgirl out of you yet,” the cowgirl chuckled,
handing the small vacuum back to her.

...*...*...*...*...

Once the batch of animals were loaded she worked with the
freighter’s crew to move the animals to their intended home on the ship. They
used portable fences and defensive barriers to herd the animals to the cargo
hold. The ship rang with their hooves skittering and clattering on the metal
deck and bulkheads. Annie used a popper, a short whip to get the animals
moving. By flicking it in the air it made a popping sound, spooking the animals
away from her. She didn't like to use it, it stressed the animals, but with the
tight loading line she didn't have a choice.

She wrinkled her nose at the crap and piss some of the calves let
loose as they wandered the corridors of their new home. A few were pretty
dainty, lively stepping over the knee knockers and trotting along to the hold.
Others were all asses and elbows, kicking, stumbling messes. She tried to make
a note of which ones were ungainly and which were quiet. It was always the
quiet ones that got you. A stumbler though, you could easily get a broken foot
from one of them. They might even do it on purpose.

...*...*...*...*...

They broke orbit two weeks after the ship arrived, a day after the
last shipment of hay and oats was brought on board and stored. Annie was a bit
put out about being drafted to toss hay bales after finishing up with the
animals. She did the work though, putting her gloves on and grabbing the twine
to swing with the best of them.

Her back ached when they were through, she was itchy, sweaty, and
in dire need of a bath, but the fodder hold was stocked to the brim. It
wouldn't last long, just a month or so, but it if she managed it right she'd
wean them onto the protein crap the recycler put out. Maybe she could also talk
the ship gardener into giving her plant scraps? That always helped, if the
scraps were right. He'd get the manure anyway... she made a note to check. Some
gardeners were prickly about that. She smiled to Jane as the girl passed her.
Jane hadn't shirked helping, even though she didn't have the muscle for the
work. She was proud of the girl.

...*...*...*...*...

As the ship crossed the system and then jumped, Annie settled into
the routine of mucking out, feeding, and cleaning the animals. With nothing to
do Jane tagged along. Even though her parents weren't happy about her being
around such big and dangerous animals.

Annie kept an eye on her young helper, at first making certain the
girl stayed on the other side of the fence. She'd set the hold up with a
separate pen. That way she could open a gate and let the animals in there, then
close it, and then muck out their old quarters. Once she was finished she'd
clear out and let the animals back in.

She took the time to handle each animal, slapping their sides and
rubbing at them, giving each a treat as she talked softly to them. She wanted
them to get used to her, get used to her presence and her smell. She taught
them to lift their hooves so she could make sure none were cracked or infected.
Being on metal decking was a sure fire way of causing hoof damage. She talked
with Jane as she gave each of the one hundred animals a rub down. She explained
about the salt licks hanging from the fencing and supplements she slipped into
their feed and water daily.

Jane occasionally played gopher, getting her things or keeping an
eye out for trouble. Working with the animals was an all day affair, even
though Jane's helping out with the muck out cut some of the work load. Just
giving the animals a rub down was back breaking labor.

...*...*...*...*...

She kept to the herd for the most part, busy dealing with them.
Syntia's world wasn't a long hop, no more than three and a half months at their
highest speed. She took to having dinner with the Darlings when she could,
either chatting up with Jane or Wendy when they were available.

Micheal Darling was a treat, he teased her about his smell and
hers. She'd surprised herself by laughing at his wit. They'd hit it off, and
even had a brief roll in the hay before they'd broken it off. Wendy and Jane
had gotten their hopes up, but they'd quietly explained, neither was really
compatible. Annie was too set in her ways and had no intention of staying in
the sterile confines of a ship the rest of her days.

...*...*...*...*...

MM arrived in Syntia's word without incident. For once Annie
didn't lose a single calf. She had been surprised by that. The crew had been
amiable to her requests, so much so the stock had survived. Oh a few were a bit
poorly, but they were alive, that was the important thing. Now they were taking
on supplies. George was devious, he wanted to feed the herd for a week on hay
before shipping them down to market. She approved of the idea, it would get
most of them back on track before they hit the market.

She'd heard the scuttlebutt from Jane, the ship planned to run
from Syntia's world to Senka as part of the circuit. Annie ignored the
discussion until the bridge crew had moseyed into the cargo area they'd set up
for the feed and started in with her and a crew trying to work around them.

The Captain was a nice sort, honest, hard working, he pitched in
with the cargo hands unlike his mouthy cargo master. Annie nodded in passing to
him. He was a handsome sort, with the curly hair just going gray at the temples
and on the sides. He didn't have a gut, he must work out a bit to stay in
shape, not shine the Captain's seat with his ass so much.

The XO was a high elf, a rare breed that. Annie shot her a look to
size her up. Bluish skin, tall, stick thin. Long ears that seemed to move
about, scanning the compartment. She was serene, silver haired and not bothered
by the surroundings or the work. She was dressed in a silver jump suit, fetching,
but not really suited for their surroundings. Her long fingers were tucked in
the overlong sleeves.

The bridge crew argued over possibly slaughtering some of the
bison on Syntia's world and then transporting the beef in a refrigeration
container. George Darling, the burly cargo master was certain they would make a
great deal of credits in Senka, they were a dying space colony. “How can they
pay for it if they are broke and dying?” the Captain asked.

“Man's got to eat Captain,” the cargo master said spreading his
hands. “They'll find a way.”

“True. But we need to pay for port fees and fuel. We're not
trading one for one, we'd go broke.”

George shook his head vehemently no. “Oh no, hell no! No way.”

“So...”

“I'll think of something. They are a space colony right?” the
Captain nodded. “So they have to have, um, you know, space tools and parts and
stuff right? We can name our own price. Even if it's just junk we can still use
it, or sell it.”

“You mean foster it off on some poor unsuspecting sap after us?”
Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow.

George scowled, hitching his thumbs in his broad belt. “No! No,
I'm saying we can make the run south to Pyrax as we'd planned and dump any of
the scrap off there. They love that shit. And Michael and his crew will love picking
through the stuff we pick up before hand, putting aside the good stuff and
giving me some idea on the prices.”

“Ah. I see.”

“It'll keep him busy,” George said ingeniously. They both knew how
her brother and the lost boys loved to tinker. When they weren't tinkering they
were up to pranks and mischief that drove some to distraction.

“Dad, you and I both know he works hard, and works longer hours
than you or I.”

Her father snorted. “Yeah right,” he scoffed, indicating the work
crew around them.

“Dad,” Wendy sighed, and then shook her head, giving the argument
up before it really began. “Do you have any idea what's involved in rigging
this or another compartment to freeze? What it will do to the electronics and
plumbing?”