Milk Run (Smuggler's Tales From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1) (33 page)

“There’s not much to it. The watch schedule has been posted. The ship’s in good repair other than a faulty generator bus coupling, which we’ll get repaired at Siren. Even if Mr. Pritchard were up and about, he wouldn’t be trying to do this himself with the facilities at Siren to call on.” Natalya shrugged and took a forkful of
msabbaha
.

“I don’t suppose you’d object to a safety inspection since we’re here?” Hardwall asked.

Trask shrugged. “Not in the least. I’d ask that you make it fast, if you’re going to. Moe’s promised that our new can will be locked in by the time lunch is over.”

Rewers gave her head a small shake. “That won’t be necessary, Captain. We understand you’ve got places to go, people to meet.”

Hardwall sat back in his seat and let the matter drop without another comment.

The rest of the luncheon passed without difficulty. The buffet line got scraped down to metal. They had another round of tea and coffee before Bray returned with a tray full of small dishes containing individual cobblers topped with vanilla ice cream.

“Mind the dishes, sars. They’re hot from the oven.”

Hardwall, for all his initial confrontation, proved to be a witty and clever dining companion. Natalya still didn’t trust him, but Rewers appeared to have him under control.

Promptly at 1300 hours, Rewers smiled at Captain Trask. “This has been lovely, Thomas. We probably won’t be seeing you in Siren, but when you get back this way again, it’ll be our treat on station. If we might be excused? We have more work to do and your can is probably in position for your departure.”

Trask stood and nodded. “Of course, of course. Let me walk you out.”

The whole table stood as Rewers and Hardwall prepared to leave.

“Thank you for coming,” Lyons said. “We don’t often get the chance to sit down with Trade Investigation and just visit.”

“Yes, thank you,” Zoya said with a warm smile at Hardwall. “It was lovely to get to know you.”

Trask nodded to Bray, who’d stuck his head in from the pantry. “You can clear, Mr. Bray. We’re all done here.”

Bray nodded and started to clear away the dirty dishes as Trask ushered Special Agent Rewers out into the passage.

Hardwall paused and looked at Zoya. “If you’d walk with me, Ms. Usoko? I think I owe you an apology.”

Zoya glanced at Blanchard who gave a small shrug. “Of course, Mr. Hardwall, but you don’t owe me anything.” She followed the small party out of the wardroom and down the passage, leaving everybody else standing there with nothing to say.

Natalya looked at Lyons. “That didn’t hurt much, did it?”

Lyons shook his head and sighed. “I’ll give you that.”

“Did Moe’s crew get the can swapped?” Blanchard asked.

“Yeah. I got a ping just before dessert. We’re ready to fly as soon as the ole man is ready to go.”

Trask stuck his head in the wardroom door. “You people need to clear out of there so Mr. Bray can work. We’ve got a bus to catch. Move it.”

Natalya chuckled and headed for her stateroom to change into something other than her best khakis. She had just zipped up her working shipsuit when Zoya knocked on the door to the head.

“You there?”

Natalya opened the door. “Yup. What’d Hardwall want?”

Zoya held out a hand, palm up. A thumb drive glinted in the bright lights from the overhead. “He slipped me this while the captain and Rewers were saying their fond farewells.”

“Hardwall was your contact?” Natalya shook her head quickly a couple of times to see if she might rattle some sense into it.

“So it would seem. How he knew to find me here, now? They clearly know more about what’s going on with this ship than Captain Trask believes.”

Natalya ruffled fingers through her cropped hair. “Maybe,” she said. “He’s said some things the last few days that make me think he believes they know exactly who we are and what we’re doing here.”

“Then what’s with all the smuggling talk, about not getting caught? If they know already, what’s the big deal?”

Natalya shook her head. “Right hand, left hand, maybe.”

“Plausible deniability?” Zoya asked.

“Deny to whom?”

“What’s the relationship between TIC and CPJCT?”

“You think TIC is keeping it out of CPJCT’s oversight?” Natalya asked.

“You’re the expert in Toe-Holds,” Zoya said. “You tell me.”

Natalya spun the ideas around in her head but nothing jelled. “We need to get ready to dust off here. See you after dinner?”

Zoya’s gaze unfocused for a few heartbeats. “I pass off the watch to the skipper at 1800. He’ll have it until midnight when Blanchard comes on.” She nodded. “After dinner.” She closed the door and Natalya scooted down the spine in time to take her seat before Zoya’s voice on the announcer called the ship to navigation stations.

Chapter 35
Siren System: 2363, July 23

After the dinner mess, Natalya and Zoya retired to Zoya’s stateroom to examine the chip.

“Are you going to just plug it into your tablet?” Natalya asked.

Zoya frowned at the chip. “There could be anything on it.”

“If it’s compromised, whatever’s on that chip can get directly into the ship’s systems.”

Zoya nodded but shrugged. “Why would TIC give us a compromised chip?”

“Maybe to get remote access to the ship?”

Zoya snorted. “They already know more than I’m comfortable with.”

“So? I thought they were on your side?”

“So did I,” Zoya said, her voice low and her brow still furrowed.

“If we had the
Peregrine
, we could use her sandbox to look at the chip without exposing the network.”

“I wonder if Blanchard can help us,” Zoya said.

Natalya felt her eyebrows rising. “Would you trust him?”

“Do we have a choice?”

“We need a story.”

“We
need
a standalone chip reader,” Zoya said.

Natalya grinned. “Duh.”

“What?” Zoya asked.

“Ship’s library.”

“It’s on ShipNet. What are you getting at?”

Natalya shook her head. “I bet it’s not. I’ll bet you credits to crescent rolls that the ship has some readers dedicated to ‘private time’ displays.”

“Wha—?” Zoya’s voice choked off and her eyes got wide. “Oh, ‘private time.’ Like when somebody’s brought a bit of entertainment media aboard? Something not for general consumption?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Zoya’s face took on a bit of a ruddy glow. “How would we find such a unit?”

“We ask for one. Who’s the morale officer?”

Zoya’s lips crumpled into a wry grin. “Not CPJCT, remember. Ancillary duties are going to be sketchy.”

“We ask Blanchard. He’s in charge of systems. Logically that includes keeping digital freeloaders from hitching a ride on our ShipNet every time some horny spacer plugs in for some sexy time without partner.”

A ruddy glow crept up the back of Zoya’s neck and over her ears.

“My goodness, Zee. You aren’t that naïve are you?”

Zoya chewed on her response for a while. “Sheltered childhood,” she said after more than a few heartbeats. She didn’t look up at Natalya.

Natalya reached over and patted Zoya’s forearm. “I’ll ask Blanchard. Who knows? We might get some loaners, too.”

“Ew. Loaners? Really?”

Natalya twiddled the fingers on her left hand and waggled her eyebrows. “South paw rules.”

Zoya swatted her on the shoulder. “I didn’t need to know that.”

Natalya laughed. “Sorry, bunkie. We’re learning so much more about each other now that we’re not sharing a room.”

“Spare me the details, all right?”

“Skipper’s got the watch?” Natalya asked.

“He relieved me at 1745.”

“Just like real fleet,” Natalya said.

“He’s old guard. Not sure why he’s out here with the riff-raff.”

“So Blanchard is off. I’ll go knock on his door.”

“Won’t you be embarrassed?”

Natalya shook her head. “Why? It’s not like I’m doing anything illegal. They don’t even have a nonfraternization policy on this ship. Who knows how many bunk bunnies are breeding down in the crews’ quarters.”

Zoya sighed. “Now you’re trying too hard.”

Natalya stood and shrugged. “Can’t blame a girl for tryin’.”

“You are trying. I’ll give you that.”

Natalya laughed and headed out the door. “Be right back.”

It took Natalya just a few steps to knock on Blanchard’s door. He opened it almost immediately. “Natalya? I didn’t expect you here. Problem?”

Natalya shook her head. “Do we have such a thing as a firewalled reader aboard?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Several. I wish more people would use them. Why?”

“Can I get one?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Lemme guess. It’s for a friend?”

“No. It’s for me. She can get her own.”

“Wardroom pantry. Cabinet under the coffee maker.”

“Do I need to sign for it or anything?”

“There’s a log book to thumb. You might be the first one to use it.”

“That loose?”

Blanchard shrugged and grinned. “Not exactly a high-demand item. I have to keep scrubbers running on the ship’s systems nonstop.”

“Lotta activity?”

“Not so much yet. After we leave Siren Orbital, it’ll be a free-for-all.”

“Can’t you firewall the tablets?”

“I can. It’s not like I can make anybody use them.” Blanchard shrugged. “As soon as I protect one, somebody buys a new one and links into the ship. That’s why things will get a little spongy after Siren. At least half the crew will upgrade their tablets.” He glanced up and down the passageway. “Anything else?”

Natalya shook her head again. “Thanks.”

“Have a nice evening,” Blanchard said and closed his door.

Natalya thought about Blanchard’s problem all the way to the wardroom. She found the cabinet and pulled a reader from the rack. As soon as she did, a pop-up tablet offered her a thumb tab. She pressed her thumb to the pad and it beeped once before withdrawing.

She stood there for a moment, staring into the cabinet.

Chef Marah stuck her head in from the galley door. “Oh, Ms. Regyri, isn’t it?”

“Good evening, Chef. I didn’t disturb you, did I?”

She shook her head and smiled. “No. Just finishing the evening cleanup and heard the beep. It’s not normal to have people in here after hours. Is there something you need?”

“No, I’m just getting a reader.”

“Your tablet broken?” she asked.

“Just wanted a sandbox to play in.”

“I believe you’re the first person I’ve ever seen take one of those.”

“Really?”

“I have to make sure everything is shipshape in here. I’m always checking to make sure things are where they need to be while we’re underway. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one out of the rack.”

“I was just marveling that they weren’t all gone,” Natalya said.

“Who’d want them?”

“Good question, Ms. Marah.”

Natalya took the reader back to Zoya. “We may have been looking at this parts issue wrong,” she said.

Zoya tilted her head. “How so?”

“I’ve been operating on the assumption that somebody’s just skimming to augment their income.”

“Reasonable.”

“Blanchard sent me down to the wardroom pantry for this.” She held up the reader. “There’s a whole rack of them in a recharging frame in there.”

Zoya frowned for a moment and then her eyes snapped wide open. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Natalya bit her lip and shrugged. “It might if the person doing the pilfering didn’t know about the readers.”

“That’s possible. We didn’t know about them.”

“Yeah, but we’re the new kids. There’s probably an encyclopedia full of information about this ship we don’t know.”

“You think it’s something else?” Zoya asked.

“What if it’s somebody who specifically wants Barbell parts?”

“That makes sense. Barbells are the most common bulk hauler,” Zoya said. “What makes you think Barbell parts instead of general spares?”

“I’m not sure. There’s not that much that’s specific to Barbells. The tools could all be used on any ship. The bus connectors that triggered this whole thing aren’t exactly universal, but they’re cross-compatible with a lot of the larger ships.”

“Any unique Barbell spares?”

“Scrubber cartridges. Larger ships and most of the Manchester-built hulls use algae in a nutrient matrix. Barbells use a particular shape of cartridge to filter out airborne contaminants.”

“We didn’t lose any of those?” Zoya asked.

“No, but they’re cheap—relatively speaking—and we’d have noticed pretty fast since they’re one of the regularly consumed parts.”

“What about Burleson spares? We’ve got some heavy drives back there.”

“True, but any high-end jumper would have very similar drives. They’re almost all plug-and-play parts. Other than the calibration and power circuits, the drives all use the same parts.”

“So what you’re saying is that these are easily disposed of.”

“To anybody with a large ship, yeah. I can’t use these parts in the
Peregrine
, for example. They’re just the wrong size.”

“But you think that it’s not just random pilferage,” Zoya said.

“It makes more sense if whoever took this stuff already had a buyer lined up. Less possibility that they’d get caught with the goods.”