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Alternity - Chapter 6
To Worse
Time: CY 10088 - AD March 5165Location: Sinti IV spaceport
Beka didn't have to ask if it was bad news. The expression on Harper's face was enough.
"How bad is it, Harper?"
They had been making a routine approach to the spaceport on Sinti IV when the Maru had suddenly lurched, and then began to drop like a stone, as power to the its engines first increased dramatically, then dropped off completely. Beka's crew members liked to brag that their boss was the best pilot in three galaxies, and her emergency landing may have proved their point. She had been forced to make a dead stick landing from near orbit in a craft that had the aerodynamics of a brick, and had done so with only minor damage to one of the Maru's landing struts, external damage that was. As soon as they had made planetfall, Beka had Harper running tests to determine what had caused the near crash. From his expression he wasn't bringing her good news.
"About as bad as it can get, Boss. The power converter shorted out, and sent a surge of current through the magnetic containment field generator, completely frying it. When it went, the safety interlocks kicked in, and we lost all power to the engines. I can repair the converter but the mag con field generator is history."
"What about spares?" asked Trance. She had been with him in the engineering spaces and had followed him out to the command deck.
"That was our spare, babe."
"Can you rebuild the old one?" asked Beka. She was reasonably sure he couldn't or else he would have mentioned it, but she had to ask.
"Sure, if I had access to the services of a full blown ship repair facility. But the nearest one of those is on Halcyon. And if we could get to Halcyon we wouldn't be needing to repair the generator, would we? Boss, the old one was fused so badly I had to use my nanowelder to cut it free from the rest of the system. Face it - we're grounded until we can come up with a new one." There was an undercurrent of bitterness in his voice that wouldn't have been there a month ago
Beka slumped back into the pilot's chair. She was beginning to wonder if Harper was right, and the universe really did hate them. It had been less than a month since they had learned that Harper had contracted MVLS from a contaminated blood transfusion, and now this.
"What are our chances of finding a replacement?"
"Hard to say, Boss. The Maru isn't exactly a standard configuration anymore. I'll put the word out and keep my ears open. Something will turn up that we can use. The question is when, and for how much."
"OK, start looking. Trance, you go with him. "I'll contact the port master to unload our cargo, and arrange for long term berthing. Then I'm going to check out the local watering holes myself. If I run across any of my old friends or contacts I'll put the word out about our problem."
Harper's estimate of the difficulty in obtaining the needed part was accurate. After several days of fruitless searching, and mounting port fees with no offsetting income, the scavengers started to gather, and the Maru's captain began to hear rumors that several of them had already contacted the port authorities offering to buy the Maru once it had been impounded for falling in arrears of its dock fees. By the time Harper announced that he had found someone with a magnetic containment field generator that they were willing to part with, and that would be compatible with the Maru's engineering plant, Beka's worries had grown from anxiety to near despair.
"It's the assistant port master, Boss."
"What! The port master was the first person I contacted about the mag con field generator. Why did he wait this long to contact us? The SOB must have strung us along so he could get the docking fees."
"I don't think the port master has anything to do with this," answered Harper. "It's supposed to be on hold for Tri Galaxies shipping. But his assistant is willing to have it disappear from inventory, if we make it worth his while."
"How much is worth his while?"
"He wants 25,000 thrones," said Harper very quietly.
Beka opened her mouth then shut it again. The price was actually reasonable but it was over three times what the Maru had in its operating account. "Why don't you take me to meet this person? Maybe I can strike some sort of deal with him."
"Ok, Boss, but I got to warn you, this guy is bad news, really bad news."
Harper took Beka and Trance to one of the smaller buildings on the edge
of the spaceport. The building looked like government buildings everywhere
on every planet - run down and covered with official looking signs. Harper
took them through an outer room filled with bored looking clerks, and then
into an inner room where there was a man sitting behind a desk. The nameplate
on his desk said 'Carlisle.'
At first glance the assistant port master seemed perfectly ordinary, but
then his eyes met Beka's, and she understood what Harper had meant by saying
he was bad news. It was like looking into the eyes of a venomous reptile.
There was nothing in the way of human feelings like empathy, love, or even
cruelty, only an emptiness that made her feel ill. During their years together
on the Maru, Beka and Rev had debated the existence of the soul. Looking
at the man before her, Beka was now certain that Rev was wrong, that not
everyone possessed a soul.
"My engineer says you have a magnetic containment field generator for sale that could be modified to fit my ship." Beka didn't feel any reason to waste time with small talk. The guy was stealing from one of the companies that paid his salary. "How much do you want for it?"
"I told your engineer my price." His voice was little more than a whisper but it sent a shiver down Beka's spine. "Twenty five thousand thrones."
"That's ridiculous," exclaimed Beka. "You're asking me to pay nearly full market price for stolen goods. I'll give you five thousand."
"Twenty five thousand. I have it and you can't lift ship without it." He was looking at Trance rather than Beka, with an expression that reminded the Maru's captain of a snake looking at a mouse.
"I don't need it that badly. Despite what you scavengers seem to think, we aren't in danger of falling behind on our docking fees, and sooner or later we'll find another seller. Eight thousand thrones."
"You won't be able to pay the port fees after illegal narcotics are found on your craft. Very shortly the port police will get a tip about a load of narcotics concealed in the cargo you brought to Sinti. I can assure you that they will find the narcotics when they search the cargo you so graciously unloaded into my warehouses."
By now Beka had realized that this wasn't about money. The port official was interested in something else, and from the way he kept staring at Trance she had a feeling she knew what. Naked desire would have been unpleasant but normal, Beka knew the effect Trance's exotic good looks had on most men, but the look on Carlisle's face was unnatural, it wasn't animal lust, it was that of a predator sizing up its prey. Beka had a sickening feeling she knew just what type of sex games Carlisle liked to play. From behind her she heard Trance move to stand behind Harper. Apparently the girl saw the same look in the assistant port master's expression, and it frightened her as well. "OK, what is it you really want? If you really wanted to sell the mag con generator you would be willing to bargain. So what are you really after?"
"Her," he said pointing at Trance. "I want her."
It was only Beka's quick reflexes that prevented the meeting from turning into a massacre. Sensing rather than seeing Harper's movement, she stepped in front her engineer and slammed an elbow into his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. As he doubled over gasping for air she reached out and plucked his pistol from out of its holster. Throughout the entire episode Carlisle had sat virtually motionless, doing nothing more than moving his right hand under his desk. Noticing Beka watching his apparent lack of interest on the attempt on his life, he lifted his eyes upward. Beka looked in the indicated direction and nearly soiled herself. Projecting from the wall behind Carlisle's desk just below the ceiling was the unmistakable bell shaped muzzle of a flechette gun. Carlisle's hidden hand was undoubtedly resting on the switch that would fire the weapon. If he had triggered the weapon the area in front of his desk would have been filled with thousands of razor sharp darts, turning anyone in the area into a bloody pile of shredded meat.
"No, the girl is not part of any deal we make. If you want a woman that badly you can have me." The thought of the man in front of her touching her was enough to make her feel ill, but if it was a choice between protecting her family and saving the Maru or submitting to Carlisle's advances, she would submit.
"Beka," entreated Trance, "you don't have to do this I'm old enough to...…" .
"No, Trance, you're not," responded Beka. "Harper, take Trance and return to the Maru. Mr. Carlisle and I have some business to discuss. I'll be back in a few days with the part. Isn't that right, Mr. Carlisle?" The last was as much a statement of fact as it was a question.
"Boss, you don't have to do this," started Harper. "We can... "
"Harper, shut up." snapped Beka. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. You and Trance are to go back to the Maru immediately."
Not trusting himself to speak, Harper simply nodded his acquiescence. He took Trance's arm and led her out of the office. She resisted him for a second then silently followed him. As they left they heard the door close behind them.
Trance waited until they got back to the Maru before she broke down in tears. Harper did his best to comfort her, but it was difficult since he was nearly in tears himself. As far as he was concerned it was his job to maintain the Maru and he had failed; and now Beka was going to pay the price for his failure. As he reassured Trance that Beka would be OK and that they would get the needed equipment, he made a decision. The ones he loved would never again be put in this sort of position.
During his early days on the Maru, he had made acquaintance with various members of the underworld on Sinti and several other planets and drifts. After he had met Trance he had ceased to associate with that segment of society, but he still remembered how to contact them. It was time to renew some old acquaintances.
"Babe, you have to stay here in case Beka decides to give us a call. I need to go out and contact a few old friends."
"Why, Harper? And what about Beka? There's something wrong with that Carlisle person. He frightens me.."
"He frightens me to, babe. He's a friggin psychopath. That's one of the reason I need to contact my friends, to make sure he doesn't hurt her."
"It's more than that, Harper. There's something unnatural about him. Like a monster out of one of Beka's horror flexies. What type of friends are these friends of yours? Will they really protect Beka?"
" They're the type of people who trade a favor for a favor, and who can insure that that slug Carlisle keeps his word. The type of friends who might be able to help us in the future. I'll be back soon, I promise."
The magnetic containment field generator arrived four days later; Beka returned to the Maru the following day. She didn't say a word but simply retreated to her quarters, coming out only to use the Maru's galley facilities. Harper used the daylight hours to modify the generator so that it would fit the Maru's engines and the evening hours reestablishing his contacts with the underworld. He didn't feel the need to tell Beka about what he was planning to do to supplement the Maru's income. Nor did he feel the need to inform her that Carlisle would never be able to use his authority to molest another woman. It is very hard to have sex after someone has removed your penis with a nanowelder, and then forced you to eat it.
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