I sighed and left the bridge. I really didn’t want to replace either of them. They were probably the best on the station at their particular jobs. Either could find a job easily enough, but the Calibur would be losing a fine navigator or science officer. I was tempted to fire them both. They’d been much better since we had begun our trek home, but they barely spoke to one another.

  I just sighed again and headed to my quarters. I was debating ditching the uniform for my time on station. I wanted to take Hela to the Starport Lounge for dinner. It had been a while since we had been able to eat fresh steaks from Arth.

  It took several hours to get the Firmament settled with the tether and dock the Calibur. It was nice to see the docking bay open where we could have the haulers start unloading the cargo.

  I met a Thrynn at the foot of the cargo ramp. “All of it has been tallied up and turned in with the records.” I handed it a data slate. “You should be able to verify the weights and check them here.”

  “It will be done in ssshort time, Human.”

  “Thanks.”

  The Thrynn nodded and began waving over his workers. Thrynn were a bipedal lizard race with powerful legs, thick bodies and small arms. This one had a bright coloration with reds and yellows. The brighter colored Thrynn were males.

  The haulers were piloted by Humans with some Thrynn mixed in. We stepped off to the side to get out of the way and the haulers rolled into the ship.

  “Alright, boys and girls,” I said. “As soon as she’s empty, you’re free for a week. Then we’ll see how much time we have left for upgrades. I’ll get our pay and send it to your accounts. I’ll try to get it done today, but it may be tomorrow since I have to go settle up on the bounty for that world in the G5 system. That may take another day.”

  “Gotcha, boss,” Trivett said.

  “As a matter of fact,” I said. “You’re all free to head on into the station except for Jas. We have to set up our schedule for the salvage and upgrade times. Who knows? We may get enough time to go down and swim in the ocean.”

  There were several grins as the crew scattered. Hela stayed.

  “Meet tonight in the Lounge?”

  “Sure thing,” I answered. “If you don’t mind, can you stop and price us some new security androids?”

  “I was planning to head there first. Want to get a room on station?”

  I grinned. “Absolutely. I’ll get it as soon as the bays are empty.”

  “I’d like something with a view,” she said.

  “Your wish is my command.”

  She smiled and shot off into the station, her flame red hair was visible long after I lost sight of her body in the crowd.

  “Humans are a strange race,” Jas chittered. “You have living quarters on the ship.”

  “I’m not arguing, Jas. Humans are definitely strange.”

  He chittered his laughter. “I can take care of setting up the schedule if you wish to go on into the station.

  I will alert you when we have ascertained what is usable from the Firmament. I am uncertain about some of the wiring for instrumentation. We may have to reuse our own consoles for the upgrades.”

  “Keep in mind, we might repair the Firmament and hire a second crew to expand our operations. It wouldn’t hurt to get a price for a project like that.”

  “Understood.”

  “Alright, go ahead. Soon as they finish the unloading, I’ll head in to the Trade Depot and swing through Ops. We might get our pay settled today.”

  He chittered and entered the crowd of beings at the far side of the bay toward ShipCon. I watched as the third hauler rolled out with the heavy container of minerals. This was the best haul we had brought in since I had originally left Starport.

  “Well, if it ain’t Danec Pol!”

  I looked up from the table where I waited for Hela. “Frand?”

  “In the flesh,” the tall man who had stopped at my table said.

  “I thought you were lost out on the rim.”

  “Barely made it back,” he said and slid into the seat across from me. “Been having a run of bad luck lately. Got hit by pirates and managed to get away. Just limped back to Starport. I saw that ship you hauled in.”

  “Did you now?”

  “I did and I might have a sweet deal for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “See, I’m down to the wire on supplies and I have a sweet cargo from planetside that needs to get to Thoss. It’s produce and very time-sensitive. After that scrape with the pirates, I can’t get there. You just came in loaded to the max with ore so I know you have some MU. The cargo pays a hundred thousand and I’ll sell it to you for half. Fifty K just to run it to Thoss.”

  “What’s the produce?”

  “It’s a fruit, a delicacy on Thoss. That’s why the high pay.”

  “Seems to me you haven’t made much of the trip,” I said. “I’m not paying fifty K for that.”

  “Come on, man,” he laid his hands on the table. “I’m in a bad spot here. I contracted this cargo already.”

  “How much damage are you looking at on your ship?”

  “Ten K for the new engine, I barely made it back from this one.”

  “This is what I offer,” I said. “I wouldn’t even offer this if you weren’t from my class at the Academy. I’m taking the engines off the salvage I brought in. I’ll give you the ones that come off the Calibur in exchange for the cargo and contract. I’ll stake you another thousand to get you back on your feet. Best I can do without getting into the crew’s percentage and I don’t do that.”

  He sat silent for a moment, then sighed. “Alright, Pol, it’s yours.”

  I nodded. “Meet me tomorrow at Cargo Bay Six. We’ll get everything set up.”

  “Remember, this is time-sensitive, Pol. You’ll need to hit the throttle pretty soon.”

  “How soon?”

  “Tomorrow or the next day. If the fruit spoils, they won’t pay. It needs to be there in three weeks.”

  “That’s tight, but I can make that.”

  “Then I’ll meet you tomorrow.”

  He stood up and shook my hand then walked toward the entrance.

  There was something a little off about Frand, but I couldn’t see much of a downside in the deal except a couple months more in space before we took our vacations. Worst case, I’d use some androids and deliver it myself. Somehow, I didn’t expect the crew to pass up their percentages of a simple haul.

  My eyes shifted to the person that walked past the retreating captain. Hela was gorgeous in the red, figure hugging dress. Her red hair closely matched the color of the dress and it made her green eyes seem to glow.

  I stood up to greet her and I forgot all about cargos and ship upgrades.

  “You are absolutely magnificent,” I said as I grasped her hand and waved toward the circular booth.

  “You’re not so bad either, Captain, my Captain,” she said with a grin.

  “I’ve been looking forward to this for six months,” I said. “And I may have some disturbing news.”

  “Does it have something to do with the guy that just left the table?”

  “It does. We’re going to have to put off our small vacation for a couple of months.”

  “Really?” Her eyes narrowed.

  “Before you say anything more, let me tell you the deal. A hundred K for a trip to Thoss. Time-sensitive, which is why we have to leave tomorrow.”

  “Hundred K? Damn.”

  “That’s what I said. I traded the old engines and a small stake to an old classmate who’s down on his luck for the cargo.”

  “That seems like a pretty bad deal for the friend from the Academy.”

  “He’s not a friend, just a classmate.” I shrugged. “He needs engines, we’ll have them. I was thinking of refitting the Firmament with those engines, but the salvage of the metal alone might be more than the selling price of a ship.”

  “True enough,” she said. “Having a second ship would be a great bonus too, though.”

  “Agreed. The MU from this trip will be well worth those engines. We can get a Class Three instead of the Class Two.”

  “That’s true too,” she said. “What do the others think?”

  “Don’t know yet. Worst case, we can take androids and run the delivery.”

  “They’re not going to pass up the payday from such an easy job.”

  “I don’t think so either.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “I guess we don’t have a room on the Rotunda, then.”

  “I didn’t say that.” I tapped the slate to change the week to a single night. “We still have a night in the penthouse.”

  “Oh, my.”

  “I told you, I’ve been looking forward to this for six months.”

  “Then you better eat plenty, Captain, my Captain,” she said with her crooked grin. “You’re going to need all the energy you can muster.”

  I chuckled and raised my hand for the android that had been waiting.

  “What’s the biggest steak you have?”

  I watched as ten containers were loaded onto the ship.

  “Not a very big cargo,” Trivett said from just behind me. “What is it?”

  “Supposed to be some rare delicacy,” I said. “Rich people food. Nothing we lowborn folks could ever afford.”

  “Well, the pay was too good to pass up,” she said as she passed me to enter the ship with her pack.

  “I didn’t think you guys would pass up this one,” I said under my breath.

  Trivett was the last one to show up. The rest of the crew were already on board, and I only needed to do one thing before we left.

  I walked down the ramp and over to a Velox.

  “Yes?”

  “We all set on the breakdown of the Firmament? Anything I can use on her needs to be pulled. I want that armor, too. We’ll talk about the disposition of the rest when we get back. The electrical systems are completely fragged. It may be best just to scrap her.”

  “Electrical systems can be replaced, Captain. I will have you a total for a rebuild if you wish when you return.”

  “I’d like that, Tryptichishic.”

  The Velox shook his head and his mandibles clicked with laughter.

  “How bad did I mess your name up?”

  “You have called me the inside of a particularly nasty rodent.”

  “Well, shit.”

  “At least you tried. Just call me Tryp.”

  “Tryp, it is. I’ll be back in about two months and we’ll get on these upgrades.”

  The Velox nodded and waved his front two appendages at one of his workers. He was moving back toward the other side of the bay in short order.

  I chuckled and returned to the Calibur. Shutting the cargo doors behind me, I signaled the bridge.

  “We’re all buttoned up, Teila,” I said. “Get us underway.”

  We were already pulling away from Starport when I reached the bridge.

  “Sorry about cutting leave short,” I said as I took my seat in the command chair. “Seemed like a good reason.”

  “Agreed,” Teila said as she steered the ship out of the immediate vicinity of the station. “It’s easy money.”

  “I do wonder what sort of delicacy we’re hauling, though,” Hela said.

  “Some kind of fruit.”

  “Fruit?” Zelos stood from his seat. “For the Thrynn?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “What?”

  “We have to go look at the cargo,” he said. He was already heading for the turbolift.

  I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I followed the science officer.

  “What the hell’s wrong, Zelos?”

  “I pray it isn’t what I think, sir. If it is, your ‘friend’ from the Academy isn’t a friend at all. He may have just gotten us all killed.”

  “Now that’s not what I wanted to hear,” I said.

  “We’ll know momentarily,” he responded.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  Zelos opened the hatch to the cargo pod and we stopped in front of one of the containers.

  He took a deep breath and unlatched the top to peer inside. He stared into the container for a full minute. When he turned back to me I grimaced. His face was pale as a sheet.

  “We’re completely and absolutely fragged, boss.”

  “What is it?”

  “They’re called Headfruit.”

  “Okay?”

  “You know that Elowan are plants, right?”

  That’s when the term clicked in my mind. “Gods!”

  “Then you know what they are? They’re on the list of things that are forbidden for Humans to even see.”

  “It’s a fragging death sentence to be caught with them by the Elowan,” I said. “What the hell was Silas doing with these?”

  “I don’t know, sir.”

  “I don’t either, but I’m about to find out. I’ll be in my ready room. I have to see if we can find a way out of this.”

  “I’ll inform everyone else,” he said.

  “Do that. I’ll signal when I need you all in the ready room. Tell Teila to slow our speed until we can figure this out.”

  “Yes, sir. This is a hell of a mess, Danny.”

  I nodded and headed for the turbolift. My left eye was twitching as I stood in front of the viewer. “Trivett, hail the Windzori on a secure frequency. Put it on my screen.”

  It took a few moments but soon enough, I was staring at Frand as he lounged in his command chair.

  “Well, hi there, Danny boy.”

  “What the hell kind of game are you playing, Frand?”

  He laughed. “I guess you looked in the boxes.”

  “I did,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “All you gotta do, Danny boy, is deliver the cargo. You’re away from the station free and clear.”

  “Where did you get these?”

  “You’ll hear, soon enough, I suppose. There was an Elowan transport convoy that was hit by pirates last week. Completely destroyed, they were. Seems the pirates found something.”

  “You’ve gone pirate, Frand?”

  He shrugged. “They were just Elowan.”

  “These are children, Frand!”

  “Not yet,” he said with a grin. “Just deliver them to Thoss.”

  “I’m returning to Starport and…”

  “I would watch the system warnings before you do that,” he said. “They just started searching ships as they dock.”

  “I’ll tell the authorities,” I said.

  “I’ll deny it and you are in possession of contraband, so…”

  “You’re a bastard, Frand.”

  “Maybe. Who knew they would have a laser mount on that transport? Screwed my engine up pretty bad. Anyway, report me and you report yourself. Just deliver the cargo and count your MU.”

  He cut the signal.

  “Shit.”

  “What are we going to do?” Trivett asked. “None of us even thought of looking in the crates. They’re babies.”

  “The choices are few,” Jas chittered.

  “That’s a fact,” I said. “I, for one, can’t deliver these to the Thrynn for them to eat. Can’t. Won’t.”

  There were nods around the table.

  “The best I can do is transfer everything I can to your accounts, and I’ll take the cargo to the Elowan. You’ll need to get your things and use the escape pods to return to Starport. I’ve got enough from the last haul to have the Firmament brought back to functional. You guys will be the owners—”

  “Just a damn minute,” Hela interrupted. “I won’t be leaving, so you can shove your stupid plan up your—”

  “Illustrious backside!” Trivett finished.

  I stopped and looked at the two women. “I’m not sure we can survive this. It’s not too late for you guys.”

  “I’m with the ladies on this one,” Zelos said. “You’ve gotten us through a lot of bad situations, boss. Not gonna leave you holding the bag on this. We all should have looked in the crates. We let the ‘easy money’ distract us.”

  “I don’t think there’ll be any escape pods leaving the ship today, sir.” Teila shrugged. “So what is plan B?”

  I looked at Jas.

  “I am waiting for this plan B,” he said.

  “Bunch of damned fools.”

  “Takes one to know one, sir,” Zelos responded. “Now… plan B.”

  I glanced at Hela.

  “You owe me a month on the Rotunda with a view. You won’t be getting out of it that way.”

  I let out a long breath. “Okay, I’m calling someone on Elan. I met him at the Academy.”

  “You sure about that?” Trivett asked. “The last Academy guy is a pirate and a murderer.”

  “This guy is a little different.”

  “How so?”

  “He was my best friend. He’s the only one I can think of to call who may not order us killed right off.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Hela said.

  I clicked a button on the arm of the chair. “Record message. Yo Veg, how’s the world treating you? I’ve found myself in a predicament and I need you to contact me. This is important. Life or death, brother.”

  “I need that sent to Elan, Trivett. To Doctor Saamyaan Deeevaas.”

  “Did you just call the doctor a Veg?” Zelos asked.

  “Maybe.”

  “I begin to wonder if we’ve made the right decision here.”

  “We have,” Jas chittered. “This one remembers Saamyaan Deeevaas.”

  “You know Sam?” I asked.

  “This one was training in Engineering when Saamyaan was training in Medical.”

  “I see.”

  “This one remembers you too, Captain.” He chittered his laughter.

  “Alright, let’s get back to our stations and set course for Elan. Hopefully, he’ll respond.”

  Barely a half-hour passed before the comms chimed.

  “Hail from Elan, sir.”

  “Put it on the screen.”

  The screen focused on a green and yellow visage.

  “How’s it hanging, Veg?”

  “It hangs low, Meatsack.”

  I heard a snort from navigation.

  “It’s good to see you, brother.”

  “I am pleased to see you as well, my friend. You seemed to be quite troubled in your message. Is it more pirates?”