| Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 |
Beka vs the Port Authority - Chapter 2
By the time Beka and Trance walked to the port authority building, Beka was wishing she was the one with the broken leg and could excuse herself from making the visit. Accidents at spaceports were rare but when they did happen they tended to be catastrophic, so as a result planetary spaceports were normally located in an isolated region of the planet they serviced The Fenree spaceport, was located on an island just south of the planet's equator, even at 1700 hours time the temperature was stifling and the humidity was worse.
Seventeen hundred hours was well into Fenree's 22 hour day but the port was still bustling with activity. Beka and Trance were passed by a half dozen of the small self propelled robotic carts that carried supplies to various parts of the port and by a tracked all terrain personnel carrier transporting members of the Fenree Self Defense Force to the portion of the spaceport reserved for the interceptor craft that made up a significant portion of the planet's space forces. Fenree's spaceport was listed as a class B2 spaceport by the Free Trade Alliance, its spaceport/shipyard, capable of most repairs and with ship construction capabilities limited to the construction of non-slipstream capable vessels up to twice the size of the Maru, but to Beka's eyes the port was as busy as the more capable Class A ports she had visited on the rare occasions the Maru had business on a Core world.
Fenree had a robust intrasystem economy, trading with the next planet out from their sun and with numerous asteroids and moons within the solar system, and was a popular port of call for both independent traders and FTA corporate vessels as well. Additionally the planetary government had recently purchased several Four Freedoms class freighters from the FTA dominated Core worlds and had an embryonic interstellar trading economy forming, a fact that Beka found to be especially disturbing. The Core worlds, bowing to FTA pressure, forbade Rim worlders and independent traders like the Salvagers' Guild members from conducting trade on their worlds, which meant that the Fenree traders would be operating in the Rim and on the Fringe, Beka and the Salvagers' Guild's territory.
Arriving at the port transportation pool Beka checked out the scoot that had been assigned to the Maru when they had arrived at the spaceport. The three wheeled electric powered vehicles were ubiquitous within the spaceport and the small town that had grown up around it. Capable of transporting two people in relative comfort, or three if the passengers were good friends, they were faster than walking and possessed a reasonable cargo capacity. What they weren't was air conditioned. Beka was silently cursing planets, weather, the FTA, and Guild customs when they arrived at the Sakaemasu. Her mood wasn't improved when Trance began to make admiring noises over the Sakaemasu. The Sakaemasu was a Four Freedoms class freighter, larger than the Eureka Maru and carrying a bigger crew in considerably more comfort than a Maru class freighter. She was about to say something rude but reconsidered. Taking out her ire on Trance would accomplish nothing other than making the rest of the courtesy call unpleasant for the girl
The Sakaemasu's airlock elevator was at the ground level position with the exterior door open. There was a young woman standing in the entranceway. She appeared to be about the same age as Trance, but was slightly shorter with dark hair and an olive complexion. She was wearing one of the brightly colored jumpsuits that were becoming popular among the younger members of the Guild. Her eyes widened slightly when she caught sight of Trance but other than that her face remained expressionless as Beka and Trance approached her.
"Captain Owner Rebecca Valentine House of Valentine here to pay respects to Captain Nikolay de Vaca of House Takahashi' ," said Beka reciting the traditional greeting to the woman standing in the airlock entrance.
The woman curtsied deeply after Beka's introduction. "Welcome, Captain Valentine," she said returning the traditional response. "Captain de Vaca bids you welcome and extends to you and your companion the hospitality of the Sakaemasu. If you will accompany me, I will take you to the Sakaemasu's common room where you may rest and await the Captain." She turned and walked into the elevator, Beka and Trance followed close behind.
The elevator rose to the main deck and their guide led them through the ship's passageways to the common room. The passageways were wider than those of the Maru but not by much. Cargo vessels, even those owned by one of the richest families in the Salvagers' Guild, emphasized cargo capacity over crew amenities. However, by the time Beka and Trance reached the common room Beka had realized that something was wrong. The crew woman leading them to the common room and the few crew members they encountered on the way seemed distant, preoccupied. Guild trade ship crews were often out of touch with family and friends for months at a time so when two Guild ships were at the same location at the same time the crews would, unless there was blood feud between the families, quickly gather to exchange gossip and news. By now she and Trance should have attracted the entire crew of the Sakaemasu. Instead they were being virtually ignored. Beka glanced at Trance, wondering if perhaps she was being overly sensitive, but the younger woman had a puzzled look on her face. It was clear that she sensed there was something amiss as well.
"Please make yourselves comfortable," said the crew woman as she ushered them into the common room. "The Captain will be with you shortly." After seeing her guests into the room she left closing the door behind her.
The Sakaemasu's common room was, unsurprisingly, bigger than the Maru's . However unlike the Maru's common room which doubled as galley and dining area, the Sakaemasu's common room was strictly a recreational area. There were the usual shelves cluttered with flexies, knickknacks and souvenirs from the ship's travels as well as an entertainment console and an intraship communication panel. However in addition there were four overstuffed chairs clustered around a small table which was currently supporting a bowl of fruit, and a wine chiller holding a bottle of wine and a half dozen glasses Snugged up against the wall in one corner of the room was a ping-pong table. A dart board with a pair of darts embedded in it was hung on one bulkhead. Beka placed the bottle of wine in the wine chiller, checked out the fruit on the table, and after deciding there was nothing in the bowl she cared to eat took a seat in one of the chairs and indicated to Trance that she should do the same. Twenty minutes later Trance was fidgeting nervously in her seat wondering if they were being deliberately snubbed. She was about to say something to Beka when the door to the common room opened and the biggest man she could ever recall seeing stepped into the room. Easily two meters tall and weighing 140 kilograms, he was totally bald, but as if to compensate for the lack of hair on the top of his head was wearing a bushy red beard that made him look as if his chin was afire. When he spoke his voice was a big as the rest of him. "Captain Valentine," he boomed. as he entered the room. "A thousand pardons for causing you and your companion to wait such an unconscionably long time for me. Please accept my profuse apologies."
Beka got up out of her chair and indicated for Trance to do the same. "No apologies are necessary, Captain de Vaca," said Beka. "I know how busy I can get in port, and the Sakaemasu is a larger ship with over twice the crew of the Maru."
"You are too kind, Captain," said de Vaca bowing as he spoke. "But come, let us open that bottle of wine that you brought with you. You and your companion must be thirsty from the trip to the Sakaemasu." He removed the bottle of wine from the wine chiller and expertly popped the cork. He poured two glasses handing one to Beka and the other to Trance.
"Who is your charming companion, Captain?' he asked as he handed the glass of wine to Trance, who gave him a nervous smile. The Sakaemasu belonged to the Takahashi family, one of the most powerful families in the Guild yet the Captain and crew were treating Beka as if she was their superior. She was totally confused, and even worse had forgotten what Beka had told her concerning how to greet the captain when she was introduced.
"Captain de Vaca," said Beka "May I present to you the Eureka Maru's environmental systems technician Trance Gemini of House Valentine." She used the term that indicated that Trance was a member of the Valentine household but not a member of the Valentine family "Trance, this is Captain Nikolay de Vaca of House Takahashi, master of the Takahashi family's Sakaemasu." Noticing Trance's confusion she caught the younger woman's eye then moved her right foot slightly behind her left and bent her knees slightly.
Trance got the message. She was expected to curtsy to the Sakaemasu's captain. She did her best to imitate the gesture the crew woman who met them at the airlock used. Her curtsy was awkward but at least she didn't spill her wine. "It is an honor to meet you, Captain," she said.
The Sakaemasu's captain had noticed the interplay between Beka and Trance. "Quick on the uptake as well as exotically beautiful," he said to Trance. "It is a pity that you were not at our last Salvagers Ball. A dance with you would have made up for all the boring speeches I was forced to endure. Tell me, charming lady, are you spoken for?"
Before Trance could stammer out an answer Beka intervened. "Careful, Captain, Trance is partnered with my ship's engineer. He's the jealous type and has probably killed more men than the entire Takahashi family has combined."
"Ha!" barked de Vaca "Once again I am smitten by a lovely women only to find that her protector is a mighty warrior. But have no fear, little one. Nikolay de Vaca does not poach. Nor does he allow his crew do do so. You will be as safe aboard the Sakaemasu as if you were aboard your own vessel."
He turned to the intraship's communication system and keyed the mike. "Kotone, please come to the common room." A moment later the young woman who had met them at the airlock entered the common room "Kotone," said de Vaca, "this is Trance Gemini of House Valentine, the Eureka Maru's environmental systems technician. Trance Gemini, this is Kotone Mochizuki House of Takahashi, the Sakaemasu's assistant cargo master."
The phrase de Vaca used indicated that Kotone was a member of the Takahashi family and not just a member of the household. The woman gave Trance a brief curtsy which Trance attempted, this time a bit more gracefully, to return. The captain continued his introduction. "Kotone, will you please introduce our guest to the rest of the crew. Have her back here in the common room in two hours however."
Trance gave Beka a questioning look, and at Beka's nod of agreement followed the other woman out of the room.
As soon as the two young women had left the room, de Vaca poured himself a glass of wine, and downed it in one gulp. "'Captain Valentine," he said. "I wonder if you would be willing to accompany me to the Sakaemasu's office. My cargo master and I have a business proposition that you might be interested in."
| Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 |