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Beka vs the Port Autority - Chapter 3
The ship's office was about the same size as Beka's stateroom on the Maru but seemed smaller. It would have been cozy with two inhabitants but three, especially with one of the three the size of de Vaca, made the room almost claustrophobic. There were two desks alongside one of the bulkheads, each with computer terminals on them,. But the majority of the space in the room was taken up by old fashioned filing cabinets. Salvagers' Guild ships traveled the byways of the space lanes rather than the highways, often making calls at locations that relied on printed media rather than electronic, as a result file cabinets filled with printed invoices coexisted side by side with quantum desktop computers. What little room remained in the office was taken up by the ship's safe.
De Vaca indicated to Beka that she should take one of the room's two chairs. The man siting in the other chair started to rise, but was waved back into his seat by de Vaca . "Captain," he said to Beka, "I believe you know my cargo master Sergi."
Beka nodded a greeting to the cargo master then sat down. "Now what's this about a business proposition?" she asked cutting quickly to the heart of the matter.
De Vaca gave a sigh of exasperation. "Always the impatient one. Very well. The Sakaemasu has a shipment destined for Vercheon. There are stiff penalties for late delivery, very stiff ones, and it appears likely that the Sakaemasu will not be able to make delivery by the due date. It would be better for the Sakaemasu and the Takahashi family if the cargo was delivered on time by another Guild vessel rather than late by the Sakaemasu."
"What's the cargo and why can't it be delivered on time?" asked Beka.
"Heavy agricultural equipment for the most part." answered Sergi. "Along with genetically modified seeds. The Vercheonites are expanding into the planet's western hemisphere and they've encountered a form of fungus that decimates their normal food crops. The GMed version should be considerably more resistant to the fungus."
"Ok," said Beka. "That takes care of the what. Now why."
De Vaca banged his fist dramatically against his chest. "The FTA has decided that Nikolay de Vaca is becoming a thorn in their side and has taken steps to silence him," he said.
Seeing Beka's perplexed look, Sergi explained. "The Fenree port authorities have decided that our power plant safety certifications are invalid. They're refusing to accept the Sinti IV inspectors' certification results, claiming that the inspectors are dishonest and can be bribed to certify unsafe vessels. We can't lift off until the ship is certified safe and since the inspection isn't a scheduled one we have to wait until the inspectors have the time to certify us. Meanwhile landing fees are mounting up and we've cargoes that need to be delivered."
"The Sinti inspectors are corrupt," agreed Beka. "That's why most Guild vessels get inspected there, but the inspectors aren't stupid either. They don't want a power plant explosion in their spaceport any more than anyone else. Power plant safety is about the only thing they won't pass for the right payoff. This sounds to me like just another mudfoot shakedown. Why don't you just ask for a meeting with the inspectors, find out what it's going to cost you, pay them off, and everyone goes on their merry way."
"How many inspections can the Eureka Maru afford, Captain Valentine?" asked Sergi. "If the Takahashi family knuckles under here, you can be sure that all the other Rim worlds will start demanding their own inspectors certify our ships. You'll be paying for inspections or paying bribes every time you land on a Rim world."
Beka grimaced at the thought of having to pay off yet another set of inspectors and nodded in agreement. "Point taken," she said. "But how does the FTA figure into this?"
"They fear my attempts to have the Guild, and the other independents create our own anti piracy force," said de Vaca. "Other captains have begun to listen to my words and the FTA is taking action against me. They wish to silence me while they still can."
The cargo master looked heavenwards and Beka did a mental count to ten. De Vaca's feelings about the FTA were well known throughout the Salvagers' Guild. They were as strong as Harper's were about the Nietzscheans, and considerably less justified.
"We've discussed this before, Nikolay," said Beka deliberately using de Vaca's first name to try to soften her words. "The FTA has no more use for pirates than we do, and are a lot better able to suppress them."
"The FTA doesn't suppress piracy for our sake or the sake of the Fringe worlds," said de Vaca "They don't care what happens to the independents or the mudfeet out in on the Fringe. They simply fear that if pirates are allowed to run unchecked in the Fringes they might grow powerful enough to start raiding Rim worlds, and that would cut into the their profits."
"Even so," answered Beka, "do you have any idea how many ships and how much money it would take to do just what they're doing now, never mind expanding the effort? The Guild would have to turn to piracy to pay for the anti piracy efforts. Like it or not we need the FTA. Hell, if it wasn't for them our ships would probably be sitting on a dirt field right now rather than in a spaceport. The FTA doesn't operate out in the Fringes and most Fringe worlds don't have a spaceport worthy of the name. Any independents who land on one of those mudballs are lucky if they have something more than a level surface to land on."
She waved her hand to encompass the Sakaemasu. "How many Rim worlds have the native technology to maintain a starship? None. Most of them would be hard pressed to support their own intrasystem ships without help from the FTA. If it wasn't for the FTA subsidizing virtually all Rim world spaceports and repair facilities we wouldn't be much better off here than in the Fringes."
"And by subsidizing the Rim worlders," retorted de Vaca, "it allows the FTA to control who lands and who trades on those worlds. I never thought I would see the day when you would be defending the FTA, Beka."
"I'm not defending them, Nikolay. I just don't think they're behind every misfortune that happens to an independent trader. I've got no more love for them than you do. If they ever decide I've defaulted on my loans my crew will be mudfeet and I'll by working off my debts flat on my back in an FTA operated brothel. I just don't think they're the evil empire you accuse them of being. My engineer was raised on Earth. I picked him up on that hell hole. I know what evil is. I've seen it first hand. The FTA isn't evil, they're just greedy, heartless, bastards. We've gone down this route before, Nikolay. I don't want to go down it again."
Seeing that he had an unsympathetic audience, de Vaca ceased his tirade against the FTA and conversation centered on the transfer of the Sakaemasu's cargo to the Maru and what Beka would be paid for the delivery of the cargo. Beka wanted 20 percent of the value of both the delivery and of the agricultural products that the Vercheonites had awaiting export. De Vaca, after proclaiming that he had fallen afoul of a thief, countered with 5 percent arguing that Beka was simply delivering the cargoes and didn't have to worry about factor fees or the price of goods declining at her destination. Beka in turn claimed that de Vaca was a cheat who was trying to prevent a poor but honest captain from earning a living but that she would lower her fee to 18 percent. The bartering and histrionics continued until they eventually settled for 12 percent and that the Takahashi family would pay for the Maru's fuel. All in all it was just another day in the life of a member of the Salvagers' Guild.
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