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Trance's Gift - Chapter 8
Time: CY 10088 May 5166 – Day 10Location: Bathsheba spaceport
Beka looked anxiously at the open cargo hatch above her head, then at the chronometer on mounted on the cargo pod bulkhead, and then activated the ships intercom system. "Trance I need you here in the cargo pod," she said.
"You've been moping around because your friends didn't join you long enough," scolded Beka when Trance arrived a few moments later. "I spent two nights acting as wingman for Hilda so we could be first on the list when the cargoes were released. It's time for you to get back to being part of the crew. We have some last minute cargo arriving and I'm going to need your help getting it settled in place."
"I'm sorry Beka," said Trance. "I'm just ..."
Beka cut her off with a raised hand tapping the earpiece of the headset she was wearing. "Cargo's on the way." She pointed upwards towards the open cargo hatch. "Stand clear of the hatch."
A moment later the cargo area was darkened as one of the port's cargo lifters positioned itself over the hatch. There was a whining sound and a box attached to a cable began to rapidly descend from the underside of the lifter.
"Too fast," screamed Beka into the mike. "Slow down."
The descending box came to an abrupt stop. Coming to such and abrupt halt that it recoiled back upwards towards the lifter.
"You mother loving, dim witted, useless, sack of crap," Beka began spewing invective into the headset's microphone. "Whose operator license did you steal? I could handle that winch better if I was blind and drunk. Be careful the cargo's delicate."
Either because of Beka's outburst or because the winch operator on the lifter got a better feel for his cargo the box began to descend at a more controlled pace, settling onto the deck of the cargo pod with just a mild thump. At Beka's signal Trance moved over to the cargo box and verified that the winch cable had disconnected for the box.
"What's the cargo, Beka ?" asked Trance as she continued her inspection of the box.
Her question was answered when a muffled but familiar voice came from inside the box. "Grape, is that you? Open the box and let us out. We're getting hot in here."
Time: CY 10088 Jun 5166
Location: Sinti IV spaceport
Beka turned off her computer display and got up out of her chair to walk the short stretch of corridor to the common room. Harper had breakfast duty so she probably wouldn't get food poisoning if she ate any. Entering the common room she nodded to Trance who was already eating and squeezed by Harper who was working in the corner of the room that served as the Maru's galley to pour herself a cup of coffee. Whatever he was cooking actually smelled edible. She sat down at the room's table and a moment later Harper laid a plate before her. Aseel eggs, potatoes and some sort of fried meat.
"You're going to have to wash your own dishes Beka," he said. "The Glory of Inchon arrived in port last night reporting problems with her slipstream generator. Lyn Jansen wants me to go along with her when she looks at it. She says it's time I got some experience working with class Alpha generators."
"Just make sure you get paid for it," said Beka between mouthfuls of food. It really was good. Maybe she should assign Harper permanent breakfast duty. "Speaking of the Glory of Inchon though. They had some mail for us, from Inspector Asagawo. I just finished downloading it.
Harper immediately sat down beside Trance, who had stopped eating in mid bite.
"He says your plan worked perfectly, Harper. When the doctor and his goons arrived the transfer stood out like a Magog in a fishbowl. It didn't take long for them to discover that the truck had been hired by Sikes via an intermediary. Once they found out they started looking for storage facilities owned by either Sikes or Fagin. They found the one we put the goods in and that along with the discovery of the money that had been transferred to their bank accounts was enough for the doctor to put in a request to the local police to have Fagin and Sikes arrested and handed over to them. A request which the inspector was most happy to comply with. Apparently Sikes didn't go along peacefully, he was killed while resisting arrest, but when Fagin was handed over to the doctor he was crying like a baby and begging them not to let the doctor have him."
"Good ,"said Trance. "I hope he dies horribly." Noticing the surprised looks on Beka and Harper's faces she continued a bit more defensively. "Well he deserves it after what he did to Jenni and Concepcion and who knows how many other girls. Are they going to stay on Kingfisher?"
"I don't think so, babe," said Harper. "I talked to Rev after we dropped them off at his hospital. He says that they can get them treated for their flash addiction and can stabilize the degeneration of Jenni's liver so that she'll have close to a normal life span but that they really need to find a new place where they can start their lives over again. I suggested that he arrange transportation for them to New Texas and he agreed."
Beka's coffee cup landed in what was left of her breakfast. "New Texas!?" she exclaimed. "Harper, I thought you said that you liked Jenni and Concepcion. No one should be exiled to that canker on the universe." She stopped to glare at her two crew members who were trying unsuccessfully to hide grins. "Oh that's right, I forgot. The two of you actually like that dump."
Trance decided a little payback was in order for Beka keeping her in the dark about the rescue operation. "Actually Beka, Harper and I've decided to settle down on New Texas. We'll raise a big family and maybe some horses."
"Yep," said Harper deciding to play along. "There's nothing like a horse when you need safe, reliable transportation."
Seeing Beka take a deep breath Trance decided to get serious before she got her second wind "It really will be a good place for them Beka," she said. "They'll be exotic foreigners and none of the local men are going to care about their past. They'll have no trouble at all finding husbands if that's what they want."
"They'll be safe there too," added Harper "I told Rev to make sure the word gets out about what Fagin did to them. You can bet that if anyone other than the three of us shows up asking questions about them they'll be lucky if they get off the planet again."
Beka nodded her head in understanding "Plus the odds of them growing wings and flying through the slipstream under their own power are better than them finding any flash there. I hate to admit it Harper but New Texas probably is the best place for them."
She glanced at the chronometer mounted on one of the bulkheads and changed the subject. "I don't know when Jansen wants you on the Glory of Inchon, Harper but I do know when you're expected to be at the children's clinic Trance. This is your first day working and you don't want to be late. But unless pajamas are considered acceptable wear you need to get moving and change into something a bit less casual."
As Trance and Harper took off back to their quarters Beka picked up her coffee cup and poured herself another cup. Her mind was on New Texas. If things continued their downward slide New Texas would probably become a better place to live than than most of the Rim worlds. Maybe Trance and Harper really should think about settling down there and raising a family. She could visit them on occasion and maybe one of their children could teach her how to ride a horse. Maybe.
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