Buccaneers by Jamie McFarlane

Author:Jamie McFarlane [McFarlane, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fickle Dragon Publishing
Published: 2015-08-05T23:00:00+00:00

SNAKE OIL

We had specific instructions from Belirand on the acceptable velocity at which we could enter their controlled space and at what distance we were required to establish contact. As a result, we'd dropped from hard-burn a full six hours from Terminal Seven.

Hail Terminal Seven.

My vid-screen showed an acknowledgement from Belirand's comm equipment, but it took several minutes before we received a response.

"Greetings, Adela Chen. This is Ensign Jeeker. Please state your business."

We didn't have a holo projector on the Adela Chen, but I saw a man about my age on the forward vid-screen. His uniform vac-suit was not fully sealed and looked like it could use a good cleaning. A half-naked woman realized she was in direct view of the camera and jumped out of the frame. If I hadn't been paying attention, I might not have caught it.

"Greetings. Loose Nuts Corporation with an ore delivery from the Descartes belt. We're sailing in tandem with the sloop Hotspur," I said.

There was a small delay before he replied. "Oh, I see Hotspur now. We're not getting much of a signal on her, but her transponder is coming through loud and clear."

"Roger that. Not much of a signature since she's not an ore hauler," I said.

"Right. We were wondering when you'd get here," he said.

I wasn't completely sure what he meant by that since I knew we hadn't registered our navigational plans with them.

"Would you like us to head over to the refinery to unload?" I asked.

"Won't do you any good," he said. "They're only working a single shift and won't have anyone available until 1000. But I'll go ahead and assign you a mooring."

Moments later a location showed up on my vid-screen.

"I'll leave a message for the foreman. Have a good night," he said and closed the comm.

"Ada, you get all that?" I asked.

"I did, Liam. I'll make a run in and get you a clean route. It appears Jeeker doesn't have much experience directing barges," she said.

"Thanks, Ada,"

Tabby and I watched the red outline of Hotspur move across our vid-screen toward the markers that represented Terminal Seven and the refining platform. Ten minutes later, a navigation path popped up on the vid-screen and I directed the AI to follow it.

We passed by a hodgepodge structure that the AI labeled Terminal Seven. Unlike the other six Belirand terminals we'd seen, this structure was made up of dozens of rectangular steel and armor glass boxes. The welding scars were still present from a hasty assembly. According to Nick, Belirand had shipped the nuclease of the terminal from Mars and assembled it onsite. It was a twentieth of a completed terminal's size, but held all of the technology required to run the TransLoc gate. Over the next few years, Belirand construction and engineering would manufacture and assemble the rest of the terminal.

Ada's navigation path was perfect and we twisted around as we passed the main terminal and headed toward the refining platform. Unlike the terminal, the refining and manufacturing plant was nearly complete.

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