Captain's Share (Trader's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper Book 5) by Lowell Nathan

Author:Lowell, Nathan [Lowell, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Durandus
Published: 2013-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Three

Welliver System:

2372-February-22

Mr. Pall picked data off the inner markers while we were still six days out of Welliver. The rest of the crew was, by then, in on the bet and with the new updates came renewed interest. I felt the pressure to pick a can so we’d know where we were going next. The obvious choices involved grabbing three and heading back home, but the manifests heading in that direction were nothing to write home about, let alone carry along with us. Everybody got into the act. I was as likely to find Ms. Thomas sitting at the table staring at the list as Mr. Hill.

It didn’t help that those three high priority cans still sat on the dock. The delivery date had shifted as we worked our way slowly down the gravity well. It was still too close for us to make, but it was tantalizing to watch.

It was almost 2200 when Mr. Pall caught me on the deserted mess deck, leaning against the counter with a fresh cup of coffee and staring at the screen. “You’re up late, Skipper.” He nodded at the coffee mug. “You planning on pulling an all-nighter?”

I smiled. “No, Mr. Pall. I’ve never had any trouble sleeping, coffee or no. I just felt the need for something warm. I’ll probably hit the rack soon.”

He crossed the mess deck and nodded at the screen. “They keep changing the delivery date, Skipper.” He joined me, drawing a cup and leaning on the counter beside me. The current date was April 3, 2372.

“I noticed that, Mr. Pall. How far do you think they’ll go?”

I felt him shrug beside me. “Till they get a carrier or until the point is passed on the other end, I guess, Skipper.”

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “What’s your best guess of run time from here to Jett, Mr. Pall?”

“Best guess, Skipper? Forty days, seven stans and the odd tick for maneuvering–pull out to clamp down.” He paused to blow on his coffee. “Approximately. Captain.”

“Pretty accurate guess, Mr. Pall.”

He shrugged. “You know how long watches can get sometimes, Captain.”

“I do, indeed, Mr. Pall.” I looked at the screen some more. “Any variability in that estimate due to astronomical changes?”

He blew across the top of his mug again as he thought. “Not enough to matter. Call it 40 days in round numbers and we might slide a day off it, but not much more.”

“And when would we have to leave to be able to take it?”

“We could meet the deadline if we left tomorrow, Skipper. Not being docked yet is probably going to be an obstacle.”

“You have a penchant for understatement I had not expected, Mr. Pall.”

“Thank you, Captain. I try.”

“You’re doing well, Mr. Pall.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

We stood there for a few more ticks.

“Would you do it, Skipper?”

“Void the bet, Mr. Pall?”

“Take the cargo, Skipper.”

“At the moment, it’s all hypothetical, Mr. Pall.”

“We’re the only tractor due in the next week, Skipper.”

I turned my head to look at him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.