Earth's First Starfighter Volume 2: Advancement Science Fiction by Han Yang & Michael Angel

Author:Han Yang & Michael Angel [Yang, Han & Angel, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Royal Guard Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

FIRST AND (ALMOST) LAST WORDS

BASMINI SYSTEM 337865482 – BASMINI PRIME SPACEPORT

I hadn’t been kidding about taking lots of stuff home after the battle in the Vokana system. We brought back whole chunks of pirate base, engines from wrecked Crusho fighters, even a couple tons of palladium bars that the Zorbines had stolen from a GGA currency shipment over a decade ago.

Our return to Basmini Prime raised a few eyebrows. Better yet, it got more people chattering about how this upstart Redline company might be worth investing in. Trisla helped us file the salvage claims with the Trader’s Guild. After that, it was a matter of accounting.

The merchants who’d contracted with us dutifully deposited 160 million Gs in our account. We cashed out almost two million Gs in parts salvaged from the wrecked fighters, and double that in loot and scrap from the pirate base. We also collected unique genetic traces for more than eighty deceased Zorbines, which added up to six hundred thousand Gs in bounties.

In a nutshell, thanks to Tully’s collection system and Natasha’s clever writing of contracts, we ended up scoring an additional four percent bonus for this job. That might not have sounded like a lot – but it added up to 6.4 million Gs. And it helped pad against the inevitable expenses.

As per my deal with Commandant Alisa, she received ten percent of the gross earnings, or more than sixteen-and-a-half million Gs and change. Next to come was Basmini Prime’s 20% tax on ‘Corporate Windfalls.’ We paid that in lieu of a dividend to the Trader’s Guild at thirty-three million Gs.

I also had to spend another two million Gs out-of-pocket for the mission basics, like refueling, replacing the two guided missiles I’d used, and repairing minor damage to the cruiser and star fighters. That left us with just under 115 million Gs to split up.

Redline Interstellar Hauling wasn’t a mercenary fighter corporation. But Trisla and Natasha had already set up how to divide the spoils under the ‘Salvage’ section of our corporate contracts. The mission leader (me) and the corporation’s executive officer (my wife) each got six shares of the profit. Those who went into combat got two shares, while support crew got one share.

As far as I was concerned, my entire crew had put their butts on the line. So everyone got two shares. That came out to (before a small cut of Pavian taxes) more than ten-and-a-half million Gs for each crew member. Since Natasha and I shared a joint account, we ended up with sixty-two million Gs and change when all was said and done.

The payday reminded me that wealth can be a relative thing. When I’d started out as a starfighter, you’d have to take out a frigate to have a hope of earning a half-million in Gs. The most I’d earned on a mission was ten million Gs – and that was a near-suicide extraction mission deep into Rascousi territory. So it was a major windfall for my crew.

Natasha and I were at one time moderately wealthy by local galactic standards, with around 350 million Gs.

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