Chapter 97: 96. Booked

The Demeter's ramp and main airlock both opened as Rebecca guided the grav-sled down. We decelerated smoothly, and the captain brought the small craft to a stop as it gently settled onto the deck in the middle of the hold. The ramp and airlock were already starting to close again behind us before we'd even climbed out of the sled.

"So what do you think Jenny?" Sarah asked as the four of us emerged from the vehicle. "Your first time out in public went pretty well didn't it?"

The android hesitated, and the fringe in her hair shifted from pink to purple as the her primary self took over. A second later she nodded, "I agree Sarah, it was a success."

Our engineer grinned as she moved to start unloading the back of the sled, "Already synched up the memories I take it?"

The rest of us followed to help out. We had a half dozen folding chairs, two little folding tables, and a couple bags of BBQ from Gilly's to put away.

"Of course," Jenny responded. "I'm glad things went well off-ship. And things have been pleasantly quiet here while you were gone."

"Good to know," Rebecca stated.

It only took a few moments to stow the folding chairs on one of the shelves on the port side of the hold, then Sarah and I each grabbed a bag of food to put away up in the galley.

As the four of us headed up to the main deck Jenny asked the captain, "Do you think Mr. Wheeler will pay us a visit?"

"Probably," Rebecca nodded. "I don't know that we'll take him on as a customer, but I'll hear him out anyways."

While Sarah and I were putting the leftover food away I asked, "You sound a little reluctant or wary about this guy?"

The boss shrugged as she got herself some coffee, "Port Ecclestone's the transport hub of the sector, it's the busiest port for over a dozen systems in any direction. If you're looking to hire a ship or move some goods, there's all kinds of options. Striking up a conversation with strangers in a restaurant like that is one of the last ways to do it."

"So the guy's either naive, desperate, or looking to avoid going through normal channels," she continued after pausing for a sip of her drink. "I don't mind working with folks in any of those situations, but that's not the sort of conversation you want to have in a public place. So like I said, we'll hear him out but no guarantee we'll actually take his cargo. There's going to be a catch, I need to know what it is before making any decisions."

I got myself a glass of water once we had the food stowed, and Sarah got a soda. Then we both joined Jenny and Rebecca at the table. I responded, "Thanks Rebecca, it makes sense when you spell it out like that."

"So when you're out looking for cargo are you going through normal channels?" Sarah asked with a grin. "Or are you actually looking for the sort of clients who have special requirements?"

The tall amazonian redhead looked like she was trying not to smile as she sipped her coffee. She finally shrugged, "The first category is usually safer and more reliable. But the second kind of client usually pays more."

"Good non-answer boss," our cute engineer laughed. "Very clear and unambiguous."

Rebecca just smirked as she continued enjoying her coffee.

"Which kind of client are you hoping for?" Jenny asked.

The boss continued to smirk as she responded, "The paying kind."

That earned her a couple eye-rolls, but none of us bothered pressing for more information since it was clear she wasn't going to elaborate.

We were all still relaxing in the mess together about fifteen minutes later when Jenny announced, "Mr. Wheeler has arrived. He's waiting outside the ramp."

Rebecca got to her feet as she said, "Thanks Jenny. I'll let him in, bring him up here for the meeting."

"I'll come too if it's ok?" I offered as I stood up as well.

The boss didn't mind, and the two of us headed down to the lower deck together. Rebecca hit the controls to open up the ship, and we both watched and waited for the ramp to lower.

"Greetings!" Jace stated from outside. He gestured vaguely at the ship, "You said this is a freighter? She looks more like a tugboat to me, with those big tractor-repulsers at the front and back."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "You know something about ships do you? She's a versatile craft, she's rated as an interstellar tug, a salvar, and a light freighter. Why don't you come aboard and I'll give you a bit of a tour?"

The young man came up the ramp after he was invited. He looked around the main hold as he replied, "I'm no expert, not by a long-shot. Flown on a couple ships, but nothing like this. I hear stories though, you know? I make a point of listening when folks are telling their tales. You learn a lot that way, about people, worlds, and the ships that move those people from world to world."

"How do you get people to tell you those stories?" I asked.

Jace smiled, "Sometimes I don't have to. Just sit in a crowded bar for a while, you hear all sorts of things. Or a busy restaurant. Or maybe it costs a few ecks, buy the right person a few drinks and listen to them talk."

Rebecca spoke up, "Speaking of ecks, this is supposed to be a business meeting right? Let's head up to the main deck. I'll introduce you to the rest of my crew, and we can talk shop."

"Yes of course," the young man nodded as his smile faded and his mood became more business-like.

Rebecca gestured as the three of us headed aft, "This is the main hold. Don't worry about the grav-sled, we'll stow that and free up the deck space for cargo. And here's the secondary hold. The Demeter can take on a standard light load and obviously she's jump rated. We do regular deliveries at jump-0 but if time is a factor she can handle jump-1. Obviously that has an impact on the price, what with fuel, risk, wear and tear, and so on."

By then we were already in engineering, and the three of us rode the lift up to the main deck. Jace kept quiet but he was looking around during the short tour. He seemed attentive and maybe even a bit wary, and the impression I got from him told me he wasn't naive. Like this wasn't his first time trying to hire a ship, and he wasn't wide-eyed and curious. More like he was quietly inspecting the ship, and maybe evaluating whether or not he thought she was space-worthy enough to take whatever cargo he wanted to ship.

When we reached the mess the boss motioned for him to have a seat, "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, water, soda?"

"Coffee sounds good," Jace replied.

Meanwhile I got myself some more water, and another soda for Sarah. Then I sat down next to my cute blonde girlfriend. Rebecca took her seat a moment later, after setting down a coffee for our guest and another for herself.

Then she gestured, "That's Amanda, my co-pilot and navigator. Sarah, my mechanic. Jenny, technical liaison. And I'm Rebecca Piper, the captain, pilot, and owner of the MV Demeter."

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Jace's eyebrows jumped up, like something the boss said surprised him. Of everything Rebecca said, I figured the most surprising thing was the fact that she owned the ship. It had to be extremely unusual for someone who looked like an eighteen-year-old to be owner and captain of their own space craft.

Whatever it was that surprised him, he kept it to himself. Instead he picked up his mug and said, "Thanks for the coffee, captain."

Rebecca nodded, she had a sip of hers too then said "So business. What are you looking to ship, where's it going, and how soon do you need it there?"

"I'm still in the process of putting the shipment together," Jace replied, "But I expect it'll be eight to twelve standard containers. Two or three of those will be loaded with agricultural equipment, like water pumps, purification equipment, maybe irrigation gear? But the bulk of the shipment's going to be food. We're looking at flour, rice, mixed grain, seed, and maybe even some non-perishable goods."

He added, "I couldn't help noticing you have two containers marked as disaster relief supplies down in your hold? If those are for sale, I'd be interested in talking to you about that too. They could certainly use that back home."

Jace paused for another sip of coffee, then he stated "As for the destination, that's Deveron-8. But I need a ship and crew who don't mind landing outside the usual port facilities. My shipment's destined for a smaller community well away from the capital city and the spaceport, and the only way to be sure it'll get there is if you fly it there directly and deliver it in person."

By the time he'd finished talking I could tell the boss's mood had dipped, and it looked like she was going to pass on the job.

There was a frown on her face as Rebecca took a deep sip of her coffee, then she asked "Why are you shipping food to an agricultural world?"

"They're heading into the third year of a planet-wide drought," Jace replied with a sigh. "And incase you're not familiar with that world, the so-called government there is even more worthless than the people running this planet. The rich folks in and around the capital are doing ok, but the small farming communities out on the edge have been left to their own devices. Folks are starving there, while this world's got food going to waste."

That didn't sound good, and I couldn't help but worry about the people on that world. I'd heard similar stories growing up, about how devastating a prolonged drought could be to an agricultural world.

"So is this a humanitarian mission?" Rebecca asked. "I hate to sound mercenary, but we're looking for a job, not charity work."

Jace shook his head, "I'm not asking for handouts, just someone who'll deliver the goods at a fair rate instead of trying to take advantage of the situation."

The boss sighed and drained her coffee. She set her mug down and frowned, "I'll be honest Jace, there's a few reasons why Deveron-8 is low on our list of destinations. It's pretty far off our usual route, there's not much else out that way for us, and from the sound of it we probably won't have an easy time finding another customer there. So we could be looking at the prospect of coming back empty, which isn't great for business."

The young man sighed as well, "I understand. You can probably guess, this isn't the first ship I've tried to hire. Nobody wants to fly that far out of their way to visit some poor dying farmers. Folks I've talked to so far either turn me down outright, or they're asking double or triple the usual shipping fees."

I could hear the frustration in his voice, and I couldn't help feeling bad for him and the folks on that world. On the other hand I knew we couldn't start doing charity missions, and even if we wanted to help there wasn't much we could do on our own.

"Have you tried appealing for official help from any other worlds?" Jenny asked. "Ecclestone's World may not be the best choice, but perhaps a more-civilized planet would be more inclined to help?"

Jace grimaced, "My understanding is a few people have tried? But that sort of thing has to go through official channels, and the government back home don't give a damn. They won't ask for outside help, they'd rather let people suffer and die than let another world come in and help."

"Anyways I'm not asking for sympathy or charity," he stated as he looked back at Rebecca. "I'd like to hire your ship, if you'll give me a fair rate. So can we talk about that? Or have you already decided you're not interested?"

The boss took a deep breath, then sighed as she nodded "All right. You know where we're coming from, we know what the challenges are. Let's talk details."

"Thank you captain," the young man smiled. "So like I said, eight to twelve containers. And I'm interested in buying the disaster relief supplies if they're available. Oh and one more thing. I'll need to accompany the shipment myself, so passage for one along with the cargo."

The boss's expression fell at that point. "We're not a passenger ship Mr. Wheeler. The Demeter is a working vessel. We have no passenger cabins, no staterooms, and no entertainment facilities."

Jace shrugged, "My first flight off-world I strung a hammock between two cargo containers and spent twenty-four days living in a ship's hold. I appreciate taking on another body means air water and food, but I don't need a stateroom and I don't need to be coddled. I can even bring my own hammock and sleep in your hold if it comes down to it."

Rebecca sighed again, then asked "How fast do you need to get there? Jump-0 will take the Demeter almost twenty days. Jump-1 will get us there in half a day."

"I'd love to get the goods there that fast," our guest replied, "But I doubt I can afford the premium. So let's talk pricing for a level-zero jump. If there's money left in my budget then maybe we can look at how much extra it'll cost to try level-one."

The next ten or twelve minutes we all watched and listened to Rebecca and Jace haggling over prices and other details. It was interesting to watch her work, though I couldn't help feeling like she was cutting the young man some slack despite what she said about not doing charity work.

At the same time he seemed to understand and appreciate the concessions. In the end the final price they both agreed on was twenty-two thousand ecks for a level-zero passage to Deveron-8. There was also the possibility of bumping that to a level-one transit if Jace came up with another eight thousand ecks.

From the sound of it that was fairly unlikely. He commented, "It depends what kind of deal I can get for the rest of the goods. All I've got's ten bars, and that's got to cover the equipment and food as well as the transit. Every eck I spend on passage means one less eck to spend on food."

Jenny asked, "If I may, how did you end up doing this work Mr. Wheeler? Were you sent by one of those communities you're talking about?"

Jace shook his head, "Not as such. I mean, they didn't send me. I'm from there, grew up there, but I left home about six years ago. I'm sure it's a common story right? Spent my childhood listening to tales of grand adventures, seeing the stars and visiting other worlds. So as soon as I was old enough I set out to find my own adventure."

"One last question," the boss asked before we got too side-tracked, "Where exactly are we delivering this shipment? You said it wasn't the main spaceport. I take it we're delivering to one of those farming communities?"

Our guest nodded, "That's right. It's pretty much on the opposite side of the world from the capital, a little farming outpost called Ganvis."

Rebecca sighed as her expression got darker again for a few moments. I got the distinct impression she knew the place, and she really wasn't happy about going there.

Jace obviously saw her expression too, he asked "Is that a problem captain?"

After a few moments of hesitation the boss shook her head, "I suppose not. So you're from Ganvis?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Born and raised, though I haven't set foot in the place since I left. I keep in touch with my folks now and then, that's how I know how bad it's got there."

"All right Jace," Rebecca held out her hand, "We'll take the job. How long till you're ready to ship out?"

He and the boss shook hands as he replied, "Three days. I'll have the last of the cargo sorted out in three days, then we'll get everything loaded up here."