Chapter 128: 127. Uncertainties

Sarah and Cam finished their work on the Persephone right on schedule. According to the cat-kin, Tanya Pots and Gwen were all extremely happy to have their ship fully functional once again. Cherry was still more interested in flirting with our newest crew member than worrying about the state of her ship, and Blix was just grumpy and moody.

As for Rebecca and I, when the time came we headed back out again to meet with our prospective customer at a venue known as Blues Bar.

The place didn't look like much from the outside, basically a blocky square two-story building made of what looked like pre-fab concrete slabs. There were a couple small windows on the second floor, but they were all closed off with curtains or shutters. The ground floor had no windows at all around the back and sides, and only a couple out front on either side of the door. Those were blacked-out though, and I'd almost have believed the business was closed except the signage was all lit up. And although the sign read 'Blues Bar' the glowing text was actually a mix of pink purple and red letters.

Rebecca parked the grav-sled alongside the building, then after locking it up she led the way up to and through the front door. As soon as we were inside my ears folded back in reaction to the loud music, and I could feel the bass notes thumping in my chest.

The interior was dimly lit, by a combination of more pink purple and red lights. It was set up with a bar along the left side, tables and booths around the perimeter, and a dance floor in the middle. Except there was barely anyone inside. Perhaps not too surprising since it was still early yet, not even dinner time. I assumed the place would see more business once it got dark out and people wanted to enjoy the 'night life'.

There was a tall slim smartly-dressed man standing behind the bar, talking with an attractive young woman who seemed to be a waitress. A group of three men were sitting together in a booth off to the side, and finally there was one man sitting alone at a table in the corner.

"That'll be our contact," Rebecca said as she led the way to the lone guy in the corner.

He looked to be in his forties. He had a rugged sort of face, clean shaved though. His dark hair was cut short, and he was dressed in a sort of business suit. He really didn't look like the sort of person who'd be hanging out in what seemed like a dance club. He'd obviously noticed us when we came in, and watched as the two of us approached him.

"Are you Nate Seyoun?" Rebecca asked as we stopped by his table.

He looked us both up and down, and from the expression on his face I could imagine he wasn't sure what to make of us yet. After a moment he nodded, "I am. Are you from the salvage ship?"

"Captain Rebecca Piper of the MV Demeter," the boss introduced herself. Then she nodded towards me and added, "My first officer, Amanda Voss. I understand you've got a job for us?"

Seyoun looked us both over again, and he didn't seem that impressed. "You both look a little young to be playing around with ships."

Rebecca stated, "If you've got a job for us then let's talk business. Otherwise you're wasting my time."

"All right," the guy relented. "Have a seat. You two look like kids but your ship has a good reputation for getting the job done."

The boss sat down across from Mr. Seyoun and I took the seat next to her. She kept her eyes on him as she asked, "So what's the job?"

Before we could get down to business the waitress came to our table to see if we wanted anything. And rather than send her away so we could talk, Seyoun ordered himself a drink then suggested we do the same. Rebecca ordered whiskey for herself, while I ordered a fruity cocktail. I would have just ordered a soft drink but with the other two ordering liquor I figured I should do the same.

Then after the waitress left to take care of our drinks the customer stated, "I had an important cargo en route to Port Ecclestone, but the ship it was on didn't make it. I can provide last known coordinates and details about the vessel. I want you to recover my cargo and deliver it here to me."

"Last known coordinates?" Rebecca asked. "So you don't know exactly where it is? Then I'm guessing you don't know what shape it's in, or if it's even salvageable."

Seyoun shook his head, "If I knew all that Captain Piper then I wouldn't need you and your ship, would I?"

The boss shrugged, "Maybe so. But if that's all you've got to go on then I hope you're prepared for the possibility of disappointment? There's a good chance we don't find the wreck. Even if we find it your cargo might not be salvageable. Even if it is, it might not be in great condition."

"I understand there's a lot of uncertainties," the customer replied. "Nonetheless I want someone to recover my goods. Are you interested?"

"For the right price, sure. What kind of payment are we talking about?" Rebecca asked.

The conversation paused there as the waitress returned. She set out the drinks, then when Rebecca went to pay for ours Mr. Seyoun told the young woman to put all three on his tab. She nodded and headed away again, so we could continue our conversation.

After a sip of his rum and soda the man stated, "As you already pointed out, there's a lot of uncertainties whether or not you'll be able to even find the wreck or recover my merchandise. As such, the compensation I'm offering you will be contingent on your success."

"Ten thousand ecks up front," he stated. "That should be enough to cover your expenses and get you started. Bring me my merchandise in good condition, and I'll pay you another forty thousand ecks upon delivery."

I had a sip of my cocktail but otherwise stayed quiet. I'd already figured out this wasn't a typical job, and I couldn't shake the feeling that we might be getting involved in something dangerous again.

Rebecca had a sip of her whiskey then pointed out, "You're asking me to take on all the financial risk. If we don't find the wreck, we get nothing for our time. Even if we find it, if your goods can't be recovered or we do recover them but you don't like their condition then we get nothing."

The customer's lips twitched slightly as if he wanted to smile, "Not quite Captain Piper. Yes there's a risk, if you fail to find the wreck then you get nothing. And I'm out another ten thousand ecks above and beyond what I've already lost."

"But if you do find it," he added as that smile finally appeared on his face, "Then regardless of the condition of my cargo, you can have the rest of the salvage for yourself. All I want is my merchandise. Everything else you find is yours, to do with as you please."

That got me thinking about how much money we made from the Hammersmith salvage, and while I doubted some random freighter would be anywhere near that valuable there was still the potential for a good payday.

If my girlfriend was excited or interested she didn't let on. She was doing the whole 'poker face' thing, quietly watching Mr. Seyoun as she had another sip of her drink.

Then she finally replied, "I'm going to need to know some details about the freighter, and your cargo, before I can make a decision. Let's start with your goods, what kind of volume are we talking about? Boxes, cartons, cases, shipping containers? How will I know what's yours versus anything else we find?"

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"How do I know you won't turn down my offer then take this information and go hunting for the wreck on your own?" Seyoun countered.

"I give you my word," Rebecca replied. "You said yourself I have a good reputation, I'm not going to jeopardize that."

The customer nodded then had another gulp of his drink. He finally answered the question, "Two shipping containers. They're painted bright orange, they should be very easy to pick out from any other goods that might have been on board. They are shielded and sealed. I will not divulge the contents under any condition, and if they arrive with the seals broken then I will not pay a single eck for them."

Rebecca nodded, "Understood. So what can you tell me about the ship that was carrying them? Do you know her age? What size or classification, how many crew?"

"No idea of her age," Seyoun replied. "My understanding is she was a medium freighter, and supposedly in good working order. My associates wouldn't have trusted her with my cargo if they thought she wasn't space-worthy."

The boss looked thoughtful as she drained the last of her whiskey. She set down the empty glass then addressed the customer again, "One more question. How quickly do you want to get your hands on the goods? Bearing in mind that we'll have transit time to and from the coordinates, plus however long it takes to find the wreck, plus whatever time it takes to salvage her."

"Obviously I'd like to reclaim my property as soon as possible," he replied. "But as you say, there are practical considerations that can't be avoided. I assume you're asking because of the difference in cost between Jump-0 and Jump-1?"

Rebecca shrugged, "It's more about the fact that you're offering me the wreck itself as payment. Except that's no good to me if I can't cash in on it. My contact for salvage is on Rolandan-2. So depending on where this wreck of yours is located and how fast you want your merchandise, I have to consider how much profit gets left behind because I can't fill my hold with it. Or how much extra fuel I'm going to burn carrying a ship-load of salvage back here before I can turn around and drop it off at Rolandan-2."

"Unless you want to offer me some kind of incentive that is," she added a moment later. "To prioritize your delivery, over taking another ten or fifteen days to haul salvage four systems away."

Seyoun frowned as he slowly gulped down the rest of his drink. He looked like he was thinking things over, maybe trying to decide between offering up extra cash or potentially having to wait while we detour over to Tamsin's shipyard for a few days first.

"Fine," the client finally stated, although he didn't sound happy about it. "Despite your youth you're a shrewd businesswoman, Captain Piper. So my offer is ten thousand now to take the job, forty thousand more upon delivery of my shipping containers, and a twenty thousand eck bonus if you can deliver my containers within twenty days or less."

"I am aware of the practicalities and distances involved," he added. "I can assure you that twenty days is more than fair."

The boss looked to me and asked, "What do you think Amanda?"

I was actually caught off-guard by that, I hadn't expected to take part in the conversation or negotiations at all. Now it felt like I'd been put on the spot. Fortunately I'd been paying close attention to the whole discussion, and I found myself thinking about the Gorath system map from the Demeter's navigation display.

After a gulp of my drink I replied quietly, "Assuming twenty days is a fair estimate, we can probably break that down to six or seven days travel each way, with the rest of the time on-site searching for and salvaging the wreck. So those last-known coordinates are probably six or seven days away at Jump-0. There's a lot of things that distance from Ecclestone's World, but the most obvious answer is the Gorath asteroid field."

"It's also possible we might be asked to go near Marshal's World," I continued just as softly. "Maybe the shipment was lost to piracy in that area? But that seems unlikely, considering it's a little too far and there's not much of value in that direction. Cargo that's important enough to salvage rather than replace probably didn't come from a prison colony or Deveron-8."

I finally concluded, "I think we should go for it boss. Although to be safe I think we should have the option of rejecting the job if it turns out those coordinates are going to take us somewhere too dangerous, or if they turn out to be unreasonably far."

Rebecca smiled, "Excellent analysis Amanda. And I agree with your conclusion."

"We'll take the job," she told Seyoun. "Assuming you're not sending us into pirate-infested space or the middle of an asteroid field or something equally impossible."

The customer made a face, "I want my cargo. I'm not looking to get you killed. And if I was, there's cheaper and faster ways to do it."

And on that friendly note he held out his hand so he and Rebecca could shake on the deal. After the handshake he pulled out two bars and a data crystal, which he set down on the table in front of my girlfriend.

"There's your ten thousand ecks," Seyoun stated. "And all the information I have on the missing freighter is in that crystal, along with my communication codes so you can keep me informed via FTL. I hope to see you again in twenty days or less, Captain Piper."

"All right Mr. Seyoun," the boss said as she picked up the money and the crystal. "We'll be in touch."

With our business concluded the two of us got up from the table, then headed back out to the grav-sled together.

As soon as we were in the air and heading back to the Demeter I asked, "Why do I get the feeling this isn't a normal typical safe job after all?"

"I think the job is fairly typical," Rebecca replied. Then she added with a wry smile, "On the other hand the customer's probably not. Same with his goods. The less we know about the contents of his containers the better."

A moment later she shrugged, "Whatever, it's a salvage job. And granted the payout isn't guaranteed, but as you and Sarah have pointed out a few times, we can afford to take a chance. Risk and reward, right?"

"Financial risk is one thing," I replied with a frown. "Risking life and limb dealing with shady customers is another thing entirely."

"Amanda this is Port Ecclestone," she stated with another smile. "Every customer is shady."

Then as we started descending towards the ship she added, "As soon as we're on board the Demeter we'll have a look at the data crystal, then we can start making plans. Figure out what we're dealing with and where we're going. We'll brief the rest of the crew over dinner, and if it all looks good then we'll launch first thing tomorrow morning."

"All right boss."