Inadvertent Adventures by Loren K. Jones

careful in choosing your next assignment."
    "We've already paid you what we expect the crew shares to be," Sterling said from behind her shoulder. "We also aren't listing that you are being dismissed from this ship. I changed your status to 'Working your way home' so you can more easily get a berth on another vessel."
    Raka just glared at them silently until the signal came that they could open their hatch. Then he cycled the outer airlock door open and stepped out. He walked away without a backward glance and vanished into the crowd.
    Ann had followed common practice and registered for another cargo as soon as they entered the system. Once the hold was empty and vacuumed clean, a man in the suit of the Caravan Carriers walked up to her and bowed. "Lady Captain, I am Ali Mohamed Shariff, Consignment Director of Caravan Carriers. We have a twenty thousand ton shipment of assorted grains going to Tiamat's Landing on Marduk, in the Ea System. That is, I believe, the cargo capacity of your class ship."
    "It is, but we have a thousand ton shuttle for planetary deliveries. We can only carry nineteen thousand tons of cargo," Ann answered.
    "Ah, I see. A moment, please." He flipped open a large, almost archaic looking MemoBook and started searching through his files. After just a few moments he looked up and smiled. "I have a fifteen thousand ton consignment going to the asteroid mining colony over in Chin Paradise. It's only a fifteen light year voyage."
    "And what is our margin on this consignment?" Ann asked warily. Consignment was a double edged sword that could cut the legs off a ship if the captain wasn't careful.
    "Five percent," the man said with a smile.
    Ann frowned. "That probably wouldn't cover our fuel, much less give us a profit. Ten percent, or nothing."
    "Nothing then," the man said in an offended tone. "We do not pay extortion to such minor shippers as you."
    "Such is our life," Ann said and turned away.
    It was six hours later when another shipper approached them. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Captain Stevenson of the Admiral Ann's Revenge. Is he here?"
    " She is right there," Sterling said, pointing to Ann.
    "Oh, forgive me," the man said, obviously flustered to have made such a basic mistake. He walked over to Ann and cleared his throat. "Captain Stevenson, I understand that you are in need of a cargo."
    "We are," Ann agreed. "What do you have and how much of it?"
    "Proto-beets, one of Arratu Edin's most nutritious native plants," he said proudly. "There is an assortment of other food stuffs as well. I have seventeen thousand tons going to the Erin Combine's shipyard in the Dragon system. It is a straight payment of fifty-thousand credits on arrival. I heard that you didn't like CC's percentage, so I wrote the contract out as straight fee rather than percentage. Payment on arrival. Is that acceptable?"
    "It is," Ann said and the man handed over a 'Pad for her signature.
    "I will have the shipment brought over immediately. Good day, Captain." With that he left the ship, hurrying away and talking into his wrist communicator.
    The shipment started arriving within fifteen minutes. Crate after crate of knobby tubers the size of soccer balls were brought in and taken to the hold by the Revenge's cranes. Crates of bagged grains and other vegetables quickly followed.
    Denise and Olaf were there to help supervise the loading process and Olaf had to grin as he said, "Beats the hell out of loading beets on the Jane, doesn't it?"
    "Yes it does, Olaf. Yes it does. But sometimes I miss the cranky old bitch."
    Olaf put his arm around her shoulder. "So do I, Denise. Sometimes I miss that little ship more than I miss Jerry and Will."
    Denise smiled sadly up at him, then turned and went to control. She was letting Bart plot the course to the Dragon system, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to verify everything he was doing. Navigation was, after all, her responsibility.

Chapter 11
    T HE ADMIRAL ANN'S REVENGE LEFT ARRATU EDIN’S