a
fungus yard on Tullast, skimming food from a swampy plantation as it
rose to the surface – if you could call that protein scum food.
She’d visited the
prettier sides of Tullast with the Countess when she and Larken were
young teenagers. The beaches and springs there were beautiful, and
they had a lot of carefree time while the Countess attended to other
business.
Spin returned to the
matter at hand. The rescue was problematic. The ground was soft, so
she’d have to carefully hover so people could get on, but she
wouldn’t know where her friends were until she got within ten
kilometres so she could scan for their biometrics readings. A hard
scan like that would raise suspicion, so she needed someone to make
some noise. The only thing she could think of was putting Della and
Mirra in two of the five gun turrets and using one of the forward
missile launchers to blow something up. It was risky, she had no idea
if either of them could shoot, and would risk setting a processing
tank off if she fired a missile anywhere but the swampy open fungus
pit, and that’s where her friends would most likely be.
The plan looked ugly no
matter how she approached it. She wished she could just set the Fleet
Feather down and pretend she was about the Countess’ business, but
there was a fair chance that someone sent a message to Tullast,
telling the foremen there to expect a breakout attempt.
She left the cockpit
and made her way to the rear hold, deciding on a plan by the time she
got there. “Okay, I’m going to need your help to pull this off.”
She said, then stopped at the sight of racks of clothing, cases of
fine bottles with even finer liquids inside, and three metal bullion
cases.
“These are full,”
Della said, tossing a glittering rectangle of platinum at her. It
glittered in her hand, the serial number and UCA stamped along with
the denomination – 1,000 – in industrial grade blue diamonds.
“Fifty thousand molecularly stamped platinum in each case in large
denominations. That piece isn’t from the cases.”
“It’s from some of
the loose plat we found, about seventeen thousand worth from the
luggage. There’s also another twenty-eight thousand from our old
master’s personal safe,” Mirra said, smiling as much as Della.
“You guys keep that,”
said, in awe of the cash they’d found and how organized everything
else was. “We’ll split the cased and loose stuff the way we
discussed if that’s all right.”
“You’re going to
have to stop asking us if it’s all right,” Della said. “If
you’re going to be a captain.”
“I’m not a captain,
I’ve pirated a ship and technically stolen two slaves that I’ll
be setting free. I’m an escaped slave whose devalued because her
mated partner is dead, and an outlaw for theft and kidnapping. When
someone checks the Stellarnet for the definition of ‘trouble’ in
the future, there will be a picture of me.”
“We’re going to be
hard to get rid of,” Mirra said. “If this is the kind of trouble
you get into, I think I want to get involved, at least for a while.”
“We’ll see.”
Aspen ran her hands down one of the clothing racks and shook her
head. “You did this in the hour I was in the cockpit. I can’t
believe it. I also expected to find a mountain of clothing and other
loot just dumped in the cargo bay, that’s how most quick looting
jobs go.”
“We’re better at
quickies, I guess,” Della said.
“So, where are we
going to sell our booty?” Mirra asked.
“Well, we’re going
to get ready to take on some passengers’ tomorrow, so we’ll have
to lock it up once you two are finished taking your pick of clothes.
Then, well, I know a few places that should buy most of this stuff.
Maybe, it’s dangerous. We’re going to have bounties on our heads,
slave hunters might already be looking for us. Anyway, dig in.”
Mirra and Della stood
and eagerly began rifling through the clothing racks, leaving Spin to
turn the platinum
fungus yard on Tullast, skimming food from a swampy plantation as it
rose to the surface – if you could call that protein scum food.
She’d visited the
prettier sides of Tullast with the Countess when she and Larken were
young teenagers. The beaches and springs there were beautiful, and
they had a lot of carefree time while the Countess attended to other
business.
Spin returned to the
matter at hand. The rescue was problematic. The ground was soft, so
she’d have to carefully hover so people could get on, but she
wouldn’t know where her friends were until she got within ten
kilometres so she could scan for their biometrics readings. A hard
scan like that would raise suspicion, so she needed someone to make
some noise. The only thing she could think of was putting Della and
Mirra in two of the five gun turrets and using one of the forward
missile launchers to blow something up. It was risky, she had no idea
if either of them could shoot, and would risk setting a processing
tank off if she fired a missile anywhere but the swampy open fungus
pit, and that’s where her friends would most likely be.
The plan looked ugly no
matter how she approached it. She wished she could just set the Fleet
Feather down and pretend she was about the Countess’ business, but
there was a fair chance that someone sent a message to Tullast,
telling the foremen there to expect a breakout attempt.
She left the cockpit
and made her way to the rear hold, deciding on a plan by the time she
got there. “Okay, I’m going to need your help to pull this off.”
She said, then stopped at the sight of racks of clothing, cases of
fine bottles with even finer liquids inside, and three metal bullion
cases.
“These are full,”
Della said, tossing a glittering rectangle of platinum at her. It
glittered in her hand, the serial number and UCA stamped along with
the denomination – 1,000 – in industrial grade blue diamonds.
“Fifty thousand molecularly stamped platinum in each case in large
denominations. That piece isn’t from the cases.”
“It’s from some of
the loose plat we found, about seventeen thousand worth from the
luggage. There’s also another twenty-eight thousand from our old
master’s personal safe,” Mirra said, smiling as much as Della.
“You guys keep that,”
said, in awe of the cash they’d found and how organized everything
else was. “We’ll split the cased and loose stuff the way we
discussed if that’s all right.”
“You’re going to
have to stop asking us if it’s all right,” Della said. “If
you’re going to be a captain.”
“I’m not a captain,
I’ve pirated a ship and technically stolen two slaves that I’ll
be setting free. I’m an escaped slave whose devalued because her
mated partner is dead, and an outlaw for theft and kidnapping. When
someone checks the Stellarnet for the definition of ‘trouble’ in
the future, there will be a picture of me.”
“We’re going to be
hard to get rid of,” Mirra said. “If this is the kind of trouble
you get into, I think I want to get involved, at least for a while.”
“We’ll see.”
Aspen ran her hands down one of the clothing racks and shook her
head. “You did this in the hour I was in the cockpit. I can’t
believe it. I also expected to find a mountain of clothing and other
loot just dumped in the cargo bay, that’s how most quick looting
jobs go.”
“We’re better at
quickies, I guess,” Della said.
“So, where are we
going to sell our booty?” Mirra asked.
“Well, we’re going
to get ready to take on some passengers’ tomorrow, so we’ll have
to lock it up once you two are finished taking your pick of clothes.
Then, well, I know a few places that should buy most of this stuff.
Maybe, it’s dangerous. We’re going to have bounties on our heads,
slave hunters might already be looking for us. Anyway, dig in.”
Mirra and Della stood
and eagerly began rifling through the clothing racks, leaving Spin to
turn the platinum
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