“Then you think I only trust Jalea because she’s attractive?”
“I think because you find her attractive, you are willing to assume she is trustworthy. If she had been an old hag, you would’ve dismissed her without a thought. But that is to be expected, because you and I are men. That is how we are. But if you know this about yourself, and you always question your motives, then you will be okay.”
“Then Jessica was just reminding me to check my motives?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“Not exactly the way you treat your captain though, is it?”
“Nathan. You have been captain for less than one week. To us, you are still an ensign. You must earn their respect. It does not come with the bars, you know.”
Nathan thought about it as Tug approached, carrying a steaming hot pot and a stack of bowls.
“Good day, Nathan,” Tug called. “I brought your morning meal,” he added, setting the pot and bowls down on the bench next to them. “It is not much, just a simple porridge I’m afraid. But it is very filling and should get you through the day.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Nathan assured him. “Thank you.”
Vladimir was already scooping up a bowl full and shoveling it into his mouth. “Kasha. It tastes like Kasha.”
“Tug,” Nathan continued. “We were wondering if you’d be interested in selling your ship?”
“Oh, no. I don’t think I could part with it. Besides, what use do you have for such a small vessel? Your ship is a hundred times its size.”
“There are some interesting systems on your ship that we’d love to study. We might be able to integrate some of your technology into our own systems, possibly give us additional advantages.”
“I’m sorry, Captain. Perhaps I can let you have one or two of her redundant systems. Say, a shield emitter, or one of the pulse cannons. Perhaps they would be helpful?”
Vladimir nodded. “Better than nothing, I suppose. I was hoping to get a better look at your FTL system.”
“Well, you still have several hours until your friend arrives,” Tug said. “Perhaps you can spend it examining the FTL drive.”
“I’m afraid it would take me much longer than a few hours to understand it,” Vladimir admitted.
“I will send my oldest daughter, Deliza, to help you,” Tug boasted. “She is quite knowledgeable in such matters.”
“Any help would be appreciated,” he assured him between spoonfuls of porridge.
“Very well. I shall send her to you after her morning chores are completed,” Tug promised. “Now, Captain, if you’ll excuse me. I have my own chores to complete. I will return later and we can begin preparing your purchase for shipment.”
“Thank you,” He watched Tug walk back toward the main house. “Looks like you’ve got yourself an FTL tutor.”
Vladimir said nothing. He just kept eating.
Tobin’s ship kicked up dust in all directions as it hovered a few meters off the ground, slowly rotating to point its nose back in the direction it had come before it settled to the ground in the middle of Tug’s compound. Nathan, Jessica, Jalea, and Tug all huddled behind Tug’s vehicle to shield themselves from the whirling dust and debris as Tobin’s ship settled to the ground and its engines began to spin down. Nathan looked around, noticing that the dust was slow to disperse.
“This is why I don’t usually fly purchases out!” Tug yelled over the declining sound of Tobin’s engines. “It takes forever for the dust to clear! One of the disadvantages of living in a big hole!” Tug pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose to avoid breathing in the dust as he rose from behind the vehicle. Nathan did the same as he followed.
The large cargo hatch on the starboard side of Tobin’s ship swung down until it touched the dirt, becoming a loading ramp on which Tobin quickly descended. “Captain! It’s good to see you safe.”
“Why wouldn’t we be?” he asked.
“This is Haven, Captain. Safe describes very little on this world,” he smiled. “Shall we begin loading?”
“Tobin, this is Tug,” Nathan introduced. “I believe we should first settle our bill with him.”
“Yes, of course,” Tobin agreed, feigning forgetfulness. Tobin produced a small bag from under his cloak. “This should more than cover it,” he told them as he handed the bag to Tug.
Tug took the bag from Tobin. Surprised by the excessive weight, he opened the bag to look inside and found many more credit chips than he had expected. “This is too generous, Captain.”
“Consider it a bonus for all your hospitality,” Nathan told him.
“But Captain, this is nearly twice what the molo is worth at market.”
“Yeah, well, we did almost blow your head off last night,” Nathan chuckled. “So I think you deserve it. Maybe it will get your wife off your back for letting a bunch of strangers stay for dinner.”
“Indeed it might,” he agreed as he tucked the bag of credit chips into his pants pocket.
“We should get going as soon as possible,” Tobin insisted, seeming a bit anxious.
“Of course.” Nathan turned to the others and signaled them to start loading the bundles of molo.
They quickly hauled the carefully tied bundles up into Tobin’s ship, stacking them down the middle of the small passenger area.
“Stack them wall to wall, Captain,” Tobin advised.
“How are we all going to fit on board if we do that?”
“I would prefer to take the cargo up separately,” Tobin explained. “It would be safer as there is no good way to secure the load. If we were to hit some turbulence, someone could become injured by flying bundles.”
Nathan looked about the cabin, comparing the available space with the amount of cargo still to load. Although he figured there would be enough room to squeeze them all in along with the cargo, he figured it was better to follow Tobin’s advice and err on the side of caution. And since Vladimir had not completed his study of the FTL systems on Tug’s fighter, the additional time would not be wasted. “Okay, wall to wall it is.”
Ten minutes later, the ship was loaded and ready to go. “Very well, Captain,” Tobin announced. “I will run this load up to your ship, and return for you in just over an hour.” Tobin waived as he climbed back up into his ship, the loading ramp swinging up behind him and filling in the hatch as it sealed shut.
Nathan and the others again moved behind the vehicle as Tobin’s ship began to spin up its engines. Within minutes, the whine of the turbines was replaced by the roar of the thrusters as it lifted off, ascending vertically until it was well above the top of the sinkhole before it began to turn and accelerate forward. They could no longer see it through the cloud of dust that enveloped them, but the sound of his engines quickly disappeared.
“My wife will be complaining about the dust for days,” Tug groaned as he brushed himself off.
“Jess, contact the ship and tell them that Tobin is on his way with the first load. And let her know we’ll be back on board in a couple hours. I’m going to go check on Vlad.”
“Commander?” Ensign Yosef said. “One of the cargo shuttles just departed on another run to Haven.”
“Again? That’s their fourth load today,” Cameron said. “How much stuff is he buying down there?” Cameron twisted from side to side in the command chair. It had been a long night, and her attempts to take naps on the ready room couch had left her a bit stiff. “Any sign of Tobin yet?”
“He left Haven spaceport about an hour ago. He set down on the surface about thirty kilometers outside of the city for about fifteen minutes. I’m assuming that’s the landing party’s current location, as Ensign Nash contacted us just after Tobin lifted off again, to inform us he was inbound with cargo-something called molo. He should be arriving in a few minutes. I show him entering the rings now-”
Kaylah’s voice suddenly stopped in mid sentence, drawing Cameron’s attention. “What is it?”