Offer You Can Refuse
20 Mar 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Offer You Can Refuse
Colonia Region
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Nothing could spoil my morning cup of coffee like Aby. What I was hoping would be a sedate period of transporting liquored businessmen, and bagging a few errant bounties on the side, dissolved into Aby telling both a caller from within the starport and my benefactor's agents, that I was available and had no immediate plans.
The agent's call I had to take. Someone with the locals I would have rather ignored. Thanks to Aby’s honesty and efficiency I was now stuck meeting with some ranked locals, for some deal, that would be anything but good.
Tara appeared, seeing the sour look on my face, as I filled her in on the day's activities. She put both of her hands on her hips, glaring at Aby, who looked confused. Tara’s sharp synthetic neural algorithms were more advanced than Aby’s; able to catch the mood and moment and extrapolate the appropriate responses. Her genuine discomfort with the events aided her in acting like a woman scorned.
“With all of the information you have downloaded about pirates, to better understand Ryuko, and you tell a local pirate commander he is available, to hear his offer? Have you malfunctioned?”
I winced at that remark as it was treading close to the line of her giving herself away. While Aby could detect the faint electromagnetic field emanating from her, being passed off as cybernetic enhancements, Tara was far more capable of keeping track of Aby’s data collection, which could only be done through the ship’s central computer interface.
Aby tilted his head towards Tara, interested in how she knew what his online processes were.
“Any idiot who worked in a plant, programming androids long enough, knows what to look for when they are accessing data.”
“I was unaware of your past. Is that how you met Ryuko?”
Good save on Tara’s part but now Aby was curious and it was my turn to step in.
“No, we know each other from a past mutual acquaintance.”
Tara continued her glare at Aby while flashing me a quick side eye as she processed my nondescript reference to the local Android store.
“How we know one another is not your business. What is your business is to not put Ryuko in a potentially dangerous situation.”
Aby looked at me with those creepy eyes. “I was unaware that a meeting with a local commander could place you in such a situation.”
Aby not knowing better by this point was more my fault than his.
“Listen, this is more my fault than yours. From now on, I am busy for anyone not directly tied to my benefactor. As to the small few who might be allowed to entertain, that are not on that small list, we will go over it when I return. Until then, that is the standing order.”
Aby nodded. “Should I contact the commander and cancel your meeting?”
Aby had a long way to come and I needed to get ahead of this ball before it rolled over me. “No,” I replied, shaking my head. “I will go alone. The fewer people that are with me, the better. All I need now is to keep the ship ready.”
“You expecting trouble,” Tara asked, as part of her protective programming.
“If there is any it won’t happen here.”
Aby perked up, having the android version of an epiphany. “Ah, the laws we discussed the other day. As long as you are not a threat to them, you are off-limits while here. Once you are outside of here you are fair game.”
I checked the charge on the Zenith laser pistol on my hip. “Not exactly. There is nothing to say they can’t draw first, but if they do and I win, then there is no violation.”
“What if they do and you lose?” Aby asked.
A smile appeared on my face as I made sure my boots were tightened. “Then they can say whatever they want and not be in violation.”
“I’m coming with you,” Tara stated with a cold tone.
“No. I need you here making sure the ship is ready besides they may not know who you are, which is better if you have to come to rescue me, and besides, two people will be seen as more of a threat. Better to have this meeting where they see themselves in a position of power, which makes it less dangerous for me and puts them at a disadvantage.”
Aby perked up again. “Ah, luring your opponent into overconfidence.”
I looked at Tara who was now giving me a stern look. “Don’t worry, I’ve been through this hundreds of times. Chances are it is nothing, but not knowing this group it is always best to prepare for the worst and flow with the positive from there.”
To my surprise she gave me a peck on the cheek as Aby tilted his head once more, almost making me laugh.
The corner of my mouth lifted as I departed the ship. I don’t know why Tara’s behavior always took me by surprise when she was designed to be ‘better than nature.’ The little nuances that an android would overlook would not escape a neural network like hers. As part of a biomorph’s ruse such little things would have a high priority.
Where did one draw the line of humanity between the organic and synthetic sentience?
That was a question that had been on the minds of legal experts for over a century and a small part of why the major powers back in the bubble, banned their creation, notwithstanding that if synthetic sentience was given full human rights most would be better at the lawmaker's jobs than they were and hence a threat to their bureaucratic schemes.
Not that it mattered to someone like me. If their cargo hold was full of the good stuff, or they had a lot of credits on hand, that was more to my liking. Their backdoor politics and the bang of the day on the conference room tables only had value in what could be used as blackmail to make more credits.
I shrugged, already knowing the answers to the same things I had thought about since I was young and new to places such as this. They hated our kind because we were simple about how we did our business, upfront and in your face. At the end of the solar day, we all made our credits in the same old-fashioned way, we stole it.
I kept myself mentally distracted as I weaved my way through the concourse and to a small restaurant I had passed several times the other day. No one needed to tell me where to go as they would be at the back, where they could keep an eye on anyone who came and went. A table or two at the front had the usual guards, making out to be customers, eating or drinking while always keeping one eye on their surroundings.
I walked past the front attendant, who looked at me with a shocked expression as the men at the table near the entrance stood up. I nodded at them as I walked towards the back, where three of the tables were already taken by a group of hard-looking men.
As I neared the back everyone except one person stood up. I stopped short. “You wanted to see me?” I said, casting a glance over my shoulder at the men, and one lady, whose hands were near their weapons. “Ya’ll can relax. You have me outgunned here.”
You didn’t need a brochure to tell he was the person who wanted to meet me. He was dressed better than all of the others and had that driven hungry look in his eye, and it was for more than what was on his plate in front of him.
He looked at me closely, nodding in understanding as he noticed the Zenith laser pistol on my hip. “Have a seat.”
No one tried to remove my sidearm from me as I took a seat. His type I already knew. The king of his own little fiefdom, out here in the universal sticks. He wasn’t part of the faction’s upper food chain but high enough that he couldn’t be ignored.
He didn’t introduce himself or offer a hand, as he took a bite of food, motioning with his fork. “That is a tough hide for a business charter.”
"Ya, tough hidin', but sharps huntin'," I replied as he paused mid-chew, as his crewmen standing around us shared their looks between me and their commander.
He smirked at my pidgin talk, replying in the same. "Need businessmen ridin' the wake to another place. Safe like, one way. Credits flow, no grasps."
I nodded in understanding, already knowing he wanted me to haul someone, but now I knew it was some of his own, on a one-way trip to their rival's port. A place I had no interest in going, nor did I have any in taking anyone's side.
"Politics like black holes, ain't no escape velocity and no interest in ridin' the event horizon."
His eyes narrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Neutral drift," he repeated. "Risky play, freelancer. Politics like gravity—pulls everything in."
I knew he wasn’t buying it but I had to play my hand as long as I could, letting a smirk cross my face as I kept my tone steady. "Gravity needs mass, and freelancer’s light rides the wake, not the pull."
He pondered my words for a moment, then nodded. "So be it, freelancer. Stay light, ride the wake. But remember, neutrality is an illusion. Politics, like space... cold and unforgiving."
I nodded politely as I stood up slowly, turning to leave. I felt his gaze on my back as I made my way with purposeful movements towards the exit. I had barely managed to walk the tightrope, and we both knew it. Politics, like space, indeed. I knew I made an enemy in this process, but would be safer once I was behind this place.
How many of those around me were on his crew was anyone’s guess. That he would send someone after me I already knew. He would test the limits of my neutrality and if it was possible to create problems for me that only he could solve—driving me back, begging for work. Fortunately, I had the upper hand in this type of encounter, as I knew his type but he didn’t know me; an error I am sure he was already trying to rectify.