Episode 87, Right man for the job
05 Aug 2024Ryuko Ntsikana
Episode 87, Right man for the job
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Tara kept her distance but was never more than a few meters away from the young girl as both she and her dad set about collecting their belongings. I had given them ten minutes, but in actuality, it took almost an hour of relative time. I never confessed to knowing what all a kid claimed as a prized possession. I could barely remember my life as a kid at the refugee centers during the Pegasi Pirate Wars.
There wasn’t time for pleasantries before. We were under a time crunch, and my only concern was getting them out of this ship and onboard the Dolphin. She had stuffed her bag to the point that even at one-quarter gravity, Tara had to carry it for her. Lianna’s face had to have mirrored my own when we boarded the Dolphin. We kept the girl’s bag near the entrance to make it easier to unload once we made it back to the carrier.
“Keep it easy,” I told Lianna as Tara guided us to the observation lounge on the deck above the bridge. The little girl’s eyes were wide in wonder. Guess she had never been onboard a luxury passenger ship before, even one that was the smallest and cheapest, which I had repurposed for raiding installations.
“Name’s Ryuko Ntsikana. That gorgeous lady is Tara.”
He watched his daughter as she stood near the large wraparound display window, as the planet fell away beneath us and the stars came alive around us.
“I’m Meredith Sawyer, but people call me Merry. Daughter’s name is Ashlyn.”
Tara’s head tilted one way and then the other as she watched the little girl.
“So, tell me something, Ryuko. You had your pick of the cargo. Why take me and my daughter instead?” Meredith's voice held a subtle edge, his eyes searching mine for hidden motives.
I stretched back on one of the lounge couches, the soft leather creaking beneath me. The faint hum of the Dolphin's engines was a comforting background noise. I kept my eyes on Tara and Ashlyn, the dim lighting casting a warm glow over their faces. “I watched your piloting skills against my amateur pilot in the Python. Even with his lack of skills, he should have been able to bag you, but your creative maneuvers kept him at bay. I was impressed. Where did you learn to pilot?”
Meredith kept his eyes on me, studying me. “Aren’t you more interested in the profit I had in my cargo hold?”
That gave me a slight chuckle as I turned my head to look at him. He was an inch or two shorter than my six-foot frame, but you could see his lean muscles under his flight suit. Merry didn’t get that way from atrophying on the deck of a cargo ship. This was a man who worked his way to owning his own, and the look in his brown eyes told me all I needed to know. He knew what he was about, and was smart enough to know the position he was in.
“If you can fly what I’m offering, the rewards will make your old ship’s cargo look like scrap metal,” I said, watching for any flicker of doubt or suspicion in his eyes.
He leaned back in the cushioned chair, looking over to his daughter, who was watching the coloration of the stars as we accelerated faster than luminary velocities. “I’m no pirate and don’t want to be one.”
I understood his annoyance with the no-win situation he had been placed in. “Let me repeat myself. I want your piloting skills for legitimate goods.”
He remained silent for several minutes, as the Dolphin decelerated back into relative velocities. My large capital ship came into view as we orbited the seventh planet. His daughter cooed and pointed at the large ship, as Meredith smirked, looking back at me.
“So, why does a pirate, who can afford a capital class ship, need to pirate to begin with?”
That raised one of my eyebrows as Tara turned her head to look at us, with a bemused expression on her face.
I raised my arm to key my forearm controller, activating its communicator, while answering Merry. “You are used to the stereotypes of my employment. The more successful of my type are diversified and, as you and your daughter are now aware, not bloodthirsty dregs that are in it for the quick credit.”
“Lianna, inform Captain Akio that we have a new pilot coming on board, with his youthful daughter. We need a suite and a couple of Android attendants to help get them settled. Let him know to meet us on the hangar floor once we have landed.”
A large smile appeared on my face as the Dolphin banked slowly, bringing it into line with the landing pad.
“There are 25 decks in the forward habitation and work areas. On each odd number deck is a galley, with android attendants, with one being programmed as a master chef to oversee its operation. The medical bay is on deck 10 and is fully equipped. There are various bars for the crew along with workout areas, entertainment venues, ship’s shops, and other amenities throughout. These, and other areas, which you will learn, are off limits for your daughter.”
“Message sent and received,” Lianna announced over the ship’s intercom, as the lights of the landing pad flooded the observation lounge.
"Will your wife be joining us?" Tara asked as the docking clamps secured the Dolphin with an audible thud, the ship beginning to sink into the cavernous hangar bay below.
Standing up, I extended my arm outward as Merry rose to his feet and walked over to his daughter, taking her hand. Tara tilted her head again, this time looking at me.
I shook my head, knowing what she was thinking without anyone needing to say it. He didn't answer the question about his wife joining us, and I wasn't going to press the issue unless he brought it up. It would likely be a range of the usual same old stories, repeated billions of times before.
Merry glanced at Tara, a flicker of pain crossing his face before he masked it with a neutral expression. "It's just the two of us," he said quietly, his grip tightening slightly on Ashlyn's hand.
Tara nodded, her expression softening. "Understood. Let's get you settled in, then."
As the Dolphin came to a full stop, the hatch opened, and the ramp extended down to the hangar floor. Captain Akio and his attendants were already waiting, ready to escort Merry and Ashlyn to their new quarters.
"Welcome aboard," Akio greeted them while looking at me. "We have a suite for you. These android attendants will assist you with your belongings."
Ashlyn looked around in awe, clinging to her father's side as they followed Akio’s android attendants.
We both waited for them to leave the hangar before Akio turned to Tara and me.
“What’s their story?”
I chuckled, looking at Tara first then Akio.
“He out flew Jabir and the Python, for over twenty minutes, using only an unmodified Type 7 for starters.”
Akio chuckled in return. “Heck, this ship’s lowest bilge mates could do that in one of our dredgers. What else made him special enough for you to bring in a stray?”
Tara tilted her head at that, understanding the reference could be offensive, but then not understanding it in the way that either Akio or I would acknowledge it.
“That young lass, her name is Ashlyn by the way, was taught enough by her dad, Meredith Sawyer, who goes by Merry, to toss a grenade out at us, and he wasn’t going down without a fight until her safety was in question. If she hadn’t been there, this story would have ended differently.”
Akio nodded, understanding the type as well as I did while Tara continued to study the two of us, attempting to understand the references and our understanding of them.
We both looked at Tara, who studied us with a quizzical expression. Both of us smiled at her confusion as I leaned toward her. “What Akio and I are referencing is that Merry is a last-man-standing type of fighter. When it comes to him and his, he is willing to go all out. He has also demonstrated that he has the skills to back it up.”
I leaned away from Tara turning my head to look at Akio. “Which reminds me, it is only the two of them. There is no other accompanying. Also, make sure they are settled in and their needs are seen too. The girl needs to get a scan from one of the medic androids. She took a rattle from Tara’s stun grenade. They’ve had enough excitement for the day. Have the droid visit them in their quarters.”
Akio nodded then paused as he began to turn away. “The Coterie is back as is Jabir. None of them looked happy, even though their cargo holds are bulging. They didn’t say what was wrong, but I suspect they are going to want to speak with you on whatever it is. Do I need to notify security?”
I shook my head. “No, but make sure Zaria is there. I take it she is still aboard the ship?”
Akio nodded. “Yep, and she has been quiet. I have not heard a word from her since everyone departed. According to the logs, she has even visited the bars or any of the chow facilities.”
I grabbed Tara’s hand and smiled at Akio. “Thanks, captain. I’ll get to them once Tara and I get ourselves situated.”
As we all walked our separate ways, Tara turned her head toward me, in what was becoming her cute look of confusion.
“As I studied his daughter I was confused by a sensation of needing to protect her. While it is true my original programming had morality, this appeared to be something different.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. “You are evolving in ways none of us understand. What you likely were experiencing had something to do with that. A moral person has a certain level of nature and nurture within them, females especially. Reference neurological and psychological databases for this, to help you put it in context.”
Tara’s head tilted again as we entered the lift. “You have never ceased to intrigue me. A pirate who is business savvy and economically sound. An innate ability toward tactical and strategic thought. Now you present me with knowledge of sociological and psychological factors of the human condition.”
A shrug was all that could be managed as a physical response. “In the refugee centers, there wasn’t much to do except be wounded and
angry all the time. That nonsense can only last for a while before you are either consumed by it or do something about it. I chose the latter, and voila, here I am. I began to read as a form of self-medicating, and began to listen to others who were older and wiser, talk and debate on more topics than I can remember, as a way to distract myself.”
“I have never seen you read anything more than a report.”
“Not many do in this life. My mentors encouraged it when I was around them, but with the regular crew, it wasn’t something you wanted advertised.”
Tara remained silent as the lift opened onto the forward habitation areas of the carrier.
Ryuko stepped into the corridor and paused. Not looking at Tara but down the corridor, into something more distant. “Not that it matters but I was a bibliophile for a time.”
Tara knew it was a rare moment for her companion, to divulge a part of himself that he held deep within. She knew better than to press the issue but also understood it was a niche interest she could pursue on his behalf.
He began walking again, going further forward toward the officer’s bar, one level below the bridge where the ship’s resident bartender and fence, Leila Bakir, conducted her business.