Cale’s hopes began to climb slightly. “No, sir, I’m here to possibly discharge a passenger. I’m carrying no trading cargo this trip.”
The man on the screen nodded. “System of origin?”
Cale frowned. “This trip, Faith. Before that I was on Torlon and Ararat.” He didn’t want to mention New Chin; the rumors might have already been flying, and he preferred not to mention both of the sunstone planets. However, Dee knew that he arrived on Faith with a passenger from Ararat. He did not dare ignore it.
The man snickered. “Torlon? I thought they had lost spaceflight.”
Cale nodded. “So I discovered. There was an old man running an orbital scrap yard, but there were no flyable ships on the planet. The old man was leaving.”
The agent sighed. “Another world gone.” He shook his head sadly, and then, more briskly, “Is your mission religious in nature? I ask because you’ve been to Ararat and Faith.”
Cale shook his head. “No, sir. I picked up a passenger on Ararat and delivered her to Faith. Uh, sir, I had an encounter with a pirate at my last recal. I need to know how to report that.”
The man straightened and his tone turned brisk. “Are you in need of repairs or medical assistance? We can provide both.”
Cale shook his head. “No, sir, we’re undamaged. But I need to report the incident and also report a derelict spacecraft.
The man’s eyes widened. “You’re undamaged?” At Cale’s nod he continued, “Your weapons systems must be sealed for the duration of your stay in the Kingdom. An inspector will be boarding shortly to complete the customs inspection and seal the weapons.” He paused and his expression and tone became less official, more naturally curious. “We show you as a Stinger class courier. I am unfamiliar with that class vessel. Is it typically armed?”
Cale nodded. “ Cheetah was built as an imperial viceroy’s yacht and courier,” he explained. “The class was named Stinger because of the weapons systems she mounts.”
Finally, a genuine smile appeared on the man’s face. “Interesting vessel. I’d volunteer to do the inspection myself, if I wasn’t chained to the comms this cycle.” After a few more courtesies, the man said, “I’m going to connect you with the Search and Rescue branch of the Royal Piracy Control Force. They will be the ones to deal with your derelict. Good luck.” He faded from the viewscreen to be replaced by an older man. This one was grizzled, and his mottled skin revealed his decompression experience. “S and R,” he announced shortly.
“Good day,” Cale said politely. “I must report a derelict spacecraft in system NS047923. The vessel is suspected of being a pirate.”
The man’s face relaxed into an easy grin. “Shot up a pirate, did ya? Good. What other information can you give me that will help us locate the derelict?”
“It’s a modified Epsilon class. She will be near the Faith jump point, and will probably be on a trajectory in line with that emergence. She did not maneuver while we were present. We did not approach the vessel.”
The man’s eyebrows went up. “How d'you know she’s a pirate?”
Cale shrugged. “She tailed us in the Faith system and through the jump, showed no beacon, and had an oversized engine room.”
The man laughed aloud. “That’s a pirate, all right. So insteada bein’ ambushed, you ambushed them! I like it!” He nodded approvingly. “And then you had the good sense to light outta there insteada stoppin’ to admire your work. There's not a lot of stupid on you, Captain.”
He sobered. “An S amp;R and a Piracy Control ship will be departing this station in ten minutes,” he said. “They are armed, and are prepared to deal with stranded pirates. You understand that a copy of this conversation will be provided to His Majesty’s Justice Ministry? I hope you were planning to spend two or three weeks in the Kingdom. I doubt they’ll let you leave until our vessel returns and reports.”
Cale nodded. “I understand.”
As soon as the man signed off, Cale said, “Tess, my stateroom. Ship’s business.”
Tess took the hint. As he entered the stateroom she reported, “Room is secure, sir.”
He nodded. “Good. Okay, in a few minutes we’re going to be invaded by a customs inspector. He’s going to be motivated not only by his job, but also by a natural curiosity about an unusual class of ship. At any rate, I expect a very thorough inspection, especially since he will also be looking for weapons. I need somewhere to stow the diamonds. I won’t need them here; the checks from Faith will cover our expenses. But I don’t want them found, either.”
“Understood, sir. Please give the bags to the mech at your stateroom door. The diamonds will not be found unless they disassemble me.”
Cale gathered the bags of stones from their hiding places, and gave them to the spider-shaped mech he found outside his door.
“Now,” he said, “We have to decide what to report. With Dee aboard and suspicious, I can’t deviate much from the truth. I also cannot reveal your contributions to our survival. So, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to make you look dumber and me look smarter than I am.”
There was humor in Tess’s tone. “Of course, sir. That has been necessary many times since I first did it during the Insurrection 400 years ago. I will not be offended.”
Cale grinned and nodded as Tess continued, “We are being hailed by the station, Captain. The inspector is approaching the personnel lock in a one-person shuttle.”
Cale rose. “Okay, Tess, let him aboard, and let’s see how much damage Dee is going to do!”
The inspector was not the man on the comm. This one was older, a round-shouldered, career bureaucrat. As soon as he exited the airlock, he swiveled his head as he looked around. Finally, he turned his attention to Cale and Dee, as she exited her stateroom and joined them.
He flashed an ID. “Captain Rankin?” he asked in a formal voice, “I’m Tor Redon, Angeles Kingdom customs. I reviewed the Stinger class specs, but your vessel seems to vary somewhat from the standard.”
Cale nodded. “I’m not surprised, Ser Redon. I know about some of the modifications, but most just took place over the last 400 years.
“For instance,” he continued, “I understand that the standard spec calls for two Alliance quickfirers, Cheetah has only one, and has had a laser installed in place of the second. That, in turn, called for a somewhat larger fusactor. I have no idea when that was done,” he lied, “But I’m sure it would be an interesting story. As would many others.” He sighed. “Ah, if these walls could only talk!”
Redon chuckled. “If it was a viceroy’s yacht, I’m sure many of the stories would not be fit for repeating.”
Dee reddened. Redon seemed to see her discomfort and changed the subject. “I do not see a bridge or a control room, Captain.”
Cale smiled. “It’s more of a ‘control closet’,” he replied. “The ship has a very large and very advanced AI that controls most functions. Those functions requiring human intervention are usually referred to the lounge viewscreen.”
“Actually,” he continued as he showed the inspector the ‘control room’, “That’s why I could afford to buy her. Her last owner just couldn’t adjust to an AI that advanced. He was always afraid it would make an error and strand him in null space. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore.”
The man glanced around the small cubby. “I see his point,” he replied. “These controls are pretty rudimentary.”
Cale smiled as he pointed out the controls for the quickfirer and the laser. Redon placed gaudy seal tape on both consoles, warning them that removal of the seals was punishable by up to five years’ hard labor.
Despite the thoroughness of Redon’s inspection, there was simply too little ship to take much time to inspect. Cale went out of his way to be cheerful and friendly, and less than an hour elapsed before Redon pronounced himself satisfied. “You may proceed to the fourth planet, Captain,” He said in a formal tone. “Maximum permitted acceleration is. 5G. Be sure to maintain communication with System and Orbital Control. I hear you had pirate trouble,” he continued in a more conversational tone. “I suspect you’ll be hearing from the Justice Ministry. Don’t let them scare you. Pirates are not popular in the Kingdom.” Cale escorted the man to the airlock and watched as he cycled through and returned to the station.