Galaxy's End: Book One by LeRoy Clary (popular ebook readers txt) 📗

her. However, she also believed they would take into account the fact that the ship was being captured and the cargo was in danger of being lost.

Bill spun the wheel on the metal airtight hatch after placing his palm on the access panel and getting approval from Bert who now had security control of all systems on the ship. The old engineer said, “I’ll give you plenty of light in there, and if you need anything, call me on the com.”

Captain Stone stepped over the raised entrance called a knee-knocker because of the height. Bill followed, carrying his fire extinguisher while she carried a compact but surprisingly heavy tool that looked a lot like an old angle-grinder. Instead of a spinning disk to cut, there were two electrodes, both blackened by use.

The cargo bay was nearly full of aluminum or plastoid containers stacked and secured. Hundreds of them. Probably closer to a thousand, all stacked and neatly secured by straps to tie-downs welded into the walls and floor. The largest were two meters tall, four meters on a side. The smallest container was a meter in all directions. All had a removable panel secured by hardened steel locks. They also had an exposed bill of lading behind a glassine panel, which showed what was inside.

Indicated was a relative word, Captain Stone knew. The bills of lading and contents were often far different. For instance, a seemingly mundane crate of oranges from any human world were toxic to several races with allergic-like reactions. Therefore, they were restricted. Citrus was also restricted as an aphrodisiac on a hundred nonhuman planets.

Opals were not allowed to be imported to Cantor Six, because their opals were mined in sacred locations and were believed to have religious properties. Many places controlled the type and numbers of imported weapons. Drugs that did nothing to one race sent those of another into wild rides sometimes lasting weeks. There were cases where people under the influence of restricted drugs starved to death because they were so high, they didn’t bother eating. The lists were endless. It seemed every planet and habitation wanted items restricted, controlled, or measured so they didn’t upset the local economy or morals.

What lay in front of her was what earned credits for Captain Stone and her ship, but on a far smaller, and marginally legal scale. She heard the echo of her footfalls returning from the bare metal walls. Whatever she was after would be found inside one or more of the shipping containers in front of her. She could feel it.

She also realized how long it would take to cut the locks on a single unit and search it by removing and searching the contents. The rightful owners of all but a few would scream loud enough for the entire industry to hear.

It would take weeks for the pair of them to make even a cursory search since they had no idea what they were looking for. But all that changed as she realized the answer was as close as calling for Bert.

“Are you with me, Bert?” she called in a voice slightly louder than her norm.

“You don’t have to yell,” Bert responded almost instantly in an irritated tone.

She was beginning to depend on the digger more than she should, but every time she spoke to the odd creature, it impressed her more. “I want you to spend more of this ship’s money. Contact my First Officer on the Guardia via subspace message and tell him I want a full inventory of what is in the Guardia’s hold, the sender’s and receiver’s information, and a full accounting of the bills of lading. And tell him I want it now.”

“He can encrypt and compress it to save part of the costs, but you’re spending two or three thousand credits,” Bert said. “The reply will cost ten times that.”

Captain Stone snapped her answer back at him, “This ship, while old, is worth a million or two. If the owners want it back, they can pay the bill for the subspace message. If they want to quibble, by interstellar law, I believe I am the sole owner of a ship captured in space and I’ll sell it to pay the subspace charges. The crew and passengers can file their lawsuits against the owners, and I may foot the legal bill for that too. Their choice. Pay the bill or I keep the ship.”

Bert said, “I see. I will request the information and notify you as soon as it arrives.”

“I need something else.”

“At your command, Captain.”

She allowed a hard smile to form. “Before you receive that information, locate the same information in the computers on this ship. I want all manifests and all information on any cargo we carry. Then decide how to best compare them so you can find shipments to or from the same people, companies, or worlds. I want all duplicate destinations, points of shipment, and containers identified, contents, and provide me with the locations of those pods or cans in this hold.”

“I now have the manifests for this ship located and will let you know as quickly as I have one to compare it with. The subspace message has been sent.”

She turned to Bill. “Take this cutter back to the engineer and be careful to place it exactly where it belongs. Same with the fire extinguisher. If you learn anything from me today, know this: replace everything where it belongs or that furry old man will eat you for a snack.”

Bill paled at her words and intensity.

She said, “Then you may remain with him and learn. And understand this: a good teacher is better than a bar of gold.”

He led the way back out of the cargo bay. She stepped aside and watched him reseal the hatch and wait until the green light winked. Then he carried the extinguisher and cutter to