Euler shrugs, “No great secret there: I selected my full name as Euler S Number, after the mathematical constant. And no, the S doesn't stand for anything.”
Right, AIs can get very abstract on their names, “Great, well, we'll be at Absalom Station in… Stephanie?”
“Two days,” my ship tells me.
“Thank you Stephanie,” I acknowledge, “so we'll be back in civilized territory soon. I have the captain’s quarters; you pretty much have the run of the ship otherwise. Stephanie should let you know if you go anywhere within her that she doesn't like. Just as a warning: The entertainment archives haven't been updated since the prior captain was in charge. They weren't my choices.” Mind you, I don't feel any pressing need to change them, “And feel free to use Cowbird for stress relief. She thrives on being used and abused… and is very deep into the effects I've mentioned… and I don't expect she's on birth control.”
“Right…” he looks at Cowbird, not meeting her eyes. And she's fine with that.
I head off to check up on Stephanie's status… an engineer's work is never done.
The flight goes smoothly; and when we get to Absalom Station… we don't bother to properly dock. Stephanie is already carrying, can refuel herself, I have access to some of the more public airlocks thanks to my personal com, we all either carry our own air supply or straight up don't need it, Cowbird (whom we actually dressed for the occasion! …barely…) can fly without air thanks to my spell, I can fly whenever by the same path, and Euler collapses to a six-inch diameter sphere for easy transport. So we just stop the ship in close proximity to the station, and fly over. It saves us a few credits, not that we're hurting for cash. After we cycle through the airlock, I set Euler down and hand him his clothes when he reforms, which he dons. He nods, I hand him a small credstick with a hundred credits on it, and we part ways.
I take a secure data module with me; Stephanie loaded it with the system maps, mineral scans, pictures of the natives, and raw sensor data from the survey: If you have enough data to move, the sneakernet (physically transporting the hardware holding a copy of the data) is still the fastest way to do it.
I walk the corridors of Absalom Station… it's still huge, but, “huge” starts to lose meaning when one has space travel… and soon enough I am standing in front of the bulkhead for the survey company, ringing their doorbell - a tablet computer mounted to the wall, which sets up a video call with someone inside.
The woman who answers is older, dark skinned, and has eyes that look like sapphires set in diamonds. She's wearing a blue business suit, with the company logo emblazoned on her right shoulder (it’s a ship zooming in front of a golden star: Pretty generic, really). An Oread, basically a human with the blood of an earth-aligned outsider somewhere in her background.
“Do you have an appointment?” Her voice reminds me of poured gravel.
I shake my head, “No, I’m here for a data module delivery to finish my exploration contract so I can collect payment; I just got on station. Captain Alex Abrams of the Stephanie Steel.”
“Oh, that's fine then,” she yawns, “That I can handle. Come on in….” she presses a button that's not showing on screen, and the metal door slides aside, revealing… the same woman, sitting behind a rather plain steel desk, and setting down a tablet.
I step through, and hand her the data module, “Encrypted with the agreed-upon key. My payment?”
She rolls her eyes, “Hold your horses, I need to verify….” the woman plugs the module into a dock for it hidden in her desk, and taps a few things on her tablet. She reads off the results, nods, and hands me a credstick, “There you go. Payment as agreed.”
I check the credstick with my com unit, confirm the amount, and nod, “Pleasure doing business with you.”
I head out, walk over to a bank, check on my investments… oh hey: I could retire to a small apartment on the station if I wanted… but Stephanie's more comfortable, and what would I do? Deposit the money, and head back to the ship, slowly wandering the halls of Absalom Station as I head for a suitable airlock, calling on my com, “Are you ready to go, Cowbird?”
I hear rythmic slapping and heavy breathing as Cowbird answers, “YES! …. Mistress, just let me get out from under this guy,” the slapping stops, and I hear some grunting in the background, “He's done anyway.”
Am I going to need to install a medical bay? Oh well. Maybe I should get something with the colony ship framework the next time I upgrade Stephanie; I can make competent crewmembers now, so a Large or Huge frame isn't a problem, and a Huge frame would allow for a shuttle bay for Stephanie's kids… hmm… I'll need to think about that, “Great. Meet me back on Stephanie when you're done.”
As I hang up, I get a message notification:
“Captain Alex Abrams,
“We would like to remind you of the confidentiality clause in your contract. ALL data collected as part of the survey mission is our property, and may not be disseminated by you for any reason.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
That's… weird. I wasn't planning on telling folks the details anyway… unless there's a reason… I call Stephanie on my com as I head back to her, “Hi Stephanie.”
“Yes Mistress?” Eh, private com, through my Datajack, it's fine.
“Something's bothering me… the company we just did the survey contract with took the time to send me a notice that I'm not to divulge details,” I pause, “Can you think of why they might specifically stop to point it out?”
Stephanie answers almost immediately, “They probably want to sell the living world to colonists… or maybe harvest slaves from the locals. Either way.”
I pause, “That's legal?”
“Technically,” she explains, “It's illegal to colonize a planet that already has people on it, and it's illegal to tske, buy, sell, or keep slaves... but the catch is ‘in most civilized areas’. But we're talking about the Vast, here: It's not civilized. The rule of law doesn't apply until after it's colonized. But the tactic is wildly unpopular. They stand to make a fortune selling the planet and/or people, possibly both… but if what they're doing is known… they're pretty much finished as a company.”
“And if I tell…” I can guess, but it's good to get confirmation.
“Then you're in breach of contract, and they can take you to court. And due to the lack of evidence that they're planning anything…” I got it, Stephanie.
“It would be breach of contract, plus slander or libel, if I tell."
“Got it in one.”
If *I* tell, “And I assume that goes for everyone properly under my command.”
“Correct, captain,” the living computer comments.
“Euler never did any actual work for me, right?” I grin… that must look odd to anyone not in on the conversation.
“He's not crew, he has knowledge completely unrelated to why you were there… yeah, he can say anything without breach of contract,” Stephanie agrees, “But he's still maybe subject to slander and libel.”
I nod, “But as long as he doesn't actually say they're planning anything….”
“Then yes, officially, he's in the clear. You know, as long as nobody shoots him out of space or anything.” Right, he isn't immortal. Thanks for the reminder.
“So… if he booked passage on a ship nobody can find…” like you, Stephanie.
My ship considers, “Then he'd be safe enough until it no longer matters.”
“If we can find him again, and if he agrees,” I'm finding too many ifs for my taste.
“Yes captain.” Thanks Stephanie. We have a plan, now to put it into action.
I head back to Stephanie, and try to think about how I'll find Euler again… he didn't have a personal com when I let him go… as I'm thinking about it, my com gives me a new call notice, and I answer it without thinking.
“Thank you for picking up, Alex. Ah… do you have room on your ship? I'd really like to get out of here… should have taken you up on the super soldier thing….” It's Euler. His voice lacks his usual emotional tones, and is quite clipped.
Ah, good, “Yes, and I was….”
He doesn't let me finish, “Great! I'm at…” he texts me a station address, “... please come. Now.”
H's in trouble; got it, “A picture would be.…”
He texts me a picture of his surroundings, which includes three guys with guns leveled at him. Greater Teleport just needs a reliable description. An image? Worth a thousand words. A swift action, and they're facing ME down.
…maybe I have a hero complex…
Euler shrugs, “No great secret there: I selected my full name as Euler S Number, after the mathematical constant. And no, the S doesn't stand for anything.”
Right, AIs can get very abstract on their names, “Great, well, we'll be at Absalom Station in… Stephanie?”
“Two days,” my ship tells me.
“Thank you Stephanie,” I acknowledge, “so we'll be back in civilized territory soon. I have the captain’s quarters; you pretty much have the run of the ship otherwise. Stephanie should let you know if you go anywhere within her that she doesn't like. Just as a warning: The entertainment archives haven't been updated since the prior captain was in charge. They weren't my choices.” Mind you, I don't feel any pressing need to change them, “And feel free to use Cowbird for stress relief. She thrives on being used and abused… and is very deep into the effects I've mentioned… and I don't expect she's on birth control.”
“Right…” he looks at Cowbird, not meeting her eyes. And she's fine with that.
I head off to check up on Stephanie's status… an engineer's work is never done.
The flight goes smoothly; and when we get to Absalom Station… we don't bother to properly dock. Stephanie is already carrying, can refuel herself, I have access to some of the more public airlocks thanks to my personal com, we all either carry our own air supply or straight up don't need it, Cowbird (whom we actually dressed for the occasion! …barely…) can fly without air thanks to my spell, I can fly whenever by the same path, and Euler collapses to a six-inch diameter sphere for easy transport. So we just stop the ship in close proximity to the station, and fly over. It saves us a few credits, not that we're hurting for cash. After we cycle through the airlock, I set Euler down and hand him his clothes when he reforms, which he dons. He nods, I hand him a small credstick with a hundred credits on it, and we part ways.
I take a secure data module with me; Stephanie loaded it with the system maps, mineral scans, pictures of the natives, and raw sensor data from the survey: If you have enough data to move, the sneakernet (physically transporting the hardware holding a copy of the data) is still the fastest way to do it.
I walk the corridors of Absalom Station… it's still huge, but, “huge” starts to lose meaning when one has space travel… and soon enough I am standing in front of the bulkhead for the survey company, ringing their doorbell - a tablet computer mounted to the wall, which sets up a video call with someone inside.
The woman who answers is older, dark skinned, and has eyes that look like sapphires set in diamonds. She's wearing a blue business suit, with the company logo emblazoned on her right shoulder (it’s a ship zooming in front of a golden star: Pretty generic, really). An Oread, basically a human with the blood of an earth-aligned outsider somewhere in her background.
“Do you have an appointment?” Her voice reminds me of poured gravel.
I shake my head, “No, I’m here for a data module delivery to finish my exploration contract so I can collect payment; I just got on station. Captain Alex Abrams of the Stephanie Steel.”
“Oh, that's fine then,” she yawns, “That I can handle. Come on in….” she presses a button that's not showing on screen, and the metal door slides aside, revealing… the same woman, sitting behind a rather plain steel desk, and setting down a tablet.
I step through, and hand her the data module, “Encrypted with the agreed-upon key. My payment?”
She rolls her eyes, “Hold your horses, I need to verify….” the woman plugs the module into a dock for it hidden in her desk, and taps a few things on her tablet. She reads off the results, nods, and hands me a credstick, “There you go. Payment as agreed.”
I check the credstick with my com unit, confirm the amount, and nod, “Pleasure doing business with you.”
I head out, walk over to a bank, check on my investments… oh hey: I could retire to a small apartment on the station if I wanted… but Stephanie's more comfortable, and what would I do? Deposit the money, and head back to the ship, slowly wandering the halls of Absalom Station as I head for a suitable airlock, calling on my com, “Are you ready to go, Cowbird?”
I hear rythmic slapping and heavy breathing as Cowbird answers, “YES! …. Mistress, just let me get out from under this guy,” the slapping stops, and I hear some grunting in the background, “He's done anyway.”
Am I going to need to install a medical bay? Oh well. Maybe I should get something with the colony ship framework the next time I upgrade Stephanie; I can make competent crewmembers now, so a Large or Huge frame isn't a problem, and a Huge frame would allow for a shuttle bay for Stephanie's kids… hmm… I'll need to think about that, “Great. Meet me back on Stephanie when you're done.”
As I hang up, I get a message notification:
“Captain Alex Abrams,
“We would like to remind you of the confidentiality clause in your contract. ALL data collected as part of the survey mission is our property, and may not be disseminated by you for any reason.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
That's… weird. I wasn't planning on telling folks the details anyway… unless there's a reason… I call Stephanie on my com as I head back to her, “Hi Stephanie.”
“Yes Mistress?” Eh, private com, through my Datajack, it's fine.
“Something's bothering me… the company we just did the survey contract with took the time to send me a notice that I'm not to divulge details,” I pause, “Can you think of why they might specifically stop to point it out?”
Stephanie answers almost immediately, “They probably want to sell the living world to colonists… or maybe harvest slaves from the locals. Either way.”
I pause, “That's legal?”
“Technically,” she explains, “It's illegal to colonize a planet that already has people on it, and it's illegal to tske, buy, sell, or keep slaves... but the catch is ‘in most civilized areas’. But we're talking about the Vast, here: It's not civilized. The rule of law doesn't apply until after it's colonized. But the tactic is wildly unpopular. They stand to make a fortune selling the planet and/or people, possibly both… but if what they're doing is known… they're pretty much finished as a company.”
“And if I tell…” I can guess, but it's good to get confirmation.
“Then you're in breach of contract, and they can take you to court. And due to the lack of evidence that they're planning anything…” I got it, Stephanie.
“It would be breach of contract, plus slander or libel, if I tell."
“Got it in one.”
If *I* tell, “And I assume that goes for everyone properly under my command.”
“Correct, captain,” the living computer comments.
“Euler never did any actual work for me, right?” I grin… that must look odd to anyone not in on the conversation.
“He's not crew, he has knowledge completely unrelated to why you were there… yeah, he can say anything without breach of contract,” Stephanie agrees, “But he's still maybe subject to slander and libel.”
I nod, “But as long as he doesn't actually say they're planning anything….”
“Then yes, officially, he's in the clear. You know, as long as nobody shoots him out of space or anything.” Right, he isn't immortal. Thanks for the reminder.
“So… if he booked passage on a ship nobody can find…” like you, Stephanie.
My ship considers, “Then he'd be safe enough until it no longer matters.”
“If we can find him again, and if he agrees,” I'm finding too many ifs for my taste.
“Yes captain.” Thanks Stephanie. We have a plan, now to put it into action.
I head back to Stephanie, and try to think about how I'll find Euler again… he didn't have a personal com when I let him go… as I'm thinking about it, my com gives me a new call notice, and I answer it without thinking.
“Thank you for picking up, Alex. Ah… do you have room on your ship? I'd really like to get out of here… should have taken you up on the super soldier thing….” It's Euler. His voice lacks his usual emotional tones, and is quite clipped.
Ah, good, “Yes, and I was….”
He doesn't let me finish, “Great! I'm at…” he texts me a station address, “... please come. Now.”
H's in trouble; got it, “A picture would be.…”
He texts me a picture of his surroundings, which includes three guys with guns leveled at him. Greater Teleport just needs a reliable description. An image? Worth a thousand words. A swift action, and they're facing ME down.
…maybe I have a hero complex…
