A Brother's Debt by Karl Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

it. The space remaining in his cargo bay would provide him with an opportunity to do some trading on his own, using the savings he had put aside from his navy pay to purchase goods he could sell in Barth.
    Not being an experienced trader Step had no idea how successful he would be, he just knew there was no other option open to him at that time if he wanted to keep himself fed and the fuel tank of his ship full.
    The cargo bay ramp lowered reluctantly after Step hit the controls, seeming at times to stall before moving again, and when it was just a few feet from the ground it dropped with a loud thump, sending vibrations through the floor of the bay.
    With the ramp down sunlight poured into the cargo bay, adding to the light already there. During the brief tour of the ship he had taken while he waited for Crezia to join him for the flight to the planet, Step had seen the junk scattered throughout Gambler’s luck, he had also seen that his brother had lacked the necessary pride in his ship to keep it clean.
    Seeing the dirt and piles of junk in the sunlight made them seem a whole lot worse than they had when all he’d had to see them by was the ship’s interior lights.
    Though he wasn’t happy with the way things had turned out for him, Step was not the sort to just give up. He might be stuck with a poorly maintained, dirty and junk filled cargo ship, but that didn’t mean he had to let it stay like that. The dirt could be cleaned away, and the junk sorted, whether he threw it, made use of it, or sold it. He was also confident he could get the ship fixed and in good running order, even if it wasn’t something he could manage immediately.
    The debt he owed to Carboni would be paid off in time, exactly how much time remained to be seen, but since he wasn’t a drunken gambler like his brother he expected to be able to make at least a small profit with the ship, which would enable him to pay off the debt in time. All he needed to do was keep track of his debt, be careful with what money he had, and explore every opportunity to make money that came along.
    The navy had instilled in him a good work discipline, which included getting on with a job as soon as he knew it needed doing, and not leaving it before it was finished. Unfortunately there wasn’t time for him to start on sorting out the cargo bay just then, let alone the rest of the ship. The two containers he was to transport to Barth were due to arrive at any moment, their delivery having been arranged by Crezia while they were en-route to the planet.

 
    Chapter Twelve
     
     
     
    “PEACHES! ORANGES! FRESH HANFA BERRIES!”
    Step had done his best to ignore the calls from the vendors at their stalls, each one stacked high with goods for sale, but hearing the call of ‘FRESH HANFA BERRIES’ he stopped in his tracks. With an eagerness he found hard to contain he turned to the fruit stall to examine the wares on offer.
    Once the two containers of leather goods destined for Barth, and the mystery package he was to take to Onegal 3, were safely stored he had used the computer on Gambler’s Luck to research what was available for sale on Jum Palt, and what of those items he could hope to make a profit on when he reached Barth. The result of that research had been the expenditure of almost two and a half thousand credits from the sum he had saved out of his navy pay.
    The money he had spent had bought him a little over forty tonnes of assorted goods, which he hoped would gain him a profit of at least a few hundred credits. Not a fortune, but profit was profit.
    In addition to the goods he had bought Step had found his way to the port’s bulletin board. The board was a varied assortment of posts, ranging from requests for deliveries to be made to locations within the system, and outside of it, to people looking for passage, and rewards from the planetary authorities for dealing with problems they weren’t able, or willing, to sort themselves.
    He ignored the