Smuggler's Dilemma by Jamie McFarlane Read Free Book Online Page B

worth a hundred thousand."
    "No, I don’t suppose it is, but after talking with Jake, we’ve become aware of quite a few items that need to be addressed on the Hotspur . But before I bring these items to your attention, which, as you know, would legally obligate you to share them with all other interested buyers, I’d like you to consider the value of such a video."
    "Ooh, you are a playful one, Mr. Hoffen." He was very much enjoying the conversation.
    "To completely lay my cards on the table, Mr. Waldorf, you have treated me well and I’d rather not complete this deal if it would taint our relationship. That said, I believe our offer is more than generous, especially given the condition of many of the Hotspur’s internal systems."
    He grinned widely, almost manically, and stuck out his hand. "Mr. Hoffen, they don’t call me Weird Wally for nothing. You have yourself a deal and if you ever get tired of chasing pirates, come look me up. I think you’d make an excellent ship salesman."
     
     

HOTSPUR DECK LAYOUTS
     
    BERTH DECK
     

     
     

 
     
     
     
     
    BRIDGE DECK
     

     
     

BUYER'S REMORSE
     
    "Have you heard from Ada?" I asked Nick through the comm. We’d been working on the Hotspur since very early in the morning.
    "She accepted our offer," he grunted back from the crawlspace between the two decks where he was working with Jake.
    "Have you talked to Belcose about his comm gear?"
    Lieutenant Gregor Belcose was our contact with Mars Protectorate Navy and currently assigned to the Kuznetsov . With the help of Bit Coffman, we’d discovered that the comm equipment they’d installed on Sterra’s Gift was actually a quantum device that could communicate almost instantaneously over long distances. We’d also discovered that the device could be used to monitor our ship without our knowledge.
    "Yes. He’s got someone coming over at the end of the week to move it from Sterra’s Gift into the office quarters. You good with that?" Nick asked.
    "Sounds fine. At least this time, it’s not in my bedroom. Not that anything happens in there."
    Nick cut off a laugh. "Understood." Which was Nick speak for 'unless you have something important to say, I’m done talking.'
    My job was to completely remove the entire septic system – from the fixtures in the head to the septic field in the bilge. I had finally resigned myself to being the resident expert in all things poop. Unlike when we’d taken over Sterra’s Gift, the Hotspur’s system was unrepairable. The septic field stretched out beneath the bottom (berth) deck and it had been patched, repaired and jury rigged what looked like hundreds of times. It would cost twenty thousand credits to replace the system, but remembering the nightmare of my septic repair while under sail on Sterra’s Gift , I’d decided this was my first priority while we were still docked.
    "Are we going to see her today?" I asked.
    "Ada? I sent her our location. Not sure," he said. He must have been lying on his stomach as it sounded like he was out of breath.
    The top deck, which we were calling the bridge deck, had a small, fully functional four-piece head - that is a shower, sink, head and zero-grav head. The whole thing wasn’t much bigger than the size of a closet. It was operational, but just barely, so it was a full gut. Not a single piece came out without a fight.
    I piled the antique parts into a heavy plastic bag and lowered it down through the hatch at the back of the bridge, having yet to make friends with the ladder. It was the one thing I couldn’t navigate well with my prosthetic foot, but Nick had agreed to run the grav generator at .4g instead of the normal .6g, making it easier for me to climb up and down. I had four hours to remove the entire system before the plumbing fitter showed up.
    We’d rented a renovation robot and I was dying to try it out. This particular model was a meter tall and narrow with three spindly, articulated arms. We’d already scanned every