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The Blue Venture, Interstellar
Val stared at the contract, her heart thumping unevenly in her chest. She and Alex had agreed to reject any future shipments bound for Elara, but this was different.
Wasn't it?
She glanced at Irina, who chortled as she piloted her toy starship around the cabin, making it loop and strafe the bed as if enemy combatants were hiding under the covers. "I got 'em Mommy," she yelled, giggled as she brought her toy in for a landing on the breakfast table.
"What? All of them?" Val put the contract down and smiled at her daughter.
"Every single one!" The child scooped up the fighter and set off on another imaginary mission. At this rate, she'd be piloting her own ship before she turned ten.
"Amazing!" Val replied. A tap on her com-link brought Alex's voice to her ear.
"Hey Cap. What's going on?" he asked.
"Just got another transport order."
"Yeah? Where to?"
Val looked at her daughter again. "Earth."
Silence spun out, and her chest tightened.
"What's the cargo?" Alex's voice cracked around the edges.
"Cybernetic household aids, according to the manifest."
"That doesn't sound suspicious at all, given what happened last time." The cracks widened, his tone sharp as a blade.
"The transport order states the Red Nest Consortium ordered the shipment. We can ask Gaia. She'll know if they are legit or not."
"You can't be seriously considering this, Val."
She could almost see him shoving a hand through his close-cropped blond hair.
"This isn't the same situation as before," she said. "We know this company. We've transported goods for them in the past and never had an issue."
"There's a first time for everything," he responded, but some of the tension left his voice.
The door swished open, and he was there, cutting the com-link as he entered. "It's too big a risk, Val," he said.
"Maybe, maybe not. At least let me ask Gaia if she knows the buyer. If she vouches for them, we can feel safe taking the job."
"Feeling safe and being safe aren't the same thing. We felt safe taking that package to Elara, but look how that turned out."
"That was different. We didn't know the shipper, and we weren't allowed access to the cargo before accepting. Neither applies here."
"Why are you so set on this?" he asked.
"It's a job. We need the money."
"Not bad enough to risk the crew. Our own lives. Irina's." The words were harsh, but his tone was gentle. "Why are you so set on this?" he asked again.
"We..." She hesitated, glancing at their daughter, still immersed in her imaginary space battle. "Do you think it could happen again if we went back?"
He followed her gaze, suddenly certain that Val wasn't talking about the near fatal encounter on Elara. He swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat. "You think if we go back to Earth, you might be able to get pregnant again?"
She shrugged, her mouth tugging down at the corners. "Maybe. Medical says there's nothing wrong, but we've been trying for a year. A third of her life." She nodded towards the child. "We conceived her there. Who's to say it couldn't work a second time?"
"No one. But Val, there's no guarantee, and this is..." he trailed off.
"A risk? Is it? Or is it just a routine transport that bears a passing similarity to a bad experience? A smart commander doesn't use a failed tactic twice."
A half smile lifted his lips. "You're assuming the commander of the HDL is smart."
She gave him an answered smile. "Let's at least see what Gaia knows about the Red Nest. We'll make our decision then."
It wasn't unreasonable. If they passed on every transport that carried a whiff of danger, they'd be out of work in short order. "All right. Reach out to her. That much can't hurt."
"The Red Nest Consortium is the governing body of Earth's largest vampire colony," Gaia said. Her diminutive holographic form stood on the table between Val and Alex. "I hadn't heard that they were importing goods from off planet, but it is well within their capabilities, even without a spaceport. Do you wish me to contact them?"
Relief flooded through Val. "No, not necessary. We just wanted to make sure they existed."
Understanding lit Gaia's eyes. "Of course. After last time..." She let the sentence trail off. "The Red Nest is known for pushing boundaries in their search for knowledge. It isn't unlikely that the order is legitimate."
"All right. Thanks Gaia. We appreciate the information," Alex said. After a few more pleasantries, the call ended, and he turned to Val. "This still makes me uneasy."
"Why?"
He hesitated, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for his feelings. "Maybe it is just the similarity. But my instincts are telling me it could be a setup."
"Could be? The fee is too big to allow 'could be' to stop us. And there is the other thing."
He smiled for the first time. "Yes, about that other thing..." He started toward her, arms open, but she grinned and sidestepped.
"First, the decision, then the fun."
Frowning, he stopped. "Tell you what. Let's look at the shipment first. If it is as innocent as they are making it sound, we take the job. Deal?"
She smiled and walked into his arms. "Deal. Now. About that fun..."
Earth, Close Orbit
Fifteen days later, the Blue Venture dropped into orbit around the blue and green planet, admiring the swirls of white that covered its surface. Most of humankind's changes to Earth had been reversed, but she still looked the same from space as she always had.
"Is hard to believe humans left this place voluntarily," Tamar commented, staring at it through the front viewport.
"It wasn't exactly voluntary," Val replied. But she was smiling. She had been born in space and had visited more planets than she wanted to count. She'd only visited here once, but somehow, Earth still felt like home. Maybe she should talk to Alex about establishing a base here.
"Something is being wrong," Tamar said from her place at the navigation console.
Val's breathing hitched, but she controlled it to answer. "What?"
"The have no space port, no dock. No one is answering when I am hailing them."
The bridge OPT doors swooshed open and Rakan strolled in, taking his place at the weapons console.
"There wasn't a spaceport last time we were here, either." Val relaxed. "You know Earth isn't technologically advanced anymore. When the humans evacuated, most of the remaining sentient species didn't bother with the tech they left behind."
Tamar stared at her. "Not even comms?”
"Seems like they're taking the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it,' approach," Rakan said.
"From what Gaia told us, the vampires are the only ones with any interest in anything beyond Earth's atmosphere. And even that interest is limited," Val said. "So, they have a communications array, but there's no spaceport."
"But..." Tamar glanced at him, then back at Val.
"Hey, Earth got along for centuries without much contact with the greater galaxy. And when extraterrestrials did show up, it resulted in the loss of an entire species." Val's eyes glinted. "Not saying they weren't grateful to get rid of the humans. We weren't exactly the best roommates. But they probably aren't keen to repeat the experience."
Tamar's whiskers twitched, but Val couldn't tell whether she was suppressing amusement or confusion. "As you say, Captain." The Werosian shifter turned back to her console. "Where should we land, then?"
Val brought up the manifest on her airscreen and located the contact information. With a couple of taps and a swipe of her fingers, she sent it to Tamar. "Try this. Should get you to a Vincent Margrave. He's the one who ordered the shipment. He'll be able to give you coordinates for landing."
"We will be getting dirt in the landing gear," Tamar grumbled as she turned back to her console and opened a channel – the green active light flicking on as she spoke. "Blue Venture to..." She trailed off. Without a space authority, who did she request information from?
The intercom crackled. "This is the Red Nest, Blue Venture. How may we assist you?"
With a glance at Val, Tamar replied. "Greetings, Red Nest. Venture Transport has a delivery for a Vincent Margrave. Where are you wanting us to land?"
"Checking, Blue Venture. We are grateful for your patience."
The commlink clicked audibly and the green light turned red. "They have put me in holding." Tamar's whiskers twitched with surprise and not a little outrage.
"On hold," Val corrected absently. "They are probably just checking for paperwork."
Tamar scowled. "Paperwork? Are we transported five hundred years into the past? No one has been using paper for record keeping in centuries."
"Just an expression, Tamar. Don't get your whiskers in a twist." Rakan leaned back in his gel chair, eyeing Tamar with unconcealed amusement.
Tamar glared at him. "My whiskers are not being twisted, you giant... erm... furry... DOG."
Rakan stroked his lightly furred chin. "I know you think that's an insult, but from what I've heard, dogs are loyal, smart, and brave, so–"
The commlink light turned green again. "Blue Venture, we have no record of an order for Elder Margrave. However, if you will guide your ship to these coordinates, the elder will meet you to discuss the matter." The voice rattled off a series of digits, and Tamar entered them into the navigation interface.
"As you wish, erm... Earth... erm... person," Tamar replied with difficulty. She cast Val a glance over her shoulder. "What should I be calling these people, Captain? They are not giving me name or title, or... anything."
Before Val could respond, the voice replied, sounding slightly amused. "You can call me Dinara. We don't worry much over titles in the nest, except for the Elders."
Still muttering, Tamar guided the Venture to the landing coordinates given and set her down.
To Val's surprise, the landing field was paved, though not with a material she recognized. Black and mostly smooth, it glittered, strange and dark below them. It wasn't large, either. Just big enough for the Venture to set down. She wondered, suddenly, how much the vampires knew about the tolerances needed to land a craft of this size. "Tamar, take a reading of the landing field before you set down."
"Why?" Tamar turned suddenly, eyes huge, whiskers vibrating. "You are thinking they will sabotage us with faulty landing area?"
"Not on purpose, no. But this wouldn't be the first time ignorance caused more trouble than intended."
Tamar nodded and ran a quick scan. She let out a slow breath. "Is being all right, Captain. Field is bitumen composite. Adjusting anti-grav will help us land safely. I cannot guarantee there will be no damage, though."
"I should have known," Val said. Most spaceports used high-grade landing materials that were impervious to anything short of a nuclear blast. But this wasn't a spaceport, so... "Try not to melt it down to the dirt."
Tamar smirked. "As you wish, Captain."
A few minutes later they settled to the earth light as a zephyr driven feather. "Well done, Tamar," Val said.
"For a cat," Rakan teased.
Tamar glared at him, but only responded to Val. "Of course, Captain."
Val tapped her mindlink. "Alex? We're here. You want to join me on the brow?"
"Be there in a moment," Alex whispered.
Instinctively, Val lowered her voice, even though Alex was the only one who could hear her through the direct link. "Is she asleep?"
"Just drifted off." The sound of a door sliding closed came through faintly. "Took four read throughs of Space Spider this time. She won’t need a nap much longer."
Val groaned. "Tell me about it. See you on deck."
She closed the channel and stood. "Tamar, how are we set for fuel and supplies?"
"We were topping over before coming, so we need little."
Val frowned, trying to decipher the message for a few seconds before understanding dawned. "Topped off," she said. "All right then. You two still set for a little R and R? It's a nice planet to take a mini-vacation on."
"I wouldn't say no to some sightseeing," Rakan said. "Dash wants to look at something called a Niagara, if we have time. Some kind of big waterfall he read about in an old Earth travel guide."
Val's eyes widened. "There are interstellar travel guides for Earth?"
Rakan shrugged. "Some. Humans may have lost Earth, but the rest of the universe didn't."
An odd feeling of resentment shoved at the inside of her chest, but Val pushed it down. It made sense. The planet hadn't actually disappeared, after all.
"That's fine," she said. "Tamar? You going with them?"
"Yes. My little 'Cina plant is being lonely when I am working. I would like to find a companion for her."
Val barely controlled a shudder. The Voracina was one of the most toxic plants in the known universe. She didn't like to think about what would make a fit companion for it. "All right, but nothing venomous, toxic or mean-spirited. One is enough," she told Tamar.
"'Cina is not mean!" An aggrieved grimace tightened Tamar's features. "But yes. I will bring only nice plant back."
"Non-toxic." Val gave her second in command a hard stare and Tamar nodded in reluctant agreement. "Right. I have to go meet Alex and get this cargo offloaded. Keep your 'links on, just in case."
"Sure thing Captain,” Rakan said.
He and Tamar entered the OPT behind Val, and exited a floor sooner, leaving her alone as she stepped out and headed for the brow.
