18
CARLO’S PRIZE

The next morning, Tycho was retyping a message to Kate when Carlo burst into the Hashoones’ quarters at the Jovian fandaco.

“What’s with you?” Tycho asked, hurriedly covering his mediapad.

“Sign walker,” Carlo said, stripping off his hooded parka. “Tried to recruit me.”

“And this is news why?”

Both brothers could hear Huff snoring in his quarters, the sounds coming through the door echoed by the gurgling of his tank.

“See, I was in the passageway to Bazaar—” Carlo began.

“You heard what Mom said—that area’s dangerous. You should at least carry a carbine out there.”

“Would you forget about carbines and listen to me?” Carlo said in exasperation as Diocletia emerged from her bedroom, curious about the commotion. Mavry was aboard the Comet, attending to a faulty fuel-balancing sensor.

“The sign walker was hiring people to unload freight and said it was from an Earth ship, and he guaranteed no pirate trouble,” Carlo explained. “That’s what made me listen. I asked him how he could promise that and he said the ship wasn’t coming all the way here. He told me its owners had made an arrangement to transfer its cargo to Cybelean coasters before reaching the area where there’s been pirate activity.”

“When was this, exactly?” Diocletia asked.

“Fifteen minutes ago, I guess. Mom, we were talking about needing to change the conversation, remember? This is the perfect opportunity to do it.”

As Diocletia gnawed on her thumbnail, Yana emerged from the bathroom, hair wet from the shower.

“We’re supposed to conduct more sweeps of the asteroids,” Diocletia said. “I was just about to issue a recall order.”

Yana stopped drying her hair and demanded to know what they were talking about. Her eyes narrowed when Carlo got to the part about Cybelean coasters.

“Are the Cybeleans offering our freighters the same help in keeping their cargoes safe?”

“Not that I’ve heard,” Diocletia said, poking at the coffeemaker’s controls.

“Of course not,” Tycho said, hand still over his mediapad. “This is just another one of their sleazy deals.”

“We can make them regret this one,” Carlo said pleadingly.

“That would be fun,” Yana said with a predatory gleam in her eye.

“It would be,” Diocletia said. “But it would be more fun to find the Leviathan and steal her back.”

“We’ve got ships all over the asteroids and nobody’s found so much as a stray ion from the Leviathan,” Yana objected.

“That’s true.”

Diocletia drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter. Huff continued snoring in the next room. Tycho, Yana, and Carlo waited, knowing their mother’s habits. The drumming fingers meant she was making up her mind, and further campaigning would only annoy her.

Her fingers stopped drumming. The coffeemaker pinged.

“Carlo, patch into Vesuvia remotely and see if you can get a fix on the likely point where they’d be transferring cargo on that route,” Diocletia said. “Then cross-reference that with anything you can find in the freight database on expected deliveries, cargo vessels, and so forth. I want to make sure we’re not chasing a ghost.”

“On it,” Carlo said with a grin, then turned to his brother and sister. “Will you two help?”

“For prize money?” Yana asked. “You have to ask?”

“Tycho?”

Tycho reluctantly erased his half-written message to Kate.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” he said. “What if it’s a trap?”

“Then we start shooting,” Yana said. “Is that what’s bothering you, Tyke? Or is it that you can’t stand the idea of someone else having a bit of luck?”

“Belay that,” Diocletia snapped, but the rebuke sounded halfhearted. There was a difference to their mother’s tone when she thought you were wrong, as opposed to when she thought you were right but being obnoxious about it. Tycho knew perfectly well that this was the latter—and judging from her smile, so did Yana.

“Carlo, my lad, yeh need to breathe,” Huff growled from his perch near the Comet’s forward ladderwell. “Trust an ol’ pirate—more worked up yeh get awaitin’ a prize, the slower she is to appear.”

Carlo nodded and exhaled, his shoulders rising and falling. But a moment later he was staring out through the Comet’s viewports again.

The frigate had detached from her long-range tanks and was sitting just off a secondary spacelane connecting 65 Cybele with the inner asteroids, running silent and dark. They’d been lurking there for half a watch, and everybody on the quarterdeck was getting antsy. Judging from the vile oaths and blood-curdling threats bouncing up the forward ladderwell, the same was true belowdecks.

When the bells clanged out 1030, Diocletia sighed.

“The ship will be here, Captain,” Carlo said. “I know it will be.”

The certainty in Carlo’s voice was strange—he was normally one to scoff at hunches and feelings. Tycho glanced at Yana to see if she’d noticed the same thing, but his sister was busy performing another scan of the area.

“Arrr, if believin’ were the difference maker, lad, wouldn’t be a poor pirate anywhere in the solar system,” Huff said.

“We’ll hold our position, but surely the rest of you have something better to do,” Diocletia said. “You’re excused, Carlo—you couldn’t concentrate on anything else right now anyway.”

“I’m caught up with my homework,” Tycho said before his mother could suggest that as a way to fill the time.

Mavry raised an eyebrow. “Vesuvia? Is that true?”

“Tycho has two overdue homework assignments—a Shakespeare essay and a calculus exercise,” Vesuvia replied. “And Yana is four exercises behind in her self-directed History of the Solar System studies.”

“Hey!” Yana protested. “Leave me out of this.”

“For shame,” Mavry said.

“Oh, come on, Mom,” protested Tycho. “During an intercept?”

Diocletia gestured to the scattering of rocks visible through the main screen. “When there’s something to intercept, you can quit. Until then, hit the books.”

“I’ll do mine later—I’m too busy running scans,” Yana said.

“Nice try,” Diocletia said. “Vesuvia, switch scanners to my console. And Mavry will take communications.”

Tycho and Yana sighed and called up their overdue assignments. But Tycho found it impossible to focus. Why was their brother so certain a prize was headed their way?

Because he’s desperate, Tycho thought.

But was he desperate enough to risk wasting their time because he’d heard something from a sign walker beyond the Westwell? That didn’t feel right—particularly not for Carlo, whose instinct was to doubt anything that didn’t come from official sources or show up on a sensor reading.

“Do you require a review of your homework assignment, Tycho?” Vesuvia asked.

“I’m thinking,” Tycho told the ship’s AI.

“Careful you don’t break anything,” Yana said.

Carlo offered his sister a flicker of a smile. His eyes met Tycho’s, then slid away, his expression turning grim as he returned to his vigil.

He knows the ship is coming. This isn’t a hunch or a feeling. He knows.

Tycho stared at the back of his brother’s head as the pieces of the puzzle he’d been working on rearranged themselves, rotated, and locked into place.

He knows the same way I knew about the Portia—because someone told him. There was no sign walker. Just like I never found a mediapad on Ceres.

The Securitat would have known about Carlo’s mistakes during the raid on the convoy—every Jovian official had received an account of that. And they almost certainly would know that he feared losing out on the captain’s chair—it was their job to know such things. They would have zeroed in on him as desperate, vulnerable, and ripe for recruitment.

Tycho had turned his back on DeWise and the Securitat, rejecting further help in winning the captain’s chair. So they’d watched and waited for the chance to recruit his brother instead. Waited for the chance to propose a meeting and offer him a prize. There would have been no strings attached, or at least none that Carlo could see—just a little gift to help him even up the competition.

Them Securitat types spin their webs, an’ little by little they wrap yeh up. Until yeh can’t find yer way out, an’ yeh realize they own yeh.

Tycho closed his eyes, furious at his brother but also at himself. He’d been such a fool—both for cheating and for failing to understand what turning his back on the Securitat would lead to. Why had he thought the Securitat would just walk away from his family? Why had he never imagined that he could be replaced?

When something finally did appear on the Comet’s scanners, it was two somethings, not one. And the two somethings were coming from the wrong direction.

“Mr. Grigsby, we have bogeys inbound from Cybele,” Diocletia said.

“Aye, Captain,” said Grigsby, and a moment later the bosun’s pipes shrilled belowdecks.

“I’ll take back sensors,” Yana said, even as Tycho was asking Vesuvia for control of communications.

“Hold on a moment, you two,” Diocletia said. “There’s time to figure out what we’re looking at.”

“The bogeys are coming from Cybele?” Yana asked with a smile. “Your sign walker seems to have been a bit confused, Carlo.”

“Not if those are the coasters, coming to meet the freighter and unload her cargo,” Carlo said.

Tycho frowned. Carlo was calm and confident now—and why shouldn’t he be?

“They’re too big to be coasters,” Diocletia said. “They’re frigates at least.”

“That . . . doesn’t make any sense,” Carlo said, and Tycho couldn’t resist a small, mean smile.

“Sensor contact,” Vesuvia announced.

“No kiddin’, yeh blind calculator,” Huff growled. “Tell us summat we don’t know.”

“This sensor contact is a single ship heading for 65 Cybele from the inner solar system,” Vesuvia said with a hint of smugness.

“Now you two can take over,” Diocletia said. “Carlo, your starship.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Carlo said, hauling the control yoke back and elevating the Comet’s nose. “Vesuvia, beat to quarters. Mr. Grigsby, we are intercepting a third bogey inbound from the inner solar system.”

“The first two ships are hailing,” Tycho said as the bosun’s pipes squealed beneath their feet once more. “It’s the Widderich brothers.”

“What are they doing here?” Carlo demanded. “We don’t need help, least of all from the likes of them.”

“Tryin’ to horn in on our prize,” Huff rumbled. “Been a bad habit of theirs for years.”

“Patch them through,” Diocletia said, looking annoyed.

“Heard you might need some help, Comet,” said Baltazar Widderich.

“Give me the comm, Tycho,” Diocletia said, activating her headset. “You heard wrong, Baltazar. Right now we’re a little busy.”

“Where did the Widderiches come from?” Yana asked when Diocletia had fended off Baltazar’s complaints.

“I had to tell Garibalda that we weren’t taking part in today’s search of the asteroids,” Diocletia said. “Someone on her quarterdeck must have talked. Word gets around, someone in traffic control’s getting slipped livres to share information, and pretty soon you’ve got company.”

“I’m more worried about our other company,” Carlo said as he swung the Comet into the spacelane. “What’s on the scopes, Yana?”

“New arrival looks like a Minke-class, but confidence only fifty-eight percent. She’s about to see us—her sensor cone will overlap our position within forty-five seconds.”

“Baltazar an’ Karst will be playin’ by pirate rules,” Huff warned.

“What does that mean, Grandfather?” Carlo asked.

“Means they’ll expect a snack if they’re within firin’ range at the time of the capture,” Huff said. “Least that’s how we used to settle these things. Kept us from puttin’ holes in each other. Well, at least sometimes.”

“We better get there first, then,” Carlo said, hitting the throttle hard enough to mash the Hashoones back in their chairs. “Tycho, plot us a course back to our tanks in case our bogey turns out to be a warship. Vesuvia, display colors.”

Tycho began computing the requested course, trying to keep his anger in check: Carlo was not only flying with his usual precision but also smoothly issuing the orders expected of the ranking officer during an intercept. Tycho could guess what he’d done to put himself in that position, but there was nothing he could say about it—not now and not ever.

“Flying Jovian colors,” Vesuvia said.

“Tyke, I’ll hail the bogey,” Carlo said. “Mr. Grigsby, we’re going in hot.”

“The comm is yours,” Tycho said. “You’ve earned it, after all.”

Carlo gave Tycho a puzzled glance, then activated his headset. “Unknown ship, this is the Shadow Comet operating under letter of marque of the Jovian Union. We are on an intercept course. Activate transponders and identify yourself immediately.”

Seven bells rang out.

“Ninety percent confidence that she’s a Minke,” Yana said.

“Target craft has activated transponders,” Vesuvia said. “Cybelean colors.”

“Incoming transmission,” Tycho said. “All channels.”

“Shadow Comet, this is the Blue Heron, finishing our run from Ceres,” a polite, cultured voice said over the bridge’s speakers. “You’ve seen our colors. We’re on a tight schedule for a rendezvous with our coasters to unload cargo, so I’ll need to ask you to stand down. And the same goes for whoever that is coming up behind you.”

“Negative, Heron,” Carlo said. “Sorry to hold you up, but we’re going to need an in-person inspection.”

“If you disrupt our operations, my board of directors will take the additional cost out of your performance bond,” the Blue Heron’s captain said. “I have to warn you that the cost will be considerable.”

“We’ll take that risk, Heron. We invoke our right to inspect your vessel under the articles of war governing interplanetary commerce. Heave to and prepare for boarding.”

They could see the freighter now, a point of brilliant light moving against the backdrop of stars.

“Yana, how far away are the Widderiches?” Carlo asked.

“Eight thousand klicks.”

“This interference is outrageous, Comet!” the Blue Heron’s captain said.

“I won’t say it again, Captain—heave to immediately,” Carlo said. “Mr. Grigsby, send a shot near their main mast.”

“Be a pleasure, Master Carlo,” Grigsby said with a purr of satisfaction.

The Comet shook and a line of brilliant green fire streaked between one of her bow chasers and the freighter.

“The next one won’t miss, Heron,” Carlo said. “Now heave to.”

“Hold your fire, Comet,” the Blue Heron’s captain said disgustedly.

“They’re stopping—ion emissions dropping to zero,” Yana said. “But the Widderiches are fifteen hundred klicks off and closing.”

“We can dock before they get here,” Carlo said, his head swiveling to his parents. “If we’re docked, does that count as a capture under pirate rules?”

“No, lad—it’s when they strike the colors,” Huff said.

“Then perhaps Mr. Grigsby can encourage them to do that,” Carlo said, reaching for his headset.

“Carlo, give the Widderiches their snack,” Diocletia said.

“No way!” Yana sputtered.

“Those two lowlifes didn’t do anything for this prize,” Carlo protested, and Tycho gritted his teeth.

Neither did you, he thought, but another thought came right on the heels of that one: And neither did I, back when we captured the Portia.

“Baltazar and Karst are dangerous men,” Diocletia said. “They’ve never been too clear about the difference between friends and enemies. We’re trying to change the conversation, remember? If the Cybeleans hear we wound up trading shots with our own countrymen during an intercept . . .”

“Are you giving me an order, Captain?” asked Carlo.

“No—your starship. But consider it highly expert advice.”

Carlo said a bad word, then nodded. “Fine. They can have their snack. But it better be a small bite. Mr. Grigsby, prepare the boarding party—I’ll meet you at the starboard lock.”

Once his vessel was boarded, the Blue Heron’s captain admitted his true allegiance was to Earth and cooperated with Carlo and Huff—after all, he said with a shrug, it wasn’t as if GlobalRex’s insurance adjusters were willing to die for him. Mindful that Earth’s ships might arrive and attempt a rescue, Mavry hastily recruited a prize crew from belowdecks, while Yana kept scanning the area and Tycho plotted a course that would take the Blue Heron back toward Ceres before turning and running to Ganymede for condemnation.

Throughout the capture, the Widderiches’ frigates, the Romulus and Remus, hung in space a few hundred meters away from the Comet and her prey, with Diocletia assuring each brother in turn that he would get a share of the prize money and sternly insisting that he keep his distance.

“It’s Baltazar again,” Tycho said wearily, hands on his headset.

“Why is it always Baltazar?” Yana asked.

“Oh, Karst probably forgot how to work his comm board,” Diocletia said. “There’s a few genius pirates, and then most of us, and then a bunch of idiots, and then there’s Karst. Put it through, Tycho.”

“Ach, Captain Hashoone, been reviewing your boy’s course,” Baltazar grumbled. “Some rescue ship will scoop up our prize before she makes the Kirkwood Gap. Smarter by far to divide the cargo now.”

Diocletia said nothing for a moment, and Tycho knew she was trying to calm herself. A Hashoone who could see the way her shoulders were set would have stopped arguing immediately—but then Baltazar was neither present nor a Hashoone.

“Give him both barrels, Mom,” Yana muttered.

“Silence on the bridge. Captain Widderich, the boy you’re referring to is a veteran midshipman. And if you’re worried about an Earth ship making a rescue, the best thing for all of us to do is get out of here as soon as possible.”

“But Captain Hashoone—” Baltazar said, then stopped. They could hear the low buzz of conversation on the Romulus’s quarterdeck.

“Two new sensor contacts,” Vesuvia said. “Inbound from Cybele.”

“Get me a scan,” Diocletia said. “Tycho, inform our boarding party. Baltazar, do you see them?”

“Hailing ’em now,” Baltazar said, his voice turning gleeful. “Since you’ll be too busy to assist with this next capture, Diocletia, my brother and I will intercept.”

“The incoming craft are flying Cybelean colors,” Vesuvia said. “Transponders identify them as the Townsend and the Northwind.”

“Must be the coasters they hired to unload the freighter,” Diocletia said. “Captain Widderich, those are the Cybelean merchant craft that the Heron was due to meet.”

“So?” growled Baltazar.

“So our letters of marque allow us to intercept only Earth craft and Saturnian vessels.”

“Lawyer talk,” Baltazar growled as the Romulus activated her trio of engines and began to turn in the direction of the coasters. “They’s prey, and we’s predators. Karst, get that wreck of yours in gear! Don’t just sit there like a grog-addled sloth in a gravity well!”

“Captain Widderich, listen to me,” Diocletia said. “An inspection will find those coasters’ papers in orders. That means any damage you do to cargo or craft will come out of your performance bond, and could result in revocation of your letter of marque. And any harm to the crew will be treated as an act of piracy.”

“And who’s gonna know? Lot of room for ships to get lost out here.”

“The court of inquest will know. Based on my testimony and that of my crew.”

Tycho risked a glance at Yana, who was watching their mother intently.

“You’d turn on yer own like that?” Baltazar asked. “You ain’t no Jupiter pirate.”

“No, I’m not. None of us are anymore. And that includes you, Captain.”