One Corner of the Sky (Zaran Journals, Book 5)

One Corner of the Sky

Zaran Journals Book 5

Scott Seldon

Published by Arrano-Taldea Group

at Smashwords

2014

Discover other titles by Scott Seldon at

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All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

ONE CORNER OF THE SKY

Copyright © 2014 by Scott Seldon

Cover Art by: Yotsuya

Visit him at: yotsuya-sama.deviantart.com

All rights reserved.

The copyright holder has licensed this ebook for use by a single reader. The reader may read this ebook using any compatible software or hardware and may copy this ebook to each such device they own and make reasonable backups. All other copying, hiring, modification, reselling, or republishing, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited in accordance with US and international copyright laws.

ebook Edition

First Edition: November 15, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-3109-6182-3

Revision 0

In a just cause

how you fight is as important as why you fight

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Index

About the Author

One Corner of the Sky

4617 GCE*

Chapter One

Ven didn’t usually like his world turned around, but once it a while things turned the way he wanted them to. He looked across his desk at his new pilot and couldn’t believe his luck. The only piece left to a long held dream had come true and the new pilot was none other than his son, Chup.

It had been a crazy couple of months. After more than ten years, his lead pilot, Kasal Rochii, had announced he was leaving. Ven couldn’t blame him after he heard where he was going. The Haslar Freight Alliance operated in a narrow area in and around the Oriani sector making lots of short runs. For Kasal, that meant shorter hyperspace hops and a lot more time piloting. And he wasn’t just joining them as an average pilot. With the experience he had gained working for Ven, Kasal had landed a senior pilot position. The money might not be quite what he was used to, but all the runs would be legal and it was one of the best paying honest jobs around.

Chup had heard of the opening and put his name forward as a replacement. Ven had jumped at the chance but now found himself with a dilemma. Everyone knew Ven Zaran as an honest trader, but that was only a portion of his business. In reality, most of his jobs fell into the category of illegal smuggling. That was not something he had openly shared with his son and was the reason for their current meeting as captain and pilot.

Ven was proud of the pilot Chup had become. He was quite skilled, although coming in to replace Kasal set the bar pretty high. He’d been on board a week and Ven and his crew had had plenty of opportunity to judge his skill. What Ven had neglected to cover with his son was his illegal smuggling and he had just taken a very lucrative job. It was time to bring his son in on the money making end of Ven’s business.

Son, we have a problem.

What? I’m a good pilot, and with Wally’s help I’ll get even better.

No, it’s not that. Your piloting skills are great, but you are the junior pilot and Wally is one of the best, so from time to time I am likely to have him take over if I think the situation warrants it.

I was wondering why you had him take over when we landed.

I’ve had two excellent pilots for ten years and although you are my son, I haven’t seen you work very often yet. Give it time. But the real thing I need to talk to you about is our next job.

Ah, I was wondering when you would talk to me about it. You do know that I know pretty much everything you’ve ever done, right?

Do you? Do you have any idea of how many illegal cargos I haul?

A lot. I know you have several fake identities and make a lot of money from it.

Oh. How did you figure that out?

I’m a trader, Dad. I hear things and I can put the pieces together. Let’s just say that the clues are out there and I put the pieces together. Plus Nova and Ladna aren’t good at hiding things.

So you signed on with me knowing that more than half my business is smuggling?

Yes. I’ve even managed to get several fake identities myself. I just wasn’t sure how many I’d need.

Ven couldn’t help but laugh. He thought he’d done a good job of shielding his family from his work, but his son was too smart and had figured it out. His laughter died as his mind wondered to the reason he had started smuggling in the first place. It has been more than three years since he and Chup had lost the other two members of their family. It was still hard to even think about, much less talk about.

I know, Dad, Chup said. You always talked about traveling with your family. Mom and Ash can’t be here, but I am. I came with full knowledge of what you do. The thing is how you do it is still honorable even if it is technically illegal.

Oh?

You don’t know your own reputation, do you?

I can’t say that I do. No one really talks to me about that.

Let’s just say you are well known and well respected. And most of your fellow traders know you are a smuggler.

That is a surprise.

So what is our next job and which of my fake ID’s do you want me to use?

You can use whatever ID you’d like. You just need to be consistent about it. As for the job, we will be hauling a cargo of luxury food items that our client wants to ship to a location where those particular items are illegal. I try to avoid carrying anything that is banned by the Confederation proper.

That’s good to know.

One of the fun things about having a ship with different identities is changing the markings. We should be coming out of hyperspace to change course in a couple hours. When we do, I need you to help change the markings. You don’t have any problems with EVA’s that I don’t know about, do you?

No, I rather enjoy getting out in space.

Good. Laren will be in charge and he will show you what needs to be done and how to do it. You have to be very thorough. It wouldn’t do to have a stray marking that shouldn’t be there.

It’s like hacking into a computer system, you don’t want to leave any trace you were there.

Precisely. I must say it scares me to hear you say that, but I’m not surprised.

One of my early talents and I’m even better at it than you remember.

I don’t doubt that. Just be sure to let Nova know. We updated her programming to do a bit of hacking, but your methods could be more advanced and really help her out.

Anything to help my favorite AI. You know, if you keep augmenting her like this, she is going to be able to take over the Confederation before long.

She might do a better job than these politicians who keep getting elected. Now, you should go talk to Laren before we come out of hyperspace. He might be able to go over some of the procedures before the EVA so that it goes quicker.

Sure, Dad. Or maybe I should say Captain.

Captain would be better outside of my cabin.

Chup left and Ven sat in though until Nova interrupted him.

You know, she said over the comm terminal, I was listening so I already know that Chup likes to hack computers as a hobby. There is no need for him to tell me.

Just a formality.

Besides, that program that Iyoth gave me is quite extensive. I’m not sure Chup would know much more than that.

You might be surprised, Nova. He and his friends did some pretty amazing things. He might know a trick or two that you don’t have. Keep an open mind.

Always. It is how I am programmed.

Ven had found that as time went on he was growing closer to the AI that ran his ship. Her voice was soothing and her personality had grown more and more protective of her crew. She had made several suggestions that had increased the security of their smuggling operations, making it safer, not to mention more profitable.

* * *

Several hours later, Ven stepped into the cockpit to watch the landing. Ladna, his navigator, was handling the comm, shields, and scanners while Chup was piloting. Ladna’s job as navigator ended once they came out of hyperspace and everything fell to the pilot. Ven knew that Chup had seen him enter, but he remained standing against the back wall to watch from a distance.

"Shey Talong-var, you are cleared for landing," the port controller said over the comm.

Roger, control, Ladna replied before turning to Chup. It’s all yours.

Chup had a different style than either Kasal or Wally. All pilots did things just a bit differently. Some had natural talent that gave their piloting a special flair. Kasal had been very deft in his maneuvers where Wally was very fluid. Ven wasn’t familiar with Chup’s style yet so he was eager to see how he handled it. Nova Trango had gravitic thrusters and could be highly sensitive if you didn’t treat the controls gently. Ven was pleased to see that Chup had an appropriately light touch. He brought the ship in right on course and didn’t do anything unusual until they were coming in over the berth.

The berth was sunken, surrounded by service bays and different types of umbilicals, and pilots had to drop the ship in the opening. Chup managed to drop the ship in at an exact arc, seeming to set the ship down at random. Ven could tell from the markings in the berth that Chup had set the ship down in exactly the right spot. There was a small jolt as the shocks on the landing gear took the weight of the ship from the thrusters. Wally always managed to avoid that little jolt, but Ven, Kasal, and even Nova herself had been unable to duplicate how he did it. The jolt was quite normal and expected; sort of a notice to all on board that they had landed.

Now, Ven said breaking the silence, if you two will be so good as to finish the landing procedures and get her ready to go again right away, I will go see to our cargo.

Certainly, Captain Hobis, Chup said, using Ven’s correct alias for this ship ID.

This was the easy end of this smuggling run. It should be a simple matter to pick up the cargo and take off again. It was the delivery where they would have to be careful. Nothing new, but Ven was starting to wonder just how much longer he would keep doing this. The ship was nearly paid off. He estimated six more months of runs like he’d been getting and he would own Nova Trango free and clear. The only thing he would have to pay for was operation and maintenance. Just a few simple and legal runs a month would keep her going indefinitely. But he really didn’t have any plans on slowing down, just being more selective. He still had use for the money. Not only was he trying to get his ship paid off, but he was indirectly helping Laren and Wally earn enough for the down payment on ships of their own. Wally had grandiose ideas with his brother, but Laren’s were more practical.

No, there really was no reason to stop smuggling. He enjoyed it. It wasn’t where he had planned on ending up, but it was actually somewhat fun.

His contact was waiting and the cargo was ready. This port didn’t have any guild requirements so Ven found himself driving the transport to the port himself. He called ahead and Laren had the crew ready to move the cargo from the transport to the cargo hold. It was hard work, but they all could use the exercise. Being a trader was a sedentary business and they needed all he exercise they could get. Each of the crew had their own exercise routines onboard ship, but Ven preferred the hard work of loading or unloading a cargo.

Ven often preferred to change names between pickup and delivery, but on this run he didn’t feel it necessary. The pickup had been legal and above board, even if the delivery wasn’t. Before long they were in hyperspace again, rushing toward their destination. It was only a couple hours away in hyperspace.

From the moment they came out of hyperspace at Lesqel Oteem, Ven had a feeling something was going to go wrong. He couldn’t pick out anything specific, it was just a feeling. And it wasn’t that the normal Customs patrol stopped them for an inspection.

A Customs inspection was nothing to Ven. It didn’t matter that his cargo was quite illegal here on Lesqel Oteem, it was just another cargo. He had mastered the art of relabeling his illegal cargo and creating a fake manifest that easily passed the inspection. He didn’t even get worried when one of the guards was a little too diligent and wanted to open the cargo. The nature of the fake manifest took care of that.

No, something else was going to go wrong. He could feel it. For a change he was a bit worried. Enough that he couldn’t put it out of his mind.

Chup performed another stellar landing, gently setting the ship down in the berth. The problems started when he contacted the recipient. Or tried to. The recipient wouldn’t answer. This world was guilded so he couldn’t just go rent a transport and deliver it himself. He was required to use guild cargo handlers and certified transport operators. To do that he needed the recipient to respond. After two hours of trying, he was ready to give up. He contacted his client to let them know what the situation was. Miraculously, the recipient contacted him almost immediately to say a transport would arrive shortly.

And it happened just like that. The hold was quickly emptied and the transport was ready to leave. The last thing was the delivery payment. The cargo handlers and the transport diver knew nothing of it so he told them not to leave and tried to contact the recipient again. After three attempts he tried his client. Unlike his previous easy availability, it seemed even his client was not available.

He should be done with this cargo now, but he wasn’t. He went to the crew cabin and found Laren. Would you care to accompany me on a delivery?

Really? They are trying to pull that stunt?

Yes. Bring your pistol.

Laren nodded and met him outside.

Since the recipient has failed to pay the delivery fee, Ven told the transport driver, we need to come with you.

That isn’t allowed.

It’s either that or you unload everything back into my ship.

That didn’t please the driver very much, but he reluctantly agreed to take them. In short order they were out of the port, and winding through the streets of the city. The destination was a warehouse that had seen better days.

I don’t like this, Ven told Laren after the driver had confirmed they were there. Keep your eyes open. They probably aren’t expecting us, but you never know.

The driver got out and buzzed at the entrance. It seemed for a few minutes that there was no one here and the driver buzzed again. Eventually the door opened. A man with gray streaked hair opened the door and spoke with the driver before he turned to Ven and Laren.

What can I help you gentlemen with? he asked.

The delivery fee for this cargo hasn’t been paid yet. We were paid sixty percent on pickup and are waiting for the other forty percent before we can let you take possession of this cargo.

That is ridiculous. It is supposed to be fully paid for.

I suggest you contact our client and verify, but if we don’t get the last portion, you don’t get the cargo.

Wait here, I’ll be right back.

As they waited the driver seemed to get anxious. Don’t worry, Ven told him, you’ll be compensated if we have to take this back to the port.

That’s not what I’m worried about, the driver said.

Ven left it at that, but wondered what he was talking about. This was a cargo of luxury food items, how bad could the recipients be. Then again there was either some sort of mis-communication or they were trying to rip him off, so maybe the driver had a point. The longer the wait stretched, the more on edge Ven became.

They were made to wait a good fifteen minutes before the door opened again.

My apologies, the man said, there seems to have been some mix-up. We thought delivery was included in what we paid and we had to make some arrangements.

Do you have a credit chit for me? Ven asked.

Right here, the man said as he held out the small piece of plastic.

Ven stepped forward and took it from him. He put it in his comm and checked the amount. It was correct so he processed it then said, The cargo is all yours. Enjoy.

The warehouse door opened and a team came out with a loader and transferred the cargo from the transport into some unseen corner of the warehouse. Ven wasn’t easy until they were finished and the door had closed again. Ven arranged getting out of there with the transport driver. He wasn’t headed back to the port, but that didn’t matter. Ven just wanted to get away from the warehouse as soon as possible. The driver dropped them off near a public transport station and they were soon back at the port and on board the ship.

That was too close, Ven told Laren as they parted in the corridor. It could so easily have turned violent.

I think the pistols might have helped prevent that.

Maybe, but I might have just been feeling paranoid.

Ven stowed his pistol and then headed for the cockpit.

Now that we’re done here, let’s get going, he told Ladna.

* * *

Ven didn’t like flying with an empty hold, but sometimes it was the safest thing to do. He wanted the next cargo to be legal and hassle free so, by way of a brief stop in the middle of nowhere to change the markings back to Nova Trango, they were headed toward the nearest major port, Hotsporis. It would be a good place to find a quiet, legal cargo to fill the short gap they had.

Ever since he’d had to drop several of his long standing regular runs, Ven had been lax about scheduling very far in advance. It was a bad business practice for a regular trader, but in so many ways he had become a smuggler who picked up legal runs to keep up appearances. It was quite a change from being an average trader who picked up smuggling jobs on the side to bring in some extra money. He knew several of his crew had some issues with that, but none of them objected to the extra money smuggling brought in.

Hotsporis was a haven for traders. The big cargo corporations had their own stops, ports that could accommodate the volume of the big supercarriers. Traders didn’t operate much on those main routes and tended to congregate near the ends of the corporate shipping routes. The port at Hotsporis was at the end of one of those routes. Traders and the smaller shipping companies formed the end of the galactic supply chain for goods that could not be replicated. Replicators were a marvel of modern technology, producing food, products, and some raw materials on demand, but the more complicated the material, the less a replicator could approach an exact copy. It was due to some oddity of physics that Ven didn’t pretend to understand, but it kept the need for moving products alive. Someday they would work out a way to perfect replicator technology and it would put all traders out of business, even the big corporations. For now, centers of trade, like Hotsporis, stayed busy meeting the demands of people who wanted goods produced in some other corner of the galaxy.

As Ven covered the normal places to find a cargo, he picked up on some rumors that independent traders were having problems finding work out of some of the larger ports. He could tell it wasn’t just a rumor because Hotsporis was busier than normal and he was running into problems finding a good cargo. Something was definitely going on, but no one seemed to have a clue what was causing it.

Ven faced the reality that he might not find a good cargo this time. He ended up at a table in a trader oriented club and tried to relax. He was glad his smuggling operation was doing so well and he didn’t really need to worry financially about finding a cargo right now. It was only a couple of weeks and then he would be back on the move. He had a long stretch of regular runs for the next few months to keep him in the game.

Two years ago he’d been accused of being a pirate and he’d been forced to drop a bunch of regular runs while he got his name cleared. Since then that stretch had turned into his big smuggling season. The rest of the year was filled with regular cargos he’d had contracted for many years. Not being able to fill an open slot in his schedule here or there made no difference to his income because he had regular runs for most of the year and filled in nicely with profitable smuggling runs the rest of the year.

After a few hours spent relaxing in the club, he returned to his ship. Maybe he’d have better luck tomorrow, but he doubted it. At this point some down time was looking pretty good.

Even so, the next day he was back out there, looking for a cargo. He even asked Laren to have a go at it in case he might stumble on something Ven didn’t. But it turned out to be a second day with no luck. No sense giving up. It was not exactly hard work.

Ven’s mind was turning back to smuggling, thinking that maybe a light smuggling job might be just as good. It remained no more than a thought when he heard a rumor that caught his attention. Someone wanted to ship a cargo to Qesran. It was a name that could send chills through any trader.

Qesran, or more properly known by its full name of Qesran-Sestera, was a non-Confederation world situated south of the galactic plane. Among traders it was known for one thing - far too many traders who went there never came back. Because of that, it was hard to get a trader to go there. The cargo was completely legal, but the amount being offered was obscene, on par with many of the smuggling jobs Ven took.

It sounded like a challenge. Ven had heard of Qesran, what trader hadn’t, but he had never been there. Before inquiring about the cargo, he had Nova check out the statistics for traders listing Qesran as their destination. On most worlds, even non-Confederation worlds, there was a small percentage who ran into trouble. It was to be expected, not all traders were up to date on their payments or they got caught doing something they shouldn’t. But on Qesran, it was nearly twenty percent. When Nova factored in other criteria, such as the type of cargo and the frequency of visits, she found that it was closer to forty percent for them to run into trouble. Those were not good odds, but they weren’t that different from the odds of running a successful smuggling operation for any length of time. Ven had been at it on a regular basis for a decade. He’d beat the odds in smuggling so he was tempted to try his hand at Qesran.

The round trip would take four days from here and that left plenty of time to get to his next scheduled cargo at Quetle Station. He had the time, even extra time in case he did run into any problems. But still, the risk was high. Higher than he liked to see. But he seemed more prone to risks the last few years since he’d lost his wife. Some part of him wanted to do this job and it was quickly overcoming his caution.

It didn’t help that Nova could find no good information on why so many traders had trouble. It wasn’t a Confederation world and wasn’t required to report anything to Customs. If someone ran into trouble here on Hotsporis, a quick inquiry with Customs would reveal what had happened. Qesran was dark on the topic and the only things to go by were the rumors. The rumors painted a picture of a corrupt planetary government who made up reasons to get traders into trouble. It was a very implausible rumor. Still, it was very persistent.

What do you think? he asked Laren that evening after they had returned to the ship.

The only question is if it is worth the risk. We are always taking risks so it really is a matter of whether this is a bigger risk than we normally take.

That’s what I’m trying to figure out myself. I know a lot of traders have issues with members of their crew being a big rowdy or uncontrollable. We don’t have that problem. My guess is that is why they have so many issues. Badly behaved crews in a port with lots of rules will lead to issues.

That does seem to be the mostly likely reason. None of the rumors indicate that the traders died, just that they are incarcerated. It would indicate that they did something wrong by local standards. I would feel more comfortable with this if Nova could get a copy of their local laws and advise us on how to stay on the right side of the law while we are there.

Can you do that, Nova? Ven asked.

I don’t know. Give me a few hours to try and I’ll let you known in the morning.

Sounds good.

Ven let it rest for the night and hadn’t even thought of the topic again before Nova broached the subject in the morning.

I have their current laws, Ven.

Oh. Does Laren’s theory hold up?

It seems to. They have a very strict society. They have banned a variety of activities and substances that are freely available here in the Confederation. And they hold the captain of visiting ships directly responsible for the action of their crew.

I should be good there.

As long as we make it clear to Berglund that he cannot engage in his typical portside activities.

Oh? Seriously?

Yes, Ven. Sexual relations outside of marriage are strictly forbidden. That does not mean it does not happen, but they are very strict with outsiders.

Is there anything you think we can’t handle?

Their laws are very complex, but there doesn’t appear to be anything anyone in the crew shouldn’t be able to handle. I take it we are going to do it?

The money is too good and the risks seem to be acceptable for this crew. We go in, keep our noses clean, and get out.

Once his mind was made up, Ven wasted no time in arranging the meeting with the client to negotiate specific terms. They evidently weren’t in any rush on the cargo because the reply he got back set the meeting two days out. It cut into his window, but not much. It meant the crew had time for shore leave. Ven wondered if his son would care to do something together, but he wasn’t going to plan on it.

Wally and Ladna left the ship as soon as he told them. Laren wanted to finish a few things up first. Berglund was instantly very excited. Ven could guess the reason. Like Laren, Ven had a few things to do before he took advantage of the amenities this port had to offer. Nearly an hour passed when Nova interrupted him.

I thought you might want to know that your son seems to be waiting for something, she said.

What? Where is he?

He’s in the crew common area.

Ven quickly finished up what he was working on and went to see what his son was doing. Chup was just sitting at the common table in the middle of the room and he looked up when he heard the door open.

Hello, Captain, he said using the more formal title since they weren’t in private.

Hi. Are you just going to sit here or are you going to make use of these two days of freedom?

I’ve never been to this port and I was hoping to tag along with someone. Wally and Ladna had something in mind and I think we all know what Berglund is up to.

Yes, he is a man of habit. Since you aren’t doing anything right now, would you care to join me? I just finished with some paperwork.

I’d love to.

Ven could tell from how he said it that it had been what he’d been hoping for. Chup wasn’t here just because Ven had some of the most skilled traders in the galaxy on his crew. Ven had never had the chance to spend much time at home. He still remembered the tearful hellos and goodbyes when Chup was just a baby. Chup had barely recognized him and had cried whenever he came home and then cried even harder when it was time for Ven to leave. After he could use the hypercomm himself, they had stayed in touch fairly often. As Chup had gotten busy with school and friends that had tapered off. Ever since he’d left home to start his apprenticeship, they had barely communicated at all. He didn’t feel as close to Chup as he should and he hoped that they could find some time now that they were traveling together. Ven had always put work first and he didn’t think that was likely to change, but he had no work for two days.

Come on, Ven said. I’ll show you how to properly enjoy your shore leave. As they walked down the gangway, Ven checked the local time and found it was around noon. They hopped a transport and in just a few minutes were in a different part of the port city.

Where are we headed? Chup asked.

Well, it’s lunch time and I know of this wonderful place to eat. Most of our fellow traders aren’t that picky and sick to the places near the port that replicate their food, but this place is a local establishment and they cook the food to order from local suppliers.

Isn’t the real difference dependent on the quality of your replicator?

Not compared to real food. The good replicators can get very close, but the only way they found to make replicators practical is to process the data and make some minor substitutions. It doesn’t affect nutrition, but it affects taste. Planetside they have more power to spare so the replicators can use more power and come closer to the original, but in order to make an exact duplicate the power requirements are enormous. More than any ship or planet can afford to use for daily food. Real food is far less expensive, not to mention that it is generally accepted that it tastes better.

"The crew replicator on Nova Trango is better than most ships. How did you manage that?"

Berglund found some extra power in one of his many upgrades and then replaced a couple of key parts and it’s like a higher quality machine now.

Well, it’s almost like the one we had in the apartment so it’s been a nice change from my last two ships.

Ven gave him a weak smile. One of the dangers of having Chup around was his casual mention of things from his childhood that unintentionally felt like a dagger in Ven’s heart. He was good at concealing his feelings, even from his own son. In this case it wasn’t just a reminder of Kotula and Ash, but of the planetside life he had not shared much in. In retrospect he wasn’t sure that his successful career had been worth it, but it had been what he and Kotula agreed on. Well, sort of. He had been forced to agree to her demand that the children be raised planetside on Leywan while he wanted them to join him on the ship. He had always wanted to be a trader, it was all he knew how to do and Kotula had known that and practically forced him to do what he loved with the hope that after their children were grown she would join him on the ship. Her early death had cut off that dream and brought a shadow to his career. He refused to give up as a way of honoring her memory, but there were times he had regrets.

Such regrets made his addiction to the drug Tint all that much harder to deal with. He kept it under control and