To Hell and Back (Hellworlder pirates)

A Captains Job Ch3

A Captains Job

Captain Aster Maidens-daughter looked over the dossier the contact had presented her while quietly sipping the warm cup of Uq'ot, which her crew lovingly called Xeno-joe. It was a decent drink, but it lacked some of the full-bodied quality of coffee. Matched with a slight waxy texture and the fact that alien mouths couldn't handle the same heat as human, and Captain Aster was wishing they were closer to Mars to refill the ships supply. Despite her preference for the Hellworld bean the cup in her hand was as perfect as Uq'ot could be. Considering that the contact and his brother ran their real business behind the front of a Café she really wasn't surprised.

What did surprise her was the seemingly perfect contract before her. She never trusted a good thing, if the day was bright and clear she would still watch the ground for shit. It was what kept her and her crew alive and thriving. She had passed up many 'perfect' jobs before, they usually had too many stings attached. But this particular contact had an exceptional reputation. He was the only real reason she brought the Astaroth to port in Femeri, the pickings out here were to slim, and the station security was to thorough for any smuggling work. He always put together the best jobs and only gave them out to the right crew for the job, which was increasing becoming her and her crew.

Her reputation for professionalism and discretion were her ships main selling point. That and the Astaroth herself.

Most other ships in her line of work were regular small freighters sloppily repurposed. Matched against the sleek purpose-built demon ship they couldn't compare; she was leagues ahead of any other ship of comparable tonnage.

The job was essentially corporate sabotage. A new mining company had set up shop in a trans-platinum rich asteroid field, and had dropped an impressive amount of credits on the best equipment. With time this new company could easily tip the market balance in their favor. Femeri was particularly interested in the mines success and had lent out impressive defense assets and diverted the course of a few lane runners to keep the shipping lanes safe for the mine.

Only problem was that the contractor didn't want them to tip the market, likely a rival mining operation and their powerful investors.

Hence the need for her ship and crew. According to the specifics of the contract she was to disrupt the new mining base in a way that made their investors pull out and for the company to default on their loans. A simple smash job. All cut and dry, but a little below the contacts normal interests. Meaning he had another angle to the job.

She finished her third reread and glanced into the primates two central eyes, developed for decent biscopic vision, though not as sophisticated as other Terran eyes. "And the rest of the job?" she asked dully.

The contact smile "Ten thousand credits"

Aster grunted, fiddled with the personal assistant on her wrist, and transferred the money into the discreet account he used for her.

A ping of confirmation on his wrist and he slid a second paper file folder over to her. Inside she saw a very detailed list of all the brand-new equipment the company had bought, a map of the facility, and where each machine was stored. She also found that the foundry had an attached warehouse were the refined metal was kept and a list of all the shipping days and how much to expect. At the end she saw the lane runners patrol schedule, with a particular weakness highlighted. A time and place where a well-equipped ship could jump a runner and leave the facility undefended for two and a half-ish hours.

She smiled "numbers like this and I'm thinking I should invest, why should I take this job."

He returned her grin "because the contractor really wants them gone, their stock is beginning to drop. And I know you have a significant amount of credits invested in their future, as opposed to a new upstart. Not to mention I know a much safer investment that would really like some of the listed equipment, one that allows your current investments to thrive and open up a whole new sector in space to exploit. These upstarts are just looking to supplant the status quo and take over, you would in the long-term gain little, and short term lose a lot of money. To borrow a human phrase this is a two in the hand one in the bush scenario."