Chapter 41: A Time To Keep Silent

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Maps on the windshield showed Garden Variety Animal's position as Tyrone checked their course. Various system failures could cause a ship to deviate from the programed path, as could simple limitations in the computer systems and astronomic maps used to navigate. Starship crews, even on the smallest ships, made it a point to check several times per day that they were still headed where they wanted to go.

Footsteps in the corridor made him twist his head. Justine entered the cockpit, looked around and slid the door closed behind her. He lifted his brows in question as she sat at the copilot's station. If she was checking for Joseph before talking, he knew the topic.

"I got a message from our PICTA contact," she said. "Are we still going to make Vermillion on time?"

"We're still on course. What did she say?"

"They already have something for us to move. A small package to pick up at Vermillion and take onward. It's computer components of some kind for their ships."

The couple called the logistics contact Peter provided barely two days after talking to him. There just hadn't been that much for them to discuss, as it turned out. Once they realized working with PICTA wasn't nearly the risk they'd feared, there wasn't much reason not to get involved. The logistics team made the scheduling easy as well, they operated much like any other customer would in scheduling loads.

"That's exciting," Tyrone said. "Our first adventure in the world of secrecy and clandestine activity."

"It is a thrill, even if what we're doing isn't that exciting," Justine laughed. "It gives us a chance to do a little good in the world. Not that we don't otherwise, but I can't think of people much more in need."

"Nope. If the pickup point is Vermillion Station, will we need to get Joseph out of the way?"

"We shouldn't. We'll get the package at the same warehouse as our actual shipment, and he'll be off the ship by then. He said this morning that since we know the dock number for the ore hauler he'll just move everything he's taking with him onto the dock like we did at Orson Station. That way the two of us can keep moving."

"That's helpful of him, and convenient. I saw him moving boxes earlier, is he piling them in the cargo bay?"

Justine nodded. "By the airlock doors. We're doing a lot of moving lately." She fiddled with her wedding ring, a troubled expression on her face. "We could just tell him, you know."

PICTA's logistics team told the couple they should keep their activity for the association as secret as possible, but were allowed to tell close friends and family. Justine had asked if Joseph was involved with the association, but the answer was predictable. PICTA's policy was not to share information about who worked with them, even if the recipient of the information also worked with them. Risk was unavoidable in work for the association, and they did their best to minimize it. They would only learn someone was part of the support network if they had to meet. A perfectly reasonable stance, but not the answer they hoped for.

"We could, I don't think I want to though."

"I'm not sure I do either. I just don't like hiding things from him. Why don't you want to tell him?"

"At first, because he wasn't telling us about whatever he was doing for them." Tyrone smiled wryly at his own pettiness. "Now, it's because I'm not so sure he's actually doing anything of the kind. He never said one way or the other. It's probably for the best he didn't, because if he'd said 'no' at the time I wouldn't have believed him."

"I was thinking that even if he is, he'll try to talk us out of it for safety's sake and I don't want to have that argument."

"Neither do I," Tyrone agreed. "The more I think about it, the more it seems he isn't working for them. Initially it seemed like an easy call, it's exactly the kind of thing he would do. The problem is that Joseph doesn't hide what he's thinking about very well, and he hasn't said two words about PICTA since we left Orson Station. He'd talk about them if he'd volunteered."

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