Read Online Dreadnought (Starship Blackbeard Book 3) by Michael Wallace - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael Wallace
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her voice, with more than a hint of disapproval. Of course, Tolvern would never let herself be put in such a compromising position.
“We don’t even know if Isabel will be able to reach her sister. And if she does, then Catarina might decline the offer anyway. If she’d wanted to stay with me, she could have followed us into Hroom space. Maybe she’ll say no this time, too.”
“In that case, problem solved. You give her share to Aguilar, and I keep my four thousand pounds.”
“Very well. We’ll hire this villain and his crew of pirates. Offer him eight thousand, plus the so-called bonus on the other end.”
Tolvern touched her ear. “Jane, open a channel to Pussycat .” She glanced back at Drake with a raised eyebrow. “I’m going to get really tired of saying ‘pussycat’ before we’re done. Is this Aguilar? This is Commander Jess Tolvern, of Starship Blackbeard . Captain Drake would like to hire your services, subject to the following non-negotiable conditions.”
#
Drake was not surprised that Isabel Vargus made contact with her sister in short order once money was on the line. Catarina and the crew of Orient Tiger were on their way to Hades Gulch. Catarina had apparently got wind of the star leviathan attack, and, like her sister, had decided to pick over the carcass of the salvage operation. Drake agreed to take his fleet and rendezvous with Orient Tiger there.
It took eight days of travel to reach the system, and another two to reach the small, cold planetoid and its moon where Orient Tiger was hard at work scooping up the leviathan’s leftovers. Drake was wary of the deep-space monster, but they scanned carefully and didn’t spot it. It must have wandered off.
Isabel’s ship, Outlaw, pulled ahead of the others as they slowed for the rendezvous, and arrived first, flashing past Orient Tiger in a way that seemed to irritate the younger sister. Catarina showed her guns and torpedo bays, and for a moment, it looked like the Vargus sisters would mix it up. Drake sent urgent messages, but they ignored him. It was only when he retracted his own shields to expose his main cannons that they stopped feinting and threatening each other.
Drake was in the captain’s chair when he got Catarina on the viewscreen. He’d been irritated by the bickering between the two sisters, but that vanished when he saw her smiling back at him. She was as beautiful as ever, and played with the ruby pendant resting on the swell of her breasts.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“That business with my sister? You know, sibling love. She is the older one, always wants to lord it over me. Rather a shame that I have the bigger ship, isn’t it?”
There was something else in their history, he thought, hearing Catarina speak. She sounded refined, like a lady of Albion, whereas Isabel spoke with a rougher, flatter accent. Not lower class, like Capp or some of the others in Drake’s crew, but it wasn’t the sort of accent one developed in finishing school, either. He wondered if their father hadn’t favored his younger daughter, sent her to Albion to make something respectable out of her, but hadn’t given Isabel the same opportunity. Then there was the injury and artificial eye that marred the older sister’s appearance. What was the story of that?
“So,” Catarina said, “I got your message. Can you talk openly, or do you need a private channel?”
Drake glanced at the rest of the crew on board. Capp and Tolvern were off shift, and Manx was in the science facility with Brockett, which left Smythe at the tech console and Nyb Pim in the pilot’s chair. Smythe was a tech geek and semi-oblivious when it came to human interaction, and Nyb Pim was a Hroom.
“I can talk here. What is it?”
“Money,” Catarina said. “Do you have it?”
“I have the eight I promised you.”
“Right,” she said. “I’m not too happy about that. My ship completely outclasses my sister’s—you saw how easily I
“We don’t even know if Isabel will be able to reach her sister. And if she does, then Catarina might decline the offer anyway. If she’d wanted to stay with me, she could have followed us into Hroom space. Maybe she’ll say no this time, too.”
“In that case, problem solved. You give her share to Aguilar, and I keep my four thousand pounds.”
“Very well. We’ll hire this villain and his crew of pirates. Offer him eight thousand, plus the so-called bonus on the other end.”
Tolvern touched her ear. “Jane, open a channel to Pussycat .” She glanced back at Drake with a raised eyebrow. “I’m going to get really tired of saying ‘pussycat’ before we’re done. Is this Aguilar? This is Commander Jess Tolvern, of Starship Blackbeard . Captain Drake would like to hire your services, subject to the following non-negotiable conditions.”
#
Drake was not surprised that Isabel Vargus made contact with her sister in short order once money was on the line. Catarina and the crew of Orient Tiger were on their way to Hades Gulch. Catarina had apparently got wind of the star leviathan attack, and, like her sister, had decided to pick over the carcass of the salvage operation. Drake agreed to take his fleet and rendezvous with Orient Tiger there.
It took eight days of travel to reach the system, and another two to reach the small, cold planetoid and its moon where Orient Tiger was hard at work scooping up the leviathan’s leftovers. Drake was wary of the deep-space monster, but they scanned carefully and didn’t spot it. It must have wandered off.
Isabel’s ship, Outlaw, pulled ahead of the others as they slowed for the rendezvous, and arrived first, flashing past Orient Tiger in a way that seemed to irritate the younger sister. Catarina showed her guns and torpedo bays, and for a moment, it looked like the Vargus sisters would mix it up. Drake sent urgent messages, but they ignored him. It was only when he retracted his own shields to expose his main cannons that they stopped feinting and threatening each other.
Drake was in the captain’s chair when he got Catarina on the viewscreen. He’d been irritated by the bickering between the two sisters, but that vanished when he saw her smiling back at him. She was as beautiful as ever, and played with the ruby pendant resting on the swell of her breasts.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“That business with my sister? You know, sibling love. She is the older one, always wants to lord it over me. Rather a shame that I have the bigger ship, isn’t it?”
There was something else in their history, he thought, hearing Catarina speak. She sounded refined, like a lady of Albion, whereas Isabel spoke with a rougher, flatter accent. Not lower class, like Capp or some of the others in Drake’s crew, but it wasn’t the sort of accent one developed in finishing school, either. He wondered if their father hadn’t favored his younger daughter, sent her to Albion to make something respectable out of her, but hadn’t given Isabel the same opportunity. Then there was the injury and artificial eye that marred the older sister’s appearance. What was the story of that?
“So,” Catarina said, “I got your message. Can you talk openly, or do you need a private channel?”
Drake glanced at the rest of the crew on board. Capp and Tolvern were off shift, and Manx was in the science facility with Brockett, which left Smythe at the tech console and Nyb Pim in the pilot’s chair. Smythe was a tech geek and semi-oblivious when it came to human interaction, and Nyb Pim was a Hroom.
“I can talk here. What is it?”
“Money,” Catarina said. “Do you have it?”
“I have the eight I promised you.”
“Right,” she said. “I’m not too happy about that. My ship completely outclasses my sister’s—you saw how easily I
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