Read Online Her Brother's Keeper - eARC by Mike Kupari - Free Book Online
Authors: Mike Kupari
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isn’t wrong. It would be easier for Father to have another son. He’d have to marry again, and his new bride would likely be younger than me, but such things are hardly unheard of.
Something about it bothered her. He had practically thrown the money at her, barely concerning himself with the details of her expenses and fees. This, coming from Augustus Blackwood, the notorious, penny-pinching tightwad who was even more obsessive-compulsive about managing his money than Mordecai was. (There was an unflattering rumor that her father kept a large bin of hard currency somewhere, simply so he could swim in it. That one wasn’t true, so far as Catherine knew.) Catherine couldn’t put her finger on it, but something felt off about the whole thing. Her father had told her that Cecil had been on some kind of treasure hunt, but that he wasn’t sure on the specifics. He said that he’d warned Cecil that he was going to get himself killed. Why risk so much to go get him when there was a goodly chance he was already dead? Why go through all the trouble to track Catherine down? It would’ve been faster and likely less expensive to hire a different privateer, after all.
Cecil, what are you doing out there? Collecting her thoughts, Catherine returned her attention to her assembled officers. “There is another, unfortunately pressing reason to take the shorter of the two routes. It offers more places to resupply, rearm, and recruit.”
The crewmembers looked at each other. Wolfram was silent. He already knew the plan.
“Recruit who , Captain?” Kel Morrow asked.
Cargomaster Kimball, a diminutive man with curly hair and a goatee, was the ship’s fourth officer. “We have fifteen open berths right now,” he said, “but we’ll need to take on additional supplies if we’re going to have more bodies on board.” The Andromeda had something of an unusual interior layout for a ship in her class. She was designed around a small crew and, in the gravest extreme, could successfully be piloted for a time by a single crewmember. She carried a complement of sixteen at present, and that was enough for Catherine’s purposes. She had berthing for a up to thirty personnel plus the captain, which was large for a patrol ship. This design quirk allowed Catherine to carry extra passengers without the risks inherent in putting them into cold sleep.
“I’m aware, Mr. Kimball,” she said calmingly. “I have thought this through, you know. You all must understand: my brother is being held for ransom. We don’t have a lot of details, but the people holding him are not necessarily reasonable, nor inclined toward diplomacy. We may have to rescue him by force of arms. I have complete faith in my crew and I would take the Andromeda into battle anywhere, but most of you are career spacers, not trained commandos. We’re going to need a few subject matter experts, as it were.”
Kel looked at the holotank again, and slowly nodded. “I see. You mean to hire some mercenaries. New Austin, probably?” He tapped the controls and the route map zoomed into the Lone Star System, focusing on its sole habitable planet, New Austin.
“Makes sense, Skipper,” came a deep voice from the group. It was Mazer Broadbent, the Andromeda ’s security officer. He was an experienced veteran of the Concordiat Defense Force Military Police Corps. He was a quiet man with a dark complexion, black hair buzzed short, and a cybernetic right eye which reflected the soft glow of the holotank. “A lot of Concordiat veterans use their discharge bonuses to emigrate to New Austin. The Colonial government actively encourages and promotes it. It’s a good place to find the kind of people you’re looking for.”
“It’s also the last place you’re likely to find the kind of people you’re looking for, Captain,” Kel said. “New Austin is on the Concordiat frontier. They have no colonies beyond that, not out that way.”
“Exactly,” Catherine agreed. “This is the
Something about it bothered her. He had practically thrown the money at her, barely concerning himself with the details of her expenses and fees. This, coming from Augustus Blackwood, the notorious, penny-pinching tightwad who was even more obsessive-compulsive about managing his money than Mordecai was. (There was an unflattering rumor that her father kept a large bin of hard currency somewhere, simply so he could swim in it. That one wasn’t true, so far as Catherine knew.) Catherine couldn’t put her finger on it, but something felt off about the whole thing. Her father had told her that Cecil had been on some kind of treasure hunt, but that he wasn’t sure on the specifics. He said that he’d warned Cecil that he was going to get himself killed. Why risk so much to go get him when there was a goodly chance he was already dead? Why go through all the trouble to track Catherine down? It would’ve been faster and likely less expensive to hire a different privateer, after all.
Cecil, what are you doing out there? Collecting her thoughts, Catherine returned her attention to her assembled officers. “There is another, unfortunately pressing reason to take the shorter of the two routes. It offers more places to resupply, rearm, and recruit.”
The crewmembers looked at each other. Wolfram was silent. He already knew the plan.
“Recruit who , Captain?” Kel Morrow asked.
Cargomaster Kimball, a diminutive man with curly hair and a goatee, was the ship’s fourth officer. “We have fifteen open berths right now,” he said, “but we’ll need to take on additional supplies if we’re going to have more bodies on board.” The Andromeda had something of an unusual interior layout for a ship in her class. She was designed around a small crew and, in the gravest extreme, could successfully be piloted for a time by a single crewmember. She carried a complement of sixteen at present, and that was enough for Catherine’s purposes. She had berthing for a up to thirty personnel plus the captain, which was large for a patrol ship. This design quirk allowed Catherine to carry extra passengers without the risks inherent in putting them into cold sleep.
“I’m aware, Mr. Kimball,” she said calmingly. “I have thought this through, you know. You all must understand: my brother is being held for ransom. We don’t have a lot of details, but the people holding him are not necessarily reasonable, nor inclined toward diplomacy. We may have to rescue him by force of arms. I have complete faith in my crew and I would take the Andromeda into battle anywhere, but most of you are career spacers, not trained commandos. We’re going to need a few subject matter experts, as it were.”
Kel looked at the holotank again, and slowly nodded. “I see. You mean to hire some mercenaries. New Austin, probably?” He tapped the controls and the route map zoomed into the Lone Star System, focusing on its sole habitable planet, New Austin.
“Makes sense, Skipper,” came a deep voice from the group. It was Mazer Broadbent, the Andromeda ’s security officer. He was an experienced veteran of the Concordiat Defense Force Military Police Corps. He was a quiet man with a dark complexion, black hair buzzed short, and a cybernetic right eye which reflected the soft glow of the holotank. “A lot of Concordiat veterans use their discharge bonuses to emigrate to New Austin. The Colonial government actively encourages and promotes it. It’s a good place to find the kind of people you’re looking for.”
“It’s also the last place you’re likely to find the kind of people you’re looking for, Captain,” Kel said. “New Austin is on the Concordiat frontier. They have no colonies beyond that, not out that way.”
“Exactly,” Catherine agreed. “This is the
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