Read Online Mapped Space 1: The Antaran Codex by Stephen Renneberg - Free Book Online Page A

Silver
Lining’s berth, while my threading’s listener picked up the hollow click of
footsteps on deck plating outside the room.
    My host poured a dark red liquid
into a wine glass. “Forgive the impolite manner in which my associates brought
you to this meeting, Captain Kade, however, I wasn’t sure you’d come
willingly.”
    “Next time, try asking.”
    “I would, but I so dislike being
disappointed.” He sipped his drink. “And from what I’ve heard, you’re not a
particularly agreeable individual.”
    “You don’t know me. I’m very
agreeable, except when I’m jabbed in the neck with a sleep dart.”
    “Well, as you and I have no past
disagreements, let us start as friends.”
    “This is how you treat your
friends?” I glanced meaningfully at the glowing fields clamping me to the chair.
    “Acquaintances then, or are we adversaries?”
When I didn’t respond, he said, “My name is Arturo Salbatore Vargis and I have
the honor of being the captain of this ship, the Soberano .”
    “Never heard of you.”
    Vargis nodded understandingly. “I
don’t normally come out this far. This little rock may be fertile ground for
men such as yourself, but I find there are few opportunities worthy of my
interest.”
    Impressive, a boast and an insult
in one. “And yet, here you are, among us low life bottom feeders.”
    “Yes, and we both know why.”
    “Do we?”
    “Come Captain, I know you asked
Ameen Zadim to find Sarat for you.”
    “Who?”
    “Zadim’s people have been
scouring the city, asking questions, prying where they shouldn’t. Did you
really think no one would notice?”
    Zadim was sneaky enough to ensure
his people wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. The only way Vargis had
picked up my trail was if someone working for Zadim had sold us both out.
    “What people notice isn’t my
concern.”
    Vargis put his drink on the
table. “Let me make this easy for you, Captain Kade. I have a proposition for
you, one that does not involve Mukul Sarat.”
    “If you’re talking money, you’re
talking my language.”
    “I knew we could come to an
understanding,” Vargis smiled as if the deal was already done. “There is a
contract waiting for you at the Exchange. Two hundred and fifty thousand
credits to deliver a confidential dispatch to Zen Tau Base. No detours, no
delays and you leave immediately. Oh yes, and Zadim forgets all about Sarat.”
    Ten times the going rate to carry
mail to a rundown Chinese outpost over three hundred light years away at the
edge of nowhere? It would take three months to get there, fully bubbled with no
stops.
    Vargis leaned forward. “Once you
make the delivery, keep going. You will not return to this region of space for
. . . let’s say a year after you reach Zen Tau.”
    “That’s a generous offer,” I said
thoughtfully, as if considering the deal, “except Zen Tau is Yiwu space and I
don’t speak Chinese.” The Yiwu, the Obligation, had been the dominant Chinese
organized crime syndicate since the early 45th century, and I was on less than
friendly terms with them.
    “The Yiwu will leave you alone
once you make the delivery – and you can learn Mandarin on the way.”
      The Yiwu would leave me alone? Seriously? If
true, Vargis was more than an overdressed snake oil salesman with irritatingly
well-groomed facial hair. More likely the delivery would have the opposite
effect. He was sending me three hundred light years to make it easy for the
Chinese mafia to ensure I never came back.
    “And if I don’t take the
contract?”
    Vargis face hardened. “That would
be most unfortunate. For you, for your crew, for your ship. Trust me, Captain Kade,
I have only your best interests at heart.” Vargis emptied his glass, “Take the contract
and leave Mukul Sarat to me.”
    I felt a now familiar sting in
the back of the neck and was out before I could reply. At least this time, I
was sitting down when I lost consciousness.

 
    * * * *

 
    I came to on a