“Almost as nice as his dogs. The authorities had a hell of a time getting them off the property.”
Cyra traversed the large dock out to the city streets to get a better comm signal. “Why would anyone want to buy these animals? And from a source so far away?”
“It’s rare to find them anywhere other than Morgual. We’re about the only planet for light years that has a decent training program.”
Cyra wouldn’t call anything about Morgual decent. It was a dirty, overcrowded planet with much too much unregulated industry. The sky hadn’t always been a sickly yellow. Farther away from the true industry, the factory owners kept spacious homes with extensive air cleaning devices. It wasn’t like they didn’t know what they were doing to their planet; it was just too profitable to be motivated to stop.
“So, how do I get in touch with this trader?” If she wasn’t so desperate and didn’t have partners counting on her—but she did.
“I gave him your comm info but told him to wait to contact you. You’ll likely hear from him tonight.”
“Thanks, Gorga. I owe you.”
Cyra made her way back to the ship. She’d never consider taking the contract for a transport all the way to Kolben if she wasn’t already going. It would take galactic months to get there. Could she manage the dogs on the ship for the entire time? It wasn’t like spiders. They’d have to eat, exercise, and evacuate their waste.
Cyra called a meeting in the galley. She explained the details of the possible transport.
“We’ll have to navigate through wormholes to travel that distance and be profitable.” Rhysa leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.
Cyra cringed at the casual term for a bridge. Traveling through an ER bridge seemed like she was being processed through the guts of a worm. It was too accurate a term, and she refused to use it. No shortening of the trip was worth that experience, in her opinion. She wouldn’t use one unless there was no other way. “Plan as if that’s not an option.”
Rhysa huffed.
“Meet back here for last-meal to discuss the quote.”
Cyra spent the hours in between digging through Auvi’s files, searching the database for any information on previous transports to Kolben. The only contract she found was the existing one for Dez. She examined the details noting one alarming caveat. She checked the dates again. If she didn’t deliver Dez in the next ninety-one cycles, not only would they forfeit the remaining payment, they would owe the deposit and a hefty breach-of-contract fee.
She should have read the damn thing sooner. No time for regrets, she continued digging until she found the template for live cargo transport contracts and the accompanying quote sheet. There were a lot of blanks and she only had some of the answers. How dangerous were these dogs? Was there any way to control them? Damn, she should have asked. How big was big? With a shrug, she entered forty-five kilos each and winced at the result. That was a lot of food. Which meant they’d have to stop and load up on the way to Kolben, probably on Cassan. She finished poking at the data and then rushed to the galley.
Her comm buzzed with an incoming call. She glanced at the time. Hours had passed.
“I’m Helfang, I got your number from Gorga.” The trader’s gravelly voice blasted in her ear. She held the device farther out.
“Yes, um, Helfang. This is Captain Maejzhur ofThe Treasure. How can I help you?”
“I just picked up a thuringy pack at auction. I need them transported to Kolben.”
“Will you be traveling with the cargo?” Part of her hoped so he could own the trouble of taking care of the animals would. On the other hand, she didn’t want word to get out exactly how smallThe Treasurecrew was.
“No. I have a few more stops before I head back to Cassan. I don’t live on Kolben. I just have a contract to make acquisitions for them. Tell you the truth, I hate the cold.”
“When will you be bringing me the cargo?”
“Call off the launch sequence, Captain.” Helfang chuckled. “We need to talk price.”
“I need more details to quote you a price. Do you have the biologic requirements, food, environment needs?”
“There are five in the pack. Don’t want them losing muscle on the trip. A high protein diet and some kind of workout provision should keep them in the same prime shape that I purchased them. I’ll send you the details.”
“What about their attack training? I heard the authorities had trouble retrieving the little darlings from their owner’s property.”
“Not a problem. Two things. First, you have to know their training commands. I have the key for that. All the commands and their meanings. Second, you need someone confident enough to command them.”
“Great.” Cyra gulped down her trepidation. Maybe one of her partners would be comfortable commanding a pack of thuringies. “I’ll prepare a quote. We require half the payment at the time the cargo is accepted for transport.”
“That’s not a problem, as long as we can agree on the price,” Helfang said.
“I’ll be in touch.”
