“So, what do you think?” Cyra asked after everyone had eaten.
“I think we still need a chef. This food sucks.” Blaize stirred the remnants of food with a fork and a frown.
“You cooked it.”
“I know, I’m poisoning myself.”
“I will cook next.” The usually silent male’s voice surprised Cyra.
“Are you sure, Dez? You don’t have to.” The itch between her shoulder blades warned Cyra that this would be taking advantage of the essentially captive man.
“I cannot do a worse job than the previous two last-meals.” He gazed down at his bowl with a look of disgust or disappointment. Cyra wasn’t sure which.
“Hey,” Rhysa barked.
“Are you arguing that you’re a better cook than the rest of us?” Cyra asked with a tone of warning that Rhysa could have the job if she wasn’t careful.
“Not at all. Go for it Dez. Captain’s right—you can’t suck worse than me.” Rhysa made an O with her mouth and dragged her fingers down the sides. “Although I’ve been told I suck quite well.”
Change of topic. “About the thuringy contract,” Cyra spoke over the rest of the group before they completely lost focus. “What should we charge? I can’t find any history that Auvi ever transported a pack of dogs, so beyond Dez’s contract…” She glanced at him guiltily. “I don’t have any basis.”
“I need to consider possible medical needs. How dangerous are these beasts?” Veda asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Before we think too hard about getting to Kolben. We need to figure out how we’re going to get back to Cassan. We’ll need more EMF rods just to make sure we make it back there and that’s if we can even get the ship to launch again. I’ve never worked with an emotional energy panel. It doesn’t have any documentation. The original manufacturer went out of business. Go figure. Not to many people want to have to orgasm on the deck just to get their ship into orbit. I mean the only ship I can think of where that might be an asset is a pleasure cruiser, and even then you wouldn’t want it on the deck. But, besides that we need more fuel to be safe and the prices here are ridiculous. Rhysa got us more rods on Cassan, but what we have left is exactly what we need, no room for error. If anything goes wrong… And with the extra load of…of the cargo, and the food to support said cargo— Have we received payment for the damn spiders? I mean, it would be nice to have them off the ship and then we could prep to even take on new cargo. As it is now, I wouldn’t be that confident that I could keep the spiders contained. Putting additional live cargo in the same area is going to be a problem.” Blaize looked up and took her first breath. The rest of the crew had their eyes glued to her and their mouths hung open.
“I don’t know what to answer or reply to or question first.” Cyra said.
“She does go on once she gets started.” Veda replied.
“I already heard from the pharmaceutical company.” Cyra pulled her hair away from her gills. “I didn’t reply to his crappy offer like you all suggested. I got another message just a few moments before last-meal. He wants to talk.”
“Let him wait some more. Call him after first-meal.” Rhysa told her.
Cyra nodded.
“As for the fuel,” Rhysa continued. “Prices here are ridiculous. But, if we get a few, we should have plenty to make it to Cassan, but there’s no way we can make Kolben without taking wormholes. The calculation doesn’t work any other way.”
“Let’s sell the spiders, find out what the requirements are for the new cargo and see how much deposit we’re getting. The deposit may be enough to get us the additional fuel and the food provisions we need.” Cyra hoped she wasn’t wrong.
Veda tapped Cyra’s shoulder. “Don’t forget the possible additional medical supplies. Dogs have very different metabolisms from humanoids and I’ve only had minimal training with canine based lifeforms. So it could be tricky.”
“That reminds me. We have to make a provision for them to exercise. I did some research, I think if we give them a fairly open space with bedding and then treadmill time.”
“I would be happy to assist with managing the dogs.”
Cyra turned to Dez. “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“I have nothing to occupy my time on this ship. The tedium is almost as bad as the food.” He lifted a forkful up and let it plop back in his bowl. “Please,give me something to do.”
Cyra met with the pharmaceutical rep the next cycle. The quiet negotiation tactic had been effective. He transferred the remaining credits owed and had the transportation vehicle and a specialized handling team ready to move the spiders. Tension on the ship dropped noticeably, but Cyra remained concerned about their next contract. Nothing was done until the final contract was approved. And if she didn’t close the deal… Not possible. She had to make it happen.
Helfang was waiting at the bar when Cyra got there. “Sorry I kept you waiting. I had to finish up a prior committment.”
“No problem, you can pick up the tab to make it up to me.”
Cyra smiled. Sometimes you had to spend credits to make credits. Besides, if Helfang was happy with her work they might get future contracts. “We’ve rearranged the cargo bay space to accommodate exercise equipment for the pack while providing appropriate kennel space.” She placed the contract on the table. “We have a price in mind. We took into account the number of animals, the additional food, medical, and fuel requirements and, of course, the distance.”
“How much?”
