“So, you want me to drop everything and change my plans to take a contract and deed to Titania Station?” Mac asked the attorney.

  “That is correct,” Judy Allen answered. “Someone from Foster and Dawson Attorneys at Law will meet you at the hangar and take the package from there.”

  “That’s nearly 20 AU away and will take most of tonight and a good part of solmorrow for the Lady Hawk to travel,” Mckenzie said.

  “That’s faster than our normal courier,” Judy remarked.

  Score one for my caravel!

  “Why Mckenzie?” Sergeant Kathleen asked. “He’s still just an academy student.”

  Mom and Dad agree with that question and statement going by their looks, Mac thought. But I’m curious as to why too.

  “Honestly, expedience,” the attorney said. “There’s not another available small ship in the region, our regular courier’s ship is in for repairs, and the paperwork has to be delivered to the buyer by the end of business solmorrow.”

  “Why paperwork?” William asked. “Nobody uses actual paper or data crystals these sols.”

  “Our client and the buyer both have insisted on it. Both are elderly and have a fondness for the old ways,” Judy answered.

  “How much are you offering for this trip?” Samatha asked.

  Thanks Mom! I want to know too.

  “75000 credits,” the attorney answered. “The standard rate is 50000 credits.”

  Wow! That would help me a lot and is more than most Martians make in a year, Mac thought. He shook his head though. “While I’d like to take the contract, I don’t have my captain’s license as the Sarge stated. She’s actually acting as my captain on this trip home.”

  “Plus, Mckenzie and the Lady Hawk are not bonded and insured for such work yet,” Sergeant Kathleen added.

  “Would you be willing to accept the contract if I could arrange for insurance and bonding?” Judy asked.

  “You and your firm must really stand to profit off this deal if the paperwork arrives on time,” William muttered.

  “William!” Samatha hissed, slapping his arm as the attorney coughed and looked away.

  Mac did his best not to laugh. Dad only said what I’m thinking, and he nailed the lawyer too.

  “I am willing to sign off on this one-time contract if your firm is able to procure a solyear’s insurance and bonding for the Lady Hawk and Mckenzie in the next three hours,” the Sarge said. “That’s if he is willing to accept the deal.”

  Mckenzie’s dad pointed up over his mom’s shoulder. Mac subtly nodded. He started to speak but the Sarge gestured up too.

  “For the insurance, bonding, docking fees at Titania Station, and 100000, no 125000 credits,” Mac said. He noticed the predatory look and approval in the droid’s eyes. “The extra will cover fuel costs.”

  “That will do nicely,” Sergeant Kathleen said. “It is a fair cost considering your firm’s… position.”

  I was only going to ask for 80000 credits, but this works, Mac thought.

  “I… let me make a call,” the attorney replied.

  *

  “I’m sorry I have to leave now,” Mac told his parents.

  “Don’t be,” William replied. “Make the credits where and when you can.”

  “That’s right,” Samatha added. “But you’ll miss supper.”

  “We could give Mac some of the food from the greenhouse and freezers,” his dad suggested.

  “True,” his mom agreed.

  “Mom, Dad, you don’t have to do that. I have enough food to last another week aboard the ship,” Mckenzie objected.

  “Nonsense,” his dad said. “Frozen food is no substitute for fresh.”

  “Alright,” Mac sighed. It’s no use fighting them on this.

  “Good,” his dad laughed. “You haven’t forgotten who’s boss and your head hasn’t gotten so big yet.”

  “Go pack sweetie. We’ll pack some food for you,” his mom said.

  “Thanks,” Mac said. He hugged them and headed inside the house.

  *

  “Your parents are good people and really love you,” Sergeant Kathleen said as Mac sealed the loading ramp. They walked to the galley. “They have given you a lot of food.”

  “Yeah,” Mac replied as he gazed at the full pantry. The pantry was now filled with several cases of canned fruits, vegetables, jams, sauces, and tomato gravy. And that’s not the mass-produced tin canned food either. That’s hand canned in jars old timey stuff. Plus, there’s fresh vegetables and some apples and oranges in the cooler in addition to a couple hundred kilograms of frozen beef, chicken, and pork in the freezer. There are even a few liters of homemade ice cream. “They gave me way too much.”

  “You could sell it at the academy,” the Sarge suggested. “People will buy as much as you’re willing to sell, especially the smoked pork and jars of vegetables. I know that Captain Mahoney loves that sort of stuff.”

  “The canned or jarred vegetables will keep for solyears,” Mckenzie informed the sergeant as he headed to the bridge and prepared for takeoff. “The meat will keep for a few months too.”

  “I was not aware of that. I may need to research food preservation methods,” she replied. “I suppose this means you will not be selling your parents’ gift.”

  “No, I won’t be,” Mac agreed as the Lady Hawk lifted into the air. “Thankfully, Mom and Dad didn’t go crazy with the fresh fruit and vegetables.”

  “They did give you a quite a bit more of fresh fruit than vegetables,” Kathleen observed.

  “Yeah. They know I love fresh fruit,” Mac replied. He smiled. “Want a snack?”

  “Yes,” she answered, matching his smile with one of her own. “May I have the strawberries?”

  “Sure, just not all of them,” Mckenzie replied.

  “Thank you. I will get them. What do you want?”

  “An apple and a can of those roasted peanuts,” Mac answered.

  “Water as well?”

  “Yes please,” Mac answered as the Lady Hawk left Mars’ atmosphere. “I think I’ll bake some chicken for supper, and we can have some ice cream for desert.”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “I look forward to trying it,” Sergeant Kathleen said before disappearing into the lounge. She stopped and said,” I thought farmers on Mars are poor, yet your family seems to have an abundance of food.”

  “We are poor,” Mckenzie replied. “But we’ve always had more than enough food to survive on. I guess that is why my folks decided to buy the farm. They wanted to make sure we had plenty of food.”

  “I see. Thank you,” the Sarge replied.

  40

  “Sarge, are you sure I can’t pay you part of this fee?” Mckenzie asked as the Hawk headed toward the asteroid belt.

  “No, thank you. But I wouldn’t mind and would accept more of the fruit,” the droid replied. She had already eaten two bowls of strawberries and half a watermelon.

  “Alright,” Mac laughed. “You can have rest of the strawberries except for a single small bowl full for me. You can also have the other watermelon once we get back to the academy.”

  “Thank you,” the Sarge said, smiling at him. “Speaking of the academy, when we return you need to speak with Victoria about setting up a business account with Galactic Banking and Trust. That is normally something you do in your last two solyears, but since this contract happened, you need a business account now rather than later.”

  “I suppose this means I also need to come up with a company name,” Mcenzie guessed. “And that my personal Redrock Bank account won’t work.”

  “Yes,” Sergeant Kathleen confirmed as Mckenzie and Joseph started plotting a course to Titania Station.

  If we go the normal route to Jupiter and Saturn then further out like Joseph is suggesting, I might miss the deadline due to traffic. But if we take this other course, we’ll save a few hours of time since that more closely matches Uranus’ orbit. Though we’ll have ventured a bit deeper into the asteroid belt as well as being at more risk for any privateers and pirates in the area.

  “Sarge, what do you think of these two course options?” Mckenzie asked the droid as he shared the plots with her.

  “Your second option is the riskier of the two, though the better option for the contract. It would also allow you to test your particle beams on a few asteroids deeper in the belt,” Kathleen answered. “I would suggest testing your weapons. Plus, this would allow you to further test your sensors.”

  “The academy wouldn’t object?” Mckenzie asked, ignoring Joseph’s plea to stay the safer course.

  “Not really, no. You have taken on the contract, so are responsible for fulfilling it. That supersedes any student safety concerns according to Titan Custer corporate regulations,” she explained.

  Somehow, I’m not surprised, Mac thought.

  “Thanks Sarge. Alright Joseph, we’re taking the shorter route,” Mckenzie said. He glanced at Joseph’s reply as the sergeant laughed. “And we are not doomed!”

  *

  “Joseph, crank up the sensors. Let’s see what these Marconi puppies can do,” Mckenzie instructed as the Lady Hawk reached the halfway point of their trek through the asteroid belt. “Let’s find some targets.”

  “Joseph, scan for precious metals and rare earths,” Sergeant Kathleen added. “I know I don’t need to verbalize our conversations, but I want Mckenzie to know what is going on.”

  “Thanks Sarge,” Mac replied. Joseph is really starting to get on my nerves. Instead of voicing that thought, he said, “We can’t stop for mining. We don’t have the time.”

  “True,” the Sarge agreed. “But your Dodecahedron bots have basic retrieval functions. We can slow down and send them out to gather anything that the sensors find worthwhile.”

  “Joseph is right. The Lady Hawk doesn’t have any true mining infrastructure,” Mac pointed out after reading the AI’s message.

  “Again true, but we’re heading to Titania Station, and they have a lot of refining capacity,” the droid countered.

  “Thanks Sarge. I hadn’t considered that. Your assistance and teaching are proving to be invaluable,” Mckenzie said as the Hawk slowed.

  “You’re most welcome,” the droid replied. “Joseph states the sensors have found a couple of likely targets. I will show you how to mine with ship weapons and you’ll try your luck on the second asteroid.”

  “Alright,” Mac agreed. Hopefully, this is worth the time and effort and not just fun target practice. He watched as Sergeant Kathleen lowered power on the particle beam cannons and sliced the first asteroid Joseph had highlighted for him in half after firing a test shot at a random asteroid. “Nice shooting, Sarge! I didn’t know particle beams could be used like that.”

  “Most people forget or don’t realize that lasers and particle beams can be focused like that,” she replied. “Anyway, the Dodecahedrons are on their way to collect the loot.”

  “Loot?” Mac laughed.

  Kathleen smiled and shrugged. “Hopefully. According to the scan, the weight is right for at least some silver and not just iron.”

  “My turn?” Mckenzie asked.

  “Let the bots return to the hold first,” the Sarge answered. A couple of minutes later, she said, “Now it’s your turn.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Mckenzie replied. He made sure the cannons were still set on the same setting the sergeant had used. He locked onto the asteroid and fired.

  The invisible beam hit the bottom right of the asteroid and made it spin.

  “Higher and to your left by 30 degrees,” the Sarge instructed. “Then keep the beam going as you move the reticle left and right.”

  “Yes Sarge,” Mac said, doing as she instructed. This time the particle beam sliced the asteroid in half. Joseph sent the Decs back out after the chunks of rock after being told to by the Sarge. “I guess field testing my weapons is worth while even if the asteroids are just rock or iron.”

  “True,” Sergeant Kathleen agreed. “The bots are back aboard, and Joseph has sealed the hatch. Let’s go.”

  An alarm blared. Mac read Joseph’s message. “Contact has target lock on us!”

  41

  “That’s a level 10 Mantis class cutter. We don’t stand a chance if they want to shoot us,” the Sarge said. “Hopefully, they will just scan us and keep going. The Lady Hawk is only level 1 after all.”

  “Should I at least attempt to run away?” Mac nervously asked. This sucks! I’m going to die! I don’t want to die.

  “Calm down Mckenzie. Joseph and I both have sent to the Mantis’ AI that we’re nothing but a TCA student flight testing weapons,” the Sarge said. “Leonardo, the Mantis’ AI is advising his captain of that.”

  “I didn’t know that ships’ AI talked to each other like that,” Mac said for want of something to say. He started to blabber.

  “Normally they don’t. I urged Joseph to broadcast this tale and have joined in,” the Sarge replied, making Mckenzie stop.

  “Lady Hawk, huh? You’re lucky you’re only a cheaply refurbished level 1 caravel. Consider this your one and only warning,” a harsh male voice said over the comm system. “If we meet again, I’ll take you down regardless and sell whatever I can recover for scrap.”

  The alarm stopped sounding, and the Mantis disengaged. It flew off towards Mars.

  “Holy…” Mac said with shaking hands. “I…”

  “Mckenzie, Joseph and I will fly the ship. Since you do not have any alcohol on board, go take a shower and try to sleep,” the Sarge urged. “You are no good to us like this, but this is the life you have chosen. I will put you in the med pod if I must.”

  “Al… alright Sarge,” Mac replied. He stood and headed to his cabin.

  *

  “How are you feeling Mckenzie?” Sergeant Kathleen asked after Mac emerged from his cabin hours later.

  “Calmer at least,” he answered. I had a good cry in the shower. “I never thought I’d feel fear like that.”

  “It happens,” Kathleen said. “Thankfully, for me, I’m not programmed to feel fear.”

  “Oh… I was wondering about that,” Mac replied. He checked with Joseph through his implant. “We’re two hours from Titania Station?”

  “Yes. You slept for a while,” the droid answered. “You should eat something.”

  “Yeah,” Mckenzie said. “Are you hungry? I apologize for not cooking the chicken earlier.”

  “It’s alright and no, I’m not hungry. I’ve been snacking on the watermelon we cut up earlier.”

  “Ah. Alright. Guess I’ll cook myself an omelet for breakfast then.”

  “Mckenzie,” the Sarge called as he walked into the galley.

  “Yeah Sarge?”

  “While I do not think you would make a good combat pilot, you did well enough for your first… altercation. Your fear didn’t cripple you into inaction like others have let happen to them,” the droid replied. “I have noted such in the ship log. You need to write about the contract and experience in the log as well.”

  “Is that something else that is gone over in the advanced courses?”

  “It is.”

  “Thanks Sarge. I appreciate the kind words,” Mckenzie said. “I’ll write in the log after I eat.”

  “Good enough,” the Sarge replied. “And Mckenzie…”

  “I’ll fix you an omelet if you want one,” Mac said. Boy, the Sarge eats a lot more than the Chief. Maybe it has something to do with her being in security. Perhaps she is some kind of combat droid that needs more calories and fuel. I really need to do that droid research.

  “Thank you, Mckenzie. That would be grand,” Sergeant Kathleen said.

  *

  Two men followed by some sort of bot approached the Lady Hawk after Mckenzie landed in the hangar. One was wearing coveralls while the other wore an expensive looking suit.

  “The suit is most likely the attorney from Foster and Dawson,” Mac muttered as he made sure Joseph had switched over to station systems. 2500 credits for air, power, and water are expensive. The 10000 credits for one sol’s use of the hangar are a lot worse though. Thankfully, I’m not paying for them because of the contract.

  “Agreed,” the Sarge said. “The other man is most likely the station’s mineral accessor.”

  “I suppose I should meet them.”

  “We,” the Sarge clarified.

  “Thanks,” Mac said, standing and stretching. “Joseph, keep an eye on things please.”

  Mckenzie ignored the AI’s response and headed to the cargo hold. The sergeant followed as he grabbed the locked briefcase from the lounge. Mac verified the hangar was showing matching oxygen levels and lowered the ramp. The two men waited at the bottom of the ramp.

  “Mckenzie Edwards?” the suit asked. Mac nodded. “I’m Trevor Simpson and represent Foster and Dawson Attorneys at Law. I believe you have a package for us.”

  “I’m Mckenzie Edwards and this is Sergeant Kathleen. Mr Simpson, I need to verify your identity,” Mckenzie replied, earning a smile from the sergeant.

  “Of course,” Trevor agreed. A moment later, Joseph and the Sarge had verified the man’s identity. Mac handed him the briefcase. He examined it and smiled. “Not tampered with and on time. Here is the other half of your payment.”

  Mckenzie verified the credits were in his account. “Thank you, Mr Simpson.”

  “It’s been a pleasure, Mr Edwards,” Trevor replied. “I’ve sent you a card as well. We may use your services in the future.”

  Mac nodded his head and sent the other man his contact information too. Trevor smiled and walked away.