Mindee Arnett - Avalon

Jeth frowned, doing his best imitation of surprise. Fortunately, he didn’t have to fake his trepidation over the notion of flying into the Devil’s Boneyard. That emotion was genuine.

“Now, I know the Belgrave has a certain reputation, but considering how much you kids like a thrill, I imagine you’ll be up for it.”

You don’t know them very well, Jeth thought. They all liked a good challenge, but the Belgrave was on a whole new level. It was one thing to face danger in familiar territory, but something else to face it in the complete unknown.

“And even if there is some hesitation,” Hammer continued, “I think the two hundred-k payment ought to smooth things over.”

Jeth gaped, his surprise genuine this time. That was a lot of money, way more than they’d ever made on any job. It was enough to put him within spitting distance of buying back Avalon . That’s one helluva carrot .

The idea of trying to bargain suddenly occurred to him. He’d never dared such a thing before. There wasn’t much point when Hammer held all the power. With a single word he could cut them all off like he had the beggar. The only way out of such a death sentence was if some relative or friend outside Peltraz was willing to come and take you away from the spaceport, assuming Hammer would allow them to land and take off again. But Jeth’s and Lizzie’s only relative was Milton, and he lived on Avalon with them. The other members of the Malleus Shades were orphans, wards of the state already. Wards of Hammer Dafoe.

And the money wasn’t just for him, but for the others, too. He had no right to bargain with it. Yet . . .

I’m so close .

Jeth inhaled deeply, ignoring his squirming insides. “What if I were to say you give the crew twelve-k a piece and keep the rest?”

Hammer frowned, not in anger exactly, but definitely not thrilled. “In exchange for what?”

“Avalon.”

Hammer laughed, his entire belly wriggling. “Very funny, Jeth. Never knew you were such a jokester.”

Do you really believe he’ll let you have your ship? Jeth heard Renford say. He supposed it was time to find out.

“I’m not joking. My cut of that money puts me pretty close to buying her back, by my count anyway. And if you’re already going through the trouble of letting Avalon out of her cage, why not make it simple and let her go for good. Once I’ve brought back the missing ship, of course. You know I’m good for it.”

Hammer’s gaze hardened. “Ah, but that’s the catch, isn’t it? It’s Avalon I need, not you. Who’s to say I don’t get someone else to take her out? Someone who’d be happy with the pay I’m offering?”

Jeth balled his fingers into fists as he fought to keep his cool. Hammer had to be bluffing. The Malleus Shades might not be salvagers, but they had an unbeatable track record, and nobody else was familiar with Avalon . “Like who? The Dark Sol Gang out of the Antares System? I hear they’re pretty good, but could you really trust them like you trust me?”

Hammer considered the point. Jeth held his breath, leery of Hammer’s response and what it might reveal about his real intentions. Will he let me go? It would mean the end of the Malleus Shades. There was no way Jeth would leave Peltraz without the rest of the crew—assuming they wanted to leave with him.

When Hammer finally answered, his tone was too genial. “Like I said before, I do like you Jeth. So, let’s make it ten-k a piece for your crew, and we’ve got a deal.”

Jeth’s heart plunged like a boulder down his chest into his stomach. Hammer’s answer was all wrong. He’d given in too easily. Jeth could tell when he was being placated. For whatever reason, Hammer wanted Jeth happy and committed to the job.

Emboldened by a sense of futility, Jeth decided to keep playing Hammer’s game. “Ten-k it is, but I want the money and Avalon ’s title in my name upfront.”

Hammer laughed. “No way. You’ll have no incentive to complete the job if I give you all that.”

“It’s like you said, the Belgrave’s got a reputation. The crew will be a little happier with that kind of reassurance. I mean, who’s to say if we fly in there that we’ll ever fly out again?”

Hammer sneered. “Those rumors are grossly exaggerated, as you well know.”

“Maybe, but the ITA shut down all the trade routes through it for some reason or other.” They’d done it not long after Jeth’s parents returned from their last expedition. Milton had told him that, for a time afterward, the ITA had sent dozens of explorer ships into the Belgrave. Whether or not they found what they were looking for Jeth didn’t know, but they’d kept the routes closed ever since.

“That’s just because the ITA wants to force travelers to use an extra gate to go around it rather than save money by flying through it,” said Hammer. “Really, I thought you had the measure of them by now.”

Jeth smacked his lips. He did have the measure of them. Greed . Same as everybody else.

Hammer sighed at Jeth’s lack of response. “Fine. I’ll give you half the money upfront.”

“What about the papers?” Jeth said, deliberately pressing now.

“I’ll give you a copy of the transfer papers, but I’m not signing until after you come back.”

Jeth exhaled, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. It was better than nothing. Signatures could be forged. And it was a sign of good faith, for whatever that might be worth. He supposed there was still a chance that Hammer would honor the arrangement, that he was just being paranoid because of what Renford had said. “Okay, it’s a deal. Now, what are the details on the lost ship?”

Hammer leaned forward, his manner all business now. “It’s called the Donerail . I’ll have the specifics on it loaded into Avalon ’s databanks in the morning. Your job is simple. Find the ship and haul her in. I’ll give you two weeks to search for her. If you haven’t found her by then, you need to come out of the Belgrave and check in with me.”

“Okay,” Jeth said. “But why do you want the ship? Surely not for the metadrive. There’s no guarantee it’s even working, right?”

“No, it’s not the metadrive this time.” Hammer drummed his fingers against the table, as if debating how much to tell him. “The ship’s carrying a . . . weapon. Something new and valuable, of course.”

Of course . Jeth sighed, a little disappointed. New or not, weapons were nothing special. All they did was kill and destroy. That song and dance was as ancient as human beings.

“The weapon’s dangerous, too,” Hammer added. “And it could be unstable. I’ve got to insist that nobody boards the ship.”

Jeth frowned. Exploring the ship might’ve been the only fun part of this job. Then again, the weapon could be viral or radioactive.

“I mean it, Jeth,” said Hammer. “If you do board her, then our little agreement about Avalon goes null and void, as well as the money. Understand?”

“Yes,” Jeth said, agreement a given. He’d rather face an ITA firing squad than death from radiation poisoning.

“Besides, there’s no reason you should have to board,” Hammer continued. “The Donerail disappeared two months ago, well beyond its food and water capacity. Any passengers would be long gone by now. The ship’s a Marlin.”

Jeth nodded. Marlins were a transport class, short-range ship, the fastest of their kind and surprisingly well-armed and well-shielded for non-military vessels. This made them the ship of choice for corporations that had expensive goods to transport as well as for pirates and smugglers. Jeth supposed if someone had a secret weapon they needed to move quickly, a Marlin made sense.