Ryk Brown - The rings of Haven

“Can we up the amount later if we needed?”

“You may, but it would probably raise undue suspicion.”

“We’re receiving navigational instructions, sir,” the comm officer reported.

“Feed them to navigation, Ensign.”

Cameron went to the navigation station and began plotting a course change. “They’re sending us to a fairly dense part of the rings, Captain. Not too far from the Haven colony moon itself. Should be a pretty good place to hide out for a while.”

“Very well. Take us in, Cam.” Nathan turned back to Tobin. “So how’s this going to work, again? You’re going to bring up some workers or something, and they’re going to work from here?”

“No need for concern, Captain. Very few ships that come to harvest the rings bring their own harvesting equipment and crews. There are many teams available for hire on Haven. They will bring their ships and workers here. The harvester will collect material from the rings and bring it to your hangar deck. There it will be off-loaded, sorted, and repackaged. Some goes to your hold, some goes back to Haven where it will be sold to pay for your supplies, as well as the workers doing the harvesting. It is quite common, and we get ships from all over the quadrant. The material in the rings is quite rich with precious metals and water ice. It is a unique and rare combination, as you will soon see.”

Nathan nodded his understanding. “Are we all set?” he asked Cameron.

“Course plotted and ready.”

“I’ll take us in,” he insisted. “You go and take a break. Get something to eat. You’re going to be in command while I’m gone, so this may be your last chance for a break for some time.”

“Okay. Then I’m headed for a shower and a meal,” Cameron announced as she headed out.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Jessica agreed. “I think I’ll do the same.

“Actually,” Tobin interrupted. “Where we’re going, being too clean might attract attention. It might be best if those going to the surface refrained from bathing until they returned.”

“Okay, good to know,” Nathan said.

“If there is nothing else for now, I will prepare my ship for departure,” Tobin announced, stepping back towards the exit. He waited for any objections, and once satisfied there were none, spun around and headed out the door.

Nathan looked at Jalea, who had been silent the entire time. “This all sound about right to you?” he asked.

Jalea looked puzzled by his phrasing for a moment until she deduced his meaning. “This is the way it is usually done in this system,” she assured him. “As long as we do nothing to attract attention, I do not expect any difficulties.”

Nathan nodded his understanding, as Jalea also turned and followed Tobin out.

“I wish I was as confident about this plan as they seem to be,” Cameron muttered as she passed. “Come on, Jessica. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Jessica turned to follow Cameron out. “That’s gonna be a long, smelly shuttle ride,” she said.

“Let’s go try out some of those meal kits they retrieved,” Jessica suggested as she caught up with Cameron in the corridor. She had grown tired of the nuts and dried fruit just like everyone else on board. Jessica noticed Cameron’s expression. She usually had a serious look on her face, but her current expression was more serious than usual, even for Cameron. “What’s bugging you?”

“I’m worried about your trip to Haven,” Cameron admitted.

“Piece of cake, boss. We swoop in, do a little shopping, ask a few strategic questions, and then haul-ass outta there. Standard tourist op,” Jessica assured her.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Cameron told her. “It’s Nathan. Or more specifically, it’s Jalea. I don’t like the influence she seems to have over him. I don’t trust her.”

“Well, duh. Who does?”

“He does,” Cameron stated.

“No, he doesn’t. At least not as much as you think,” Jessica insisted. “He’s just playing along with her, seeing where it takes us. He’s not as gullible as everyone thinks he is. He’s actually pretty good at reading people.”

“Yeah, I know he is. But he also tends to act too quickly, without thinking things through first. And from what I’m hearing, Haven is not the kind of place where you want to be acting impulsively.”

“Not to worry, Commander. I’ll have his back the whole time.” Jessica looked at Cameron, who said nothing. “Seriously, Cam. This is what I do, okay? He’s not going down there alone, you know. He’s going to have two spec-ops, a marine, and an ex-ground-pounder backing him up.” Cameron looked at her with a puzzled look on her face. “Oh, you didn’t know? Vlad spent four years in greens before he got into the academy. So you see, you’ve got nothing to worry about. If any trouble starts, Haven won’t know what the hell hit’em!”

Cameron was a bit surprised at her enthusiasm, unaware of Jessica’s desire to do field work. “Just don’t let him wander off by himself, or worse, just him and Jalea. I still don’t trust her.”

“You’ve got it, Commander. Eyes on the skipper twenty-four-seven,” she joked.

Cameron stopped in the middle of the corridor. “I mean it, Ensign.” Cameron looked dead on into Jessica’s eyes. “You stick to him like glue. Understood?” she ordered.

Jessica straightened up, her expression becoming more serious. “Yes, sir.” The two of them stood there staring at each other for a moment before Jessica finally spoke up again. “Can we go eat now?” A tiny smile began to form on the corner of Cameron’s mouth, as she turned to continue down the corridor toward the mess hall.

“You wanna give me a hand over here?” Nathan asked Cameron as she entered the bridge. “It’s gettin’ a bit crowded out there.” Cameron made her way over and took a seat at the navigation console next to Nathan.

“Damn,” Cameron exclaimed. She had never before seen the navigation screen with so many ship tracks displayed. “I guess the rings of Haven are a popular place.” Nathan wasn’t really listening, instead choosing to concentrate on flying the ship using the course plots Cameron was already feeding him. There were at least fifty ships in their general area, and despite the great distances between them, they were all moving fast enough that a few seconds hesitation could spell disaster.

“Suggest you maintain a considerable distance above the rings until we reach our harvesting zone,” Ensign Yosef reported from the sensor station. “There are quite a few stray rocks floating just outside the normal plane of the rings. And they’re a bit hard to detect until the last moment.”

“How much longer until synchronous orbit?” Nathan asked.

“Two minutes,” Cameron answered calmly.

“We’ll come in high over our assigned parking spot. Once we sync our orbit, I’ll translate down slowly into the rings.”

“Copy that.” Cameron closely monitored the ship’s rate of deceleration, making sure the flight computer would match their forward velocity to the proper orbital velocity for their assigned altitude. Although they were still traveling at considerable speeds, in relation to the rotational speed of the gas giant below them, it was no more than a diminishing crawl.

“One minute,” she announced.

“I’ve got a ship approaching from astern, slightly to starboard,” Jessica warned. “She’ll have a visual on us in five minutes.”

The last thing they wanted was for other ships passing by to get a good look at them. Although the Aurora had been designed to have a less threatening appearance than the Earth’s Defender-class warships, she still looked more like a warship than a freighter. Though all her weaponry was recessed into her hull and covered up when not in use, anyone with a bit of knowledge about ship design would be able to pick out her weapons emplacements with ease. Even if they didn’t, the battle scars and the huge hole in her bow would be enough to raise suspicion on its own.