Ghost Ship Read Online Free PDF Page A

murmured.
    “Precisely. These things can be mended, proactively. Theo, please pick a port.”
    It took her a heartbeat to catch that he didn’t mean just any port, but a port to serve as Bechimo ’s home of record.
    “Waymart,” she said.
    “What ship ain’t outta Waymart?” Miri asked.
    “And who will find it wonderful, if there is suddenly one more?” Val Con replied. “Jeeves, will you please ask Ms. dea’Gauss to set up a standard ship drawing account for Bechimo , with a clean registration out of Waymart, Captain Theo Waitley. When that is accomplished, please give Theo a data key.”
    “He can just beam the data over to Arin’s Toss ,” Theo said, before the full impact of that smooth flow of instruction hit her.
    She snapped forward, glaring into Val Con’s pretty face.
    He lifted an eyebrow—deliberately like Father, that’s what she thought, and, thinking it, felt her temper warm.
    “I didn’t ask you to lend me money!” she said, sharper than was probably polite.
    “Indeed you did not,” Val Con answered coolly. “Nor would I insult you by simply assuming that you had need. My concern here is Bechimo . A ship has necessities. And a hunted ship may come to doubt even ports that have been long secure.”
    Theo took a deep breath, and didn’t say anything while she counted backward from one hundred by threes.
    “They got this thing they say here,” Miri said into the silence. “Korval is ships.”
    Theo gave her a curt nod. “I’ve heard it.”
    “Who ain’t? Point is, it don’t just mean that Clan Korval owns more ships than’s strictly reasonable, and has its finger in the shares of a couple dozen more. It means that Clan Korval, through every one of its members, holds the well-being of ships and of pilots as their legitimate concern. I don’t mean to be telling you other things that you’ve already heard, Pilot Theo; I’m just learning some of it, myself.”
    Theo sighed, and inclined her head. “I’ve got a quick temper,” she said, remembering that saying I’m sorry to a Liaden was—not exactly rude, more like stupid, because it exposed a weakness.
    Val Con laughed.
    “Not alone there, either,” Miri commented.
    “By no means,” he agreed, and gave Theo a nod. “Forgive me, I had thought it implicit, when clearly it is not. I propose to establish a trigger account, attached to the new registration. Should Bechimo tap that fund, then I will indeed have lent money—to Bechimo , who is her own person. The debt will thus be settled between us, in a manner and time that we find mutually agreeable. Should the fund remain untapped for six Standards, it will return to Korval’s general ship fund, no harm done, nor insult taken.” He tipped his head. “If it transpires that this arrangement is found to offend Bechimo , I hope that you will, as my sister, plead the purity of my intent.”
    Theo snorted, and sipped lemon water while she thought.
    “If Bechimo is her own person,” she said slowly, “then she can’t be owned. That’d be slavery.”
    For some reason, Val Con smiled.
    “That is correct,” he said. “However, a ship must have a captain—which I understand to be the reason behind Bechimo ’s pursuit of yourself. The registration will be for the ship Bechimo , out of Waymart, Captain Theo Waitley. If, after you have had the opportunity to discuss the matter with your ship, it seems good to incorporate Bechimo , and thus gain her the mantle of corporate personhood . . .”
    Miri laughed. Theo blinked—and then saw the joke.
    “A tautology,” she said. “The paperwork would be a nightmare.”
    “It can become as complex as you like,” Val Con said. “But let us begin modestly. A new registration, and a drawing fund, should it be needed. I believe that we may trust to Bechimo ’s discretion. Jeeves?”
    “I concur. Bechimo appears to possess discretion, and a good deal of common sense.”
    “That is well, then.” Val Con looked to Theo. “A data