In Ashes Born (A Seeker's Tale From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the sapphire eyes and the bubbling laugh. I shook my head. “Those are the high points.”
    “There were some low points, too,” he said.
    I nodded. “A few. We all have them, don’t we?”
    He nodded and drained his beer. “Too true.”
    “So enough about me. What have you been up to? Cargo first?”
    He shrugged. “Not much to tell. One of the cousins is the skipper for the Prodigal Son . We’ve managed to stay solvent and I’ve worked up through the ranks. Cargo first is all we can justify in that small a ship. I took the exam and hold the rating, but there was never any reason to claim the rank. It’s not like I’m going to get paid more or passed over. Besides, I’m getting the owner’s share less a franchise fee to the old man. Shares have been better than I ever imagined. Which is why this modeling symposium started. People took notice of how well we were doing.”
    “Your father had nothing to do with that, did he?” I asked.
    He smirked. “He fought it at first. Made it clear that I had to keep the profit coming and cover the costs of my own ship. He held the note, but I paid the bills with interest.”
    “How long did it take you to pay it off?”
    “Well, it was a twenty-stanyer note.”
    I smiled. “So, you paid it off in ten?”
    He grinned. “You know me so well.”
    I raised my bottle in a toast to him. “Congrats. That got his attention, did it?”
    “It did. Of course, he kept up on our trading the whole time. We’re part of the family fleet after all and he’s still the chairman of the board.” He went to the fridge and pulled out another beer. “You want one?”
    I shook my head. “One’s my limit for the afternoon.”
    “Lightweight.” He came back and sat down again.
    “Married?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “Never found the right person. Really wasn’t time to get involved.”
    “So you brought the Son here?”
    “Sure. We picked up a hot priority over in Dunsany and made a tidy profit on the run.”
    “Just cooling your heels for a few days?”
    “Roland is doing some maintenance on the engines and upgrading the sail generators.”
    “Roland?”
    “Captain Roland Marx. Second cousin on my mother’s side. He’s the captain of record and has the engineering certification for that power plant.”
    “But can he cook?”
    Pip shook his head and laughed. “Gods, no. He keeps us moving. I keep us fed and keep the profits rolling in.”
    “Just the two of you?”
    “For now. He’s planning on trading me out soon for a better-looking model.”
    “He’s leaving? What’ll you do for a captain?”
    “Well, yes, and no. He’s actually planning on staying with the Son . I’m planning on leaving.”
    “You’re leaving your own ship?” I could feel my jaw stretching open.
    “Buying a new one, I hope.”
    “You must be doing well.”
    He looked down at his hands. “Yeah. Well. That’s what I wanted to talk with you about.”
    “So you weren’t kidding about looking for me?”
    “I knew where to find you. I expected to be flying to Diurnia to do it when the conference is over.” He didn’t look up, just kept worrying the corner of the label on his bottle with a thumbnail.
    “So? What did you want to talk about?”
    He glanced up at me for a moment and then looked down again. “What can you tell me about the Chernyakova ?”

Chapter Five
Port Newmar:
2374, May 28
    My beer was nearly empty but I drained it anyway. The memories of bloated bodies and of living in the smell of corrupted flesh soured the brew, but it was something to do with my hands while I processed the question.
    Pip cleared his throat. “That bad, huh?”
    I put the empty bottle on the coffee table and leaned back in my chair. “Yeah. Actually, a bit worse than you might imagine.” I wiped a hand across my mouth but it did nothing for the vile taste there. “What do you want to know?”
    “Condition of the vessel?”
    I shrugged. “It’s been a couple of stanyers. Last I saw of