Inadvertent Adventures Read Online Free PDF

belong to the consortium."
    "I understand, sir," Captain Denise replied, but she was stopped by his raised hand.
    "I said seldom , not never, Captain. As it happens, I'm inclined to trust you. We do, after all, owe you far more than full fuel tanks. Therefore, I will allow you to carry this cargo to New Hispaniola and deliver it to our consortium headquarters." He leaned forward and spoke softly. "It's a very precious cargo, and not one that we advertise exists. You see, Germanicus has a better than average supply of platinum. That was what the raider was demanding, by the way. They blew up one of our cargo shuttles and killed four of my people as a demonstration of how serious they were. This shipment was supposed to go on our next mail courier, but I'll send it with you instead. It'll land you a good profit on delivery."
    Captain Denise sat back as her eyes widened. "That is very generous of you sir, and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart."
    "Not nearly as much as I--we--appreciate your timely, if unconventional, assistance, Captain. Not nearly as much."
    The next morning a single container was loaded aboard the Jolly Jane and secured in the middle of the cargo deck. "Not much of a shipment, Ma'am," Jeremiah sighed.
    "Heavy metals, Jeremiah. They’re valuable enough that we'll turn a profit and small enough for us to carry. We can't ask for much more than that," she replied, then slapped his shoulder. She wasn't telling her crew what they were carrying until they were safely away.
    "And free fuel. I can live with that, I guess. Cargo bay is ready for acceleration, Captain," he formally reported.
    "Noted. Prepare for departure." She turned away and headed up to the control room.
    As soon as she reached the control room Olaf reported, "All ship systems are green and ready for departure, Ma'am."
    "Begin departure sequence. Navigation, set course for New Hispaniola. Engage main drive as soon as we are clear of the station." Captain Denise sat back and smiled in anticipation. The reaction of her crew when she announced what they were carrying should be magnificent.

Chapter 4
    C APTAIN DENISE WAITED UNTIL THEY WERE in hyper before she told her crew what they were carrying. Olaf was the first to react. "Platinum?" he asked in a breathy whisper.
    "Platinum," she confirmed as her crew sat in slack-jawed shock. "Five-hundred million credits worth, by the manifest."
    The four junior officers of the Jolly Jane just sat and looked back and forth between one another. After a few moments Captain Denise spoke again. "It's a fortune, but what it means is more important. We're carrying a major cargo for a multi-system conglomerate. It's a foot in the door to better, higher profit cargos from other customers. After this delivery, we'll be available for another run for GMM, or one of their subsidiaries. It's our chance at the big time contracts, and we're not going to blow it."
    "What's the margin, Captain?" Jeremiah asked.
    "Straight delivery fee of three hundred thousand credits. Add in our payment and seventy-six thousand credits of fuel in Germanicus and we're way ahead. Even if we don't get free fuel in New Hispaniola, we'll be over two hundred thousand ahead."
    "Ho, Captain, that's music to this old man's ears," Will said, a smile splitting his face.
    "That goes for all of us, Ma'am," Jeremiah agreed and received nods all around the table.
    She grinned as she finished her announcements. "And, since we did get free fuel in Germanicus, we cleared the full one hundred sixty-one thousand credits. Half to the ship leaves us with sixteen thousand credits each." She grinned at each of her crewmen. "Your pay transfers will be sent to New Hispaniola with the rest of our documentation."
    The trip to New Hispaniola was routine, and only took ten ship-days in hyper to complete. They slipped out of hyper, slowing bit by bit to conserve fuel. Even if it had been free, Captain Denise was not going to waste it. "Ship entering New Hispaniola