Queen of the Pirates Read Online Free PDF

, they were parked at the far north end of the landing field, right below one of the big defensive towers that protected the field and had tracked them all the way to the ground. Cayenne dwarfed the other two shuttles, as well as many of the smaller freighters in the vicinity.
    The morning sun was bright in the clear sky, but barely warmed the field. According to the sailing gazette, it was still mid–spring on Ramsey at this latitude, so Jessica had worn a heavy forest–green pea coat over her day uniform at Moirrey’s suggestion. Others had settled for day jackets. She expected them to be sorry in about an hour or so.
    Several armed marines spread out to keep watch, while Auberon ’s stevedores began the process of unloading four massive containers, each a three–meter cube, under the watchful, loud, and occasionally profane supervision of Cayenne ’s Loadmaster, Takouhi Nazarian. Jessica was amazed at the volume coming from such a small woman, but it worked.
    Jessica gestured the others to join her as she moved into a clear spot. Denis, Enej, and Marcelle had all dressed for a relaxed port call. Moirrey was bundled up much warmer and carried a messenger bag slung over one shoulder. She was the reason Jessica was warm while everyone else was blowing on their hands to warm them.
    “What’s that?” Denis said incredulously, pointing across the tarmac.
    “That,” Moirrey smiled back, “is almost the state of the art for Ramsey when it comes to transport technologies.”
    A vehicle approached, slowly, loudly. It was a mostly metal frame with skinny rubber tires. The flatbed in back was packed tight with metal cylinders with a rough silvered finish. What made it stand out was the fact that it was drawn by two big horses, one roan and one black.
    “Horses?” Enej said.
    “Aye,” Moirrey replied. “’Tis way easier for two horses to make more horses than for two tractors from Anameleck Prime to beget ye spare parts.”
    “What are they delivering?” Denis whispered with awe.
    “Those be milk in ninety–liter jerry cans,” Moirrey said with a smile. “Ramsey’s big on cows, too. I did warn you that Lincolnshire were not up to Republic standards, sirs.”
    Jessica snorted. Nobody had actually listened to Moirrey. Their loss.
    In the distance, Jessica heard and saw a small airship take off from the control building and begin to careen wildly in their direction.
    Overhead, she heard a solid thump of metal as Cayenne ’s gun turret suddenly deployed and began to track the little airship. She imagined the things her pilot was yelling at the pilot of the flitter over the radio. Jessica rolled her eyes, but wasn’t about to rebuke Gaucho for it. The pilot over there should have known to fly more politely in a confined airspace.
    Apparently, he got the message quickly. Something about staring up twin barrels seemed to jar his sensibilities. The next moment, he braked savagely, flared his nose back so hard he nearly stalled the craft, dropped down to almost ground level, and then proceeded at slightly more than a walking pace.
    Jessica didn’t believe that Gaucho really would have opened fire here, but she was never sure. Her pilot was crazy.
    You needed that in a DropShip commander. At least the good ones.
    The flitter turned out to be more like a transport as it approached and landed. In the middle, what appeared to be two rows of seats faced each other, with a large, open cargo deck in back, separated by a bulkhead.
    A stout, middle–aged man, slightly rumpled after bouncing around the interior, climbed out of the back seat. He looked like a farmer, dressed up for going to the big city.
    “Command Centurion Keller?” he asked as he approached.
    To Jessica, he sounded like a farmer as well. His voice had the sort of gruffness she had grown up hearing from her uncles and their neighbors. She smiled and stepped toward the man.
    “Here,” she said.
    Up close, he was a small man, barely taller than her own