Wildcatter

Seth rose also, holding a poker face, and followed in silence as the commodore stormed through the mess and galley until they reached the elevator. A ship’s myth held that the elevator was the only place aboard not bugged by Control, so conversations there were private. Seth had never believed that, but if JC did, then it was probably true. JC, after all, had begun his career as an IT engineer. He would know Control inside and out.

The moment they were both inside and the door closed, Seth said, “Elevator to simulated Cacafuego gravity and make it snappy.”

The elevator dropped rimwards, halting with a jolt that made even him gasp, while JC looked as if he just sustained a double hernia. His knees buckled and he had to grab the walls to save himself from falling.

“What the flaming shit did you do that for, boy?”

“We’re at 1.62 gee, sir. A demonstration. Start by touching toes.” He bent over and laid his palms on the floor. That had always been easy for him, and an extra fifty kilos on his shoulders make it easier than ever. Straightening up was more of a challenge.

Give him his due, JC did bend until his fingers were below his knees. He even managed to straighten again from there. “So?”

“So this is what you’d be sending me into, sir.”

“It’s what you’re here for. I chose four people for brains and you for brawn. No fucking brains required.”

“Brawn won’t help me deal with hurricanes and Ebola fever.”

“The day I hired you, boy, I warned you about the odds of surviving a first landing on a virgin world. But Galactic’s team have paid that price, so you’re on a second visit. Now we’re forewarned, the odds should be better.”

“Those odds, sir, are based on visits that all looked a lot safer than that before the sucker pressed the START button. This one looks like suicide already.”

Veins showed in JC’s forehead. “Sonny, I’ve been around a long time and I know how to read people. I am certain that Galactic found something that got Commodore Duddridge all fired up like a cat in a carwash. He gave up the hunt for the missing prospectors awful easy, didn’t he?”

Seth agreed with a show of reluctance. “Yes sir. I did notice that.”

“Weren’t the landing team wearing monitors? He must have known exactly where they were, what their heart rate and blood pressure were. He didn’t tell us they were dead, did he? He gave up on his own missing people and went after bigger game.”

“Such as what?”

“I don’t know yet. Big, obviously. Very big, because ISLA will eat his ass out for it when he gets home. They’ll pull his license. He may face a civil suit for manslaughter. Galactic should fire him and cancel his bonus. So he’s obviously gambling that it won’t. He thinks he’s found the treasure map, but he doesn’t say what spot the X is marking. Now tell me how much more you want.”

“More?”

“Don’t play idiot. You just want more.” JC took a menacing step closer, which would have been amusing even if his extra weight hadn’t made him stagger.

Seth obligingly caught his arm to steady him. “Let’s think about the same share as the captain, three percent?”

“Flaming shit, boy! You’re dreaming in ten dimensions.”

“I have one life only.”

JC tried the long stare technique. He should have remembered that it didn’t work on Seth Broderick. He was trapped by the unexpected 1.6 gravity. On any other expedition, the biologist or planetologist could take over the prospector’s duties for at least the preliminary sampling mission. Here no one else but Seth, and possibly not even he, could function..

He pulled loose of Seth’s grip. “For what? One dirt sample and a shitty picture? That’s all you’re offering?”

Seth shook his head. “Two hours, maybe three. I doubt I’ll be able to stand upright any longer than that. As many samples and pictures as I can get in that time.”

The commodore frowned. “You can deliver that?”

“Two hours or no deal.”

“Two percent, total.”

“No. Three or no go.”

The commodore snarled. “You realize that you’re asking for a bigger share than I’d get, because the extra would have to come out of my pocket?”

Seth shrugged, which felt like lifting a barbell. “Whose ass are we discussing here?” His knees ached already.

Another hard stare, not so long. “That’s a firm offer? If we promise you a danger bonus of an extra two and half percent above contract, you volunteer to go downside to Cacafuego, waiving any and all claims against the company and its officers? And you will spend not less than two hours gathering samples and taking pictures?”

“Yes, sir.”

“No matter what else we may learn in the next few days? This must be a one-time discussion. No racking the price higher later.”

“It’s a deal, sir. I swear I will voluntarily fly the shuttle down to land on Cacafuego, no matter what else we see down there.”

“And return! This extra is not payable to your heirs and successors.”

Mean bastard! Luckily Seth had no dependents or heirs to worry about. “Agreed. I must return alive to Golden Hind with the samples to qualify for the bonus.”