“We did—we do.” He shifted in his chair. “I won’t—I can’t—burden you with all that’s involved, but this delay has cost us…”

“Of course,” Ky murmured. “Now—your government’s contract with Pavrati. Was it exclusive?”

“No. The Board isn’t authorized to make such deals. But they were the next, on the schedule. I spoke to the Pavrati captain myself; he assured me they could pick up the machinery on their way outbound, from Sabine, and just store it until they came back. We’d hoped to have it sooner—that another ship could pick it up on the way in—but he said no, they stop at Sabine after Belinta, not before. But he would be back in about one hundred twenty days, he said, and that was well within our parameters.”

“So when he came back…”

“He didn’t come back,” the man said sourly. “The next Pavrati ship wasn’t the right one, and we knew that. We didn’t even ask. Then no Pavrati ship came for another one hundred twenty days, twice as long as usual. We’d queried, of course, but they had no explanation. When that one arrived, it didn’t have our machinery, or any explanation. It wasn’t the same ship, or the same captain, and he knew nothing about our shipment. We’d asked FarmPower in Sabine if the goods had been picked up, and they’d assured us they had. So at least the captain hadn’t spent our credit on fancy clothes.” For a moment the man’s gaze rested on Ky’s formal captain’s cloak, as if it were encrusted with precious gems.

“That must have been very confusing,” Ky said.

“Confusing and infuriating. FarmPower claimed they’d delivered our goods to the ship we specified, and they had no further responsibility. Pavrati, when we finally got a reply from them, said that taking goods aboard outbound and carrying them on the long legs of the circuit would result in storage charges in addition to shipping charges, whereas we had prepaid only base shipping from Sabine to Belinta. They tried to charge us for the balance right then and there, said it should have been prepaid. And besides, they said, the ship had never arrived at its next stop and was listed missing.”

“Insurance?” Ky asked.

He glared at her as if she had just insulted him. “Insurance! Do you have any idea what insurance charges are for a cargo like that? We’re a young colony; we don’t have money to throw around. Of course we had some insurance. But not full value. The insurance company won’t settle until we can give a cause for nondelivery, and for that we need a statement from Pavrati. They say they won’t sign it until we pay what we owe for storage, and we aren’t going to pay for storage and shipping of goods that never arrived.”

“I see,” Ky said. “And you want someone to bring a new order?” She had never been to Sabine; she wasn’t entirely sure what the standard routing was, whether Vatta had regular service there.

“Yes,” the man said. “But we aren’t paying first this time—it’s pay on delivery.”

“Our policy,” Ky said, “requires at least a deposit on account. You’re asking me to change my schedule—”

“We’re not going to be cheated again!” the man said. “You Slotter Key pirates—”

Ky put up her hand. “A moment. Vatta Transport, Ltd., are not pirates; we are licensed, bonded transporters.”

“It’s all the same,” the man said. “Take our money, and for nothing—”

“Has anything consigned to Vatta ever failed to reach its destination here?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Then—” Don’t blame us because you didn’t have sense enough to hire us was hardly tactful. “Not all firms are alike,” Ky said instead. “Vatta Transport is sorry that you have not been served well by another firm, and that this incident has damaged the image of Slotter Key businesses.”

“I suppose it’s not actually your fault,” the man said. “But we’re so far out—”

Which wasn’t Ky’s fault. Was this the time to push for a mutually agreeable solution?

“What do you think happened to the Pavrati ship?” the man asked.

“I don’t know,” Ky said. “They could have had a drive failure—”

“Drive failure! You mean—that happens?”

“Yes,” Ky said. “Usually going into or coming out of FTL space. Any little bit of debris in the jump lane can cause that much damage—it’s why we only travel to places with a decent traffic control crew. Or they might have collided with something bigger—” Leaving a dangerous smear of debris on the mapped routes. “Piracy you mentioned—they could have been intercepted somewhere—”

“But surely Pavrati would have told us about any of that—”

“No,” Ky said. “In the first place, they may not know what it is yet, and in the second place they won’t want it known, lest someone else profit by the knowledge.”

“Seems ridiculous,” the man said. “They should at least tell our insurance company…”

“If they know, yes. But when a ship disappears… space is big and ships are small.”

“Ships really do disappear… they’re not lying about that?”

“Ships can,” Ky said. Across her mind ran the list of Vatta Transport, Ltd.’s disappearances. They had a good record, the result of prudence, hard work, and another dollop of prudence on top. The spaceways, her father had said when she first mentioned the Academy, offer risk enough.

“Well, then…” His voice firmed. “Your consul tells me you have the authority to decide if you want this contract. As I said, we aren’t going to pay in advance this time. What are your rates?”

“We have no consignments for Sabine,” Ky said. “Nothing we can sell there.” She had tried to find something in the cargo for Lastway that would sell on Sabine, but nothing fit. “And you have no consignments, either, do you?”

“No. We’ve never had exports to Sabine.”

“Well, then. That means it’s a dry run over, and a paying cargo back. If we’re not getting an advance, that means a surcharge for the extra distance—”

He scowled.

“Think about it,” Ky said. “You want us to go out of our way, without profit on one leg; if we know we’re going somewhere, we carry cargo there, and that means we only need to charge each shipper for the distance their cargo actually travels. Now, have you asked for bidders again, or are you planning to buy from FarmPower?”

“Well… no.”

“Well, then,” Ky said. “Let me suggest this…”

The haggling continued for hours, with breaks for refreshments, but in the end she had what she thought was an acceptable deal. She had missed the polo match, but she didn’t much care.

The closer she came to the station, the more reluctant she felt to tell her crew, her experienced baby-sitting crew, about her bright idea and the contract she’d signed. What would they think? Would they insist on telling her father? She was the captain. She had to approve all communications. Would that stop them?

Gary Tobai met her at dockside. “How’d it go?”

“I need to talk to you,” Ky said. “You and Quincy, anyway.”

“Trouble?”

“No. My office, when you can.”

“Now works for me,” he said, dashing her hope that she could have a few minutes to think up how to say it. “I’ll get someone on dock watch, and callQuincy—ten minutes?”

“Fine,” Ky said. She went quickly to her quarters and tried to organize her thoughts. Quincy and Gary appeared long before she felt ready.

“So… what is it?”Quincyasked as she came in. The tone said “What have you done now, youngster, and how hard is it going to be to fix it?”

“We have a contract,” Ky said.

“A contract. You mean—another contract? You do remember the assignment is to take this ship to Lastway and scrap her…”

“Yes, I remember. But trade and profit is trade and profit. Belinta was our only time-defined delivery. The goods for Leonora and Lastway are all spec. This is a profit run.”

Quincy’s mouth tightened. “How much?”Garyasked. “And what do we have to do to get it?”