Chapter 4
Y+33
Nils drove toward his home habitat.
“Hab 18?” Miller asked again, though Nils avoided the subject for the past half hour.
“Miller, how about I give you a bigger cut with my job–”
“I’d always take a bigger cut,” she grinned.
“–in exchange for you not going with me?”
“Out of the question,” Deputy Miller snapped back quickly. “I’ve got to look out for my investment.”
“What investment?” Nils grumbled.
“The value of my ten percent of the thirty-thousand, plus expenses.” Miller stated, then her voice softened. “Plus, I think it will be a perfect way to ask you for my favor.”
“What is it about, Miller?” Nils asked, his own voice softening. “Can’t you give me a hint?”
“No,” she almost whispered. “Not yet.”
They sat silently as the crawler navigated the tracks, heading toward his habitat.
“We’re about three hours away from my hab,” Nils said, breaking the awkward silence.
“Any surprises?” Deputy Miller asked.
“Like what?”
“Like letting me in on Hab 18?
“What will you give me for it?” Nils sparred, hoping to agitate her.
“Fine, keep your secret!” Miller snapped. She furrowed her brows.
“We’ll get to it,” Nils answered. He reconsidered. Agitating her seemed stupid. “I’ve got an idea.”
“What?” Miller asked.
“Let’s call a truce.” Nils suggested.
“What do you propose?” Miller’s voice softened again.
“We’ll set the discussion about Hab 18 aside for a while. I’ll stop asking you about the favor.”
“Fair enough,” she said.
“Thanks,” Nils smiled and checked the auto-drive, ensuring that they were still on course.
“What should we talk about instead?”
“How about the Urubuan Marshal’s visit?” Nils asked, wondering what they had been looking for.
“Mostly informal,” Deputy Miller answered. “They seemed concerned about how we organized the Department.”
“How so? I mean, you handle things fairly well. We have no crime at Conrad.”
“Ha. Coming from one of its most upstanding citizens.”
“Yup, I’m planning to run for Station Council.”
They both laughed at the joke.
“How so?” he said, asking again.
“They wanted to know how our jurisdiction fit within American law enforcement. It surprised him that we don’t.”
“Really?”
“You’re surprised?” She asked, Nils noticed her face betrayed astonishment.
“Well—I mean, yeah,” Nils fumbled. “I didn’t realize that you don’t have connections.”
“It’s simple,” Miller answered. “The department is part of Lunadyne security. If we have an actual crime to report, we need to contact the whatever agency we care to. It’s usually the U. S. Marshal’s office since it’s easier.”
“You’re not a cop?” Nils challenged.
“So, if you assume that,” Miller growled. “I’ll put you in a body cast for sure.”
“No,” Nils steered away from the challenge. “I meant that I don’t understand how Lunadyne security fits.”
“Honestly, that is what the Marshal was asking.”
“What did you explain that made sense to him?”
“I can arrest whoever they need arrested,” she answered. “If a major crime occurs, I need to report it to whatever authority is convenient. I can arrest anyone and hold them until the Earth side authority picks them up. Also, I can act to protect the company assets from destruction.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what I said. If some asshole were attempting to break open a door directly to vacuum, I would stop him. I’d take him down if needed.”
Nils thought as he monitored the progress of the auto-drive.
Why is she being so open about it? She got pissed at me and kept it up for going on three years now. What has changed? She is almost being nice.
She knew about the smuggling. He had told her in so many words. Obviously, she could have arrested him frequently, but she did not.
“Miller?”
“Yeah, prospector?”
“What’s with the arrangement?” Nils asked.
“You mean the ten percent?” She grinned.
“Yup, that and the other fees,” he said, wondering about the cat-and-mouse game they played. She would find him about once a month and force him to pay some fee to have her look the other way.
“So, you’re wanting to renegotiate our deal?”
“No.”
“Let me remind you, Nils,” She smiled. “Our arrangement is that you need to pay a ten percent fee for you to continue doing business at the bar.”
“–payable before I leave the station. We’ve been through that.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Forget it,” he said. Nils declined to dig any further. Paying Miller had become a cost of doing business, and he lacked the money to pay more. But it had never gone beyond the occasional hassle. Miller had never asked him to drive anywhere. She had never inserted herself into any of his other business.
Why now? He wondered. What had changed?
Upon their arrival at the habitat, Nils needed to drive from the back of the crawler, peering out the rear airlock. As he moved to the rear to drive, he felt Miller follow him. She seemed close as he steered the crawler to dock with his hab. As the airlocks connected in a hard dock, he hit the brakes, causing Miller to bump into him from behind.
“Excuse me,” she said after the collision. He wondered if he felt one of her shoulders or if her breast had bounced off his back. The latter created an image that took a few moments to shake.
He glanced at her, “No problem.” Smiling, he thought past the moment, and cursed himself for letting her disrupt him so much. Miller’s intentions, as three years of experience had shown, remained mysterious. Before she could break his concentration again, he turned and worked the door.
“So, this is your hab?” She said as he opened the airlock.
“Yup,” he answered. “Anything illegal found will be accidental. I believe that everything is legal here.”
“Nils,” her voice took on a soothing tenor. “Relax. If I wanted to bust you, I would have showed up last week when you had your last shipment here.”
“Miller, I–”
How did she know? And why did she seem to let me off the hook?
“Nils, I’m joking. What part of relax didn’t you understand?”
“I–”
“I’m not here to bust you,” she glared. “Remember, I need a favor. That is why you brought me here. Besides, I doubt I have jurisdiction here.”
“Huh?” Not understanding her statement about jurisdiction.
“Favor, remember?”
“Oh, yes.” Nils settled himself, feeling his guts shoved one direction as his mind went another. “What is the favor?”
“All in time,” Miller looked at him. “Are we going to stand in the airlock, or are you going to show me your place?”
“Oh,” Nils willed himself to open the airlock door and enter the habitat. “It’s small, but it’s home.”
“Very nice,” he saw her smile as they made eye contact when she entered the habitat.
“I hope it isn’t too much of a mess. I keep broken equipment because I can use some parts for raw materials.” He got into the habit of sorting them in the habitat before placing them in the equipment lockers. He focused on those things impossible to build using a three-dimensional printer. Some metals and some fibers had remained out of reach of the technology. As a result, anything with a non-printable part got his attention.
“It’s fine,” Miller smiled.
“The kitchen is over here,” he said as he walked across the compact habitat. “Water is here. Coffee is here—meals in the freezer—microwave.” He pointed to the items as he named them, then stepped around the freezer and pointed. “I have a bedroom and bath back here. You’re more than welcome to the shower and anything you need.”
“A shower sounds good.” Miller stepped toward the doorway.
“There is not much privacy.” He shrugged, trying to get the image of her in the shower out of his head. “I’ve got some stuff to work on in the crawler.”
“Nils,” she said, placing a hand on his sleeve, “It’s okay.”
“Thanks,” is all he could think to say. He turned toward the crawler.
He took his time, needing to be away from her. Regardless of how he felt about her being in his business from time to time, he still found her way too attractive to be in close confines with her for too long. Though he trusted himself, he wondered how long he could maintain his restraint. Especially when he thought of her naked in his shower. All he felt like he needed was a nod of approval and he would be upon her in an instant.
As he reorganized the crawler, he realized that his mind had been on her the entire time. He needed to spend some time on planning the trip to Hab 18. It would be difficult regardless. With Deputy Miller along for the ride, difficult could translate into impossible.
He needed a hopper, a rocket attachment, to carry the crawler from Conrad station to Mare Frigoris. From there, they would drive up to Hab 18 along the road. Once collecting the pad, they would drive back to the landing and take the hopper back to Conrad Station. It seemed easy, though there were a thousand things that could go wrong.
One thing remained simple. Nils needed to convince Miller to abandon her insistence upon going with him. The journey was far too dangerous.
He entered the habitat after unloading the crawler. As he turned, he could see her in the kitchen, looking through his cabinets. Wearing nothing but a long tee shirt that revealed her cheeks, she reached into an upper cabinet.
He smiled to himself, moving toward the kitchen. Glancing over her shoulder, she gave a slight smile. “Where the hell do you keep the coffee?”
“Second drawer from the top,” he answered, “next to the cups and spoons.” He admired her as she opened the drawer and prepared the beverage.
She smiled, retrieving the cups. “I thought we should talk.”
“Yeah,” Nils answered as he watched her. She heated the water and made the coffee.
“So,” she said, “the naked truth.”
“The nearly naked truth,” he observed.
“Oh–” Miller smiled, tugging at the tee shirt.
“What’s this about?” Nils tensed, realizing that she had been manipulating him again.
“Look,” she sat down at the table, setting the cups down for them. “I’m trying to make a peace offering Nils.”
“Yup,” he answered, sitting down across from her. “And then you will demand your cut and insist that it’s the only way you don’t turn me over to either the American or Urubuan Marshals. I’ve heard all this before, Deputy.”
“How much was my cut?”
“Ten percent.”
“So,” she leaned forward, taking a sip of coffee. “I take ten percent.”
“Yeah.”
“Ten percent, but you specify the value?”
“Uh, yup.”
“Then you could have been lying to me about the value.” She lifted her coffee and took a sip, an almost smug look on her face.
“What?”
“Not that you did,” she observed. “You are very honest. I’d know if you lied.”
“I did not.”
“You should have,” she stated. Nils noted the slight smile and the beaming eyes. “But I know you didn’t.”
“Miller, I don’t understand what you–”
“Listen, Nils,” she interrupted, “I got mad at you that night. In fact, I’m still pissed about it.” He knew the night she was speaking about, the night they met. He forced it out of his mind, as he relived every moment of hell since.
“Miller,” he started again. “I don’t want to relive that night. I should have kept my mouth shut.”
Why the hell did she want to bring that up?
“You’re missing the point,” she said.
“No. I’m not. We crashed and burned that night, and I should not have tried to conduct business at the same time.”
“You’re still missing the point.”
“I don’t care about that now. I need you to reconsider going with me.”
“You mean now?” she asked.
“Yup.”
“I don’t think so,” she frowned.
“It’s dangerous.”
“I know,” she answered, still hiding something. “But I need to be there with you.”
“Come on,” Nils said, frustrated. “You can stay at Conrad. It will just take me a couple weeks.”
“I can’t.”
“You mean you won’t.” He pressed.
“I need to be with you.” She stated. “Let’s consider it part of the favor you owe me.”
“About that,” Nils considered, knowing she was hiding far more than a simple favor. “What is this all about?”
“I’ll get to it.”
“I don’t have time–”
“Nils, please.” She spoke, eyes open as though she were making a plea. “We’ll get to that later. First, I would like to ask you–”
“Ask me what?”
“How are we getting to Hab 18?”
“We’ll need a hopper.” Nils answered before he realized she had said we.
“Hopper?”
“It’s a small rocket.” Nils smiled. “It’s enough of an engine to lift the crawler to the trail-head and back.” A hopper powerful rocket burned enough for a sub-orbital hop, providing transport to another location on the lunar surface with the crawler. It was a means of hopping from one location on the Moon to another. For point-to-point travel, a hopper was a mainstay of lunar transportation, like sub-orbital rocket jumps had replaced airplanes for transcontinental flights after Yellowstone.
“Not all the way there?”
“Not really,” Nils shook his head. “This trip is dangerous enough. Landing near 18 would be tough.”
“Tough?”
“I’m not that good of a pilot,” Nils answered. “The terrain is rougher when we get closer to the pole. The autopilot might require an override. I cannot take that risk.”
