“Hogg is going to rent a ship for us if things work out,” Daniel said. He didn’t want to shout, so the three ratings at a distance probably weren’t able to hear him. “He says that the people we’re dealing with aren’t to be trusted, so keep a particularly close watch until we’re out of here.”
Adele sniffed. “I wouldn’t think anyone on Kostroma tonight is to be trusted,” she said. She didn’t sound concerned; just analytical.
“Except ourselves,” Daniel agreed.
Hogg left the harbormaster’s office after a brief conference. Daniel went to meet him, striding more purposefully now. Kostroman gunmen were climbing up to sit on the seawall instead of sheltering beneath it. A shouted summons brought them all into the office, even the trio manning the automatic weapon.
“There’s a twenty-meter yacht, the Ahura,” Hogg said as he met Daniel beside the van’s cab. It was a tribute to Cinnabar discipline that the ratings who’d moved away from the vehicle didn’t bunch closer to hear what Hogg was discussing with their commander. “Solar powered, electrostatic foils, a real beauty. They’ll let us have it for two cases of brandy and the trucks we come in.”
“It’s stolen?” Daniel said, squinting toward the harbor. He saw what he thought was the vessel, a trim craft tied up at a quay just at the edge of the lighted area. A yacht like Hogg described was at least as expensive as a luxury aircar.
“Next thing to it,” Hogg agreed. “The owners were on the wrong side when the Hajas took over, so it got confiscated along with their houses and all. Now that the Hajas are out, the survivors are going to come claiming their stuff. Ganser figures if the Ahura goes missing, nobody’s going to be able to prove it was his lot responsible.”
Daniel looked from the yacht to the office. With his goggles down he’d be able to see through the building’s windows, but identifying himself to this gang by using Cinnabar gear probably wouldn’t be smart. “It still seems too good a bargain,” he said.
“Yeah, I think so too,” said Hogg with a sour expression. “But I don’t see much choice but to keep our eyes open and go ahead.”
Daniel clapped his servant on the shoulder. “When we drive to the quay to unload, we’ll be on the back side of their automatic,” he said. “Without an edge like that, this sort won’t start anything.”
He waved to the scattered ratings. “Mount up!” he ordered. “We’ll transfer our rations to the ship over there, then we’ll take a little vacation.”
Daniel believed in planning if you had the time and information to do it; but if you didn’t, you acted anyway. There was only one thing worse than trying to imagine every possible occurrence when you were for all practical purposes flying blind: remaining frozen because you couldn’t imagine every possible occurrence.
“And if they do start something, Hogg,” Daniel said as he got into the cab beside his servant, “then we’ll deal with it.”
Adele had made a half-hearted offer to help load the ship. Woetjans had said, “No, mistress, you’re an officer,” in a tone that made it sound like, “You’d be more trouble than you’re worth.”
Adele didn’t take the implication as an insult since it was objectively true in her opinion. She stood at the top of the seawall, out of the line of traffic, and observed events.
Hogg had backed the van to where steps led down to the quay, but the distance from there to the Ahura was too great for the Cinnabar sailors to form a human chain. They carried the rations, one carton per trip.
Woetjans and three other sailors dismounted the automatic impeller from the police vehicle, then carried it and its case of ammunition to the ship also. The weapon had to be rigidly mounted to be of any use; the truck’s pintle was welded to the frame and couldn’t be removed. Either Woetjans thought she could jury-rig a mounting on the Ahura, or she was just making sure the gun wasn’t in Ganser’s hands while the Cinnabars were still in range.
The Kostromans hadn’t volunteered to help load the Ahura. Adele doubted that Daniel would have permitted them to become involved anyway. They stood watching and occasionally talked among themselves in low voices. She knew that she was imputing sinister motives to the gang members because of their appearance, but people who went to so much effort to look sinister probably were a scurvy lot.