In A Starship's Wake

Chapter 39: Different Directions

"Sorry, did I sit on your hand?" Tyrone asked. Justine shifted uncomfortably as he took his place next to her.

"No, you didn't." She gave him a tight smile. "I'm just nervous about the call."

The small desk in their quarters was not the ideal place for that kind of communication. Both had to squeeze into a small enough space to be visible in the small camera lense of Tyrone's personal computer. The bridge or the workroom would have been much better, but this was the only place they could be sure Joseph would not overhear the conversation.

Tyrone wasn't certain they ought to hide a call to PICTA from their partner. It did seem faintly wrong. In fairness Joseph hadn't mentioned his dealings with the group to them either. Of course that argument would be void if it turned out Joseph didn't have any such dealings, but both he and Justine found that possibility hard to believe.

"I'm nervous about it too. I'm glad we have Peter's direct number. He's someone familiar to talk to, at least."

In the few days since leaving Orson Station, the couple had talked repeatedly about work fro PICTA. They had not precisely argued, because both were of two minds, but the discussions had been heated. That led to several awkward moments when they suddenly cut off conversation because Joseph came into the room. Neither was certain about going through with the idea yet, but they had gone over every possibility two or three times now. There was simply nothing more for them to discuss without more information.

"It feels like we're committing ourselves by calling him about it." Justine put her face in her hands and sighed. "I know that isn't really true. It's just that it's a step we can't erase." "It is that much," Tyrone agreed. "Peter at least will always know we took a hard look at joining up. There's no time limit on making this call, we can hold off if you don't want to do it yet."

"No, that's no good either. We'll just keep wrangling at each other and sooner or later it will actually turn into an argument. Better that we take some steps toward making a decision."

"All we're really calling to do is ask what they would have us do." Despite discussing that question endlessly, they had nothing but speculation about how PICTA would employ a transport ship. "There will still be plenty of opportunity to back out. We don't have to go through with it if we decide it's the wrong choice for us."

"Yeah, I know." Justine straightened to sit upright again. "Alright, let's call."

A flicker of surprise crossed Peter's face when he answered, but he quickly schooled it back to his usual, neutral expression. "Mr. and Mrs. Barret, hello. Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, everyone is fine," Justine assured him. "We had some questions to ask someone from PICTA, and we wanted to talk to someone familiar."

"Which I imagine is only me," the man chuckled. "What can I answer for you?"

"We've had an extended conversation over the last few days on what you said about ordinary people involved in things for PICTA," Tyrone explained. "We wanted to find out what tasks you'd have for a light transport ship."

"Ah, I see. Preferably without promising that you'll do any of them I'm sure. A perfectly reasonable stance to take, of course," he hastened to add as Tyrone's face darkened. "I don't mean to deflect the question, but it truly does depend on what the owners or pilots of the ship are comfortable with doing. I'd be happy to give you a few examples. Is there anything in particular you were thinking of?"

Tyrone explained their theory from days earlier about taking small amounts of cargo off the manifest along with an actual load. It seemed a lot sillier as he told Peter the theory than it had in the park. To his surprise the scarred man nodded with approval as he spoke. "I'm sure that's not how everything is shipped, but it seemed like a good method for some things," Tyrone finished.