Pirates Way

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The first meal Amy cooked as our official cook was excellent in terms of what we were used to eating. It was not what I had expected when she said she was an excellent cook. After a quick look in the pantry, I understood why. I had not replenished our supplies from the last run. That was something I could fix.

Our next stop was Vega colony. They were well known in this quadrant for their vegetables and other food stuffs. We docked and I gave Amy my account card with instructions to go into the settlement and replenish our pantry. I had no idea what I was asking her to do at the time. She returned about an hour later with a small ground transport and enough groceries to feed us for a month. Adam seemed impressed by the amount she had acquired, but was waiting to see if I was going to scream at her for spending too much. I was all set to take her into the galley and scream at her for spending so much on food that would probably spoil before we could use it, when she handed me the receipt and my account card. I looked at the receipt and looked at the groceries. Looked back at the receipt.

Amy was an excellent shopper. She had stayed within the budget I had given her and brought back more groceries than I thought possible. She even had one crate of meat products. I am not talking meat substitutes. I am talking actual meat. We quickly stored that crate in the portion of my cargo bay used for cold transport.

Amy and Adam had hit it off well when I introduced them on Persephene. Adam was married to a wonderful lady that did not seem to mind that her man was gone most of the time every two weeks. She did enjoy the pay that he brought home. Adam had worked for several of the transports. I paid the best, so he stayed with me most of the time. My one worry was that Adam’s wife might not take kindly to Adam working with another woman. Even if the other woman is just the cook. That was 2 weeks away from home constantly running into another woman. You can readily see the conflict here. Something I may or may not have to deal with.

Adam was not a fool. He knew Amy was the girl the police were looking for, but he was following my lead. He was keeping his mouth shut about Amy when we were in dock. She would stay out of sight except when she went into the settlement for groceries. Besides, he liked having someone else to talk to other than me for two weeks.

Amy was industrious. She would spend her spare time learning the ropes of operating a transport. I say spare time. She had little of that. I realize I was not her father, but I felt a certain responsibility to see that Amy was safe from any potential danger. I made sure she was not involved in any conflicts that might arise between me and any other captain, or pirates for that matter.

I, also, provided a safe place to hide should it come to it, when we were on any of the colonies. Even with the alterations we had made to Amy’s appearance, there was still that possibility that someone might recognize her. That would mean major trouble for everyone involved. Most especially, me. I was the one that had out and out lied to the police not once, but twice about knowing anything about the missing girl.

Technically, Amy was 18. Under the law she was an adult. She could travel as she pleased, and do it without her parent’s permission. Her parents could not legitimately report her missing as a young girl. Then one remembers the laws that each of the independent colonies have set up. The colonies are independent in most cases. Amy may not be considered an adult on her parent’s colony. That was where it would get sticky if the police were to discover her on my transport. They would have to enforce the colony law. Local law supersedes quadrant law, but only in selective cases. This being one of them. That would mean major trouble for me.

In exchange for me not returning her to her parents, she agreed to abide by my rules for the ship. It was a good deal. We both benefited from it. She got to stay on board my ship and see the galaxy, such as it was, and we got to eat well for two weeks at a time. Plus, I had an additional crew member that could assist with handling the cargoes on planets or moons that were no where close to her parent’s colony. Amy was amazingly strong in relation to her stature. That was probably the result of growing up on colony.