Transference Station Read Online Free Page A

many of the subtleties went straight over your head.
    ‘Finding sentients whose chain you can actually jerk is a rare and precious thing in this universe,’ said Lana. ‘Not everyone has a sense of humour you can understand.’ Lana tapped Polter’s elaborately tattooed carapace. ‘With the kaggenish, humanity also shares its belief in the one true God and the hope that we can be better than we are. That and the fact that kaggens inexplicably find humanity as cute as we think we are, ourselves.’
    ‘You mean there’s only one god?’ said Calder, but Lana ignored him.
    ‘It’s not inexplicable,’ said Polter. ‘You are just like a pet tree monkey, only larger.’
    Lana ignored her navigator, too. ‘And with the skirls we share a love of money, and given our relative propensities for violence, some would say the taste for a good war as well.’
    ‘At least when we fight them now, dear girl, we’re on the same side,’ said Skrat.
    ‘And what bang-up truths does humanity share with my kind?’ asked Zeno.
    ‘The copyright on your design and a healthy master-servant relationship?’ suggested Lana, largely in jest.
    ‘Shit, I guess that’s why you call them human rights.’
    ‘You’re always as a good as human to me,’ said Lana.
    ‘Now you’re just being nasty,’ said the android.
    Lana watched the docking arm drawing close to them, less than ten feet away now. An accordion-like passage of reinforced grey plastic, it was cheap, functional tech, but worlds rarely got rich by building better. ‘So, Skrat and myself will go and visit DSD and find out what he’s got that’s so hot he’s willing to stake our docking fees up front. Polter, I take it you’re off to the local cathedral?’
    The navigator signed agreement with one of his bony hands. ‘As a lay preacher, it is my duty to share the blessings of crossing heaven with my fellow believers.’
    Lana looked at the android. ‘Zeno?’
    ‘I have a few errands to run, too,’ said the android. ‘I’ll catch up with you later.’
    ‘I thought you might want to take our new boy and show him a good time.’ Lana regretted saying the words almost as quickly as she had spoken. But that wasn’t trying to bribe Calder into staying around, was it? Just a common courtesy a captain would show to anyone new to the ship. New to the goddamn civilized universe, for that matter.
    ‘Ah, to feel the needs of the flesh and have flesh with needs. Thanks but no thanks. Given the gang problem on station, I though it might be safer if Calder went along to meet DSD with you. Everyone should meet Dollar-sign at least once in their lives. If only to see why getting pickled isn’t as much fun as the adverts make out.’
    ‘Okay then. We’ll meet up at the Fantasma Blanco later,’ said Lana. Part of her was pleased. She could keep an eye on Calder and make sure he didn’t get into any trouble, and the plan hadn’t even looked as if it was her idea. ‘We can chew over whether the risk-reward of this job is actually worth the potential burn.’
    Calder nodded cheerfully, just as though he knew that the Fantasma Blanco was a spacers’ bar named after the effects of a popular drug banned centuries ago. As if he had half a clue about who it was they were going to meet and how crafty DSD could prove. Well, pretending you knew what you were doing was as much a part of being crew as anything else. Bluffing had worked well enough for Lana to date.
    ‘Doesn’t the chief get a say in what cargo we take on?’ asked Calder.
    ‘I’m the skipper,’ said Lana, ‘nobody gets a say . You just get to voice your thoughts, is all, so I know I’m examining the situation from all the angles. And as far as the chief is concerned, one system looks pretty much the same as the next when you won’t even leave the engine room.’
    The screen next to the door indicated a safe seal had been formed by the station’s gantry, so Lana pulled the lock open. There was a slight sweet smell