Page 7 of Under Control

“I think the captain wouldn’t want to be deceived by a client.” Espinosa gave the container another look. “But fine. I’ll discuss it with the captain and see what he wants to do.”

This was definitely taking up too much time. “Fine. You do that, I’m going to take care of the actual work I’m supposed to be doing.” Alex walked off, although he did write down the exact container she’d been messing with. Maybe he should tell Tracht about this, just to see where he stood on the issue. He’d make it clear that Espinosa had been the one snooping in the client’s things.

===

“What’s this note?” Tracht asked. “About Ms. Espinosa and the container?”

Alex looked up from his studying. He’d actually completely forgotten about Espinosa after doing his rounds, mostly because Tracht had made Alex suck him off as soon as he’d returned.

Now Alex was chilling on the couch in Tracht’s office, reading through a chapter on ship maintenance. It was boring, but at least Alex understood it more than some of the other chapters. Cleaning and keeping an eye on things was a lot simpler than whatever physics propulsion shit went on with the engines and navigation.

“She thought that there was something off about the container. Something about silicon weight, but our scales measured the same number as what the client contract says, so I dunno what she’s on about.”

Tracht scowled. “Did she say how she reached that conclusion about the weight?”

“Uh… I dunno. Volume?” Alex shrugged. “Why, is she right?”

“I hope not. Damn.” Tracht swiped across his work screen. “Look up the weight per cubic meter of refined silicon, Alex.”

Alex did the search using the specialized database Tracht had taught him how to use. He rattled off the number and Tracht typed a few things. Moments later, he grimaced.

“It’s too light. Not by a lot, and hopefully not noticeable to the imbeciles on Atalanta, but…”

“Wait, really?” Alex got up and walked over to Tracht. He saw the listed weight next to the calculated weight, with only a few thousand kilos of difference between them. “How did she even notice that?”

“Because I pay Ms. Espinosa to be vigilant. That and we’ve shipped enough silicon over the years that she might have the general weights memorized.” Tracht shook his head.

“So, what’s this mean?”

“Nothing, I hope. Don’t talk to her about this issue anymore, and if we’re lucky she’ll decide to drop the matter.”

The entire situation was weird, but Alex figured he’d just do what Tracht wanted. Maybe he’d keep an eye on Espinosa and make sure she wasn’t up to anything. Kind of strange that Tracht knew there was a problem and didn’t want to deal with it. They were still in comm space, so Tracht could easily call up the client and ask them about it.

Eh, no skin off Alex’s back. He went back to the couch and picked up his studying.

He got through the rest of the chapter before Espinosa walked in. Alex bit on his lip to keep from laughing; he had a pretty good idea of why she was there and what the outcome would be.

“Sir,” Espinosa greeted. “Might I have a word in private?”

“Come in. And go ahead and speak.” Tracht closed his computer’s screen and gave her his full attention.

Espinosa looked over at Alex, then back to Tracht. “Is it all right to speak in front of him? It has to do with business matters.”

“If it were an issue, I would have sent him out. Now, what did you want to talk about?” Tracht’s voice was bland enough that you’d never guess they’d just been talking about Espinosa.

“I was looking over the new container, number BN-4686, from Paris & Lyons. I think there are a few red flags that we might want to look into before we leave comm space.”

“Which red flags?”

Espinosa handed her tablet over to Tracht. “My first concern was the last-minute nature of the contract. I know we were rushing to get out on time and at full load, but for somebody shipping silicon, that’s extremely strange. Second, the listed weight is under what the volume of silicon they claim is in the container should weigh.”

“Ah. I can fill some of those concerns. It wasn’t all that last minute, at least not on my part. I’d heard rumors of the Pegasus having mechanical issues, and as soon as Stieglitz began giving us trouble, I sent out feelers to the Pegasus’s clients about a potential spot on the Sigrun. Good thing I did. Of course, I would have preferred not to waste all that time with the container switching, but this is preferable to dealing with Stieglitz.”

Wow. Alex knew that Tracht had a great pokerface, but his lying put Nick’s to shame. At least, Alex was pretty sure that was a lie; he didn’t remember any calls about last-minute shipping.

He saw Espinosa’s eyebrows furrowing. “I… see. I was not aware that you’d done so.”

“You were taking care of other matters. Now, regarding the weight—are you sure you measured it properly? I’m not entirely versed on silicon, but I believe there are several different grades, and depending on how they refined it or what metals are mixed into it, it would change the weight. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.” Tracht slid the tablet back to her. “I do appreciate your thoroughness, but please worry more about the ship itself than about the cargo.”

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