Antibodies 2

© Copyright to BG Taff.

Characters.

Nana Bev Interplanetary prospector.
Jamie Bev’s younger prospecting Partner.
Dennis Potter Freight manager and old friend of Beverly’s.
Jack Godfrey Yard foreman and walking boss.

Jamie and I lounged in our bunks as we discussed the options confronting us.

“I suppose we could just land and not tell anybody about it.” Jamie opined.

I was forced to admit, this seemed to be the easiest and possibly safest option. The problem was that we were not even sure we were absolutely immune to the virus or bacteria or whatever the pathogen was.

“Seems to me you’re right Jamie. We both reckon we’re immune so shall we give it a whirl?”

With little more to be said, Jamie settled in the pilot seat and set course for home.

I had grown fond of Jamie since I’d first met her struggling to shift some heavy crates on a cargo station back on earth. That was several years ago. There had been a spate of thefts and I remembered the incident well. It’s worth re-telling here.

ooo000ooo

“Look girl,” I’d remarked. “Why don’t you use the jack up trolly over there?”

She looked at me with a haunted expression then turned to look at some other handlers smirking at her failing efforts.

“They won’t let me.” She replied quietly as she resumed straining to lift one of the cases.

I turned to see their smirking grins then turned to Jamie again.

“What’s the catch. They’re for general use. I’ve seen plenty of people use them. They’re like supermarket trolleys.”

“There’s issues.” She continued.

“What issues?” I demanded as I took hold of the other end of the case she was struggling with.

“Ask them.”

After securing the case into my ship’s cargo hold I strolled over to the smirking gang.

“What’s the score here. Those trolleys are for general customer use and I’m a customer.”

“For you space-crew, yes that’s okay. But that girl’s a bloke, she’s stealing another man’s job and she can’t do the lifting.”

“Well I don’t give a fuck what she is. You shouldn’t let anybody struggle like that. I’m taking a jack-up and don’t you dare try to stop me.”

A particularly pugnacious looking guy stepped forward to stop me before an older man grabbed his arm.

“Don’t tangle with her. She’s one of our biggest customers.”

“What her?” The pugnacious bully scoffed.

“Yes her. Look at half the labels on the crates and containers and you’ll see the name Taff. That’s her; Beverly Taff. She owns several off-world mines, and most of this stuff is destined for one or the other of her mines.”

“So what’s she doin’ down ‘ere in the cargo bays.” The bully argued.

The older man sighed patiently as he drew breath to explain but I intervened to avoid him having to confront the bully.

“I’m keeping tabs on shit like this. Bullies stopping other people doing their job. Keep doing it boy and you’ll be finding it much harder on the other side of the wire.”

“You can’t threaten me. I’m a card carrier.”

“And I’m an important customer who can take her custom elsewhere. I don’t think Dennis the owner will be enamoured of you if you cost him my custom.”

The bully paled as I unbuttoned the front of my working overall to reveal my space uniform underneath. I wore several hats including a spaceship captain and a mining proprietor. When checking out cargo in the bays I usually covered up my uniform to avoid getting it dirty. My referral to the space depot owner/manager by his first name ‘Dennis,’ had sent a clear message to the bully. ‘Here be dragons!’

With that issue resolved, I told Jamie to collect a jack-up, then I left her to complete loading while I checked my manifest with Dennis. In Dennis’s office I asked about the issue with Jamie.

“Oh, she’s a transsexual and the men tease her a bit.”

“What I saw wasn’t teasing, it was bullying. The kid could have injured herself trying to shift some of those cases.”

“Okay Bev; I’ll have a word with the men.”

“You won’t need to. I told them bluntly, if they want to bully a transgendered kid, I’ll be more than willing to take my custom elsewhere.”

Dennis paled.

“Oh come on Bev! We’ve been together since forever. I’ve never let you down or delayed a cargo.”

“I know that Den, and you know that, but that bully doesn’t know that. Just tell him that you nearly lost my custom thanks to his bullying and the tran’s kid should be safe.”

“Cheers Bev. You had me worried for a moment.”

“You needn’t Den; as you say, we’ve been together since forever.”

With the yard politics resolved we shared a coffee as we discussed my future ambitions. Dennis had been the only guy to stick by me when my starting plans had come unstuck and I wasn’t about to betray him now. Eventually, my prospecting had become very successful but I still preferred the old prospecting life. It may not have involved a mule a pick and shovel anymore but I still liked the independence of wandering where my suspicions and knowledge took me from moon to moon and planet to planet.

After shooting the breeze for half the morning I had to go into town to sort some business with the bank. I checked the cargo that Jamie had stowed in the hold and found her sitting on a crate eating some sandwiches away from the other men.

“You’ve done a good job kid. Why haven’t you stowed this one?”

“It’s been broached. I was waiting for you to come so I could tell you.”

I studied the crate then asked.

“Where. The packaging seems intact.”

“The weight was wrong so I lifted the crate right up with the fork jack. It’s been broached from underneath.”

“Show me.” I asked.

She promptly lifted the crate with the forklift truck and a gaping hole revealed that a drill head had been removed. This was no ordinary theft. The three coned drilling head had industrial diamond teeth and it cost a bomb.

“When did you discover it.”

“When I lifted it with the forklift. I couldn’t get the fork blades under the crate because the spacer skids were missing so I trailed the fork jack over beside it to get a compression purchase. I asked one of the others to drive the fork blades under the crate once I’d tipped the crate up but they were disinclined. I had to slide a couple of two by fours under the crate to make a void then I manoeuvred the forklift under the crate. It was creaking because whoever broached the crate had damaged the crate’s integrity. The crate’s about to fall apart.”

“When did this crate arrive in the depot?”

“You’ll have to ask Mr Godfrey the foreman. I don’t get over to reception much. They keep me down here in loading.”

“Thank you girl. Just wait here and guard the crate.”

She made herself comfortable on her crate and took another sandwich from her box while I crossed to the depot warehouse. The foreman came out to meet me. He looked worried but I wasted no time on niceties.

“The crate with the drill heads. One of the heads is missing.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. The kid discovered it when she went to collect it for loading.”

“You’d better check with her then.”

“I have. She says the crate was broached when she went to lift it. I’m going to speak to Dennis. This is serious.”

He was about to reply but I gave him no opportunity. Instead I returned immediately to Dennis Potter’s office and explained what I’d learned. As we returned to the loading dock I asked Dennis about Jamie.

“How long’s she been working for you?”

“’Bout nine months. She’s attending an adult literary course run by the education authority. She’s not dumb, just got a bad start, being tranny and all.”

“I thought that sort of shit was sorted by now.”

“D’you reckon,” Dennis replied.

“Well I thought so.”

“You don’t get out much do you Bev?”

“If you mean I don’t socialise much; you ‘d be right. You know why.”

“Yeah, I remember a skinny, tall, willowy trans kid turning up with a junked spaceship, offering to take stuff to Mars for a song.”

“Yeah and you took the offer.”

“I was just starting freighting myself and you were cheap.”

“Yeah. We all had to start some place. So what d’ you intend to do about the drill head? It’s bloody expensive but more importantly, it’s a ‘just-in-time’ item for the mine extension on Europa.”

“I find it hard to believe that one of my staff might have stolen it.”

“Well wherever it’s gone, I’m still going to have to replace it so you’d better inform your insurance company. The first place you’ll have to start is yard reception. They must have checked it in. It’s a high value item.”

Dennis frowned; he knew I was right. The damming proof that the drill head had been stolen in his yard was the broken timbers from the packing crate on the high security warehouse floor. He turned to young Jamie.

“Did you notice anything unusual, anybody hanging around?”

Jamie swallowed her last bite of her sandwich, somewhat nervously I noticed.

“No Mr Potter. I only noticed the damage when I came to load it on the forklift. The timber skids were dumped behind the other cases for the other consignment to Mars. That’s why I couldn’t get the forks under the case.”

“Who has access to this warehouse?” I asked Dennis.

“Everybody. The staff are in and out all the time.”

I moved closer to Dennis and spoke quietly in his ear.

“That kid looks frightened. I’d like to speak to her privately, without anybody noticing.”

“I can arrange that. I’ve got to go down the police station to report the crime and I can take the girl as a witness. I’ll have to report the theft anyway, before I can process my insurance claim.
You can speak to the girl off-site. We can make it look as though Jamie’s being arrested and blamed.”

“Sounds like a plan; have you any suspicions as to ‘who-dunnit’?”

“Yes, but -.” Dennis pursed his lips to caution me as he called the yard foreman over and explained.

“Nothing is to leave this yard until I get back. I’ll lock the goods gates and only pedestrians can leave.”

Godfrey nodded and we left for the police station. Once inside, I had a good chance to speak privately to Jamie where I explained why I had escorted her to the police station.

“You seemed nervous in the yard. Why? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Jamie nodded fearfully.

“Go on.” I encouraged her.

“It’s Bull; the big guy who tried to stop you taking the jack-up trolley.”

“And?” I pressed.

“He’s a new guy. Only been here a couple of months but he’s got a freight-handling union card. He’s been in the union for years so that makes him senior to me and some of the other guys.”

“I knew all about the unionisation of the space docks. There were good and bad aspects to the situation but by and large there were trade-offs for both shippers and handlers.

“So? What else aren’t you telling me?”

“Well, -“ she hesitated seemingly even afraid to speak inside the police station.

“Go on.” I encouraged her.

“Well, - I think he’s the one doing the pilfering.”

“It’s a bit more than just pilfering Jamie. Those drill bits cost thousands of credits if not tens of thousands.”

She paled slightly and kept looking at the door behind me. I asked her bluntly.

“What are you afraid of girl?”

“Bull is stirring up trouble and trying to get people accused of stealing. I’m sure he’s working for the mob and they are trying to muscle in on Mr Potter’s freight business.”

“Have you any proof?” I demanded.

“Nothing definite but several times when I’m eating my packed lunches in the warehouse I seen him sniffing around and reading the labels on the crates. He doesn’t know I’m there cos I’m in and out between the cases at all times and I’ve got keys to the two pedestrian doors. I have them because I’m constantly showing people when and where they have to collect stuff. Mr Potter and Foreman Godfrey gave me the job cos’ I’ve a good memory.”

“Has other stuff gone missing?” I asked.

“Small stuff, - high value, small stuff. Special tools and instruments and such like.”

“Did you report them?”
“I didn’t know. They were reported missing by the consignees upon arrival off-planet. Any evidence in the yard was long gone.”

“Okay tell me all you know and what you suspect.”

Jamie frowned then opened up with her suspicions.

“It’s always high value stuff but stuff that’s easily sellable, or it was at first. That’s why Mr Godfrey the foreman thought it was just opportunist thieving. When I thought back about the thefts, I noticed they were always from one part of the warehouse were high value stuff is locked up. I checked the security cage and this morning, I noticed that one security panel tucked away at the back behind the bigger, heavier cases had become loose.”

“Have you told Mr Potter or Mr Godfrey.”

“Not yet. I haven’t had time and I don’t know who might be in on the scam.”

“Well, I doubt that it’s Dennis. We’ll go back to the yard via the electronics outlet on the Portway. I’ve got to stop there anyway to report the theft to the insurance company now we’ve got a crime number off the police.”

After finalising our reports to the plod, we picked up the tiny security cameras and located them discretely to get clear views inside the warehouse. With that job done I spoke privately to Dennis.

“I Think you should have a spot check on all vehicles leaving the yard.”

“What? Tonight?” Dennis wondered.

“Especially tonight. The yard’s been in lockdown since the discovery. It’s a chunky piece of kit and difficult to hide.”

“It could have already left the yard but somehow, but I doubt it. Jamie was here all morning and the yard went into lockdown at ten thirty. It’s got to be on site unless somebody has somehow passed it over the fence, and the thing weighs over two hundred kilos. I think it will be in a car boot (trunk), so I’ve invited a couple of police to stop every car leaving the site tonight. We don’t have the legal authority to stop cars on the public highway and inside the compound they haven’t technically committed a theft.

Dennis agreed with me and the trap was set.

ooo000ooo