The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 07

Arrival at Breuse Downport
Breuse was a high gravity (1.49G) world in the Caliburnus star system of the Saga star sector, which lay on the rim of the galaxy's Orion arm. Breuse was populated almost entirely with prospectors, who were either heavy-worlders or wore powerful, expensive exo-skeletons, and mercenaries who used the world's vast, barren wilderness for High-G training. There was only one starport on planet, a class II facility called Downport. It was little more than a large expanse of bare, laser-flattened rock, ringed with refuelling stations, repair and hanger facilities, and cargo loading docks. South of the landing area sat a small, dingy terminal building, which housed the port's offices and system controller's tower.
When The Ace of Spades landed, the port's ground crews strolled across the landing stage, in no great hurry to perform their assigned tasks. It was an hour before the portmaster showed up. His cursory examination of the ship wouldn't have found a ton of contraband if it were sitting alone in the middle of the main airlock! With a bored flick of the wrist, he signed the ship's inspection papers, leaving the crew free to wander about the port.
Mearc Sterling, along with his colleagues, Sheas Danelish and Royce Tavahi, left immediately to inform their families that they were back on planet and to find out what was happening at the Sterling Agricultural Colony.
Mearc had warned the crew that although the planet's society tended towards anarchism, newcomers who charged from their ship with their weapons locked and loaded would not receive a friendly welcome, either from the mercenary companies or from the mining companies. The fact that so much of the planet's permanent and transient population was armed with state of the art military hardware should be enough to convince them that politeness and civility ought be the order of the day. Kimberley agreed that this would be how they would act.

That afternoon, Kimberley decided to pay a visit to Pablo Kinte, the owner of Pablo's Place, to make arrangements for the delivery and payment of the cargo she was carrying on board for him. Not being used to such high gravity, she had issued her crew with gravbelts, which effectively negated the environmental effects for the wearer. There were two types of gravbelt - one for high gravity and one for low gravity environments.
Pablo's Place was a few hundred metres east of the starport terminal building, within easy sight of the ugly Downport. Kimberley remembered what Mearc had told her about Pablo and Pablo's Place.
Pablo's Place was a trading post/hotel/brothel, the closest thing that Breuse had to an established or respectable business. Its owner, Pablo Kinte, was a tough, ruthless heavy-worlder who commanded more respect and obedience than the weak-willed and overworked system governor, Diana Lewis. On the surface, Kinte appeared to cooperate with Lewis, but long-time residents of Breuse, like Mearc, knew better. Kinte was the real governor - he kept a strong hand in the management of the planet's affairs to ensure that outside authorities didn't take too close an interest in the planet. Anarchy was good for business.
Kinte was a black marketeer, dealing openly in contraband food, weapons, drugs and other "necessities". He made a tidy profit on these shady dealings. His markup could be as little as 10% for the permanent mining population, or as much as 120% for the transient mercenaries. He also bought salvaged, scavenged or stolen items at half normal price.
He was also an information broker. He would sell any gossip he heard, and a lot that he made up, to the highest bidder. He was also keenly aware of the effect a successful farming colony could have on the mining economy of Breuse, not to mention the drastic reduction in his profit margin if food became locally available. Mearc strongly suspected this was the main reason he and his companions were forced to seek help offworld - Kinte refused to sell guns to the colonists.
What Mearc did not know was that Kinte had spread the word that any mercenary company who aided the Sterling Agricultural Colony would have their supplies cut off and their access to the pleasures of his establishment denied. Kinte knew that Hoag-Warner was behind the bandit raids on the farmers but this was one piece of information he would never divulge to anyone.

Pablo was serving behind the bar when Kimberley, accompanied by Gwendoline, Celeste and Julia entered. He eyed them suspiciously. He was always wary about strangers.
"Hi," Kimberley said cheerfully with a warm, friendly smile. "I'd like to speak to Pablo Kinte, the owner of this establishment, if that's not too much trouble."
"Who's asking," Pablo asked.
"I'm Kimberley Wells, captain of The Ace of Spades."
"What do you want to speak to him about?"
"It's a business matter. I have a cargo shipment for him."
"Oh, well," he said as his mood lightened slightly, "you're speaking to him now. I'm Pablo."
"Great. I have a consignment of silver for you, sir. If you could let me know where you'd like it offloading that would be a start. And then we can discuss payment details."
"Sure. Cargo bay one. I'll be out there to inspect it in a couple of hours time. We can arrange payment after I've inspected it."
"Cool. That works for me."
"Are you staying here long?"
"I'm not sure. Could be a week. Could be longer."
"Do you have business on planet?"
"Yes, we do. We're here on the request of the Sterling Agricultural Colony."
"Really?" Pablo frowned. He tried to maintain a neutral look but Kimberley had noted the brief flash of dismay on his face.
"We're here to fix a pest control problem they're having," she smiled at him innocently.
"Do you ladies want a drink?" Pablo asked, swiftly changing the subject.
"Sure. Two beers and one orange juice." The beers were for Kimberly and Gwendoline and the fruit juice for Julia, who rarely ever drank alcohol.

At this time of day, the bar was very quiet with only a dozen patrons present. Of these, nine were mercenaries, one was a miner, one was a ship's crew member and one, the eldest, was a local resident. His name was Luke Colby and he sat alone in one corner. It was obvious from a single glance that he used to be a miner. His hands were broken and gnarled. His face was seamed and scarred and he wore the distinctive "miner's tattoo," rock dust embedded in his skin so deeply that it would never come out. He attracted Kimberley's attention when she had asked about the region where the Sterling Agricultural Colony was situated.
After plying him with a couple of drinks he opened up and told them some very interesting information. He was once a prospector, long before the cartels began mining Breuse on a grand scale. He worked out on a camp near Lake Flagon, a few hundred miles north-west of the Sterling Colony. Finally, he told the party that he had discovered a large deposit of osmium near the colony site, but a rock fall crippled him so badly that he had to retire from mining.

"There's got to be a ton o' osmium sittin' right under that colony," he said. "Jes' wish I had my good legs back, I do."
A third drink got the party the location of the old mining camp, 15 miles west of the colony.
"The vein bein' mined out by that camp played out twenty years ago," he informed them. "But I've heard stories recently that there were people living there. Mebbe they dug further in. Damn, if I only had my good legs, I'd make a fortune out there."
Nothing more useful could be gotten out of him and as he nursed his fourth drink, he continued to rant on about the glory years when he had his good legs. Kimberley thanked him kindly and nodded towards the exit.
She headed outside with her friends trailing behind.
"Do you think some big company has learned about this osmium find and wants it for themselves?" Gwendoline asked. "It could explain why they want rid of the Sterling Colony."
"I think that's a very strong possibility," Kimberley agreed.
"It's too much of a coincidence," Julia added. "Someone has to have hired those bandits to do their dirty work for them."

Inside Pablo's Place, Kinte left the bar to head for his office. He had a few important calls to make. The news that Mearc Sterling was back with offworld help was disturbing but important news and some people would pay very highly for that information. Information like this meant profit. He smiled at the thought of how much he could make.