Read Rookie Privateer for Free Online Page B

before.
    Copper thirty-four point seven percent.
    In the background I heard Mom whisper, "Oh Pete ..."
    Just as I was shocked to hear the low iron number, such a high copper number was equally shocking. Of the ten containers, that meant roughly three of them had copper. This was the biggest week I had ever seen.
    Silver eight point two percent .
    We all listened in shocked silence.              
    Nickel six point eight percent, tungsten six percent and platinum three point one percent .
    My mind spun with numbers. The tungsten and platinum alone were worth a fortune. A portion of it would go to the claim owner, but the lion's share would end up with Big Pete.
    "Be home late tonight. Don't want to leave this sitting until tomorrow. Hoffen out."
    I grinned and shook my head on the way over to my ore sled. Loading and transporting ten containers would take both of us the better part of the next three hours. Though we had been going solid for twelve hours already, I felt energized by the good news.
    It was past 2300 when we got back to the habitat. It felt good to get it all delivered. Tomorrow would be easy. All I had to do was grab the empty containers sometime after 1200. The ore processing would happen automatically and the ingots would then be delivered to our secure storage. Once M-Cor picked them up, the money would be transferred into Big Pete's account.

 
     
     
PIRATES ATTACK
     
     
    I finished at the refinery by midafternoon and headed over to see Nick at the rental shop. The James' shop was at its busiest on the weekend as miners were either dropping off or picking up equipment. Big Pete had asked me to keep our good fortune quiet until M-Cor made the pickup in ten days or so. Technically, we hadn't made any money until the ingots were picked up by the buyer, who was always M-Cor.
    We loaded a couple of laser drills and an auger into the first container on my sled so I could deliver it on Sunday morning. I had arranged with Nick to spend the night at his shop so we could head over to Old Millie's and meet up with Tabby. Tabby only had ten days left so we wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
    "Hey Liam," Tabby began, a little sheepishly, "I'm sorry about needling you about your dad last week. Still friends?"
    " No worries, Tabs," I returned easily. "You've always got my back. I just wish I knew what I wanted to do differently."
    " Okay, just as long as we are still cool. That's all I want."
    Nick shook his head in feigned disgust. "You guys want to get a room or something?"
    Tabby jumped up, landed on Nick and rubbed her knuckles into the top of his head.
    "Give. I give," Nick giggled, out of breath.
    " So ... Tabs. Any idea what you are going to do at the Academy?" I asked, not knowing what to expect.
    Tabby sat down after letting Nick go. "Well, really, it's just like every other college out there, but I want to be a captain."
    About mid-sentence my suit's warning system started shaking and pulsing red around the neckline and I felt the sleeves around my wrist contract. My AI was responding to a rapid depressurization event I hadn’t yet recognized. Instinctively, I reached back for my hood and pulled it up. Nick and Tabby were doing the same thing. I had just reached to pull on my left glove when everything went to hell.
    Depressurization warning klaxons blared from every surface. The front window of Old Millie's blew straight out through a now non-existent dome. The three of us, and the half dozen or so other inhabitants, were sucked toward open space, tumbling haphazardly with the loose chairs.
    Explosive decompression isn't something that happens over a long period of time, especially in a large area. One second everything is stable, the next couple of seconds are complete chaos, and then it's all done.
    The three of us had taken up a position at the back of the bar next to a wall and we had been sucked toward the window, but not pulled through. My first thought was to make sure