The Haivu ships didn’t follow us, thankfully. If they did, Noah and I had no chance of fighting back. We’d be a ball of flames before we could even make a smudge in their advanced shields. I shook my head. I didn’t think I’d have to deal with the fucking Haivu, of all things. I may be a pretty good mercenary, but I wasn’t that good. Foreign military ships were way out of my league. My ship was originally meant for exploration, for fuck’s sake!
Noah was slumped back in his seat, relief apparent on his pale face.
“Close one, huh?” I said, trying to break the tense atmosphere.
“Close is an understatement! Those crazy looking ships ripped through those pirates we were struggling with like they were nothing!” Noah threw his hands up.
I swished my tail back and forth. “Yeah, that’s why most ships run whenever they encounter Haivu. If they can. The military and a few top mercenaries are the only ones that can actually contend with them.”
“Just our luck, then”
“Just our luck. Hey, we’re almost caught up to the Breaker. I’m definitely extorting the hell out of that fucking Maneri, he definitely downplayed the expedition. And he fucking left us behind!”
Noah swiveled his head towards me. “But you were planning to do it first!”
“Only because he didn’t hire enough protection! Either way, our employer ditched us, so he should be paying at least double! He’s got money to spare, he just got a huge platinum haul.”
My ship recognized the mining ship’s signature ahead of us in the tunnel.
“There he is! I’m going to open comms. Give him a piece of my mind.”
“Give him hell.”
The comms crackled. Sa’Ruh’s voice emanated from beyond.
“Saka and Noah! I’m so glad you made it out! I knew a mercenary of your caliber would’ve been able to give those scrappy pirates the slip. You’re a skilled pilot, and–”
“Cut the bullshit. You fucking left us behind after saying you were backing off to regen your shields. We were about to die out there! The only reason we made it out is that the fucking Haivu showed up!”
Sa’Ruh frowned. “The Haivu? They came?”
“Yeah, they fucking came, all over us and the fucking pirates. Their fucking military ships tore through those pirates, and we only made it out because they were distracted!”
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah. I better be getting compensated for this. Triple the payout from the original contract. Cause you should’ve hired two more ships for this escort.”
“T-triple? You aren’t serious, right?”
I scoffed. “If you don’t pay up, I’ll be taking my check myself, from your cargo. You seriously downplayed this contract. You risked our lives for a shortcut, and that system definitely wasn’t near Haivu territory, it was in it!”
I could practically hear the captain slump in his chair. “Alright, Saka. I’ll triple it. As long as you don’t report on the Haivu attack. We weren’t supposed to be near there.”
“Good. I expect to see my money soon.” I cut the comm, and turned towards Noah. “I’m definitely fucking reporting on the Haivy attack. Sa’Ruh could get in some serious trouble for provoking them.”
Noah shook his head, partially exasperation and partially approval. I hooked one of my arms on Noah’s shoulders, carefully, to not accidentally gouge him with my claws.
“We just got extra funds for your first job celebratory party! Yori’s gonna be happy!”
Noah smiled. “Just don’t get too crazy. I feel like a drunk Yori would be a disaster.”
“You’re just going to have to see for yourself.”
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A few days later, the Leviathan was docking back at Maralu Station, and my virtual wallet was heavy from the payout from the job. I made a little separate wallet for Noah’s portion, but he didn’t have a bank account yet. I didn’t know how I was going to figure that out. Noah didn’t have any sort of ID. For now, I was going to have to give him one of my credit chips.
The ship docked, and I requested and paid for a refuel and a hull repair. My hull wasn’t too torn up, but it’d still take a few days to repair it. I needed to ask Yori if we could crash at their place. We wouldn’t be able to live in the Leviathan while the mechanics were fixing it up. Speaking of Yori, I still needed to tell them the good news. I decided to opt for a video call. I waved Noah over as I started the call.
“What’s this?” Noah asked, as a holo screen projected on top of my tablet. “Some sort of screen?”
“Yeah, I’m video calling Yori right now, to let them know we’re back, and the job went safely.”
Noah’s eyes brightened. “Sick. Yori’s gonna be pissed when they hear what happened.”
“Absolutely. But less pissed when they hear about our payout, for sure.”
The holo screen fizzled, and a smiling Aeon appeared before us. Their face appeared to be covered in grease and gunk, and they had industrial goggles on.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“What’s up? You two back from your job?” Yori asked.
“Yeah, we just docked. Sorry, did I catch you in the middle of work?”
Yori pulled up their goggles with a gloved hand. “Yeah, but I was just about to take a break anyway. How did the job go? Wait, don’t tell me. You can talk all about it when we throw that party. Both of you are okay, right?”
“Yeah, neither of us are hurt.” Noah replied. “How have you been, Yori? Anything happen while we were gone?”
Yori shook their head. “Not much. I got a bunch of requests for suits, though. I’ve been working a lot recently. Oh, I guess the news about the Haivu was a thing that happened. It’s got people shaken up. Probably why I got so much work, actually.
Noah and I exchanged looks. “The news about the Haivu? What about them?”
“Something about the Haivu starting to expand their territory. We’re on the outer fringes of Galactic Union space, and the Haivu border us, so people are thinking they might be heading here. It doesn’t sound realistic but it’s still got people worried.”
“Fuuuuuck.” I drew out a long sigh. “I don’t want to deal with those bugs again.”
“Again? Did you come across them during your job?”
“Yeah, we did. We’ll tell you about it when we link up. Is tonight good?”
Yori’s look of concern vanished quickly. “Yeah, come over in a few hours. I’ll be ready by then. Make sure to grab some food and drinks, though. They’re all on you.”
“Of course. See you later!”
“See you later!” Noah echoed. Yori gave us a wave, and cut the feed.
“Guess the Haivu’s been active recently then.” I said.
“Yeah, that sucks. I really don’t want to see them again.” Noah replied. “We’re going to have to be careful on other jobs, too.”
“Definitely. I’m going to fit out the Leviathan with better weapons, shield, and a drive. I don’t want to get caught with our pants down again.”
Noah grinned. “Already using up that paycheck, huh. Speaking of which, how do I get mine?”
“Oh, I already set up a virtual wallet for you. It’s not a bank account, but it’s a stash of creds. I’ll link it to one of my credit chips and give it to you. You’ve got 300,000 credits in there, right now.”
“300,000?” Noah asked. “How much is that? Like relatively speaking.”
I swished my tail while mentally calculating. “About half a year’s worth of work for the average person. Not including taxes, of course. You’re starting off strong.”
“That much? I don’t know what to do with all of that money!” Noah clutched his head.
“If you want, I can help you with getting rid of some of that. These ship upgrades are expensive, you know.” I smirked.
“Hey! Don’t take my money!”
----------------------------------------
A few hours later, Noah and I strolled into Yori’s shop. I hoisted four bags with each of my arms, and one carefully balanced on my tail. Noah hugged a cooler box to his chest. Yori emerged from behind the shop’s counter.
“Hey, welcome back!” Their eyes flitted over our cargo. “And you got the food and drinks, too. Nice!”
Yori rushed over and relieved a couple of my arms. They gave me and Noah a quick hug, and then gestured for us to follow them.
“Come upstairs! I’m not gonna mess up my work room any more, and I don’t have any tables or chairs down here anyways.”
We followed Yori into the second floor of their shop, where they lived. It was a couple small apartment rooms with a simple bed, a small holo screen, a homey couch, and a table that could seat four. A nearby doorway led into a small kitchen, and even further was a bathroom. Very minimalist, but the apartment had a very cozy and personal vibe. It wasn’t too different from how I lived on my ship, actually.
We set our food and drinks down on the metal table, and started unpacking them. Out came the alcohol (mostly cheap Anri rum, some beer made by a nearby Xilashi brewery, and Yori’s favorite wine made by some Aeon company). The food was simple. I’d gotten a wide variety to test out Noah’s palette, and picked out some of my favorites. We had farmbug sliders, synthmeat skewers, and raw fish slices, along with a few other snacks. The fish was mainly for Yori. Like most Aeon, Yori loved seafood. I personally couldn’t understand it. The texture of seafood was far inferior to something with firmness, something that felt good to tear your teeth into.
Yori snatched up a can of Xilashi beer, and popped the tab. Half of it was gone in seconds.
“So, tell me about the job before I get too drunk to listen. You said you came across the Haivu?”
I grabbed a can myself, and replied. “Yeah, we did. Almost didn’t make it out. We got really lucky. Or unlucky, since we ran into them in the first place.”
Noah nodded. “Those ships acted like those pirates were nothing!”
Yori frowned. “Pirates, too? Wait, start from the beginning. Saka, what the hell did you get Noah into?”
I shrugged. “I had no idea what would happen!”
I recounted the entire trip’s major events while Noah occasionally spoke up to interject with his own comments and point of view. After we painted a clear picture for Yori, they sat in silence for a few moments.
“I’m glad you two made it out alive, but it’s still very bad news. That’s closer than any other reports of Haivu! You probably ran into some of their scouts. You’re going to want to call this in to the authorities. The GU military needs to be notified as soon as possible, and they’re already a fuckton of lightyears away.”
I took a bite out of a farmbug slider. “Don’t worry, I already called it in before coming here. It was the first thing I did before I called you a few hours ago. They’re probably verifying the information, and probably sending a ship or two over. I’m not too well versed in military stuff.”
Noah raised his hand like he was in a classroom. “While we’re on the topic of Haivu, can you actually tell me who and what the Haivu are? And why they’re bad news?”
I made a sweeping gesture to Yori, which was my way of saying “I don’t want to explain all that, so you can go ahead.” Yori finished the small plate of fish they were holding, and started their explanation.
“Alright, so, the Haivu are one of the spacefaring races that aren’t part of the Galactic Union. They were invited to join centuries ago, but talks broke down, or something, and it never happened. So they were largely left alone for a while. And while the GU mostly dismissed them, they started terraforming more planets, building up more hives, and shoring up their fleets.”
“Hives?” Noah asked. “Are they like a hive mind race or something?”
“No, not exactly. The Haivu are insectoids, kinda like the Anri, but way bigger, and they aren’t a hive mind. They’re all individuals. Although they don’t actually speak to each other with vocal cords or sign language or anything, it's assumed that they have some sort of telepathic connection. And that telepathic connection makes them incredibly coordinated, which is a huge pain for the GU military.”
“Anyways, the Haivu spent years building up themselves, and soon became a galactic power. Nobody really knows why they expanded so much, but our strategists and historians theorize that they were threatened by the size and power of the Galactic Union. Since both the Haivu and the GU were expanding, eventually territorial conflicts emerged. A few claims to systems and sectors overlapped. Skirmishes came up, a few disputes, and an arms race on both sides eventually led to this. If I had to guess, the GU and the Haivu are about to go to war. Which is terrible, because the other galactic powers might take advantage of that. If we go to war, things get shitty, fast.”
Noah nodded slowly. “Guess I’m somehow in an even shittier situation than I thought.”
I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, the chances of the Haivu coming out to a fringe station like this is pretty low. There’s not much value in taking this sector, so we’re probably screwed only if the GU somehow loses a war against the Haivu, which is pretty unlikely. The GU is pretty much the strongest galactic superpower, since we have the highest population and sheer industrial power.”
Yori scoffed. “I don’t know about that. If we don’t take the Haivu seriously, we’re going to be in deep trouble. The GU military might be the strongest in the galaxy but they’re also spread paper-thin. You should make sure your ship is ready just in case the Haivu decide to attack.”
This time, I patted Yori’s shoulder. “Of course. I’ve already taken precautions, the encounter with the Haivu during our job already gave me a reality check. I’ve used a lot of the credits from the job to upgrade the Leviathan.”
Yori lightly rapped my head with their knuckles. “Just don’t be cockier than normal.”
“Yeah yeah.” I chugged down some rum.
I was starting to feel a little tipsy. The celebratory party continued. Yori and I drunkenly talked about the shenanigans we used to have together when we were younger, as Noah laughed at the stupid shit we did. I interrogated Noah about what he actually did, back on Earth. He wasn’t a professional athlete or anything, Noah just a normal office worker who had the tendency to dive into new hobbies. I asked Noah why he didn’t capitalize on his hyperthymesia to be a genius scientist or engineer or something, and he simply replied that he wasn’t really interested in STEM and preferred to work quietly in an office. Which was understandable, except now his new job was to shoot aliens in a spaceship. Maybe I could make Noah do some of my paperwork I was behind on, to give him some semblance of his normal life.
The night continued. Yori, Noah and I enjoyed our well-deserved break.