After we made up nicely, and finished eating our cold takeout dinner, I invited Noah to sit across from me at the high table.
“What’s up?” Noah asked.
“I wanted to let you know that we’ve been offered a job escorting a mining ship. It starts in five days, and it’ll last about two weeks. The only expected threat are pirates. I wanted to ask you if you’re okay with this job. I haven’t confirmed it yet, and I wanted your opinion on it.”
Noah nodded. “We can take the job. It’s your decision as the boss anyways, it's your ship. You don’t have to ask me.”
“I just wanted to make sure you were ready, and if you wanted to do the job.” I said. “We won’t be leaving the ship, so the only responsibilities you have is manning the turret during attacks. Can you handle that?”
“Yeah, I can. Thanks for asking me. I need to pay off my debt to you anyway, so you can take any job you get offered.” Noah chuckled.
I shook my head. “Whoah, the only thing you owe me is a tour of Earth. I’m going to be the one paying you, after this job is done. Also, your suit should be done by the time we go on the job. We’re going to need it, just in case our canopy gets breached or we have to unboard the ship. I’ll ask Yori about the progress on it.”
“Alright, got it. Guess I’ll practice my Standard while we wait, then. I can’t be crutching on this translator forever.”
“Right. I’ll help you with that.” I turned on the screen on the wall. “Here, the best way to learn is by watching movies. Specifically my favorites.”
Noah shook his head. “You’re full of ulterior motives.”
We both hopped off the high chairs and plopped down on the couch, and I scrolled through options, looking for my favorite films. After a minute of indecisiveness, I decided to pick my favorite comedy movie. Poor Noah had to watch and listen to jokes that flew right over his head, while I doubled over laughing. Maybe I was full of ulterior motives. I don’t think Noah learned anything from that movie.
After the movie ended, I answered Noah’s questions about Standard, and showed him where he can watch movies and shows on his tablet so he could learn on his own. We both retired to our rooms, and I sent the Maneri mining captain confirmation that I was accepting his contract. After my message was sent, I took a shower, threw on my pajamas, and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
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The next few days were pretty uneventful. I helped Noah practice his Standard, and he was improving at an alarming rate. I asked what his secret was, and he said “I have hyperthymesia. I can remember things perfectly.” That explained his tendency to absorb new skills quickly. It was also incredibly impressive. Noah also practiced piloting the ship again, along with operating the turret. His piloting wasn’t great, but that was probably because my ship was outfitted to be operated by someone with four arms. His turret operation was on point, though.
A day before the escort mission, I got a message from Yori.
Suit’s done. Come over to my shop with Noah when you’re free, need to test it.
Got it. Going over now.
A few minutes later, Noah and I left our ship, and started our walk towards Yori’s shop. Noah had chosen to leave the translator tablet behind so he could test his Standard. He could pretty much have a normal conversation in Standard now. He still had a weird accent though, but people will just assume he’s from some backwater planet. And once he had the suit, nobody would suspect him of being a human.
We decided to get a gift for Yori, since they made Noah’s suit on such short notice. I was paying them too, of course, but they deserved a bonus. Noah and I walked between various food stalls, trying to spot the perfect gift for Yori. We’d decided that some sort of snack or dessert would be a good gift, and I didn’t really know what Yori wanted specifically. Can’t go wrong with food.
Noah pointed towards a small stand wafting with the smell of sugar. “What’s that? It smells sweet over there. Cookies?”
I peered at the sign on top of the stand. “Hmm… looks like Beni fruit cookies. I’ve never had them, but I heard they were pretty good.”
“Let’s get those, then. And some for us, maybe?” Noah asked pleadingly.
“Yeah, some for us.”
I bought two packages of Beni fruit cookies, and we were back on our way to Yori’s shop. The cityscape changed to one of long shadows and rusty, squat, buildings. No muggers this time, luckily, and we passed by shady alleyways and loitering locals with no incidents. Soon enough, we were in front of Yori’s dinky shop. I opened the door and stepped in, ducking under the short frame.
“Hey Yori, your shop is a lot more impressive on the inside than out!” I called.
“That’s the point! Nobody is gonna rob my shop if it looks like a shitty shack!” Yori called from the work room. “Come over to the workroom! Suit’s ready!”
Noah and I walked behind the front counter and into the workroom. There, Yori had the suit displayed on a large table.
“Here it is, Noah. It’s your suit. I bet Saka hasn’t even explained how they work, so I’ll just do it for her. It’s a spacesuit, capable of protecting you from the vacuum of space. Got its own oxygen supply that’ll last you about a day. This one’s got a little shield generator on the back – it’s like a miniature version of the one on a spacecraft – it can protect you from a lot of shit. But if you take too many hits it’ll go down, and you’ll be vulnerable. Reboot time for the shield on this suit is about a minute. If it goes down, run for cover. Let’s see, what else? Oh yeah, this suit has a holster on the right hip for sidearms. I also took that data from your little run and incorporated it into this suit. It’s much easier to run in than a lot of other suits, so you can outrun people in clunky ones if you have to.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
I looked over at Noah, who had stars in his eyes. “Did you catch all of that?”
Noah nodded. “I think I got most of it, yeah. Oxygen, shield, running.”
Yori separated the suit into pieces, and gestured to Noah to come closer. “Alright, let’s put this on. I’ll teach you how to put on every part and how to seal it. Take off that cloak.”
Noah did as instructed, and the cloak dropped to the floor. He was wearing beige cargo pants and a black long sleeve T-shirt.
Yori picked up the bottom part of the suit. “Alright, take those pants off. You’re putting these on first. Saka, turn around.”
I did as instructed, and once the rustling stopped, I turned back around.
“Fit well?” Yori asked.
“Yeah, it’s snug.” Noah replied.
“Alright, now put on the top. Shirt off, too. You’re going to need some skin tight shorts and a shirt if you want this to be easier next time.” Yori instructed.
Yori’s instructions went on for some time, as they explained the steps to put on a suit. Legs, torso, boots, gloves, helmet.
“And here’s the helmet. It’s got a few functions. Tinted visor so people can’t see your face. Flashlight is here, night vision switch is there. And press there to seal and unseal the helmet for when you take it on and off. Radio is over there. And that knob is to change channels.”
Noah nodded along, and put the helmet on. He tested each of the functions, and then sealed the helmet. Noah’s suit was sleek, matte, and navy blue. His helmet had a full face visor that was tinted black and impossible to see through. The suit was smooth and form fitting, other than round shoulder pads and knee pads. His black boots were light, allowing a full range of movement and looked comfortable to run in. His holster now held his lightly used Fune 2. He looked like a proper mercenary now, or at least a proper spacefarer. Noah twisted his body, swung his arms, and lifted his legs to test his range of movements. His voice was broadcasted through a tiny speaker on the mouth of the helmet.
“I can move pretty well in this. This suit’s amazing!” He turned to face Yori, who took a step back and was admiring their work. “Thank you, Yori. It’s perfect.”
I stood next to Yori and admired their work too. “That suit’s pretty fucking good. I might need to upgrade mine soon.”
Yori slapped my shoulder. “Give me at least a week’s break! And pay up!”
I laughed, and transferred the credits to Yori. I also handed them the Beni cookies Noah had picked out earlier.
“Here, Noah wanted to give you a gift for working on his suit. They’re Beni cookies.”
Yori took the cookies and walked over to Noah, and gave him a brief huh. “Thanks, Noah. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.” Noah said. “It was the least I could do. And I didn’t pay for it anyways.”
Yori chuckled. I walked over to Noah and Yori.
“Glad you got the suit. Yori, we’re going on an escort job tomorrow. We’ll be back in about two weeks, so let's celebrate once we get our paycheck.”
“Taking Noah on a job already? Is he ready?” Yori replied. “His Standard is really good now, but can he fight?”
“We’re probably not going to fight at all. It’s a mining ship escort, so the most exciting thing that’ll happen is a dogfight with a pirate ship or something. They’ll probably run off scared if we engage for long enough, though.”
“Mmm-hm.” Yori grumbled. They pointed at Noah. “You better stay safe out there. Can’t lose a new customer so soon.”
Noah fidgeted with his fingers. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Yori pointed at me next. “And you better take care of him.”
I raised all four of my hands, palms out. “Of course! Who do you think I am?”
“A brash Togumo dumbass who likes to dive headfirst into her problems.”
I laughed. “We’ll be careful, I swear.”
“You better. You’re paying for the celebration once you get back, after all.”
We hung out with Yori for a while. We talked about the shows I watched with Noah while snacking on the Beni cookies we bought. We’d watched some of the popular ones, and Yori had strong opinions about them. After I argued with Yori about what made a show overrated, swishing my tail in frustration, I checked the time on my tablet.
“We gotta go soon, we’re doing a check in with the client. He wants us to meet at his ship and review the job.”
Yori nodded. “Good luck, Saka, Noah. Have a safe trip!”
Noah and I said our goodbyes and left Yori’s shop. We left Noah’s cloak and clothes in the shop, we didn’t want to be stuck holding it during a business meeting. Since Noah had his suit, we could take public transportation now. We made our way to the nearest train station, and started to head towards the docking bay coordinates that Sa’Ruh had sent me.
We stood in front of the gigantic ship, several times bigger than my Leviathan. The best way to describe it was a brick. It was rectangular in shape, with blocky edges and no aerodynamic features in sight. The entire ship was slathered in shades of gray and chipped paint indicated that it was long overdue for a new paint job. The bridge of the ship bulged from the top, and two squat wings racked with mining equipment stuck out of each side of the ship. Two massive turrets poked out of the top of the ship, showcasing its self defense capabilities. Huge thrusters decorated the back of the ship, and each face of it sported multitudes of directional thrusters. This ship was heavy and slow, and was clearly designed to be only used out-of-atmosphere. This thing would never land on a planet. Sa’Ruh was standing on the ship’s ramp, and started power walking towards us once I waved towards him.
“Hello, Saka. Glad to see you took on the job. You’re quite a reliable mercenary, so having you for this expedition is quite fortunate.” He brought his fist to his chest in a customary Maneri greeting. “And who’s that next to you? To my knowledge you work alone.”
“That’s my new partner, Noah. He’ll be coming along for this job. Noah will be on my ship’s turret if there’s any pirate attacks.” I replied.
Noah clasped his hands behind his back. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
Sa’Ruh did his Maneri greeting again. “Likewise. I’m captain Sa’Ruh of the mining ship Breaker. Now, follow me. We can go over the mission in my office.”
We followed the Maneri captain up the ramp and into the belly of his ship. It was pretty clean as ships go, with a boring gray interior and wide passageways. We passed by a few crew members who dipped their heads in respect towards the captain as we passed. After a few minutes, we arrived at the captain’s office. Sa’Ruh sat behind his desk, and Noah and I took our seats across from him.
“Alright, we’re going to be traveling to HIP 27-23E. That’s a main sequence star system, pretty close to the Galactic Union border with the Haivu. We’re going to be checking out two gas giant rings there, and mining whatever’s there. That’s the easy part. To get to HIP 27-23E, we’re going to have to travel though Trader’s Folly. It’s a pretty patchy route with plenty of smugglers, pirates, and other unsavory sorts. Normally I’d choose another route, but all the others take too long, and we’re on a short timeframe here. Traveling through Trader’s Folly is going to be the most dangerous part of the haul, especially the way back. My ship only has a couple of turrets, most of our equipment is for mining. We’ll assist during any engagements, but don’t expect us to do much. The last thing we want is to get boarded. We have weapons on board, but none of my men are fighters. Make sure to prevent that to the best of your ability.”
Sa’Ruh went on about a bunch of rules and regulations, tips for flying through an asteroid field, along with maintaining proper distance during core mining. He went into more detail about the specs of his ship so I could support him better during combat. It was useful information, but overall it was boring. Noah looked like he was interested, however, and paid careful attention. After Sa’Ruh was done, Noah requested a tour of his ship, and the captain happily obliged. I hadn’t seen the inside of a mining ship before either, so I was slightly curious, too.
The captain took us through the dank living quarters, the loud and busy mess hall, and the fighter bay. The fighter bay of this ship was outfitted with customized fighters with mining lasers, since the mining ship itself wasn’t maneuverable enough for some of its tasks. There were five mining fighter ships. I recognized the base model. They were Haya ships, known for their insanely good maneuverability. However, they were as tough as paper, so they were mainly used for racing, not combat. Sa’Ruh then took us to the bridge of the ship, where he showed off his gigantic captain’s console, along with the turret operation systems on either side of his captain’s seat. I wasn’t a huge fan of large ships like this one, but I could see why people felt comfortable in them. I still preferred my Leviathan, though. Explorer ships were much more homey.
After our tour was over, Noah and I headed back home, to our ship. We’d be leaving in the simulated morning the next day, so we had to get an early night’s sleep. On our way back, we stopped to get some dinner, a seafood place this time. The fish were pretty fresh, fished up from the ocean of a nearby moon, and overall, it was a nice dinner. I discussed the job with Noah as we ate, and once we were finished, we made our way back to the Leviathan. Noah’s first job was tomorrow.