“Hmmm. How can I describe it?” Kash muses, resting his chin in his hand. “I guess you could say, I do what I can to keep the bad guys in check.”

It’s weird and noncommittal, maybe deliberately so, and I’m not sure I like the way it sounds. I take a sip of coffee, turning the idea over in my mind.

“Wait, you’re not—”

“Vanguard? God, no,” he says with a laugh. “Those guys are,” he shakes his head, “incompetent.”

That’s definitely not the word I would choose. But at least he didn’t say yes.

“Oh, so you’re a scraper then,” I say jokingly.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Kash says, setting his cup on the table and raising his hands defensively, “I don’t need to sit here and take this kind of abuse.”

I laugh, and he drops his hands with a smile.

“Let’s just say, I’m a guy with a ship and leave it at that. Okay? Is that good enough for you?”

“I’ll drink to that,” I say, raising my cup in a toast. The less he tells me about himself, the less he’ll ask about me, or so I hope.

“What about you?” he asks. Guess I was wrong.

“Survey and relocation,” I say. It’s not a lie, but it feels vague enough that it might as well be. “Mostly relocation,” I clarify.

“Of course! That’s where the money is,” Kash says. “That must be how you could afford all that fuel back at Rafti’s,” he laughs.

“Please, that’s an experience I’m trying to forget,” I groan, dropping my head into my hands.

“Really?” he says as I pull my face away from my hands. “It’s an experience I’m not sure I could forget if I tried.”

I feel myself flush and wish desperately that I had left my face safely buried in my hands. I can tell he’s looking at me, but I’m too self-conscious to meet his eye.

“Speaking of,” he begins, giving me a chance to recover. “I’d be happy to give you a hand loading it, but it might be better to wait ‘til after inspection. They’re gonna start rounds any minute now.”

I feel my stomach drop, and suddenly that second coffee feels like it was a very bad idea.

“Oh, shit,” Kash says. “Look at your face. You had no idea about inspection.”

I didn’t even think about inspection. Most stations don’t bother with it—it’d be too much of a hassle, and most people are only making a pit stop anyway—but it’s more common on surface bases where people tend to stick around longer. It’s a good deterrent against smugglers, that’s for sure. An easy way to keep the planet clean.

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“I’m so screwed,” I mutter, shaking my head.

There’s no way I’ll ever pass. Even the most standard inspection will turn up an undeclared engine system that’s been running for days on end, and I can only assume that once they log my ship’s ID I’ll come up on the Vanguard’s register.

“It’s okay. Don’t panic,” Kash says reassuringly as he passes me a glass of water. “Jesus, you look pale,” he says less reassuringly.

I can’t believe this is happening. My mind races, trying to find a way out.

“Can’t I just…leave?” I ask hopefully. Maybe if they realize I’m not sticking around long to cause any trouble, they’ll cut me some slack.

“With all your fuel still sitting on the dock?” Kash asks, raising his eyebrows. “I mean, unless you think you have time to load it first.”

“No way,” I say, shaking my head. I don’t dare try to use the porting system, and with the amount of fuel I bought, it’ll take me half an hour to get all that loaded, even with help. From the sound of it, I don’t have that kind of time.

“Look, there’s a moon at Pajorat IV. Gallus. You can dock there for a few hours and come back after inspection. No one will be the wiser.”

“Are you sure that’ll work?” I ask, a bit skeptical of the idea. It sounds almost too easy.

“Come on, how am I gonna see you again if you’re locked up for inspection fraud?” Kash asks with a grin.

I shoot him a look.

“Joking!” he says, putting his hands up in defense.

“Got any crew you gotta grab?” Kash asks as we jog across the atrium. I slow to a stop.

“Shit! I do!” And I somehow managed to completely forget about them. I’m never going to make it out of here before inspection. What am I going to do now?

“Do you know where they are?” he asks.

“No clue,” I say, shaking my head.

“Okay. That’s okay. What do they look like?”

I think for a minute, but the harder I try, the more blank my mind becomes.

“There’s a woman and a man,” I say, my mind churning. “Or maybe two men.” My mind races as I think desperately about how I’m going to find C-CIL and Shae. Byer, I’m hoping, is still on the ship. I resume walking, and Kash follows suit.

“That’s not a lot to go on,” he says with a nervous laugh. “What are their names?”

Oh shit. Their names. I can’t tell him their names. And we didn’t agree on nicknames or anything before coming down here—I guess I just didn’t think it would come up.

“They have names, don’t they?” Kash asks. I can see now he’s starting to get worried.

“Ummmm,” I say, straining to think.

Just then, I catch sight of a familiar face. It’s Byer. I’ve never been so relieved to see him.

“Hey!” I yell, running up to him. “Where are the others?”

He raises his eyebrows at me.

“Did you lose them?”

“What do you mean, did I lose them? I didn’t have them to begin with,” I snap. “Look we don’t have time for this,” I shake my head, biting my lip. “We’re gonna have to come back for them later.”

“What?” Byer looks at me incredulously.

“I’ll explain later,” I say briskly. “They’ll be fine. Actually, it’s probably better if they’re not with us if we end up getting caught.”

“Who’s getting caught?” Byer demands. I feel bad not explaining more, but there will be time for that on the way to Gallus.

“On the ship,” I answer. “We gotta go.”

Byer turns and stalks off toward the bay as Kash walks up beside me.

“You’re gonna be fine,” he says, placing a hand on each of my shoulders and looking into my eyes.

I take a deep breath and nod. I hope he’s right.

“Remember: Pajorat IV. Gallus. Get there and lie low. I’ll let you know when It’s safe to come back and get the rest of your stuff.”

We turn and walk toward the bay. I know I have to hurry, but Kash’s reassurance is comforting, and I know once I step through that door I’ll be on my own. Or close enough.

“Just don’t panic and bolt. That’s never a good look,” he says. “In my line of work, it’s usually a dead giveaway—just ask the last guys who tried it,” he smirks, hanging back as I step through the doorway.

I look at him curiously.

“Who were the last guys?”

“No one you’d know,” he says, waving me off. “Some little ship…what was it called?”

I watch him furrow his brow in thought.

“Oh yeah! I remember,” he says, lighting up with the recollection. “It was the Lotus.”