“I have two questions.” Ylisaya stated.

“Let’s hear ‘em.”, Tony replied.

“It seemed like the Confederacy won the war, why let one of Mars’ moons think they’re still at war?” Ylisaya asked.

“And the second question?” Tony asked.

“What’s Assassinator? But my first question is more important.”, Ylisaya said.

“You want take that poli-sci question?”, Tony asked me.

“Well if the war isn’t over, but if we say it is, we would be liars. If the war is over and we say nothing, it’s technically not our job to tell anybody that news.”, I said to Ylisaya.

“Yeah, these peoples’ lives are difficult enough. They need help, not false hope.”, Tony said.

“That doesn’t make me feel better, but it is logical. So what’s Assassinator?”, Ylisaya asked, as I turned to Tony.

“A movie and television franchise, that came out when I was a kid. It’s about a fictional war between the two most powerful governments on Earth, the U.D.E. and the J.A.T.O. Alliance. Each government developed time travel technology, so they started sending cyborg assassins to eliminate enemy leaders in the past, before they achieved any important victories or to eliminate their parents before they are even born. It’s not as good as Contest of Crowns, because it was made in an older time, and its tough keeping a consistent story when time travel keeps changing important events. The television show was specifically about the war in the future point in their time-line. The movies all took place in the past, which from our perspective is our current era, and each starts with a time-traveling cyborg, falling out of the sky.”, Tony said.

“Earth made more than one season? And openly entertained the scenario of hypothetical war against a powerful government?”, Ylisaya asked.

“Well nobody was going to say no, when the JATO Alliance and the U.D.E. competed over everything, sports, economics, sciences, medicine, and even who had better propaganda, for over eight decades. In current era, they would never make that because it would seem techno-phobic. It had about four okay movies, and six years of good television. It was funded by the U.D.E.’s gun industry, and in the second season of the television show it became just a money making gun advertisement, just because the show made society interested in guns. Then JATO, the real J.A.T.O. I mean, wanted to copy the the effect and convinced the U.D.E. to let JATO make their side of the show in their own country, and combine the shows. So in season four and five, the JATO version was actually better. Mainly because a North Alyrican actor can only pretend to be East Aurovean.”, Tony laughed.

“That implies that violence in media actually influences society, that’s unrealistic.”, Ylisaya protested.

“Of course, the U.D.E. would never develop a weapon to use against an unknown cyborg enemy…except that doesn’t explain where I got these. Ideas do influence reality.”, Tony said sarcastically as he presented Ylisaya with the clip of experimental ammo he took from the UDE officer.

“Are those what I think they are?”, Ylisaya gasped.

Tony handed the ammo to Ylisaya, and then revealed the data stick.

“Mhh-hmm. I even got the instructions.”, Tony said jovially, as Ylisaya removed one bullet to examine it.

“Where did you get these?”, Ylisaya asked.

“I’ll tell you on the way to the zoo.”, Tony said as he gestured for Ylisaya to follow him.

My part of the plan was to find the client. She was scheduled to arrive soon so I walked through the trade port. The gravity was low enough, each step I took caused me to float. I was still uncertain how I would find someone whome I’ve never met, and would be in disguise. I watched the airlock where the refugees were scheduled to arrive, and people rushed out of the gateway, some appeared as traders and some appeared as refugees. The traders departed for the zoo, and refugees departed for the city center. It was too early for clients arrival, so I sat at a table. The port became quiet as the last of the passengers exited the gateway, and then it closed. In the empty port I seemed to be the only Rylkonian. The gateway opened two more times, and each time traders and refugees exited the gateway.

An Ugian woman walked up to me. She was dressed in expensive threaded clothing, in Rylkonian styles for accommodating space travel, but I could tell the clothing was made by Earthborn craft, as an attempt to copy Ryl-tech into a yellow space suit, except the Earthborn never realized Rylkonians don’t need space-suits. Her clothing flowed around her body in the low gravity as she walked, and I detected a thin layer of black Tri-tech worn under her yellow suit. She wore a wide floppy white hat with a black band outside the crown, tied with a red band that tied under her chin. On her hip she wore a hand-gun hanging from an ammo belt. She removed a pair of black framed tinted lenses from her eyes, as I observed her face. I wasn’t familiar with Earth born expectations of beauty, but I would describe her face as soft and heart-shaped. As she lowered her arm she appeared to rub her arm as if it had been recently injured. Behind her dark hair that fell around her shoulders and the hat’s ribbon I noticed cuts and scrapes on the side of her head.

“Jhessyreen? I’m Meiyo, I spoke to your captain. I’m your new passenger.”, the woman introduced herself.

“How do you know who I am?”, I asked Meiyo.

“Do you see another Rylkonian pilot, with dark hair, golden eyes, wearing purple and scarlet, waiting at the refugee port?”, Meiyo asked as she smiled at me.

“You seem injured, are you well enough to travel?”, I asked Meiyo.

“I’m well enough to make it here, and these aren’t injuries. I’m a bit embrassed to admit this, but I had some cosmetic surgery. Can I ask if we leave it at that?”, Meiyo asked, but I didn’t believe her.

“That’s fine. Are you ready to go to the ship?”, I replied.

“Actually I need the Cooperative Embassy. So I’ll go to the city center, and then meet you and the Captain at the ship later tonight. Do we have enough to time?”, Meiyo asked.

“Should be fine. Our reservation for cryonic-freeze is tomorrow, after that you’ll wake up on Freya station.”, I said to Meiyo.

“I suppose…I’ll see you later. After the city center closes.”, Meiyo said as she seemed to float away, towards the city center.

“How will you find the ship? Have you been here before?”, I asked Meiyo, as she stopped and turned.

“Is there another Ambush-class-gunship with a dread pirate prisoner, sitting on Deimos?”, Meiyo asked, as she moved close enough and she only whispered.

“I have no other questions. You seem well-informed”, I said to Meiyo.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, I look forward to traveling with your ship and crew.”, Meiyo said as she low-gravity-walked away towards the city center.

I reached out to Tony’s mind through cyber-link.

“The client arrived, went to the city center, and will meet us at the ship later tonight.”, I sent my thoughts to Tony.

“This is good. I found no clients destined for Freya. I need you to check the City Center.”, Tony’s thought’s reached me.

I stood up and departed for the city center.

“Did you find anything at all?”, I sent my question to Tony through the cyber-link.

“Shipping pigs to Venus was the closest I could find.”, Tony’s thoughts reached me.

I acknowledged our new plan and we disconnected. I wasn’t far behind Meiyo and she noticed me following her into the city center.

“Did you need something else from me, Jhessyreen?”, Meiyo asked as she turned towards me.

“You’re fine, I need to check the job board for other clients, and maybe find somebody else headed to Freya station.” I said to Meiyo.

“I’m already paying twenty thousand credits. Is that…not enough?”, Meiyo asked me.

“You’ll make it to Freya, but right now the only other available client the Captain found at the zoo, has us destined for Venus.”, I said to Meiyo.

“But I actually want to to go to Venus. Freya was offered to me just as a less expensive destination.”, Meiyo said.

“I don’t mean to deter you, but a direct flight to Venus carries unique risks.”, I said to Meiyo.

Meiyo paused from float-walking, and moved in close to me, close enough to whisper.

“Yeah. I know. Space pirates. I’m a Huntress of Venus, we deal with space pirates too. I also know you were once a Huntress. You fly a battleship that can turn invisible. Your Captain is a killing machine, that can also turn invisible. I’m not afraid of space pirates. I’ll offer fifty thousand for direct flight to Venus.”, Meiyo said in a most serious tone.

“I will discuss that with the Captain, and we’ll let you know our destination tonight.”, I replied to Meiyo.

“Yes please.”, Meiyo said as she nodded and entered the Cooperative Embassy.

I reached the job board and there was a row of data kiosks. One data kiosk was being used by a Naphridahn man that appeared to be a refugee. I walked up to an empty kiosk and it asked me if I wanted to request help or wanted to see available jobs. I asked to see which available jobs that had Freya station as a destination, but the result returned none. I asked to see which jobs had Venus as a destination, but the result was just animal delivery. Then the Naphridahn departed towards the residence dome.

A dark haired woman holding hands with a young dark haired girl approached the Job boards form the direction of the Cooperative Embassy. Each had a pack that was stuffed to the point of stretching, but they did not appear to be refugees nor traders. They wore clothing similar to what Meiyo wore, but without any visible cybernetics. The woman was Lahnthano and appeared to be some kind of medical scientist, as she wore an office badge with the symbol of a blue heart. The girl appeared to be half-Lahnthano and approximately age ten in Earth years. The woman was just barely old enough to be the age of the girl’s mother, but probably too old to the be girl’s sister. The woman and girl walked up to an empty kiosk and the woman, used her free hand to operate the kiosk.

I focused on my kiosk waiting for her to finish, prepared to search for new jobs recently added. I reached a point where I was ready to press the start search button. Out of the corner of my vision I saw the girl tug twice on the woman’s hand, as she looked up at the woman. The woman turned towards the girl, the girl turned and gestured towards me, and the woman glanced towards me but seemed to ignore me to focus on the kiosk. Then I sensed Tony reach out to my mind over cyber-link, as the woman continued using the kiosk

“Jhessyreen, please tell me we got passenger going to Freya station?”, Tony sent his thoughts through the cyber-link.

“Maybe. There’s a woman and young girl at the Job Boards now. She looks like one of the Cooperative’s scientists.”, I sent my thoughts to Tony as we disconnected.

I saw the woman and girl step away from the kiosk and the woman knelt down in front of the girl. The woman spoke at just above a whisper and turned away from me, so I could neither hear the woman nor see her face. I initiated my search in the job board and I saw the the help request for a cooperative medical specialist with one child seeking passage to Venus, and the offer triples upon safe arrival. I wondered why they offered a triple bonus for arrival. I returned a request for more info. As soon as I sent my request I saw the woman respond to a beep from a device on her wrist. Out of the bottom of the kiosk a small strip of wearable technology fell into a tray. The woman looked at a holographic display from the device on her wrist, which seemed to be identical to the device that the kiosk had provided to me. As the woman examined the two holographic buttons, she moved her free hand close to the hand holding the hand of the little girl, and she pressed one button, and the device that fell from the kiosk made an identical beep. The woman watched me pick up the device and dismiss the reply, that I didn’t even read.

“Cooperative Doctor?”, I asked the woman.

“Gunship Pilot?”, the woman asked me back.

“My name is Jhessyreen.”, I told the woman and girl.

“I’m Surhey, and this is Nyrylla.”, Surhey said as she lifted Nyrella’s hand she was holding.

“This thing said you wanted to ask me a question about our travel.”, Surhey said as she presented he the device wrapped around her wrist.

“So, we’re going to Freya station, and…” I started speaking but Surhey interrupted me.

“Miss Jhessyreen, I understand the Rylkonian space stations all pass by all the planets inside Mars Pax space, but my work is important to the Cooperative. I need a direct flight to Venus. So unless you have a different question, we’re not getting on any ship that isn’t flying to Venus.”, Surhey said.

“Ummm…Do you need an appointment for cryonic-freezing?” I asked Surhey.

“Myself and Nyrella cannot be placed into cryonic-sleep. I have a lot of work I still need to do, in fact I need to know that your crew will not interfere with my work. I will help in the sick-bay, but I will not share my work with your ship’s doctor. And I mean no disrespect to your Rylkonian food, but I insist Nyrylla and I be able to prepare our own meals, and we will help your ship’s cook prepare whatever they want to cook, and with however they want to cook it. And my last requirement is that we leave now, if not then soon. Our offer is fifty thousand credits now, and another one hundred and fifty thousand on arrival. The Cooperative does not want to find out space pirates are holding me hostage or enslaved me. Can your gunship do that?”, Surhey asked.

“I can give you a few responses right now actually. Neither our doctor nor cook, will get in your way, in fact your assistance is welcomed. As for leaving tonight, I don’t know how my Captain will feel about that. So please wait…”, I said to Surhey,

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Then I saw Tony and Ylisaya enter the city center.

“Actually that’s my captain, I might be able to give you an answer now.”, I said to Surhey.

I approached Tony and Ylisaya as they continued a discussion about what they probably observed at the zoo. As they acknowledged me, I noticed Ylisaya seemed very unhappy about something, and Tony seemed to be laughing.

“There’s the Cooperative Embassy, you just have to walk in there, request political asylum, and wait on this moon for the next ship going to Venus. Or you can get back on the Something Clever, I will leave you on Freya station with Meiyo, and you can follow her to Venus. I’m trying to tell you… Venus is a safe place for women, all I need from you is you survive and become an adult, then you’re free! I might not be able to teach you anything, maybe you’ll listen to them?”, Tony said to Ylisaya, as he pointed to the Cooperative Embassy.

“Did you try to escape? A moon is terrible for an escape. Too small, nowhere to hide, way better chances on any planet, except for Mars, and best chances on Venus.”, I said

“I said the same thing. Now that I think about it, after Freya station we should just go to Venus for our next contract.”, Tony said to me.

“What happened?”, I asked Ylisaya.

Ylisaya looked at me, then at Tony, then at the Embassy, as she continued to process her emotions.

“I wanna hear this story, and if you won’t tell it. Trust me, I will.”, Tony said to Ylisaya.

“I’m going back to the ship. Do whatever you want captain.”, Ylisaya said as she departed the City center, in the direction of the ship’s dock.

“What happened?”, I asked Tony.

“She tried to escape four times, but I didn’t even realize it until the fourth attempt. I just thought the other three times, she just kept getting lost. The first time, I thought she wandered off to look at something. The second time, I thought she wanted to look at the edge of the dome. The third time, she hid inside an animal cage, everyone thought she was crazy. The last attempt she tried to trade the experimental ammo to a Rylkonian merchant for a ticket back to Mars. I said just one of those bullets are way more valuable than a trip to Mars.”, Tony said as he presented the mysterious ammo.

“The merchant’s crew asked me if I was her owner, they realized I’m the Phantom, they handed her right over, and that’s the only time I realized she was trying to escape. I pointed out why it was so easy for me to find her and not even realize what she was doing, and that’s when I decided to bring her here.”, Tony said.

“So the Zoo was a total loss?” I asked Tony.

“Not completely. I found a gun dealer who examined the ammo. He had a few things to say. He offered to buy them, then he tried to steal them. I’ll need to take them to Ryzak so he and analyze them completely.”, Tony said as he shifted his focus towards the Surhey and Nyrella.

“Who are those two?”, Tony asked me.

“Surhey, Cooperative Doctor, willing to pay two hundred thousand. The kid is Nyrella. They’re offering fifty upfront, the rest on arrival. Get this, the doctor is willing to pay and work in sickbay, and will let the kid work in the kitchen. So the doctor can have an office. But they want direct flight to Venus and wanna leave now…and there’s more. Meiyo will pay fifty-thousand for direct to Venus as well.”, I said to Tony.

“Now I think we’ll have enough room for the pigs too. It sounds like we have to go to Venus now.”, Tony said.

“What about the dread pirate? It’s a bad idea to leave him active the entire flight.”, I said to Tony.

Tony acknowledged my question, but changed direction towards the Doctor.

“Excuse me Doctor Surhey. I’m the captain and we’ve got a dangerous criminal locked up on my ship. I think it would be prudent to delay our departure so he can be cryonic-frozen and safely delivered to the authorities that want him.”, Tony said to Surhey.

“You guys sound like bounty hunters. I work for the Cooperative, my offer is now five-hundred thousand or nothing.”, Surhey said.

“Please excuse us while I discuss with my first officer.”, Tony said to Surhey.

Tony and I stepped away from Surhey and Nyrella, so we could communicate through a cyber-link.

“This might have to do with the genetic research thing Venus is always going on about.”, Tony’s thoughts were clear to me.

“Well obviously, nobody throws assassination amounts of money around for just a planet-to-planet ticket.”, I made my thoughts clear to Tony, through the cyber-link.

“They do anything suspicious since you spotted them?”, Tony sent his question through the cyber-link.

“No, do they look suspicious in your scanner vision?”, I sent my question to Tony.

“Actually they look better than us. Having to fly through that shipping lane is stressing us out. I can’t imagine this being a U.D.E. trap. Where do you think they came from?”, Tony’s thoughts reached me.

“My best guess, is they spent some time in the Saturn Sciences Center, took a passenger flight to Mars Pax, and got caught in the confusion when Mars went into a state of emergency.”, I sent my thoughts to Tony.

“I know what it means when your eyes do that. I’ve seen that look in the faces of the Rylkonians who advise us at Genetic Reserach.”, Surhey said, as Tony and I disconnected from our cyber-link.

“Doctor I’ve deciced to accept your offer, we leave immediately.”, Tony said to Surhey.

“Jhess, find Meiyo, let her know the good news make sure she understands her price advantage. I’m gonna get all the food we need.”, Tony said to me.

“Who’s Meiyo?”, Surhey asked.

“She’s another passenger. Please follow me. Now the real question is what do you wanna eat for ten days, because we’re gonna buy enough food for seven humans and ten pigs. I had a fascinating conversation with a pig farmer about keeping a ship clean and disease free by feeding all excess food to pigs. I’ll tell you all about it on the way to the zoo. Are you Sjaiadi by any chance?”, Tony asked as he gestured for Surhey and Nyrella to follow him.

I looked at the small band of tech the kiosk provided to me and asked if I would accept Surhey’s contract, I pressed accept and the device informed me that my class three trade did not require a report.

“Sjaiadi? You mean the religion? What kinds of animals are at the zoo?”, Nyrella asked as she followed Surhey and Tony.

“I don’t think it’s that kind of zoo. No we are not Sjaiadi.”, Surhey said to Nyrella, as they departed the City Center.

I entered the Cooperative’s Embassy wondering how I was supposed to find Meiyo, but Meiyo found me first.

“Are you following me again?”, Meiyo asked.

“Sort of…We had a change in plans. The captain will accept your fifty thousand offer. We’re going to fly directly to Venus.”, I said to Meiyo.

“That’s great. What changed?”, Meiyo asked me.

“Basically we got two new offers that were also asking for direct flight to Venus. And we needed to leave sooner than expected. So we won’t have cryonic freezing.”, I said to Meiyo.

“I’ll be honest I hate cryonic-sleep for a few reasons. Rylkonians are lucky because you’re the most valuable crew, but us Earthborn never know if we’re gonna wake up as a slave, left frozen for hundreds of years, find a parasite laying eggs in our face, or a rapist will have his fun before our nervous system is working. I’d rather never wake up from cryonic-sleep at all, which is also a possible risk.”, Meiyo said.

“Well to my knowledge two of those things have never happened. It’s unfair to worry about waking up after being forgotten for that long, because not enough time has passed, so that has never happened. Second, I fought in the Parasite Wars, they can’t infect Rylkonians, but they still tried. Parasites eat the host’s brain, and lay eggs in the intestines. I’m pretty sure the rest does happen. But I have a question. Are you Sjaiadi?”, I asked Meiyo.

“The religion? No, why?” Meiyo asked, as I started walking towards the exit and Meiyo followed me.

“Pigs. We’re delivering pigs to Venus. I was hoping you were, then we could cancel that contract.”, I said to Meiyo wondering if she would react to a cancelled contract.

“What about the other passenger?”, Meiyo asked.

“Right…I need to let you know. They paid substantially more than you, but they also requested significantly more accommodations than just travel.”, I said to Meiyo.

“I’m not surprised. I more than doubled my offer, and now I wish I had just shut up. I offered fifty and I don’t want to give the Captain any reason to cancel.”, Meiyo said, which reinforced my suspicion that she might be the Red-Rotono.

When Meiyo and I arrived at the ship dock, we found Ylisaya sitting on a large suitcase stacked on top of another suitcase. On the opposite side, almost hidden behind Ylisaya a long container leaned against the suitcases that stood up to about my elbow. The container seemed thick but floppy, so whatever gave the long container it’s shape was inside the container and there seemed to be two of them as the container leaned and the closer object inside stood higher. Ylisaya leaned her elbow onto her knee as she read a plastyn sheet. As we approached Ylisaya acknowledged us and hopped off the luggage. The vibration caused the long container to slide to the unbalanced side and as it hit the floor of the dock a sound of clanging metal rang from the floppy container.

“Sorry I hope those weren’t fragile.”, Ylisaya said.

“Those are family heirlooms, but don’t worry they’ve been through worse. One needs to get repaired anyways.”, Meiyo said to Ylisaya.

“This is…”, I attempted to introduce Ylisaya and Meiyo, but Meiyo interrupted me,

“Let me guess. You’re Ylisaya…I would like to say thank you.”, Meiyo said to Ylisaya.

“Ummm for watching your luggage? Sure…Have we met before?”, Ylisaya asked Meiyo.

“No, but I heard that you’re the reason my head is still attached to my neck. I’m Meiyo…Can you please get those for me?”, Meiyo said to Ylisaya, as Meiyo gestured to the fallen container.

Ylisaya quickly understood what Meiyo was saying to her and enthusiastically jumped to pick up the fallen container, and enthusiastically held the container in reverence, as though she wished she could see through the material to see what was inside.

“So how do we get into the ship? I’m not Rylkonian. If I leave the dome, I’m pretty sure I’ll explode.”, Meiyo asked.

“I’ll need to find one of the enforcement officers, to see if we can get a connector tube. Wait here and I’ll go find one.”, I said to Meiyo and Ylisaya, as I turned to start my search.

I began my search for a connector tube and I found a ship using one. Through the dome I saw a cargo freighter attached with a tube to the habitation dome. I moved through the docks as cargo and traffic seemed to intensify as I approached. I had to dodge cages filled with animals, crates filled with ammo, and crowds of refugees. I suspected I was approaching the zoo. Through the crowd I could see the dock of the freighter and fortunately I saw two Rylkonians talking to a Confederate trades officer with his badge hanging from a smooth and thin chain around his neck. The Badge was a tin star and the officer appeared to keep his jacket open so his vest of Tri-tech armor was visible underneath his badge. The Rylkonians carried phase rifles worn on the back hanging from the shooting shoulder, which are a good choice for lower gravity and thinner atmosphere. As I approached I could see the hand-guns hanging from an ammo belts on each of the three men at the the gate of the dock.

“Tell the Sheriff the freighter’s crew wants to leave, because the crew doesn’t want their ship robbed. They already paid us, and we’re not about to open fire on a paying customer. They panicked, when they heard the Something Clever landed. The Phantom started collecting the supplies for his next attack, and the Confederacy is paying him with female slaves. It’s obvious, even the Confederacy doubts the reliability of their economy. The Phantom did you a favor because the freighter sold anything and everything not bolted to the ship. They paid us and you didn’t. If they want to leave they have money to pay the docking fees. We are not extending, renewing, or renegotiating any contracts, and that means we’re done working for Deimos. When our ship picks us up, we’re gone. Get someone else to clean up your sky!”, the older Rylkonian said to the trade officer, even though his information wasn’t entirely correct.

I moved closer and I could see the two Rylkonians were from the Rock Crushers Company, which meant they were probably crew-members from one of the gunships in the blockade fleet. While the older Rock Crusher argued with the trade officer, the other Rock Crusher watched the blind spots of the senior rock crusher, keeping his blind spot open to his fellow crew. This tactic makes Rock Crushers difficult to sneak up on, so they most likely already spotted me.

“Just name your price. Without firepower like yours, this moon is asking for an invasion from space pirates. The Confederacy can’t spare any troops.”, the trade officer pleaded with the older Rylkonian.

I paused my approach once I was close enough to interrupt, but I remained silent.

“We are Rock Crushers. Not mercenaries and not security guards, and we are not swayed by money! We’re on Mars for the discounts on explosives! Our ship is on its way to pick us up and we’re going right back to reshaping planets. This war over who controls one of the cities with an ammo factory is not our problem!”, the older Rylkonian protested.

“Think about what you’re saying, Rock Crusher! The Confederacy sold you those explosives, and if they’re struggling, that cost will just get added on to your prices.”, the trade officer argued.

“And if the Confederacy disappeared tonight, whoever takes over Mars, gets a planet that can only grow food if it imports Sunlight from the Commonwealth, and an economy that can only export ammo and violent video games. The Confederacy took power in a revolution nine mega-cycles ago, so you can’t complain if the Confederacy is deposed and replaced. The resources of Mars determine it’s economy, not the Confederacy. So I don’t care what a bunch of shit-born-animal-raping-fascists…”, the older Rylkonian said, but was interrupted by his fellow crew-member.

“Commander! This isn’t our moon. We don’t have enough ammo for what might happen if you finish that statement.”, the younger Rylkonian crew member said to the Rock Crusher Commander, as he kept his hand hovering over his hand-gun.

“My Deputy makes a strong argument. I apologize for my reaction. Our business in the Zoo is concluded, so we will retreat to the Protectorate Embassy.”, said the Commander.

The two Rylkonians departed through the Zoo towards the Embassy, and were mostly ignored by the Traders and Refugees. I waited for the Trade officer to start filing a trade report, and then I approached.

“Excuse me, I need help with a dock connector tube. Is this one available.”, I asked the trade officer.

“This one is still attached to a ship…There’s more at the tower, but no ships are allowed to fly there. Hey aren’t you the Gunship’s pilot?”, the trade officer asked me.

“I am, actually I think I have an idea. Thank you for your help.”, I said to the trade officer.

I departed to return to the Something Clever and I reached out to Tony through our cyber-link. I sensed Tony’s mind connect to mine.

“We got a new problem.”, I sent my thoughts to Tony.

“How bad?”, Tony’s thoughts reached me.

“Deimos security needs firepower, they know a gunship is docked, and I just asked for the last available dock connector tube. Without the connector all our passengers are stuck at the Embassy.”, I sent my thoughts.

“I hate it when they label hostages. Alternatives?”, Tony’s thoughts reached me.

“Maybe. There are potentially more dock connectors at the abandoned hyper jump gate tower, but ships are still prohibited from using the Tower. We could use the delay to keep our cryonic reservation.”, I sent my thoughts.

“Tempting, but leaving our passengers on Deimos, and potentially loosing a contract is a worse idea. I’m gonna send the doctor and the supplies to the dock. You need to keep them there, until I can figure something out.”, Tony sent his thoughts, and then disconnected.

I returned to the dock, and found Ylisaya and Surhey examining ten cages with life monitoring technology, and each cage contained a pig, in two rows of five each. Nyrella explored the delivery of food, but seemed to move as if she was exploring a maze, or perhaps her own imagination. Meiyo sat on top of her double stacked luggage while she read a sheet of plastyn. As soon as Meiyo saw me, she stopped reading and walked towards me.

“So all we need to do is feed them and the technology in their cage does the rest?”, Ylisaya asked Surhey.

“That’s what the farmer said, and the instructions panel says that too…At least most of the passengers will be comfortable.”, Surhey said to Ylisaya.

“Jhessyreen, I need to speak to you. Is Ylisaya a slave?”, Meiyo whispered to me.

“That’s complicated.”, I replied to Meiyo.

“That’s a bit of an understatement. I think the word you’re looking for is dangerous. The people who own her might come looking for her.”, Meiyo whispered.

Ylisaya turned her attention towards Meiyo and myself, and I gestured for Ylisaya to remain quiet. Through the windows of the dome I saw something in the distant horizon of Deimos moving, from roughly the direction of the abandoned tower. and I returned my focus to Meiyo.

“Look if she can get to Venus, she can request political asylum, and she can put the whole slavery situation behind her. She’ll be safe, Venus is a safe place for women.”, I whispered to Meiyo.

I looked over Meiyo’s shoulder and I again caught sight of the moving object. It was large, and moved like an animal sliding over slopes and crawling up from craters, but appeared to be a machine. The object was larger than I suspected, the size of an airlock connector tube, and slid across the ground like an animal’s tail. The object moved closer and I saw it was an airlock tube. I returned my focus to Meiyo.

“That’s a relief. I was worried that you might say something like the Captain bought her, and I can’t even begin to describe the political ramifications of a male owner bringing a female slave to Venus.”, Meiyo said.

I took one more look over Meiyo’s shoulder, and that’s when I realized Tony stole an airlock tube, and he’s bringing it to the ship. I heard Meiyo but every few nano-cycles I watched the airlock tube slide towards the dock as an invisible force moved it along the ground. One movement of the tube became stuck and had to be wiggled free to continue the journey towards the dock. I glanced to one side to see if anyone had noticed Tony’s theft of government property, and then I returned my focus to Meiyo.

“As part of our crew, Ylisaya’s value is immense, but we’re all at risk, when Mars is so close to war. I think if a cowardly lying Earthborn slaver owner, brought a slave to Venus to escape a war, giving up his slave seems like a fair trade for his life.”, I said to Meiyo.

I looked over Meiyo’s shoulder, and the airlock tube was now connected to both the ship and the dock. A red light over the gate of the airlock flashed over and over, and with each flash a buzzing alarm echoed in the dock. The light changed to yellow, as the automated system started testing the atmosphere in the tube and the buzzing alarm changed to a slow series of beeps that accelerated with every phase of the test. The light changed to green and the alarm changed to the sound a single small bell ring, like “ding”. The gate opened and standing there was Tony still in his full armor with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Who’s ready to go to Venus?”, Tony said with a chuckle, and gestured for Ylisaya.

“Ylisaya, get all the passengers into their rooms. Surhey and Nyrella get the room with two pods, and make sure everybody knows how to sleep in them.”, Tony said to Ylisaya, and then gestured for me.

“Jhess, we don’t need any more risks, since the chances of space-pirate-ambush is high. We need full pre-flight, since we’re running with atmosphere and simulated gravity. Ylisaya will help you when she’s done with the passengers. Take as much time as you need, I need to check on the prisoner and … somehow load all this cargo into the ship.”, Tony said as he headed towards the brig.