Nothing reminded the trio more that Kragga was a backwater wasteland then the town located at the edge of the Scrap Sea. Their rusted out jeep fit in nicely as they drove through the outskirts, passing by hovels of welded scrap metal, wood and fabric. A sudden shift in breeze led each of the team to cover their faces as an unholy stench assaulted their senses.
“What is that?!” Adrian to gasped.
“The locals. I found out when I was based here that the town doesn't have what you’d call normal plumbing and waste disposal. It’s more like a giant open pit that some genious used a small bomb to blow into the ground.” Nick said.
“But why? Don't they have super advanced toilets or something?”
“Sure. But why waste the VE when you don’t have to. All they have to do is purify the water, which they’d be doing anyway. And when the pit is full, they get some of the local muscle to cover it up.”
“You can’t be serious?”
Nick only shrugged. As the group drove deeper in, they each became gradually used to the smell. Adrian, adjusting last due to his enhanced perceptions.
The main street of the town itself had multi-level metal structures lining the road. The usual menagerie of alien’s bustled up and down the street. It reminded Alan of an old mining town from the old western movies his grandfather used to watch. He noticed Blatta’s store, which had a shiny layer of new paint, which stood out among the mostly much older, rust eaten structures. It looked like the old roach had put the money from their agreement into cleaning up the place. It certainly looked busier, and he was surprised to see an old VW van parked out front. Perhaps some new patrons of hers.
Alan had only been here once before, at the very beginning of his Cosmos adventure. And had limited his visit to Blatta’s and also Kovic’s shop, where he’d exchanged platinum for gold. Nick, on the other hand, had spent a few days there. He’d not only gathered the defense forces to rescue Alan and Shelley, but had gotten to know a few of the local haunts.
His knowledge was what led them to a building at the far end of town. Parking the Jeep, Nick said, “I think this is the best shot we have to find what you’re looking for, Alan.” It was a two story building, a bit nicer than the rest. It seemed the owners had managed to paint the walls just over a year or two ago, and all the windows were all still intact.
They pushed through a swinging door. Alan felt the brief cling of static as he moved through the entrance, some sort of filter. Despite the rundown exterior, he was pleasantly surprised to find an open dining hall. The furniture appeared to be made of oak-like wood, upholstered in crushed red velvet. The smell of roasted meat and floral perfume was strong, but a welcome contrast to the rank outdoors. A bar took the entirety of one side of the wall. A humanoid, only distinguished by his redskin and purple eyes, polished a few tin cups. Nick selected an out of the way booth for the trio to seat themselves.
It was only a minute before a waitress of the same species as the bartender came to take their order. Nick made a simple order of some grilled meat and glasses of fruit juice. It seemed both were harvested from the local planet. Hungrily, Alan and his friends dug in without mercy.
“You know Reardon would kill to get some of these fruits at the restaurant.” Nick drained the rest of his glass, at the end of the meal. Alan laid back happily, having finished his drink and than a second earlier during the meal.
“I can put you into contact with our supplier. I’m sure they’d be interested in making a few extra credits on the side.” The waitress started to clear off the table. “Of course, if you order dessert and give me a nice tip, I’ll put in a good word for you too.”
“Done and done.” Nick winked at her and ordered a dessert before elbowing Alan. “You heard the girl. Make sure you give her a good tip when you pay.”
Alan rolled his eyes, “Sure, Nick.” Adrian chimed up at that point. “Hey, what's the point of being friends with a local lord if you can’t mooch off him every once in a while.” Adrian dropped Alan status as planned.
“You’re the new Lord hot shot everyone's been talking about in the Scrap Sea?” The waitress moved over and lightly touched Alan’s arm. “If I’d known that I would have shown you our hidden menu.” She winked at him.
Her attempt at subtlety was not lost on him. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass on the hidden menu items.” She pouted slightly. “Though, there may be something you could help me with.” He added 10 credits to the tip section to the meal. Not quite doubling the cost of a meal. “I’m looking for transport off the planet and figured you might have a connection?” She froze slightly, obviously uncomfortable at his request. It was clear that she knew what he was asking for. They needed a ship, and anyone willing to ask for one was either crazy, dangerous, or probably both. No one got ship travel on Kragga, not legitimately.
You see, Alan had explained to his friends, the problem with planets like Kragga was the infrequency of space travel. Occasionally, a merchant freighter might swing into the area every year or two. But it had been centuries since the planet had been part of regular trade routes. That left two options for Alan and Shelley to obtain a small transport, at the price they were looking for. First option: find a private dealer, who’d likely sell their mother for less than a transport shuttle in this neck of the woods. It was possible, but unlikely due to the second option. Pirates.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Kragga was a well known pirate pit stop. The space criminals had a few bases located in out of the way places on the planet and in the local space system. They’d make frequent stops to the local towns to trade for nyamisium cores and parts for their ships. In return, they’d sell their stolen goods to the locals. Who in turn would log out of Cosmos and trade the goods at their own home planets or virtual markets. Everyone would make a small profit. Except for the merchants of course.
The pirates, however, didn’t like competition, and weren’t picky about stealing from locals or other pirates if they found another ship to add to their fleet. It took humanity years in the game before they’d secured their bases and cities on Kragga from the pirate raids. And even longer before they had confidence to send Earth’s merchant fleets to the planet. It was not an easy endeavor. And an ongoing concern for Alan.
It was with this knowledge that he added another 10 credits to the waitresses tip. “Look, I know you're a Lord and all but you're a meteor floating among gas giants. Kovic’s got the only space flight off this rock that I know of, but you’re better off building a rocket before he’d sell it to you. And you don’t want to mess with Kovic. Not even the local mercenaries mess with him.” She shivered slightly. There were no true mercenaries on Kragga, who would they fight? Though most pirates preferred the name, as a cover. “Why, don’t I get you another round, and we forget…”
Another 10 credits appeared as potential tips on her table, cutting her off . Alan was now more wealthy than he’d ever imagined and didn’t blink at the additional $50 he’d just tipped her. And that was before the cost of credits began to rise on Earth.
Seeing her potential tip increase, a bead of sweat started to trickle down her face. He added another 10 credits, sensing he was close. It only took a moment for her to finally make up her mind and lean in. Her low cut blouse, and heady perfume nearly drove Alan to distraction. “Hang around here for a couple more hours. There'll be a party of mercenaries coming in a little later to pick up some prepped meals. They might have what you're looking for.” It wasn’t even a half second longer before she’d put her finger down on the ordering tablet, confirming Alan’s tip. She shuffled off quickly after that, only returning briefly to bring desserts and another round of the local fruit drink.
For Alan, waiting the three hours that it took for the mysterious party to appear was spent sending messages, checking on the progress of the defense forces, and talking about the next week's plans. All the while, the common room continued to fill up, nearly to capacity. A strange music began to play, causing the crowd to grow more lively.
For Nick, the waiting seemed insufferable, aside from answering the occasional message from one of his teams, he ended up playing over a dozen games of solitaire from a deck of cards he’d brought along. “I don’t know why Adrian got to leave early, while I need to stick around.” Adrian had left soon after they’d gotten the information from the waitress. “You're a better body guard.”
Nick grunted, as he nearly slammed his hand on the table, stuck in his current game. Alan suddenly grabbed his hand, after catching the eye of the waitress. Four new arrivals pushed their ways into the doors. A large gray humanoid, towering over 7 feet tall, led the pack of space pirates. He, like his companions, was armed to the teeth. Instead of heavy armor, however, he wore a simple tank top, making him more intimidating. Of the other three trailing behind him, only one stood out to Alan. Stavin.
The lank and frail alien was a familiar face to Alan. He’d been the one to set up an ambush of Alan on his first day. Stavin had gone from Kovic’s assistant, to amateur thief. And now it looked, after being beaten by Alan, a novice pirate. Alan shrunk back, hissing at friend, “I know the short one, so keep me covered.”
Alan put his head down on the table, peeking through his arms. He didn’t need an acting skill to look as though he’d come in a few hours earlier before passing out. It helped that a few patrons had passed out already that evening.
Watching as best he could, Alan saw that the leader was no nonsense. His hand never stopped hovering over his weapon, while his eyes scanned the common room. It was obvious his companions were not so vigilant. When the gray giant paid for the meals and didn’t even bother to sit down. His partners loudly complained about not being able to relax and enjoy a meal, or the other services the establishment offered. The only exception of course was Stavin, who just quietly tagged along.
Moments later, a few maids brought out steaming trays of meat and a dozen kegs. These quickly made their way to the leader's storage ring. Less than 3 minutes later the party exited the bar.
“Looks like plan C Nick. I’ll see what I can do to follow them.” Nick nodded and stayed behind, while Alan rushed after the pirates, while sending a message to Adrian.
Alan came to stand at the edge of the dirt road moments later. The only sign of the pirates in the twilight was a cloud of dust moving leading toward the end of town. Alan took out his 4-wheeler from his matter ring, hopped on and jammed the throttle, following the trail.
Despite his speed, he’d had no illusions of matching the pirate's speed. And just a few minutes later, his thoughts were confirmed as a bright light a mile ahead of him, rose briskly into the night sky.
Pulling up to the launch area, Alan was grateful to see Adrian already parked and pulled up to the site.
“That went worse than I’d hoped.” Alan said. “I’d hoped there’d be less of them, or they’d be a lot less careful.”
“Yeah, but not but it wasn’t unexpected,” Adrian replied. He circled the site, making note of various markings on the ground. “The way you describe space transport out here, I was guessing they’d be cautious of someone trying to hi-jack their ship. On the bright side, it looks like they use this spot frequently.” He pointed to a number of similarly patterned indents in the ground. “I managed to get here just before their team got back. That’s when I got your message to hold off on any assaults. From what I could tell, they might have had 1 or 2 on board, and the 4 for the landing party.”
“That’s doable. Let's just hope that Nick is able to get his job done.”