- Colonial Transport is pleased to announce that we're approaching the planet Fak. Please gather your belongings and prepare to board a connecting shuttle. The entire crew hopes you've enjoyed your trip and wishes you a wonderful day.

The nasal voice of the prerecorded message echoed through the wall communicator box as the cabin lights came back on automatically. Ruben was startled. He had settled into the small vinyl couch facing the door, and it looked like he had no intention of falling asleep on it. His first instinct was to hold the bag that he had methodically strapped around his arm. It was always there but, unfortunately, no relief followed this observation. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm down by forcing himself to some breathing exercises. The heart of the young man was beating wildly. It took a moment before he dared to open his eyes again and face the reality of his situation that he had fled in the illusive security of a dream.

The cabin wasn't very large and contained only an uninviting bunk, a small metal table surrounded by chairs of the same construction and the outdated couch he had settled into. Built into the wall on his left, a screen was playing a loop of advertisements for trips to paradisiac worlds, interspersed with propaganda spots inviting him to join the Colonial Forces. Still clutching his satchel, he congratulated himself on having invested in a single cabin. Traveling discreetly was one thing, but taking the risk of falling asleep during the seventeen-hour journey to Fak in a shared dormitory: that was suicidal. Ruben shivered again and hesitated to get up, but held back because at the same moment someone knocked loudly on his cabin door.

- Last call for transfer to Fak's surface, bellowed a male voice from the other side of the wall.

Ruben heard the knocking repeated on the door opposite his own.

- Drop-off in five minutes! If you're not aboard the connecting shuttle, the company will charge you for the return trip at double the price! Let's get moving!

The voice drifted off down the hall. There were new knocks on a door, other cries muffled by the distance. Ruben stood up, but his knees were shaking under him. He took a deep breath, adjusted the bag on his shoulder and pressed the button to open the door. Without taking the time to think and especially not to allow himself the possibility of any retreat, he engaged in the corridor.

- But why me? he moaned through his clenched teeth.

A multitude of people were milling about in the hallway, of different colors, all sizes, and even a dozen inhumans. Ruben moved forward without looking around, his satchel tucked under his arm. He breathed only in short gasps, when his lungs were burning too much. His legs were beginning to betray him again, twice almost making him fall down in the middle of the corridors. In the hollow of his ear, the artificial intelligence of his personal assistance device guided him in the right direction. The young man would have preferred to simply close his eyes and let himself be carried by this small familiar electronic voice, but he had to dodge people, packages and incidentally go down large stairs without falling. His limp legs would never let him get back up.

- The connecting shuttle to Fak will depart in two minutes. Please make sure your luggage's on board. Any abandoned or forgotten property will become the sole property of Colonial Transport upon your drop-off.

Ruben recognized the voice that had awakened him from his sleep. It seemed to taunt him. He quickened his pace. Going back home without having gone all the way wasn't an option, not anymore, not after this message he had received three days earlier.

- On your right: Docking bay 4 - Now boarding for the planet Fak, whispered a small female voice in his left ear.

- Thank you, Eva, he answered mechanically, as he stopped.

The doors of the shuttle were already closed. Ruben pressed the opening button but nothing happened. The young man pressed the button several times, getting suddenly irritated.

- Open up, you damn door... Open up! he shouted half-heartedly.

Something started ringing and he looked up at the light that lit up at the end of a telescopic arm straight out of his nightmares. The device twisted a few inches above his head before finding the right angle. Two beams of green light scanned him from head to toe as the probe came dangerously close to his face.

- Access to the transfer shuttle is subject to an identity check, please remain still during the verification.

This announcement made his blood run cold. Ruben realized that his journey wasn't as anonymous as he had hoped and panic took hold of him. He had the impression that a formless and icy creature wanted to take control of his actions, from a remote corner of his mind. To resist it was beyond his strength. The young man was ready to faint. The light went out just before he lost his nerve and the mechanical arm retracted as the doors opened to let him through.

- Welcome aboard sir, the Colonial Transport wishes you a good trip, announced the automaton.

No name... the machine had remained as discreet as a loudspeaker could be in a boarding hall. Ruben didn't take the time to see if any of this had drawn attention to him and he rushed into the shuttle whose doors closed behind his heels.

- End of boarding! said a middle-aged woman at the front of the shuttle.

Ruben walked towards the passenger seats, carefully dodging the glances of the other fifteen or so passengers. He let himself sink into a random seat and put the safety belt around his waist, which was far too thin for a young man his age. The woman who had made the announcement turned out to be the pilot of the shuttle and not a simple stewardess as he had believed at first sight. A little smaller than him, she had short hair, turning to a gray which reminded him of dust. Her face was marked by the passage of the years and she seemed to be in her fifties. Her almost masculine features gave her a tough look which she used to establish her authority in the shuttle. From the seat of her cockpit that she had finally joined, she resumed her speech on a monochord tone.

- I'm Teresa Osen, your pilot for the descent to Fak. There's a storm near the landing zone so buckle up and shut up if you want to get there in one piece. Colonial Transport wishes you a good... oh well, screw it, we're off! she grunted as the light in front of her turned green.

Pulling a lever to her left, the pilot separated the shuttle from the main ship in orbit around Fak. They fell suddenly towards the planet's ground under the effect of gravity. Ruben clutched his armrests, glad for a moment that he hadn't eaten anything before leaving. The seatbelt went deep into his stomach. Without it, he would have tumbled over the row of seats in front of him. The shuttle was still falling, now describing large spins. Teresa was perfectly calm. Checking her messages on the small touch screen of her communicator, she ignored the protests of her passengers for a while.

- Are you out of your mind?! shouted the man sitting next to Ruben to the pilot. We're going to crash!

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Teresa let a few more seconds pass as other passengers began to shout.

- Relax... I'm just saving some fuel, she said, almost snidely. You know, it doesn't pay that much to drive for the Company, but they're the ones who fill up the tank, so if I can save as much as I can to run a few personal errands on the side, that's always a plus.

- I'll complain to customer service! shouted a woman in the front row. I'll have you demoted!

Teresa laughed as she started the engines.

- Suit yourself ma'am... do you really think they can assign me to a worse place than this one? How do you think you end up as a connecting shuttle pilot to the dump that is Fak?

The shuttle stabilized and straightened its trajectory with a deafening noise. Everything in the cabin vibrated. Some of the luggage rolled out from under the seats and the larger ones bent the metal nets that held them along the walls. Ruben was terrified. When calm came back in the shuttle, he noticed with surprise that he had left deep nail marks in the seat armrests. The young man raised his hand to his cheek to wipe away a tear that he had not known how to hold back, before someone noticed it and laughed at him. Two muscular men in their forties got out of their seats to attack the glass door that separated the cockpit and Teresa from the rest of the passengers. It had closed automatically at their approach but had in no way affected their motivation to confront her.

- You boys can get as mad as you want, this door's made of explosion-proof glass. Unless you've got a plasma drill in your pocket, you'll have to wait until you're on Fak to calm your nerves on someone else, she quipped.

- We're going to kill you, bitch! Do you know who you're talking to? ranted the baldest one.

- To two scumbags of miners, who came to seek fortune on this deserted rock but who won't survive two weeks without being shot by people even stupider than them.

The reply was uncompromising and the two passengers were so unsettled that they stopped banging on the window. They were still grumbling, pacing between the door and the front row of passengers.

- Get back in your seats, we'll try to land before the storm hits the entire terminal.

Ruben made sure his belt was fastened securely and looked for footing so he could firmly settle into his seat. Outside, the wind was getting stronger and stronger and the red sand of Fak, carried by the storm, could be heard beating in a jerky rhythm against the shuttle's hull. There were several air holes, one of which was particularly violent and unbalanced the men who had remained standing despite the warnings. Both collapsed on the ground. The one who had remained silent until then got up with a bloody nose, which triggered the assistance protocol. A green pictogram in the shape of a cross lit up on the floor, in line with the cockpit door, and a cylinder rose up at that spot.

- Emergency station activated. Please remain calm while the assistance robot is working, said a male voice that sounded like it was speaking from the headrests of each seat in a very formal manner.

The cylinder of almost a meter in diameter opened and released a white robot with six arms, held to the ground by a series of electromagnets. Thanks to this, it moved with ease in spite of the violent turbulences, pushing aside the luggage that now lay on the ground. With the help of one of his arms, he grabbed the injured man who wanted to move back.

- Please remain calm during the procedure, the voice repeated, this time directly through the robot.

- Let go of me, you bastard! What is this thing? Help me! the man panicked.

The other passenger wanted to come and help him but the robot immobilized him without the slightest effort with another of its arms, simply lifting him a few centimeters off the ground by the collar of his dirty shirt. Two red dots appeared on the opaque glass globe that must have acted as a head for this machine and turned towards the assailant.

- Interfering with the operation of an assistant robot is punishable by up to seventeen years in prison. Please remain calm during the procedure, the voice said. First and final warning.

The luminous pattern of eyes, projected onto its surface from within the globe, turned green and seemed to glide across the surface towards the injured man.

- Analysis in progress... patient scan archived. Minor facial injury. Vital diagnosis: Good. First aid protocol available: Affirmative. Initiate care sequence.

None of the two men dared to move. The robot's arms waved in an intricate pattern, as the bloody-nosed miner stared in terror. He let out a small, unmanly moan as two of the robot's hands held his head in position while a third grabbed him by the nose. No one asked him to count to three. With a precise gesture, the robot pulled on the nose to straighten it, totally impervious to his patient's bellowing. A nozzle opened in the palm of the hand that held the nose and a fast-setting resin was sprayed onto it.

The man was still screaming with a mixture of fear and pain when he realized that the robot had dropped him. He put his hand to his nose and was surprised to find that the pain was quickly fading under the resin. The robot placed the other man next to his seat and he settled down without complaining further. Returning to his cylinder, the medical assistant disappeared almost as suddenly as he had appeared while greeting the passengers.

- Colonial Transport wishes you a quick recovery and reminds you that all care is automatically billed. We wish you a pleasant end of trip.

This surreal scene would have almost made the other travelers forget that, for several long minutes, violent gusts of wind were making the shuttle pitch dangerously. Many of them were simply livid, well beyond the feeling of discomfort. By the portholes, although it was daylight, it was very difficult to follow the maneuvers but Teresa was perfectly relaxed, even slightly smiling. What a waste it would have been to reassure the passengers by explaining to them that the landing phase was entirely assisted by the automatic pilot. Almost everyone who came here did so out of obligation, a taste for adventure, or to prove to themselves that they had enough guts to start their lives over. Teresa must have considered that such an arrival gave them a small taste of the hard life on Fak. She was offering them a kind of attraction for losers in need of glory. Let them be afraid here and now... outside would be much worse for each of them.

After so much turbulence, no one realized that the shuttle had finally landed, everyone recovering as best they could from the commotion. Teresa swiveled her seat to face them through the glass door and repeatedly tapped against the glass with the metal tip of her right boot.

- Come on, suckers, wake up, you've arrived. I don't get paid by the hour so pick up your mess and get the hell out of my shuttle, I'm due somewhere else.

With these words, she lowered a lever on her left which unlocked the double door of the ship. The more docile passengers retrieved their belongings without discussion and quickly exited without asking for anything else, while others, more protesting, took the time to come and insult Teresa profusely through the door that none of them managed to open. Smiling and amused by the situation, she answered them with warm smiles and a little hand wave.

- Colonial Transport hopes that you'll work your asses off to pay back your seats on board, bought on a twenty years credit, she said from time to time with all the irony in the world.

The miner with the broken nose had left his things to his balding companion and came to stand in front of the door, breathing hard like an animal ready to charge. He opened his mouth but she didn't give him time to say anything.

- Looks cool, your resin, you'll impress the ladies with it. A real tough guy, right?

- You! If I catch you... he grumbled.

- It's unlikely, my friend. That's at least a seven thousand credits treatment that you got stuck in the middle of your face so I think you're going to spend five years putting money aside just so you can forget about this day... you won't have time to think about me.

Teresa laughed loudly.

- What...? he protested.

- Yeah, it's company policy, all the assistant robots are in the VIP package and the ones for care are triggered even without your consent. You understand, we can't afford to have unhealthy people on board... You don't look like you can afford to travel first class or get treatment in space so you better get a job soon.

The man was fuming. In rage, he threw a big punch in the door. From the look on his face, this must not have been a good idea. Behind him, the green cross lit up again on the ground. Seeing this, his companion patted him on the back and pushed him towards the exit.

- Hurry up Sergio, we don't have time for this bullshit...

The two men left the ship before the assistant robot came out of its cylinder, which cancelled the procedure. Teresa was laughing alone in her cabin. The tough pilot had given way, for a few moments, to a hilarious kid. She was about to turn back to the commands when she noticed that a passenger was still in his seat.

- Hey, boy! You gotta get off now. No one here has enough credits on him to afford another trip on board so get the hell out. Go live your dream or whatever the hell it is you're here for. You wanted to come all the way here... congratulations, you did.

Ruben reluctantly got up from his seat and walked out of the shuttle, dragging his feet. Behind him, Teresa's voice encouraged him not to turn back:

- Welcome to Fak!