“Ladies and gentlemen of the Addax, let me welcome you to Chukata Mog,” Gaylen said as he finished the descent.

Local rules called for a horizontal approach, and so he steered them above the planet’s spectacularly grim landscape and towards their destination.

“This is really something,” Herdis said as she took it all in, and clearly meant it.

“Yes,” Gaylen said. “It really is.”

He recalled a conversation he’d had with a father, who’d gone on and on about how children vicariously returned wonder to one’s life. Herdis was no child, but he was still finding it entertaining to see the reactions of one unused to space travel. It let him remember just how extraordinary it all was.

Spread out in every direction save up was a blistered, burning landscape, large parts of which were obscured by sulphuric mists and volcanic smoke.

“This was yet another victim of the Big Flash,” he told Herdis, playing tour guide yet again. “The theory is that the Firsts used some weird supertech to keep the tectonics from behaving as they should. Then that shut down like everything else, and... whoosh. Apparently there are still places where one can see outlines of buildings, though I’ve never checked it out for myself.”

“Hm. It seems this place could do well as a tourist destination,” Herdis pointed out, still staring every which way. “Send sealed barges out, slowly passing over all of this...”

“I suppose it could. But the location isn’t exactly ideal.”

Ahead of them loomed the only notable population centre on the entire planet. It was a sealed station the size of a modest town, built on top of the kind of sharp mountain peak one generally only saw in children’s drawings. Several other ships were approaching from different angles, while a few more were taking off.

Gaylen hit the button for a ship-wide message.

“I urge everyone to take a look at the nearest viewscreen. We’re at our first proper stop. The only stop in the area, and so it’s fairly busy and offers just about every kind of service. Here we’ll be able to get proper coils that fit our engines, sell the pirate equipment, ask for news, and you lot can buy whatever food, drink or entertainment you feel like.”

“A drink or two would be nice,” Herdis admitted.

“But I would like to remind everyone of our issues with the Browns and Blues. I want everyone to keep their comms open at all times. Jaquan, what can you tell us about the engine?”

“It’ll be alright,” the man said through the comm. “Those coils we got on Andan have gotten us through without damage to anything, but we’re still running quite hot. I would like to wait for at least two days before we leap again. Just to be on the safe side.”

Two days of delay. And with their issues along the way this run had already taken thirteen days.

Gaylen didn’t like it. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. But damage to the engine, or a Korokis Reaction, would mean a much bigger delay. So he just had to swallow it.

“Alright. We’ll reassess after two days.”

“And new coils.”

“And new coils. Also...”

Gaylen cleared his throat.

“In light of all this bother, I’m thinking of sending a signal on ahead, and having a meal brought straight to our hangar. There’s a little restaurant that specialises in new arrivals. Meat nuggets, freshly fried, served with blue potatoes. I feel rather in need of some myself. What do you say, folks? Ship’s expense.”

“Like it!” Bers said.

“Oh, yes,” Jaquan said.

“Should we take this as an invitation to get into more trouble in the future?” Ayna asked.

“No. Alright, I’m sending the order.”

# # #

Bok’s Nugget Hut was just as reliable as Gaylen remembered, and the food was just as good. An inner voice tried to engage him about nutritional value, and the fact that he wasn’t a kid any more. He hushed it and allowed himself to enjoy a break from spacer food.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Gaylen slowly bit down on his fifth nugget, feeling the crust crack and release the melted fat underneath, even as his tongue tasted the meat itself.

Ohhh yes.

The others were enjoying themselves as much as he was; even Kiris. Pleasurable food really could improve anything.

“Oh, come on, pound them down!” Ayna said to Herdis, who was eating a touch more conservatively than everyone else. “You can afford to! I’ve seen the way you hit the exercise equipment.”

“I’m savouring,” their soldier-medic said.

“Pff. Enjoy yourself!”

“Ah, the folly of youth.”

“You aren’t that much older than me,” Ayna countered. “Although I suppose you’ve lived more, Miss Five Spouses.”

“Is good,” Bers said to Gaylen with a grin, holding up a nugget.

“They always are,” Jaquan said.

This was nice, Gaylen realised. Good food and positive company, celebrating a milestone and troubles overcome. And for a little while he just let himself enjoy the feel of it. But the time came to clear his throat.

“Everyone, I want to discuss what lies ahead.”

The munching slowed down and they turned to look at him.

“We’re docked in the Inner Ring,” he said. “It’s called that because the support structures outside are called the Outer Ring. But anyway: This isn’t exactly the most civilised corner of the galaxy, but the station management is well aware that landing here needs to be safe for them to profit, and so the Inner Ring is guarded surprisingly well. It’s all disciplined and on time, and they even wear uniforms and are watched closely for any hints of bribery.”

He closed his mouth against a pleasant, tasty burp.

“Inside... things get a bit more wild. People tend to be tightly packed, and it’s no rarity for enemies to bump into one another. The management tolerates pistols beyond the Inner Ring, but nothing heavier. And don’t draw them unless you’re actually in danger.”

“How do they feel about...”

Ayna brandished her extendable baton and flicked the electricity on and off a couple of times.

“Oh, that’s fine,” Gaylen said. “But again, Ayna, keep your fingers to yourself while you’re on this crew.”

The Dwyyk gave him a comically innocent grin, but he held her gaze until she gave him a more earnest one.

“Yes, yes. I remember.”

“But I take it thievery happens,” Herdis said.

“In a place like this? Definitely.”

“And no rifle...” the woman mused, and looked at their stack of pirate equipment.

“I suppose that chopped-down rifle could count as a handgun,” Herdis said.

“We could... try it,” Gaylen said. “See what they say about it at the gate. But to address our ongoing issues: the Brecke Browns will know by now that the pirates won’t be bringing them the Addax. Maybe they’ve given up and maybe they haven’t. If they haven’t... then this is the logical place to expect us to set down. We need to recharge the engine, and we need the parts. There are other routes we could take, around all the logical stops, but they would eat up time we don’t really have any more.”

“Most areas of the station are too densely packed for the Browns to risk a firefight, but they could of course try to pull something a touch more subtle. My point is: Let’s just be smart and stay on our guard. Beware of strangers who want to lead you somewhere, and don’t drink yourselves stupid.”

“We are all adults here,” Kiris said.

“I know. I’m just saying it out loud.”

“They don’t really take the brown jackets off,” Jaquan pointed out. “And when I say that I mean not at all.”

“Right,” Gaylen said. “They’re quite anal about it. I hear it’s the same with those Blue Strike mercs, but I don’t know them as well as I do the Browns. But this is the sort of place where you can hire a bunch of lowlifes on short notice. So, again: Be smart. And don’t turn your comms off.”

He was glad to see that everyone seemed to be giving due weight to his words.

“Anything else?” Ayna asked.

“Have fun,” he said. “Trust me, you need it during longer flights.”

“Does anyone have suggestions for me?” Herdis asked the group. “After I’m done running around and gawking at everything like a tourist?”

“There was a pretty nice bathhouse here the last time I passed through,” Kiris told her. “I’m going to make it my first stop. Really soak, and savour the water.”

“That does sound good.”

# # #

“One last thing,” Gaylen said just after they’d passed through the checkpoint as a group.

He pointed at a screen showing a map of the publicly accessible parts of the station.

“If there’s trouble, it’d be safest to assume our comms are being listened in on. So we’ll decide here and now on where to meet back up.”

“Populated spots seem like the right choice,” Kiris pointed out.

“Populated and guarded,” Jaquan said.

“Yes,” Gaylen said, and pointed to a particular spot. “This is the main entrance to the administrative part. We’ll call it Spot One. This dining area here is the closest thing to high class on the station, so we’ll call it Spot Two. And this dining area we’ll call Spot Three. We’ll let circumstances decide where we meet up.”

“Sounds good,” Herdis said.

“Is everything clear?”

“Clear as one-two-three,” Ayna said.

“Good.” Gaylen clapped his hands once. “Then let’s all enjoy some elbow room.”