“Herdis, I want you up here on the cannon.”

“On my way.”

Gaylen started the early steps of deceleration as the system neared, and in a few seconds the floor hatch opened and his gunner climbed up.

“Are you specifically expecting trouble?” she asked as she seated herself and readied the cannon.

“Expecting? No. Established pirates and outfits don’t like to make a mess near places they need. But there’s always a chance of new upstarts who don’t care about the rules. Or some punks wandering far away from their usual grounds.”

“Better caution than crying,” Herdis said.

“Exactly. Dropping out... now.”

He took them out of leap. The white strands of light turned into plain old space.

“And that’s Affenan,” he said, indicating the fourth planet away from the local star. “A step up and down from Chukata.”

“Sounds interesting,” she replied. “I don’t suppose we can stop for sightseeing this time around?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“I notice we’re not alone,” she added, indicating the sensors.

“No. This is a thoroughfare. Sort of.”

Still, he was surprised at the low number of ships spread around the system. They faced various directions and were at various distances from the star, either coming in or awaiting their chance to leap away. The nearest one was heading in the Addax’s general direction.

“I notice they’re quite cold,” Herdis said meaningfully.

“Yes,” Gaylen said, also meaningfully.

Running more cold than an old ship normally did. And the odds of it being new, a true corewards ship, were quite slim. More likely it was deliberately outfitted for minimal heat output. Most likely it was a pirate outfit.

Gaylen did a quick calculation of the distance that would be between them as they passed, and even at that moment they would be well out of range of anything smaller ships could carry. Still, he kept his eyes peeled and his hands ready for a dodging manoeuvre, until they were well behind them.

Happy hunting, he thought without sincerity.

Things started to get strange once they got closer to the planet itself. There were ships in orbit, simply drifting. That in itself was unusual; ships either came or went around here. But they were also too small to be major cargo vessels, and too big to be minor ones like the Addax, or typical pirates.

Then there was the regular pattern they drifted in, which became ever clearer the longer Gaylen took it all in.

“Wait, is this a blockade?”

“Yeah,” Gaylen said, after a bit of a wait. “I think it is.”

It was a small one. He counted eight ships in orbit, and a further eight ships remaining stationary away from the planet’s gravity pull. But then, this was hardly a metropolis.

Once within easy range he sent a general hail towards the nearest ship. The reply was forthwith. Of course it was. Their approach would have been watched.

“This is the Ulaka Authority. State your business.”

“Ulaka Authority, I simply wish to dock and recharge. Are you barring access to the planet?”

“We are not. This is a blockade in response to suspected piracy and smuggling activities. You may land. But be aware that your presence here has been logged.”

The call ended.

“Oh, I was pretty sure I could land...” Gaylen muttered, and continued their approach.

“Ulaka Authority?” Herdis said.

Gaylen stared at the screens in silence for a few moments. The woman could clearly sense that he was doing heavy thinking.

“Remember what I said about wars never just ending neatly? These are some of Volkan Vol’s leftovers. I hear they’ve been getting more ships lately. And ideas.”

He estimated the range of the closest ship’s main guns. The Addax wasn’t there yet, but getting closer by the second.

“Do you think this is a problem for us?” she asked. “We are a touch outgunned here.”

“They’re not bad enough to blast a random light freighter for no reason,” Gaylen told her as the seconds went by and the distance closed. “They might not even bother us once we’re planetside. But letting us leave? In time for the deadline? That... that’s anyone’s guess.”

People like Eldin liked to talk big about their importance. Gaylen himself hadn’t lived as well as he had once hoped, but he’d never possessed any such delusions. The galaxy was ravaged by forces that reduced people like him to leaves on the wind, and here was a modest gust.

Stolen novel; please report.

But down on the medical bed lay his best and truest friend.

“Well. We’ll see.”

He stayed on course and passed the Addax within his estimation of the range.

“And if we swerve around they’ll probably insist on finding out why.”

On they flew, until directions became a thing again as they started heading down to Affenan.

“So, what’s the story behind this place?” Herdis asked as the planet’s bleak surface got closer and closer. “It looks like it has seen better days.”

“Centuries ago, yes,” Gaylen said. “It was a First Civilisation world, and got broken by the Big Flash like everywhere else. Then, also like everywhere else, it gradually rebuilt.”

They reached cruising altitude and he steered the Addax into a horizontal approach towards the largest population centre and only spaceport.

“And then, in the early days of really interconnected space travel, there were the wars.”

The landscape spread out around them was essentially layered catastrophe. One could still make out hints of First Civilisation ruins, but plainer buildings had been built on top of their downfall. And then ruined.

“Not much restraint in those days,” Gaylen went on. “More xenophobia, I guess, and less patience for protracted planetside battles for supremacy. If you had a rival, you just devastated their entire planet. Heavy bombardment, nuclear firestorms, or just a specially prepared doomsday ship sent blasting down to the surface. This is the result, centuries later.”

Plant life still survived in hardy little pockets here and there, but for the most part Affenan was choked with dust storms, lifeless, and ranging from brown to grey.

Herdis exhaled slowly.

“Even the Hegemony doesn’t pull this stuff,” she mused. “Not these days.”

“No. They don’t. Lifeworlds aren’t easy to replace.”

The population centre was plain enough. Most buildings spread out wide but short, few reaching more than three stories into the sky.

Above it hovered two troop ships, disgorged from the warships in orbit, and from them had come planetside gunships. One was parked on a roof, another drifted lazily just above the streets and two drifted a bit higher up.

As the centre of it all neared he called a frequency he’d dug up from his memory during the flight.

“Greetings, Bello Station. Requesting to speak directly with Kelan Unn Ter.”

He really wanted to emphasise this as a priority call; the man was busy in general, and no doubt triply so under these circumstances. But what would the Authority think of such talk, given that they were almost certainly monitoring communications?

“Who is this?” a voice on the other end asked.

“Gaylen Qin. Please remind Unn Ter that we’ve met twice before. We enjoyed blue apples together.”

‘Blue apple’ was the man’s code for his special treasure. Unfortunately it was no doubt one of his biggest concerns at the moment.

Not a word more was spoken for a while, and Gaylen slowed his approach. Outside, the dust swirled, and he caught a glimpse of a squad of soldiers lining a bunch of locals up in the street, with an air of hostility.

“Gaylen Qin?” Unn Ter himself then said.

“Yes, it’s me,” Gaylen said. “It is good to speak with you again. I was hoping we could catch up a bit while my ship is recharging.”

“Yes, yes of course,” the man replied. “Set down in...”

Gaylen caught a faint murmur of a conversation with someone else.

“... in Hangar 3.”

“Are any of your outside hangers available?” Gaylen asked.

The line fell silent. The dust was blowing particularly thick for this part of the planet, but a sudden blast of wind now gave a clear view of the station. It was a big, squat old thing, the biggest building still intact. Being this world’s only connection with the wider galaxy, it was maintained as well as the locals could manage. Their powers sufficed to keep it operational, but not to keep it pretty.

One of the gunships passed by, and that same blast of wind gave him an unobstructed view of it. The ship was what one could expect from this part of space: Rugged and functional, but little more than that. The guns attached to it were something else, though; sleek and much newer than the vessel itself.

“Yes,” the man then said. “We have one available. Go to number 8.”

“Will do.”

“Do you bring any familiar faces?”

Gaylen took that to mean “How many need the pod?”

“Just one.”

“Understood. I will come to meet you shortly.”

“Understood. Gaylen Qin out.”

He circled around the station, following 8’s broadcast signal.

“I notice there are cannons,” Herdis commented, indicating the roof.

“Yeah. Rougher part of the galaxy, and all that. I’m pretty sure they’re not manned under normal circumstances. Things aren’t that formal or disciplined around here. And they certainly aren’t now.”

A personnel carrier had been set down on the roof.

“Now go check on your patient.”

The outside hangars were just that: Added to the station’s exterior to meet with demand, with varying levels of skill. The one Gaylen touched down in was a decent example, with whirling fans fighting an eternal battle with the blowing dust. There was a charging port and sealed door between it and the rest of the station, and that was really all he needed.

Gaylen deactivated all systems, got up and left the cockpit. By the time he stepped down into the entrance area the rest were already gathered. Jaquan was on his feet, leaning up against Kiris. The woman wasn’t exactly a powerhouse, but then Jaquan wasn’t heavy.

“Alright,” Gaylen said. “Let’s go over this. I came here expecting to have to pull some trickery on a man I don’t trust to begin with. I don’t know Kelan Unn Ter terribly well, but he is the sort who survives business with all sorts of awful people. And he’s not going to risk angering the outfits that pass through here.”

“Makes sense,” Kiris commented.

“Sure. But now the Ulaka Authority is here. He is not going to risk angering them either. My guess is he is making desperate efforts to pass himself as a hapless dock manager who has simply had a lot of unsavoury types barge in. And if the Ulakans find out about his pod, they are absolutely going to confiscate it. So I’m going to play this by the ear, but very carefully.”

“This... is a lot of trouble to go through,” Jaquan said guiltily.

“I’m getting your arm fixed, and that’s that,” Gaylen replied firmly.

He pointed at the group.

“Kiris, I want you with me for your people-reading talents. Herdis and Bers: Stay on the ship. Don’t let any of the locals in. If the soldiers start demanding access, then there’s nothing to be done about that. But do watch them. I don’t want anything planted on board.”

Herdis and Bers both nodded curtly.

“Kiris, do you have everything?”

The woman used her free hand to tap a spot on her coat.

“Yup.”

“Then we’re off.”