Gaylen checked his gun, then opened the airlock and stepped out.

The whirring fans saved him from breathing in too much of the dust, but he could still taste the planet’s half-dead state on his tongue. His eyes glanced to the left as he walked, taking in the skyline, such as it was.

What a mess. What a waste.

Kiris continued being the one to support Jaquan. As much as Gaylen wanted to do his friend that little service, he was a better shot than Kiris, and faster on the draw to boot.

He hurried over to the charging cable, unhooked it, and jogged with it over to the ship’s port. Then he caught up with Kiris and Jaquan by the door, and was the one to hit the switch.

They stepped out into a hallway whose yellow paint was flaking away, and from the left came one of Kelan Unn Ter’s men. Gaylen remembered him from last time, from that bright ruby-coloured hair one sometimes saw on the Fringe.

“You are Gaylen Qin, correct?” he asked.

“I am.”

“Right. I was to walk with you.”

Jaquan had a coat draped over his shoulders and partially fastened up, hiding the fact that his arm was in a sling. He did his best to not lean on Kiris, yet the ruby-headed man clearly could tell he was in a state. He glanced behind him, and Gaylen heard the approaching sound of marching feet.

“How many apples would you like?” the man asked softly and conspiratorially.

“Just one,” Gaylen replied.

“Right. Come with me.”

They walked on into the station, away from Gaylen’s only exit from this miserable planet and the two best fighters on his crew. Many of the walls were bare, showing off exposed electronics and piping, and the floor on this level was almost entirely made up of grating.

Two soldiers walked into view, the source of the marching footsteps. The colouring of their uniforms was a simple green and white, with a yellow circle embossed on each shoulder. Gaylen spared them a single glance, before focusing his eyes forward. There was no shortage of people who took being ignored entirely as an insult.

After that they started passing locals. Many of them reflected the surroundings, clad in rough, durable clothing, often patched multiple times. But hardened though they were, the locals generally looked rattled. Gaylen heard the sounds of a loud argument, or possibly simply a one-sided berating, through a door, and soon after passed a checkpoint where three soldiers stood on guard, rifles held at the ready and eyes glaring.

Much like the ship-mounted weapons, every single rifle he’d seen so far was brand new, both in manufacture and model, a far cry from what was typically found in the Fringe. The uniforms were armoured, much like Herdis’s suit, and adjusted to the wearer’s shape like better materials did.

Passing into the area that was officially Unn Ter’s marked a bit of an improvement in architecture, but also more people directly loyal to the man, as well as more soldiers. Gaylen soon witnessed the first act of force. He didn’t see the lead-up, but on the other end of a hallway a soldier drove his rifle into a woman’s gut, and shouted at her in one of the local languages.

He kept on going, deeper, deeper into this trap, this mess. His life had been marked by violence, but he’d usually been in a position to either flee or fight. Now his only weapon was to stare ahead.

They were in the centre of Kelan Unn Ter’s territory when Gaylen saw him at a distance. He was flanked by two of his men, talking to an Authority officer flanked by two of his men. Gaylen wasn’t close enough to hear the words being spoken, but he could tell just how false the man’s facade of cheer was.

The manager glanced his way for a moment and their eyes met.

“This way,” the guide said, and led them down a less-used part of the station.

Last time Kelan Unn Ter’s great prize had been tucked away in the very centre, behind a sturdy door. But now they passed that door and into a neighbouring storage room.

“Close the door,” the guide said, and Gaylen did.

Kiris helped Jaquan sit down on a plastic box and the man carefully leaned his uninjured side against the corner of a shelving unit.

“What now?” Gaylen asked.

The man crossed his arms and leaned up against another unit.

“Now we wait.”

“Alright,” Gaylen said, and moseyed over to a corner of the room, which he then put his back into. Survival habits died hard, and isolated rooms was where bad things happened.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

And he waited. Their ruby-haired guide waited as well, and no-one could think of anything to say.

Gaylen watched the man for nervousness, for tension, for any hint that he was hostile. The problem was that with the Authority rummaging around, he had plenty reason to feel on edge. Gaylen did make eye contact with Kiris a couple of times, and she didn’t give any signals of alarm. But as much as her talents often seemed like telepathy, Gaylen reminded himself that they ultimately weren’t.

The walls of the room were thick and soundproofed enough to isolate them from the rest of the station. The effect might have been soothing, except his own mind concocted plenty of scenarios. Upstart armed groups had a bit of a habit of commandeering ships, for one thing.

Thanks to the walls, there was no warning. The door simply opened, and in strode Kelan Unn Ter, followed by two bodyguards.

“Hello,” Gaylen said, taking the lead before the other man could. “I see you’re having a bit of an issue.”

“I won’t deny it,” Unn Ter said. “The... the Ulaka Authority has been making a bit of a show against independent operations in this part of space lately. I wasn’t expecting them to venture this far.”

“Will this remain a safe place for the Brecke Browns to pass through?” Gaylen asked.

He didn’t give a damn, but he was playing a role here.

“I have faith that it will!” the man replied, overdoing the conviction a bit. “I do not think this is more than a publicity gesture. Anyone who wants legitimacy needs a show of keeping order, and of having reach. But to patrol here regularly... that would require more ships than they have.”

Gaylen simply nodded noncommittally.

Unn Ter cleared his throat.

“So what news of the Brecke Browns?” he asked. “Doing well, I trust?”

“The Browns are spreading out,” Gaylen replied. “Things are overall looking bright, although there was a bit of a mess on Chukata Mog a few days ago.”

He could think of no reason not to give the man at least half-truths. If something reached him about that mess on Chukata it wouldn’t seem like Gaylen had something to hide.

“A mess, you say?” Unn Ter said.

His bodyguards looked on edge. Although, of course, they had a good reason to be. And of course they were armed.

“A shootout. But never mind all that. It won’t stop us.”

“Of course not. I...”

The man cleared his throat again.

“... I notice none of you are wearing the jackets,” he asked.

Gaylen was keeping an eye on the other local men in the room, all armed and radiating a more earnest, hard confidence than Unn Ter. He knew Kiris was doing it as well, and better, but reacting to trouble in time was on him.

“We are taking care of a delicate task,” Gaylen said. “So discretion is in order.”

“Of course, of course,” the man said through a slightly-too-large smile. “Discretion is how we stay in business.”

“And speaking of discretion, I take it your prize is safe?”

“It is,” Kelan Unn Ter said. “But I don’t suppose the matter can wait?”

“Actually, I don’t think it can,” Gaylen said. “We need to save an arm before it turns necrotic. How long do you expect the Ulakans to stay planetside?”

The man was silent and expressionless for a moment.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

“Then...” Gaylen said slowly, monitoring his own tone carefully. “Unless you are breaking your association with the Brecke Browns, which I’ll admit is your prerogative, then please let us make use of the pod.”

Cowards all by themselves weren’t much of a threat. But give one authority and enforcers, and make their situation tenuous, and they could be very dangerous indeed. For a moment Gaylen worried he’d been too forceful, too challenging to Kelan Unn Ter in front of his men.

But the man nodded.

“No, no,” he said. “I have every intention of maintaining relations.”

He indicated a particular section of wall, and the guide touched it and moved it aside on concealed rails.

“This room is hidden,” Unn Ter explained. “It doesn’t exist on any floor plan. I had the pod moved in there once the Authority announced itself.”

“Wise,” Gaylen said. It was unimaginable that they would not have seized it.

Kiris helped Jaquan to his feet, and they entered the secret room. It was small, and bare of absolutely everything except the pod, a light in the ceiling, and a portable refresher unit.

“We expect this to take a full day,” Gaylen said. “Is someone else waiting for a turn?”

“No, I am not expecting anyone. Not that injuries typically announce themselves ahead of time.”

“Good. Then we won’t keep you.”

Gaylen indicated Kiris.

“My associate here can manage the pod.”

“I was trained,” the woman said to their host.

“Right,” Unn Ter said. “Do please be careful with the object.”

“Well, naturally. We do want to keep using it.”

They did leave, and the secret door closed behind them.

“Our home for the day,” Jaquan said weakly, taking in the bare room.

“At least you will have anaesthetics to pass the time,” Kiris said, and began helping him towards the covered pod. “Gaylen, do help me with him already.”

Gaylen took Jaquan’s weight and Kiris took a tarp off the pod. It was a beautiful, elegant thing. All smooth, oval curves, predominantly golden with some black thrown in. One could fault the Kingdom for a great many things but a poor eye for aesthetics wasn’t among them.

The Chanei touched two unmarked spots with a trained hand, and the pod opened with barely a sound. Gaylen helped his friend lie down inside of it, and Kiris then pressed a few more spots and odd tendrils extended from the interior and touched themselves against the occupant’s right arm and shoulder.

“Do you need any help?” Gaylen asked.

“No.”

The pod closed, and Gaylen walked over to the refresher unit and sat down on it. They’d brought a little bit of food and water in their pockets. Now he simply had to wait.

Let’s see how this plays out.