The usual stuff was over with and Ayna was off on her own. They’d managed some sales, and now the word was out among local businesses what kind of wares the Addax was carrying. Gaylen Qin would keep them here an additional day to see if more buyers showed an interest, possibly one more if they did. But for now it was late in the afternoon and she wasn’t needed for anything; her favourite part of this job.

She strolled through the nicer-looking streets, getting to know the local culture through glimpses of behaviour, architecture, clothing and the various other little tells. A couple of hours into her safari it had become clear that the local population was entirely baseline, and she’d yet to spot a single subtype outsider. She drew attention whenever she wasn’t choosing to observe things from hiding, but the reactions were thankfully more curiosity than anything else.

The local children took a particular interest in her. A little boy had touched her face to see if the white colour would come off. It was cute enough that she didn’t mind all that much when he pulled on her sunglasses and the unfiltered light stabbed into her eyes.

There were signs of poverty here and there, such as in some people’s tattered clothes, but it seemed to be concentrated in certain portions of the town. Narrower streets served as gateways into more cramped quarters, which smelled worse and where small, bipedal vermin-creatures skipped around with blinding speed.

Ayna simply avoided those, and eventually followed a din of voices into an open area.

It was a square, where various small peddlers sold wares, eateries had chairs and tables out beneath the sky and overall it just seemed to be a local social hub. Locals and a few offworlders alike milled about, and it really shouldn’t have been any kind of surprise to see Saketa there. That distinctive head of hers was covered by a hood, but the equally-distinctive arms were still bare. And of course she had her blades.

The woman turned and spotted her after a few seconds. And with eye-contact made Ayna felt a need to be polite. And to prevent any misunderstandings.

“Hey,” she said as she approached, and flashed a casual smile. “I really wasn’t following you this time. Just exploring the town.”

The woman nodded, looking serious and distracted.

“There is-”

A noise Ayna had been hearing for a while turned out to come from some kind of procession. It now passed into the square through a main street. Locals of all ages took part in it, and the centre point of the whole thing seemed to be the urn that was held aloft by someone in a highly obscuring white robe. Several women walked in the front, making odd staccato noises.

Ayna couldn’t quite decide the mood of the whole thing. No one seemed to be enjoying themselves, and yet there seemed to be an expectation of energy and high notes.

“Do you know what that is?” Ayna asked.

“It is a funeral,” the woman said.

“Ah,” Ayna said, and felt glad it hadn’t occurred to her to walk along or something. “I take it there are ashes in that thing?” she asked and pointed at the urn.

“No. They give their dead to the sea, intact. This is for when there’s no body. As I understand it the point is to coax the spirit into the urn so it can be given proper respect.”

“Aw, that’s a shame,” Ayna said quietly as the urn in question passed her by. Several of the people looked particularly hard-pressed to keep up this little stage play. She supposed they were the immediate next of kin.

“I think-” she started, but stopped when more of the procession came around a corner. Another urn was being held aloft, by another person in white.

“Oh,” she said, and kept a respectful silence as this one passed her as well.

Then a third one appeared.

“Did something big happen recently?” she whispered to the woman.

“Some people have gone missing, out in the wilds,” she told her. “They’ve been declared dead.”

Ayna made a soft sound of acknowledgement, then kept quiet as the procession continued. Funeral rites on Dwyyk were quick, simple affairs, but they were certainly respectful.

The urns eventually counted four and the mass of people walked out of sight and towards the docks.

“Four dead in one go? It wouldn’t be uncommon back on Dwyyk, but this planet is nowhere near as lethal. I read up on it. This doesn’t feel like predators. And natural hazards? They were locals. Locals know how to survive their environment.”

“They do,” Saketa said darkly. “Man’s greatest threat is man.”

It took Ayna a moment to realise she was in fact looking at something particular; the horizon. The wilds.

“Despair makes the shadow grow,” Saketa went on, sounding dead serious. “And the glow retreats. This city is out of balance.”

“Yesss...” Ayna said and glanced around. “It... those things are... certainly true.”

She spotted another one of those poverty gates, and leaning up against the side of it was a lean boy who seemed to be in his teens. His clothes were much repaired and he had a resentful gaze fixed either on one of them for some particular reason, or both of them for being outsiders.

Ayna cleared her throat, then decided to redirect this conversation.

“Do you know if the immediate wilds are dangerous? I was hoping to take a stroll outside of town before the Addax leaves.”

“The larger predators usually stay well away from town,” Saketa said. “That four-person group... they were... the locals have a word for it, but... well, basically they were scavengers. Poor people looking for something to sell. And they tend to go far in. I don’t think a stroll would hurt, but I wouldn’t go in any distance without a local. Or some company, at least. I hear it’s easy to get lost in there.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Hmm.”

Ayna turned on her heel and gazed down a side street. The wilderness growth was a bit visible above a high wall. She didn’t really expect any of the gang to be up for a walk. Possibly Herdis, but quite possibly not. She’d shown a considerable interest in those local crafts.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“I asked.”

“Right.”

The woman stepped over to a simple, metallic drinking fountain. One of those quick little vermin was perched on top of it, lapping at the soft jet. It turned as the woman approached. The creature made a threatening display and hissed, showing a mouthful of very sharp teeth.

Saketa raised her hand as if to grab it.

“I wouldn’t,” Ayna said.

But the woman took on a very focused look, like an athlete preparing for the big moment. The creature hissed again, its mouth wide open. Ayna held her breath, waiting to see what would happen.

Saketa took a steadying breath, then she shot her hand at the vermin. Ayna didn’t quite see what happened, but heard a snap and the woman snatched her hand back. Three of her fingers started bleeding from neat little wounds and her face scrunched up in a strange fury.

The creature hissed a third time and Saketa now launched a blow. Her fist fell on the little animal, crushing its skeleton against the metal fountain. It died immediately.

Saketa stood frozen for a moment. The rage left her face, replaced by what looked like shame.

She wiggled her injured fingers.

“I am... not myself,” she said softly, and Ayna wasn’t sure she was even the audience.

The woman was still for a bit longer, facing whatever was going on within. Then she did turn to face Ayna.

“I am out of balance, myself,” she said with a stiffness that couldn’t quite hide turmoil. “And I have warned you against walking in my steps. Keep your distance, Ayna. I have... turned my back on company.”

Then she turned her back literally, took the vermin’s carcass, then headed for that narrow entrance into the poorer district. The youth was gone, but there were no doubt plenty more like him.

Ayna glanced at the fountain and wondered if that sizeable dent had been in the metal before the blow. Then she looked back at Saketa’s vanishing silhouette.

“Ey. Pale.”

She turned at the sound of broken Gyvo and saw a middle-aged woman in a small sales booth.

“Don’t,” the woman said and indicated the narrow street. “Dangerous. Don’t.”

No, I probably shouldn’t.

She continued on her way.

# # #

It was their second day here and they were all sitting together in the hall when Dulel approached them.

“Oh, hello,” Gaylen said. “Still haven’t been robbed?”

“No, I haven’t,” the man said. “Annnd... that’s why I’m here.”

“You want us to rob you?” Ayna joked, and got a mild slap on the arm from Herdis.

“No,” the historian said with his usual earnestness. “I... look, I have hired some locals to help me out at the ruins. Just for digging and carrying things, you see. But I feel like I could do with protection.”

He bought a clue, Gaylen thought.

“I’m sure you can hire people for that too,” Kiris pointed out.

The man shrugged.

“There is a bit of a language barrier. I did study the local dialect, but I’m hardly fluent. Besides, you folks seem... experienced.”

Bers’s scarred face spread into a grin, and he chuckled.

“I tried talking to Saketa,” Dulel went on. “But she apparently has other things to do. And... well... you do carry guns.”

“Guns are very effective, yes,” Gaylen said. “How long do you expect to stay here?”

“Look, I can’t be precise,” the man admitted. “But like I already told you I just want to do some preliminary scans and recordings. From what I understand about the ruins, and the labour I have to work with, I estimate two weeks.”

Gaylen shook his head.

“I can’t just sit around that long.”

He glanced at the crew, gathered in a semicircle around the table.

“I need to go corewards, sooner rather than later.”

“Ah, right,” Dulel said. “To deliver the rec-”

Gaylen’s foot shot out and stomped on Dulel’s under the table.

“Don’t discuss that,” he warned in a low voice. “Not in public.”

“Right, right,” the man said. “Sorry. But, look, it’s not like I need all six of you. I could just use two or three people to watch my back.”

Gaylen and the crew looked at one another, but Dulel kept on going before anyone could speak.

“This place does have a bit of a crime problem, as just happens with unemployment,” he said. “Mostly among young people. And I don’t know if you heard about those disappearances recently. I’ve heard the locals bring up old stories about angry spirits of those who came before. Smaller, more tradition-bound cultures just tend to do that; conjure myths to serve as a warning against naturally occurring hazards. It is interesting how-”

“Getting off-topic,” Kiris told him brusquely.

Dulel cleared his throat.

“Of course, the reality of these disappearances is either foul play, natural hazards or predators. I know the locals know to watch for the latter two. But just in case it’s the first one I would like outside help.”

“How much?” Herdis asked.

“What do you say to...” Dulel’s face wasn’t expressive under any circumstances, but showed some hints that he hadn’t considered the question until now. “Two thousand per person?”

“For two weeks?” Bers said. “Good!”

Herdis turned to face Gaylen.

“What do you say?” she said.

He thought it over.

“I’ve told you all where I want to go,” he said. “I expect to take about ten days to get there, ten days back. I can’t predict the stop, but... it all ought to fit relatively neatly with the dig. I do need Jaquan on board, no matter what. And Kiris, you’ll be handy both on the way and on location.”

He wasn’t feeling very enthusiastic about this. Not with several unknown factors in play. Ideally the trip to Nokior would be a simple handoff. But it took a real fool to just assume such a thing. Still...

“What do you say?” he said, and indicated Herdis, Bers and Ayna.

“I wouldn’t mind staying here for a bit,” their soldier-medic-gunner said. “Isn’t N... isn’t the planet you’re going to civilised?”

“It has a crime problem of its own, but yes,” Gaylen said. “One can’t just brandish a rifle in public.”

Bers looked contemplative and for a moment Gaylen thought he was about to respond with one of his rare thoughtful comments. But he seemed to cover it up and just nodded.

“Good money,” he said. “Interesting planet.”

“I’d be interested in coming along,” Ayna said to Gaylen. “But... I’d also be happy to stay here for a bit. In one place.”

“So we split up?” Jaquan said.

“Sure,” Gaylen said with a shrug and looked at him and Kiris. “Just the three of us for a quick deal. There’s no need for us all to be tethered together all the time.”

He went over the inventory list.

“I’ll fly off again tomorrow morning,” he said. “I want that whole side-business over with quickly. So you three better unpack anything you’ll need for the next two weeks.”

“I’ll err on the side of caution,” Herdis said.

“Right.”

“So, do you want to start tomorrow?” Ayna asked Dulel.

“Yes, everything is ready,” the man said. “I’ve hired workers, rented a vehicle and all my gear is ready.”

“Goodie.”