Hi, first chapter is written haphazardly with my phone, just on the fly, the following ones will look better, when I actually have a clue what the hell I am doing. Promise !

They will also be longer, but hyperfocus demanded I started to write here and now, and I know better than to ignore it. Apologies for the rush job!

It had been a week to remember, that much was clear.

First three exams, then a massive party because the exams were done, and then a summon to the orbital ring of Tera.

Somehow said summon had been placed in the spam folder of Isabella's e mail account, and only a reminder that the appointment was today, made it through.

So here she sat, nursing a headache and asking herself what in the name of everything that's holy was up.

The office of the government worker was clean and way to bright, for her current state. The person that was supposed to be working here, hadn't arrived yet, so she still had absolutely no idea why she was here.

A sigh escaped her lips, as she leaned back and closed her eyes, she barely made it in time, grabbing whatever clothes she could find after diving in and out of the shower, rushing to the orbital lift and somehow buying a bottle of water on the way. And here she thought she was done with stress and tension, after those three exams this week. But apparently the universe had other plans.

The e mail said the reason she was here, was that she inherited something that required special clearance to be handed over, and that the object was situated here in space dock, that's why she had to be here. What and why and all those other questions were apparently not relevant enough to add to the mail.

In any case, it had to be things from her Uncle Simon, he had been missing for a while and would have been declared dead sooner or later, regardless of his actual status. The curious part was, that this was very much sooner than later, and that she was alone here, despite having two siblings, not to mention parents and grandparents. Her best guess was, that Simon didn't think to much off the rest of the family, because they remained planet bound, while she had some space experience.

"Oh right, and I am studying something that very much implies I want to interact with the galaxy as a whole, I guess." She mumbled to herself. "Simon, Mum will kill you over this, when it turns out you aren't actually dead, you know that, right ? Who am I kidding, that's probably half the reason you are missing, so you can give me this inheritance and mum can't retaliate against you for it..."

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That kind of sounded like him, but only the future would tell.

Just as she ended this thought, the door opened and closed, it seemed her appointment had begun.

"Miss Ortega, thanks for coming here" the as of yet unknown person said behind her. "According to the guard at the entry, you seemed to be stressed, did something out of the ordinary happen?"

Oh right, she was in an area with increased security, she should have expected things like that. Another sigh and she corrected her posture, opened her eyes and decided to deal with the universe in general and this situation in particular.

A glance at the person that entered showed her that things indeed looked like her mother would be furious about Simon, because she was looking at a young women in Uniform, an officer of some sort. A second glance revealed a name tag and a rank.

"Nothing special, sergeant Jackson, just my email account deciding that your initial mail was a scam and putting it in the spam folder, then life happened and I got a reminder for this appointment this morning, which shocked me awake."

"I see, and judging by your slightly disheveled hair, you were out late, right? It's exam week, isn't it ?"

Isabella nodded. "What exactly did Uncle Simon do, that means I had to come here? How much is my mother going to explode when she hears about it ?"

A small smile played around the mouth of Sergeant Jackson. "You might want to invest into earplugs, this is not quite your usual inheritance. First things first, the reason you are here so early after Mr. Banks went missing, is thanks to his will, that says he is to declared dead earlier than usual, and that you are the only person that is going to inherit anything. Apparently he wasn't that keen on his legacy going to people that would never leave the planet. His will is rather colourful in expression, let's put it that way. You will receive it in full later, but it's rather big, thanks to Mr. Banks being a bounty hunter, which means there's some regulations that mandate he had to be extremely precise with his will. You will see what it's all about, if you accept the inheritance."

Isabella just smirked a bit painfully, Simon being a bounty hunter and not telling anybody in the family, fit his character way to well. "Right, mum is going to kill him, when he shows up again. But what has all of that to do with me ?"

The Sergeant put a sheet of paper in front of her.

"You see, your Uncle flew a very specific ship, a ship of extraterrestrial origin, that he apparently got in another star system, every technology is fully compliant with restrictions of the galactic community, so that's not the issue. The issue is, that this ship is unique in the solar system, and it's alien makeup means it's impossible for us to alter its transponder. Combine that with the fact that he had 47 confirmed destructions with this ship, and we have a problem. This ship is forever tied to his name and deeds, and there will be old enemies of your Uncle that will shoot first, and ask questions later. So if you accept this inheritance, you will forfeit your status as civilian and receive status as bounty hunter yourself. You can't accept parts of it, it's all or nothing, the will is quite clear about that. I am sorry."

You could hear a pin drop in the office, even with the silent whisper of life support supplying new air.

Isabella wasn't prepared for that. Sure, the galaxy called to her, but forfeiting the protections of a civilian and essentially being classified as a combatant was no small thing. On the other hand, her own ship meant she could leave today, if she felt like it, and not have to slowly work towards a job that allowed her to eventually leave the system. In a decade or three, no less.

Could she do this ? Was she ready for it ?