As Michael gazed forward toward the stars Sheerya broke the silence. “Where are we going? This isn’t the way back to Zogan,” said Sheerya.
“Well, you are correct. Ordinarily I we would be on our way home, but I thought for a mission well done we could take a few days to relax, and dare I say even have a little fun,” said Azav. The mask was hiding his face, but Michael sensed Azav was smiling underneath. “Wow! A vacation day? That sounds great,” said Tiki joyfully.
“Let’s just say we’re on a hiatus and can’t accept contracts for an indefinite period,” said Azav once again lowering the energy in the cabin. “Well, that doesn’t sound as fun to say,” said Tiki.
“So where are we going exactly?” asked Sheerya.
“Would you prefer I tell you now or leave it tto be a surprise?” asked Azav.
“I want to know! I want to know!,” said Tiki excitedly.
“We’re going to Tribabi,” said Azav.
Everyone else other than Michael and Azav got visibly excited and Tiki stood up she and started jumping around much like a small child would hearing they could have sweets.
“What’s so great about this place?” asked Michael.
“It’s wonderful, the weather is always nice, the planet has two suns and over 15 moons and it has some of the largest resorts in the galaxy,” said Sheerya.
“Not to mention the tech scene there is impressive. I can totally buy some new computer parts there,” said Tiki.
“It’s also has plenty to do there, and has beaches with white sand, and wonderful rock formations carefully crafted from millions of years of erosion,” said Ellop.
“That does sound very nice,” said Michael smiling.
They arrived at Tribabi after passing through a space gate and Azav looked for a spot to dock his ship. After landing the crew made the way to the resort hotel where Azav already had a reservation prepared. They had a large hotel room with big glass windows and a balcony overlooking the purple sea and the white sand beaches. The central living area split off into five different bedrooms each with their own bathrooms and with beds larger than what would be considered king size on Earth. Ellop, Tiki and Sheerya continued talking about their plans. “So, does anyone want to do anything with me?” asked Michael.
“Well, you can tag along with me,” offered Tiki.
“Sure, I’ll go with you for the day,” said Michael.
Michael and Tiki left the hotel and Tiki went to a car rental station where Tiki got the keys for a car for her and Michael. “So you’re really interested in technology huh?” asked Michael.
“Well, Ellop is more of the scientific guy when it comes to things like physics and chemistry, I’m mainly interested in computers, and sometimes even cybernetics,” said Tiki.
“So what in particular are you looking for here?” asked Michael.
“Well, let’s face it, the computer system on Azav’s ship needs updating. It’s like he hasn’t updated it in five intergalactic years, which in terms of computers is practically ancient times,” said Tiki.
“So you’re looking to upgrade his ship?” asked Michael.
“Yeah, I’m thinking of some ways to improve it. Maybe one of these days I’ll get my own ship instead of Azav’s factory made cookie-cutter ship,” said Tiki.
“That sounds great. In terms of credits, I’m not sure exactly how far that gets you. What would a ship like Azav’s cost?” asked Michael.
“Well, his in particular is priceless from the upgrades me and Ellop have done on it. Yes, it’s still a factory ship, but our modifications have greatly improved it. If you’re thinking of a ship identical to Azav’s with none of our upgrades you’re looking at 6-7 million credits depending if you choose to buy new or used and the condition it’s in,” said Tiki.
“Wow, so I have 225,000 credits, so what’s that enough to buy?” asked Michael.
“It depends a lot by planet to planet. You could probably afford a smaller apartment on major planets, but it’s not quite enough to buy a ship, at least in working condition,” said Tiki.
They arrived at the electronics market and excitement was on Tiki’s face once again as they pulled up. “Okay, now stay close to me. It might be a little hectic,” said Tiki.
The market was loud and busy. Even more chaotic than the market Michael went to on Sevani with Gorad. In one part of the market a crowd was gathered to watch robots fighting each other with lasers and fire. The crowd cheered as the robots turned each other to dust. A sentient bot covered the eyes of nearby robot children to shield them from the violence. Tiki walked straight up to a vendor selling computer parts. “Hello, I’m in the market for a new CPU, I need one for my ship,” said Tiki.
“What’s your price range?” asked the vendor.
“None, what’s the best you got? I’m willing to pay any price,” said Tiki.
The vendor grabbed a computer component and Tiki’s face lit up in excitement. “This one will set you back 155,000 credits,” said the vendor. “It’s the top of the line, Itki grade central processing unit used for Itki combat ships,” said the vendor as he pulled out a tablet containing information. Tiki read through the information getting more and more excited. “I want to buy this!” said Tiki so excited she look like she might start dancing.
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The vendor unlocked the computer part from a locked case and handed it over the counter as Tiki transferred the credits to make payment. Tiki walked away from the vendor with Michael following closely behind. “Oh wow!” exclaimed Tiki.
Tiki ran to another vendor as Michael tried to keep up through the crowd of other shoppers. Tiki approached what was a large black device almost resembling a winged insect with. “I always wanted one of these drones,” said Tiki.
Michael looked at the price tag and did a double take to make sure he saw it correctly.
“2 million credits?” asked Michael in both surprise and shock.
“Yeah, that’s actually a great price. These drones can travel 2 lightyears on a single charge. If I programmed it to go through space gates it could essentially do any task I need remotely,” said Tiki.
“Too bad that computer part costed so much,” said Michael.
Tiki got the attention of the vendor. “Hey you, I want to buy this drone,” said Tiki.
“Absolutely, which model do you want?” asked the vendor.
“Hmm, how about the QX-72,” said Tiki.
“That’ll be 2 million credits,” said the vendor.
Michael zoned out of the discussion and looked around at the other vendors with his eyes being caught by a war robot displaying it’s accuracy on a target.
“Michael,” said Tiki snapping Michael’s attention back to her.
“Yeah?” responded Michael.
“Was there anything else here you wanted to see? I already went over my personal budget, but if you wanted to see anything we can stay for a bit,” said Tiki.
“There’s nothing in particular I’m looking to buy here,” said Michael.
“Okay, let’s make our way back to the hotel then,” said Tiki.
Tiki wrote some code on a tablet and the drone took off from the vendor and flew into the sky.
“Don’t worry about it, I sent it to Zogan, it should be there when we go back,” said Tiki.
“How much did it set you back?” asked Michael.
“Well, in total today I spent 800,000 credits,” said Tiki with an embarrassed look by her spending.
“Wow, thats more than I have total,” said Michael.
“Yeah the main thing was paying for insurance and a warrenty. I couldn’t buy it all out, so I’m making payments on it now,” said Tiki.
“Want to tell me more about it as we go back to the hotel?” asked Michael.
“Sure,” said Tiki happy to see Michael taking interest in her drone.
The two walked past all the vendors they saw on their way in and returned to the rental car. “We’re going to make a stop at Azav’s ship before we get to the hotel just so I can drop off my computer parts,” said Tiki. Tiki talked the whole way over to Azav’s ship everything about the drone she had purchased. All the abilities, all the information about the drone. It got to the point Michael was completely lost in the dump of information Tiki had given to him. He could no longer tell what she was talking about as she began talking about technologies from different sectors of the galaxy and how great it was she found a drone at the price she did. After dropping the computer part off at Azav’s ship Tiki drove herself and Michael over to the hotel and Michael opened the door to the hotel. Azav was standing looking out the window at the purple sea. Azav was facing away from Michael and Tiki when they entered and his black mask was removed and on an end table. “One moment,” said Azav loudly reaching for the mask with his right hand being sure to keep his face concealed. He grabbed the mask and hectically put it back on his face before turning around. “I didn’t expect you two to be back so early,” said Azav now facing Tiki and Michael.
“Well, we would’ve been there the whole day, but I went over budget within an hour of being there, so we decided to turn back and come here,” said Tiki.
“Did you get anything while you were there Michael?” asked Azav.
“Nope, most of it was just computer parts and things I didn’t really understand,” said Michael.
“Speaking of which, I got new parts to update your ship’s computers,” said Tiki.
Azav sighed. “Just be careful this time,” said Azav.
“Of course, last time was a one time mistake,” said Tiki laughing.
Tiki continued talking about her drone to Michael who listened while spending time around the hotel. The rest of the afternoon was laid back, Sheerya and Ellop returned later in the afternoon while the sun was setting and both shared where they went during the day. As the two suns set everyone admired the planet’s natural beauty gazing out the windows into the night sky.