October 22, 2361 AIA

P41

It was a busy day. Even the smallest, most dingy port on the planet was crowded. The low roar of moving ships poured through the hangar. There’d been so many announcements and call outs, the port’s general message system had been muted.

Captain Royce Demitrie had gone one further and muted the port com around his neck. He wasn’t leaving for a while, and he didn’t want to listen to the hassle and stress of those that were.

Demitrie was standing outside his ship, close to his open ramp, deriving what entertainment he could from watching the chaos shift around him. He took the vape from his mouth and allowed a cloud of steam to billow out around his chapped lips. After drawing in a deep breath, he scratched the depths of his beard with his other hand.

He wasn’t thinking much. He didn’t have to think much at the moment. He was enjoying that.

His reverie was interrupted when he heard someone come up behind him. He turned.

“Can I help you, sir?” Demitrie said. The man didn’t look like a port inspector, but it was hard to go wrong with respect.

The man smiled at him. “Are you Captain Demitrie?”

Demitrie nodded. “That’s me. And you, sir?”

The man reached out to shake. “Delighted, Captain. I’m glad you’re still here. My name is Moric Sipos. A mutual friend told me that I should come find you.”

“Did they now?”

“I need passage.”

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The captain frowned. He wasn’t listed to take passengers. All his friends knew that. There were other people who knew differently, but they were better classified as business acquaintances. Not friends. Certainly not friends. So much for enjoying a relaxing puff. He let out a short, low sigh.

“What’s your problem, mate?”

Sipos nudged his glasses up his nose. “No problem. I only need a ride.”

Demitrie nodded again. It was a slow, single incline of his head. “Yes. It’s true that even though I’m set down as a merchant, I might be able to help you, but I need to know why you’d want to come with me rather than take a lux or a cruise. There are runners that could get you almost anywhere you want to go—and much faster than I would.”

“I’m not in a hurry.”

“It’s not the hurry that’s got me worried. Why me? And who—” He thought better of his question. He really didn’t want to know who’d sent this man. The captain took another puff from his vape to cover the hitch in the conversation. Whoever this man was, his stare was disconcerting. “Come on,” Demitrie said after blowing out another cloud. “What’s up? Are you running from the Supremacy? A deserter? I won’t take you unless I know.”

Sipos smiled. “Nothing like that, I assure you. I’m a nobody.”

“You, a nobody? Here?”

“I was born on a free-plane—P52. Couldn’t stand the bugs, so I went to work on a freight. I crewed it for almost five years, but then my captain and I had a problem, and he dumped me here.”

“What was the problem?”

Sipos rubbed his hair with one hand and gazed up through his eyelashes, a sheepish look on his face. “I slept with his girl.” After a brief pause, he said, “In my defense, she was pretty, and he was inattentive.”

Royce stared at him for a moment, then he threw back his head and laughed. “All right, that makes some sense.”

Sipos was glad to see he was smiling at him now. Two fellow rogues had found one another.

“But how come you look so good?” Demitrie said, waving a lazy hand toward Sipos. “Those clothes don’t look like you’re a nobody.”

Sipos held out the edges of his jacket. “These? Used, but new to me.” He looked up. “Not bad, are they?”

“They’ll do.”

“I’ve been working under the table for years, but I finally have enough money to get off this rock. I stopped by a thrift shop to smarten up before I came to see you. I thought it might help make a good impression. I still have money, and I’d love to give you some. What do you say? Can you take me to Gaoyun?”

Demitrie stroked his beard. “Gaoyun, huh? All right. I can help you out. I have to make several stops, but it’s a straight shot otherwise. It’d be no more than four or five days. Can you be ready to leave before the hour is up?”

“I’m ready to go now.”

The captain motioned to the open ramp with his head. “Then let’s get you settled.”