Copeland spent the next few days at leisure. There was always some business at hand to take care of, but he was content to deal with it at his own pace. Maintenance and refueling would not be completed for another few days though he was still able to board the Rynex and sleep there after hours while she was being worked on.

Quince took her leave, promising to stay on the Station Depot and ask around for any leads on work and crew. She would check in if she found any, and was to return to the Rynex the day before maintenance was scheduled to be completed. Besides that, there was no contact with her. Where she stayed and who she saw he did not know. Quince knew plenty of people and Copeland trusted she would be back when she said she would.

The last run had lasted six weeks. Both Captain and First Mate could use the time away from each other after being cooped up on board the Rynex for that long.

Copeland was glad to spend his time aboard the depot, where he could explore further than the interior of the Rynex, no longer depended on by his now non-existent crew. While the Karhu Station Depot itself was in effect just a bigger ship. It was a man made satellite. The size of a large city. Water came from taps, not rivers, and oxygen was filtered through air vents, not by the few interior tress grown by hydroponics.

The atmosphere it held reminded Copland of the oceanside boardwalks he had visited as a child, and that nostalgia bit into him. Now the waves of the oceans are replaced with the gravitational pull of stars and satellite stranded endlessly out there on the great void of space.

It was a central logistics hub that served as a central point servicing the main trade route for the Luolassa System, and a beacon of interplanetary commerce. Copeland was once stationed on the planet Karhu back when he served in the Royal Navy. He never visited the KSD itself until after he became a hauler. The station held a population of proximately twenty thousand at any given time. The haulers who came and went both from Karhu, suppliers and manufacturer’s, miners of raw materials and all the people who staffed and maintained the station itself and retailers of small good to it’s many passing visitors.

The Station ran an artificial day and night cycle set to mimic that of Karhu. Due to the rotation of Karhu a complete day on the KSD lasted 36 standard Earth hours. Copeland’s sleep schedule was in shambles whenever he was on a run, and it took few days on the station to get back into a proper rhythm where he would walk visiting different store fronts, never purchasing anything. He had noticed a distinct presence of of servicepeople of the Royal Navy and even officers from the Royal guard. He dismissed thoughts that pondered the reason for their being there, as it brought up memories of a past he preferred to keep buried away.

In the evenings he retired to a diner that could be found nearby to the terminal where cargo ships came and left from. He would order a slice of pie and coffee. Having eaten he pulled out his portable terminal device began searching for work. The supplier he had been working with still had not paid him and was being uncommunicative. Copeland was still owed around 20 thousand Roth.

Pushing this concern to once side Copeland turned his attention to the two most pressing issues; finding a lead on his next run and rebuilding his crew. It had become a game of the chicken and the egg in his mind. Not including himself and Quince, it would take at least six other members at minimum to operate the Rynex for a run. That meant six more mouths to feed and six more crew to pay.

If the cargoload was larger or a more technical load including volatile substances or livestock then additional crew would have to be contracted. If the previous supplier did not pay him, he would have a hard time securing crew members, who would expect partial or even full payment upfront. If he came to suppliers without an active registered crew, obtaining the run contract would be come a near impossibility.

Copeland had put the word around to some of the local vendors that he was chasing both workers and a new contract, but found nothing. Every night he spent alone in that diner the stress mounted further upon his shoulders.

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On the night before maintenance was scheduled for completion he was still at the diner, alone in his booth. While he stared down into his empty coffee cup two teenagers entered the diner and and spoke to the woman behind the counter. Copeland looked up from his cup and noticed her pointing over at him and watched as the young man and woman came and stood beside him.

There was dirt on their faces.

‘Excuse me. Are you you Captain Copeland? The one looking for crew?’ The young man asked with cap in hand. The girl looked around in bewilderment, as if she had never stepped into a diner before in her life. She sat herself on the other side of the booth unprompted and positioned herself against the window starring outward watching the people walk on by under the glow of the storefront neon signs. The boy remained standing adjacent until Copeland gestured for him to sit.

‘Yes. Why? Do you know someone looking for work?’ asked the Captain. The boy slid into the booth next the girl.

‘No. I mean, we are the one’s looking to join on. My name is Peter, and this is Garnett.’ The boy spoke, trying to mask his timidness.

They were interrupted by the waitress. She refilled the Captain’s cup. She asked the two if they wanted anything. Peter politely refused, Copeland asked the waitress to bring two more cups.

‘Coffee’s free here.’ He told Peter, knowingly. Their drinks were brought over.

Garnett sipped from her cup then screwed her face up in bitterness. There was a pause.

‘So, you two have much experience working cargo ships?’

‘Oh a little. Here and there. Not so much on cargo ships, just part of an operational crew.’

‘Any technical qualifications? Could you fix a exterior skyhook attachment mechanism if I asked you to?’

‘Ah, no. I mean… I could try, if you asked me to, I’ll try anything Sir.’

‘What is you did as part of this operations team?’

‘I was a chef sir. Back on Karhu.’

‘An apprentice chef.’ remarked Garnett snidely. Peter threw daggers at her with his eyes.

Copeland turned to her. ‘And what about you Miss Garnett?’ For the first time the young girl looked at the Captain. There was so much youth in her eyes, the shine of her red hair betrayed her ragged clothes. It was last kind of person he expected to sign on for a cargo haul.

‘Oh, I don’t know? Maybe fly the ship? That could be fun.’ She stated indifferently. Copeland couldn’t help but smirk.

‘I’m afraid we already have an experienced pilot.’

‘Oh.’ Then silence. Aloof, she turned her head back towards the window.

Peter interjected. ‘She’ll do anything. Cleaning, scrubbing, changing the bed sheets. Really keep the place looking spruced up!’

‘I don’t know.’ The Captain leaned forward rubbing a hand over his chin. ‘A cook is something I could maybe use. Might be better leaving your girlfriend behind.’ He looked over at Garnett. ‘Stuck on a ship together for weeks or maybe months. It only leads to problems.’

She turned from the window. ‘I am not his girlfriend.’ Her tone as cold as ice. Peter looked away in embarrassment. It was the first part of their spiel Copeland felt there was any real truth to. The Captain looked down at the two kids. They were dejected, worn out and clearly at the end of their rope. Peter looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. It was desperation, them coming to him. He felt pity for them, and for a moment wondered if they felt the same looking at him.

Running a palm down his unshaven face, he sighed. Two ragged kids off the streets of the depot. It was a start at least.

‘Okay.’ He said finally. Relief lifted itself over the faces of the two. ‘It will be hard working, and I expect hard work. You’ll have to make do with whatever provision I provid you. The pay will be minimal, and you won’t see any of it until the run is complete.’

‘Great!’ Cried Peter. He reach over the table and vigirously shook the Captain’s hand. ‘So, Where are we going to?’

‘Does that really matter?’ Copeland replied, challenging the lad in lieu of not having a real answer to give him.

‘No. I guess not, Captain Copeland, Sir.’

‘Just call me Skip. We won’t be back for a while. So gather your things and meet me at the ship tomorrow, we should head out in the next few days.’

They nodded in silence. Copeland stood up from the booth went to the counter and ordered two sandwiches for his newly commissioned crew members. Paid, then went to the door.

Peter called out to him from the booth. ‘Um. Skip! Which ship is it?’

‘The white one. The one that says Rynex.’ Copeland replied. Then exited.

It was a strange and long walk back to the ship. He wondered what the hell he was doing. Hiring on and making promises to urchin children. Before sleeping he checked his terminal one more time for any word from the previous supplier. There was none. There was however, something new in the inbox. Quince had sent him a message.

[Acquired five good crew who will do the job for no advance pay. Got a run lined up if it’s better than any of the ones you’ve sniffed out. See you tomorrow Skip. :) ]

That evening Copeland slept like a stone.