Quince returned in the early morning. Copeland was awake and shaved by the time she arrived. Her spirit was up, the R&R had done her well. Together they went to pay the maintenance team and have it moved to a shipping dock. Then they went to breakfast.

She explained the run to Copeland. Over steaming cups of coffee and fried meat and toasted bread Quince explained how she met a contact who worked for a supplier on the far reaches of the depot one night in some backwater bar, striking up conversation over of a few drinks. It was a standard job. Real lumber cut from one of the dense forests on Karhu. High-quality material. There was an excess of it, in fact, and non of the regular guys were able to take it. The supplier was eager to get it moved as soon as possible.

They were to deliver the wood to Lintu, a planet within a star system that lay on the outer edges of the Karhuun Royal Empire. Lintu was a frontier planet with no trees of their own, so the supplier's was in high demand. The run would last just over a month, one way.

Copeland admitted that he had been unable to secure a contract himself. Quince made the call to her contact. Delivery to the Rynex was arranged. They would be off-station within hours, pending the arrival of the new crew Quince had wrangled together. Copeland made no mention of Peter and Garnett to her. He was embarrassed of his decision to hire them on. Truth was, he didn’t believe that they would actually turn up, and part of him hoped they wouldn’t. From what he gathered from Quince. The five she had enlisted, while leaving them once again understaffed, would suffice. The other two, especially the girl, was a liability.

Coming back from breakfast, there was a high presence of Royal Military Police officers patrolling the dockside. They were everywhere, stopping people to speak to them. Serious business. It could have been anything. Captain and pilot both looked at each other, a silent acknowledgeable that something was up, and they should get off the KSD before whatever red tape was going up bottlenecked the exit gates.

Workmen from the supplier arrived and began onboarding the large crates of lumber into the great cargo hull of the Rynex. They were to fill the ship to capacity, just over 200 tons. With Quince assisting the on boarding while Copeland waited to receive his new crew. Looking over his ship, he felt a sense of pride. Things were starting to work themselves out.

One by one they arrived at the ship, this new crew of theirs. The first was a wirey old fellow. In this thick bottle spectiles he shuffled up and clasped onto Copeland’s hand, shaking it agressively. ‘Greetings Skip! I’m your new Wrenchman, am I?’ He asked in in a heavy Kurhuun accent. Copeland was caught off by the odd geezer’s manic behavior. He introduced himself as Chuck and then shambled off the front walkway with his bags to find his quarters. Stopping on his way to inspect the interior workings of the front hatch.

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Then there was the engineer, a pretty young woman named Tiff. Small, happy and bouncing with energy. Not the kind of engineer you would expect to find on the KSD.

The security officer. A man with deep set lines in his frowning face. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ he grumbled before storming inside without giving his name.

The Medical officer was some middle aged quack jittering to himself. Looked as though he had been awake for days. When Copeland got a good look at him, he saw that dilated eyeballs big as Saucers. Introduced himself as Lotz. Was he a doctor, or? He never actual mentioned…

Finally there was Bronson, the bonsun. Big and dumb, but polite. He grinned a big smile as he squashed Copeland's hand in a shake. He lowered his head in order to clear the entry ramp opening.

Where had Quince found these creatures? Copeland doubted if any of them were licensed or certified. He had been in the game long enough to figure that out. But there was no time, this sordid lot would have to make do.

The Rynex was now fully loaded with lumber. The new recruits arrived and settling in on board the ship, but still Copeland stood on the entry ramp looking out over the dockside. ‘Perhaps they will not show up after all.’ He thought to himself.

Quince approached and asked Copeland what the hold up was. Distracted, he did not hear her at first. He told her to begin system checks and get ready to head out. Annoyed, she left him standing there scanning the faces of the passing crowds.

He was was about to turn and enter the ship and give the order to launch when he spotted them. They were robed in hooded cloaks, and approached cautiously. Copeland could see they had been fashioned out of old grain sacks. They were weary and out of breath. Copeland stood halfway up the ramp with his arms folded. Looking down with a stern look.

‘You are late. We were just about to leave. A poor start to your new careers.’ He admonished.

‘Our apologies, Skip.’ Peter said meekly from under his lowered hood. ‘We-’

‘Let’s not waste any more time then.’ He stood aside and watched them pass and enter the ship. Copeland could not help but break out a little smile. As Peter lead Garnett up into the Rynex she lifted her head and looked up at the captain. For a moment their gaze met and Copeland with her cold blue eyes. There was an odd sense of gratitude in her blank expression. Then the moment passed and he was alone again.

He looked out one last time at the Karhu Space Depot, then ascended the walkway and hit the switch that retracted it. The opening shut behind him with an elongated mechanical groan over the sound of the engines beginning to warm up.