Two years had gone by. And, for the past two years, I had been working pretty much non-stop at the Duchess' boobs. I actually didn't mean to work this hard but I sort of got into a rhythm that kept me going at a good pace. Needlessly to say, I quickly became Ehka's favorite employee or at least that’s what I heard. I enjoyed my badger very much meanwhile. It was my home as well as my workplace. I modded the hell out of the ship to be a nimble fighter. Ever since the battle with the Old Lady, I hadn't had any actual combat experience but I felt pretty confident in dog flights because I played with fellow bouncers occasionally. Speaking of the Old Lady, I had been keeping my eyes on her. She was still in Rocksea. That was perhaps obvious due to the turret modification. Santino later sent an email telling me that she was sold quickly precisely due to the mod. Apparently, there was a demand for cheap combat capable frigates. It also meant that the chances of her being blown up to smithereens was higher. Now, did I want to buy her back? Probably. Did I expect to be able to buy her back? Probably not. Realistically speaking, I’d need 30 millions to be able to buy her back. Twenty four million was what she cost, but I’d need to pay over the odds to be able to convince the current owner to hand her back, thus 30 million was the ballpark figure I needed to aim at. Honestly, I wasn’t going to be able to make that much money in any realistic time frame. I’d rather have that kind of money in a retirement savings account rather than spend it to be honest. Besides, it was better for me to invest on a better ship instead of aiming for a frigate. A logical upgrade to my current top-of-spec badger was SSS Robin.

image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6436/GFHcJ7.png]

The Robin was what I’d call a modern ship. The Badger was from the 7000s. The Robin was from the 9000s. SSS, Super Star Shipyard, was another spaceship manufacturer based in the Solar system. They were the largest spaceship manufacturer as well. The Lightwave shipyard focused on mining ships while SSS focused on everything, including civilian-grade fighter class ships. When compared to the Badger, the Robin doesn’t look like an upgrade at the first glance because the former had two fixed gatling guns and two on the back. But those gatling guns were old-fashioned ammunition based weapons, which had a travel time to its target. Additionally, I had to stock ammo beforehand. The Robin, in contrast, had a laser turret. Yes, a turret, and it was much more powerful as well. While I had to manually aim the guns on the Badger, for the Robin, that didn’t matter. All I had to do was loosely chase my target, and the turret would track it with ease. Of course, another significant upgrade was that it had armor plates. With the Badger, a single shot was enough for it to go down if the hole was made near where its pilot was. He’d run out of air before he could patch it up especially if he was under duress already. The Robin was able to withstand some punishments before actually breaking down. There were further improvements in the interior as well. Long story short, the Robin was a clear upgrade to the Badger. And that was reflected in the price. The base hull was 800k. With all options maxed out, I was looking at 5 millions. This was something I could afford. However, I’ve placed a million into my emergency / retirement savings account. I wasn’t going to touch it no matter what this time.

“Hmm?”

Snapping out of my long train of thoughts, I surveyed what was in front of me. I was inside my badger which was positioned a bit away from one of the docking bays of the Duchess’ boobs. I spotted a shuttle that was bumping into a wall right next to a docking bay door frame repeatedly. I immediately knew it was being piloted by a drunkard. It was a common occurrence in my short experience of being a bouncer. The job of being a bouncer wasn’t actually how it sounded like. My primary job was keeping order and preventing others from fighting - in space -. That was why Ehka asked me to purchase a badger in order to intimidate others. I had yet to run into people physically while being “a bouncer”. Anyway, I approached the shuttle at once and opened a public channel.

"Sir, please stop your engine," I warned him over a public channel, meaning everyone was able to hear our conversation if they wanted and were close enough. Unlike establishing communications which required acceptance from both sides, anything on a public channel would automatically sound on speakers. This was by design on civilian vessels. Well, I didn't expect him to stop, and he didn't. The shuttle simply kept on bumping an innocent wall, causing dents and scratches.

"Sir, I repeat, please stop your engine. I will tug your shuttle into a docking bay."

Again, no response. It was entirely possible that he was already dozing off.

There wasn't exactly a standard protocol in these situations. I mean the station wasn't exactly a high standard workplace. But a common practice in these situations where a drunkard was bumping into an innocent wall was just tug the shuttle anyway and force it into a docking bay. Since my badger would have more thruster powers, it was possible. Just to be sure though, I contacted him one more time through a public channel.

"Sir, I am tugging your shuttle. Say something if you wish to refuse."

Again, no response, and I waited a few good minutes.

"Alright, let's do this," I said to myself as I touched a series of holographic buttons floating on a console. I was turning off assisted piloting so that my badger could approach the shuttle without it having a mind of its own and move away. It was a safety feature. Once that was done, I carefully approached the shuttle and attempted to push it sideways so that it would eventually go into a docking bay. It wasn't even that far off, a few meters at the most. However, at one point, the pilot from the shuttle shouted through a public channel.

"The fuck you are doing?!"

I responded promptly. "Woke up at last, eh? I am trying to get you into the docking bay."

"Mind your fucking biz. I know what I am doing!"

Having said so, he powered up his engine. Mind you that the shuttle was bumping into a wall. By suddenly powering up its main engine, it crashed into a wall, shattering its cockpit window. A pop of air bursted out along with the pilot. His body accelerated into a wall head first, and his skull shattered instantly, leaving a floating corpse. The dude wasn't even wearing a seat belt of any kind.

"Oh My God," I uttered. It was my first time seeing a living person turning into a dead one in seconds. Therefore, I froze for a minute. Eventually, I took a deep breath and docked to see Ehka. It wasn’t my job to clean up the mess.

"Not your fault," was her conclusion as soon as I reported in. "I saw the incident video. You followed the protocols. The pilot was stupid. Natural selection," She concluded.

I knew that. I knew I didn't do anything wrong but I felt really down. As if she read my mind, she suggested an idea.

"Why don't you take a break? You've been working here for some years non-stop. You do deserve a holiday of some sort."

I hesitated because I still needed to earn money.

"It will be a paid vacation. Just take some days off, like a few tens of days. I will give you 30 days off."

Sighing deeply, I figured why not, thus I agreed a time off. The first place I wanted to visit was the Oreo station. It had been years since I visited the station. I missed its 0.1 gravity. I figured I'd spend some time there. It was only a few days of travel in addition. I proceeded to leave right away.

"Hasn't changed a bit," I said to myself as I looked at the station. It had been only two years. Of course, nothing changed. I bet a small station like Oero wouldn't change even after a hundred years. I was visiting for no reason. Therefore, my initial request for a docking request was denied. Naturally, I contested the decision over a comm.

"Sorry, sir. Unless someone inside can vouch for you, we cannot let you dock. I am sorry. It is our policy."

I wasn't sure Yating was on the station, but she was the only one I could think of.

"Is there Yating on the station? I know her personally."

The guy over the comm sounded surprised. "Yating? Hold on."

After some minutes, the dude replied, "Your docking request has been granted."

So, she was indeed on the station, possibly with Santino as well. Could Juno still be on the station also? This could get a bit awkward. As soon as I landed my badger and exited the ship, I spoke out loudly.

"Computer, locate Yating."

A moment later, a small light ball that was the size of fist appeared in front of me and it began to move at a walking pace. I simply followed it. Where it ended up was the docking office, and the ball of light vanished upon reaching its destination. It was where I used to meet her when receiving payment for ore. She was in front of a desk, looking down on a holographic data sheet. As soon as she noticed my presence, she stood up and approached me with a beaming smile.

"Hello, Vazken."

There was another person, a guy, in the office. He glanced at me once and returned to whatever he was doing. It could be the guy from the comm earlier.

"Yating, I didn't expect you to be here." I meant that.

"Yet you still named me as your guarantor," She replied with a grin.

I scratched my head. "Well, it was a bit of a gamble. I didn't know anyone else. I assume Santino is here as well?"

Her face darkened a bit. "We broke up," She said with a bitter grin.

"Oh, I am sorry. I see. That's why you are back." I did want to ask why, but it was none of my business.

"Pretty much." She changed the subject afterwards. "I was told that you are visiting here for no reason. Is that true?"

I explained my situation earnestly to her. I was never going to lie to her. She was my crewmate once.

"Oh, I see. I am sorry about that." She sounded genuinely worried about me. "I see. Well, in that case, stay on the station as long as you'd like."

Then she turned her attention to the guy in the office. "Marcello, add his name to the approved visitor list."

"You got it," He replied at once.

"I will also have a guest room assigned to you."

"No, no, you don't need to do that. I will stay on my ship."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I will stay here for ten days at the most. I just wanted the sweet 0.1 gravity."

The guy, Marcello, chuckled in response.

She beamed a bright smile at me. "Enjoy your stay then. Since you are on an approved visitor list, you should have more access than regular visitors."

"Thanks."

I really wondered whether Juno was still on station but honestly did not want to run into her. I asked the station computer whether a person named Juno was present on the station.

"Positive," It replied.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Bugger," I said to myself. I really did not want to bump into her. The chance of actually dumping her was really low though. The cafeteria would be the most dangerous place. For no apparent reason, just for kicks I suppose, I asked the computer another question.

"Santino and Rabinovich."

"Negative on Santino. Positive on Rabinovich."

I froze up as soon as I heard that. Rabinovich is here? And Juno? With Yating, pretty much the whole group was present on the station. This was gettin' weird. Initially, I thought about just leaving the station right away. But then I realized I didn't do anything bad to warrant avoiding them. The group being disbanded wasn't my fault, at least not entirely. If anything, it was Rabinovich who hammered the final nail on the coffin. With that line of thought, I decided to stay around for a bit longer. I came here to take a break, but it turned out that I wasn’t exactly going to get that. Regardless, again, I wasn’t at the fault of the group having disbanded, thus I stayed. For the next few days, all I did was play games in my badger and work out a bit to maintain my muscles. Eventually, I was unable to resist my urge to visit the cafeteria. The food over there was just so much better just to ignore. Besides, my chances of running into either Rabinovich or Juno was low. It was like 1%. It was quite crowded when I arrived. I had never seen the cafeteria this crowded before. A mining frigate must have docked recently or something. I saw over ten people present, and there was a small line up for food. When I saw the guy in front me getting his tray of food, he turned around and -

"Vazken?" He said to me, sounding surprised.

I wasn't exactly paying attention and when I did -

"Rabinovich?"

"Hey, dude! It's been a while!" He raised his voice with excitement. "Come, get your tray and sit at my table."

I wasn't exactly keen but did just that.

My tray of food was boiled rice with lightly roasted pieces of spam and two sunny side up eggs. It was nothing fancy but trust me. This combination was fucking good. The tray had a transparent plastic cover so that it wouldn’t fly all over. It had been years since I had a meal like this. Back on the Duchess’ boobs, my meals were mostly powdered food and occasional canned meat. When I sat down at his table with it, he greeted me again with glee.

"So, dude, what have you been up to? Good to see you really." He asked me as he took his first bite at his food which was several loaves of bread along with a gravy. He had to immediately close his tray with the cover just in case his gravy might go haywire under 0.1G. Anyway, I told him earnestly what I had been up to. I had nothing to hide really.

"Kinda saw that coming. That woman, Ehka, valued you high."

"Really? Didn't notice." I was being honest.

"You are a good worker. I am sorry that I broke up the party." He sounded genuinely apologetic. "I have a problem with alcohol and women."

Well, that much was clear. He explained that, after the group was disbanded, he ended up spending most of his money on booze and hookers. Thankfully, he was able to get a hold of himself and moved to the station before it was too late.

"I am a solo miner now," He added," Boring as fuck, but it gets me fed."

I carefully said to him, "I believe Juno is here as well. Have you run into her?"

He chuckled. "I have, dude. It was awkward since I was the one who made the ultimate decision of letting her go."

I hope that she didn’t throw a fist at him.

"How is she?"

"She is a solo miner like myself. We didn't talk much. The air was just too awkward. She may open up to you though."

I didn't want to talk to her though.

"I think she may have hots for ya."

I almost choked on food. Coughing hard, I blurted at him. "What the fuck was that for?"

He snickered. "Not kidding. It's just a vibe I got from her. She did ask me about you and only you. Asked about no one else."

I never saw her that way though. I mean, she's a huge woman, much bigger than myself. To be honest, Yating was more of my type than Juno. If it wasn’t for Santino, I would have gone after her.

"Anyway, really good to see you," He said with a playful grin on his face. He was playing around, … probably.

Either way, I couldn't deny that it was good to talk to an old friend. ".... Yeah."

It certainly lifted some weights in my mind that the group members were doing alright. I didn't know where and what Santino was doing but I was sure he was doing alright on his own. It was the ninth day when I left the Oreo station. It was time to get back working. The station was starting to feel like a real home to me. My friends were there as well as memories, good and bad.

Perhaps more importantly, I was able to leave the incident at the Duchess' boobs behind me. I was over it. When I got back, I asked Ehka for a face-to-face meeting. I’ve made a decision to take a step forward in my life.

“You want to join a convoy?” She repeated after me.

“Yes, I don’t want to be a bouncer for the rest of my life. I want to climb up.”

Being a bouncer was similar to being a miner. Both were dead-end careers. So far, I’ve been wandering around the bottom of a barrel that was called a career. I really did feel like I should step up a bit. I wanted to partake in convoy jobs and eventually lead a small team. I was twenty five years old at this point.

“I am not going to stop you if you really want to step up,” she said. “Your badger is fully upgraded also, so there isn’t a reason for me to stop you.”

I was fully aware that I was lacking in real world experience. At the same time, there was no way for me to learn real world experience without actually doing the deeds. I had to face danger. That was no roundabout way. In my defense, I did play some simulations as well as working with fellow bouncers for friendly dog fights. She brought up her holographic keyboard and started to type things, probably searching for an available spot in a convoy.

“I have a convoy that can use an additional badger. They are going to depart in two days. Sounds good?”

At the moment, pay didn’t matter to me. I had to survive this one. That was my only goal.

“Yeah, that’s good enough.”

“I will send you info. Read up when you have time.”

“Sounds good.”

“So.., how many years have you been here?” Her question was out of the blue.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Is it two or three?”

“A bit over two years, I believe.”

“And you’ve never met Duke, right?”

“Your husband, right?”

She nodded.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Perhaps, it’s time to meet him in person then.”

Now that she mentioned him, it was weird that I never met him during my stay at the station. As far as I knew, the real name of Duke was unknown, and Ehka was essentially the Duchess since she was supposed to be the wife. Whether they were actually married, I wasn’t sure. A marriage was a rare thing in the era. People rarely bothered to do the paperworks and get legally married because it simply did not matter.

“I don’t see why not. I’ve never met him.”

“Follow me.”

During my stay at the station, my most frequented area was one of its two docking bays and its associated office space. As a bouncer, I didn’t need to go elsewhere. This part of the station was relatively peaceful. The other boob where the bar and brothel were rather chaotic. From what I could gather, Ehka was in charge of the industrial business part. Duke was probably in charge of the residential business. Well, I will find out soon enough. The whole station had absolutely no gravity, and magnetic boots were required in some parts of the station, which were the bar and brothel. Where she led me was the bar, which was where I almost cracked my skull when I visited the station the first time. The place was eerily empty this time.

“It’s under maintenance today,” she told me as if she read my mind.

“Hubby, hi,” Ehka greeted Duke who was behind the bar counter and was slowly cleaning glass cups. The place was dimly lit. That was how bars were in general. I could barely make out his facial features.

image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8030/flEydi.png]

“Ehka, hey,” he replied stoically. He was a big bald guy. He didn’t look to be as tall as Juno but seemed equally muscular. “Who’s the guy?”

“Vazken, the one I’ve talked about before.”

“Oh, I see. So, I finally get to meet the guy. The name’s Duke.”

I was pretty sure that it wasn’t his real name but I wasn’t going to press. The guy was wearing a dark red turtleneck shirt. I couldn’t see what he was wearing down there, most likely pants.

“The name’s Vazken.”

“Have a seat, and what’s your favorite drink?”

Ehka grabbed a stool and sat down, and I did the same.

“I, uh, don’t usually drink.”

“Don’t give him something that’s too strong,” she said with a chuckle.

“Screwdriver is probably the best then,” the Duke said. “It’s easy to make and goes down well.” It was a mixture of vodka and orange juice. Anyway, I wondered why she chose to introduce me to her husband now. The timing didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I mean, I didn’t need to know the guy.

“May I ask the purpose of this meeting?” I dared asking because personally I saw no point in this.

“Not many actually know that he is the owner of this place,” she said while taking a cup of cocktail from him. “And you are now one step above the bottom. It’s time to know the face of your employee, don’t you think?”

“I thought you were my employee.”

“Nope, I am his wife, and his name is in the deed, not me.”

“Of course, should I die, she will get her name in the deed legally,” said the Duke, grinning, and sliding my drink toward me. The cup had a slightly magnetic bottom and it slid really well. Of course, there was a cap and a straw. This was zero gravity after all.

“Any children between you two?” I expected none.

“We do, a son,” said the Duke. “DNA check done. He is mine.”

“I had to spend ten months on New Earth,” she added, pouting.

“I am grateful, either way,” he said. “Never thought I’d have my own kid.”

I could agree with him because it wasn’t exactly easy to have relationships in space. Having children was even harder since pregnant women were strongly encouraged to stay under 1.0G. Not many women were willing to spend or waste ten months doing nothing on a planet. They’d rather get an abortion than going through a full pregnancy.

“I’ve repaid my debt to you in doing so,” she said with a chuckle.

“Indeed, we are even.”

So, they had a history. It was certainly a bold way to repay “debt” by having a child. But both of them seemed satisfied, so it wasn’t my place to meddle in.

“Hmm, this is not bad,” I said after taking a small sip. It tasted mostly like orange juice.

“I diluted a lot. It’s probably on beer level,” the Duke said.

“Beer? That’s a kid’s drink,” She said. “That’s a bit offensive, don’t you think?”

“It’s not my first time drinking. I think I can handle something tougher,” I replied, taking some offense in her words. She wasn’t wrong, though. Beer wasn’t even considered an alcoholic beverage. I even heard a story of a guy who replaced his liver after getting wasted by drinking beer. Replacing internal organs cost like 10k and it was a half-a-day medical procedure.

“Try this one. It’s on wine level now,” he said after mixing several liquors together. Beer was 4 ~ 6% alcohol. Wine was 9 ~ 15%. As soon as I sipped the new drink, I could tell it was much stronger, and the ethanol fume hit the back of my nose hard. I coughed inadvertently, which made Ehka laugh while the Duke smiled simply.

“I, I will stick to the first one,” I said, admitting defeat.

“I see. You are fit for the job then,” he said.

“Pardon?”

He glanced at Ehka who nodded back subtly.

“Her assessment of you is that you are rational and cool-headed. Those are good traits for a space dweller. But she wanted to make sure you had something else as well. Well, let me rephrase. She wanted to make sure that you have less of it.”

“Huh?”

“It’s ego,” she said. “The less of it, the better. You haven’t read the job details, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.” That was because she didn’t give me a chance to read it. I was brought here almost immediately after being given the job.

“It’s hauling fish,” he said, and I froze up for a brief moment.

“It’s the same job you had done before, except you will be going as one of escorts this time,” she added.

“Those with high self-esteem are going to get themselves killed. That itself is fine, but one less escort is going to be an issue. She wanted to test you, and congrats, you passed.”

Scratching the back of my head, I replied with a bitter smile, “Ehm, not sure whether to feel good about that…”

“It’s good money,” he said.

“I am happy that I have low self-esteem!” I exclaimed with a salute. In my life, only two things mattered to me: Money and survival. Any illness can be cured with money. Cancer of any stage or any kind can be cured in an hour. You can get blood vein modification to control your blood pressure. You got a heart disease? Just replace the heart for 10k. You broke your spine? That’s even cheaper. There was very little the current level of medical technology could not cure except for … maybe Morosis which was a new variant of brain shutdown disease. It was a relatively new disease discovered only a few hundred years ago. I was positive that they would find a cure for it soon. Brain “shutdown” disease was something that couldn’t be prevented as the average lifespan of mankind exceeded a few hundred years old. Scientists hated to admit this, but something called “spiritual integrity” played a part. Essentially, our mind wasn’t built to last hundreds of years. “Mind break” was another well-known term for this. The early symptom of brain shutdown was occasionally blacking out. It’d get more frequent, and eventually one’s brain or mind would shut down completely, resulting in brain death. There was no coming back from that. Interestingly, alcohol has been proven effective against this. And, with the danger of ruining one’s liver from excessive alcohol consumption gone, getting high with ethanol had become really common. Only extreme drug junkies touched drugs. It also meant that I should be drinking more and get more tolerant of higher doses. As for Morosis, it made one to sleep more and more, eventually making them sleep 24 hours a day, essentially making them brain dead. There hasn’t been a cure as far as I know. Anyway, it looked like my new chapter of life was about to begin and it did.