The dock workers at Station 26 were deadly efficient. By the time I'd stepped out into the gangway, they were already swarming around the ship, taking note of fuel nozzles they'd need and trying to get advanced readings of power levels and repairs. Most paused as they reached the back of the ship, nodding at the damage and doing their best to look solemn about how much money they were about to make.

Though there were a myriad of species surveying my ship, in the end, there were more humans in one place than I'd seen in the past couple of months. Mythellion wasn't a bastion of humanity, and the job before that had been lonely overall.

I should have felt better about the species of the crew and found some human camaraderie in it instead of the general apprehension that came alongside standing in the middle of a Station 26 spaceport again.

I shrugged the Nurse's bag higher up over my shoulder, having ensured that I left the top unzipped and the barrel showing. The chances were next to zero that I'd fire it during my time on the Station, but the Nurse was an expensive piece of military hardware, at least enough to hopefully cause anyone feisty to reconsider.

Though people had swarmed the ship, Victoria and I had been given a wide berth to exit onto the main platform. That said before I could start a conversation with her a young blonde-haired boy in thick, plasma-burned clothes walked up to me holding a data pad. He looked both expectant and way too young to be in charge of anything. "Translator for English?"

I nodded. He'd understand that it was for Victoria instead of me.

"Guang? Tel? Deut-"

"It's not for me-"

The boy tapped his wrist twice and likely turned his translator off, "Yeah, I'm trying to have a private conversation. Good to know you speak English, my Cant is shakes."

"I take it you turned your translator off?"

"Yours still on?"

"Yes."

"Is she paying for this, or are you?"

"Why?"

"Why is his translator muted?" Victoria asked.

"Just a second- It's my ship?"

"And you're payin'?"

"Yes."

"Well, shit, there goes the bonus rate." The boy tapped something on his data pad and then squinted at it, leaning in too close like it was going to help him understand the message on there. "Are you fuckin- God dammit. BOYS!" he called over my shoulder, "It's been marked to go to the pent. Clear out."

"What was that?"

"Your ship's going upstairs."

"No, it's not. You can repair it here."

"If it were up to me, I would be getting them on it right now," the boy leaned to shout past me again, "I said CLEAR OUT- but it ain't up to me anymore. You're going up to the pent."

"Can you ju-"

"I would not be making this decision because I like being paid, and you woulda been payin' me instead of those dickheads up there, but it ain't up to me so-" he shrugged, "your ship is going upstairs, and I'm gonna have a drink tonight before I tell my brother about today's numbers."

I pulled one of several anonymous credit chips I'd set up before landing out of my pocket. "How about we fix it here?"

"Oh, this isn't your first time on Station 26, mate?"

He gave me space to answer. I didn't.

"Look, I'd love to, but whatever's on that chip ain't worth my license so, you're going to the pent. I'm going to go find another piece to patch up." He was already walking away before he finished speaking, ending with a wave instead of a goodbye.

I took a deep breath, shut my eyes to pray for patience and shoved the chip back in my pocket as the scurrying crew that had been scanning my ship packed up to follow the boy. I stopped just short of swearing under my breath.

"That doesn't look like it went well."

"It didn't."

"What'd you do?"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I didn't do anything," I explained, "but I also do not want to get dragged up to the luxury docks."

I turned and saw Victoria processing my train of thought for a second. In most cases, the Luxury docks were the place to get premium repairs on a fast timeline. It was theoretically the best place for us. Of course, she lacked full context about my history here. How was she supposed t-

"Well, I'll be damned, I almost couldn't believe it when I saw those landing codes come across my screen."

I snapped my head to catch the woman stepping off a nearby exposed lift, dropping onto the corrugated steel floor; she offered a smile as she landed.

"Welcome back, Kingston."

"Hey, Natasha."

Natasha sneered at her full name and shook her black hair out before winding it back into an out-of-the-way ponytail. Her arms were a motley of different coloured skin grafts welded on over the years to compensate for engine burns and faded tattoos. She looked way too happy to see me.

"Who's this?" Victoria asked

"This is Natash-"

"Tash," she cut in between us and held out a hand to Victoria before looking up at her and then at me, "Flying with a Fotty now?"

"The Fotuan" I corrected, "is a client."

"So you're still doin' the merc shit, honestly thought you woulda cleaned up your act by now."

No, she didn't.

"What brings you to Songlai? You certainly didn't tell me about any plans."

I nodded over to the ship; I wasn't about to elaborate on all of the details, least of all those about Victoria.

"Just the damage, then? Here I was hoping you limped here in spite of it," Tash frowned at the ship and pointedly at Victoria, who returned her stare with unblinking silver eyes. Her frown flipped, "Well, an accident is just as good as coming here on purpose. It still gets you here after all."

She fired a smile at me as she finished speaking. She had a habit of trying that. Tash had charmed a lot of people into underestimating her by being unerringly friendly when she thought it would suit her.

She clocked the fact that my expression didn't thaw, and turned her attention elsewhere.

"What about you? What's your story, Fotty?"

"Vic," Victoria answered. Her 'fake name' came out covered in frost, at least she remembered to keep some of my instructions to heart.

"Why'd ya hire Kingston?"

"He was the only reasonable candidate for my work on Mythellion. Unfortunately, the talent pool was shallow."

"You know, I don't care what they say about Fotuans. I like you."

"I'll let you know when the feeling's mutual."

"Alright." Tash took a step back from Victoria and answered with a long whistle before sizing the young girl up. Tash spoke rapid-fire with her glances, but I wasn't sure Victoria caught any of it.

"Just here to say hello, Tash?"

Tash smiled at me using the name she preferred, "No no no no no, I came down here from Pent to bring the ship up for you, and honestly, I really should be getting to that. How about you two get settled and I'll catch up with you."

"Call me when you want that," I answered before starting to walk away.

"Actually, wait-" Tash dug into the front pocket of her apron and pulled out a pair of silver cards with emerald and gold markings carved into the service. "Courtesy of Jie."

I didn't take the cards right away, but Victoria did. "We appreciate the hospitality."

"You're the one getting the freebie there," Tash pointed out, "that's for Kingston."

I ran my tongue across my teeth, "Jie's hospitality is appreciated."

"She's a generous woman," Tash answered, "you gonna bring all that hardware?"

"Yes."

"Suit yourself. Enjoy Songlai."

"Let's go Mr. Diadona," Victoria nodded for us to move and I watched Tash catch herself for a second in response to Victoria using my last name. I'd have to correct her on that.

Tash made her way over to the ship, leaving us alone as she grabbed several nearby engineers to help secure it onto a lift.

Victoria watched her work for a moment, focusing on where Tash was even as she walked to the other side of the ship and disappeared from view. Victoria took a moment to straighten herself and pull back her shoulders, the first steps she took toward the dock's exit were strides.

Even though I was the person who should have been walking us anywhere, as I knew where we were going, I let her lead for the sake of appearance.

Once we had stepped away from the ships and into the throng of lines, workers and passers-by that was the main platform, Victoria spoke up, "How well do you know her?"

"That's a complicated question."

"It seems simple."

"Then it's the answer that's complicated," I corrected, wedging myself between a human couple to keep up with Victoria. "It's not an issue."

"I wasn't implying that it was, just that you seem to know a lot of people."

"Like Dvall?"

"And Jie."

"It's a small galaxy."

"To the contrary," she looked down at me and motioned for me to take the lead so we could use the right exit gate, "it's so big we're on Station 26 despite you being against it."

"Correction then. The circles you run in with my kind of work are small circles."

Victoria cast a sideways glance at me, but if she doubted that everything going on was entirely a work connection, she didn't vocalize it.

The silver passes got us through the exit gate and pushed us past processing without as much as a second glance at the Nurse on my back. I shoved the pass deep into my pocket and sighed as we reached the main promenade up to the Pent. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

From the outside, Station 26 was gaudy, audacious and ostentatious; you knew flying up that you would get a city with a golden face with an underclass of steel and sinew to work the lithium mines. The Pent was the golden face, but it had picked up a lot more emerald since I'd last been here.

That and the lack of rubble must have had something to do with Jie.

There was an order to the crowd up here. Beneath the massive golden screens plastered in advertisements, the people of the Pent moved with purpose, almost like it was a system as opposed to a crowd. Shining green pathways cut through the square, only separated by lavish gardens with exotic plants imported from the far reaches of Sol.

Lanterns hung in the air, humming with energy and pumping out light to keep the street basking in the constant golden glow of sunset. Above them, a complicated network of trams and railways cut between the upper floors, revealing how much of the Station had been hollowed out to allow for this stunning display of wealth; and power.

It took a careful eye to notice them, and I might have missed them if it weren't for experience, but there were plants in the crowd, pedestrians with golden accents on their clothing that kept too steady a gaze to be wandering.

I shrugged the Nurse higher on the shoulder, and we headed toward exactly where Jie wanted us.