The bar was filled with patrons, and a thick cloud of smoke hung in the air, reminiscent of the haze that enveloped old industrial cities on Earth. Dan scanned the room but found it difficult to see much as he was not the tallest man there. He was of average height, build, and looks, which he had come to accept as he grew older. He was dressed in black trousers, a beige shirt, and comfortable black ankle boots, with an automatic pistol in a holster attached to his belt. The holster had no safety strap because the new guns were equipped with a security system that released 10,000 volts through the metal body of the weapon if it detected the fingerprints of someone not authorized to use it. The jolt would not kill the person holding it, but it would inflict a terrible burn that would require immediate medical attention.
Approaching the bar, Dan said, “I want a beer.” Microphones set up all over the bar picked up his order, and a robotic arm carrying a bottle of beer came swooshing on a rail behind the bar, opening it and placing it gingerly on the glass-plated bar. The entire surface of the bar was a screen that constantly displayed commercials and TV shows. Each time an advertisement appeared, Dan could press a button and purchase the item with just a few easy steps. Advertisements were ubiquitous.
After taking a swig of his beer and glancing around, Dan continued to search for his partner, Gee. She was nowhere to be seen, and he wondered if she had even made it to the bar. As the one who had made contact with the Silent Brothers, Dan was relying on her. A woman’s voice called out from behind, interrupting his thoughts. With all the noise in the bar, he couldn’t guess who the speaker was until he turned around to see Gee with a big smile. Her bright blue eyes seemed to penetrate his soul, and he felt somewhat ashamed every time she looked at him, as if she could see his deepest and darkest secrets.
“Hey!” Dan replied as she led him through the crowd.
“This way, champ,” she said and started walking away. Dan grabbed his drink and followed her into the crowd.
Dan struggled to keep up with Gee as she slipped through the crowd with ease. She wore her usual attire, blue overalls with a muted-orange shirt, and her blond hair was tied in two small buns on the top of her head. She carried no visible weapon. Eventually, Dan caught up with her at a booth in a poorly lit corner of the establishment where two men sat on one side of the table. Gee sat and slid to the end of the bench, gesturing for Dan to sit beside her. Although unnerving and insufferable at times, Gee was the best partner he had ever had in the business. In an odd way, she was also funny and cute.
"Hi,” Gee said, addressing the older one.
The other two men just nodded silently, their expressions grave and serious. Dan imagined that they looked like surgeons who were supervising a critical operation on a patient's heart or brain. They were fully focused on the autonomous robots' actions, ready to intervene or even substitute the machine if necessary.
"Hello," Dan said, nervously brushing his hair with his hand. Gee had repeatedly told him to stop doing it because it gave away his mental state. Their business was like poker, if your adversaries knew your mind, you were finished.
The two men were dressed in strange, black toga-like robes that covered their heads, similar to the old medieval Scottish fashion. The older man had a face full of creases and folds, while the younger one appeared barely of age. Both of them had their hands interlaced on their laps, with straight backs like planks of wood. The men in front of Dan appeared almost too perfect, like life-like androids. However, this was not the case, as androids never looked this real. This was a deliberate design choice made many years ago when the first androids were produced. It quickly became evident that people were uncomfortable with machines that could easily pass for humans. As a result, even though android's basic physiognomy was similar, many elements were intentionally included to make them distinctly different from people.
Dan's right hand rested on the handle of his gun while his left hand held onto the bottle of beer, creating a physical barrier between him and the two Silent Brothers. Gee, who was sitting across from the brothers, leaned on the table and fixed her gaze on the older one.
"If I have been informed correctly, you require transportation, is that right?" she asked.
The older brother simply nodded, his voice deep and hoarse when he spoke. "Yes."
"What will the destination be?" Gee inquired.
"From Titan to Mars," the older brother replied.
"Mars?" Gee raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That will cost you extra."
The older brother remained unfazed. "Money is not an issue."
Gee leaned back in her chair, contemplating the situation. "And what about the cargo?" she asked, her eyes flickering over to the younger brother, who appeared extremely nervous.
Dan took a sip of his drink and observed the interaction, his attention primarily focused on the younger Silent Brother.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
"We have four crates that must remain unopened," the older brother said calmly.
She smirked at the response. "Of course, but I need to know if it poses any danger to my ship." Although the ship belonged to both Gee and Dan, he refrained from pointing that out at the moment.
The older brother shook his head. "No, your ship and crew will be safe," he assured her.
The woman turned to look at Dan, arching her eyebrows inquisitively. Dan nodded in agreement and took another swig from his bottle of beer. "Alright," she said, turning towards the Silent Brothers. The elder one nodded with a faint smile on his lips. "It will cost twelve-thousand credits. Half upfront and the other half upon delivery."
"As I've mentioned before, money is not an issue," he reassured her. He used his index finger to slide a piece of paper across the table. Dan couldn't help but wonder why anyone still used paper to write. Although paper was still available, Dan believed it was mostly used by artists. "This is the address for the pickup," the man said in a raspy voice.
Gee took the folded paper and gave it a quick glance before slipping it into a pocket in her shirt. The two Silent Brothers nodded their heads before departing. They soon vanished amongst the crowd in the bar. Dan got up from his bench and sat on the other side of the table, facing Gee.
"What are you doing? Let's go," she urged him.
"I haven't finished my beer," Dan protested, taking another swig from his bottle.
"You and your beers," she said with a slight roll of her eyes before standing up and walking away. Dan finished his drink in a couple of large gulps before returning the bottle to the table and following Gee, a silent burp escaping his mouth.
Kubrick Station, shaped like a torus, produced three-quarters of Earth's gravity through centrifugal force. The station spun in space like a colossal metal donut. Some people never got used to the peculiar sensation that the Coriolis effect produced. However, given the large diameter of the space station, it only affected a few very sensitive individuals. Dan never noticed it, except when he tossed something in the air. Then it was blatantly obvious. If he faced "east", the object would not only move upwards but also towards him; if he faced "west", the object would move away from him as it moved through the air.
He left the bar and entered the commercial hub. Everywhere else in the station there were three floors, except for here. The primary corridor of the hub had an open ceiling that extended all the way to the end wall. It was remarkable to see such a vast open space in a pressurized station. It was rush hour, and many people were walking to and fro along the concourse. Some used automatic walkways, others walked, and a few moved with electric scooters.
Dan hurried after Gee, not wanting to lose her in the crowd. She stopped at the north shuttle stop, and he joined her a moment later. "Why the rush?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"Have you forgotten about the bounty on my head?" she replied, staring at the screen that displayed the next shuttle's arrival time.
"No, but they only have your first name, and no one ever calls you Greta," he whispered with a smirk. She loathed that name.
"Thank god for that," she said nonchalantly. "But you never know. There are excellent bounty hunters out there. And most of them use Kubrick Station as their headquarters." Dan nodded in agreement.
The shuttle arrived through the glass corridor and came to a halt. The transparent doors swooshed open, and those who were waiting stepped inside. The north shuttles traveled west, and the south shuttles traveled east. Both stopped at the same locations, but each moved around the torus-shaped station in opposite directions.
"Closing doors," an androgynous voice announced through the speaker system inside the shuttle coaches. "Please hold on as the shuttle accelerates."
The shuttle accelerated rapidly, quickly gaining speed as they traveled. As they moved faster, the sensation of forward and upward motion became more noticeable, almost like ascending a gently sloped hill. The shuttle bypassed two stops before arriving at their intended destination, the East Docks. After disembarking, they made their way towards their ship, the Scottish Marauder, which was docked at E12. The corridor leading to their ship was flanked by glass windows on either side, providing a view of the bustling spaceport.
The Scottish Marauder wasn't the most luxurious or advanced ship, but it had undergone numerous special modifications over the years that made it one of a kind. Originally classified as a class L transport ship, Dan and Gee had installed a range of defensive and even illegal offensive measures. While detailed inspections of ships were rare, most were carried out on those belonging to known criminals. Therefore, as long as they didn't attract unwanted attention from the authorities, they were generally safe.
When they arrived at the ship's hatch, Gee punched in the security code and used the iris scanner to authenticate their entry. The hatch released a burst of compressed air and opened, allowing them to board. Dan instructed Gee to check their account, while he readied the ship's systems for departure. Gee nodded in agreement and headed towards the panel next to the hatch. After ensuring that the locks and pressure seals were secure, she left the airlock and entered the main corridor. From there, she entered the first door on the left, where a series of digital panels and readouts displayed various ship systems. While most of these were controlled automatically by the ship's AI, Dan and Gee still liked to be able to monitor them manually, partly due to their inherent distrust of machines.
After verifying that the Silent Brothers had deposited an additional six thousand credits into their crypto account, Gee used the intercom to inform Dan. He acknowledged her message and settled into the pilot's seat on the bridge.
Dan contacted Kubrick Control and requested a launch sequence, receiving queue number fourteen. The ship's fusion engine didn't require starting as it was never turned off, due to the high energy cost of restarting it. However, their fuel stores were full, so they were ready for takeoff.
Gee joined Dan on the bridge and took a seat in the copilot chair. The AI controller from Kubrick Control gave the go-ahead for station launch, and Dan pressed the launch button on the console. Compressed gas jets propelled the ship away from the station, and once they were a few meters away, the ship stabilized itself and broke free from the spinning momentum of the station. With Earth visible in the distance, like a gigantic blue eye, the Scottish Marauder quickly slid away into the vast expanse of space.