The next morning began with a new message as expected. Robin was invited by Beakrath Security for an inquiry.
He got all dressed up and went down to meet Patience in the dining hall. She came a few minutes later, looking like she didn’t get enough sleep that night. They sat at a small table in the corner of the room and dived into their breakfast.
“Rough night?” Robin asked.
“Yeah, I was awake for quite some time and read the news. The explosion really hit the district hard, but at least the number of casualties didn’t shoot through the roof.”
“I’ve seen it, too. 15 people died… their families will feel no relief that it was only 15.”
“It wasn’t our fault!” Patience exclaimed as she felt the need to defend herself.
“No, it wasn’t. I’ll have to explain that to Beakrath Security in an hour. Did they request your attendance, too?” Robin asked.
“No. They probably only got you through the registration of the Melody II. Will you be fine going there on your own?”
“Yeah, I’ll leave after we’ve finished here. I’ll give you a call when they are done with me.”
Half an hour later Robin sat in a train towards the office he was invited to.
In his mind, he replayed the events from the day before. He thought about what Slice had told them and confirmed for himself that he wasn’t telling anything directly false or something that was against his beliefs. Their story was some kind of shortened version that left some elements out but wasn’t a lie. Hopefully the monitoring systems in the security’s office would also believe his version.
***
They did!
Robin stepped out of the branch office after a long hour of questioning. It was pretty much the same as last time and he stuck to the whole truth as much as possible. He learned that Beakrath Security already had an eye on the workshop before the explosion, assuming that they were involved in criminal activities. Unfortunately, the investigation had just begun, and they had not enough evidence to waltz in and take a look around. If they did, the nuclear electric generator would have been found and confiscated before anything could happen.
The only moment that made Robin tense up, was when the security officer talked about his bad luck when leaving Seka. While it sounded like genuine concern, Robin could read between the lines - Security became suspicious and had him on the radar from now on.
No more hiccups allowed from here on!
When he returned to the inn, Patience had checked them out already and waited near the elevator to the roof. Without further ado, they went up and let Melody take them into the sky. Robin got a new corridor out of the city from Flight Control and when they finally left the last buildings of Beakrath behind, he directly flew them to the first marker.
The Melody II rushed through the air like an excited bird - flying up high, just to drop down fast, rolling around and doing sharp turns every now and then. Robin immersed himself in the flight. He wanted to feel the ship, learn more about its habits and all the dos and don’ts. The new Interface did wonders in supporting all the different maneuvers and kept him up to date about the ship’s status.
This was great training for the upcoming race and Robin also needed to clear his mind and get his head free. The last few weeks had begun to take a toll on him.
Patience was on the same page with him, she also enjoyed the acrobatics and the adrenaline that kicked in.
When Robin finally saw the first location marker he had set in his augmented view, he stopped playing around. Unfortunately, they still flew over a dense network of production facilities and greenhouses. There was no way they would find anything here and after taking a quick look, they moved on to the next.
The second location seemed more promising. They again circled over a rocky plain, similar to the ones at their first trip. But even after they searched for half an hour, they couldn’t find anything that looked like an alien relic site or natural landmark at all. Just rock and dirt everywhere.
Robin brought the ship down to land anyway. Together with Patience he climbed to the edge of Melody and sat down, swinging his legs in the air.
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They took out two food packages that Patience got them in the inn and began to eat while the wind gently blew over the plains.
“By traveling with you, one is getting a weird cocktail of experiences, you know that?” Patience eventually broke the silence.
“What is mixed in?” Robin looked at her.
“Well, I would say one part freedom, two parts adventure and, hmm…” she mused with a toothy grin on her face, “The remaining seven parts are a collection of remains from a passing shitstorm.”
“Wow, great, thanks mate!” Robin laughed and hit her shoulder “It’s not that I’m working towards that mix, but I think Jim is right - I’m really unlucky outside of Seka. However, who knows what will happen next time? It can hardly get any worse than indirectly blowing up a part of the industrial district.” he shrugged.
“So, there will be a next time?” She asked.
“Yeah, I will have to prepare for the preliminaries of the Apex Cup, so I’ll go out to train with the Melody II regularly the next few days. Ah right, while we are taking a break, I can do some other training as well. Here hold that for a moment, please.” He handed her his food and crawled back to the cockpit. Grabbing the gun and two magazines, he came back and took the empty can beside Patience.
“You’ve already finished it, right?” He asked and jumped down, while she could only throw him some questioning glances.
Robin walked some distance away from the ship and put the can down. After that he returned near the Melody and loaded the weapon.
He raised the gun, took aim and shot - he even kept his eyes open!
*Bang*
Unfortunately, the can wasn’t impressed by that and stood strong.
“Did it evade or is my aim off?” He asked, looking over to Patience.
“I’m pretty sure it dodged your shot. Must have a speed-based mutation!” She explained her observations with an earnest face.
“You are the best!” he laughed and gave her a thumbs up.
A few shots later, Robin slowly got used to the gun and could even land some hits. After he emptied the second magazine, he packed his things up and got back to the ship.
“Shall we?” he asked Patience, who was long finished with her meal.
“Sure, let’s go home.”
Evening came and the Melody II closed in on Jim’s workshop. Robin skillfully piloted the ship inside and powered down the systems.
“Let’s call it a day for now. I’ll clean the ship up and do the maintenance tomorrow.”
Robin wasn’t in the mood to linger around in the workshop for any longer that day and was looking forward to hugging his pillow.
It had been a tiring day and even though the trip back to Seka was enjoyable, he still was somewhat disappointed with the lack of findings regarding the two markers they’ve visited. Those were his last leads on Rucasur. For any more information about the map’s contents, he would need to leave the planet.
“I’ll give Slice a call. I hope I can persuade him to pay the second half of the payment Gumvar promised… as a kind of danger bonus. I’ll transfer your share of this weekend's trip afterwards, okay?” Robin asked as they walked to the front door.
“Yup, great. See ya at work!” Patience waved her goodbye and left towards another direction after they closed the workshop.
***
“Hey Slice, how are things going for you?” Robin asked, after the Mohait joined his comm.
“Mate, good to hear from you. Are you back in Seka already?” Slice happily replied, “I had a short conversation with a guy from Beakrath Security, but nothing serious.”
“I thought so. I had my interview right in the morning, quite the shitshow they have to clean up.”
Robin updated him on his meeting with the authorities and moved to his actual concern.
“We’ve delivered your package and your friend who received it, made a forceful offer we could hardly reject. So now that we are back, that job is still pending. I would like you to close it and pay the second half, as the contractor is… unavailable right now.”
Slice was silent for a moment.
“Did you bring the package he gave you?” He finally asked.
“No, obviously not!” Robin gnashed his teeth, was the stitch messing with him?
“No package, no money!” Slice happily concluded the matter just like that.
“What? Come on, I think some kind of danger bonus is appropriate, isn’t it? You wanna have my services again? Then don’t be a dick now.”
“Boy, that’s not how this works. You should be happy that you’ve already got the first half of the payment.” The stitch said, now with a stern voice, “I do see some reason in demanding compensation, however. Contact me if you need something from within the range of my services and I’ll see what I can do.”
Robin sat there on his couch, grumbling. Eventually he had to admit that it was a fair offer and probably the best deal he would get. He should not forget that Slice was still a stitch in the slums of Rust Hollow Quarters and not the friendly neighbor from next door.
“Fine, I’ll give you a call in the coming days and we can discuss how you will be able to help me.”
“Great doing business with you, boy!” The Mohait switched back to his happy mood and ended the call.
“Yeah, absolutely great…fuck you!” Robin groaned after the comm was closed.