I woke with a start, the familiar hum of the Star Hopper's engines reverberating through the walls of my quarters. It was a sound I had grown accustomed to over the years, almost as comforting as a lullaby. I stretched, shaking off the remnants of sleep, and swung my legs over the edge of the bunk. The small room was dimly lit, but I could navigate it with my eyes closed. After all, it had been my home for the past two years.

With a yawn, I made my way to the tiny kitchen tucked into the corner of the sleeping quarters. The scent of synthetic coffee beans greeted me as I reached for the coffee maker. It tastes terrible, but it got the job done. As the machine hummed to life, I glanced at my reflection in the polished steel of the overhead cabinets, "man I need some beard conditioner" I muttered to myself, when I heard a ping that the coffee was done.

Taking the Coffee, I stepped out of the room and into a small corridor, the metal floor cool under my bare feet. The ship was small, well not really it's the size of a jumbo jet from ancient terra, making my way through the corridor passing by some empty passenger rooms then a lounge on my way. After a short while I made it to the cockpit. It was a small room full of control panels and monitors enough for a pilot and copilot.

Once I stepped in I heard the Voice of Eli my AI copilot, Eli is a beta-level AI not the smartest or the most powerful but she got the job done. "Good morning, Captain Ernest," she chimed in as a holographic Fox avatar formed in the corner on one of the monitors.

"Morning, Eli. What's our status?" I asked as I took a seat, and took a sip of the hot coffee. The taste was still terrible but oddly comforting.

"All systems are operational. We are currently maintaining orbit around New Heaven. No anomalies detected during the captain absence" Eli reported. Its voice was clean and calm as her avatar licked her paw.

"Good to hear," I replied. "Let's see what jobs are available today, Eli Connect me to the New heaven planetary network."

"It We'll be done captain." Eli said back as her fox avatar spun around.

After a second or two she stopped and I was connected to the network "it is done captain." she reported back, I used one of the monitors and navigating the interface, after a minute I found the New Heaven Job board.

"Let's see what we have here" I muttered to myself, as the job list popped up in front of me.

// Deliver luxury good's to new Alexandria in the Nile system, 7 jumps out, reward: 100k credits. //

"Mmm nahh too far out"

// Deploy observation satellite to the Alexis system, 4 jumps out, reward: 80k Credits. //

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Nope I heard there's pirate activity there"

// Transport 6 students to the university at daloa in the mayaha system, 3 jumps out, reward: 60k credits. //

"Nahh I ain't feeling this one"

// Delivery critical supplies to the mining station MS14 at the outskirts of the system, 0 jumps out, reward: 20k. //

"Ok now we're talking"

"Eli looks like we found ourselves a job" I Said as I read the rest of the contract, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah must arrive in a less than a week blah blah

"less than a week? I can make this run in 1 to 2 days" I muttered to myself.

Then I sent a message to the one who commissioned the job attaching my portfolio and clean track record as we'll, after an hour or two I got a message back from them, they accepted my application and to get the goods at their company Warehouse near a city star port.

"Eli u received the coordinates?" I asked

"yes captain, setting course" she chimed back her avatar presenting the coordinates, I then started to prepare the Star Hopper for atmosphere reentry pressing some buttons amongst other things.

After that was done, I began to steer the Star Hopper towards the New Heaven after some time we start to descent into the atmosphere. The ship shuddered slightly as we breached the planet's outer layer, but the stabilizers kicked in, smoothing the ride.

The landscape of New Heaven unfolded below us, a diverse landscape of forest, jungles and plains with sprawling urban centers dotted across a single massive continent where 50 million people live that's surrounded by a massive ocean.

I followed the coordinates towards one of the cities where a starport stood, and is where the warehouse was located at, after a bit of searching I found the right warehouse and began guiding the Star Hopper to the designated landing bay. The ship settled with a soft thud, the landing gear absorbing the impact effortlessly.

As I powered down the engines, I made my way out of the cockpit walking down the corridor towards the back of the ship where the cargo bays was at, I then used my data pad to tell Eli to open the cargo bay door, after a couple of seconds the bay door opened and turned into a ramp, and outside I saw a team of workers waiting with a lot pallets of supplies.

"Captain Ernest, I presume?" A tall man in a business suit and a clipboard approached as I descended the ramp.

"Yup" I confirmed, shaking his offered hand. "You've got the supplies ready?"

"All set," he replied "Name’s Gregor, local manager. We’ve got everything prepped and ready to go. My men will handle the loading. I just need you to verify the delivery list."

I nodded, taking the clipboard from him. The list was extensive, but everything seemed in order. Meanwhile, Gregor’s crew moved with efficiency, securing crates and containers in the cargo hold.

As I watched them work, Gregor continued, "These supplies are crucial for the mining operation. They’ve been experiencing some equipment failures, and these parts should get them back on track."

"Good to know. I’ll make sure they get there in one piece and on time," I replied, handing back the clipboard.

"Appreciate it, Captain. If you run into any trouble out there, don't hesitate to call for assistance. There are system security ships on patrol."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said with a nod. "Thanks, Gregor."

After everything was loaded,I went back to the Star Hopper and conducted a personal inspection, double-checking the inventory against the list provided by the contractor. Satisfied, I made my way through the ship passing the corridor and lounge then to the cockpit.

"Cargo secured and accounted for, Eli," I said, taking my seat. "Let's get ready for launch."

"Understood, Captain. Pre-flight checks complete. Awaiting your command," Eli responded as her avatar yawn.

I fired up the engine's blue plasma glowing, after a few seconds the Star Hopper began to ascend slowly at first then it accelerate towards the void of space leaving the atmosphere behind as it shake in the process, as we leave the atmosphere I took the liberty to look around, I found ships of all sizes leaving and entering the atmosphere but there were a lot more heading to the space station in orbit of new heaven a massive commercial station full of defensive armaments to deter pirates.

Once the Star Hopper was in orbit. "Eli set course for the station and engaged the auto pilot I'm gonna grab another cup of coffee" I said as I stood up.

"Will do, Captain," Eli assured me.

With the ship on course, I made my way out of the cockpit and towards the lounge where another coffee maker was located. After a short amount of time the coffee was done with a ping, it still tasted terrible tho, then I went back to the cockpit coffee in hand.

I allowed myself to relax, the steady hum of the engines soothing in the background. Another day, another job as I took out my data pad and started browsing through the news and social media, taking another sip of my coffee, savoring its terrible Taste for the long hours of to come.