{"data":{"id":17248,"title":"The Second Run: A Sorri Lyrax Delivery (Part One)","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/17248-The-Second-Run-A-Sorri-Lyrax-Delivery-Part-One","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/17248","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/17248","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Second Run","images":[{"id":22600,"name":"SecondRun2.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/i2airxtll1002r\/source\/SecondRun2.jpg","alt":"","size":3681003,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-20T00:49:52+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/22600","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/22600\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Writer\u2019s Note: The Second Run: A Sorri Lyrax Delivery was published originally in Jump Point 4.1.\nI stumbled into the airlock, wiping the last bits of a Teeyo energy bar from my jumper as the mechanism clicked into place behind me. The whoosh of air being recycled was muted by the blue-green steel walls of the synch-orbit waystation above Jata.\n\nThe ride up from planetside had been a bumpy mess. I should\u2019ve known better than to eat after the fresh-faced pilot with far too much acne on his forehead had told me upon my arrival: \u201cYou\u2019re my first real passenger, y\u2019know, besides the training runs.\u201d\n\nBut I\u2019d been new once too, and he did bring me in alive, despite hitting every air pocket in the atmosphere, and then somehow, despite the physical impossibility, hitting a few more while we were in space on the final leg to the station.\n\nI unhooked my backpack and stretched my neck while staring at the grey biodome I\u2019d just left back on the rocky surface of the planet. I could still make out the sprawling facility that housed the Aegis production center, just as daunting from above as it had been when I was making my drop. I can\u2019t say I wasn\u2019t happy to be finished with that delivery for FTL. While the corporation claimed they were no longer focused on the military market, I saw far too many crew cuts to believe that bit of branding nonsense. Plus, seeing the Avenger-class ships in the showroom only reminded me of when I\u2019d almost been killed during my first real delivery.\n\nMy gurgling stomach reminded me that most of my Teeyo bar had ended up on the floor, so I set out to find the falafel vendor I\u2019d eaten at on the way down. The creamy hot sauce provided the perfect match to the crunchy fried chickpea mash in the wrapped sage-infused flatbread. I had an afternoon to kill while I waited for my next FTL delivery.\n\nThe waystation was a confusing maze. The original structure had been built with military security in mind, which meant the different sections were segregated by tubes, so each area could be safely cordoned off in case of an attack. Then later, when it started going civilian, and regular commerce started passing through, they added roomier areas with crimson carpet over the plasticrete, and places to eat and stay the night between journeys.\n\nThe walls had been painted with murals \u2014 actual hand-painted murals rather than the normal holo-crap \u2014 with happy families walking through hand-in-hand, or smiling businessmen pulling trade cases behind them. There were even a few paintings of the ridge-headed Banu on the walls, harkening back to when a significant amount of alien trade came through Jata.\n\nI rounded the corner to the delicious smells of my falafel vendor when I heard a familiar shrill voice.\n\n\u201cWhat is taking so long? I\u2019m gettin\u2019 freezer burnt here. I put my order in three years ago,\u201d declaimed Betrix LaGrange, rubbing her pale arms and stomping her feet for warmth in front of the falafel vendor.\n\nMaybe if you actually dressed for the job, you pasty-headed twit. No space station manager or ship captain ever wants to spend their hard-earned credits on keeping people warm, I thought as I backed into the tunnel so Betrix couldn\u2019t see me.\n\nI couldn\u2019t think of a worse FTL courier to run into. If a hyena had been transformed into a person and given perfect blonde hair, then that would be Betrix. She was sleeping with the dispatcher at headquarters, so she got all the premium deliveries and her routes actually made sense.\n\nRather than deal with that human scavenger, I headed towards the other vendor area. The food wasn\u2019t as good, but at least I\u2019d avoid Betrix. The falafel vendor probably had spit in the cream sauce after her nasty outburst, anyway.\n\nAs I chowed down on a questionable curry, I pulled out my mobiGlas and thumbed to life my dream ship: the Aurora LX. I had bookmarked the custom package I had spec\u2019d out. Bare bones, but it was the perfect vehicle to branch out on my own as an independent courier. So much space-faring goodness, and I was only five more years of courier work away.\n\nI blew a kiss at my dream ship, and switched to the local networks, bringing up the independent courier display. My display name was SILVERKHAN, a reference to my father\u2019s bar, the Golden Horde. I lingered on my name before toggling my availability for hire into the \u2018on\u2019 position, then I quickly marked the locations I was willing to deliver.\n\nSorri\u2019s first rule of the efficient courier: Never travel empty handed.\n\nI smiled to myself as I repeated the rule in my head. Most of the other couriers I\u2019d met during my first year with the company seemed to treat the job like a prison sentence, drudging through their deliveries with their eyes closed. There was so much more to do if you were paying attention.\n\nA soft ding! in my ear alerted me to a job offer on the independent courier channel.\n\nMy jaw hit my chest when I saw the credits offered for completing the delivery. It was a colossal sum. At least fifty times my normal fees and it would take a year off my quest for the Aurora.\n\nI had to convince my shaking hand not to just jam the \u2018accept\u2019 button and review the terms first. That was my second rule, a hard lesson from my first delivery: Nothing illegal.\n\nThe request entailed a traveling case that needed to be transported to Tyrol IV. The job was bonded, so I knew it wasn\u2019t illegal.\n\nThen I checked the delivery date, and realized why the fee was so high. They needed it delivered in less than sixty standard Earth hours. From here, Tyrol was five systems away, involving multiple jump points and a significant amount of in-system travel time, not even counting layovers or delays \u2014 which were frequent \u2014 so there was no way to deliver the case on time using the normal routes. The high fee was to entice independents who had their own ship to make the journey. It was a helluva-lot of fuel to make that trip, especially when there wouldn\u2019t be time for taking other business, which again, made the fee astronomical.\n\nAs I stared at the red \u2018accept\u2019 button, I knew there were multiple couriers considering the same thing: can I make the delivery on time? Because if the delivery wasn\u2019t completed on time, the payment fee minus the late delivery penalty minus all the out-of-pocket expenses would drain my savings. No Aurora, no falafel, no nothing. So the only couriers who would be seriously considering the job had their own ships. Plus, given the time frame, only couriers already in the Davien could take the job and still make the delivery date.\n\nThe Davien system, where I was currently located, was connected to Ferron, Kilian, Cano, Sol and Cathcart. The competition couldn\u2019t be worse for this job \u2014 a job that I didn\u2019t even have a ship to use for transport.\n\nBut cutting a year off my plan for the Aurora would be worth it. I loved being a courier for FTL, but I really wanted to be my own master, see the galaxy on my terms.\n\nSo I jammed my thumb down on the screen, sending my bio-signature to the broker to signify my acceptance of the job. As I did, an ephemeral shiver went down my back, a potent mixture of dread and excitement.\n\nThen I actually looked at the job blinking on my mobiGlas, a countdown timer signifying the time remaining.\n\n[ 60:25:05 ]\n\nWhat the hell did I just do?\n\nAfter a modicum of overwhelming panic subsided \u2014 I mean, it\u2019s not every day you bet your savings on a delivery job that you technically don\u2019t have the resources to make \u2014 I actually started having rational thoughts. Ones like: how the hell am I going to make the delivery?\n\nWhile I didn\u2019t have my own ship, there was one advantage I had over the others in taking the job: the case that needed to be delivered was here on the waystation.\n\nBut that didn\u2019t explain why I would take a job that I knew I couldn\u2019t deliver in time using the normal commercial routes.\n\nRing in Sorri\u2019s Rule Number Three: Official routes are for suckers.\n\nUsing my mobiGlas, I quickly found a junker, Nomenclature, headed through the Cathcart system to the Nexus system. Going through Cathcart, a system known for pirates and an extensive black market economy would be risky, but if this junker was heading that way rather than other routes, they probably had some shady business, or were just looking to shave some time. Technically, this didn\u2019t violate my second rule, nothing illegal, since I was just a passenger, but it left an uneasiness in my gut worse than when I rode up the gravity well with that wet-behind-the-ears transport pilot.\n\nI sent Nomenclature a message, along with my credentials. Surprisingly, I got a reply back a few minutes later with a reasonable price. He gave me an hour to get to his ship, which gave me enough time to get the case before we left. I sent him a reply, transferred his fee, then pulled up the station map to find the pickup location.\n\nAfter showing my courier credentials, and having my biometrics verified, I was the proud owner of one silvery metallic case.\n\nI whistled as I examined it. The exterior was made of nano-mesh, and the lock was something exotic involving a smooth granite ball surrounded by alien symbols.\n\nA shrug later, I was strolling back the way I\u2019d come, headed for Nomenclature, when I heard my doom in a high-pitched greeting.\n\n\u201cSorri? Sorri!\u201d\n\nI tried to ignore Betrix, but heard her soft leather boots scuffing up the carpet behind me as she shuffle-ran.\n\n\u201cSorri!\u201d said Betrix, digging her nails into my arm and stopping me. \u201cIt\u2019s been soooo long. Let\u2019s have a little sprinkle and catch up.\u201d\n\nHer mouth was set in a wide grin, but her eyes were the black soulless gaze of a shark. She danced her fingertips when she said the word, \u201csprinkle,\u201d as if she were spreading fairy dust. It was her annoying way of saying, \u201clet\u2019s get a drink.\u201d\n\nI tried to dislodge my arm from her pincers, but she was surprisingly strong. \u201cI have to go, Betrix.\u201d\n\nHer forehead wrinkled in faux-confusion. \u201cBut where are you going? My dearest David mentioned in passing that you haven\u2019t any jobs booked right now.\u201d\n\n\u201cSightseeing,\u201d I said, drolly.\n\nBetrix made a show of noticing the silvery case hanging from my left hand.\n\n\u201cWell, what do you have there? If I didn\u2019t know better, I\u2019d say that was a freelance job. But I know you\u2019re smarter than that, I mean, you know it\u2019s against company rules to freelance . . . like, in an immediate termination kinda way,\u201d said Betrix, tilting her head so her blonde locks fell attractively against her shoulder.\n\nBesides general mischief, I couldn\u2019t figure out what angle she was pursuing. \u201cIt\u2019s a portable EVA. Just trying to be safe.\u201d\n\nFor a moment, Betrix looked like she actually believed me, before she shook her head and said, \u201cPortable EVA? How forward thinking. But you know, I thought it might be the delivery that was just posted up on the ICN.\u201d\n\nIf I hadn\u2019t already been so annoyed that I was being delayed by this bucket of pond scum, I might have been surprised that she worked as an independent courier, too. I figured with her dispatcher boyfriend, she had enough work to make a living.\n\nBut now I understood her angle. She\u2019d probably been about to accept the job when I snatched it out from under her, and Betrix wasn\u2019t the type to let things just drift.\n\n\u201cNope. A portable EVA,\u201d I said, strategically stepping on the toes of her soft leather boot and wrenching my arm from her vice-like grip. \u201cSorry. The stars need seeing.\u201d\n\nStirred to anger like a hornet\u2019s nest, Betrix said, \u201cI know what that case is for. FTL will fire you when they find out what you\u2019re doing.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen why were you on ICN?\u201d I yelled over my shoulder, a final barb that I couldn\u2019t help.\n\nOne last glance caught the murderous glare in her eyes. She\u2019d wanted this job badly. Probably hadn\u2019t even realized that I was in station until she saw that the job was taken, and went to find out who it was.\n\nWhat a spot of bad luck. Hopefully that was the end of it. I checked my mobiGlas to find I had plenty of time. I could even stop and get a bite to eat if I wanted. Though I wouldn\u2019t feel safe until I was off the station and away from Betrix LaGrange.\n\nWorking with my father at his bar, the Golden Horde, taught me a lot about people. One of his favorite theories involved karma. Not the mystical, vacant-eyed stare kind karma, but the statistical proof-worthy karma that could be charted on a graph.\n\nHis theory went that karma was really all your little good and bad acts that created a sort of karma-web around you. If you kept doing good things \u2014 giving a customer a little extra rum when they\u2019re looking a little bleary-eyed, paying for a taxi to make sure the wealthy businessman made it back to his hotel, introducing two lonely customers sitting at opposite ends of the bar to each other, or making sure the antique jukebox plays the couple\u2019s favorite song when they come in for an anniversary \u2014 then the world would pay you back with interest at a later date when you didn\u2019t expect it.\n\nI mean, I\u2019m not blind to what my father was doing. The extra rum \u2014 which didn\u2019t cost him much since he watered it down \u2014 encouraged a larger tip at the end of the night. The taxi made sure a high-value customer made it back on future nights. The two lonely customers would feel obliged to the bar for introducing them and the anniversary couple would keep coming back year after year to relive their first memories. He wasn\u2019t doing it out of the kindness of his heart, it was a calculated, monetary thing, but I thought his theory was sound, even if he were doing it for the wrong reasons.\n\nKarma worked in reverse, too. Or at least I hoped so, when it came to Betrix and her shenanigans. Which was why I wasn\u2019t going to do anything about her. Karma would take care of her eventually. That was the theory, anyway.\n\nI was glancing over my shoulder, checking to see if Betrix was following me, when I heard the awful sound of a child wailing. I didn\u2019t even have to look to know tears and snot were streaming down the girl\u2019s face.\n\nBut what I didn\u2019t expect was that the young girl, maybe seven years old, was being dragged across the carpet by a burly man in a suit while a woman, who I assumed was his wife by the way she was screaming and hitting his arm, tried to stop him.\n\nA lump formed in my throat.\n\nA quick glance around the sitting area told me what I already knew. The other passengers in the area were busy burying themselves in their mobiGlas, or getting up to go to the bathroom. No one, and I mean no one, was even looking at them. There were at least thirty people in the area and not a soul looked like they cared.\n\nEven the security guard at the connecting tube was picking at his thumbnail as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.\n\nKarma.\n\nShit.\n\nA quick check of the time told me I could still make my departure ship. Though I have to admit, part of me actually was hoping there wasn\u2019t enough time to interfere.\n\nThe dark-skinned woman, wearing shoddy clothing, was pleading with her husband not to take their daughter.\n\nBy her screaming, it didn\u2019t take me long to figure out that this was the fallout from a separation and the husband was overriding court orders by taking the girl away from her mother. It was a far too common experience that kids were ripped away from one of their parents and moved across the galaxy. The overlapping jurisdictions and high cost of travel made it too easy for court orders to be ignored.\n\nOnce he went out the airlock with their daughter, the mother would most likely never see her again.\n\nMy hands turned to fists despite the impossibility of me stopping the burly husband physically. He looked like he spent a fair amount of time using the latest gene-therapies and working out until he had veins growing on his veins.\n\nBut I had no intention of physically confronting him.\n\nAs casually as I could muster, I moved behind the row of seats with connected holovids, and slipped the silvery case beneath a chair. Then I popped the lid off the nearest trash receptacle and started digging through the nasty food containers, unwanted papers, and discarded junk.\n\nI didn\u2019t have time to be choosy; the husband nearly had the girl to the airlock that led to a comfortable commercial vessel headed to Sol. The attendant was making the announcement about final boarding as I slipped behind the husband with a stack of folded papers in one hand and a plastic cup half-filled with some pale sugary drink.\n\n\u201cAbel?\u201d I asked in my deepest authoritative voice. I\u2019d pieced together his name from the wife\u2019s screams.\n\nThe husband paused. He held his screaming daughter with one arm, and with the other fended his wife off from taking the child.\n\nI saw the incredulous look on his face. He\u2019d looked over expecting someone taller, and then had to look down to find me.\n\nHolding out the papers in an official manner, I announced, \u201cYou are being served for violating the UEE Treaty Against Toxic Allowances in Demonstrable Air Emissions for Use of Transport and Endangerment of Local Species, surface code number six-point-five-five-one-point-eight-nine.\u201d\n\nHe looked like I\u2019d slapped him in the face with a bag of slugs.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d he said, visibly trying to process the words.\n\nSo I repeated myself, going faster this time, \u201cYou are being served for violating the UEE Treaty Against Toxic Allowances in Demonstrable Air Emissions for Use of Transport and Endangerment of Local Species, surface code number six-point-five-five-one-point-eight-nine.\u201d\n\nI could tell he was trying to figure out what was going on. My spacer jumpsuit wasn\u2019t giving him any clues, since I purposely wore clothing that looked semi-official, to keep people guessing about my real profession.\n\n\u201cThat means that you have to report to our planetside branch to pay your fine before leaving system,\u201d I said, shaking the papers emphatically at him.\n\nHe pulled his hand away from his wife, and started reaching out for the papers.\n\n\u201cAs coming from an authority of the UEE, if you accept these papers you are legally bonded to pay all fines and fees,\u201d I said.\n\nAn announcement came over the speakers: \u201cMr. Gorane, party of two, please enter the airlock. Your ship is departing.\u201d\n\nAbel\u2019s head snapped toward the waiting transport where the engines had begun to spin up.\n\nHis focus was so split between the papers in my hand and the open airlock, that he momentarily forgot about his wife and child. In that instant, she kneed him in the groin, and snatched away the girl before running the other way.\n\n\u201cAlara, no!\u201d he grunted, but realized he had no way of stopping her.\n\nThen he turned on me, reaching out murderously in a half-crouch. That\u2019s when I put the half-filled plastic cup in the way, and when his hand touched me, I flung myself backwards, tossing the sugary drink across the passengers waiting with faces buried in their mobiGlas.\n\nWhile people may be willing to listen to a husband abduct his daughter over the clear legal objections of the wife, they weren\u2019t willing to have a drink tossed on them. Even the security guard at the tube entrance came running over.\n\nMr. Gorane, sensing he had to cut his losses, fled into the airlock amid the shouting. An older gentleman in glasses helped me up.\n\nBefore anyone could question me about my role in the incident, I dumped the papers back into the trash receptacle and went to grab the silvery case. My heart nearly exploded out of my chest when I found the space beneath the chair empty.\n\nIn that brief moment when I couldn\u2019t find the case, I had the horrible thought that Betrix had snuck in and stolen it. Part of that feeling came because I\u2019d sworn out of the corner of my eye that she\u2019d passed through the waiting area, but I was too focused on the husband to actually confirm her existence.\n\nThen I realized I was looking at the wrong row. I grabbed the case and headed off towards the waiting junker, content that I\u2019d done the right thing in helping that woman and her daughter.\n\nI reached the airlock that was supposed to be connected to Nomenclature to find two very disturbing things.\n\nOne, Betrix LaGrange was standing at the airlock with a smug, holier-than-thou look on her face, and two, Nomenclature was no longer connected to the station. Through the thick window, I could see the thruster flares as the departing junker moving away from the station.\n\nWhich brings me to my fourth rule: Never get distracted.\n\nA rule I had just stupidly broken for that woman and her daughter. I knew exactly what Betrix had done; she\u2019d hurried past the scene and paid the captain of Nomenclature to leave without me. Even as I pulled up my mobiGlas to contact the ship, I could tell by Betrix\u2019s radiating glow of superiority that it wouldn\u2019t matter.\n\n\u201cWhatever you offer, I told the captain I would pay him more to leave without you,\u201d she said, when she neared.\n\nI quickly calculated that there was nothing I could do about it. The captain was headed to Cathcart, which meant he was a man of dubious morals. No doubt he was enjoying this turn of events, being paid twice for a job entailing nothing.\n\n\u201cWhy would you do that?\u201d I stupidly asked. I was shaking my head, even as the words came out my lips.\n\n\u201cI want that job,\u201d she said, nodding towards the case. \u201cI have a route lined up, and I can make the delivery. I\u2019ll offer you ten percent of the fee to transfer it to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cRoute lined up? You mean your boyfriend\u2019s set up FTL deliveries that gets you there without a credit paid out of your pocket,\u201d I said, clenching my fists.\n\nBetrix flared her nostrils, but kept an otherwise stoic expression. \u201cI\u2019m doing what I can, just like you are. I\u2019ll give you fifteen percent, paid right now. Just hand me the case.\u201d\n\nThe offer was tempting. Fifteen percent to do absolutely nothing except make a few swipes on my mobiGlas and hand over a heavy shoulder-straining case seemed like a good deal. Especially when I didn\u2019t have a reasonable way to make the delivery since Nomenclature had left the station. Which was exactly why Betrix had made the offer.\n\nDespite my overwhelming hatred for Betrix LaGrange, handing over the case for fifteen percent was the sensible thing. It was a sure-fire way to earn more credits towards the Aurora LX.\n\nBut I could have the whole fee if I made it to Tyrol IV without her and I wouldn\u2019t have to let her win.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I said, simply and emphatically.\n\n\u201cNo?\u201d she repeated. \u201cTwenty percent, but that\u2019s as high as I\u2019m willing to go. I have to give a cut to David, too.\u201d\n\nSo that\u2019s how she was doing it. He wasn\u2019t just her boyfriend, he was taking a cut of her profits.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I repeated.\n\nI couldn\u2019t bring myself to work with Betrix after what she\u2019d done to me. If I allowed it, she\u2019d do it again later, using me like a subcontractor.\n\n\u201cTake the twenty or I let FTL know what you\u2019re doing,\u201d she smirked.\n\nI knew right away that it was a bluff. No way she rats on me. With what I know about her, it\u2019d be mutually assured destruction.\n\n\u201cFine.\u201d I said. Betrix swelled with satisfaction. \u201cYou want to comm them or should I?\u201d\n\nBetrix eyes narrowed and she shook her head lightly.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re a stubborn fool.\u201d\n\nI turned my back to her as she stormed off, and brought up my mobiGlas, scanning through the other ships at the station, studying their destinations. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was headed to Kilian system for another three days. In fact, the only ship leaving today was Vita Perry, a Reclaimer, but it was headed towards Ferron.\n\nA quick check of Ferron departures confirmed that going in that direction would put me further behind the delivery timetable.\n\nThere was always a way if you were creative enough. I just hadn\u2019t figured out the angle yet.\n\nI leaned my face against the cool window while aches made strafing maneuvers through my stomach. I didn\u2019t have a spacer\u2019s chance to make the delivery in time. Hell, I hadn\u2019t even gotten off the first station and there were five more systems along the route. I was better off tucking tail and running back to Betrix, though I doubted she\u2019d offer the same twenty percent after I told her to shove off.\n\nWhat was I going to do?\n\n[ 59:49:35 ]\n\nTo be continued\u2026","de_DE":"Anmerkung des Autors: Der zweite Lauf: Eine Sorri Lyrax Lieferung wurde urspr\u00fcnglich in Jump Point 4.1 ver\u00f6ffentlicht.\nIch stolperte in die Luftschleuse und wischte die letzten Teile eines Teeyo-Energieriegels von meinem Pullover, als der Mechanismus hinter mir einrastete. Das Rauschen der wiederverwerteten Luft wurde durch die blaugr\u00fcnen Stahlw\u00e4nde der Synchronorbit-Wegstation oberhalb von Jata ged\u00e4mpft.\n\nDie Fahrt von der Planetenseite nach oben war ein holpriges Durcheinander gewesen. Ich h\u00e4tte es besser wissen m\u00fcssen, als zu essen, nachdem der frische Pilot mit viel zu viel Akne auf der Stirn mir bei meiner Ankunft gesagt hatte: \"Du bist mein erster echter Passagier, neben den Trainingsl\u00e4ufen.\"\n\nAber ich war auch einmal neu, und er brachte mich lebendig rein, obwohl er jedes Luftpolster in der Atmosph\u00e4re getroffen hatte, und dann irgendwie, trotz der physischen Unm\u00f6glichkeit, noch ein paar mehr, w\u00e4hrend wir auf der letzten Etappe zur Station im All waren.\n\nIch hakte meinen Rucksack aus und streckte meinen Hals aus, w\u00e4hrend ich auf den grauen Biodom starrte, den ich gerade auf der felsigen Oberfl\u00e4che des Planeten zur\u00fcckgelassen hatte. Ich konnte noch immer die weitl\u00e4ufige Anlage erkennen, in der sich das Produktionszentrum von Aegis befand, genauso entmutigend von oben wie damals, als ich meinen Sprung machte. Ich kann nicht sagen, dass ich nicht gl\u00fccklich war, mit der Lieferung f\u00fcr den FTL fertig zu sein. W\u00e4hrend das Unternehmen behauptete, dass sie sich nicht mehr auf den Milit\u00e4rmarkt konzentrierten, sah ich viel zu viele K\u00fcrzungen der Besatzung, um dieses St\u00fcck Markenquatsch zu glauben. Au\u00dferdem erinnerte mich der Anblick der Schiffe der Avenger-Klasse im Ausstellungsraum nur daran, wann ich bei meiner ersten echten Lieferung fast get\u00f6tet worden war.\n\nMein glucksender Magen erinnerte mich daran, dass der gr\u00f6\u00dfte Teil meiner Teeyo-Riegel auf dem Boden gelandet war, also machte ich mich auf den Weg, um den Falafelverk\u00e4ufer zu finden, an dem ich auf dem Weg nach unten gegessen hatte. Die cremige, scharfe Sauce passte perfekt zur knusprig gebratenen Kichererbsenmaische im eingewickelten, mit Salbei verfeinerten Fladenbrot. Ich musste einen Nachmittag t\u00f6ten, w\u00e4hrend ich auf meine n\u00e4chste FTL-Lieferung wartete.\n\nDie Waystation war ein verwirrendes Labyrinth. Die urspr\u00fcngliche Struktur wurde unter Ber\u00fccksichtigung der milit\u00e4rischen Sicherheit gebaut, was bedeutete, dass die verschiedenen Abschnitte durch Rohre getrennt waren, so dass jeder Bereich im Falle eines Angriffs sicher abgesperrt werden konnte. Sp\u00e4ter, als es anfing, zivilisiert zu werden, und der regelm\u00e4\u00dfige Handel begann, f\u00fcgte man ger\u00e4umigere Bereiche mit purpurrotem Teppich \u00fcber der Plastikrete hinzu, und zwischen den Reisen gab es Restaurants und \u00dcbernachtungsm\u00f6glichkeiten.\n\nDie W\u00e4nde waren mit Wandmalereien bemalt - echte handgemalte Wandmalereien statt mit dem \u00fcblichen Holo-Crap -, wobei gl\u00fcckliche Familien Hand in Hand durchlaufen oder l\u00e4chelnde Gesch\u00e4ftsleute Handelsgeh\u00e4use hinter sich lassen. Es gab sogar ein paar Gem\u00e4lde des kantigen Banu an den W\u00e4nden, die auf die Zeit zur\u00fcckgehen, als ein bedeutender Teil des Au\u00dferirdischenhandels durch Jata kam.\n\nIch ging um die Ecke zu den k\u00f6stlichen Ger\u00fcchen meines Falafelh\u00e4ndlers, als ich eine bekannte schrille Stimme h\u00f6rte.\n\n\"Warum dauert das so lange? Ich lasse mir hier die Gefriertruhe verbrennen. Ich habe vor drei Jahren meine Bestellung aufgegeben\", erkl\u00e4rte Betrix LaGrange, rieb sich die blassen Arme und stampfte mit den F\u00fc\u00dfen vor dem Falafelverk\u00e4ufer nach W\u00e4rme.\n\nVielleicht, wenn du dich tats\u00e4chlich f\u00fcr den Job anziehst, du pastelliger Trottel. Kein Raumstationsmanager oder Schiffskapit\u00e4n will jemals seine hart erarbeiteten Kredite daf\u00fcr ausgeben, die Menschen warm zu halten, dachte ich, als ich in den Tunnel zur\u00fcckkehrte, damit Betrix mich nicht sehen konnte.\n\nIch konnte mir keinen schlechteren FTL-Kurier vorstellen, dem ich begegnen k\u00f6nnte. Wenn eine Hy\u00e4ne in einen Menschen verwandelt worden w\u00e4re und perfektes blondes Haar bekommen h\u00e4tte, dann w\u00e4re das Betrix. Sie schlief mit dem Dispatcher in der Zentrale, also bekam sie alle Premiumlieferungen und ihre Routen machten tats\u00e4chlich Sinn.\n\nAnstatt mich mit diesem menschlichen Aasfresser zu besch\u00e4ftigen, ging ich in Richtung des anderen Lieferantenbereichs. Das Essen war nicht so gut, aber zumindest w\u00fcrde ich Betrix meiden. Der Falafelverk\u00e4ufer hatte wahrscheinlich nach ihrem b\u00f6sen Ausbruch in die Rahmsauce gespuckt.\n\nAls ich auf ein fragw\u00fcrdiges Curry kaute, zog ich mein mobiGlas heraus und dr\u00fcckte mein Traumschiff zum Leben: die Aurora LX. Ich hatte das benutzerdefinierte Paket, das ich spezifiziert hatte, mit einem Lesezeichen versehen. Nackte Knochen, aber es war das perfekte Fahrzeug, um sich als unabh\u00e4ngiger Kurier selbstst\u00e4ndig zu machen. So viel raumgreifende G\u00fcte, und ich war nur noch f\u00fcnf Jahre Kurierarbeit entfernt.\n\nIch k\u00fcsste mein Traumschiff und wechselte zu den lokalen Netzwerken, um die unabh\u00e4ngige Kurieranzeige aufzurufen. Mein Anzeigename war SILVERKHAN, ein Hinweis auf die Bar meines Vaters, die Goldene Horde. Ich verweilte bei meinem Namen, bevor ich meine Verf\u00fcgbarkeit f\u00fcr die Einstellung in die Position \"on\" umschaltete, dann markierte ich schnell die Standorte, die ich bereit war zu liefern.\n\nSorris erste Regel des effizienten Kuriers: Reisen Sie niemals mit leeren H\u00e4nden.\n\nIch l\u00e4chelte vor mich hin, als ich die Regel in meinem Kopf wiederholte. Die meisten der anderen Kuriere, die ich in meinem ersten Jahr bei der Firma getroffen hatte, schienen den Job wie eine Gef\u00e4ngnisstrafe zu behandeln und schleppten sich mit geschlossenen Augen durch ihre Lieferungen. Es gab so viel mehr zu tun, wenn man aufmerksam war.\n\nEin leises Dr\u00f6hnen! in meinem Ohr warnte mich vor einem Jobangebot auf dem unabh\u00e4ngigen Kurierkanal.\n\nMein Kiefer traf meine Brust, als ich die Credits sah, die f\u00fcr den Abschluss der Lieferung angeboten wurden. Es war eine kolossale Summe. Mindestens f\u00fcnfzig Mal meine normalen Geb\u00fchren und es w\u00fcrde ein Jahr von meiner Suche nach der Aurora wegnehmen.\n\nIch musste meine zitternde Hand davon \u00fcberzeugen, nicht nur den \"Akzeptieren\"-Button zu blockieren und zuerst die Bedingungen zu \u00fcberpr\u00fcfen. Das war meine zweite Regel, eine harte Lektion aus meiner ersten Lieferung: Nichts Illegales.\n\nDer Antrag beinhaltete einen Reisefall, der nach Tirol IV transportiert werden musste. Der Job war gebunden, also wusste ich, dass er nicht illegal ist.\n\nDann \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte ich den Liefertermin und erkannte, warum die Geb\u00fchr so hoch war. Sie brauchten es, um es in weniger als sechzig Standardstunden auf der Erde zu liefern. Von hier aus war Tirol f\u00fcnf Systeme entfernt, die mehrere Sprungbretter und eine betr\u00e4chtliche Anzahl von Fahrzeiten im System hatten, ohne auch nur die h\u00e4ufigen Aufenthalte oder Versp\u00e4tungen zu z\u00e4hlen, so dass es keine M\u00f6glichkeit gab, den Fall auf den normalen Routen p\u00fcnktlich zu liefern. Die hohe Geb\u00fchr sollte unabh\u00e4ngige Personen, die ein eigenes Schiff hatten, f\u00fcr die Reise gewinnen. Es war eine Menge Treibstoff, um diese Reise zu machen, besonders wenn es keine Zeit f\u00fcr andere Gesch\u00e4fte geben w\u00fcrde, was die Geb\u00fchr wieder astronomisch machte.\n\nAls ich auf den roten \"Akzeptieren\"-Button starrte, wusste ich, dass es mehrere Kuriere gab, die dasselbe im Sinn hatten: Kann ich die Lieferung p\u00fcnktlich durchf\u00fchren? Denn wenn die Lieferung nicht rechtzeitig abgeschlossen w\u00fcrde, w\u00fcrde die Zahlungsgeb\u00fchr abz\u00fcglich der Versp\u00e4tungsstrafe abz\u00fcglich aller Auslagen meine Ersparnisse belasten. Keine Aurora, kein Falafel, kein Nichts. Die einzigen Kuriere, die den Job ernsthaft in Betracht ziehen w\u00fcrden, hatten also ihre eigenen Schiffe. Au\u00dferdem konnten angesichts des Zeitrahmens nur Kuriere, die sich bereits im Davien befinden, den Auftrag annehmen und trotzdem den Liefertermin einhalten.\n\nDas Davien-System, in dem ich mich gerade befand, war mit Ferron, Kilian, Cano, Sol und Cathcart verbunden. Die Konkurrenz k\u00f6nnte f\u00fcr diesen Job nicht schlimmer sein - ein Job, den ich nicht einmal mit einem Schiff f\u00fcr den Transport hatte.\n\nAber ein Jahr von meinem Plan f\u00fcr die Aurora abzuschneiden, w\u00e4re es wert. Ich liebte es, ein Kurier f\u00fcr den FTL zu sein, aber ich wollte wirklich mein eigener Herr sein, die Galaxie zu meinen Bedingungen sehen.\n\nAlso dr\u00fcckte ich meinen Daumen auf den Bildschirm und schickte meine Biosignatur an den Makler, um meine Annahme des Auftrags zu signalisieren. Wie ich es tat, ging mir ein kurzlebiger Schauer \u00fcber den R\u00fccken, eine starke Mischung aus Angst und Aufregung.\n\nDann sah ich mir tats\u00e4chlich den Job an, der auf meinem mobiGlas blinzelte, einem Countdown-Timer, der die verbleibende Zeit anzeigt.\n\n[ 60:25:05 ]\n\nWas zum Teufel habe ich gerade getan?\n\nNachdem ein wenig \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigende Panik nachgelassen hat - ich meine, es ist nicht jeden Tag, an dem man seine Ersparnisse auf einen Lieferjob setzt, dass man technisch gesehen nicht die Ressourcen hat, um sie zu machen - begann ich tats\u00e4chlich rationale Gedanken zu haben. Einer wie: Wie zum Teufel soll ich die Lieferung machen?\n\nObwohl ich kein eigenes Schiff hatte, gab es einen Vorteil gegen\u00fcber den anderen bei der Jobsuche: Der Fall, der geliefert werden musste, war hier an der Zwischenstation.\n\nAber das erkl\u00e4rte nicht, warum ich einen Job annehmen sollte, von dem ich wusste, dass ich nicht rechtzeitig auf den normalen Handelsrouten liefern konnte.\n\nGib Sorris Regel Nummer Drei ein: Offizielle Routen sind f\u00fcr Lutscher.\n\nMit meinem mobiGlas fand ich schnell einen Junker, die Nomenklatur, der durch das Cathcart-System zum Nexus-System f\u00fchrte. Durch Cathcart zu fahren, ein System, das f\u00fcr Piraten und eine ausgedehnte Schwarzmarktwirtschaft bekannt ist, w\u00e4re riskant, aber wenn diese Schrottkiste auf diese Weise und nicht auf andere Routen fahren w\u00fcrde, h\u00e4tten sie wahrscheinlich ein dubioses Gesch\u00e4ft gemacht oder wollten sich nur etwas rasieren. Technisch gesehen verstie\u00df dies nicht gegen meine zweite Regel, nichts Illegales, da ich nur ein Passagier war, aber es hinterlie\u00df ein Unbehagen in meinem Bauch, das noch schlimmer war, als als ich mit diesem Transportpiloten, der mit nassen Ohren unterwegs war, den Schwerkraftbrunnen hochfuhr.\n\nIch habe Nomenclature eine Nachricht zusammen mit meinen Zugangsdaten geschickt. \u00dcberraschenderweise erhielt ich einige Minuten sp\u00e4ter eine Antwort mit einem angemessenen Preis. Er gab mir eine Stunde Zeit, um zu seinem Schiff zu gelangen, was mir genug Zeit gab, den Koffer zu holen, bevor wir losfuhren. Ich schickte ihm eine Antwort, \u00fcberwies seine Geb\u00fchr, dann zog ich den Bahnhofsplan hoch, um den Abholort zu finden.\n\nNachdem ich meine Kurierdaten vorgewiesen und meine Biometrie verifiziert hatte, war ich stolzer Besitzer eines silbernen Metallgeh\u00e4uses.\n\nIch pfiff, als ich es untersuchte. Das \u00c4u\u00dfere war aus Nanomesh, und das Schloss war etwas Exotisches mit einer glatten Granitkugel, die von fremden Symbolen umgeben war.\n\nEin Achselzucken sp\u00e4ter schlenderte ich auf dem Weg zur\u00fcck, den ich gekommen war, auf dem Weg zur Nomenklatur, als ich meinen Untergang in einem hohen Gru\u00df h\u00f6rte.\n\n\"Sorri? Sorri!\"\n\nIch versuchte, Betrix zu ignorieren, aber ich h\u00f6rte, wie ihre weichen Lederstiefel den Teppich hinter mir aufschl\u00fcrften, w\u00e4hrend sie mischte.\n\n\"Sorri!\" sagte Betrix, grub ihre N\u00e4gel in meinen Arm und hielt mich auf. \"Es ist sooo lange her. Lass uns ein wenig streuen und aufholen.\"\n\nIhr Mund war in ein breites Grinsen versetzt, aber ihre Augen waren der schwarzseelenlose Blick eines Haies. Sie tanzte ihre Fingerspitzen, als sie das Wort \"streuen\" sagte, als w\u00fcrde sie Feenstaub verbreiten. Es war ihre nervige Art zu sagen: \"Lass uns was trinken gehen.\"\n\nIch versuchte, meinen Arm von ihrer Zange zu l\u00f6sen, aber sie war \u00fcberraschend stark. \"Ich muss los, Betrix.\"\n\nIhre Stirn runzelte sich in einer k\u00fcnstlichen Verwirrung. \"Aber wo willst du hin? Mein lieber David erw\u00e4hnte am Rande, dass du im Moment keine Jobs gebucht hast.\"\n\n\"Sightseeing\", sagte ich, drollig.\n\nBetrix machte eine Show, als sie den silbernen Kasten bemerkte, der an meiner linken Hand hing.\n\n\"Nun, was hast du da? Wenn ich es nicht besser w\u00fcsste, w\u00fcrde ich sagen, das ist ein freier Job. Aber ich wei\u00df, dass du kl\u00fcger bist, ich meine, du wei\u00dft, dass es gegen die Firmenregeln f\u00fcr Freiberufler verst\u00f6\u00dft.... wie, in einer sofortigen Beendigung irgendwie\", sagte Betrix und neigte ihren Kopf, so dass ihre blonden Locken attraktiv gegen ihre Schulter fielen.\n\nNeben dem allgemeinen Unfug konnte ich nicht herausfinden, welchen Winkel sie verfolgte. \"Es ist ein tragbarer EVA. Ich versuche nur, sicher zu sein.\"\n\nEinen Moment lang sah Betrix so aus, als w\u00fcrde sie mir tats\u00e4chlich glauben, bevor sie den Kopf sch\u00fcttelte und sagte: \"Portable EVA? Wie vorausschauend. Aber wei\u00dft du, ich dachte, es k\u00f6nnte die Lieferung sein, die gerade im ICN ver\u00f6ffentlicht wurde.\"\n\nWenn ich nicht schon so ver\u00e4rgert gewesen w\u00e4re, dass ich von diesem Eimer Teichschaum aufgehalten worden w\u00e4re, w\u00e4re ich vielleicht \u00fcberrascht gewesen, dass sie auch als unabh\u00e4ngige Kurierin gearbeitet hat. Ich dachte mir, dass sie mit ihrem Freund vom Dispatcher genug Arbeit hatte, um ihren Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen.\n\nAber jetzt verstand ich ihren Standpunkt. Sie war wahrscheinlich im Begriff, den Job anzunehmen, als ich ihn ihr unter der Nase wegriss, und Betrix war nicht der Typ, der die Dinge einfach treiben lie\u00df.\n\n\"Nein. Ein tragbarer EVA\", sagte ich, trat strategisch auf die Zehen ihres weichen Lederstiefels und zog meinen Arm aus ihrem Schraubstockgriff. \"Tut mir leid. Die Sterne m\u00fcssen gesehen werden.\"\n\nBetrix, die wie ein Hornissennest in Wut ger\u00fchrt war, sagte: \"Ich wei\u00df, wof\u00fcr dieser Fall gut ist. Der FTL wird Sie feuern, wenn sie herausfinden, was Sie tun.\"\n\n\"Warum warst du dann im ICN?\" Ich schrie \u00fcber meine Schulter, ein letzter Schuss, dem ich nicht helfen konnte.\n\nEin letzter Blick fiel auf das m\u00f6rderische Strahlen in ihren Augen. Sie hatte sich diesen Job sehr gew\u00fcnscht. Wahrscheinlich hatte sie nicht einmal bemerkt, dass ich auf der Station war, bis sie sah, dass der Job angenommen wurde, und ging, um herauszufinden, wer es war.\n\nWas f\u00fcr ein Pech. Hoffentlich war das das Ende. Ich habe mein mobiGlas \u00fcberpr\u00fcft, um festzustellen, dass ich viel Zeit hatte. Ich k\u00f6nnte sogar anhalten und einen Happen essen, wenn ich wollte. Obwohl ich mich erst sicher f\u00fchlen w\u00fcrde, wenn ich vom Bahnhof und weg von Betrix LaGrange war.\n\nDie Arbeit mit meinem Vater in seiner Bar, der Goldenen Horde, hat mir viel \u00fcber Menschen beigebracht. Eine seiner liebsten Theorien war das Karma. Nicht der mystische, leere Blick starrt wie Karma, sondern das statistisch beweiskr\u00e4ftige Karma, das in einem Diagramm dargestellt werden konnte.\n\nSeine Theorie besagt, dass Karma wirklich all deine kleinen guten und schlechten Taten waren, die eine Art Karma-Netz um dich herum geschaffen haben. Wenn du weiterhin gute Dinge tust - einem Kunden ein wenig zus\u00e4tzlichen Rum zu geben, wenn er ein wenig trostlos aussieht, f\u00fcr ein Taxi zu bezahlen, um sicherzustellen, dass der wohlhabende Gesch\u00e4ftsmann es zur\u00fcck in sein Hotel schafft, zwei einsame Kunden, die an den gegen\u00fcberliegenden Enden der Bar sitzen, einander vorzustellen oder sicherzustellen, dass die antike Jukebox das Lieblingslied des Paares spielt, wenn sie zu einem Jubil\u00e4um kommen - dann w\u00fcrde die Welt dir sp\u00e4ter mit Zinsen zur\u00fcckzahlen, wenn du es nicht erwartet hast.\n\nIch meine, ich bin nicht blind daf\u00fcr, was mein Vater getan hat. Der zus\u00e4tzliche Rum - der ihn nicht viel kostete, da er ihn verw\u00e4sserte - ermutigte am Ende der Nacht zu einem gr\u00f6\u00dferen Trinkgeld. Das Taxi sorgte daf\u00fcr, dass ein hochwertiger Kunde in den kommenden N\u00e4chten zur\u00fcckkam. Die beiden einsamen Kunden f\u00fchlten sich der Bar verpflichtet, sie vorzustellen, und das Jubil\u00e4umspaar kam Jahr f\u00fcr Jahr wieder, um ihre ersten Erinnerungen noch einmal zu erleben. Er tat es nicht aus G\u00fcte seines Herzens, es war eine kalkulierte, monet\u00e4re Sache, aber ich dachte, seine Theorie sei solide, auch wenn er es aus den falschen Gr\u00fcnden tat.\n\nKarma arbeitete auch umgekehrt. Oder zumindest hoffte ich das, wenn es um Betrix und ihre Schwindeleien ging. Deshalb wollte ich nichts gegen sie unternehmen. Karma w\u00fcrde sich irgendwann um sie k\u00fcmmern. Das war jedenfalls die Theorie.\n\nIch blickte \u00fcber meine Schulter und \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte, ob Betrix mir folgte, als ich das schreckliche Ger\u00e4usch eines klagenden Kindes h\u00f6rte. Ich brauchte nicht einmal zu schauen, um zu wissen, dass Tr\u00e4nen und Rotz \u00fcber das Gesicht des M\u00e4dchens str\u00f6mten.\n\nAber was ich nicht erwartet hatte, war, dass das junge M\u00e4dchen, vielleicht sieben Jahre alt, von einem kr\u00e4ftigen Mann in einem Anzug \u00fcber den Teppich geschleppt wurde, w\u00e4hrend eine Frau, von der ich annahm, dass sie seine Frau war, schrie und seinen Arm schlug, versuchte, ihn aufzuhalten.\n\nEin Klumpen bildete sich in meiner Kehle.\n\nEin kurzer Blick in die Sitzecke sagte mir, was ich bereits wusste. Die anderen Passagiere in der Umgebung waren damit besch\u00e4ftigt, sich in ihrem mobiGlas zu vergraben oder aufzustehen, um ins Badezimmer zu gehen. Niemand, und ich meine, niemand, sah sie \u00fcberhaupt an. Es gab mindestens drei\u00dfig Menschen in der Gegend und keine Seele sah aus, als ob sie sich darum k\u00fcmmerte.\n\nSogar der Wachmann am Verbindungsrohr pfl\u00fcckte an seinem Vorschaubild, als w\u00e4re es das Interessanteste auf der Welt.\n\nKarma.\n\nSchei\u00dfe.\n\nEin kurzer Blick auf die Zeit sagte mir, dass ich noch mein Abfahrtsschiff machen k\u00f6nnte. Obwohl ich zugeben muss, dass ein Teil von mir tats\u00e4chlich gehofft hat, dass es nicht genug Zeit gibt, sich einzumischen.\n\nDie dunkelh\u00e4utige Frau, die sch\u00e4bige Kleidung trug, flehte ihren Mann an, ihre Tochter nicht mitzunehmen.\n\nDurch ihr Schreien dauerte es nicht lange, bis ich herausfand, dass dies der Nachteil einer Trennung war, und der Mann befahl, das M\u00e4dchen von ihrer Mutter wegzunehmen. Es war eine allzu h\u00e4ufige Erfahrung, dass Kinder von einem ihrer Eltern weggerissen wurden und durch die Galaxie zogen. Die sich \u00fcberschneidenden Gerichtsbarkeiten und die hohen Reisekosten machten es zu einfach, Gerichtsbeschl\u00fcsse zu ignorieren.\n\nSobald er mit ihrer Tochter aus der Luftschleuse ging, w\u00fcrde die Mutter sie wahrscheinlich nie wieder sehen.\n\nMeine H\u00e4nde wandten sich den F\u00e4usten zu, obwohl es mir unm\u00f6glich war, den st\u00e4mmigen Mann k\u00f6rperlich zu stoppen. Er sah aus, als h\u00e4tte er eine ganze Menge Zeit damit verbracht, die neuesten Gentherapien anzuwenden und zu trainieren, bis er Venen an seinen Venen wachsen lie\u00df.\n\nAber ich hatte nicht die Absicht, mich ihm physisch zu stellen.\n\nSo beil\u00e4ufig ich auch sein konnte, ich bewegte mich hinter die Sitzreihe mit verbundenen Holoviden und schob den silbernen Koffer unter einen Stuhl. Dann schlug ich den Deckel vom n\u00e4chsten M\u00fcllbeh\u00e4lter und fing an, durch die b\u00f6sen Lebensmittelbeh\u00e4lter, unerw\u00fcnschte Papiere und weggeworfenen M\u00fcll zu graben.\n\nIch hatte keine Zeit, w\u00e4hlerisch zu sein; der Mann hatte das M\u00e4dchen fast zur Luftschleuse, was zu einem komfortablen kommerziellen Schiff f\u00fchrte, das nach Sol fuhr. Der Begleiter machte die Ank\u00fcndigung \u00fcber das endg\u00fcltige Boarding, als ich mit einem Stapel gefalteter Papiere in einer Hand und einem Plastikbecher, der halb mit einem blassen zuckerhaltigen Getr\u00e4nk gef\u00fcllt war, hinter den Mann schl\u00fcpfte.\n\n\" Abel?\" fragte ich mit meiner tiefsten autoritativen Stimme. Ich hatte seinen Namen aus den Schreien der Frau zusammengesetzt.\n\nDer Mann hielt inne. Er hielt seine schreiende Tochter mit einem Arm, und mit dem anderen hielt er seine Frau davon ab, das Kind zu nehmen.\n\nIch sah den ungl\u00e4ubigen Blick in seinem Gesicht. Er hatte einen gr\u00f6\u00dferen Mann erwartet und musste dann nach unten schauen, um mich zu finden.\n\nIch k\u00fcndigte an, dass Sie wegen Versto\u00dfes gegen den UEE-Vertrag gegen toxische Zulagen in nachweisbaren Luftemissionen f\u00fcr die Nutzung von Verkehrsmitteln und die Gef\u00e4hrdung lokaler Arten, Oberfl\u00e4chenkennziffer sechs, f\u00fcnf, f\u00fcnf, f\u00fcnf, f\u00fcnf, ein, acht, acht, neun, bedient werden\".\n\nEr sah aus, als h\u00e4tte ich ihm mit einer Tasche voller Schnecken ins Gesicht geschlagen.\n\n\"Was?\" sagte er und versuchte sichtlich, die Worte zu verarbeiten.\n\nAlso wiederholte ich mich und ging diesmal schneller: \"Sie werden wegen Versto\u00dfes gegen den UEE-Vertrag gegen toxische Zulagen in nachweisbaren Luftemissionen f\u00fcr die Nutzung des Verkehrs und die Gef\u00e4hrdung lokaler Arten, Oberfl\u00e4chenkennziffer sechs, f\u00fcnf, f\u00fcnf, f\u00fcnf, ein, ein, acht, neun\".\n\nIch konnte erkennen, dass er versuchte, herauszufinden, was los war. Mein Spacer-Jumpsuit gab ihm keine Hinweise, da ich absichtlich Kleidung trug, die halboffiziell aussah, um die Leute dazu zu bringen, \u00fcber meinen wahren Beruf nachzudenken.\n\n\"Das bedeutet, dass Sie sich bei unserem Zweig auf dem Planeten melden m\u00fcssen, um Ihre Strafe zu bezahlen, bevor Sie das System verlassen\", sagte ich und sch\u00fcttelte die Papiere nachdr\u00fccklich \u00fcber ihn.\n\nEr zog seine Hand von seiner Frau weg und fing an, nach den Papieren zu greifen.\n\n\"Als von einer Beh\u00f6rde der UEE kommend, wenn Sie diese Papiere akzeptieren, sind Sie gesetzlich verpflichtet, alle Bu\u00dfgelder und Geb\u00fchren zu zahlen\", sagte ich.\n\nEine Durchsage kam \u00fcber die Lautsprecher: \"Mr. Gorane, Gruppe zwei, bitte betreten Sie die Luftschleuse. Dein Schiff f\u00e4hrt ab.\"\n\nAbels Kopf schnappte auf den wartenden Transport zu, wo sich die Motoren zu drehen begannen.\n\nSein Fokus war so aufgeteilt zwischen den Papieren in meiner Hand und der offenen Luftschleuse, dass er kurzzeitig seine Frau und sein Kind verga\u00df. In diesem Moment kniete sie ihn in die Leiste und schnappte das M\u00e4dchen weg, bevor sie in die andere Richtung rannte.\n\n\"Alara, nein!\" grunzte er, aber er erkannte, dass er keine M\u00f6glichkeit hatte, sie aufzuhalten.\n\nDann wandte er sich gegen mich und streckte die Hand m\u00f6rderisch in einer halben Hocke aus. Da stellte ich den halbgef\u00fcllten Plastikbecher in den Weg, und als seine Hand mich ber\u00fchrte, warf ich mich nach hinten und warf das zuckerhaltige Getr\u00e4nk \u00fcber die Passagiere, die mit Gesichtern in ihrem mobiGlas vergraben warteten.\n\nW\u00e4hrend die Menschen bereit sein m\u00f6gen, auf einen Mann zu h\u00f6ren, der seine Tochter \u00fcber die klaren rechtlichen Einw\u00e4nde der Frau entf\u00fchrt, waren sie nicht bereit, einen Drink auf sie zu werfen. Sogar der Wachmann am Eingang der R\u00f6hre kam her\u00fcber.\n\nMr. Gorane, der sp\u00fcrte, dass er seine Verluste reduzieren musste, floh in die Luftschleuse unter dem Geschrei. Ein \u00e4lterer Herr mit Brille half mir auf.\n\nBevor mich jemand nach meiner Rolle bei dem Vorfall fragen konnte, lie\u00df ich die Papiere wieder in den Papierkorb werfen und ging los, um die silberne Kiste zu holen. Mein Herz explodierte fast aus meiner Brust, als ich den Platz unter dem Stuhl leer fand.\n\nIn dem kurzen Moment, in dem ich den Koffer nicht finden konnte, hatte ich den schrecklichen Gedanken, dass sich Betrix eingeschlichen und ihn gestohlen hatte. Ein Teil dieses Gef\u00fchls kam, weil ich aus dem Augenwinkel geschworen hatte, dass sie durch den Wartebereich gegangen war, aber ich war zu sehr auf den Mann konzentriert, um ihre Existenz zu best\u00e4tigen.\n\nDann wurde mir klar, dass ich auf die falsche Reihe schaute. Ich packte den Fall und machte mich auf den Weg zur wartenden Schrottkiste, mit dem Inhalt, dass ich das Richtige getan hatte, um dieser Frau und ihrer Tochter zu helfen.\n\nIch erreichte die Luftschleuse, die mit der Nomenklatur verbunden werden sollte, um zwei sehr st\u00f6rende Dinge zu finden.\n\nErstens, Betrix LaGrange stand mit einem selbstgef\u00e4lligen, heiligen Blick auf ihrem Gesicht an der Luftschleuse, und zweitens, Nomenclature war nicht mehr mit der Station verbunden. Durch das dicke Fenster konnte ich das Aufflammen des Triebwerks sehen, als sich der abfliegende Junker von der Station wegbewegt.\n\nWas mich zu meiner vierten Regel bringt: Lass dich nie ablenken.\n\nEine Regel, die ich gerade dummerweise f\u00fcr diese Frau und ihre Tochter gebrochen hatte. Ich wusste genau, was Betrix getan hatte; sie war an der Szene vorbeigeeilt und bezahlte den Kapit\u00e4n der Nomenclature, ohne mich zu gehen. Schon als ich mein mobiGlas hochzog, um das Schiff zu kontaktieren, konnte ich an Betrix' strahlendem Glanz der \u00dcberlegenheit erkennen, dass es keine Rolle spielen w\u00fcrde.\n\n\"Was auch immer du anbietest, ich sagte dem Kapit\u00e4n, dass ich ihm mehr zahlen w\u00fcrde, um ohne dich zu gehen\", sagte sie, als sie sich n\u00e4herte.\n\nIch berechnete schnell, dass es nichts gab, was ich dagegen tun konnte. Der Kapit\u00e4n war auf dem Weg nach Cathcart, was bedeutete, dass er ein Mann mit zweifelhafter Moral war. Zweifellos genoss er diese Wendung der Ereignisse und wurde zweimal f\u00fcr einen Job bezahlt, der nichts mit sich brachte.\n\n\"Warum solltest du das tun?\" fragte ich dummerweise. Ich sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf, w\u00e4hrend die Worte aus meinen Lippen kamen.\n\n\"Ich will diesen Job\", sagte sie und nickte dem Fall zu. \"Ich habe eine Route aufgestellt, und ich kann die Lieferung machen. Ich biete dir zehn Prozent der Geb\u00fchr an, um sie auf mich zu \u00fcberweisen.\"\n\n\"Route festgelegt? Du meinst, dass dein Freund FTL-Lieferungen eingerichtet hat, die dich dorthin bringen, ohne dass du einen Kredit aus der Tasche bekommst\", sagte ich und brach meine F\u00e4uste.\n\nBetrix blies ihre Nasenl\u00f6cher auf, behielt aber einen ansonsten stoischen Ausdruck. \"Ich tue, was ich kann, genau wie du. Ich gebe dir f\u00fcnfzehn Prozent, jetzt gleich bezahlt. Gib mir einfach den Koffer.\"\n\nDas Angebot war verlockend. F\u00fcnfzehn Prozent, um absolut nichts zu tun, au\u00dfer ein paar Tupfer auf mein mobiGlas zu machen und eine schwere, schulterstrapazierf\u00e4hige Tasche zu \u00fcbergeben, schien ein gutes Gesch\u00e4ft zu sein. Besonders, wenn ich keine vern\u00fcnftige M\u00f6glichkeit hatte, die Lieferung durchzuf\u00fchren, da Nomenclature den Bahnhof verlassen hatte. Genau deshalb hatte Betrix das Angebot gemacht.\n\nTrotz meines \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigenden Hasses auf Betrix LaGrange war es sinnvoll, den Fall f\u00fcr f\u00fcnfzehn Prozent zu \u00fcbergeben. Es war ein sicherer Weg, um mehr Credits f\u00fcr die Aurora LX zu verdienen.\n\nAber ich k\u00f6nnte die ganze Geb\u00fchr haben, wenn ich es ohne sie nach Tirol IV schaffen w\u00fcrde und ich m\u00fcsste sie nicht gewinnen lassen.\n\n\"Nein\", sagte ich, einfach und eindringlich.\n\n\"Nein?\" wiederholte sie. \"Zwanzig Prozent, aber das ist so hoch, wie ich bereit bin zu gehen. Ich muss auch David einen Anteil geben.\"\n\nSo hat sie es also gemacht. Er war nicht nur ihr Freund, er nahm einen Teil ihres Gewinns.\n\n\"Nein\", wiederholte ich.\n\nIch konnte mich nicht dazu durchringen, mit Betrix zu arbeiten, nachdem, was sie mir angetan hatte. Wenn ich es zulassen w\u00fcrde, w\u00fcrde sie es sp\u00e4ter wieder tun und mich wie einen Subunternehmer einsetzen.\n\n\"Nimm die Zwanzig oder ich lasse den FTL wissen, was du tust\", grinste sie.\n\nIch wusste sofort, dass es ein Bluff war. Auf keinen Fall verr\u00e4t sie mich. Mit dem, was ich \u00fcber sie wei\u00df, w\u00e4re eine gegenseitige Zerst\u00f6rung gew\u00e4hrleistet.\n\n\"Gut.\" sagte ich. Betrix schwoll zufrieden an. \"Du willst sie befehlen oder soll ich?\"\n\nBetrix verengte die Augen und sie sch\u00fcttelte leicht den Kopf.\n\n\"Du bist ein hartn\u00e4ckiger Narr.\"\n\nIch drehte ihr den R\u00fccken zu, als sie davonst\u00fcrmte, und brachte mein mobiGlas hoch, scannte durch die anderen Schiffe auf der Station, studierte ihre Ziele. Nichts, und ich meine nichts, wurde f\u00fcr weitere drei Tage ins Kilian-System gebracht. Tats\u00e4chlich war das einzige Schiff, das heute abfuhr, Vita Perry, ein R\u00fccklader, aber es fuhr Richtung Ferron.\n\nEine schnelle \u00dcberpr\u00fcfung der Abfahrten von Ferron best\u00e4tigte, dass ein Schritt in diese Richtung mich weiter hinter den Liefertermin zur\u00fcckfallen lassen w\u00fcrde.\n\nEs gab immer einen Weg, wenn man kreativ genug war. Ich hatte nur noch nicht den Winkel herausgefunden.\n\nIch lehnte mein Gesicht gegen das k\u00fchle Fenster, w\u00e4hrend Schmerzen Strafman\u00f6ver durch meinen Bauch machten. Ich hatte keine Chance, die Lieferung rechtzeitig zu erledigen. Verdammt, ich war noch nicht einmal von der ersten Station abgekommen und es gab noch f\u00fcnf weitere Systeme entlang der Strecke. Ich war besser dran, den Schwanz zu stopfen und zu Betrix zur\u00fcckzulaufen, obwohl ich bezweifelte, dass sie die gleichen zwanzig Prozent anbieten w\u00fcrde, nachdem ich ihr gesagt hatte, sie solle sich davonschieben.\n\nWas sollte ich tun?\n\n[ 59:49:35 ]\n\nFortsetzung folgt.....","zh_CN":"Writer\u2019s Note: The Second Run: A Sorri Lyrax Delivery was published originally in Jump Point 4.1.\nI stumbled into the airlock, wiping the last bits of a Teeyo energy bar from my jumper as the mechanism clicked into place behind me. The whoosh of air being recycled was muted by the blue-green steel walls of the synch-orbit waystation above Jata.\n\nThe ride up from planetside had been a bumpy mess. I should\u2019ve known better than to eat after the fresh-faced pilot with far too much acne on his forehead had told me upon my arrival: \u201cYou\u2019re my first real passenger, y\u2019know, besides the training runs.\u201d\n\nBut I\u2019d been new once too, and he did bring me in alive, despite hitting every air pocket in the atmosphere, and then somehow, despite the physical impossibility, hitting a few more while we were in space on the final leg to the station.\n\nI unhooked my backpack and stretched my neck while staring at the grey biodome I\u2019d just left back on the rocky surface of the planet. I could still make out the sprawling facility that housed the Aegis production center, just as daunting from above as it had been when I was making my drop. I can\u2019t say I wasn\u2019t happy to be finished with that delivery for FTL. While the corporation claimed they were no longer focused on the military market, I saw far too many crew cuts to believe that bit of branding nonsense. Plus, seeing the Avenger-class ships in the showroom only reminded me of when I\u2019d almost been killed during my first real delivery.\n\nMy gurgling stomach reminded me that most of my Teeyo bar had ended up on the floor, so I set out to find the falafel vendor I\u2019d eaten at on the way down. The creamy hot sauce provided the perfect match to the crunchy fried chickpea mash in the wrapped sage-infused flatbread. I had an afternoon to kill while I waited for my next FTL delivery.\n\nThe waystation was a confusing maze. The original structure had been built with military security in mind, which meant the different sections were segregated by tubes, so each area could be safely cordoned off in case of an attack. Then later, when it started going civilian, and regular commerce started passing through, they added roomier areas with crimson carpet over the plasticrete, and places to eat and stay the night between journeys.\n\nThe walls had been painted with murals \u2014 actual hand-painted murals rather than the normal holo-crap \u2014 with happy families walking through hand-in-hand, or smiling businessmen pulling trade cases behind them. There were even a few paintings of the ridge-headed Banu on the walls, harkening back to when a significant amount of alien trade came through Jata.\n\nI rounded the corner to the delicious smells of my falafel vendor when I heard a familiar shrill voice.\n\n\u201cWhat is taking so long? I\u2019m gettin\u2019 freezer burnt here. I put my order in three years ago,\u201d declaimed Betrix LaGrange, rubbing her pale arms and stomping her feet for warmth in front of the falafel vendor.\n\nMaybe if you actually dressed for the job, you pasty-headed twit. No space station manager or ship captain ever wants to spend their hard-earned credits on keeping people warm, I thought as I backed into the tunnel so Betrix couldn\u2019t see me.\n\nI couldn\u2019t think of a worse FTL courier to run into. If a hyena had been transformed into a person and given perfect blonde hair, then that would be Betrix. She was sleeping with the dispatcher at headquarters, so she got all the premium deliveries and her routes actually made sense.\n\nRather than deal with that human scavenger, I headed towards the other vendor area. The food wasn\u2019t as good, but at least I\u2019d avoid Betrix. The falafel vendor probably had spit in the cream sauce after her nasty outburst, anyway.\n\nAs I chowed down on a questionable curry, I pulled out my mobiGlas and thumbed to life my dream ship: the Aurora LX. I had bookmarked the custom package I had spec\u2019d out. Bare bones, but it was the perfect vehicle to branch out on my own as an independent courier. So much space-faring goodness, and I was only five more years of courier work away.\n\nI blew a kiss at my dream ship, and switched to the local networks, bringing up the independent courier display. My display name was SILVERKHAN, a reference to my father\u2019s bar, the Golden Horde. I lingered on my name before toggling my availability for hire into the \u2018on\u2019 position, then I quickly marked the locations I was willing to deliver.\n\nSorri\u2019s first rule of the efficient courier: Never travel empty handed.\n\nI smiled to myself as I repeated the rule in my head. Most of the other couriers I\u2019d met during my first year with the company seemed to treat the job like a prison sentence, drudging through their deliveries with their eyes closed. There was so much more to do if you were paying attention.\n\nA soft ding! in my ear alerted me to a job offer on the independent courier channel.\n\nMy jaw hit my chest when I saw the credits offered for completing the delivery. It was a colossal sum. At least fifty times my normal fees and it would take a year off my quest for the Aurora.\n\nI had to convince my shaking hand not to just jam the \u2018accept\u2019 button and review the terms first. That was my second rule, a hard lesson from my first delivery: Nothing illegal.\n\nThe request entailed a traveling case that needed to be transported to Tyrol IV. The job was bonded, so I knew it wasn\u2019t illegal.\n\nThen I checked the delivery date, and realized why the fee was so high. They needed it delivered in less than sixty standard Earth hours. From here, Tyrol was five systems away, involving multiple jump points and a significant amount of in-system travel time, not even counting layovers or delays \u2014 which were frequent \u2014 so there was no way to deliver the case on time using the normal routes. The high fee was to entice independents who had their own ship to make the journey. It was a helluva-lot of fuel to make that trip, especially when there wouldn\u2019t be time for taking other business, which again, made the fee astronomical.\n\nAs I stared at the red \u2018accept\u2019 button, I knew there were multiple couriers considering the same thing: can I make the delivery on time? Because if the delivery wasn\u2019t completed on time, the payment fee minus the late delivery penalty minus all the out-of-pocket expenses would drain my savings. No Aurora, no falafel, no nothing. So the only couriers who would be seriously considering the job had their own ships. Plus, given the time frame, only couriers already in the Davien could take the job and still make the delivery date.\n\nThe Davien system, where I was currently located, was connected to Ferron, Kilian, Cano, Sol and Cathcart. The competition couldn\u2019t be worse for this job \u2014 a job that I didn\u2019t even have a ship to use for transport.\n\nBut cutting a year off my plan for the Aurora would be worth it. I loved being a courier for FTL, but I really wanted to be my own master, see the galaxy on my terms.\n\nSo I jammed my thumb down on the screen, sending my bio-signature to the broker to signify my acceptance of the job. As I did, an ephemeral shiver went down my back, a potent mixture of dread and excitement.\n\nThen I actually looked at the job blinking on my mobiGlas, a countdown timer signifying the time remaining.\n\n[ 60:25:05 ]\n\nWhat the hell did I just do?\n\nAfter a modicum of overwhelming panic subsided \u2014 I mean, it\u2019s not every day you bet your savings on a delivery job that you technically don\u2019t have the resources to make \u2014 I actually started having rational thoughts. Ones like: how the hell am I going to make the delivery?\n\nWhile I didn\u2019t have my own ship, there was one advantage I had over the others in taking the job: the case that needed to be delivered was here on the waystation.\n\nBut that didn\u2019t explain why I would take a job that I knew I couldn\u2019t deliver in time using the normal commercial routes.\n\nRing in Sorri\u2019s Rule Number Three: Official routes are for suckers.\n\nUsing my mobiGlas, I quickly found a junker, Nomenclature, headed through the Cathcart system to the Nexus system. Going through Cathcart, a system known for pirates and an extensive black market economy would be risky, but if this junker was heading that way rather than other routes, they probably had some shady business, or were just looking to shave some time. Technically, this didn\u2019t violate my second rule, nothing illegal, since I was just a passenger, but it left an uneasiness in my gut worse than when I rode up the gravity well with that wet-behind-the-ears transport pilot.\n\nI sent Nomenclature a message, along with my credentials. Surprisingly, I got a reply back a few minutes later with a reasonable price. He gave me an hour to get to his ship, which gave me enough time to get the case before we left. I sent him a reply, transferred his fee, then pulled up the station map to find the pickup location.\n\nAfter showing my courier credentials, and having my biometrics verified, I was the proud owner of one silvery metallic case.\n\nI whistled as I examined it. The exterior was made of nano-mesh, and the lock was something exotic involving a smooth granite ball surrounded by alien symbols.\n\nA shrug later, I was strolling back the way I\u2019d come, headed for Nomenclature, when I heard my doom in a high-pitched greeting.\n\n\u201cSorri? Sorri!\u201d\n\nI tried to ignore Betrix, but heard her soft leather boots scuffing up the carpet behind me as she shuffle-ran.\n\n\u201cSorri!\u201d said Betrix, digging her nails into my arm and stopping me. \u201cIt\u2019s been soooo long. Let\u2019s have a little sprinkle and catch up.\u201d\n\nHer mouth was set in a wide grin, but her eyes were the black soulless gaze of a shark. She danced her fingertips when she said the word, \u201csprinkle,\u201d as if she were spreading fairy dust. It was her annoying way of saying, \u201clet\u2019s get a drink.\u201d\n\nI tried to dislodge my arm from her pincers, but she was surprisingly strong. \u201cI have to go, Betrix.\u201d\n\nHer forehead wrinkled in faux-confusion. \u201cBut where are you going? My dearest David mentioned in passing that you haven\u2019t any jobs booked right now.\u201d\n\n\u201cSightseeing,\u201d I said, drolly.\n\nBetrix made a show of noticing the silvery case hanging from my left hand.\n\n\u201cWell, what do you have there? If I didn\u2019t know better, I\u2019d say that was a freelance job. But I know you\u2019re smarter than that, I mean, you know it\u2019s against company rules to freelance . . . like, in an immediate termination kinda way,\u201d said Betrix, tilting her head so her blonde locks fell attractively against her shoulder.\n\nBesides general mischief, I couldn\u2019t figure out what angle she was pursuing. \u201cIt\u2019s a portable EVA. Just trying to be safe.\u201d\n\nFor a moment, Betrix looked like she actually believed me, before she shook her head and said, \u201cPortable EVA? How forward thinking. But you know, I thought it might be the delivery that was just posted up on the ICN.\u201d\n\nIf I hadn\u2019t already been so annoyed that I was being delayed by this bucket of pond scum, I might have been surprised that she worked as an independent courier, too. I figured with her dispatcher boyfriend, she had enough work to make a living.\n\nBut now I understood her angle. She\u2019d probably been about to accept the job when I snatched it out from under her, and Betrix wasn\u2019t the type to let things just drift.\n\n\u201cNope. A portable EVA,\u201d I said, strategically stepping on the toes of her soft leather boot and wrenching my arm from her vice-like grip. \u201cSorry. The stars need seeing.\u201d\n\nStirred to anger like a hornet\u2019s nest, Betrix said, \u201cI know what that case is for. FTL will fire you when they find out what you\u2019re doing.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen why were you on ICN?\u201d I yelled over my shoulder, a final barb that I couldn\u2019t help.\n\nOne last glance caught the murderous glare in her eyes. She\u2019d wanted this job badly. Probably hadn\u2019t even realized that I was in station until she saw that the job was taken, and went to find out who it was.\n\nWhat a spot of bad luck. Hopefully that was the end of it. I checked my mobiGlas to find I had plenty of time. I could even stop and get a bite to eat if I wanted. Though I wouldn\u2019t feel safe until I was off the station and away from Betrix LaGrange.\n\nWorking with my father at his bar, the Golden Horde, taught me a lot about people. One of his favorite theories involved karma. Not the mystical, vacant-eyed stare kind karma, but the statistical proof-worthy karma that could be charted on a graph.\n\nHis theory went that karma was really all your little good and bad acts that created a sort of karma-web around you. If you kept doing good things \u2014 giving a customer a little extra rum when they\u2019re looking a little bleary-eyed, paying for a taxi to make sure the wealthy businessman made it back to his hotel, introducing two lonely customers sitting at opposite ends of the bar to each other, or making sure the antique jukebox plays the couple\u2019s favorite song when they come in for an anniversary \u2014 then the world would pay you back with interest at a later date when you didn\u2019t expect it.\n\nI mean, I\u2019m not blind to what my father was doing. The extra rum \u2014 which didn\u2019t cost him much since he watered it down \u2014 encouraged a larger tip at the end of the night. The taxi made sure a high-value customer made it back on future nights. The two lonely customers would feel obliged to the bar for introducing them and the anniversary couple would keep coming back year after year to relive their first memories. He wasn\u2019t doing it out of the kindness of his heart, it was a calculated, monetary thing, but I thought his theory was sound, even if he were doing it for the wrong reasons.\n\nKarma worked in reverse, too. Or at least I hoped so, when it came to Betrix and her shenanigans. Which was why I wasn\u2019t going to do anything about her. Karma would take care of her eventually. That was the theory, anyway.\n\nI was glancing over my shoulder, checking to see if Betrix was following me, when I heard the awful sound of a child wailing. I didn\u2019t even have to look to know tears and snot were streaming down the girl\u2019s face.\n\nBut what I didn\u2019t expect was that the young girl, maybe seven years old, was being dragged across the carpet by a burly man in a suit while a woman, who I assumed was his wife by the way she was screaming and hitting his arm, tried to stop him.\n\nA lump formed in my throat.\n\nA quick glance around the sitting area told me what I already knew. The other passengers in the area were busy burying themselves in their mobiGlas, or getting up to go to the bathroom. No one, and I mean no one, was even looking at them. There were at least thirty people in the area and not a soul looked like they cared.\n\nEven the security guard at the connecting tube was picking at his thumbnail as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.\n\nKarma.\n\nShit.\n\nA quick check of the time told me I could still make my departure ship. Though I have to admit, part of me actually was hoping there wasn\u2019t enough time to interfere.\n\nThe dark-skinned woman, wearing shoddy clothing, was pleading with her husband not to take their daughter.\n\nBy her screaming, it didn\u2019t take me long to figure out that this was the fallout from a separation and the husband was overriding court orders by taking the girl away from her mother. It was a far too common experience that kids were ripped away from one of their parents and moved across the galaxy. The overlapping jurisdictions and high cost of travel made it too easy for court orders to be ignored.\n\nOnce he went out the airlock with their daughter, the mother would most likely never see her again.\n\nMy hands turned to fists despite the impossibility of me stopping the burly husband physically. He looked like he spent a fair amount of time using the latest gene-therapies and working out until he had veins growing on his veins.\n\nBut I had no intention of physically confronting him.\n\nAs casually as I could muster, I moved behind the row of seats with connected holovids, and slipped the silvery case beneath a chair. Then I popped the lid off the nearest trash receptacle and started digging through the nasty food containers, unwanted papers, and discarded junk.\n\nI didn\u2019t have time to be choosy; the husband nearly had the girl to the airlock that led to a comfortable commercial vessel headed to Sol. The attendant was making the announcement about final boarding as I slipped behind the husband with a stack of folded papers in one hand and a plastic cup half-filled with some pale sugary drink.\n\n\u201cAbel?\u201d I asked in my deepest authoritative voice. I\u2019d pieced together his name from the wife\u2019s screams.\n\nThe husband paused. He held his screaming daughter with one arm, and with the other fended his wife off from taking the child.\n\nI saw the incredulous look on his face. He\u2019d looked over expecting someone taller, and then had to look down to find me.\n\nHolding out the papers in an official manner, I announced, \u201cYou are being served for violating the UEE Treaty Against Toxic Allowances in Demonstrable Air Emissions for Use of Transport and Endangerment of Local Species, surface code number six-point-five-five-one-point-eight-nine.\u201d\n\nHe looked like I\u2019d slapped him in the face with a bag of slugs.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d he said, visibly trying to process the words.\n\nSo I repeated myself, going faster this time, \u201cYou are being served for violating the UEE Treaty Against Toxic Allowances in Demonstrable Air Emissions for Use of Transport and Endangerment of Local Species, surface code number six-point-five-five-one-point-eight-nine.\u201d\n\nI could tell he was trying to figure out what was going on. My spacer jumpsuit wasn\u2019t giving him any clues, since I purposely wore clothing that looked semi-official, to keep people guessing about my real profession.\n\n\u201cThat means that you have to report to our planetside branch to pay your fine before leaving system,\u201d I said, shaking the papers emphatically at him.\n\nHe pulled his hand away from his wife, and started reaching out for the papers.\n\n\u201cAs coming from an authority of the UEE, if you accept these papers you are legally bonded to pay all fines and fees,\u201d I said.\n\nAn announcement came over the speakers: \u201cMr. Gorane, party of two, please enter the airlock. Your ship is departing.\u201d\n\nAbel\u2019s head snapped toward the waiting transport where the engines had begun to spin up.\n\nHis focus was so split between the papers in my hand and the open airlock, that he momentarily forgot about his wife and child. In that instant, she kneed him in the groin, and snatched away the girl before running the other way.\n\n\u201cAlara, no!\u201d he grunted, but realized he had no way of stopping her.\n\nThen he turned on me, reaching out murderously in a half-crouch. That\u2019s when I put the half-filled plastic cup in the way, and when his hand touched me, I flung myself backwards, tossing the sugary drink across the passengers waiting with faces buried in their mobiGlas.\n\nWhile people may be willing to listen to a husband abduct his daughter over the clear legal objections of the wife, they weren\u2019t willing to have a drink tossed on them. Even the security guard at the tube entrance came running over.\n\nMr. Gorane, sensing he had to cut his losses, fled into the airlock amid the shouting. An older gentleman in glasses helped me up.\n\nBefore anyone could question me about my role in the incident, I dumped the papers back into the trash receptacle and went to grab the silvery case. My heart nearly exploded out of my chest when I found the space beneath the chair empty.\n\nIn that brief moment when I couldn\u2019t find the case, I had the horrible thought that Betrix had snuck in and stolen it. Part of that feeling came because I\u2019d sworn out of the corner of my eye that she\u2019d passed through the waiting area, but I was too focused on the husband to actually confirm her existence.\n\nThen I realized I was looking at the wrong row. I grabbed the case and headed off towards the waiting junker, content that I\u2019d done the right thing in helping that woman and her daughter.\n\nI reached the airlock that was supposed to be connected to Nomenclature to find two very disturbing things.\n\nOne, Betrix LaGrange was standing at the airlock with a smug, holier-than-thou look on her face, and two, Nomenclature was no longer connected to the station. Through the thick window, I could see the thruster flares as the departing junker moving away from the station.\n\nWhich brings me to my fourth rule: Never get distracted.\n\nA rule I had just stupidly broken for that woman and her daughter. I knew exactly what Betrix had done; she\u2019d hurried past the scene and paid the captain of Nomenclature to leave without me. Even as I pulled up my mobiGlas to contact the ship, I could tell by Betrix\u2019s radiating glow of superiority that it wouldn\u2019t matter.\n\n\u201cWhatever you offer, I told the captain I would pay him more to leave without you,\u201d she said, when she neared.\n\nI quickly calculated that there was nothing I could do about it. The captain was headed to Cathcart, which meant he was a man of dubious morals. No doubt he was enjoying this turn of events, being paid twice for a job entailing nothing.\n\n\u201cWhy would you do that?\u201d I stupidly asked. I was shaking my head, even as the words came out my lips.\n\n\u201cI want that job,\u201d she said, nodding towards the case. \u201cI have a route lined up, and I can make the delivery. I\u2019ll offer you ten percent of the fee to transfer it to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cRoute lined up? You mean your boyfriend\u2019s set up FTL deliveries that gets you there without a credit paid out of your pocket,\u201d I said, clenching my fists.\n\nBetrix flared her nostrils, but kept an otherwise stoic expression. \u201cI\u2019m doing what I can, just like you are. I\u2019ll give you fifteen percent, paid right now. Just hand me the case.\u201d\n\nThe offer was tempting. Fifteen percent to do absolutely nothing except make a few swipes on my mobiGlas and hand over a heavy shoulder-straining case seemed like a good deal. Especially when I didn\u2019t have a reasonable way to make the delivery since Nomenclature had left the station. Which was exactly why Betrix had made the offer.\n\nDespite my overwhelming hatred for Betrix LaGrange, handing over the case for fifteen percent was the sensible thing. It was a sure-fire way to earn more credits towards the Aurora LX.\n\nBut I could have the whole fee if I made it to Tyrol IV without her and I wouldn\u2019t have to let her win.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I said, simply and emphatically.\n\n\u201cNo?\u201d she repeated. \u201cTwenty percent, but that\u2019s as high as I\u2019m willing to go. I have to give a cut to David, too.\u201d\n\nSo that\u2019s how she was doing it. He wasn\u2019t just her boyfriend, he was taking a cut of her profits.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d I repeated.\n\nI couldn\u2019t bring myself to work with Betrix after what she\u2019d done to me. If I allowed it, she\u2019d do it again later, using me like a subcontractor.\n\n\u201cTake the twenty or I let FTL know what you\u2019re doing,\u201d she smirked.\n\nI knew right away that it was a bluff. No way she rats on me. With what I know about her, it\u2019d be mutually assured destruction.\n\n\u201cFine.\u201d I said. Betrix swelled with satisfaction. \u201cYou want to comm them or should I?\u201d\n\nBetrix eyes narrowed and she shook her head lightly.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re a stubborn fool.\u201d\n\nI turned my back to her as she stormed off, and brought up my mobiGlas, scanning through the other ships at the station, studying their destinations. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was headed to Kilian system for another three days. In fact, the only ship leaving today was Vita Perry, a Reclaimer, but it was headed towards Ferron.\n\nA quick check of Ferron departures confirmed that going in that direction would put me further behind the delivery timetable.\n\nThere was always a way if you were creative enough. I just hadn\u2019t figured out the angle yet.\n\nI leaned my face against the cool window while aches made strafing maneuvers through my stomach. I didn\u2019t have a spacer\u2019s chance to make the delivery in time. Hell, I hadn\u2019t even gotten off the first station and there were five more systems along the route. I was better off tucking tail and running back to Betrix, though I doubted she\u2019d offer the same twenty percent after I told her to shove off.\n\nWhat was I going to do?\n\n[ 59:49:35 ]\n\nTo be continued\u2026"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":24,"created_at":"2019-09-25T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"6 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-07 21:56:33","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":17247,"next_id":17249}}