EX: The Krishna Becomes a Passenger Ship

EX:
The Krishna Becomes a Passenger Ship

 

HALF AN HOUR after leaving the Dexar System, we were in the middle of a hyperlane on our way to the neighboring Iomett System. No matter how many times I see them, I’ll never get used to all these psychedelic sights. It’s especially interesting how each hyperlane had slightly different color patterns.

“You really didn’t give it a thought, did you, Hiro?” Elma asked. “You don’t think you’re missing out at all?”

“That’s an abstract question, though I get what you mean.” She must have been referring to either the knight work that Count Dalenwald mentioned, or a relationship with Chris. “I guess it would be a shortcut to glory and all, but…” I glanced at Elma in the co-pilot seat next to me, and Mimi in the operator seat beyond her.

“It’s not worth losing my life with you girls,” I declared. Chris was cute and all, but she wasn’t where I belonged. Maybe that would change in five years or so—I dunno. At least she’d certainly turn out pretty.

“Hiro… Sometimes you’re so direct that it’s embarrassing.” Elma turned away shyly, but I could see that her long ears were twitching and red. Ha, she’s trying to hide them with her hands!

“I wonder what kind of life you would have if you became Count Dalenwald’s knight?” Mimi said.

“I dunno. My strength lies in the Krishna, so it probably wouldn’t be all that different from what it is now. I doubt the count or Chris would try to pull me out of this ship.”

The Krishna had a lot of tech that the Grakkan Empire didn’t have access to, so if anyone wanted to take it from me, it would probably be the empire itself for research purposes. If that time ever came, then all apologies to Count Dalenwald, but I would absolutely defy the empire and fight to the death to protect my ship. I would not be a government official.

“Meh…” I shrugged. “Let’s just say it wasn’t in the stars. I like my life as it is now. Though maybe I should’ve asked you girls about it first.” Thinking back, I kind of refused becoming his knight without consulting them. If the girls had wanted to live a secure, successful life under the count, then I might’ve messed that up for them.

“I like the mercenary life, too,” Mimi declared. “It’s a shame we had to leave Chris behind, though.”

“I wouldn’t want to serve nobility,” Elma added. “Besides, we owe you.”

“I get Mimi, but Elma? You haven’t even paid me…never mind. I’m not complaining.”

“Oh? You’re not? Anyway, my plan is to pay it all back in one lump sum. Just you wait, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll wait as long as you need.” Quit smirking at me like that, Elma! I’m not short on money, anyway, so you don’t have to rush to pay me back. But if you wanna get uppity with me, maybe I’ll retaliate. “I’ll have you pay back the interest in bed tonight. Be ready.”

“What?!” Elma gasped, her jaw wide open from shock. She deserved that for teasing me.

I won’t be merciful later, either.

 

***

 

The Krishna reached the Iomett System without issue, while I enjoyed my degenerate lifestyle all the way there. Elma and Mimi were recovering in my room, so only Mei and I were in the cockpit.

Yeah, Mimi too. I did say “degenerate”, after all.

“So, the Iomett System,” I began. “Do you think we’ll find anything interesting here?”

“It is an average system with nothing major occurring,” Mei responded. “The materials produced there are nothing of note, as well. However, Iomett II is the home planet of Ferrexes.”

“Ferrexes?”

“They are therianthropes between forty and sixty centimeters in height,” Mei said, using the console to show a picture of a Ferrex on the holo-display. It looked like a weasel standing on two legs. Or maybe they were ferrets, given their name?

“Hmm…does that mean their trading colony has a lot of Ferrexes?”

“Compared to other colonies, yes. Their species prefers to stay near home, so it is rare for them to travel far from their home system. As such, many Ferrexes live in the colony in order to trade with other species.”

“Interesting. By the way, we’re still in the Grakkan Empire, right? How are Ferrexes treated by the empire?”

“The same as other citizens. The Iomett System was incorporated into the Grakkan Empire approximately 220 years ago. The Ferrexes do not like war, so there was no conflict when they were incorporated.”

“Hmm… Okay, then. How about we stop by their trading colony? An indigenous species like them ought to have a distinctive culture.” It was likely they had their own tech products or foods.

I was also interested in the empire’s expansion policy and governance. Humans were the majority species, but it seemed like Ferrexes and other not-quite-human-but-similar species were treated as equal citizens. I saw it as a reasonably diverse empire, but how hard was it to govern everything? Maybe the peerage system helped with that? It was interesting.

“Very well,” Mei assented. “I will set up navigation to the trading colony Iomett Prime.”

“Yes, please. Begin charging the FTL drive.”

“Understood. Charging now.”

Once we arrived at the colony, I would wake Mimi and Elma up to disembark. It sure would be nice to find something fun to do.

 

***

 

“Wow,” I gasped. “It’s bigger than I thought.”

“It is definitely big,” Mimi responded. “They must be flourishing.”

Apparently, the boom of FTL travel woke up Mimi and Elma before I could. It really was loud, to be fair.

“So, this is Iomett Prime,” Elma mused. “I’ve never been here before.”

“Wow, really? Have you seen Ferrexes before?”

“I don’t actually think so.”

“They must be shut-ins, I suppose,” I mused.

Among the species ruled by the empire, it was extremely rare for one to have the technology for interstellar travel but choose to stay at home instead. They probably had an equally rare and unique culture. I grew more and more excited to see the Ferrexes.

“Our docking request has been accepted,” Mei said. “We’ve been assigned hangar seventy-two.”

“Gotcha.” I followed the colony’s guide beam to the seventy-second hangar.

Iomett Prime was the biggest colony I had seen yet. Its shape was also different from all the others so far. The colonies I knew of were all like bicycle tires, cylinders, or spheres, but Iomett Prime was like a floating castle in outer space. The surface platform bristled with various structures.

The base of the colony, a flat platform, was connected to several circular modules. Whenever they wanted to expand, they probably built more modules to connect. Each module seemed able to support a structure on the top and bottom, making it highly expandable.

“Considering the size of the colony, their port isn’t very big.”

“I noticed that, too,” Mimi replied. “I don’t see a lot of commerce ships, but it’s not a small amount, either. Most seem to be passenger ships.”

“Maybe sightseeing is their main attraction?” Elma said, pondering their income.

The colony definitely felt strange. Their port was too small, and they had more passenger ships than merchants. Just in case, I decided I would activate the Krishna’s shields once we left. Even if I didn’t think it would be dangerous, one could never be too careful.

I activated the auto-docking computer, and the Krishna automatically docked to the hangar. Easy as pie, even if Elma looked mad about it every time.

“Let’s disembark right away,” I decided.

“Sure.”

“Okay!”

“Then I shall guard—” Mei began, but I stopped her.

“Nah, Mei. Come with us. I’ll just activate the shields.”

“Understood. Then I shall join you.” We probably wouldn’t run into any danger, but I would feel safer if we had Mei with us. By now, I’d learned that the combination of unknown aliens, a suspicious colony, and our group always ended up in some crazy mess. I’d rather be careful almost to the point of cowardice than run into trouble.

After disembarking and exiting the port district, we arrived at an incomprehensible structure. “What’s that?” I asked.

“I wonder…” Mimi was likewise confused.

I couldn’t figure out how to use the structure, but plenty of people were gathered there. Why do I feel like I’ve seen this before? I raised an eyebrow as we all headed over to it.

The building had no clear doors; it was made so you could just walk right in. And it wasn’t too big, either. The walls were covered in holo-displays, each one showing a different image or advertisement.

“Maybe this tells you where to find their brothels,” I said with a chuckle.

“Hey!” Elma glared at me.

“What’s a brothel?” Mimi remained confused.

Mei expressionlessly read the information on the holo-displays. “It seems to be an information bureau with information regarding restaurants and cafés where the Ferrexes attend to guests.”

“Attend to…?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, attend to. It does not seem to have sexual connotations.”

According to Mei, it was a guide to stores where guests could play, eat, and cuddle with Ferrex employees. Ferrex fur was apparently very pleasant to touch, so much so that once a person experienced cuddling with Ferrexes, they would become so addicted that they’d constantly come back for more.

“Is it like some kind of narcotic?” I wondered.

“It seems that there have been past kidnappings and other such incidents perpetrated by those who saw value in them and their pelts. They have strict security now, however, so such events have become infrequent.”

“They’re so good that you always come back for more, huh?” That was a little intimidating, so I decided to just ignore it as I glanced at Mimi and Elma.

“Elma, this Ferrex Café seems nice,” Mimi said.

“The inside is nice and fancy,” Elma agreed, “but the menu looks a little too light for Hiro here.”

“We could just ask for more, then. Their food has good reviews.”

The two of them were raring to go. Mei kept her eyes fixed on the guide, so maybe she was interested, too. Mimi aside, I was surprised that the other girls were so into it.

“So, you want to go?” I asked them.

“Huh? Were we not planning to?” Elma raised an eyebrow.

“Why not?”

“I mean, aren’t you scared of some magical sensation so good that people literally kidnap them for it?” I asked.

“No. It makes me want to experience it!!!” Mimi exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement.

“You overthink things waaay too much for no reason.” Elma laughed me off, but this was too suspicious for me, even if the situation was beyond my control now. I surveyed Mei’s expression, but I couldn’t read her. Curse her low emotionality. I guess she’ll be fine no matter what, but Mimi and Elma…

“Okay,” I surrendered. “Just be aware that I was against it.”

 

Twenty minutes later…

“Ahhh…so fluffy…”

“I wanna pet them forever…”

I watched in horror as Mimi nuzzled her face against a white Ferrex, the most blissful smile on her face. Meanwhile, Elma petted a brown one in utter ecstasy. Even Mei wordlessly fluffed the fur of a grey one. Damn it. It’s too late for them now.

“Sir? You don’t seem very impressed by my fabulous fur.”

“Oh, no. It’s very pleasant.” I scratched the chin of the Ferrex sitting in my lap and looking up at me, causing them to close their eyes happily.

The Ferrexes really were soft, fluffy, and pleasant all around. I’ve never touched an animal—sorry if it’s rude to call them that—this pleasant before. But I did raise a dog in my old universe, and I had petted the cats of friends and relatives. I even got to pet little guys like chinchillas on rare occasions.

Chinchillas were wonderful to the touch, but Ferrexes were even better. To someone like me who had already felt plenty of animals’ soft fur, though, it wasn’t as impactful as it was to Mimi and the others. That was the only problem.

“I could see getting way into it if you’ve never felt something like it before,” I thought aloud. “You’re definitely the softest I’ve felt so far.”

I would bet that Elma and Mimi had never touched something with fur like this before. I never saw any stray cats or dogs on other colonies, nor had I seen any pet shops. Actually, I’d never seen any animal other than sentient life. Most people probably never felt anything like a cat or dog.

What would happen if someone like that enjoyed a Ferrex’s pelt just once? It would vary from person to person, but no doubt some would get addicted. Even I had never felt a creature this soft. Without my built-in resistance, I might’ve gotten addicted myself.

“Goodness! Focused and skilled!” The Ferrex in my lap was in ecstasy at my chin-scratching, looking up at me in utter shock. I don’t know why they were so astonished by my skill or whatever, but damn, these Ferrexes had life figured out. They put their special features as a species front and center to make a living.

It was kind of like a maid café—no, like a cat café. Were the Ferrexes all females? I couldn’t quite tell. Incidentally, the Ferrexes handled waitering, too. They lifted trays above their little heads, balancing food and drinks on them. It was cute to see them tottering around. But if they were cats instead of ferrets, that act could’ve been a lot more dangerous.

“Incidentally, sir, would you like an extension?” The Ferrex in my lap asked, looking over to Mimi and the others as they continued to cuddle the employees.

“Oh, uhh… Sure, let’s do thirty more minutes for now.” Each extension was only about fifty Ener per person, meaning I paid two hundred Ener for our extensions. You say that includes food and drinks? Well, be my guest.

 

***

 

On the way home, Mimi started saying disconcerting things. “Aaah… Can’t we bring a Ferrex home with us?”

“Uh, well…I doubt it.” Elma had to chuckle as she warned her. She convinced Mimi otherwise, but she did seem to be into it for a second there. You can’t fool my eyes! Mei remained silent, apparently deep in thought.

“What’s up, Mei?” I asked. “Thinking about something?”

“I am analyzing the Ferrex touch data that I harvested.”

“What’s the point of that?”

“It is another thing worth researching as something that gives people pleasure and joy.”

“Oh, I see.” Would Oriental Industries use this information to start making Maidroids with Ferrex-like ears, or something?

I pondered the question as we arrived at the Krishna. I brought down the shields as I watched the starry-eyed girls. It seemed we would be here for a few days to come.

“Huh?” Elma suddenly turned serious, her eyes darting around.

“What’s wrong?”

“…I felt like someone was just watching us. Did I just imagine that?”

“Oh…?” I looked around, but nobody seemed to be watching us specifically. Mei searched as well, but she likewise shook her head. It seemed she found nothing.

“Maybe your senses are dulled after you fell madly in love with those Ferrexes?” she suggested.

“I-I didn’t fall madly in love with them…”

Suuuuure you didn’t, I thought. I bet you couldn’t say that to my face.

“Let’s look around the place some more tomorrow!” Mimi’s eyes shone with excitement all over again.

“S-sure…” I said, but I just wasn’t that interested in the Ferrexes.

The next day, Mimi and Elma excitedly went off in search of more Ferrex cuddles. I wasn’t as charmed by them, so I decided to pass on it.

“You could’ve gone if you wanted, Mei.”

“I have finished collecting the bulk of their data,” she responded.

“Oh. Well, how about we go out on a date? Not that I have an itinerary in mind.”

“A date? That sounds lovely.” Mei didn’t look too excited, but that was just because of her default face. It did kinda feel from her tone that she was happy, though, so I decided to go with that. “Where should we go?” she asked.

“I dunno. For this colony’s size, the port and trade districts aren’t that big. I was wondering what’s going on in the other districts.”

“A fair plan. The guide map does seem to lack data on them,” Mei said.

She must have been using the colony’s public network to look for information. Though we were heading for districts that weren’t in the guide map, they didn’t seem to forbid entry. If nothing else, it wouldn’t be a crime just to go there.

“Just in case, can you check that we’re not doing anything illegal?” I requested.

“I’ve just checked, and it does not seem to go against any laws,” she said after a moment.

“Good stuff, Mei. You work fast.”

“Thank you for your praise.”

She truly was capable. Almost terrifyingly so, in fact, but it was up to me to use her to her fullest potential. I would have to grow as a leader if I didn’t want her capabilities to go to waste due to my shoddy leadership.

“This road is long as heck, though.”

“It is a connecting road between modules, after all,” Mei explained. “Though they may not look large from the ship, they are quite impressive structures.”

Strangely, this colony didn’t have any high-speed travel methods between modules. Most colonies used moving walkways, transport carts, or even capsule trains that moved through their mass transport system.

“Without high-speed travel, this must be inconvenient for the residents,” I mused. “Speaking of, I haven’t seen any at all.”

“Something is in the wall. Perhaps a goods transport system?”

“Huh. Do they use that to travel?”

“Most likely. Ferrexes are small, after all.” Ferrexes ranged from thirty to fifty centimeters in height, so they were small enough to sit right inside their transport system.

After a bit more walking, Mei grabbed my jacket and stopped in place. “Master, there is a personnel sensor installed,” Mei warned me. “In five meters, we will be in detection range. Would you like me to nullify it?”

“Nah, let’s leave it. If we nullify it, they might think we’re here to cause trouble. Besides, we’re not doing anything wrong, so let’s not hide ourselves.”

“Understood.”

Mei would let me know if there was a lethal trap here, so there probably was no threat. I doubted they would just kill passersby for no reason, anyway.

After passing through the sensor, I saw something approaching us. Battle robots? They looked to be robots modeled after a four-legged mammal, and there were two of them. They were white all over, looking like mechanical foxes from afar.

“What are those?” I asked.

“They are a type of machine that I am unfamiliar with,” she explained. “They are not large, but they seem to be agile.”

Either way, they were coming at us, so we decided to stop and wait for the mammal robots to approach. Though they’re machines, their movements look natural as hell.

“They look like they have weapons,” I said warily.

“Yes. I believe they’re similar to laser guns.”

The road was a straight line, so we didn’t have any cover. If it turned into a shootout, then I was at a major disadvantage without my power armor. Machines were sure to be sturdier than a flesh bag like me, though Mei might be able to take them on.

One of the two machines stepped forward. A voice that didn’t seem to be its own came out of it. “Hello, visitors. The Ferrex residential district lies ahead. Nothing there is likely to be of interest of you. What brings you here?”

I was a little wary, but it didn’t seem to mean us harm. “Oh, so it’s a residential district?” I replied. “Sorry, it’s nothing in particular. We just kind of wandered around and came this way to see what was here, since it wasn’t on the guide map. Just curiosity is all.”

“Curiosity, you say… Could you present identification?” The other robot asked. This seemed a little perfunctory, or business-like.

“I don’t have a guilty conscience, so I don’t care. But I have to ask. Who are you, and under what authority do you want my ID?”

My matter-of-fact question caused the two robots to look at each other. After a few seconds, their white metallic bodies suddenly and swiftly changed colors. They turned bright red, manifested red plus-marks on their bodies, and finally settled on a two-tone black-and-white scheme. They almost looked like police cars now.

“How rude of us. We are the security of Iomett Prime’s Ferrex Residential District. We request your identification under our authority, as security.”

“We don’t use these robots often, so we forgot to set them to their security colors. Sorry!”

The two mammal robots’ ears drooped down. What elaborate machines.

 

***

 

“Was it cramped?” one Ferrex asked. “Nobody comes this way except for us, so the transport pods are based on our size.”

“Meh, it’s fine,” I shrugged. “No big deal.”

“Yes. It was no problem.”

Ten minutes later, we were in the Ferrexes’ residential district. We had come here using their biggest transport pod, which was made to fit multiple Ferrexes at once. Unfortunately, it was still only big enough for one of us to ride at a time, so it was pretty cramped.

“This is incredible, though,” I said.

“Yes,” Mei agreed. “It is quite the large tree!”

In the Ferrexes’ residential district was a ridiculously, insanely huge tree. I don’t think there were trees this big on Earth! I recognized it as a tree because I could see branches with leaves here and there, but without them, I’d have no idea what it was. How tall was this thing?

“That’s our home. We’ve dug hollows into the Great Tree Drasell to live in,” one Ferrex explained, wearing a small bag on their back and carrying a super-tiny rifle as they looked up at the giant tree next to us.

The bag they wore was a backpack that carried energy packs, much like the ones for my laser gun. A cable was connected from the bag to their rifle, too. It must have been a special gun just for Ferrexes.

“Sorry we’re holding so many weapons. Rules are rules.” Another Ferrex was equipped the same way. They were the security staff inside the machines that had greeted us. Apparently, those foxlike contraptions were like specialized tanks for the Ferrex species.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” I said. “We understand if you don’t trust us.”

Ferrexes were small creatures—no doubt they would be on guard when approached by people more than three times their size. They might be faster than us, but there was an insurmountable difference when it came to body weight and sturdiness.

If Mei or I so much as punched them hard, they could sustain heavy injuries. Stepping on them or squeezing them hard would outright kill them. How could something like that not be wary of us? It would be like us fighting six- to seven-meter-tall giants.

“Do you have any shops for daily essentials at all?” I asked.

“All facilities that we need to survive are within the tree,” a Ferrex explained. “Not just living spaces, but also food production and commercial facilities. Unfortunately, it’s not big enough for you to enter.”

“Figures… I guess you were right in saying that it wouldn’t be interesting to us.”

“I guess so,” they shrugged.

There were a few holes about half a meter in diameter near the base of the tree, but it would definitely be too hard for me or Mei to fit in there.

“Still, just seeing a tree this huge made it worth coming,” I added.

“Is that so?”

“It would’ve been cool if there was a hole big enough in this tree for people to go in and experience a sort of imitation Ferrex lifestyle, though.”

“I see. I will pass that along as a visitor’s thoughts.” One of the two security staff members took his job very seriously. The other seemed…lazier? Maybe “carefree” was a more diplomatic way of saying it.

“Anyway, we don’t want to intrude,” I decided. “We’ll be on our way now.” The sight of Ferrexes poking their little heads out of holes here and there was adorable, but I didn’t want to disturb their peace.

Just then, the terminal in my pocket vibrated. “Hm?” I must have gotten a message.

“Is it from Elma?” Mei asked.

“Looks like it. She says we have a visitor…?”

Say what? Who would want to visit us?

 

***

 

When we returned to the ship, we found Mimi, Elma, and said visitor waiting for us.

“This is the visitor?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Elma answered. “But, er…”

She and I looked at the Ferrex. They wore a ragged trench coat and a worn-out fedora to match. They had a strange strength in their sharp eyes. Floating next to them was a suitcase even bigger than them. That thing must have been a container made with similar technology as our gravity spheres.

“This is the first time we’ve met, right?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” they responded. “I’m Keats, a humble courier.” Apparently male, the Ferrex named Keats extended his hand, so I squatted down to his height and shook his hand with my pointer finger and thumb. No matter how strange it is, you gotta respond to a proper greeting: that’s just called having good manners.

“I’m Hiro, captain and owner of the Krishna,” I introduced myself. “I’m the superior of Mimi and Elma, the girls who brought you here. And this is our Maidroid, Mei.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” Mei struck a lovely curtsy to greet Keats.

“So, Keats the Courier. What brings you here?”

“I want you to take me and my luggage here to the colony Mirei Secundus, in the Mirei System.” Keats punctuated that by smacking the suitcase next to him.

I pointed to the ship behind me with my thumb and asked, “Does this look like a passenger ship to you?”

“Nah. But really, you won’t even notice we’re here.”

Still squatting, I stared Keats in the eye for a while. Hmm. He looks so much like a weasel that I can’t read his expression. I was unfortunately not equipped with the ability to read minds or tell if people were lying based on the look on their faces, so I decided to outsource the problem.

“Send your request through the mercenary guild,” I said. Why had he come to me about this, anyway? He could just ask a normal passenger ship or merchant to take him to the next system over. It was too suspicious that he was coming directly to me, a mercenary.

“Well, that’d be a good waste of me coming all the way here to ask you directly!” He laughed. “I’m not asking for front-row seats here! Just toss me into the corner of your cargo space, okay?”

“Are you carrying illegal goods?”

“Nothing illegal here. It’s totally legal, if a little scandalous.”

“Scandalous?”

“Just a little! Anyway, we stand out too much talking out here. Let’s chat inside.” Keats glanced at the Krishna. I ignored him and looked to Elma and Mimi.

“Our bad.”

“We’re sorry…”

The two looked down sadly and apologized. This time, they had brought the trouble to me.

“As long as you know it was wrong,” I said, forgiving them. “Be careful from now on, okay?” I used my terminal to take down the Krishna’s shields. We would decide whether to accept Keats’ request after he told us everything.

“Ugh,” Keats groaned. “You Tallmen all make such huge, inconvenient stuff.” He clambered up one of the cafeteria’s stools and stood atop it, with only his head and shoulders visible over the table.

“Wow…” Mimi put her hands to her mouth and squealed in delight at the sight.

“Cute…!” Elma agreed, her lips twitching. They called him cute, but Keats sounded like a grizzled old man.

These two were definitely taken in by his cuteness, right? That’s gotta be why they agreed to let him talk to me. I’ll have a word with them about that later.

“Tallmen,” though? Really? I would imagine that most races alien to the Ferrexes would be Tallmen.

“So?” I demanded. “You said it’s not illegal, so… what’s in the suitcase?”

“I can’t tell you that much, but I swear on the emperor’s own name that it’s totally legal.”

“Swear on the emperor’s name…?” As someone who wasn’t an imperial citizen, I had no idea how much resolve or trustworthiness was behind that statement.

Noticing my confusion, Elma cleared her throat and took the lead. “If you’re willing to swear on the emperor’s name, then you know what happens if you’re lying.”

“Of course. Do whatever you want with me; hell, skin me and sell my pelt, if that’s what it takes.”

Was that some sort of morbid Ferrex joke? “What’s the reward if we give you a ride?” I asked.

“Five thousand Ener,” Keats responded.

“That’s pocket change! It’s clearly not worth the risk. I’d rather just shoot down some pirate ship instead. I also don’t like how you came straight to us instead of putting in a request through the guild. And you’re going to tell me this isn’t illegal stuff? If it’s not illegal, why don’t you just go on a passenger ship?”

“To keep out of trouble. If I’m on this ship, I won’t run into any of my countrymen, right? That’s what I want.” Keats then made a show of smacking his floating suitcase again. “Like I said before, it’s legal but scandalous—especially among my people.”

“Oh!” Mimi piped up at Keats’ words. Everyone looked over at her. “Erm, could it be that…there are Ferrex pelts inside?”

Keats narrowed his eyes. “Now that’s a shocker! You’re smart, little lady. Did one of my countrymen tell you about it?”

“Yes. I’ve heard that while many were kidnapped, others were killed for their pelts.”

“Hold up.” I glared at Keats, but he responded with an exaggerated shrug.

“Hey now, hey now! I’d never do that to my people. These are legal goods. We Ferrexes are weak in a whole lot of ways. It takes the strongest of us to go out and risk their lives to make money from Tallmen. Most Ferrexes are scared of Tallmen, so they stay inside the tree and live quiet lives. But after a lifetime of that, some of us reach the end of our ropes. One tree can only hold so many of us, after all.”

Keats hit the suitcase yet again and continued, “And this is where they end up. But thanks to their sacrifices, we can keep on living. We watch over their final moments and make a small profit thanks to it. See, my countrymen hate people like me.”

Things were getting way heavier than I expected, but there was nothing we could do about it. At best, we could take Keats to the Mirei System; nothing more.

“So, you’re appealing to our emotions,” I said.

“Absolutely!” He laughed again. “I mean, what other tools do I have to persuade you?”

With that, I looked away from Keats and to the girls. Mimi’s eyes were clearly pleading for us to do something to help him. Surprisingly, Elma was also looking at me as if demanding to help. What’s gotten into you girls? Do you owe Keats or something?

“Mei, would that mess with our route?”

“The Mirei System is on the way to our destination. I’ve looked at the traffic data of Mirei Secundus, and as long as there are no unexpected accidents, our time loss would be less than an hour.”

“Within range of a rounding error, huh?” I said, deep in thought. We had no reason to accept this request, but also no reason to refuse. According to Mei, there was no risk involved. Given her abilities, it would be extremely hard for Keats to slip out of her sight and do anything fishy. “Fine… But Mei’s going to keep an eye on you, Keats.”

Guess we can accept it, then. Low risk, low reward. Most of all, the girls really want to do it. I still don’t know why exactly, but it’s not worth asking about.

“Dang, I get my own maid? Now this is high-class treatment!” Keats grinned sardonically, baring one of his little fangs as he shrugged. Ugh. He’s looking to be a difficult little weasel.

 

***

 

The Krishna had three bedrooms. One was the captain’s quarters, where I stayed. The other two were originally made for two crew members each, but Mimi and Elma both enjoyed having a room to themselves. We currently had no room just for Mei, so she was using the maintenance pod and other equipment installed for her in the cargo bay as her own room.

That said, there was no room for Keats in the Krishna. I didn’t want a little weasel in my room, and I’d be damned if I was going to let him stay with Mimi or Elma, so I relegated him to the cargo bay.

“This is your room, such as it is,” I declared.

“It’s so luxurious, I might just cry.” Keats’ voice echoed throughout the austere cargo space. We didn’t have any loot right now, so it was nice and spacious. I had assigned Keats an empty metal container in a small corner of the room, within arm’s reach of Mei’s maintenance pod.

“It’s a box that used to hold high-quality food cartridges,” I explained. “I’d say it’s two to three times more luxurious than the average cartridge box.” Even so, it was still small enough to carry.

“I appreciate a sturdy box that even I can open, but there’s no way you’re gonna make me sleep on cold, hard metal,” Keats complained.

“No worries there. Mei?”

“Yes.” Mei folded up a thin cloth that she was holding and placed it inside the food cartridge container. Now his bed was complete.

“What about a bathroom and shower?” Keats asked.

“Don’t worry about the toilet; we’ve got a portable one. But when it’s time for you to leave, I’ll need you to move its contents to the ship’s toilet.”

“Leave that to me,” Mei said with a nod. If she was willing to do it, then sure. Thanks, Mei.

“What should we do about his bath?” I pondered aloud.

“Just let me use the shower. If I used a bath made for Tallmen, I’d drown.”

True. I’d definitely have a problem with that. I mean, who wants to use a bath where someone else died?

“Cool. If you need anything, tell Mei. As long as she accompanies you, you’re free to go wherever you want—except for the crew bedrooms, the cockpit, weapons storage, and the generator room.”

“Gotcha. I’ll just take things nice and easy.” Keats climbed into the container. After that, I shot a glance at Mei and then left for the cockpit.

“Are we ready for launch?” I asked the girls as I arrived.

“All ship checks came back okay,” Elma affirmed. “Mimi, how about you?”

“Oh, yes. I’ve sent the request. Keats is good to launch, as well,” Mimi explained.

“Right,” I remembered. “Apparently, he has the right to free travel since he has a license for it.”

“That would be because he’s seen as a proper merchant,” Elma said with a nod.

“Define proper.” Based on how he talked, I wasn’t totally sure that he was the most upstanding individual. He probably wasn’t a solo courier; he seemed to be hinting at the existence of some larger organization.

“Erm…” Mimi started nervously. Was she going to apologize for bringing him aboard?

“Don’t worry about Keats,” I said, stopping her. “As long as you’re careful from now on, we’ll be fine.”

“Well, that’s not it… I mean, I am deeply sorry for that, but it isn’t what I was going to say.”

“It’s not?” If it wasn’t about Keats, then what was it? Did they run into something worse when I wasn’t with them? If so, I was more than willing to hear her out.

“Um, is there nothing that we can do to help the Ferrexes?” she asked me.

“Definitely not. We might be a little rich, but in the end, we’re just mercenaries.”

“I see…” Mimi slumped down sadly upon my answer.

One little band of mercenaries couldn’t do something to fix all of the Ferrexes’ societal problems. That was just laughable. We didn’t even have a full perspective of their problems. Besides, their problems were theirs to fix. Trying to extend a helping hand just because we felt bad for them wouldn’t fix anything. Hell, it could just make things worse. There was no magic solution that could fix their species-wide or societal problems all at once.

“You could make it your life’s work to help them with their troubles, if that’s your thing,” I told her. “But right now, I think it’s just best to remember what you’ve seen. No doubt stuff like this will happen again.”

“Yup,” Elma agreed. “The empire is full of humans, elves, Ferrexes, and many more different species. Every single one has its own problems. Not even just species-wide, either; individual colonies do, too. But I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”

“I suppose not…” Mimi had lost a lot of her life to the darkness of Tarmein Prime. Honestly, these problems weren’t just true of the empire; they were probably true of the whole galaxy.

“Anyway, let’s cheer up and get going. In my experience, trouble comes in droves.”

“Totally true.”

“That’s right…”

 

***

 

The trip there was actually peaceful and quiet. We faced no particular issues connecting to the hyperlane into the Mirei System. Once we were there, nobody could do anything to us until we arrived at the next system.

“All right, time for some good eats,” I declared.

With that, I headed to the cargo space where Mei and Keats were. Hyperdrive travel was almost entirely autopilot, so we took our breaks in shifts. This hyperdrive would take fourteen hours, so I was going to send Mei to the cockpit so we could enjoy a meal. After that, my girls and I would switch to the cockpit while Mei rested.

“Hm?” Keats piped up. “Come to bring me some food?”

“Of course we’ll feed you. You can just reimburse us at reward time.”

“Sounds good. I’ve always wondered what mercenaries eat.”

I took Keats and Mei out of the cargo space and into the cafeteria, where Mimi was already waiting.

“Sorry, Mei. Could I get you to switch places with Elma in the cockpit?” I asked.

“Understood.”

“Let’s see what we’re eating today…” I used our ship’s pride and joy, the Steel Chef 5, to order lunch for me, Mimi, and Elma. “What do Ferrexes eat, anyway?”

“Anything with protein,” Keats answered. “We eat carbs too, but protein and fat are our most important nutrients.”

“Hmm. Okay, so artificial meat should do. Is there anything that would make you sick?”

“Any food cartridge made to standard specs is just fine.”

I searched around on the Steel Chef 5 for something for Ferrexes. To my surprise, they had meals made just for them. I decided to order one.

“You mercs sure do live in luxury, huh?” Keats mused, picking up an artificial steak with a toothpick stuck in it.

All of our meals were classy, thanks to the highly advanced cooker, the Steel Chef. Or at least they looked classy: they were actually just imitations made by high-class food cartridges and artificial meat.

“I dunno about others, but this is how we do it,” I replied.

As usual, the Steel Chef put out a banger of a meal. How could food cartridges make such delicious food? Perhaps the greatest mystery in all the universe was the Steel Chef 5 itself.

“I dunno if Tallman-sized facilities work for me, but the place looks a lot tidier than you’d expect.”

“Does it? Hee hee…” Mimi fidgeted happily at his praise. “The two of us actually put all of this together ourselves.”

Cute, but stop doing that while you’re holding food. You don’t wanna get sauce all over your clothes.

“Don’t expect this to be like the average mercenary ship,” Elma warned. “I’d say most mercs are more like what you expect.” According to her, most mercenaries lived meager lives under the pretense of masculinity. I’d say they just seemed more like extreme masochists.

“Really? Well, if that’s what the crew says, I guess it must be true.” Keats cocked his head before shrugging and biting into his artificial steak. “Damn! What kind of artificial meat was I eating all this time?” He was agape, muttering to himself as he ate the artificial steak. The Steel Chef 5 was so damn good that you had to wonder if they were the same food cartridges and meats.

“How much did that Steel Chef run us, anyway?” I asked. “Not any more than 50,000, right?”

“I believe the manufacturer’s suggested retail price was 48,000.”

“That’s expensive… You mercs sure do prosper, huh?” Keats sounded exasperated by our conversation, but he ate fast regardless. He seemed expectant after finishing his portion, so when I told him he was free to take more, he lit up and gladly did so.

Don’t eat too much, though. If you eat too fast and throw up, you’ll have to use our medical pod. I sure hope that thing works on Ferrexes.

 

***

 

As I predicted, Keats did eat far too much than was good for him and ended up vomiting. The little puke weasel went right to sleep in his container afterward, though, which saved us a lot of effort. In the end, we successfully transported both him and his cargo. We were worried that we might run into more trouble like usual, but it seemed to be a needless fear this time.

“You really helped me out, brother!” he thanked me.

“Yeah, yeah, I know I did.”

Keats made a strange, high-pitched noise akin to a laugh.

“I’m not taking you back home, though,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, I’ll just grab a merchant ship to get back. I’ve got negotiations anyway, so I’ll be in this colony for a while.” With that, Keats tapped his floating suitcase. I was worried that someone might steal it after we left him, but it probably had some sort of security mechanism.

“Good luck, Keats,” Mimi said.

“Careful out there!” Elma added.

“We wish for your success,” Mei chimed in as well.

“Yeah. Thanks, girlies.” Keats turned his little self around and left with his suitcase, disappearing into the crowd of the port district.

“Okay, girls. Let’s get out of here before we have to pay docking fees!”

“Okay!”

“Aye aye.”

“Yes, Master.”

I let Mimi and the others onto the Krishna before I finally climbed the ladder. Before getting on, I looked upon the crowd in Mirei Secundus one last time. I didn’t know if we would ever meet Keats again in this vast galaxy. Thinking about it logically, it was much more likely that we probably wouldn’t.

“Are you coming?” Mimi called out to me.

“Yeah! Sorry…” Either way, our paths would diverge now. Only God knows if we’ll ever see Keats again.

“If you don’t hurry, we’ll have to pay docking fees!” she reminded me.

“Yeah, yeah. Quit pushing me.” I didn’t resist Mimi as she pushed me into the Krishna. Like I said myself, it was time for us to get to our own journey.

We were off to the Vlad System to buy ourselves a mothership.