17 Isten 1117: Fugitak – Adar/Hinterworlds (0602 C5A027A-5 Lo Ni De A 125 Na F2V M3D)
I’ve been here only a couple of hours, and I already hate this place.
We tumbled out of Jump on schedule and more-or-less in the right place; about 120 diameters out and trailing Fugitak in its orbit. There were no other ships in the immediate area, so we set a course toward the planet. I made an announcement over the shipwide comms that we had arrived at Fugitak and that all passengers should start preparing for disembarkation.
We were almost to orbit before we got an actual contact; we had just been following the starport beacon in. The only thing on our sensors in orbit with us was a Scout/Courier holding geostationary over the main starport, but even it wasn’t saying anything; only its transponder indicated it was there.
“Oh, hello… um… Grayswandir!” came a voice, finally. “Sorry, didn’t see you out there. So… you’re wanting to land?”
I looked over at Do’rex, who was looking back at me. I hesitated, then opened the comms.
“Yes, this is the Grayswandir. We have a load of cargo for you as well as several passengers. Requesting landing clearance.”
There was a brief pause. “Sorry Grayswandir,” said the voice, finally. “Guess we weren’t expecting anyone. I’ll have someone ready to pressurize the dome. Land on Pad 3, I’ll set the beacon.” A few seconds later, a landing beacon appeared.
“Thank you, Fugitak,” I said, flicking the coordinates to the Pilot’s console. Do’rex made no comment, but the ship immediately rolled towards the new vector.
We didn’t hear anything else until we were halfway through descent. The atmosphere on Fugitak is an ugly yellowish-brown color, with darker brown clouds of condensed particles.
“OK,” came the voice over the comms again. “I’ve got someone ready to close the dome once you’re down. Give it about five minutes to close and re-pressurize, and then you should be good.”
“Thanks, Fugitak. I think. See you on the ground.” I looked over at Do’rex, who flipped a tentacle of his own in confusion. I figured we would see what they were talking about when we landed.
We broke through the cloud layer and spotted the colony. A surprisingly small dome was connected to three landing pads by covered walkways. One of them was covered with a dome while the other two stood open. Approach lights flashed around one of the open ones.
The Grayswandir settled onto the pad, its velocity dropping to zero just above it. Do’rex held us there for a moment before extending the gear and descending to the ground. The indicator lights blinked green, and he killed the gravs.
I flipped off the gravitics and inertial dampers. The internal gravity had been slowly changing to match Fugitak’s over the past week, and the ship was no longer moving, so there was barely any sensation of anything having happened. I opened the shipwide comms.
“Welcome to Fugitak, everyone. We have been asked to wait while the dome is closed and pressurized, but if you would like to make your way to the lower lounge, we will help you secure your luggage and cargo for departure.”
I then flipped over to the crew channel. “We’re down. Start putting everything into standby.”
“Sure thing, Captain! And nice landing, Do’rex!” I heard from Jami. No one else said anything, though Varan was probably involved with the passengers. I looked out through the canopy again.
What looked like large flakes of brown snow were falling around us, slowly being cut off as a fabric dome moved overhead. It took several minutes to close down on the opposite side, at which point a ring of red lights around the perimeter lit up. External sensors immediately registered a change in atmospheric composition as unseen blowers kicked in. Another few minutes passed before the lights changed to green.
“You’re good!” came the voice from the comms. “See you inside!”
“Thanks, Fugitak,” I said, cutting the comms. I turned to Do’rex. “Well, let’s go see what’s here.” He clicked once in acknowledgment.
By the time I got back to the lounge, it was empty, and the iris to the cargo bay was open. I passed on through to find Varan, Saahna, and all of the passengers–with the exception of Dr. Korvusar–already there. Saahna was opening the starboard cargo hatch, while Varan helped the passengers with their luggage and directed our two cargobots to collect the Oligack team’s containers.
Then the atmosphere hit me. Even with the dome closed, there was a strong ammonia odor, mixed with the smell of something forgotten in the back of a cooler. I saw all the passengers react as well, and I regretted leaving my filter mask back in my cabin.
The ramp extended, and the passengers started disembarking. I moved through them, wishing them well and thanking them for Travelling with us. The Borators seemed genuinely happy; the happiest I had seen them since coming aboard. I again hoped that they would find what they were looking for here.
The Oligack team was less appreciative. Dr. Cotran confronted me again as they prepared to leave.
“Well, Captain!” He gave undue emphasis on the word. “I cannot say that this has been an enjoyable trip. I will certainly advise my superiors not book passage on your ship in the future.”
I gave him my best fake look of concern and shook his hand. “I’m sorry we were unable to meet your expectations, Doctor. Perhaps next time, your superiors might approve a High Passage instead of a Middle. Our services may be more to your satisfaction then.”
“Goodbye, Captain. Once our cargo is unloaded, I will be happy to have nothing more to do with this ship.” He turned and, without a word, stalked down the ramp. Dr. Cotran followed after him without looking back. Parah looked at me and mouthed “sorry” before following as well.
I looked over at Varan, who shrugged. He was right; the odds of our ever having anything to do with them again were low enough that I shouldn’t care. Still, the population here was small enough that anything negative they had to say against us could influence who we picked up towards our next destination.
A pair of locals with manual cargo transports appeared at the bottom of the ramp, and I could see another couple of workers behind them. I waved them towards Varan and walked down the ramp, looking for whoever was in charge.
I found them quickly enough. No one seemed to be wearing any kind of uniform, but this guy was wearing a ridiculously tall hat and approached me right away.
“You are the Captain?” he asked, without preamble.
“Derek Kodai,” I said, extending my hand. He looked at it, then back at me. I pulled it back.
“You have your manifest?” he continued without pause. There were two other people with him, a man and a woman, both holding tablets and taking constant notes. I later learned they were transcribing everything we said.
“Sure!” I said. “I pulled up our passenger and cargo manifests on my comp and went to flick them to him, but he simply looked at me.
“What do you expect me to do with that?”
“Um… You wanted the manifest?”
He sighed and looked at one of his companions. “Fifty credit fine: Administrative delay.”
“What?!”
He looked back at me. “Computer records can be altered; paper is forever. Please submit your manifests on hard copy within the hour or face additional fines.”
I looked incredulously at him for a moment, then opened the ship’s comm. “Gray? Give us a hard copy of the crew and cargo manifests, please?”
I turned back to him, trying to give a polite smile. I didn’t like the way this was going. “What else do you need from us?”
“So, where are you staying?”
I shrugged. “Probably near the port, whatever is available?”
He frowned at that. “Not many places to stay; we don’t get a lot of tourists here.”
“We’ll manage.”
He looked dubious for a moment, then looked over his shoulder again. “Tell Alek he’ll need to open up a few more rooms.” He turned back. “How many of you are there?”
“Five.”
“You willing to double up? We don’t have a lot of room here.”
I glanced around. Varan was supervising the cargobots as they hauled the containers down the ramp and stacked them according to their destinations. Saahna had come up behind me, and the passengers were standing in a cluster near the entrance to the pad. I didn’t see Do’rex or Jami; they were probably still on the ship. I didn’t see Dr. Korvusar either, for that matter.
A utilitybot hovered up, a folded printout on its upper surface. I took the printout and handed it to the waiting official.
“Here you are, Mr…” I trailed off, realizing that I hadn’t gotten his name.
“It’s Commissioner!” he said. “Commissioner Harter.” He frowned. “Not properly addressing an official should be a fine, but since you cooperated so quickly in getting your manifest, I will ignore that. This time.”
I managed not to frown openly and instead turned it into my best fake smile. “Thank you, Commissioner.”
He nodded. “Fine. Now, let’s check out your passengers, then your cargo.”
The next few hours were spent in an unbelievable maze of bureaucracy. Harter interviewed each passenger at length, asking what they were here for, how long they were staying, and so on. Eventually, all of them were allowed through the airlock and deeper into the colony.
I did learn that the Oligak team was here to determine if they could extract certain compounds from the local atmosphere instead of having to create them elsewhere. They were working with one of the outlying homesteads, and Harter was extremely upset about that fact. He was issuing multiple fines for “failing to go through proper channels,” and he and Doctor Bertoam were engaged in a… somewhat entertaining argument for some time.
I took some slight delight in seeing Bertoam taken down a step or two.
Unfortunately, we then went through a similarly lengthy process with the cargo. Harter insisted that every container be opened and its contents personally inspected. Finally, he seemed satisfied.
“Very well, Captain,” he said, looking through the manifests again. “It appears everything is in order.” He stopped, looking at something. “Wait…” He held up the paper. “Where is this person? Dr… Korvusar?”
I looked around myself. “I’m… not sure actually.” I opened the ship’s comm to her cabin, but there was no response. I switched to the general channel. “Can someone find Dr. Korvusar and ask her to come outside, please? The local officials… the Commissioner needs to speak to her.”
“I will be there directly, Captain,” came Dr. Korvusar’s voice. “I’ve been sampling your atrocious wine selection while waiting.” I frowned but looked back at Harter.
“She’ll be here in a moment,” I said.
He frowned and looked at his assistant again. “Administrative delay. 50 credit fine.”
I gritted my teeth but said nothing.
A few minutes later, Dr. Korvusar appeared, carrying a small pack over her shoulder. She walked directly up to the Commissioner and handed him her ident.
“I’m sorry… Commissioner?” Please forgive Captain Kodai here, I was waiting on board so as not to waste time down here.”
Harter frowned but shook his head. “The Captain is responsible for his ship, even here.” He looked directly at me, but I said nothing.
After a moment, he turned to examine her ident. He paused, then looked back at her.
“You’ve been to Fugitak before.” I couldn’t tell if it was an accusation or a question.
“Yes,” she said without expression. She continued looking at him, saying nothing further.
He frowned and looked at her ident again. “Then you should have known the fine for delaying arrival processing.” He gave a final flick through the ident then handed it back to her. “May I ask where you are staying?”
“Does Madida have her room still?”
He frowned again at that. “I don’t know for certain, but I don’t think she has a guest right now.”
Dr. Korvusar smiled. “Thank you, Commissioner.” She nodded at me. “Captain.” She turned and started walking to the airlock herself.
Harter turned back to me. “Now, do you and your crew know what is expected from you here?”
I frowned. “We’re just staying at the starport.”
“This isn’t the Imperium, Captain; their extraterritoriality doesn’t apply on Fugitak. Besides, there are only about 50 of us here, and only about 20 of us are permanent. You want to stay here, you follow the rules.”
“Sure, no problem. As long as you have beer.”
He said nothing but gestured to one of his assistants, who handed me a stack of papers. “Here are the rules. When you are ready, we will have someone take you to the inn.”
“Most of the rules should be self-explanatory. We’re in a hostile environment here, so there are severe penalties for doing anything to compromise life support. You’re a starship crew, so I’m sure you can appreciate that. We are also limited on supplies and organics for the fabricators, so make sure you don’t leave with more than you came here with. And don’t interfere with any of our normal operations.”
“We’re all family here,” he said, looking levelly at me. “There are only a few hundred of us on the entire planet. We all know each other. We don’t know you. You’re a guest in our home. Act like it, and there won’t be any problems.”
He turned and left, one of the assistants following him. The other looked at me blankly.
“We’ve already alerted Alek, and he has opened three rooms for you. I will lead you there when you are ready.”
“OK, fine. Let me grab what I need, then we’ll meet you back here.” I looked around. Varan was talking to someone else near the cargo. I started walking in that direction, but he saw me and waved me away. I waved back and headed onto the ship.
Back on board, I went to my cabin and threw the last few things into my downpack, making sure to leave my snub pistol locked in my safe. I then headed back to the lounge.
Jami was there, leaning back and reading something on her comp. She stood up as I came in.
“Ready for this, Captain?”
I shrugged. “A bit insular, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, we always hated stopping here. You can make some good profit, but they’re really picky about what you can get away with.”
“I can’t imagine living on a planet with only 250 people on it.”
“You live on a starship with only a dozen people on it, at most. If you count the passengers.”
“Starships move! We’re on another planet every couple of weeks! Can you imagine being trapped in this dome for months? Years?” I shook my head. “The smell would kill me if nothing else.”
“You know, not everyone is lucky enough to be on a ship’s crew, much less actually own one.”
“I… guess. I always had it pretty easy back home. I was used to space even before I got on my own ship.”
“Oh?” A brief look of annoyance crossed her face. “I wish it had been that easy for me.” Apparently, that was a sensitive subject for her.
I tried to downplay what I had said. “Ask me about it sometime. Preferably after I’m a couple of beers in.”
“Don’t get him started,” said Saahna, entering the lounge from her cabin with her downpack over her shoulder. She looked at Jami. “You’ll have to put up with soggy shoulders for weeks.”
“Hey!”
“It’s the truth, and you know it.”
Saahna knew about a lot of my past, but even she didn’t know… well… why I was out here in the first place. And I wasn’t sure that I wanted her spreading what she did know to our new crew member quite yet. I was about to say something when Do’ rex arrived.
“I have coordinated with the local starport authority, what there is of one, to get the ship turned around and ready for launch.” He paused. “There is no refined fuel available here, but there is a gas giant in the system. We would be better off refueling there before our next Jump.”
I nodded in relief at the distraction. “Yeah, I figured as much. Passengers seem to like it, so we’ll give them a show on the way out.”
“You think we’ll pick up any passengers here?” asked Saahna.
“Would you stay here if you could go somewhere else?”
“Everywhere is home to someone. But no, I would leave the first chance I got.”
“Yeah.”
At that moment, Varan came into the lounge from the cargo bay. “OK,” he said with a deep sigh. “I think we’ve got everything taken care of. By the gods, these people are picky.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. “We’ve already racked up a few hundred credits in fines.”
“Wasn’t what I expected.”
“We’re only passing through. Oh, by the way, you and I are roomies for the next week. And you two,” I gestured towards Saahna and Jami, “get to be roommates as well.” I pointed to Do’rex. “You, at least, get your own room.”
Do’rex clicked but didn’t say anything. Saahna frowned. “We don’t get our own rooms?”
“You want to go argue with these people, go ahead. But any fines you rack up are yours.”
“Can’t hurt.”
“OK, everyone,” I said, ignoring her. “Let’s head out. They claim to have beer here, so let’s call them on it. We’ll get to wherever they have us staying, drop our stuff off, then head down to the nearest thing they have to a bar and decide what we’re doing next.” I picked up my downpack. “Let’s go.”
—
The “hotel” we were staying at turned out to be maybe a dozen rooms off to one side of the complex. It was underground, like most of the facility. The place I would be sharing with Varan was almost as small as the cabins on the ship, and the air smelled of ammonia, cleanser, and that overly recycled air odor. I looked dubiously at the bunk, kicked my downpack into a storage locker, and then headed back out to find the bar.
Which turned out to just be a corner of the single common room, which was probably the largest open space in the facility. One that apparently served as a bar, restaurant, meeting room, office, entertainment venue, and general hangout for the entire population. Three or four locals were sitting around, but I saw Jami and Saahna seated at a table near the back. I wandered over.
“Have a seat, Captain!” said Jami, shoving her downbag off the chair. “We’re already ahead of you!” She held up a glass.
I sat down and looked around. I finally saw a waitbot sitting in the corner and waved to it. It trundled over on an annoyingly squeaky set of treads. I saw the locals look over, and Jami winced.
“Yeah, you’re better off getting it yourself.” She pointed to a row of dispensers along one wall. “This thing isn’t much use.”
I sighed and stood up again, waving the waitbot away just as it arrived. As it trundled back to its corner, I went and checked out what was available. There was a surprisingly varied menu, but I was sure everything would be fabricated. I ordered a beer and a plate of fried tama leaves and then headed back to the table.
Varan was just sitting down as I arrived. “Thanks, Captain!” he said with a grin, reaching for my beer. I made a mock show of pulling it away from him and taking a drink.
If there is a Platonic ideal of an “average” beer, this was it. Definitely the output of a fabricator. I tried the tama leaves and made a face. Also fabricated. I suppose there was no other way to handle food on a planet like this, especially one with no actual farms or even agri-domes. I should have gotten used to it by now, but I never have.
Varan waved a sheaf of papers at me as I came back. “You probably should read these.” It was part of that stack of paper Harker’s assistant had handed me back in the landing bay. He headed off to the dispensers as I picked them up.
“Have you read this yet?” Saahna looked up from a similar set of papers. “Biological balance? Seriously?”
“What?” I asked, taking another handful of fake tama leaves and crunching on them as I started looking through my own set of papers.
“Their ‘environmental’ laws,” said Jami with a smile, taking a handful for herself. “They measure how many organics you consume while you’re here, and how many you… ‘leave behind.’ They hit you with exit fees if you take any home with you.”
“They measure our poop?”
“Basically… yeah,” she said with a laugh. “And how much you breathe and that sort of thing. They’re a closed environment here, kinda like the ship, but without the ability to replenish life support every time you land. They have to be careful.”
“Been here before?”
“We had… contacts here.” She suddenly seemed a bit more hesitant.
“Not sure I want to know.”
“I wouldn’t tell you anyway.”
“Um… thanks? I guess?” I turned to Saahna. “So what else is in there?”
She shook her head. “There’s a curfew here. A curfew! Everyone has to be in their rooms by midnight and stay there until at least 0600. We aren’t supposed to leave this ‘facility’ for any reason. And the common area is reserved for net-vids at 2100 every night. Oh, and we have to have all of our food and drink here in the common area; no food allowed elsewhere.”
“Sounds kinda regimented.”
“Yeah, and don’t say that too loud. There are also fines for ‘expressing dissent.'”
“We’re off-worlders.”
“Doesn’t matter. Still applies to us.”
“Maybe we should have stayed on the ship,” I said, letting out a sigh.
“Can’t do that either,” said Varan, sitting down again and putting a beer and something that I think were supposed to be fried meat pies on the table. He took one of the pies, took a bite, grimaced, then shoved the rest forward. “Up for grabs.”
“Why not?” I asked, ignoring the pies. Jami took one, but Saahna didn’t look up from the papers.
“All visitors are required to stay in the ‘transient’ facility unless they have ‘pre-approved local housing.’ That’s where we’re staying. Apparently, we’re doubled up in case another ship comes through.”
“And if one doesn’t?”
“You have to pay a ‘commerce fee’ to cover lost income from not interacting with the local economy. Such as it is.”
I shook my head. “They’ve got all their bases covered. Wish we could do that well.”
“I wondered why we came here.”
“Because it’s the first stop on the Alike Run?” I shook my head. “Look, this is just a stop on our way to somewhere else. We can deal with it. There are worse places we could be. They’ll get the ship turned around, we’ll pick up some cargo–and hopefully some passengers–and head out.”
“Where to next, Captain?” Jami was the only one of us who was even vaguely happy. She took another couple of tama leaves off my plate and then helped herself to another meat pie.
“Boilingbrook,” I said. I tossed my remote onto the table and activated it. The subsector holo appeared and collapsed as I pointed to it.
“Why there?” asked Saahna, putting down her copy of the paperwork and leaning forward.
“It’s a high-tech, one of the highest in the sector. Pretty good population, too.” I flicked Boilingbrook’s profile out. “High-tech industrial. We’ll be able to get some good cargo there.”
Varan grunted. “Another unbreathable atmosphere.”
“Won’t matter,” I said. “A few million people live there, mostly in floating cities. Very different from here.”
“Speaking of ‘here,’ do you really think you can pick up something?”
“Everyone has something to sell; something they want to ship somewhere. We’ll get something. And I’m sure there are a few people who want to go somewhere else.” Silently, I hoped I was right. Captain Anna had always done well, and I remembered everything she had taught me. At least, I thought I had. But this would be my first real test without her there to back me up. Venad had been easy. Here… Well, I guess I would see if I could really pull this off.
“I hope we find something,” said Saahna. “I know I wouldn’t want to stay here.”
The conversation returned to generalities. We wound up spending a good part of the afternoon in the common room, heading over to pick up something from the dispenser every now and then. After two or three, you stop noticing how average fabricated beer is. Somewhere along the line, Jami struck up a conversation with one of the locals and, after a time, I noticed she was at her table more than ours. I shook my head. I was the one who could fit in anywhere; I had done it quite a bit. But I felt awkward for some reason. I think the reality of being the Captain was setting in, and I felt the need to be the leader instead of letting someone else deal with things while I went out to have fun.
I went back to the dispenser for another beer. Which number it was I had lost track of; there wasn’t much else to do on the planet. I waited as a couple of the local residents stood there, taking an excessive amount of time to make their choices. Eventually, I got my beer and a batch of chew-sticks and returned to our table.
When I got there, I was surprised to see Saahna sitting alone. “Where is everyone?” I asked, dropping the sticks on the table and sliding back into my seat.
“Jami hooked up with one of the locals and left. Now Varan is over there seeing what he can do.”
“Good luck to him.”
“You aren’t trying your luck?”
I shook my head. “On a planet where everyone knows everyone else? One that we might come back to again, someday?” She laughed at that.
“So,” I said, leaning forward. “You looking for someone?”
She leaned back away from me, and I felt that wave of sadness again. “No… Actually, I’m looking forward to having a room to myself tonight. Where I don’t have to listen to Jami’s snoring.”
“Jami snores? Just hit the sonic dampeners.”
“I have. That woman can really put out the sound.”
I looked around. The common room was starting to fill up, and I didn’t see any of the others anywhere.
“Well, it looks like I get a room to myself, too.” I stood up and made a show of stretching. “I guess us old folks will go to bed and leave our young crew members to their fun.”
She kept sitting. “Actually, I’ll probably hang out for a while.” She swung around to watch the room again. I looked around one last time then headed back to my room.