Robin joined the others at the fire and quickly found a glass with a sweet liquor in his hands. He ensured his friends that he was doing fine and that he was no danger to them or their equipment anymore. His head felt fine and there were none of the signs of mental stress he had earlier.

  He also asked how everyone was and if their wounds had healed well. That was when Alena stood up and came closer.

  “We are fine.” Sevastian promised and looked at his sister, “Most of us only were dazed for a moment and got a headache. Only Alena wasn’t taking it too well. Her enhanced senses made her take the full brunt of your attack.”

  “It wasn’t an attack.” Robin grumbled, “More like an accident. Alena, how are you doing? Are you really okay?”

  She slowly came closer, her neutral face unreadable.

  “Ahem… you don’t look so good. I mean, you look great, but… angry?” Robin winced.

  “I’m back on my feet, thanks for asking.” She said with a cold voice, “You wouldn’t believe what wonders a recovery stim can do!”

  “Mhm, great! Yay to magic stims?” Said Robin hesitantly and tried to crawl away from the icy fury who was approaching. Losing his balance, he fell backwards from the trunk they used as a bench.

  “Ah come on, Alena. Leave him be. He didn’t do it on purpose.” Happy tried to calm her friend.

  “No worries, I only want to make sure he really understands how great these stims work. He should test it himself, just to get a better feeling for it!” Alena chuckled and a smile finally crept to her face and broke the stoney mask.

  Robin knew that grin from the very few times she had revealed it: in battle, when blood was spilled.

  “Alena, let’s talk ab- Ouwww…! Fawwck!” Robin cried in pain when Alena suddenly jumped forward, grabbed his head and bashed it onto the hard log.

  “Ew! That looks like it really hurts!” She gasped in fake horror when Robin looked up and blood gushed out of his nose.

  “Quick, take a stim and marvel at its wonders!” she said, throwing him a stim, which he caught and injected with trembling hands. It was a high quality one that worked fast even on critical injuries.

  Robin waited a moment to feel his broken bones mend and flesh recover while the others around the fire just stared awkwardly at the scene.

  When the pain lessened and he was sure the worst was over, he snorted to free his nose and took a deep breath.

  “Better?” Alena asked.

  “Better!” Robin nodded, then he tilted his head and looked into her eyes. “Better?” He also asked.

  “Better!” She laughed, a free and honest laugh. The first he had ever heard from her.

  After she calmed down and her face returned to its normal emotionless state, Alena bowed her head slightly.

  “Sorry… I needed that, even if you weren’t really at fault.”

  “Yeah, great.” Robin grumbled and wiped the remaining blood from his face, “I know we all are crazy to some extent, but let’s not repeat that, okay?”

  “Aye Captain, I’ll try my best. But who knows what fucked up adventure you’ll drag me into next time. So, no promises!”

  Robin needed a moment to grasp what she meant as he read between the lines and his eyes went wide.

  “You are coming with us?” Happy cheered when she also got the message and jumped up to give her a hug. Alena nimbly evaded her.

  “You’ll stay? Really? That… that is awesome!” Robin said happily and looked over to Sevatian. Alena’s brother had a wide grin on his face and nodded in confirmation.

  “We have already talked about this many times. It’s the right thing to do. I’ll have to remain on Rucasur for a long while and with this tender princess at my side,” he said and slightly bumped into Patience, “I won’t feel lonely. Alena would be bored to death if she was chained down there.”

  “Tender princess? Do you also want to kiss the log with your nose?” Patience scoffed but Robin saw the slight blush on her face. She was happy, that was all that mattered to him.

  Alena took a step back and, with a fist raised to her heart, bowed formally.

  “If your offer still stands, Captain, I would like to request permission to join your crew as a permanent member!”

  Robin also stood up and straightened his back.

  “You are more than welcome, Alena Vlasov. Welcome aboard!”

  After everything settled down, Robin looked first to Patience but then settled his gaze on Niu.

  “So it’s ‘You are coming with us?’ now?” He asked, “You wanna be part of this ragtag group of lunatics, too?”

  “Of course! As if I had a choice–you need a pilot! How could I let you, my first and most promising student, down?”

  “...I’m your only student.” Robin pointed out.

  “Yeah, how else would you get the title of ‘most promising’?” Niu asked innocently.

  “Didn’t you just watch Alena how this is done properly? There needs to be this special… atmosphere, you know? One must be able to feel the weight of the situation.”

  “Nah…” Happy waved him off, “Let’s just drink something and I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  Robin laughed and shook his head. “Welcome aboard, Niu Alaris. A pleasure to have you!”

  “Thanks, Captain!”

  While he was happy to have her on the team, Robin knew there had to be more to it than just a sudden change of heart. Niu had been struggling to mend the relationship with her family for a long time, but he got the feeling that something must have changed recently. It seemed like things had escalated even further and Niu now joining them was likely her way to put an end to that topic. He needed to find a private moment with her to talk about this.

  ‘Damn people problems…’

  While Happy wandered off, Robin finally turned to Patience.

  “Okay, now you have to tell me everything!” he said, “Have you learned anything from Hash?”

  The mood around the fire dropped a bit and he saw Patience clenching her fist. When Sevastian softly patted her arm, she relaxed again.

  “As agreed, Hash had sent a small team to Jim’s workshop to check for anything Seka Security may have missed. They did a number of different tests but came up empty handed. That was until one of his newest members caught a whiff of a strange energy that lingered nearby.” Patience explained what the priest had told her, “He ran every analysis in his repertoire and when he finally got a hit, the young Cetro was so excited that he made a mistake. He didn’t inform Hash personally but sent an unencrypted message over the Network.”

  She made a small pause to give Robin time to process the news and then continued, “The moment Hash learned who was responsible for Jim’s death, it was too late already. The Zulbano knew that they had been detected.”

  “The Zulbano?” Robin gasped and his mind wandered back to the wounded wolf-kin they had met in the woods.

  Patience nodded, “The rest is pretty straight forward. He fled with his community and hid here on Seavis. The Cetro quickly learned that TechnoBlood had poked a sleeping monster and immediately cut ties with them. The Zulbano then sent someone to clean up their slip-up but - well we saw how that ended.”

  Robin stood up. He couldn’t sit still and needed to move. Slowly, he walked back and forth.

  “The Zulbano killed Jim? Why?” He asked, “Was it the one we met before?”

  “We don’t know for sure.” Landom said soberly, “But I was involved in the investigation and many pieces would fall into place if the Zulbano had dealings with the smugglers. And Jim… I’m afraid he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time… he was collateral.”

  “Wrong place?” Robin raged, “He was in his own damn workshop. HIS workshop!”

  “Captain, you need to calm down!” Sevastian said, “You are angry but it doesn’t help to yell at us. We only wanna help.”

  Robin took a few calming breaths and sat back down.

  “You’re right, sorry. It’s just… arghhhh!”

  “I know, mate. I know.”

  “Was it the one we met in the forest?” Robin asked after some time.

  “No, that is unlikely.” Ang’Tue said, “He is too young and probably was sent here by his pack to find TechnoBlood as a cruel test.”

  “But he may know who has done it!” Robin perked up, “Where is he? Don’t tell me he really pulled it through and kicked the bucket.”

  “When we returned, he was gone. His ship was still there, so he probably retreated deeper into the forest. Ang’Tue is sure that he, if he hasn’t done so already, will kill himself the moment he realises that death is his only possible fate.” Landom said.

  “That is the way of the Zulbano. No mercy for the weak.” The Eltaran agreed.

  “So… what now? What should we do now?” Robin said and looked at Patience.

  She just sat there blank faced and fiddled with her hands before she finally spoke.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Nothing. We do nothing.”

  “What?” Robin shouted angrily.

  “We’ve learned who is responsible. I needed to know that as much as you did. But that’s it. Jim wouldn’t want us going on a killing spree to avenge him.” Patience said, her voice quiet but firm. “Revenge? No, he wouldn’t like that. Especially not against the Zulbano.”

  “But…” Robin muttered, not knowing how to continue. Patience was right. Jim wouldn’t want to see them on a path to revenge.

  What had been his goal? He wanted to find out who was responsible and bring them to justice. If it had been the smugglers or anyone else, he could press on to get them behind bars. But an alien race that was not part of the UAS and didn’t even live in the Civilized Territories? Yeah, there was no court for those.

  Robin suppressed his anger, for now at least, and looked at his friends. Once more he took long, deep breaths, then he raised his cup.

  “To Jim!” he saluted and the others joined in.

  For a while, everyone was lost in thought and thinking about their deceased ones–friends and family alike.

  After he eventually emptied his glass, Robin turned to Landom. “What now?”

  “We have published a note that Cetro’s TechnoBlood and a Zulbano are here. The UAS as well as the other Cetro communities should be on their way by now. We decided it’s for the best if those two sort that out among themselves.” Landom said.

  “Then we should leave!” Robin yelped and hastily stood up. He really didn’t want to run into people from the UAS here.

  “Relax, we already changed location while you were blacked out and are more than four hours away from there.” Patience said.

  “Right, didn’t you notice that the flowers here are orange and not yellow?” Happy asked as if he was an idiot.

  “You are referring to the colors of the flowers? Yeah, thanks and fuck you too!” Robin scoffed. By now all his friends had learned about his lost color vision.

  “Huh? Uh, right. Oopsi! No offense meant!” Happy winced and quickly mimicked closing her mouth and locking it with a key.

  Landom shook his head in amusement but quickly turned serious again. “We should be safe here for tonight, but I suggest we leave no later than tomorrow morning.

  “Then let’s use this last night together to relax and have fun.” Robin said after he sorted his mind. “Also, I want to discuss our next steps after the stop on Rucasur with Ang’Tue, Alena and Happy.”

  He looked around and then scratched his head, “Before that however, where the heck is Timothy? I still don’t know his plans.”

  “Inside.” Sevastian said with an annoyed grunt and pointed over his shoulder to the ship in the distance.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Robin asked, confused.

  “I would say he is sulking,” Patience said, “but Landom described it more welcomingly as ‘suffering loyalty-issues’.”

  “Oh…” Robin let out a sigh and stood up, “I’ll take care of that first. Is there some booze left?”

  ***

  “Since when are you such a shut-in?” Robin asked when he found his friend sitting on his bed in one of the small bunks for guests. As always, he had his nose glued to a tablet and was reading something.

  “Robin?” Timothy said, a happy smile on his face, “You are awake! How are you?”

  “All good, which you would know if you stayed with our friends at the fire. How is your hip, I heard you got quite some nasty burns?”

  “Nothing the magic of a recovery stim couldn’t heal.” Timothy waved him off.

  “Ugh, Alena said something similar just before she made me test it myself…” Robin shuddered and absentmindedly rubbed his sore nose.

  “So, why are you here and not outside with everyone else?”

  “I’m still catching up to what we’ve missed.”

  “Oh? Anything noteworthy or interesting?”

  “Yeah, the situation of the Drel seems to get more and more out of hand. No one really knows what is happening in their territory but they are definitely fighting against someone and surprisingly the Drel aren’t coming out on top.”

  “That’s... frightening.” Robin mumbled.

  The Drel had the most advanced war machinery of all the known races. That they were on the losing side of a fight didn’t inspire confidence for the rest of the universe.

  “It’s mostly hearsay and thin information. It’ll take some time for the UAS to learn more. Ah right, didn’t you stay on Gaunus for some time?”

  “Yup, it was nice - too much water from all sides, though.”

  “There is a weapon testing site where a tragic accident happened. A few weeks ago a huge part of the underwater facility got destroyed. Many died in the event or drowned in the flooding that followed. A tough way to lose your life…” Timothy said and tilted his head, “I wonder what kind of accident can destroy one of our most advanced weapon-sites.”

  Robin felt his innards clench together as he had a really bad foreboding. Could it be that Ramones had ignored his warnings and tried the Drel gun?

  Before his mind could spiral down in a dark maelstrom, Robin shoved the topic aside. There wasn’t anything he could do from here and it wasn’t his responsibility. He had other things to take care of for now.

  “Timothy, tell me: why are you really here while everyone else is having a party outside?” He asked.

  The researcher put his tablet down and had a lost look on his face. After gathering his thoughts, he slowly spoke.

  “I’m confused, Robin. Right now, with every step we take, we stumble over another mystery. Like, what the hell has happened out there today?”

  Robin shook his head and looked around, reminding his friend of the eyes and ears on the borrowed UAS ship.

  Timothy scoffed, “That’s exactly the problem, Rob. What are we doing here? I mean, why would-”

  “How about we take a walk together, I’ve managed to steal Happy’s last bottle of liquor!” Robin interrupted him.

  After some grumbling, he stood up and together they left the ship to wander around the field of flowers.

  There was a long silence in which only the bottle wandered between the two men forth and back.

  “I don’t like it.” Timothy finally said, “We approach UAS with so much suspicion. Always expect the worst of them. We don’t even talk on the ship anymore because you assume they’ll spy on us.”

  “You can’t deny that there are some things better kept from them…” Robin pointed out.

  “Yes, I understand the reasoning with the Keeper ship and even if I would like to handle it in another way, I don’t have a better idea myself right now.” Timothy agreed and Robin realized how conflicted he was.

  “The UAS is one of the few big organisations that actually has its people in mind. It isn’t badly corrupted and holds moral and ethical values in high regards. Sure, it’s not perfect and also has its black sheep - I haven’t forgotten about their attempt to catch Ang’Tue. But they gave me much and helped you out more than once, too. I don’t think they ever wronged you, so why are you so suspicious? Why is everyone assuming that everything will fall apart as soon as we set foot on Rucasur? I mean, all this talk about the UAS setting up a trap for you or that it wants to detain you? Really?”

  “Timothy, it is honorable that you think this way and I agree with you that the UAS tries its best for mankind. But many things around me have grown so big that they are too tempting. Secrets that many would literally kill to obtain. Let’s take my latest stunt while we fought with the Cetro. I have no idea what may be the cause but maybe there is an answer somewhere in my genes. Sure, the UAS could probably find some answers if they took a look, but do you trust that they would let me go afterwards?” Robin said, “Buddy, I don’t have a problem with sharing knowledge if it helps the people, but I’m not willing to give up my freedom for anyone.”

  “I… I know and I’m not asking that of you.” Timothy said, “It’s just that it doesn’t feel right to face them with such hostility.”

  “I wouldn’t call it hostility.” Robin said, “We have many friends among them, Katlina Hutton and her son Fengo, Mr. Eston, Prof. Aurelius,... But we also saw glimpses of the other side and I’m not willing to bet my freedom on their moral standards, sorry.”

  Their walk had taken them around the clearing and they were approaching the ship again.

  “We will split up when we reach Seka.” Robin said, “You’ve done nothing wrong - none of us did - return to your job as a researcher and do your part for mankind from there. It would be great if you could keep the new ship to yourself, but anything else? Feel free to share what we’ve learned so far. Maybe it helps them.”

  “But…” Timothy searched for words, “But I want to be out there! Just look at all the crazy things we experienced in just a year or so. How much more is waiting in the endless universe?”

  “Yeah, but you also shouldn’t forget how dangerous it has been. There were way more close calls than I would like.”

  “But we always came out on top!”

  “We did.” Robin agreed, “But there was much luck involved. That is not something we can build upon. We have to get better.”

  They reached the ship and halted their steps. The bottle was long empty.

  “I would be happy if you come along.” Robin finally said, “But if you do that, there is no way back. We might not be fugitives, but the door to a career in the UAS will be closed forever.”

  “...”

  “We had a great time and I promise to visit you every now and then. But your path is another one. You want to help us? Want to help the UAS? Return to your job and try to find out who attacked us on Terulos. From within the UAS you can do much more and Landom will be there to help you, too.”

  Timothy thought about it, and while Robin already knew that there was only one possible outcome, his friend was only now beginning to realize this truth.

  “Could you do me a favor, though?” Robin asked and Timothy nodded absentmindedly.

  “The Melody II is still with the Hubble. Can you try to get her transported to Seka? I would love to find her at Jim’s old workshop someday.”

  “Yeah, of course. I’ll make sure of that!” His friend promised.

  “Great!” Robin grinned, “So, tomorrow we’ll reach Seka and split up. How do you want to spend our last night? Alone on the ship or together with your friends?”

  Timothy chuckled and passed Robin as he hurried to the fire where the others sat together, laughing and telling stories.

  “I thought as much!” Robin mumbled with a fond smile. Then he glanced once at the ship before he followed his friend. The smile on his face now a knowing grin.

  ***

  “So, tomorrow we’ll reach Seka and split up. How do you want to spend our last night? Alone on the ship or together with your friends?” Robin’s voice came from a speaker in the room.

  “After that, they stayed on the clearing around the fire and out of reach of our microphones.” A small man in official UAS clothes reported.

  “When will they arrive in Seka?” The thin woman with short blond hair asked. She sat behind a wide desk and tapped her fingers on the fine wood.

  “Tomorrow at noon, Mrs. Bolster.” The man answered, “Depending on the time they leave in the morning.”

  “Hmhm.” She grunted in agreement, “What is your assessment of them? Will there be a problem?”

  “I…” The man began but stopped to collect his thoughts, “I think they know that we will be more forceful than in our last interactions. I got the feeling that they even suspected that we might eavesdrop on them and left many things unspoken within the ship.”

  “So? Will they try to sneak away?”

  “I think so, yes. The crew is about to split up. Some want to go back to their old lives, though I don’t know who exactly will leave and who will remain with Mr. Tulward. They will probably come in hot on Seka Spaceport and immediately part ways. Tulward will look for a way to get off the planet as fast as possible, I don’t think he will come to the meeting place we agreed on.” The officer explained his reasoning, “Something happened on Seavis that shook the crew. No one talked about it on the ship, but it is clear that it’s something they want to hide from the UAS.”

  “They met TechnoBlood, Tulward and the woman from Seka had open business with the fanatics. Something about their dead colleague. We are still waiting for the reports from the witnesses. The presence of a Zulbano came as a surprise however. These damn monsters are reaching out their claws again…” She said and the drumming of her fingers got faster. After a moment, she stopped and angrily banged her fist on the table.

  “We could have caught the team right there, but Eston interfered. He wants this to go the proper way. The UAS has nothing substantial against Tulward and just wants to make sure he stays safe. And where would he be more safe than in a secure UAS facility?” Bolster laughed.

  “You are right, he should be thankful, Ma’am.” The man quickly nodded, “If I may ask–how will we make sure that they don’t escape the planet?”

  “Niu Alaris. She is their best chance to get them on a ship that leaves the planet without going through the official channels. I got word from the Alaris family already. They are dead set on retrieving the girl and have promised full support if we manage to detain her. When the girl contacts them, they will agree to help her and relay the information to us so we can intercept them.”

  Franny Bolster said and rubbed her chin. Once more, she looked through the report on her desk.

  “You may leave, officer.” She sent the man off after getting all she needed from him.

  “Yes, Ma’am. I’ll inform you as soon as I get any news or an ETA for their arrival in Seka.”