by Tony Healey
K1R-B looked at Max, and poured orange juice into his empty glass.
"Yeah, I didn't figure as much," Kort said. "Too bad for her, because she's missing out on an amazing breakfast. You've outdone yourself, Kirby." He rubbed his bulging belly.
K1R-B waved his hand. "Oh, stop."
Max watched as Kort chomped down on a strip of bacon, biting it in half. He hadn't expected Kort to address the elephant in the room first, but he was glad for it. All he needed was an opening to begin the discussion, and his uncle seemed more relaxed than the last time they'd spoken.
Perhaps he's had a change of heart.
"Uncle . . . have you given any more thought to how we should handle the situation?" Max asked.
Kort swallowed the chewed food in his mouth, and wiped his lips with a napkin. "I know you think we should go after her, but it's not that simple."
"Why not?"
"Max, you've seen more combat than someone your age should, and you're tough as titanium, but Quaris?" Kort twiddled his fork. "That's a whole different stratosphere. Bad things happen there, kid, because it's full of real bad people."
"That's what I'm worried about." Max speared a muffin with his fork and dropped it on his plate. "Delta could be in trouble."
"You're right." Kort filled his glass with orange juice. "But she should've thought of that before venturing out on her own."
"Come on, Uncle," Max said. "You know she didn't do it out of spite. Try to see it from her perspective. She thought you weren't going to allow it, and this is important to her."
Kort popped the rest of a bacon strip in his mouth. "And she was probably right. We've got far more pressing matters than old boyfriends to tend to. Besides, what evidence do we have to suggest that the message was genuine?"
"It did seem real to her," K1R-B said.
"You're not helping, Kirby." Kort glared. "Max, my point is, she let emotion cloud her judgment, and she's not thinking rationally. In a place as rough and tumble as Quaris . . . that's not going to do her any favors."
Max set his silverware down on his plate, and folded his hands in his lap.
Kort sighed. "Don't worry. Delta is well-equipped to take care of herself."
"But what happens if she needs us?" Max asked. "We’ll have stranded her on a dangerous planet. How can you be okay with that? I mean . . . she backed us up when Kirby and I came looking for you on the Oppressor, didn't she?"
Kort scraped his knife and fork against the plate, cutting his ham with force. He devoured several bites, and washed it down with a drink of juice. After wiping the corners of his mouth, he dropped his utensils with a loud clank against the ceramic dishware, launching a chunk of potato across the table. "Fine, we can look, but I'm telling you, Max, we're off that rock the second things get hairy. Understood?"
Max felt relieved. "Understood."
"I can't stress this enough, kid: Quaris is nothing but trouble, and I'm not just talking about the quality of its inhabitants," Kort said. "We'll also be dealing with extreme climate conditions, and all the hazards that come with it."
Max nodded.
"Let’s get something straight here: Quaris is no Aquine." Kort cleaned up the mess of potato with his napkin. "There's little to no sunlight, and there's definitely no oceans. Just ice as far as the eye can see. You're going to experience cold like you've never felt before. You sure you want to risk your life for a thief?"
Max pondered the question for only a moment. "Absolutely. She's not a thief to me, Uncle. She's my friend."
Kort regarded Max in silence. The corners of his mouth turned upward. "You've got a big heart, kid." Kort tousled Max's hair. "Don't let it get you killed."
Max smiled. “Uncle! I just fixed that curl!”
"Now if you don't mind, I want to finish my breakfast first." Kort loaded his dish with another helping of meat and potatoes. "Only a fool would dare look danger in the eye on an empty stomach."
Max slathered a glop of jam on a muffin and took a bite, thrilled with the outcome of their conversation. They'd come so far as a team, and he couldn't bear the thought of leaving Delta behind. Now he wouldn't have to.
___***___
The Fair Maiden cruised toward its destination. From their vantage point, Quaris looked like a massive ball of baby blue and white, with sprawling mountain ranges and occasional craters. Max moved from the viewscreen to the window to observe the planet with a naked eye. The sheer size of the landscape overwhelmed him.
She could be anywhere out there, he thought.
"Better strap in, kid," Kort said. "We'll be landing soon."
Max backed away from the window, unable to break his gaze, nearly falling backward into his seat.
"What've you got for me, Kirby?" Kort called back.
"According to our tracking readout, Max's ship is stationary somewhere within this area." K1R-B sent coordinates from the engineering station. A blinking red dot popped up on the galaxy map.
"She bypassed the Union's mandatory visitor registration?" Kort winced. "Not off to a good start, Delta."
"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing where she went from there," K1R-B said.
"Sure we do," Kort said. "We'll do it the old fashioned way with boots on the ground."
“Hmmm?” K1R-B lifted its feet off the ground one at a time. “But I don’t wear boots."
The ship entered Quaris's mesosphere. Kort opened the Maiden's telecommunications line. "Approach Control, this is the Fair Maiden requesting permission to land."
"We read you, Fair Maiden," a clear, female voice responded. "Please state the nature of your business on Quaris."
"Nothing official," Kort said. "Meeting up with some former colleagues for a drink."
No response. Kort looked over at Max and shrugged.
"Temporary docking permit granted. You'll have twenty-four hours to conduct your business and vacate. Failure to follow these instructions will result in the impounding of your ship, at which point ownership will transfer to the Terran Defence Force."
"Thank you." Kort closed the line.
"They'd impound our ship for staying too long?" Max asked.
"Ah, it just a bunch of fancy talk for ‘we'll strip your vessel for parts and line our pockets with the credits'."
Max's eyes widened. "Can they do that?"
"Corruption runs deep in these parts, kid, and the Union's got a war to wage elsewhere," Kort said. "They can do whatever they want." He looked K1R-B up and down. "Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to reinforce Kirby's access panels either. He's got some expensive circuitry that would do well on the black market."
K1R-B gasped.
The snow-covered terrain of Quaris came into view as the Fair Maiden prepared to touch down at dock six. Gusts of wind hurled snowflakes at the ship, limiting visibility. Kort punched in the coordinates and switched on the system's autopilot to complete the landing.
"When we get out there, we're going to have to deal with the cold, but I know a few tricks that will help" Kort said. "Protect your eyes. Keep your head covered. Make sure to put on multiple layers of clothing. I'll dig out my collection of hard-shell jackets for the finishing touch. None of this will make us impervious, but it'll at least afford us some outdoor protection."
"Maybe we'll get lucky, and Delta will be indoors," K1R-B said. "Preferably someplace by a fire."
Max and Kort laughed.
"Go get ready," Kort said.
Max continued chuckling to himself as he exited the cockpit.
___***___
The Maiden hovered eight feet off the ground. Ground crew connected support arms to hold the ship in place. Once secured, Kort powered down the engines. A six-wheeled vehicle pulled up outside the ship and waited for the access ramp to descend.
"That's our cue," Kort said.
Max and K1R-B followed Kort through the ship to the docking ring. Kort raised a lever on the wall, opening the exterior door. A blast of chilled air rushed in. Kort pulled a thermal liner over his mouth
and nose, covered his head with a hood, and adjusted a pair of goggles over his eyes. Max repeated the same process.
Max's teeth chattered as the crew walked down the ramp to the ground. The Quaris air penetrated his gear, seeping all the way to the bone. He wondered how bad it would've been without proper clothing. "How can people live here?"
"People will always adapt when there's credits to be had, and believe me, the credits flow freely here," Kort said.
I'm not sure there'd be enough credits in the galaxy to keep me in a place like this.
A man clad in an army green uniform and matching helmet approached the crew holding up a data pad. He scanned the Maiden's serial number. "You've been authorized for twenty-four hours," the man said through his helmet's speaker. "Not a second longer."
Kort nodded.
"Check in at the station up ahead," the man continued. "You won't be allowed outside this post until you do."
"We got a little banged up on the way here." Kort fished a credit chit from his pocket and slipped it into the dock worker's hand with discretion. "Would appreciate anything you can do."
"Right away, sir!"
The worker strode toward a group of grounds crew employees, waving the credit chit above his head.
"How much was on there?" K1R-B asked.
"Enough for an upgrade to the tungsten patch I installed." Kort looked toward the station's front entrance. "Shall we?"
The doors opened as they neared. Once inside, Max felt warmth under his feet. He removed his gloves and squatted, detecting heat on his bare hands from the tiled floor.
"Heated floors," Kort said. "Good to see taxpayer credits at work."
Kort lowered his hood and stepped up to the reception counter. A young human woman in a sparkling teal dress greeted him with a smile.
"Hello, sir, and welcome to Quaris," she said. "My name is Annae. This station is a climate-controlled facility, so you're welcome to remove your coats if you wish."
Max unzipped his jacket and raised his goggles.
Kort peeled his thermal liner down to the chin. "Nice to meet you as well, Annae." He removed his protective eyewear. "The name's Kort, and this here is Max."
K1R-B harrumphed.
"And this is Kirby."
"Greetings," Annae said. "I've already logged your arrival, so there's just a tiny bit of paperwork to complete, and we'll get you on your way."
"That sounds great." Kort removed his gloves. "What do you need?"
Annae cleared some counter space, and slid a thin piece of electronic equipment in front of her. A yellow light illuminated under the glass. "Please place your right hand inside the gridlines."
"Seems a bit excessive for a twenty-four hour permit to a mining colony," Kort said.
"I apologize, but security is of the utmost importance to us at this station," Annae replied. "Our outpost has won the Sophie Morales Safety Award four years running." She pointed to a flat panel screen on the wall that read DAYS WITHOUT INCIDENT, with the number 1,643 in bright LED.
"Is that a thing?" Max whispered to K1R-B.
Kort nudged Max with an elbow. "Uh . . . impressive."
"I do understand your hesitance, but I can assure you, your information will be kept confidential," Annae said.
Kort complied, laying his palm on the glass. The device purred for three seconds, followed by a beep.
"All done." Annae transmitted the scan to the station's database, and cleared the results. She looked at Max. "Your turn."
Max put his hand on the device, and in three seconds, he was done.
"Thank you, Max." Annae smiled.
"What about me?" K1R-B asked.
"Oh, well, all I need from you is your identification number," Annae said.
Max spun K1R-B around and opened an access panel. Annae picked up a hand-held device attached to a coil and aimed it at K1R-B's exposed board. She squeezed the trigger, and a beep followed.
"Got it," she said. "Is there anything I might be able to assist you with before you head out?"
"Actually, there is." Kort put his gloves back on. "Who is the Union officer for this outpost?"
Annae interlocked her fingers on the counter. "That would be Officer Maynard Wils."
"And could we speak with Officer Wils?"
Annae tapped keys on the keyboard and pressed ENTER. A few seconds later, she inserted a wireless device into her ear and turned away from the group. "Yes, sir . . . Yes, two men and a droid . . . Yes . . . Right away, sir . . . Thank you." She returned to the counter with a smile and removed the device from her ear. "Officer Wils will see you. Take your next left up ahead, then go straight back. Can't miss it."
"Thank you, young lady," Kort said.
Kort led the way. Max couldn't explain why, but he felt Annae's eyes on them as they walked away.
6
The office smelled of sweet tobacco – to Max's nostrils it was neither unpleasant nor desirable. Maynard Wils sucked on the end of a Half-bent Billiard style pipe, blowing a haze of smoke into the air from behind his desk. He stared down the crew, perhaps sizing them up, yet to utter a single word.
Grey hair peeked out from under the brim of his Union cap. He wore a navy-blue wool pea coat, adorned with many Union accoutrements. By all accounts, Wils was the most decorated Union soldier Max had ever seen in person, however, that wasn't a vast pool to draw from. He could count the ones he'd met on a single hand.
A skylight with a view of the murky, grey clouds, and dusty blue painted walls gave the office a drab feel. Metal floating shelves full of old military photos and certificates lined either side of the room, creating a sensation of claustrophobia. Max squirmed in his chair.
"Interrogation rule number one: never speak first," Kort said. "That about right, Officer Wils?"
Wils leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Is this an interrogation?"
"Interrogation rule number two: answer all questions with a question," Kort said.
Smoke billowed from the officer's nose. "I'm going to save both of us a great deal of time. I don't know where the person you're looking for is."
Max swallowed hard, audible enough to draw a glance from K1R-B.
"Who said we're looking for someone?" Kort asked.
"Please." Wils put his hand up. "Let's not insult each other's intelligence here. Late last night, a small, unidentified starship bypassed station protocol, and crashed outside our borders. Now you're here, ‘meeting friends for a drink.' That's some coincidence, wouldn't you say?"
"Crashed?" Max said.
Kort cleared his throat. Subtle, but Max got the message. He’d keep quiet.
"The only reason I granted you permission to land was to satisfy my curiosity of how this all plays out," Wils said.
"Fair enough, Officer." Kort folded his arms. "No sense being coy, I suppose."
"I suppose not." Wils puffed on the end of his pipe, creating a plume of smoke that engulfed his face. "So, why not go ahead and tell me why you're really here?"
"We lost a crew member," Kort said. "Borrowed the tiny ship from the hangar and charted a course for Quaris without telling us. We're only here to collect her, and then we're gone. You have no reason to expect any trouble."
Wils took a deep drag from his pipe. "I didn't get to where I am today by not expecting trouble."
"Look, all we want is our crew member," Kort said. "We'll pay for any damages her landing may have caused, and be on our way."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple."
Max didn't like the tone of the officer's voice. He assumed this was the part where a fact-finding mission turned into a ‘business transaction.' The way his uncle played ‘the game' impressed him. Kort didn't mince words, nor did he shed a single drip of sweat.
No wonder he always beats me at Twiz, he thought. How does he always stay so calm and collected?
Kort rubbed his chin. "Oh?"
"Disregard of station protocol is a severe infraction of Union regulation," Wils said. "Illegal
landing aside, we also have reason to believe that she's aligned herself with a known criminal currently being sought after for questioning. Suffice it to say, we have a vested interest in your friend. She's not going anywhere until we've had a chance to conclude our investigation."
"I'm sure there's been some sort of misunderstanding," Kort said. "If you can help us find her, we'll bring her in and sort this all out."
Wils leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “As I said, I don't know where she is."
"Please, Officer." Max stood up. Kort tugged on Max's sleeve, trying to pull him back down, but he wrestled free. "We don't mean any disrespect to the rules and regulations of Quaris, but she's a member of this crew, and means a lot to us. There's no way she's involved with some criminal. Delta wouldn't do that."
Kort winced.
"Delta, eh?" Wils bit down on the end of his pipe. "Good to know."
"We've taken up enough of your time." Kort stood up and eased Max and K1R-B toward the door. "We'll be on our way now."
"Don't go doing anything foolish," Wils said. "There's a harsh penalty involved for impeding an official investigation. I'd hate to see any drastic measures taken against you or your unregistered droid."
Kort nodded.
"Just a friendly reminder that the clock is ticking." Wils dusted ash from his pea coat. "You've got less than twenty-three hours to vacate Quaris."
___***___
The crew shuffled down the hall toward the station lobby. Annae's cold stare met them as they turned the corner. Kort guided Max forward, and pulled him out of sight behind a vending machine.
"Max, what were you thinking in there?" Kort said. "I thought I was clear about letting me do all the talking. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Max shook his head.
"You gave them her name," Kort said. "How long do you think it's going to take before they pull her record?"
Max widened his eyes.
"Exactly." Kort looked around for eavesdroppers. "Her past criminal record will only fuel their suspicion, and we'll look guilty by association. I wouldn't wager on us getting a fair trial either."
