Chapter Text
As the harbour pub's door swung open, the music quietly tootling in a corner was droned out by the pattering of rain outside. Kushantee looked up from her calculations to examine her new customer.
It were two – the smaller one was mostly obscured by a dark, dripping coat, but the brown and white striped face and the pair of long antennae curving above told her this was unmistakably a g-type Serkanian. The bigger one... despite Kushantee priding herself to have seen and be able to identify a lot of the sapient species frequenting the place, she was at a loss this time. It was a vertically oriented exoskeletal with four arms, the same number of eyes and a dark grey colouration with some orange accents. It was also unclothed. Maybe it wasn't a sapient at all, but some sort of exotic pet? One thing was for sure, these were no customers she had seen in her pub before.
Kushantee arranged the colourful plates circling her head in a manner to indicate friendliness as the two strangers approached the bar, letting their gazes wander over the walls decorated with local weaveries, and the few other customers that were present at this early time of the day.
“Good afternoon, what can I offer?”
“Just tap water for the two of us,” the Serkanian said.
The friendliness signaled by Kushantee's head plates became uncertain for a few moments. Due to Fenjerra law treating water as a public right, every pub, inn or restaurant was required to give water to anyone who asked, without demanding compensation.
“Maybe I could offer you home-distilled gimsh root instead? The latest batch has turned out fantastic. Or if you're not that type, we have a large selection of viiri to offer,” she asked in the hope of sparking the visitor's interest in something that would have her paid.
The Serkanian leaned forwards and put on a face expression that could best be described as the parody of an amiable smile due to the jagged orange tooth plates showing. “I don't know how often you have flown with gnat-category ships, but after weeks of drinking anything with water that has gone through the waste filter a dozen times, ordinary clean tap water will start to look like the most desirable thing that can be poured into a glass, moreso than the most exclusive and expensive beverage you can find on this planet. Besides, we are not here to spend money, but to earn it.”
“What makes you think I am hiring?” Kushantee asked as she filled two kegs with the requested liquid.
“Nothing,” the Serkanian replied. “But I do bet the people putting notices on the hoarding do.”
Kushantee gave the Serkanian a measuring look. “It is a bit unusual that someone arrives on one of Fenjerra's harbours and the first thing they do is to walk into a pub to ask for private job offers.”
The hoarding was for anyone who wanted to offer tasks so small and insignificant that they preferred to have them done past all the paperwork and taxes involved in proper work contracts, or had other reasons to do so. Of course, this also attracted a lot of illegal activity. Kushantee might refuse to put up any contracts that involved murder, drug traffic or anything else of that scale, but it still didn't stop some rather unsavoury visitors interested in doing such. The tall armoured creature that had finished the keg in one go and was examining it like a rare gem now looked like it could break bones with a casual swipe of its big arms and Kushantee couldn't tell what the Serkanian might have hidden underneath ger coat. But on the other hand, these were recent off-planet arrivals, likely no ties to the local criminal gangs and judging by what the Serkanian had said before, maybe they were just looking for quick money to replace their ship's waste filter...
She still decided to hand the Serkanian the pad where all the current notices were written down. Taking it, ge scrolled through them, sipping the water and commenting the job offers.
“Hm, that one is clearly a ripoff, already taken, takes too much time to do, I wonder why they specify 'Limarians only' on that one. Wait, there's one... 'shipping Gerenti flour', hah, as if it's not obvious it's kuronite. Don't have the right ship for that, promising but also taken, sooo... Arqeez, I can pick between two. There is an on-planet document delivery that wants to be done in the time span of a rev, but because no planet bothers to finance its universities properly, the pay is not nearly as good as the other, which is a person transport over to the twin planet. Not much info on that besides the address, but 80000 remies... I would do that and I fucking hate person transports.”
The large individual accompanying the Serkanian finally spoke up with a rumbling voice, revealing to be a sapient after all. “Person transport doesn't sound bad. Can always break their legs if they make problems.”
“Except I prefer, you know, not to do that,” the Serkanian replied with a side glance at ger companion. Then, ge focused on Kushantee. “Ti 488 Galin, where is that? What sort of people live there?”
“Quite affluent ones, but not the big fish. It's a quiet, clean corner of the city.”
“Soo, an affluent person using the hoarding for a person transport despite being probably able to afford every security company they want, public or private?”
Kushantee made a brief rattle with her head plates, her species' equivalent of a chuckle. “Well, if I'm not mistaken about who lives at that address, he would have a hard time to hire any security companies. They don't particularly like each other, after he made some things public they would have rather preferred not being known.”
“That would explain a few things,” the Serkanian said, handing the pad over to Kushantee, then finishing ger keg. “I will take it.”
“What name should I tag the notice with?”
“Zekra.”
The brief stop in the harbour pub had done nothing to reduce the amount of water pouring from the low-hanging clouds. It dripped from the roofs, from the signs and satellite discs, ran down the walls and formed rivulets on the streets, carrying pieces of discarded litter with it.
Arqeez sneezed for the third time after leaving the pub, as the rainwater kept running down his neck and trickling into his spiracles.
“Told you to put on a coat,” Zekra quipped. Ge was walking in front, from Arqeez’ perspective nothing but a dark grey coat with two pale antennae sticking out on top.
“When are we there?”
“Not that far. You are asking this question for the fourth time.”
Their path led them through the winding alleys between the quadratic buildings made of thick, layered concrete to keep the temperatures inside stable. Talin was a city built atop a mesa rising several kilometres above the ground, the result of the large space harbour put there to keep it and its noise away from the older settlements in the valleys. Neither the noise nor the drastically changing temperatures between day and night were a deterrent for those seeking ways to make money out of the harbour and its visitors. Those in turn attracted others to make money out of them, until most of the mesa was covered in a self-sustaining city, connected to the valley by an enormous elevator system transporting cargo and people alike.
“When are we there?”
“Ask me again and I will leave you here.” A small shift in Zekra's pace. “Or nevermind, we are there.”
Ge was heading for a building that looked like all others. They seemed to be a bit bigger here compared to those erected in proximity of the pub, a bit more spaced apart, but it were the same concrete boxes with rounded edges and tiny windows.
“I do not have a good feeling about this,” Zekra quietly said while slowing down before standing in front of the door. The doorbell was found after a few moments of search. “Let this passenger not be a slob, some rascal, of a smelly or of a wet-skinned species. Just someone who can sit down in a corner for the duration of a flight and not make any problems.”
The door slid upwards.
“Oh shit,” ge muttered under ger breath, as the individual behind it turned out to be anything but, as it was unmistakably a Shaoon.
Like Arqueez and Zekra, it was a carbon-based, vertically oriented lifeform that had legs, but that was where the similarities ended. The dark grey body had the rough shape of a cylinder covered in bulges and creases following a complicated, radially symmetric pattern. The legs it stood on were thin, knobbly and numerous. Above them, many staring red eyes were arranged in a ring circling the body.
The Shaoon made a number of whistling, gurgling and hissing sounds. After a few moments' offset, the universal translator strapped to a leg repeated what was said in Unicomlang, with a deep, mellifluous but monotone voice.
“Greetings. What is your concern?”
“The notice on the pub hoarding. The one about the person transport to the twin planet,” Zekra said. Despite ger trying to hide it, Arqeez did notice ger discomfort in the presence of the Shaoon. There was a tenseness the coat couldn't hide and ger voice was slightly louder than usual, slightly more strained.
“Ah yes, please come in. It is better when we work out the details of the contract inside, where you do not have to drown where you are standing.”
As if on cue, Arqeez sneezed out water again.
The inside of the Shaoon's home was surprisingly spacious for the appearance its exterior. Zekra tapped the large companion's arm to get his attention.
“Do as this guy says, don't break anything and for fuck's sake, be quiet,” ge whispered.
“Please leave your coat at the vestibule,” the Shaoon said from further inside. “It is dripping wet.”
“Where should I hang it?” As Zekra fumbled open the cord around the neck from the inside, an appendage wormed its way out of the hood, wrapped around it and pulled the coat backwards, stripping it off. Ge held the coat by ger tail behind ger, letting the water drip onto the doormat rather than the carpets.
“The rock carving to the right.”
The rock carving in question seemed to be the stylized head of a horned animal on a socket. Hanging the coat onto one of the horns and taking off the shoes out of habit, Zekra followed the Shaoon and Arqeez into the house proper.
Due to the tiny windows it was illuminated by an artificial light source even during the day, an oily yellow light that shone on the Shaoon's sizable collections of the most different items. Despite the quadratic layout the usable interior space was round with the guardrail of the flight of winding stairs leading to the cellar in its middle. The edges had been filled in by shelves reaching up to the ceiling, stuffed with various data storage devices ranging from books and scrolls to 5D optical crystals as well as a variety of artefacts coming from different cultures inhabiting different planets. The Shaoon showed them a lounge, wide and low to accommodate their own anatomy and took a seat themselves on a wide, round pillow, their equivalent of an armchair. The lounge creaked in protest as Arqeez slouched down on it.
“I see you are not from here,” the Shaoon stated. “Accordingly, I also assume you do not have anything to do with the Mesa Guardship, Talin Safety or any other security companies. If this is not true, tell me otherwise.”
“No, didn't have the pleasure to deal with any of them. We have landed here just a few tert-UTUs ago.”
“That leads me to my next question, are you in possession of an own ship or do you use public transit?”
“An own ship, if you can call it that. Gnat category.”
“What other passengers are on it for the next flight?”
“Just us two. Unless you count the karucat, but that one is living in the storage room.”
“A spaceship pet, how unusual,” the Shaoon mused, shifting his position a bit. “There is one more question before I can accept the contract. Did any of you receive self-defense training?”
Zekra tensed up even further. “I don't want to sound rude, but what sort of threat is there that you are less likely to overcome than us?”
The Shaoon paused a few moments. “In either case, it is not about me. The person you are to transport is my daughter, who wants to visit her mother living on the twin planet. She might be young, but she can take care of herself. The self-defense will concern your own safety. You see, there are reasons I can not trust the security companies. I work as a lawyer and have uncovered and published information on a complex and deep-reaching network of corruption and illegal activity the companies are heavily tied into, the details of which I will not bother you with. But the sum of it is that some employees of the security companies have taken a liking to threaten, sometimes even attack the associates of me or my family. Hence I want to make sure that you can defend yourself in case of you crossing ways with these subjects.”
“I had some combat training back on Serkanis. And Arqeez, well, his skills in that department are exactly as his appearance suggests.” As if to demonstrate, Arqeez took on a slightly more intimidating pose.
“In that case, I will accept you for the contract.” The Shaoon briefly turned the universal translator off to shout something in his native language, with an answer coming from below. The following minutes were spent with him asking about details concerning the ship, telling the address of his former wife and sending all the important data to Zekra's wrist computer, which used them to calculate the right flying route. The Shaoon was fine with the time it would take; not as fast as public transit or a ship with a more modern drive, but still faster than waiting for the next interested with the right qualifications.
“I am ready.” The voice came from the universal translator of the Shaoon's daughter, who had emerged from the winding stairs. Aside from the colourful band of pouches strapped around her midsection she was a carbon copy of her father, just half as tall. “Are you the escorts?”
“Yes my dear, these are Arqeez and Zekra, interstellar travelers,” her father replied. “Be safe, Deyuujey, and greet your mother from me.”
“Will do!”
To their luck, the rain had finally stopped. It was still overcast and there were still puddles and diminishing rivulets on the streets, but at least there was no downpour adding to them any more.
Zekra's coat had been stuffed into the bag slung over the blue tunic with triangular patterns and Arqeez was much more relaxed with no water running into his airways or sticking the hairs of his antennae together. The massive Idrath took his time looking around and trying to decipher what the signs on some of the houses meant by the pictures alone, as he couldn't read. Deyuujey was trailing behind him.
“Looks like they serve food in there,” Arqeez said, pointing at one of the signs showing a steaming bowl. “Maybe we could go in and have some?”
“May I remind you that we have a fucking job to do? We bring the kid to her mother, get paid and then we can go in and fucking have some.”
“You need a break. I'm fine waiting for the food until we are on the ship but if fucking is that much on your mind we could find a quiet-”
Arqeez' twaddling was interrupted by Zekra's tail tip cracking over his chest. Usually, ge aimed for his face when his spoken thoughts ended up there, but this time, ge was walking at a greater distance, seemingly in a hurry.
“For fuck's sake, might I remind you that we have a child with us? So maybe plug that direct connection you have between your tongue and your gonads or you will stay here and I will not guarantee that I will return to pick you up after I'm done,” Zekra hissed.
Arqeez just chuckled as an answer but kept his thoughts to himself otherwise.
The Serkanian's abrasiveness didn't go past the young Shaoon at the back. Due to her father's work she had seen a fair deal of abrasive people, but those usually acted more aggressive. Zekra in turn looked like ge was trying ger best to avoid her, walking at a pace that regularly forced ger to slow down and let the others catch up. She knew why the other people were like that, but if she understood right, these two had nothing to do with the security companies. Did the Serkanian have anything against her personally rather than just by association because of her father?
At least, the harbour came into sight, which brought her closer to being by her mother.
With the rain having ended, the empty streets were slowly filling again. Omur had spent enough time inside and was aiming for the pub now. The job as security personnel might pay well, but the weather on the mesa was a thing of its own and he surely wouldn't spend his day off in the rain too if he could avoid it.
At least there were still not many people in the streets. Most of them where the native Kshimit, but those were neither bothered by the cold of the nights nor the regular rain torrents, their thick oily integument protecting them from both. Among those that weren't Kshimit, he saw an Aeen striding through the neighbouring street on its long, stiltlike legs and... oh, that was interesting, he noted with a savage grin.
A little Shaoon staggering past an intersection, that damn lawyer's daughter in person. She seemed to have company, apparently Ejuutun had hired someone stupid or desperate enough to escort her. With the direction she was heading into being the space harbour, he was pretty sure where she wanted to go. Omur would give his friends a call; they also had a day off and had decided to spend it on the twin planet. They would appreciate the extra fun.
“And there we are.”
The Sciara wasn't much to look at. It wasn't big or fancy, a simple and functional model that clearly had its best days behind it. It was just slightly bigger than one of the regular dwellings of the mesa, the more spacious cellar drilled into the rock not counted. The only thing that livened up its surprisingly boring appearance was nose art depicting a female exoskeletal in a lascivious pose, showing off her engorged abdomen. As usual, Arqeez was admiring the pinup while Zekra opened the door.
“This is your ship?” Deyuujey asked, admiring the vessel.
“Yes,” was Zekra's sole answer. “Go inside and fix yourself with security belts, I will take off immediately. We have a window of clearance to start right now and I don't want to waste any sec-UTU of it. Arqeez, show her where she can sit in the living room.”
The interior was, as expected from a ship designed to keep a maximum of five people in a 50 to 300 kg weight class alive for months at a time, cramped. Everything that wasn't directly installed into the ship was tied down with security belts, held by magnets or hook-and-loop strips or otherwise attached. The ship's inbuilt furnishings had a minimal size and could for the most part be retracted into the walls or floor of the ship to save space, like the foldable pallets in the anterior portion of the living room. One of the bottom ones was removed, with two mattresses lying in its place. Arqeez directed the young Shaoon there while Zekra immediately slinked off to the bridge, sliding the door shut behind ger.
“Use those belts to secure yourself and tie them well. Like this,” Arqeez demonstrated as he tied a pair together around her midsection. “Tie them well, because Zekra flies like crazy.”
In that moment, the Sciara's turbines howled to life and rattled the entire ship. That was the cue for Arqeez to leave Deyuujey to her own devices and go to the bridge himself, considering the only unoccupied place to secure himself for the start in the living room was now occupied.
With the door closed behind him and his posterior in the copilot seat, Arqeez asked about what had nagged him since the moment he saw Zekra's first reaction to the Shaoon.
“What is it with you and the walking cylinder? I have never smelled you so afraid. Did you have any bad encounters with him before?”
“No, that's not it. I have nothing against him personally, it's just... how to explain it...” Zekra rubbed ger right hand over ger face, the left being on the steering module. The ship took off, first rising over the ground several ten metres, then the turbines slowly tilted backwards to carry the Sciara in the opposite direction.
“How do you think a species that is basically a fleshy cumulonimbus cloud on legs survives and thrives in an environment filled with predators and natural calamities?”
“Urghhh...” Arqeez said, trying to process what Zekra had asked him.
“Well, let me rephrase it in a way more understandable for you. Think of how the Shaoon look. Now think of Idrath. And now, think of the two Shaoon going to Idrath. How long do you think would they survive there?”
Arqeez' antennae rose triumphantly. “They wouldn't make it a night!”
“Now, what if I tell you that the next morning they are both alive and well, surrounded by dozens of corpses of the largest predators around which are bleeding out of their spiracles?”
Arqeez just wordlessly stared at his companion.
The ship shot over the cliff of the mesa, giving them a brief glimpse of the steaming jungles in the valleys below before everything was engulfed in the low-hanging clouds filling the sky.
“Shaoon have the most powerful telekinetic abilities in the entire known galaxy. This is why they can allow themselves to look like they do and fear no consequences.”
“But you can use telekinesis, too.”
Zekra snorted. “My telekinetic abilities are a fart compared to their hurricane. They could turn your internal organs into mush with a thought if they so desire. Just a few of them are enough to stop a tsunami. That little girl back there could probably launch this ship into orbit if she wanted, with not a drop of fuel spent. And exactly that is the core of the problem, their abilities are so astronomically powerful that they will constantly bleed telekinetic waves, no matter what they do. You might not notice this, but I,” ge wiggled ger antennae for emphasis, “I do. It's like someone is screaming the entire time, except you hear it in your bones rather than your ears.”
The cloud layer thinned and vanished, revealing a brilliant, dark blue sky, dominated by the large, blue and brown orb of Fenjerra's twin planet, Fenjatis. Zekra turned the turbines off and activated the antigravity drive. The howling stopped and the rattling died down.
“This will take a few tert-UTUs, because I can't properly accelerate for this short distance. I will tell when I'm about to enter the atmosphere.”
Both removed their safety belts, Zekra shifting into a more comfortable position and lowering the screen to kill time on the nexus, Arqeez getting up to grab some food.
“The biggest brain in the known galaxy, but still doesn't stop them from from their main unnatural cause of death being suicide,” came from the pilot seat. Looking back while the door slid down again, Arqeez spotted lots of text on the screen, accompanied by a picture of a Shaoon.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to enter the atmosphere, time to buckle up” cracked over the speakers. That was the cue for Arqeez to head back to the bridge.
“So, what is our passenger doing?”
Arqeez fastened the security belts and checked if they were properly closed. “Had her fun figuring out the alga farm.”
The Sciara dove into the cloud layer.
“Do you feel her from here? Through the door and such?”
“The distance makes it more bearable. Well, at least it won't take long any more. It seems like both her parents have a thing for the proximity of spaceship harbours, so all we have to do is to land this bucket, take a brief walk and shit!”
The cloud layer peeled away to reveal a herd of enormous, orange animals lazily floating through the sky with the aid of hydrogen bladders. Zekra jerked the steering module sharply to the left, to which the Sciara reacted with half an aileron roll between two airborne bodies before making a sharp turn upwards to evade a third.
“How the fuck are these airbags so close to the harbour!?”
More breakneck maneuvers followed, some of which made the Sciara's instruments flare up with protesting lights and bleeping on the console. Zekra had all four limbs on the steering module while jerking it in the direction required while Arqeez had the claws of all his arms buried in the seat, staring at one orange body after another shooting past in horrified silence. They were few things that could terrify the Idrath and Zekra's flying was among the top of the list.
The last flier passed them and Zekra brought the ship back on course. “I hope Dey had fastened the safety belts properly. Well, I haven't heard anything big and loose flying around in the back room, so I guess she did.”
Arqeez spent the time until the landing in silence, still trying to calm down from the flight through the swarm. The moment the howling of the turbines went down, he got out of the copilot seat and staggered towards the living room. Zekra turned the ship off and was to follow right after him.
Despite the nausea and his currently unreliable sense of balance, Arqeez was curious how the Shaoon had fared, but she was sitting where he had last seen her, several of her legs bobbing up and down.
“That was fun! Can we do this again?”
The reason for the blimp swarm in the proximity of the harbour seemed to be a simple one: it wasn't frequented that much. Zekra could have told that much when ge was given landing permission almost immediately after requesting and the entire space of the harbour held nothing but a handful of personal ships, two transit shuttles and one larger transporter.
This part of Fenjatis was nicer than Fenjerra's mesa. While also overcast, it was dry and would stay so according to the weather forecast, so the bag with the coat had been left in the ship. The temperatures were more pleasant in this lowland part close to the coast, so even if they had to stay here longer than expected, they wouldn't have to deal with any significant drops after nightfall. Not that it was likely; while it had been dark on Fenjerra's mesa for some time already, here it was just midday.
Compared to Talin and it's dependence on its space harbour, the coastal town of Olum Set was mostly a small holiday resort with a long history, reflected in its rounded buildings with patterns painted onto white walls. Its popularity was mostly shared among the natives, as compared to the empty harbour, the roads were filled with microbusses and animal-drawn carriages ferrying gaggles of blue-spotted families around.
The three left the wider, more frequented streets behind and dove into the narrower, quieter alleys of the old settlement quarter, where Deyuujey's mother had her house. Despite the age of the buildings, they were surprisingly well-maintained. The young Shaoon was excited; many things have changed in her life, but the appearance of the old settlement quarter has always been an axiomatic constant in her life. Arqeez let his gaze wander while Zekra didn't pay much attention to the surroundings, focusing more on the route shown on ger wrist computer that navigated them through the convoluted alleys. Deyuujey could have easily shown the two the way to mother's home herself.
“That one smells nice,” Arqeez commented the fragrance of food wafting through the air, his antennae vibrating. “Zekra, can we stop here when we are done?”
As no answer came, Arqeez lowered his head and almost walked into his partner, who had stopped. The reason was a group of four, emerging from a side alley and blocking their way. They were composed of non-natives; two Molurians that were as taciturn as they were tall, one Sharkaz with her head tentacles spread in a domination gesture and a sleazy-looking Tolemo.
“And what do we have here,” the Tolemo said, his arms spread as if he was greeting a pair of friends he hadn't seen for a long time. “Ejuutun's little girl, all alone in the presence of shady strangers.”
“Except those two strangers have been given the permission to be around her, unlike you,” Zekra answered. “Bother someone else, we have a job to do.”
Arqeez knew what was up, this was not the first time they had to deal with this sort of individuals. Zekra subtly signaled him to keep back, so he alternated between glaring at the Tolemo and eyeing the Sharkaz.
“Oh, a job,” the Tolemo mockingly repeated, his skin colour changing from a muddy green to yellow. “I will bet one of my cerci that you are moonlighting, because we have security companies for those kind of jobs. It is not the nicest thing to do, you know, robbing honest workers of a contract.”
So, that's what those pricks are after, Zekra thought, slightly shifting ger position. Exactly what the Shaoon had warned about.
“You mean a contract the security companies wouldn't have done anyway? Well, too bad, first come, first served. Now scram, or do you want this poor little girl to spend time in the presence of us shady strangers longer than she should?”
“I will tell you, something, Serkanian,” the Tolemo growled, “your presence here and your kind of associations are not wanted. Not yours and not of our bug calamite.”
Arqeez' four eyes were following the Tolemo's quieter companions, which began to spread out to encircle the two.
“I will repeat myself for you, translated into something you will get easier. Fuck off,” Zekra said, ger antennae now flat on ger head.
“Not before you answer me a question,” the Tolemo said with a filthy grin. “How many Serkanians does it take to feed a rutuk?”
“I will answer your question with a question of my own,” Zekra replied with ger arms folded behind ger back and a grin showing ger tooth plates. “How many Serkanians does it take to rip off both your arms and shove them up your arse?”
The grin vanished from the Tolemo's face. “You will regret saying th-”
The sentence remained unfinished as the Tolemo was casually backhanded by Arqeez into the nearest wall. As he collapsed, the other three jumped at the Idrath.
“None, as it turns out. Arq, no killing!”
The Sharkaz chittered and screeched, her front claws futilely slashing after Arqeez had gotten a hold of them with three of his arms while shoving one of the Molurians to the ground with his fourth. With one of the attackers temporarily out of the way, he gave the Sharkaz' forelegs a twist and threw her onto her back.
The second Molurian, both looking for an easier target and not wanting to be too close to the fight with the Sharkaz, went at Zekra. The Serkanian grinned as ge ducked under the fist, grabbed his arm and pulled him forwards, making him stumble. A tail wrapped around his ankle and a pull brought the big off-duty security worker fully to the ground. Zekra used the momentum of ger own maneuver to strike an elbow against the base of the Molurian's head. Serkanian combat training had separate styles that used the features of the different morphotypes to their fullest, with the small and nimble g-types using techniques specialized on using the enemy's strength against themselves and quick, precise attacks against vulnerable spots. It was almost perfect for the slow, lumbering Molurian, albeit the thick, leathery skin meant it would take some time to deal any real damage.
“Is that all you got?” Arqeez laughed. He kicked the Molurian back on the ground again while wrestling the Sharkaz. The black quadruped had both her forelegs in a lock again, but used her tentacles this time. One went for the Idrath's eyes, who caught the appendage with his teeth and bit down until greenish-blue blood ran down his jaws. The other tentacle went into his right spiracle, which forced Arqeez to let go. The very same moment was used by the Molurian to jump onto Arqeez' back. The Idrath reacted to this maneuver like he usually did – falling backwards and landing with his massive weight and hard back exoskeleton on the attacker, leaving him dazed.
The Sharkaz grabbed the opportunity by the forelock, jumping on top and closing her teeth around one of the larger arms. Arqeez tried to kick her off, ignoring the muffled screams coming from underneath him.
Deyuujey had the time of her life watching the fight, bouncing on her legs and slowly turning around her axis, giving all her eyes running along her body a view of it. The big exoskeletal was fighting two enemies at once, able to keep them both at bay. He already had a number of scratches from the Sharkaz' claws, but he paid back tenfold when he struck against her side with such a force she screeched out in pain, not quite able to drown out the sound of at least one rib breaking.
The small Serkanian wasn't any less interesting to watch, dancing around ger bigger, stronger foe, letting him attack just to avoid the strikes and counterattacking. But alas, the tactic wasn't foolproof, as the Molurian managed to grab ger tail with the same hand it was wrapped around, then gave it a pull that sent the Serkanian to the ground. Triumphantly, he raised a foot to stomp onto his downed opponent, which made him fail to notice the flowerpot the Serkanian had hurled at his face with a hand gesture, the earth that got into his eyes providing enough distraction for ger getting back onto ger feet.
Deeyuujey squealed with excitement, having clearly felt the telekinetic discharge. “I can do that too!”
They had to finish the scrap as soon as possible. The Molurian was already adapting to Zekra's techniques and ge could hear Arqeez' panting from ger position. As strong as the Idrath was, as little stamina he had.
To ger surprise, the Molurian's charge ended with him flipping over, then rising up into the air, to the level of the roofs where he hung, arms waving and screaming in terror. The telekinetic waves that made ger exhale sharply told exactly what the reason for this phenomenon was.
“Haha, they are flying!” Arqeez commented between drawing winded breaths, looking up at the flailing Molurians and the Sharkaz.
Zekra was leaning on ger knees and turned ger head towards the young Shaoon. “I appreciate your help, but please let them go. Your powers hurt me.”
“Oh, sorry,” Deyuujey said, not realizing how much discomfort her simply holding up the three thugs was causing to her escort. She let them sink down to a height of two metres from which she released the telekinetic grip and dropped them onto the cobblestones. Was that also the reason for the Serkanian having kept ger distance to her throughout the travel?
“Well, that's what I call a soft landing,” Zekra commented the moaning heaps. The Tolemo, who had been out of the fight from the beginning, tried to pull himself up, using the wall he had been thrown at as support. “They seem fine enough to get their arses to the next hospital themselves. Thanks, Deyuujey, let's get moving. Your mother is waiting.”
Deyuujey's mother was indeed waiting. They let the two Shaoon have their reunion, patiently waiting for them being done with their greeting ceremony and the girl being sent into the house. The mother looked like the father, the only difference was that her preferred voice on the translator was much more melodious in tone. Zekra got the modules containing the 80000 remies as promised and the Shaoon was so generous to give them a tip of 500 additional remies for the fun her daughter had had on the way there.
“I would have never thought your flying would throw off such a good meal,” Arqeez said, scratching the scabs from the fight on his chest. The first thing they had done after leaving the Shaoon was for Arqeez to sniff his way to the inn he had noticed previously, where they had eaten their fill.
“Maybe I should take more contracts concerning person transports,” Zekra agreed. “Preferably not Shaoon, though, my head still hurts.”
“Well, maybe I have a way to-”
A tail struck Arqeez against the side of the face.
“Yes, there is a way. I find the closest brothel, drop you there with enough money to have the entire personnel including the janitor twice over and fly off while you are busy.” Zekra was quite sure ger threats of leaving the Idrath on whatever planet they currently were had lost their teeth long ago. It was not like they were serious – Arqeez was simply too useful and the fact he had saved ger life on not than just one occasion proved him to be a valuable companion, as annoying and embarrassing as he was.
“Either way, we will have to visit a number of establishments. Giving the Sciara a paintjob, a modern waste filter, repair the airlock,...”
Once again, several people emerged from a side alley, blocking their way. Except this time, their vests were emblazoned with the logo of Olum Set's law enforcement and they were armed with electric stunners.
“You are arrested for assault and potential child endangerment!”
As the sun was setting on Olum Set, the sky had cleared up, allowing a beautiful view of Fenjerra in the fire-coloured sky.
The visitors were either on their ways to the hotels to spend the night there or out for the pubs and other night life activities. Only few figures had other things in mind in the sleepy coastal town with a long history, among them were a Serkanian and an Idrath walking in the direction of the space harbour.
“I could have expected this shit to happen,” Zekra mithered. “Every time I get paid, some stupid shit has to appear and eat it up.”
Most of the earnings from the contract had been shelled out for the bail, and after the most vital necessities had been paid for, like replacing the water reserves of the Sciara, buying food rations and refueling the ship, there was not much left.
“Why not going back and taking that other contract?” Arqeez suggested.
“Forget that. I'm done with this system. All it will get us are more encounters with shitscratchers from the security companies after those four got their clocks cleaned.”
Zekra walked a few minutes in silence, focused on ger wrist computer.
“Teekal isn't too far away. I heard they grow really good viiri ingredients there, maybe we could fill up the storage room with some and sell it somewhere along the way. Mostly arid biomes, too, so rain will be unexpected. What do you think of that?”
Arqeez passed a glance to the twin planet in the sky. “Wherever you want to go.”