"Very good, Jeeves," Alistair replied.
The dock was a landing pad. Faitrin guided the ship to it carefully for a gentle landing. What Alistair wanted was a shower and a bed, but he didn't know when those would be possible, despite Jeeves’ assurances of rooms being available. Alistair had a meeting first.
Rather, he hoped to get a meeting. Without it, much of what they wanted to do here would be hopeless.
Now that they were on the world, Jeeves’ voice came over the comm once again. "Our credentials have been taken care of. Once we exit the ship, androids will come and take it to a storage facility. I will alert Faitrin if something untoward happens to the ship. One thing you’ll notice is the increased gravity due to the planet’s size. In day to day interaction, you’ll feel it, though your suits should mitigate it. Does anyone have any questions?"
"I think we're good, Jeeves," Alistair said. The AI had given them a thorough overview of the planet, government structures, law enforcement, and most importantly, the underworld. It was a laissez-faire place as long as violence didn't break out. When that happened, the powers that be came down with an iron fist. Violence wasn't good for business.
Alistair turned his chair around and looked at his crew. Faitrin was on his right, Servia and Relm directly in front of him, and the AllMother in the back. Obs lay beside the chair, his eyes closed. The small ship had a toilet but no shower. The group had to smell worse than anyone on this planet, and Alistair reassessed the need to clean himself.
"Okay, AllMother, I'd like you to remain relatively quiet and unnoticed while we're here. That work for you?"
The woman gave him a soft smile. "As you wish."
Alistair didn't like giving her orders, but she allowed him little choice in the matter. The old woman refused to make any decisions. "Faitrin," he continued, "how far will your connection with Jeeves work? Are you able to connect with him anywhere on this planet?"
The pilot's eyes were clear since she had disharmonized from the ship. "We allowed ourselves to harmonize deeper than usual for this trip. I should be able to utilize it at relatively large distances, though neither of us is sure how far that is."
"Better than nothing," Alistair said. "Servia, I want you to remain with the AllMother. Relm and Faitrin, we're going to clean up as best we can, then go find the underworld connection Jeeves has set up. We'll keep our comms on us at all times, even when we sleep. Any questions?"
Relm and Servia shook their heads. Obs looked up and gave a small bark.
"You're with the AllMother, Obs. If Jeeves is to be believed, you won't be the only drathe on these streets, but I don't think they'll let you in where we're going. No chasing females or starting pissing contests with males while I'm away, understand?"
Obs sighed as if those actions were too beneath him to be worthy of a bark. The animal stood up and stretched his front legs, then his back. He was ready to go.
"All right. We wash up, then we go find this underworld god."
By any measurement, Jeeves had done an amazing job setting everything up. Exactly what he said would happen happened. Within an hour of deplaning, Alistair was clean and had a room to return to if he survived what came next. Jeeves had been able to use the AllMother's credits to purchase clothes for the group without telling them about it.
The damn thing had even made sure the clothes Alistair wore had a place for his Whip. The overcoat had a pocket perfectly tailored to fit his weapon so he could take it with him wherever he went as long as he wasn't patted down or scanned.
The group met outside their building. The street was busy, with people walking instead of using flying transportation. It was a whirlwind of movement, both next to and above them. Alistair received some looks from passersby, most likely due to his size and the red in his eyes, but for the most part, they were ignored.
No one said anything as they started walking. They'd discussed everything before coming outside, and now they were heading to meet the man who could introduce them to the nameless underworld boss. Even Jeeves hadn't been able to find his identity.
"You're sure he exists?" Alistair had asked.
"I am sure," Jeeves said. "His name is guarded. It's not a common practice on this planet, but this man is different."
Alistair certainly hoped everyone on the damned planet didn't hide their name.
He'd been briefed on what to expect during the first meeting. Jeeves had managed to set up the introduction using a large sum of credits, though it wasn't with the nameless one. This was with an underling, and it was up to Alistair to convince him of the necessity of meeting the person who could help them.
Their hotel was close to the restaurant where they would meet the first man. It didn't take them long to reach it. Faitrin walked on Alistair's right and Relm on his left. Each was wearing the common clothing of long overcoats since light snow was falling on the busy city. Snow often fell, which was lucky since it allowed for more layers and more weapons underneath.
The restaurant was upscale, something Luna might have picked but Alistair never would have. He always felt uncomfortable in these types of places, as if there were a secret code of behavior he hadn't been taught but everyone else in the restaurant knew about.
Allie, his wife's voice asked in his mind, are you here to order food or to try to get back to me?
"Let's go," he told the group with a little
