I could see the wheels turning in her mind. She probably had plans to create a disturbance that would delay our departure. Then claim that we had stolen the ship from her. That would lead to an investigation that could eventually get her convicted for murder. But women didn't always think logically. I learned a long time ago not to depend on that.
Sage opened her big-lipped mouth a few times to speak but couldn't figure what to ask or say. Her mind was reeling with this new development. She then became more focused on the ship in question. It was a merchant vessel about three times the size of ours and named Starseeker. There were at least a hundred crates sitting at their docks, mostly in a pattern of rows. As she tilted her head to look around them for the lift tube, I carefully pulled a metal injector from my pocket. Before she had any idea what was happening, I pressed it firmly against her arm.
Sage flinched at the unexpected contact and turned toward me. The ensuing look of horror on her face then was priceless. But it lasted less than two seconds before she fell to the dock floor unconscious. A quick look around told me that we had not been spotted. I had successfully picked the perfect time and place.
A small alcove had been created by stacked cargo cubes. Strawberry helped me drag the drugged woman's fat ass all the way back into it. She wouldn't be found until they started moving the cubes. By that time, we would be long gone. Sage would have enough money to survive and think about what she would do next. With her ship already departed, it wouldn't make sense for her to try to come after us. We didn't give her enough funds to rent a system ship to fly to the planet. Her story would not only have to be convincing to get authorities to pursue us, but it would also take time to investigate.
Strawberry and I scurried back to our lift without drawing any attention. The timer above it said seven minutes, so it was natural for us to be hurrying. Once in the tube and headed for the entrance to our ship I asked her how she was feeling.
"My asshole is very sore, but otherwise I'm okay captain. Thanks for asking."
I chuckled a moment then clarified. "I mean about the Sage situation."
"Oh, that," she replied as she bobbed back in forth in thought. It was an attractive mannerism on her already dollish look. "You treated her better than most people in your situation would have. She did try to kill you repeatedly. But your verdict was stern enough to discourage problems from other crew members. Overall, I'm happy."
Then she reached for my hand as our ship's doors opened. Once inside we eagerly climbed the steps together and strolled to the control room. It was time for our pre-launch checklist. Then we were off for the surface of a nearby planet to sell our newly acquired cargo and get a little recreation time.
Cinnamon handled all communications with the station during our departure like a pro. Honeysuckle tackled the systems job with truly little help needed from Strawberry, who in turn had her hands full with navigation. I could see the new assignments working well.
Leaving a space station, just like approaching it, had a specific path and speed requirement to follow. You couldn't just go from point A to point B at whatever rate you chose. Doing so could send your ship through local traffic lanes or even debris fields. The process for this particular exit required five nav-points. My anal loving first officer accidentally only provided me with four. Fortunately, station flight control caught the error within seconds and alerted us before anyone need panic.
Dealing with other ships wasn't so bad within the control zone of the station. From there to our destination had a steady flow of two-way traffic, but it wasn't awfully challenging to find our spot in the pattern. Approaching the planet was a whole new problem. There were hundreds of orbiting satellites and small stations each with their own purpose. Some science labs. Others recreational retreats. And the flight paths of the ships varied dramatically depending on their source location and destination.
A traffic station contacted our comm girl and gave us instructions, but then followed up with necessary adjustments four times. After that we were passed off to another control point for directions. Eventually, we approached the entry point to lead us to the spot on the planet where we needed to dump our cargo.
Teegarden Dimo-First was the lone planet in the system that had been terraformed. But it was only one of three that currently held human habitation in some form. I didn't know anything about the terraforming process, so it came as a surprise when images of the surface appeared on screen to show barren wasteland.
"There are five green spots," Strawberry informed me. "Those are places where additional effort has been made to make the planet livable. Eventually most of the planet will be able support human life. Until then these green zones hold all the population."
"Are they all close together?" I asked.
"No, not really," the redhead answered. "There are three in the northern hemisphere, but one is almost on the other side of the planet from the other two. The two in the southern half are somewhat remote."
"I would think that they would want all their cities in a row for codependency," I said.
"Captain," Vanilla spoke up, which was something that she rarely did while we were in
