Especially if you intended on breaking safety protocols…
“Waev will look after you,” I said.
I stepped from the shuttlecraft and ran toward the main entrance. Traveling by foot was a whole lot faster than by shuttlecraft when you were trapped in traffic.
“Hey! Cleb!”
I’d barely run half a dozen steps when I heard the voice. I turned to find Cleb running up behind me. Waev shrugged his shoulders in a way that suggested the meaning: “What do you expect me to do?”
Cleb drew to a stop a few yards from me.
“She’s my friend too,” he said.
I couldn’t stay mad at him. He was a little boy who missed his friend and teacher. I extended my hand. He took it, and we ran for the entrance.
It was busy—it always was. I was not a frequent flyer. I only ever visited mining operations when it was necessary. Most often when there was a serious issue to take care of.
I ran to the robot spaceport assistant, who informed me the departures area was on the other side of the spaceport.
We ran through the terminal. I glanced at the giant clock on the wall. We had fifteen minutes before the ship would take off. We had no bags to check-in and ran directly to security. Even with my priority tickets, we couldn’t skip it.
I waved the tickets at the officer on duty.
“Our ship is boarding in fifteen minutes,” I said. “Can we get through security quickly, please?”
The officer appeared to be the wrong person to ask to move quickly. He seemed to move in slow motion. He took the tickets, checked them, and then extended his hand toward us.
“Passports,” he said lazily.
I dug our passports out of my pocket and handed them over. The officer slid my passport open and compared my face to my photo. Then he did the same with Cleb’s.
I wanted to slap him, shove him, force him to move faster.
“You’ll never make it in time,” he said.
We would if you moved your fat ass!
“Can we at least try?” I said. “Can you let us cut in ahead of another line so we can make our flight?”
He pursed his lips and sighed deeply as if it was impossible.
“Cutting in isn’t allowed, sir,” he said. “But I might be able to open up a new line for you.”
“Yes!” I said. “That would be great!”
“Please follow me,” he said.
He waddled along at the breakneck speed of half a mile an hour. We had our shoes off and pockets emptied within five seconds, and he was still looking for spare trays.
I could have throttled him.
Finally, we got through the security gate.
“Thank you,” I said, grabbing Cleb and running down the long arm of duty-free stores.
We reached the right gate and bent over double, panting with exertion. We stumbled toward the ticket desk and I slapped my communicator on the tabletop.
“We made it!” I said.
The stewardess was busy packing away the desk.
“You’re too late,” she said.
“Wait!” I said. “We have tickets!”
The stewardess checked them and shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m very sorry, sir,” she said. “The ship is about to leave.”
The giant ship pulled away from the terminal and took its spot lining up to take off.
“But we’re passengers!” I said “And I bought expensive tickets! Surely the ship can wait a few minutes for us to get on?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Once the ship begins to taxi, it’s too late. If you return to the ticket office, I’m sure you’ll receive a full refund.”
“I don’t want a refund!” I said. “I want my seat!”
“I can’t help you,” the stewardess said and left armed with a boxful of equipment.
“Does that mean we can’t see her again?” Cleb said.
“I… I don’t know,” I said.
Still exhausted from our exertion to get there in time, we fell into a pair of seats. I hugged Cleb close.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We still have each other, right?”
Cleb sniffed and squeezed me harder.
“I miss her,” he said.
“So do I.”
I watched as Bianca’s ship moved up a place in the line. Interstellar ships were so big they needed a huge area to take off from, otherwise, they would blow so much dust and debris around the area that it would affect local weather patterns. Spaceports were designed to keep as much of the impact of them taking off within its confines as possible. Only one ship could take off at a time.
Ahead of Bianca’s passenger ship was an even larger ship. It was a merchant vessel that transported products, resources, and equipment from one planet to another. An intergalactic empire required an unbelievable amount of resources to be shuttled from one end of the galaxy to the other.
But it wasn’t the merchant ship that caught my attention.
It was the name on the side.
I grabbed my communicator and dialed the number I had on speed dial. After two rings, it was answered.
“Zauet Transportation,” the receptionist said.
“This is Traes,” I said. “I need to speak to the president.”
“What is it regarding?”
“I need a merchant vessel in Arctus spaceport to desist and not take off,” I said.
“Is a problem with a shipment?” the secretary said.
“No. It’s… something else. It’s an emergency. Put me through to the president.”
“One moment please.”
The phone rang. I stared out the window at the merchant ship, already getting into position to be the next to take off. Its engines thrummed.
Come on! Answer the phone!
Finally, someone picked up.
“President of Zauet Transportation, speaking,” he said.
“This is Traes.”
“Hi, Traes. How are things going?”
“I need you to stop the ship you have right now in Arctus spaceport from taking off.”
“Is there a problem with the shipment?”
“No. It’s nothing like that. I need you to do this as a favor.”
The Zauet president was silent at the end of the line.
“You want me to shut down the spaceport as a favor?” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “It’s an emergency.”
“Can I know what the emergency is?”
“It’s of a… personal nature.
