What May Come

Please see chapter 1 for author's notes.

Chapter 2: No Good News

Radu leaned against the post announcing the designation of this particular docking station and tried not to look as miserable as he felt. He'd had a very bad feeling since they'd come upon the empty station where the Christa should be, and somehow he didn't think Harlan and Goddard's trip to Station Services would yield good results. He'd much rather be with them than here, alone, but…well, Goddard had to go, and Harlan…. The last thing they needed was to lose another crew member, and Harlan would never have been able to find his way back to this place on his own.

"Help!"

He spun at the cry and found that a support beam of one of the near ships most heavily in need of repair was slowly sliding outward. When the ship finally overbalanced and went down on that end, the other beams would snap out and be sent flying all over the bay. He was moving before he even noticed it, throwing all of his strength against the collapsing beam to hold it in place. A team was already working frantically to bring in another support, but he could feel himself sliding backwards with the beam and knew they weren't going to get it in place in time.

"Radu!" A second figure joined him, adding more weight to keep the beam from sliding backwards. "What happened?"

"I don't know, someone just yelled for help." He noted that Goddard was on the other side, and while he doubted either human was actually doing much good against the several-ton weight slowly shoving the beam outwards, having them there made him feel better.

Against all odds, the second support beam made it into place before the first finally went down, and the ship settled onto the new support without causing any more damage. "…mn idiots not fully checking the connections. Lucky it only slid out and didn't collapse at once, nothing would have saved it then." A tall Pylian, the one who'd headed up the crew putting in the new support, moved to the trio. "Nice work Ashrak," he said with a nod to Radu. "You two also. If you hadn't slowed that beam down, we'd never have gotten the other one into place in time."

"Um, thank you, but…I'm not Ashrak. I'm Radu."

"Radu?"

"It's my n-name…you called me Ashrak, but I'm not him."

The man frowned at Radu's expression. "It's not a name, it's…You seriously aren't an Ashrak?"

"What are you, blind?" Harlan asked in amazement. "He's Andromedan!"

Before Radu could stop him, the man reached out and pushed the hair off one of his ears. "Well, I'll be. You really aren't." He shook his head. "Uh, sorry about that. Mistaken identity. Thanks, though, all of you. Name's Kyldarian." He bowed slightly. "You guys ever need a job reference here on the docks, let me know. I run one of the crews."

Goddard gave him their thanks, and then the three of them moved into one of the side corridors. "We didn't find out exactly where the others are, but we did get some information. It isn't good."

Radu winced slightly at the blunt statement, and the fact that Harlan wouldn't meet his eyes worried him. "Was there an accident?"

"No. It seems as though the Spung Empire has some connections here."

"The Spung have them?" He could hear the rise in pitch in his voice, and his mind began to supply frightening pictures. Some were from his imagination, what could be done to his friends when the Spung got to them, others…

"That's what it looks like," Goddard agreed. "Apparently one of them showed up, showed a couple false documents claiming the Christa was his, and just hauled her and the others away."

"The station won't do anything to offend the Spung, so no one even tried to help," Harlan said bitterly. "We don't even know where they're being taken."

"We h-have to do something!" Radu insisted. "We have to find them!"

"And we will," Goddard assured him. "But right now, we need to go back and cancel our orders with the merchants. Then we need to get a room—a cheap one. We need to conserve our money as best we can; we may need it to buy passage on a transport into Spung or for bribes."

"Bribes?"

"Information, Mr. Band. I suspect the only way we are going to get any help here is to make it worth these people's while."

Radu wasn't impressed with the merchants as they made their way back around to everyone they'd bought from. None were very sympathetic, and most had no-refund policies. Goddard had managed to browbeat a couple of them—the policy hadn't been clearly stated, the person who'd sold to them had said no such thing, and so on—but they ended up retrieving a lot less currency than they'd hoped for. Finding a room was easier, and if the pitter-patter of little rat feet in the walls didn't do much for Radu's nerves, it wasn't worth mentioning to Harlan or the commander. They had bigger worries. A thump drew his attention back to his crewmembers.

Harlan kicked the wall again for emphasis, noting that Radu had pulled himself out of whatever half-trance he was in to look at him curiously, while Goddard simply shook his head. "Someone has to know something! We just have to keep asking until they tell us."

It wasn't the first time he'd made that suggestion, and Goddard finally responded from where he was sitting on one of the other fold-down bunks. "And then what? We'll hear a hundred conflicting stories—if we're lucky—from people who weren't there and are guessing at best and being intentionally misleading at worst. Or, if we aren't lucky, they'll make us pay for the same information. We could waste our entire cash reserves and still be no better off than we are now. We need to find someone who is familiar with the way things work on this station and can help us get the information we need."

"D-do they have people like that?" Radu asked.

"On a station as mired in bureaucracy as this one seems to be, as well as under the thumb of the Spung Empire, I'm sure there are several people who specialize in knowing people. The trouble is going to be finding one."

"And paying for them," Harlan added gloomily. "It sounds like we're talking about black market information, and that's never cheap." He gave up kicking the wall and moved to the bunk beside Radu's.

The Andromedan was curious about what his human friend knew about black markets—Andromedans had a hard time with the idea of personal ownership so although he recognized the term from classes the idea was incredibly alien—but he sensed this wasn't the time to ask. "How will we find these people?"

"Ask, I suppose," Goddard said with a sigh. "We'll probably get a few false leads, but it'll probably be better than if we start asking which direction a Killcruiser took our ship. Unfortunately," he glanced at the safe where he'd stored their money, "I think we'd better get jobs tomorrow."

"What? How are we going to find them if we've got to work?"

"Mr. Band, we also have to eat, and pay for this room, and pay for this person's services once we find him. The money we have just won't cover it all. Now, I'm not suggesting that we all work full time, but we're going to need some kind on incoming currency."

Radu frowned. He wasn't very good at engineering or most other school subjects, but… "I could probably get a job on the docks."

"That's a good idea. Kyldarian said he'd give recommendations. The three of us will go down there tomorrow and see what we can come up with."

"Maybe you shouldn't work, Commander," Harlan interrupted. "You're probably going to have to meet with these information brokers—they won't take Radu and me seriously. You could hunt them tomorrow with what money we have, while the two of us try to get jobs. The room is already paid for, right?"

"Right, although we're going to need food. Nothing fancy, just something to last us for the next few days. We should probably get that now; if you two are going to start working the docks tomorrow you'll need the energy. And mention to Kyldarian that I might also be looking for a job in the next few days. Assuming we do find someone who can help us relatively quickly, the fees might be high enough that we all need to be working."

Harlan nodded. "Maybe we should go back to Station Services. We were so upset about the Spung that we never asked which Killcruiser it was."

Radu nodded. "M-maybe they can give us the name of the person who claimed the Christa, too. I-I'm pretty sure Spung keep good records. We might be able to find him."

"That's a good plan, gentlemen," Goddard agreed, glancing at the chronometer on the wall. "We'll take some of the money with us and pick up food on the way back."

A short hike later, and they were back in front of a plain sign indicating Station Services. With a curious glance around the neat office, Radu slipped into his familiar spot at the helmsman's right shoulder. "Why is it so empty here? Not like Security…"

"What, you're complaining?"

"N-not complaining, but…it's different."

"Probably because it's things," Harlan replied as they waited for someone to acknowledge the commander. "Security is all about people, and they sure don't want much to do with people around here. This is all about ships, so it's nice and orderly—they'd lose money otherwise. Like the docking station didn't care about crews, only the ships and cargo, and the merchants just want their money and don't care about the people involved. I don't think this is a very traveler-friendly station."

Radu nodded at that, and the two fell silent as a receptionist finally approached. "Can I help you?"

"I need information on the Christa," Goddard began. "It was impounded and taken by the Spung earlier; they claimed it was stolen."

"I'm sorry, you'll have to take the matter up with the Spung Empire."

"Man, they got that on some kind of playback," Harlan muttered, ignoring Goddard's dark look.

"We plan to," Goddard explained. "But since we didn't steal our ship, we don't have any idea who might have taken it. Do you have the name of the person who claimed it was stolen? Or of the Killcruiser that took it away?"

"Do you have proof of ownership?"

"Onboard the ship." From the way he said it, Radu suspected the commander had repeated that line several times in the past. "The names, please?"

"Well, according to our records, your ship has been claimed by Warlord Galzaz, and escorted away by the Killcruiser Ch'cov."

"How convenient they were in the area," Harlan muttered. Radu suspected he was the only one who heard the young human—probably a good thing.

"Thank you for you help," Goddard said, turning to go and motioning for his crewmembers to precede him. "Now we have names. Let's get dinner and some rest, and tomorrow we'll start searching."

Dinner was nothing special, and none of them had much to talk about so they headed back to their rooms for the night. Radu glanced over at Harlan as they settled into their bunks. The human's breathing, at least, was a familiar sound, but he'd gotten used to the Uranusian's snoring on the other side. Goddard had dropped off to sleep almost immediately, although Harlan was still awake. Not for much longer though, if he judged the rhythm of his heart right. The sounds of the station were so different than the Christa's…it was like being back at the StarAcademy, where even earmuffs hadn't been able to keep noises from awakening him at random points during the nights. He'd learned to block a lot of them eventually—especially when he realized that the boys on either side of him were deliberately setting compupads to play irritating messages late at night at a volume only he would hear—but the first few weeks had been miserable. At least his roommate had moved out and no one else had moved in…if anyone had suspected how much the noises had bothered him he'd never have slept. It was even noisier here, he noted absently, wishing he had earmuffs of some sort. Apparently the docks had a night shift, and the machinery wasn't overly quiet. A pillow caught him in the forehead, and he turned to glare at Harlan. "What?"

"I asked if you were okay. Shifting around too much over there to be sleeping."

There was genuine concern in his voice, and Radu felt bad for snapping at him. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I just can't sleep."

"Hey, we'll get them back. Besides, Suzee's probably already figured out a way to blow up the Killcruiser by remote control and they'll be back by tomorrow morning."

Radu knew better than that, and he knew the human did too, but he appreciated the effort. "Yeah, r-right. M-maybe the Christa could put Miss Davenport back in the computer and she could go give the Killcruiser a virus."

"Teach it to faint," Harlan said with a snicker.

"O-or give demerits instead of firing."

Harlan laughed at that, raising the pitch of his voice. "Christa, you will be given 5 demerits for escaping the Spung Empire! You have detention, young lady!" Laughter died down, and he turned his head to face the Andromedan. "Look, close your eyes and go to sleep. We'll get it figured out tomorrow...we'll get them back."

He didn't fall asleep immediately, but concentrating on his crewmates' heartbeats helped mask the rest of the station sounds, and before he knew it Goddard was gripping his shoulder and asking him to wake up. Harlan was already up and moving, and he flushed to realize that he'd managed to fall asleep so deeply that they were actually having trouble getting him up. "S-sorry."

"Get cleaned up and grab yourself some breakfast. I'm going to get an early start on the concourse and see if I can speak to some of the smaller merchants before too many customers get there. You two do the best you can about finding work, and I will meet you by M-21 at 1800. I think the equivalent time here is the standard shift-change. Stay together if you can."

He left as Harlan polished off the remains of his breakfast and Radu entered the washroom to get cleaned up. The two of them reached the dock they'd left previously just before the next shift—the one they wanted to join—was scheduled to start, and set about searching for Kyldarian. "He r-ran a crew," Radu pointed out. "They must have a record somewhere."

"We've just got to find it," Harlan muttered.

As it turned out, he found them. "Didn't expect to see you two so soon," a voice called from behind them as they approached the main office. "Your ship in for repairs?"

"Not exactly," Harlan replied. "Look…were you serious about giving us recommendations? Cause we could use jobs, at least for awhile."

"Are you serious?" He motioned them out of the path of ground vehicles. "What's your story?"

"Complicated," Harlan said with a shrug. "Short version…the Spung took our ship, and we need money to help get it back."

"Damn, you've got some tough enemies." Kyldarian shrugged. "Well, can't do much about that, but I could use a couple extra hands. Temporary, though…there's a pair that need fill-ins or they'll lose their position. It's not much to either of them, but they're good workers and I'd rather not lose them because some paper-pusher says I have to fire anyone who is gone more than a tenday shifts in one tenmonth regardless of reason."

"What happened to them?" Harlan asked.

"Oh, nothing on the job. One of them got himself hurt on some stupid stunt and his partner decided to take a couple tendays off as well to work on some project. They're good enough to write their own tickets when it comes to stuff like that, working here just pays the bills. So are you in?"

"Th-that's great," Radu assured him. "Thank you."

"No problem. Either of you ever work loading docks before?" He nodded as they both shook their heads. "Fair enough. Not a lot too it...we move objects from one place to another. Loading and unloading. I'll work with you for a couple days, show you the ropes, and then you can pull from the schedule. Um…" he handed them badges. "You punch in and out with these at one of the stations." He indicated a stand by the office door. "The chits collect the hours you work, and you can use them at any of the station shops. They'll deduct directly from whatever your current balance is. Don't lose the chits; replacing them is annoying and you'll lose whatever money was on them when you lost it."

"Won't there be a problem if these belong to your other workers? I mean, I don't think their names are Harlan and Radu."

"No names…the cards just track credit amounts. Like I said, don't lose them." A tone sounded, and he nodded to the teenagers. "Punch in, gentlemen, it's time for work."

The work was hard, Radu noted as they went, but not really difficult. Certainly not a lot of thinking involved. Harlan had shown some ability with the loader mechsuits and so had been using them to move crates, while Radu simply lifted and carried. They were more awkward than heavy, but by the end of the day even his muscles were protesting. They had to get lunch at one of the stands since neither had thought to pack anything and spent some time discussing where the Spung might be planning to take the Christa since Warlord Shank was still with Pezu as far as they knew, but other than that they had no time to talk. The Andromedan shied away from thinking about his missing friends as he worked, instead concentrated on all the different races around the docks. The Andromedan government did not think highly of exposure to different cultures for their young—the first time he'd seen races other than his own except in holofilms in class and on tri-d had been when he'd stepped into the StarAcademy. Seeing so many people of so many different shapes and forms was exciting, in a way, and he was glad for anything that kept his mind away from the Spung.

"Hsst! Radu!" He turned towards Harlan, only to receive a sharp, "Don't look! I know you can hear me. Is it just me, or has Kyldarian been giving us some really weird looks since lunchtime? Scratch your forehead if the answer is yes."

Radu wondered idly how he was supposed to scratch anything while both arms were wrapped around a crate, but he couldn't really answer the question anyway. His attention had been elsewhere. Resolving to pay more attention to his immediate surroundings, he did his best to approximate a shrug while making it look as if he was shifting the crate and then continued walking. By the end of the shift he still hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, but he was willing to trust the human's instincts on this one. The noise was downing out his. "Should we ask him about it?" he asked under his breath.

"He'll just say he wasn't," Harlan predicted. "Come on, let's go punch out and meet Commander Goddard."

Judging by the look on the commander's face, he hadn't had much luck, Radu decided. "H-hi, Commander."

"Hello, gentlemen. How was work?"

"Went okay," Harlan answered with a shrug. We get paid by the day, so that's something."

"That may be more important than you'd think," Goddard replied. "I've been trying to track down shuttles into Spung space and see if anyone else has had this same problem, but I haven't had much luck on either front. The only ships that do into Spung space are well-armed traders who don't need new crewmembers, and apparently no one talks about spaceship theft around here."

"They can't really afford to," a new voice said, and all three spun in surprise to see Kyldarian standing behind them. "The Triiad don't want problems with the Spung…if you push this, the three of you are going to disappear too."

"They took our friends!" Harlan exclaimed.

Kyldarian glanced around, but his outburst had apparently gone unnoticed. "Look…I owe you. You probably saved a lot of lives yesterday. I've seen those supports punch through the station hull and suck out a crew and a half before the autoseal kicks in, and that's nothing compared to the mess when they punch through groups of people."

"Do you know someone we could talk to?" Goddard asked.

"If I was in your situation…you might want to talk to Jacie and Aslinn. They're part of my regular crew—the ones you two are filling in for. They're part-time salvagers on their off days…the only ones that regularly go into Spung space. And they sometimes bring more than sheet metal out. They're good people and they have contacts most don't…they might be able to help you out."

"Thought you said one of them was hurt?" Harlan asked.

"Aslinn broke his arm about a tenday and a half ago. Probably almost healed up by now…like I said, they had some project they were working on."

"Where would we find them?" Goddard asked.

"Mech labs on level two—they've got a locker rental in one of them; that's where they spend free time after work. Ask at the office, they should be able to tell you which one. Just…I didn't give you this information, all right? And you can't keep talking out in the open like you have been…definitely don't ask on the concourse!"

Goddard nodded. "Thanks for your help."

"See you tomorrow," Harlan offered as he and Radu followed Goddard out of the bay. "Commander, are we going to do what he says? Go meet these guys?"

"I honestly don't see that we have another option," came the quiet reply. "Radu…could you tell anything about him? Did his heartbeat start racing at any point?"

"N-no," Radu responded after a moment. "It got faster when he was telling us not to talk about what happened, but it never sounded like he was lying. I've n-never really talked to a Pylian though…I might be wrong."

"Whoa, you can hear when people are lying?" Harlan demanded.

"I can hear changes in the way their hearts beat and in their breathing…it's n-not exact, especially with strangers."

"Well, we're going to have to try something," Goddard responded. "So I guess we're heading to level two."

For once they didn't have any trouble getting information out of a receptionist—he just gave them a bored look and indicated with one of his three arms that they should go to the lab at the end of the corridor. Upon entering, they found a man completely covered in some sort of smock and with a hood over his head doing something complicated with a welding torch. The reason for the protection became apparent as the surface of the boz he was working on suddenly crackled with electricity, showering him with sparks and what looked like currents looking for a place to land.

"Hello?" Harlan tried.

The figure shut down the torch and turned so his face mask was towards them. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for Jacie and Aslinn," Goddard said. "Do you know where they might be?"

The machine was shut down, and the figure lifted off the hood and face mask to reveal an Andromedan no older than Radu. "I'm Jacie. What do you need?"