Chapter I

I sit and stare out the front window, the stars greet me like old friends. M-Jay hums around me, everyone else is sleepin'. This silence is one of my favorite things, I never get any time alone on this ol' boat so when I do I savor every minute. We should be planet side of Rubin by later today. Can't say I'm excited about that. I ain't to fond of the core planets. Districts 1 and 2 are nearly as awful as the Kapitol. But we need work and Haymitch managed to get us a job so we're goin'. Probably gonna pick up a few passengers while we're at it, there's always people lookin' for cheep transportation into the outer districts and we could always use the extra coin.

"Morning Cap'n." Annie mumbles behind me. "Le'me take over and you go get some shut eye." I turn in my seat and stand up to face her. Her auburn hair is pulled messily into a ponytail, she's wearing wrinkly grey cargo pants and a black t-shirt and as always she looks pretty. Annie's lucky she don't even have to try. "Don't try nothin' crazy while I'm sleepin', ja?" She nods. "I wanna make it to Rubin in one piece."

"You got it Cap'n." She gives a mock salute and flops down into the pilot seat. Spinning in circles a few times before she stops in front of the controls. Then she reaches under the control panel and pulls out a costume pilot hat and pulls it onto her head. It's complete with glasses and all. I shake my head and sigh "Ann why are ya wearing that contraption?"

"Makes me feel authentic Cap'n." She chuckles to herself.

"Makes you look like a loony." I mutter under my breath as I turn to head to my bunk.

Just off the bridge is the main crew's bunk. 'Cept Jo's. She don't like to be to far from the engine room so she basically set up her bunk there. Finn and Annie have the largest one; me and Gale have the other two. There is four but the last one we use for storage since Jo don't want it.

…::…

"Finn, Gale, you guys are coming with me, we gotta see Gloss bout our next jobs. Annie, you recruit us some passengers. Nobody weird or suspicious though. And Jo go looking through the dumps for any salvageable parts. Only buy news ones if ya hafta." Annie nods while setting up a lawn chair and umbrella. Jo hops on the four-wheeler and heads off. Gale and Finn start into town and I trail behind them.

Gloss is our contact for jobs here in district 1. We also got Brutus in 2, Beetee and Wiress in 3, Mags in 4, Blythe in 7, Chaff in 11, and Haymitch back in 12. Haymitch connected me with all these other guys. He may seem like a drunk but occasionally is able to serve a useful purpose. I don't know how he done it but he's got himself contacts everywhere.

"Whatcha got for us today Gloss." I call out as we walk through the dark and damp tunnels under the city. Some of Gloss' minions have their hands on their revolvers f we should get unruly. Such friendly folk. Everythin' we do is pretty black market so most of our dealings are done underground. We emerge from the dark tunnels to a well lit and fancifully decorated room built into the tunnels for Gloss's headquarters.

"Just a few crates of Union goods. Meds and food packs. Stuff like that. It'll sell for a fortune on the border planets. I'll have a few men load it up onto your ship." With that he flicks his wrist and four armed men push us back out into the tunnels. Hands again on their revolvers like they don't trust us, we slosh through the mud back to the surface.

"Gale and I are headin' back to the ship Cap'n. See ya round." They waved and meandered in the opposite direction.

It would be a few more hours before all the crates were loaded and passengers were on board. Personally I didn't much feel like interactin' with those folks quite yet. I'm not exactly a people person but passengers mean a bit of extra money and I ain't gonna argue with that.

Rubin is a silly planet. All focus round here lies in mining, not coal like where I am from, rather mining expensive jewels like diamonds and the like. Theses people were used to the finest things money could buy. Just like the Kapitol. A group of young women dressed as if they were goin' to some fancy party strolled ahead of me chattin' bout which bachelor's were the most eligible and what particular jewel was in fashion this year. Apparently it's rubies, not like I care. The only use I have for rubies is to sell 'em.

I wandered through the market. Not so much lookin' for anything just to pass the time. Finn and Gale had left me bout two hours ago. Finn hated being away from Annie for that long, what a love struck fool. And Gale was probably takin' a nap in his bunk like the lazy fart he is. Jo would undoubtedly be at the dump for another hour or two at least but if she found some free parts it'd all be worth the wait.

Another hour and a bit later I head back towards the docking bays. Back to M-Jay, back to my metal cage that I called home. I must say I can't wait to get off this rock, I prefer flyin' to being stuck here on the ground, plus I don't really wanna be on this rock much longer with those illegal goods burnin' a hole in my hull. The sooner we complete this job the better.

"Bout time you came back Cap'n!" Annie shouts across the bay. "We's all been waitin' on ya."

"Seriously? I thought for sure I'd beat Jo back?" She shakes her head at my response. "Nope she made it back a good while ago. Says she got some good stuff. Even Clove came back bout ten minutes before yourself. And she had some fancy meetin' to attend." I nod.

We walk up the ramp and back into the hull. "How many passengers did we get this time round?" I ask.

She looks into her head as her lips move in sync with the amount of fingers she's counting. "Three. One of 'em is a doctor." She says matter of factly but a hint of excitement seeps in. Been a long time since we've seen a doctor, bet she's hoping he'll stay on. We got a small infirmary on board, nothin' fancy and certainly not enough to tempt a doctor from the core planets.

I push the button on the console to my left and the hull begins to shut and seal. "Come on Annie let's get off this awful rock. I'll be on the bridge in a few." She nods and heads to the bridge. I veer off to my bunk real quick to clean some of the sweat off my body.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Please review and let me know what you think. Any comments make my day and inspire me to write quicker. Plus I just love the feedback.