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Zandrel

The spaceport in Severin’s capital city of Thervor does not inspire the best first impression of the planet.

Dimly lit, and with outdated technology in various states of disrepair, the whole place is coated in grit and dust, an inescapable shroud whipped up by the slightest breeze. I set my cruiser’s security protocols, adding a few extra layers of protection for good measure should any of the unsavory characters skulking around the hangar decide to test those protocols for weak spots. With any luck, I won’t have to worry about it. I’ll be back before the suns have risen, and it would take the best craft thief I know at least twice that long to crack through.

Flicking open a small holoscreen from the band on my wrist, I pull up the route to my destination. Before I can take a step toward the exit, though, a voice rings out from behind me and my hand drops to the blaster at my hip.

“Zandrel! Hey, wait—woah!”

In the span of a heartbeat, Arrik pushes a very pregnant Savannah behind him and draws his own weapon. He aims it squarely at my chest, baring his teeth in a silent snarl.

Despite the handful of beings milling about, no one in the port does more than spare us a glance.

Another delightful feature of this fatesforsaken planet. Violence in anonymity.

“Drop your damn weapons,” Savannah grumbles.

She pushes past Arrik, despite his bluster and the glare he levels on me that could melt a lesser male’s flesh from his bones.

“I’d say I’m surprised to see you here,” she says as she reaches me. “But I’ve got the feeling you’ve had all this planned from the moment you sent that comm.”

I chuckle. “You give me too much credit.”

“I don’t think I do.”

She opens her arms to me. Awkwardly—I don’t know if I’ll ever have the natural affinity for physical touch that humans seem to—I return the embrace, catching another warning glare from Arrik as I do.

“Thank you, Zandrel,” Savannah murmurs. “For all of it.”

“You spoke to Roslyn? She’s still here?”

“She’s still here. But I think that’s probably something else you already knew.”

I shift from one foot to the other as she releases me.

Perhaps I’ve been monitoring the passenger manifests of shuttles leaving Thervor.

For the Aux, of course.

Just to make sure none of our criminal targets tried to hop off-world before they could be arrested. No other reason.

But I’m not interested in lying to Roslyn’s sister, so I just give her a brief nod and she grins.

“Thought so.”

She looks like she wants to say more, and I’ve got a hundred questions about how Roslyn is, what she said, whether Savannah thinks she’ll be glad to see me, but I don’t get to ask them.

With a none-too-subtle clearing of his throat, Arrik catches Savannah’s attention. She sighs, then wraps me in one last quick hug.

“Don’t mind Arrik,” she says. “Pregnant wife. People here who might want to kill me. All of that, you know? He’s just a little antsy, and we should probably get going.”

When I glance at the male in question, he’s got his eyes rolled heavenward and drags a hand down the side of his face, no doubt run just as ragged by his wife as I hope to be by Roslyn for the rest of my life.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” I tell her and, with a parting smile, she saunters over and claims her husband’s hand.

They both climb into a small freighter, and after flicking open my holo to check my route one last time, I head out into the Severin evening.