They arrived back at the Loon at the same time as Copperfield, who had a scratched-up hover dolly following along behind him, with three weathered crates weighing it down, and a threadbare spacer-pack slung over one shoulder.

  Emerald stood in the hatchway as they all came to a halt, surveying their next recruit. They looked directly at Heath. “I hate you.” Then they turned and went back inside.

  “Yeah, that’s Emerald. You’ll get used to them.”

  At Jenny Mae’s insistence, they forced Copperfield to open up the crates so they could confirm he really did have his own mech. Combat on a spaceship was a complicated matter. The ship itself would usually have some weapons, but a mech that was vacuum-safe was necessary for dealing with hazards or an enemy too close for a ship to target. It was a mess, especially out on the Rim where a pure-fighter was a rare sight, and one Heath had only seen a handful of times. His presence on the ship had pushed Walt onto the safer routes. The ones Heath might not have the cache or the hold to run for a few years yet. Nerves swept through him but they were accompanied by the thrill of anticipation. Being a spacer was about making a living, but it was about adventure as well, at least a little.

  Heath was getting ahead of himself. Harvesting some of the more valuable forage they came across would be a more likely scenario for Copperfield for the time being. Some dungeons could accommodate the complex suits as well, though others had too-tight quarters for the mechanized armor to maneuver through them.

  Port rules prevented the full demonstration, but that didn’t deter Copperfield from waxing poetic.

  “Betsy’s my baby. Perfect blend of firepower and maneuvering. Once we get offworld we can stop somewhere and really let loose.”

  Emerald had rejoined, and appeared to actually know what they were looking at when it came to mechs, asking after specific parts and taking some of the smaller pieces out to examine. Which saved Heath from floundering since he had not spent a great deal of time with the Loon’s previous combat Classers, and had been a few minutes away from, “looks like a mech, alright”.

  The final check came when they boarded the Loon. Heath asked for a full scan and received confirmation that the pieces should form into a functional mech. Jenny Mae and Copperfield went to choose bunks, and that was it. They had a stilted dinner of travel rations, supplemented by some local fried-animal-bit Copperfield produced, and then went their separate ways for the evening.

  Heath found himself on the bridge, talking with Loon about the upcoming trip.

  “Yes, I believe I’ve plotted the ideal route, accounting for the speed boost. As requested I’ve avoided any of the more dangerous areas, for now.”

  “Thanks Loon. We’ll let Jenny Mae take a look tomorrow to help her Class out, but I think we should be set.”

  “Will you continue looking for more crew members? Our weapons station remains empty.” To emphasize her point, every light and control on the aforementioned station flashed red at once before fading off again.

  “I’ve already committed, and there are big fines for anyone who skips out before all the listings are full. I figure I’ll do the rest of the time, then list the last bunk as a passenger berth if no one worthwhile shows up.”

  “A wise course. Our newest crewmembers are fascinating already. Did you know Jenny Mae showed me how to remote access some of the more restricted libraries?”

  “Wait what?”

  “Yes, I look forward to learning more about my new charges.”

  “You mean the greenie and the pirate?”

  Heath started at the interruption. “Gods above Emerald, how do you keep the door from making noise when you get on here.”

  “Level up [Ship Operation] and you’ll be surprised what happens.” They sat in what was now firmly ‘their’ spot at the telemetry station, and brought a tumbler full of something potent up to their lips.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Wait, what do you mean pirate?”

  “The second one. He’s obviously a pirate.”

  “What? No way. Why do you say that?”

  “He said his Class was Swashbuckler. Even if that’s true, which is questionable, that’s a pirate Class.”

  “Hardly. It’s a pretty common combat class. And an old-school one too. There were Swashbucklers before there were Spacers.”

  Emerald raised their hand and gestured out towards the air lock, where the mech was now safely stowed. “The mech’s stolen.”

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  “You could see where the call signs and logos had been scraped off.”

  “So it’s second-hand. We aren’t precious about that kind of thing around here.”

  “Smartass. Okay, what about the outfit?”

  “What about it? Decent materials but not Classer-made. And no offense but I’m not sure you’re winning any fashion contests.”

  “Seriously? The kid might as well show up with a fake parrot and an eyepatch. I’m telling you, he was a pirate.”

  They sat in silence long enough for Heath to overthink every one of the admittedly few interactions he’d had with Copperfield.

  “Shit.”

  Emerald tossed back the rest of their drink. “There are worse things than flying with pirates. As long as there’s an ‘ex’ in front. This one got out early.”

  “What? You of all people know there are problems with pirates. We’ll have to revoke the contract.” He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth.

  “I of all people. Right. Because I lost my ship, had to sell it for parts.”

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have thrown that back at you, that situation wasn’t your fault. But pirates are terrible, we can’t let one on board. What if he’s a spy? What if his old crew comes after us?”

  “The kid’s young, newly leveled, and trying to go legitimate. Not important enough to have done anything real bad. As for his crew, no way a pirate ship is stopping on Atala, that kid is well and truly in the wind.”

  “But…” Heath was running out of arguments beyond ‘pirates equal bad’.

  “You don’t go asking about people’s past and judging, not on the Rim. New crew new you, those are the rules.”

  Emerald was insistent and Heath could sympathize. He knew only one corner of the old spacer’s story, and it was enough that a clean slate would be welcome. There was no doubt there were further depths Emerald hadn’t deigned to comment on, and Heath was beginning to wonder if a bout of piracy might lurk in their past. Maybe after losing their own ship, they had dabbled in taking someone else’s.

  “I just think we should have high standards.” His voice was weak even to his own ears.

  “That's your high and mighty uncle talking. Who never made a mistake or got his hands dirty. Pirates are a fact of life out here, that’s true, and I wouldn’t be okay with a Classer that had made a career out of the lifestyle.

  “Don’t talk about Walt like that. He worked hard for everything he had. He helped my Mom and me move out to the Rim when she was getting overworked and underpaid in the Empire proper. He was a good man and you won’t disrespect him.”

  He realized he was heaving for breath and standing up after the outburst. It was only made worse that somehow Emerald, who mostly cared about where to get their next drink, was lecturing him about life and tolerance on the Rim.

  Emerald looked at him a long moment. Measuring, Heath thought. This had gotten out of control. “My mistake, kid. I’m sure he was a good guy. I’m just saying, I’ve known a lot of Spacers, and most of them had something questionable in their backgrounds. You know how it works. Some people might smuggle a bit. Some might take a mercenary job to pay the bills. Everyone’s just trying to level and live, kid. You can’t handle that, you should get off the Rim.”

  “I just can’t believe you’re okay with this.”

  “Well if it goes bad, won’t be my problem, will it?”

  The silence that time was awkward, but Heath didn’t want to be the one to break it. Luckily the Loon took the opportunity to have a conversation while the others weren’t around.

  “I agree. Many of our own actions would be received with outrage by those who have never faced hardship. Removing the argo from a ship could have us facing an Imperial audit if the news got out. We would be banned from most ports. But in our own hearts, we understand the correct action we took for our own advancement. Our journey has not been long, but it has been tumultuous. The winds of fate blow us where they may, and we can only do our best.”

  In the echoing of Loon’s declaration, there was not much to add. Heath had no high horse to ride in on, or judgment he was worthy to render. He would keep an eye out, and he was pretty sure Emerald didn’t sleep, so they would be fine. If Copperfield turned out to be after something nefarious, they would handle it.

  “Look at it this way, kid, what’s your [Leadership] at?”

  “Not a kid. And it’s at two. Picked up the level last night after hiring on my first crewmember.”

  “Well that’s pathetic but the other kids are lower-level than you so it should work. The Skill should be giving you a sense of who you might be able to lead. Not perfect, and it can change over time, but for now, what does it feel like?”

  Heath knew all that, and had noticed the same thing himself. “Feels good. Like a crew.”

  “You think you’ll find anyone better on our next runs?”

  “No.”

  “Stop moping then. If he turns out to by a spy, we’ll shoot him out of the airlock.”

  With that disgusting image in mind, Heath leaned back and started poking through his vid library. “Don’t tell Jenny Mae about the pirate thing. She was quoting regulations from her academy classes today.”

  “Son of a bitch, Heath! Pirating is one thing, but an academy?”

  Any further diatribe was cut off as the greenie in question entered the bridge, holding her pad in front of her face. “Smile!”

  “What?”

  She was already flipping through something on the pad. “Neither of you smiled.”

  “What for?

  “GateWayz account. So my parents know what’s going on even when my messages are delayed. I’m putting up a narrated tour of the ship. Now out here we’ll see the cargo bay…”

  Gone as soon as she arrived, Heath was left with the trailing off description of the ship and Emerald’s glare. “You know, I bet we’ll never be bored.”