Welcome to the life of an Ore miner.
First post is actually posted here: http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/7/17543?page=2
But it is rewritten below

1. The Recruit Signs On

Hortan was walking down the empty corridors of TGFT headquarter looking for his new living quarters.
Outfitted in the dark green leggings, fashionable jacket and propeller ball-cap of a TGFT recruit, he was almost feeling at home here. The yellow plush shackles kinda clashed with the rest of the uniform, but they were a gift from LQI, and so he would always wear them. Well, as much at home as any spacestation could ever be for him. If it wasn't for that engine checkup at Moda's, he would prefer to be amongst the roids of Helios. Still, the crew at TGFT supplies had been very nice to him, they had even gone through the trouble of explaining why the only size pants currently in store was one size small, the jacket two sizes big and only the ball-cap with the n00b letters on the propellers was available. Something about some forms that were not filled properly resulting in the small error. They must have been having a good and cheerful day, because as soon as he had left the supply room he heard laughter from within.

It seemed to Hortan that TGFT had a lot of problems with forms, because when he came in for docking, he was not allowed to dock. Apparently he had filled out form 46.7b "Regular Personnel Docking Form" instead of form 46.7c "First Time Regular personnel Docking Form", and so his request for docking had been denied. Fortunately, he had been able to purchase some help from the dockhands in getting that old spare bay farthest away, the one without pressurized docking facilities that nobody ever uses. They even volunteered to look after his stash of Helio Mists for another small fee. Very nice people.

After the docking, he reported to Surbius to get a room. One of the dockhands had lead the way, and for some reason he seemed to have to ask the local network for help even though it was only a few corridors away. Hortan didn't mind paying for the calls, he would have been lost anyway, but he felt that 5000 credits for that small distance was pushing it. Surbius was not there, but there was a large bulging envelope with the name HORTON in large letters on the front. He cringed and picked up the envelope, opened it with the heavy letter opener Surbius for some reason had hanging on the wall, and sighed at all the documents inside. Fortunately there was a keycard as well, labeled D-3-D-48, and it was this this label that had sent him down here to level D, sector 3 looking along corridor D for his room.

As he walked he became aware of a deep sobbing that came from one of the rooms, interrupted by a haunting female voice that called out again and again "please master, please". As the door to the room was slightly ajar, he could see a person lying on the bed inside. Always trying to be helpful, he called out softly to the person inside

"are you ok miss?", but no answer came. He was just about to open the door further when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"ehm, recruit.." he looked at the propeller "recruit n00b?, you seem to be lost".

Hortan turned and saw Council Waldoze looking at him with a kind smile under the large mustache. He smartly close the door behind Hortan and so left the sleeping female to her dreams.

"Sir, She seemed to have a nightmare, Sir Council Sir" Hortan blurted, and the smile went up a notch on the face of Waldoze, turning into a real grin.

"Yeah, Obs has a lot of those lately, but don't you worry, she is strong, she can handle it"

"Sir, did you say Obsidian Sir Council Sir?"

"Now, recruit ehm.." he read the shining new green and yellow name tag on Hortans chest, "Horton?, we are not big on the Sir thing here. Maybe you should drop that, ok? Only for the big cheese"

"Will Do Sir, ehm sorry sir, damn..yes" Hortan kept on blabbering

"Now, your room is down there on the left, run along and remember to fill those forms for Surbius, especially the one regarding request of a foodcard and the one regarding toiletpaper. Those are forms 213-8b "Foodcard First Time Requisition" and 95-34-5T "Lavatory Supplement Requisition" respectively. Otherwise it can get lonely and messy if you know what I mean. And if you want to keep those shackles in that colour, you'd better fill out a 89T-4C REquest for exemption for TGFT colour scheme. I'll be seeing you tomorrow recruit". Walroze winked and left.

Hortan went down to the room and looked at the door. Obviously it had been a while since anybody had been there last, but at least the lock seemed to be in order. He looked at the nametag of his neighbor and was shocked to see that he was going to live next door to the famous trader and council member John Eldritch. He was just about to knock and say hi, but the mere reputation of the famed trader was enough to deter him, and he went inside his small cubicle. Just big enough for a bed, a small table, a synthwood chair and a foldaway bathroom, the room was perfect. And in just the right shade of green too. Hortan was going to feel at home here. He filled out the forms that Waldoze asked him to do, and lay down on his bed tired and full with good impressions of the guild. For tomorrow, he needed to go to the depot and get a blanket that was longer that 1.70 and maybe a pillow that didn't have stains on it, but for now it would have to do. And maybe those right sized pants would have come too, theses ones were really painful in some awkward places. A good thing he had brought his own "Mr. Fluffybunny" nightgown at least. And he had to go down and visit Sir Mr. Estenk and talk to him about his daughter and himself. And he had to...... As he dozed off to sleep only one thing that nagged the tiniest him was the soft murmur from the cubicle next door "must resist, must resist, must resist, must...."

Hortan fell asleep, dreaming happily of his Beloved Queen.

2. The Troubles Begin

It had been a rough week for Hortan. Rough, but also very interesting he thought, as he took his tray from the small round table in the mess hall, he had decided to make his own, and put the soiled wrappers from the AlmostMeat™ burger he had been eating, into the recycling bin.

He had not been able to sleep much for the first three nights, partly due to the fact that he was not used to sleeping on a station, and partly because of the nightly noises from his neighbour. Almost every night he would wake to thrashing sounds and low murmuring. Inevitably, when he opened the door to his cubicle, the sounds would stop, but he knew where they were coming from....Obsidian. He had considered asking Surbius for another cubicle where it was more quiet, but after the incident with the banking transactions he was a bit scared to ask him anything.

It had started off well enough. With the new guild bank, it was possible for Hortan to make rapid withdrawals and deposits, in order to use the credits most efficiently to make purchases on his trade route. So he had tested the limits of the system with large and small amounts for some hours. How was he to know that everything was logged?

When he received the summons to TGFT HQ he was practically running, as he assumed that it would be Mr. Estenk himself who wanted to greet the new recruit. When Surbius intercepted him with a loud HOOOOOOORTAAAAAN, he had no idea of the amount of hours he would have to use on the proper paperwork.

"To withdraw an amount up to 100 credits, you have to fill out form 46-5b-2. To withdraw from 101 up to 1000 credits, you have to use form 46-5c-2. Otherwise, how am I supposed to know what you wanted the money for? don't they tell you anything in recruit school?" Surbius was fuming.

"Sir, Yes Sir, ehm, no Sir Surbius Sir, I wasn't told anyway Sir"

"Here, come in here, sit down and I'll teach you how this is supposed to be done. And can the Sir, I work for a living. Keep that for the boss"

"Sir, ehm, sorry, thank you Sir, ah, sorry"

Surbius starred at Hortan from the other side of the desk, and slowly shook his head.

"They are taking anyone these days it seems" Surbius scowled, and punched up the forms on the wall display.

Finally after eight hours of paperwork, he could go, and he was very certain that he would do his utmost to avoid HQ in the near future.

Never mind that, the fourth night all was silent, and so he didn't have to ask for another cubicle. Just as he was getting used to the noises, they disappeared. At first he was happy that the noises had gone, but after two nights it became very lonely. Apparently John had gone off to fight the Hive, so he was never home.

Hortan was used to being lonely, but among the roids he always had his ship and his picture of His Queen. Her smiling face was now proudly displayed upon his synthwood desk, but he missed his ship badly. Fortunately today he was supposed to pick up the Ole Sloth Moth XC V that Moda had tinkered with.

As he entered Moda's shop he was greeted by the harsh blue-white light of a Xithricite Arc welder accompanied by large rhythmic clanging noises, which seemed to come from the hull of the Moth XC parked in the rear of the immense hangar. Easily recognised by the bright neon yellow colour (which some referred to as yellow belly yellow), Hortan was nonetheless a bit confused because of the two large silver tubes that were on each side of the hull.

"Hortan, good to see you. She is finished, faster than ever and with the same cargo space inside. I took the liberty of moving the still further towards the crew cabin so you can see inside when you are brewing" Moda shouted over the noise.

"What are the silver tubes?" Hortan shouted back.

"You'll see" he shouted back, "matter of fact, if you want to take her for a spin, can you drop off some industrial diamonds for me?"

"Sure, where to?"

"Nyrius K-7, they are for as experiment I have running out there. I took the liberty of having them loaded on the assumption that you said yes, and the route is preprogrammed into the navcomp", Moda winked at Hortan

With no hesitation, Hortan swung himself into the pilot seat and punched the launch sequence into the shipcomp. Just as he was ready to launch, a message beeped into his diplay

"Moda Messolus: did you remember form 298-AA 2H Request for launching? Thought not, so I did it for you and submitted it. Safe flight. End:"

As he launched, he immediately hit the OverDrive button and reached top speed of 160 m/s at a comfortable 20 seconds, Nothing unusual so far, and as he hit the minimum safe distance for jumping, he engaged the jumpdrive. Again, nothing special happened, and the wormhole to Nyrius 5000 meter distant was floating in his HUD superimposed upon the dark of space, just as he was used to. On the way to the wormhole he checked his usual switches, and found the new one. Labelled NOx, it had been placed next to the hail button.

As he reached the wormhole, he went through as per standard, and immediately pulled the sector list to check for pierats. Some of them were becoming bold, such as Quirc, TheBlackFlag and Sharingan, even hunting the UIT monitored sectors. Fortunately the VPR channel was quiet tonight. Only one pilot he had never heard of was in the sector, a Syriana. Relaxing slightly, he started to align the Ole Sloth Moth XC V for acceleration burn to K-7 when the speakers blared to life

"Syriana: Pay me 137624 credits or be gassified"

Instantly panicking, Hortan punched the hail button to spread the message of brotherly and sisterly love, but because it had been moved, he hit the NOx button instead. The Silver solid boosters on the sides of the Moth roared to life, and the acceleration took him to the maximum possible in less than 5 seconds. Making sure this time, he hailed the Centurion II that Syriana was piloting

"I wish you the best day ever. Happy thoughts and good trading to you Brother or Sister"

Although Hortan could fulfil that wish by either paying or getting exploded, he ran as fast as he could towards the station, only just getting clearance from the dockmaster and docking as hot plasma was scouring the side and top armour on the moth. Safe, he made it, thanks to Moda's NOx rockets.

A message ticked in on his HUD

"Unknown Player Node: I hate you now. You should have let my little sister boom you. Now it is personal"

Trembling with fear, Hortan knew he had to get some help from the fighters of the guild. That is, if he could make it home from here.

Neato! Good story!

3. The Heat Is On

Already set on the VPR alert channel, Hortan keyed his SSCU Comms switch,

"Attention Vipers. New pierat encountered. Goes under the name of Syriana. Pierat incident happened less than 2 minuttes ago. May be affiliated with Unkown Player Node"

"Roger that. We are currently a bit busy here in Latos H-2 with Quirc and yoda. Can you make it out safe?" Strat responded on the comms. "If not, please stay put in the station and we will dispatch an Officer as soon as we have secured this convoy"

"Roger, I will try my guild members and see if they are available, out". Hortan switched band on the SSCU and keyed his Comms again.

"Calling all guildies, recruit Hortan needs help here". Silence. Complete silence. For a moment Hortan thought about panicking, then started to panic, and as the radar pinged, he panicked. Without thinking, he punched the NOx button which activated the Moda tubes and fired the main engine. He had not yet disengaged from the station, and as a result he scorched the docking bay and the two adjacent vessels badly. Realising his error, he shut off the engines, but not before he had torn the auxiliary cords and docking arm off the bay and put a massive hole in the bay door.

"...the %#$@ do you think you are doing you stupid #%^$&&. Shut those%@#% engines off NOW" the emergency frequency blared at him. Hortan briefly thought about stopping, but the angry voice of the dockmaster sounded worse than that of the pierats. He reengaged the engines and started to pull away from the station. He looked at his radar to find the reflection that had made him jump so badly. Lambin, it was Lambin that had entered the system. Hortan was much relieved, as Lambin was a guildie.

"Hort, you in trouble there mate?" the intersystem comms crackled. He had obviously seen the track of debris trailing Hortans moth all the way back to the docking bay as well as the clamp that was still attached to the rear of the moth.

"Yeah, I was hunted by a pierat named Syriana, and she nearly shot my armour off, and I have tried to get help from the guild, but nobody listens, and I don't know what to do" Hortan managed to stutter.

"Hey chill out brother. I didn't hear a thing, you sure it is on right? On SSCU channel A22? And code scrambler setting D81?"

Hortan checked, SSCU A22, scrambler D18. Blushing with the humiliation of committing yet another rookie error in front of an elder guild member, he set the scrambler correctly and tried calling again.

"Calling guildies, am in need of help"

"See mate? I hear you now" Lambin responded cheerfully on the intersystem comms.

"Where you at, and what is the problem recruit?" Waldoze's deep voice almost boomed through the cockpit.

"I am trying to get home from Ukari K-7, and I am chased by a pierat named Syriana. Also, Unknown Player Node has said that he will get me. Sir"

"Don't worry son, help is on the way. Stay put, and I'll dispatch some help immediately. I'll contact VPR and see if they have information on those pirates. Are you alone?"

"I'm here as well 'doze" Lambin responded before Hortan could answer.

"Very good, can you stay with Horton until then?"

Hortan almost corrected the councillor, but thought better of it. He seriously did not want to anger Waldoze, especially now.

"No worries mate, I'll stay" Lambin offered. Hortan saw the big hauler Lambin was flying enter the docks, and soon after, a nimble combat vessel in the regular TGFT green colours, nuzzled up to the flank of The Ole Sloth Moth XC V, almost playfully.

About ten minutes later, Vardonx entered Ukari K-7 in a TGFT green Centurion.

"Ready to move Hortan?" the intersystem comms crackled. "Unfortunately, we have reports from Strat, that Quirc Taranis was successfull in evading the Vipers, but as of now they are containing the rest of the pirates in Latos. Don't worry though, Waldoze is looking for Quirc as we speak."

"Roger, setting up for Helios B14 and home" Hortan replied, and fired the main engine again, with Vardonx flying just ahead of him.

The jump to Dau was uneventful, as was the one to Ukari. Just as Hortan was starting to relax, the SSCU keyed

"Waldoze here, I have him, he is on the way to Ukari O-13"

Hortan looked at the alignment display, Ukari F-2, no problem. He engaged the jump engines. Coming out in realspace again, he realigned for the jump to Ukari B-5 and the Helios wormhole. He hit the autoengage so he would jump as soon as he was at 25% engine power.

"Dammit, it is a trap. Sharingan and kalb are here already. They are engaging Strat. Going in" Waldoze managed to squeeze out, the G-forces heavy on the big mans chest, "Looks like Quirc is jum". The SSCU was cut off in mid-sentence as the jumpdrive engaged.

The first thing Hortan hear as he entered Ukari B-5 was a radar ping immediately followed by an intersystem message:

"Quirc Taranis: Gotcha. Stop your engines and pay me 200k or be liquified"

In front of his cockpit he could see the golden balls of plasma fire as Vardonx intercepted the pirat. Only one thing to do in a situation like that, Hortan aligned the Moth to the wormhole and engaged the engines. As the experienced pirate he was, Quirc however ignored the escort and went directly for the weak spot on the Moth, the cockpit/engine coupling. With very accurate neutron fire, he shattered the thin armour guarding the connector and poured fire directly into the powercoupler. Hortan felt the APRS kick in, and turned unconscious as the miniature wormhole-drive took Hortan directly to TGFT HQ's immediate recovery facility. A good thing too, because the expanding plasma ball that was the remains of his craft, would have killed him instantly.

He awoke to a torrent of SSCU data

"..got him, but he came back and shot me up", "Have multiple bogeys incoming", "Strat look out, he is on your six".

Hortan looked around and saw that the other six recovery berths were active as well. Vardonx looked at him from the next one.

"Sorry mate, seemed like they really wanted you. For what it's worth, I got him for you. The pirates are a swarming for sure." Vardonx got a remote look in his eyes, "reminds me of the time before an ionstorm, all the bots run around, overly aggressive and all. Better call up VPR HQ, something new is happening" he said. Gathering his kit, he put the cap back on Hortans head, gave the propeller a swing and headed out the door at a run.

Hortan felt even more lonely than before. Now he had the pierats after him. And his guildies were fighting and risking their lives and ships for his sake. And he had blown up Moda's engines, as well as ye Ole Sloth Moth XC V.

He missed his Queen more than ever.

Great work...

I really enjoy reading your stuff

-Lambin

4. The fight picks up

Hortan put on a new pair of regular issue TGFT-green pants, instead of the old pair that was now a part of the ever expanding cloud of debris, formerly named "The Ole Sloth Moth XC V". Actually, that was just about the only good news, he thought, at least now he would have a pair that fit. The TGP station klaxons were blaring in the background,

"Incursion detected Ukari/Helios wormhole, unknown; incursion detected Dau K-10, Jolly Roger, dispatching Strike Force immediately...."

If that was not bad enough, the TGFT SSCU unit was going full tilt as well,

"All fighters scramble. Multiple bogeys inbound on all UIT wormholes. All fighters scramble. Call your squadron leader upon launch for intercept vector."

He tightened the belt and noticed that the pants were just as small as the last pair. And the name tag on his chest was still Horton. Sighing deeply, Hortan turned to ask the recovery technician why they insisted on giving him pants that were too small, but he had no time for questions and ushered Hortan out of the immediate recovery facility with some haste. In the background Hortan could see the blue glow of several activated APR systems and decided that he was probably right. He could take his questions elsewhere.

One of the worst things of the APRS, was that it always left Hortan famished. Even if he was in the worst situation of his life, he had always trusted his stomach and was not about to stop now. Pocketing his no flight belongings such as his wallet and keycard, he headed towards the TGFT mess hall, but had to quickly move to one side as three pilots in regular green flightsuits with the nametags Mor Isil, Lambin and Pasqual came running the opposite way. Pasqual stopped at Hortans side.

"Pilot, haven't you heard? General alert, all fighters are to scramble?". He looked at the nametag on Hortans chest, "Horton, where have I heard that.." he frowned and looked at his left thumb and index as if mentally counting.

"Ah, HortAn, they misspelled it didn't they. Happened to me too, I was Pascal for the longest time. Quick, come get your combat ship and call your squadron commander, ok? Oh, and I am nearly out of Helio Mists, better have some when we have kicked some pierat ass, eh?"

He pricked Hortan in the chest, and when Hortan looked down, he moved his finger up to Hortans nose. Pasqual gave a quick laugh and ran after the others.

Hortan considered the situation. As a pacifist, there was no way he would launch in a combat vessel. He didn't even own a weapon, what could he do? On the other hand, he had no real desire to go and sit alone in the TGFT mess hall when everybody else was out fighting the pierats, pierats he may have been the cause of. He turned and walked towards the TGP general mess area.

The TGP mess area was much larger, than the now familiar intimacy of the TGFT mess hall. Somewhat of an agoraphobe, Hortan went to the nearest food outlet along the bulkhead, and ordered some NiceSoy™ stir-fry. The only bad thing about the TGP mess hall, was that he had to pay for the food, but at least he seemed to be the only TGFT member here. He sat at the plastic table and looked shyly around. Why was that girl with the light brown hair in the light blue flightsuit staring at him? Well, she didn't now, but before for sure. He started eating, and felt eyes staring at him again. Looking up, nobody was looking at him. The girl had obviously finished her food, because she was moving towards the trash collection point to Hortan's left. Maybe that was what she had been looking at. He relaxed slightly and started to eat again, only to be startled as the girl fell, slipping in some grease leftovers. Hortan immediately reacted and tried to catch her, only to fall on top of her leftovers, but at least cushioning the fall for her, as she hit him squarely in the chest with her elbows.

"Sorry", she said as she hurriedly stood up, "I truly am". She turned and walked away briskly.

Hortan was speechless. Not that he didn't want to say something, but the air was punched out of him badly. He only had strength enough to turn and look at the brown eyed girl as she almost ran out of the mess hall.

Getting up in his now soiled new uniform, he decided that the best thing to do now was to get clean, get some sleep, and tomorrow go see the local Ship shop about getting a new Moth XC. He would probably have to order it specially painted, not many pilots used neon yellow these days. And then he would get the sizes fixed for the uniform too. And a new blanket. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. He was going to make sure of that.

He went down to the very quiet hallway and took his keycard to his cubicle from his pocket. Well, he would have, but it was no longer there. And neither was his wallet. Hortan was certain that he had received them at the usual post recovery booth along with his clothes, had he left them at the TGP mess hall? He turned and walked back to the table he had occupied, but it was not there. Sighing, he decided that it would have to wait until tomorrow. He went to his cubicle again and enabled the manual scan override. He punched up the form for reporting lost items, but decided that the 13 different forms he had to fill, was not going to run away, and so could wait.

With his Queen smiling at him, he went to sleep.

In the seat of his favourite combat vessel, Miexon looked out at the alerted PA fighters with a sense of pride. The summons to alert status had been met by 11 fighters, surely PA's finest. Something was brewing, and he didn't like to be caught unawares. The situation had not involved PA so far, but TGFT and the Vipers were sorely pressed on all wormhole sectors. Until he knew why, he was going to maintain this alert.

A message flashed on his SSCU. Punching the receive button, he noticed that it was from his forward observer, the liaison officer to TGFT.

->MiexonBionic: "The pilots name is Hortan. Don't know what he did to start this. Will investigate further."

He punched a message back to the observer

->xxx: "If needed, ask TGFT HQ directly. You have 24 hours."

He lifted the left buttock to let some blood come into his leg. He feared it was going to be a long wait.

ah , the ancient miner is reminded of his early days in space.....

5. Enter the Dragon(s)

Hortan awoke, not to the wake-up call from his ship comp, but to a hammering on the door. Using the too short blanket as a makeshift robe, he got out of bed and opened the door.

"I can see you didn't finish your beauty sleep" Lambin said, the slow and low voice betraying his own tiredness "get dressed, the big cheese wants to see you"

Hortan looked at Lambin. The dark blue under is eyes, the red inside those eyes, the black marks from where the oxygen mask had pressed into his cheeks during extreme high-G turns betrayed the slight smile on his face. Nobody looked as he did without many hours of very intense combat.

"Who, ehm wha" Hortan chewed on his tongue for a second, damn his mouth was all dry, "what I mean is, what time is it?"

"Time for you to go talk to the big one. And that aside, it is somewhat past 2200 standard station time" Lambin answered.

No wonder Hortan felt so fatigued, he had only slept for about.. "2200 you say?" Hortan asked

"yeah, it had been a long shift" Lambin replied yawning.

But he went to sleep at 2215. That means he had slept either -15 minutes, which he had to admit was highly unlikely, and could only happen if several laws of causality had been breached, or he had skipped a day. Besides, the last option was more in line with the damage to Lambins face.

"uh, the big one, you mean Mr Estenk?" Hortan asked "let me get dressed quickly". He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and took the too small pants from the laundry chute.

"Nice picture, is that the girlfriend?" Lambin asked.

Looking up, Hortan saw Lambin with picture of his Queen in his hands. He blushed and stammered "I hope so one day, I mean I have her fathers permission, and her brother is not setting the dogs on me anymore."

"She reminds me of someone" Lambin said as he put the picture back on the synthwood table. "Are you ready?" He looked at Hortan. The too small pants were offset by the large shirt, and to top it, the ball cap with n00b on the propeller screamed recruit. He read the nametag, "Horton".

"They misspelled the name eh? That always happens, you have no idea how hard it was to convince them my name was Lambin and not Lame'in" Lambin chuckled, "of course Waldoze had it worse".

"SIr? How do you mean?" Hortan asked as they headed down the hallway towards TGFT HQ

"First, can the Sir, only Mr Estenk is Sir around here, and only until you know him. " Lambin chuckled again "I almost thought that I was so tired that nothing could cheer me up. Heh, Waldoze had his nametag printed as Wall Dozer for some obscure reason" Lambin's laugh echoed through the drop shaft as they drifted down.

They entered the HQ, and Lambin steered towards a door labelled TOC. "Well, here we are, welcome to the Tactical Operations Cell" Lambin said, "Ecka is in there"

Hortan entered the central hub of TGFT. On the left side monitors were displaying current ship positions, on the right was a long row of monitors displaying roid locations and compositions, station produce and prices, alignment vectors, capship locations and much more he did not understand. In the centre of the cell, on a small dais was a single large very comfortable looking chair flanked by Surbius and John Eldritch. The man in the chair was looking absentmindedly at some display he was holding.

"How come I have your TGFT keycard in my hand, and you have not filed it lost? And why is your uniform too short?" Surbius asked, the questions seemed to be shot a Hortan as machinegun projectiles. "And you have still to file a destroyed cargo ship form number J46-GG32-X1, or in case of own negligence or general ineptitude a form number J46-.."

Surbius stopped talking. Ecka had raised one gnarled grey hand to stop him.

"Even if I know your problems will only mount if nobody produces the documentation Surbius, it can surely wait ten seconds" Ecka said, fixing his XO with a stern glance.

"Sir" was all Surbius responded, and stepped over to one of the interface terminals.

"Son, I really need a couple of answers" Ecka said directing the attention to Hortan. "For 26 hours straight now, the pirates have been attacking TGFT ships all over UIT space. And the only reason we have not been attacked in grey is because we have as of 26 hours ago had no pilots there. The Vipers have tried to contain them, but last night we had fighters coming into the immediate recovery facility only minutes after launching. Experienced fighters too. Surbius has calculated that we have lost a net of over 280 million in trade. So I need to know, what is going on, why are the pirates, and especially Unknown player node demanding that we hand you over?"

During the long time it had taken him to get to TGFT, it had never ever occurred to Hortan, that the first time he would meet the commander, it would not be a joyous occasion. Caught completely off guard, he wracked his brains for anything that he could possible say that made any sense. No luck.

"I don't know?" he winced, "I mean, I received that one message from Unknown player node. That was when I called for help, but other than that, I have no clue."

Ecka looked long and hard at Hortan, and then turned to Surbius. "Contact PA, tell them we have a deal."

Surbius immediately responded, "Aye aye sir" and punched the send button.

Ecka looked at Hortan again. "Now, suppose you start with the message and continue form there hmm?"

-> Miexonbionic: "Try to contact them and mediate. We will not give up any pilot. Matter of honour and ethics."

Miexon had anticipated this. His observer had use the last day efficiently. The contact sleep poison she had used on him gave her about 24 hours, and that had been more than enough to figure out all that was to know, about this Hortan guy. No way, was the TGFT going to hand over any pilot, no matter how inept he was.He punched up a private channel to CLM and SYN. Maybe he could fix the situation, it would not be the first time he had done difficult diplomatic work.

->Surbius Bondevo: "Will let you know"

6. Interlude

Surbius had sent his fighters home again, the incident seemed localised to pirates vs. TGFT and VPR. Only two of them were sorry not to have participated, but he was pretty sure TGFT could use them.

->Surbius Bondevo: "CLM is ceasing contact, no response from SYN. Am dispatching two fighters in your aid. Still trying to reach SYN"

"Mecha, Mick, you are to go to VPR and TGFT and help them contain SYN. Use covernames"

"Roger" Mecha Touriasis responded, "apart from the fun, why are we doing this again?"

"Apparently SYN has some kind of grudge against a TGFT pilot named Hortan"

"Hortan? You are kidding". The sound of Mecha's laughter was audible over the crackle of the intersystem comms.

"You know him Mecha?"

"Yeah, he is the guy that wanted to date my sister. Set the dogs on him too, well not for hurting him or such, but he was very persistent. Some kind of pacifist or pansy or something"

"Interesting, and your sister is in SYN if my memory serves me right?"

"yeah, she is like that sometimes. When the Orbs take over and all"

"Ok, take care out there."

"Will do Miex, it is gonna be a breeze," Mick responded and turned his Corvus Vulture in a graceful arc towards the insertion point for Latos, with the elegant grace that made him so feared, among the Sedina fighting grounds.

Surbius leant back, well as much as is possible in a combat vessel. How could he use the new information without disclosing his observer? This was fun.

Three hours. That is how long it took for Ecka to be satisfied, that Hortan had no clue as to why Unknown player node hated his guts. Ecka refused to believe, that Unknown player node was going to call all his favours over the fact that Hortan had escaped some new pierat wannabe. And neither did he have much faith in the suggestion that the attacks were a part of a take-over attempt by the pierats. As much as UIT needed the Serco and Itani, the pierats needed the traders. And even if he hated to admit it, the pierats sometimes did manage to use their skills on something worthwhile, like clearing the hive infestations. In the end, he let Hortan go.

Hortan went directly towards the ship shop to get himself a new Moth XC. He was going to pay TGFT the revenue they had lost due to him. On the way there he could swing by Moda's shop and explain the loss of the rockets too. He was not looking forward to that.

Moda's shop was the usual cacophony of large sounds, sharp smells and the ever present flashes of actinic light from welding machines, laced with loud Heavy Metal from the very large speakers mounted in the ceiling. An Earth I band, that had been inspired to take their name from alternating power, was defying all claims of them being obsolete, by declaring boldly that they were Back in Black. A pair of legs covered in light green fabric was sticking out of the left sidehatch of the Warthhog Mk II that was benched in the back. Hortan went over to the legs and shouted a hi. The person inside responded with a very dirty hand.

"Hydrospanner, five-eights," the hand pointed to the tool table nearby. Hortan got the spanner and placed it into the hand which immediately disappeared into the hatch.

"Torque wrench, Xithhead two by seven", the left hand appeared. As Hortan had no idea what that was, he started looking for anything that could fit.

"The black one with a silver head and a yellow stripe on the handle. Says ORION on the head." Hortan found it and placed it in the hand which again disappeared. A clunk came from the hatch, and Moda stuck his head out.

"Thanks bud. I have been stuck in there for an hour. I was just about to give up on anyone coming to see me today." Moda went over to the very large amplifier and pressed a button which changed the music.

"That is the last time I am ever going to set a tune on repeat when I work" he said. "So, how can I help you?"

Hortan looked at Moda, started to tell him that his hair was slightly static, actually it reminded him of the close quarter combat fight promoter from Latos who had the unlikely name of King Don, but decided against it.

"I was down here three days ago and had some rocket fitted to my Moth XC, and I have kinda lost them. I am willing to pay for them, just tell me what I have to do or pay, to make it up to you."

"Ehm, rockets, rockets. That kinda rings a bell... Ah, the Ole Sloth thingy, right?" Hortan looked even more miserable. "Don't worry about that, just tell me what happened" Moda smiled and took Hortan over to the fridge and got out two "Lady Of Night" dark Serco ales.

After some hours and several ladies, Hortan had been pumped dry of information and sent on his way. Moda didn't much care that the rockets had been lost, he was merely interested in knowing how they had performed during the flight. He came up with at least seven improvements while they were speaking, and in the end Hortan walked out of the shop with Moda bent deep in a large pile of electric parts, oblivious to the outside world.

Hortan went to the ship shop. Outside the shop was that girl again, the one in the light blue flight suit. She was waiting for somebody, he could tell that by the way she swept the hallway repeatedly with those brown eyes. Hortan caught himself staring, and what was worse, she caught him too. Blushing immensely, he tried to look at something close to the girl, so as not to be to apparent, but he could see it was too late. She headed over to him.

"You've lost this 'ne" she said in a hushed voice. Hortan continued to look at her big brown eyes, finding it very difficult to let go. She looked down at her own hand, and the action prompted Hortan to do the same. In her hand was his wallet.

"Wow, thank you, ehm Ms ?" he looked at her.

"Nic" she said. He looked at her PA guild nametag. It said merely TC.

"Ms Nic, thank you for finding it. How can I thank you? Can I buy you a drink, dinner?" He immediately started blushing even more, and regretted the suggestion. What would his Queen think? And how could he in his wildest imagination think, that this Ms Nic would have his company?

"You're sweet, but ah gotta go." Her Itani accent made Hortan even more confused, and as she left he was standing there with his mouth slowly opening and closing. Eventually somebody bumped into him, and he went into the ship shop to purchase another Moth XC

7. Too dumb to quit?

28000 credits, that was the amount they ripped from him. But at least Hortan was now again owner of The Ole Sloth Moth XC, this time number VI. And in the right neon yellow colour too. He would find something very valuable and trade it, save the surplus and do it again. Eventually he would be able to give the guild the money back, that he had been responsible for loosing. The public data terminal beeped softly, and he put more credits into the slot in the side of the interface. As far as he could see, the best thing to sell was luxuries, and in Latos C-2. He was so focused on the readout, that he didn't notice the person thrashing into the seat next to him.

"Lukshuriesh hmm? Not worth it if you want my two credsh worth, which incidentally you are going to get whether you want to or not. No, shelling Ion coresh is what worksh, you know hmm? And Latosh is a deathtrap theshe days"

Hortan turned to the person and saw Pasqual seated next to him, a bottle of Helio Mists in his hand.

"Wanna have a swig there mate?" Pasqual enquired. Not one to say no to a drink of whisky, Hortan pulled his small silver cup and poured one.

"To the Queen" he said, and tossed the fiery liquid down his throat. Immediately, he could feel the strong liquor hit his belly, like an 500 degrees hot anvil, the familiar feeling he had tried so many times amongst the roids. It felt good.

"At leasht you should get an escort if you wanna go there mate," Pasqual stood on slightly wobbly legs, "and it ain't gonna be me. I had more than enough of fighting to last a lifetime. Anyhooo, I have a hot date with Ms Beatha here" he said and looked lovingly at his bottle. Hortan looked as he walked slowly but purposefully down the corridor towards the cubicles. As he came to the entrance, he turned and raised the bottle in Hortans direction and smiled.

"Best of lucks mate, you're gonna need it" he said, turned and staggered off.

Hortan turned and pressed enter. He was now the lucky owner of 200 crates of assorted luxuries, including packaging and loading. He took his card and walked to the prep room. Just in the unlikely event that he would get shot to bits.

He got his trusty pilot suit out of the locker, filled the correct forms and went to the pilot seat. Taking a deep breath, he filed for launch permission and engaged the cold thrusters. Free, once more free. Damn, he had missed flying his ship. He aligned the Moth XC towards Azek, ensuring to stay free of the roidfields, passed through Azek and moved towards the Latos wormhole. With a belly full of trepidation, he engaged the jump engines upon reaching that imaginary point in space.

"kalb: Pay me 500k or die"
"Death Incarnate: yarrrr die or pay 473.187. Me no cares"
"yoda: Live or die. 1.000K or run"
"Gavan: Death or Moneys. Your choice. 500K or more"

Hortans intersystem comms unit almost crashed with the amount of messages. He instinctively hit the scan button. and could see two more pirates around the wormhole. One, a Marauder was bearing on him with maximum speed, Unknown player node, and the other was in the background. The Huntress, his Queen. The Marauder with the running lights under the cockpit flashing "12831 served. You're next" threw hard radiation in the form of antiprotons, from the two sideguns directly into Hortans engine section, effectively stopping his acceleration. The vicious looking craft withdrew to 200 meters distance and kept moving in the same velocity as The Ole Sloth Moth XC VI. Hortan responded on the sector universal hail.

"I am merely here to trade and mine. You can attest to that My Queen?"

At that, Unknown player node turned his ship and fired repeatedly into the power coupler...

Hortan awoke in the TGFT immediate recovery facility, the usual extreme hunger submerged underneath the feeling of insufficiency and shame. He went directly to the ship shop and bought another Moth XC, completely ignoring the colour. He went into the seat and launched towards Latos. As he pushed the enable button, he closed his eyes firmly.

"Death Incarnate: yarrrr die or pay 473.187. Me no cares"
"kalb: Pay me 500k or die"
"yoda: Live or die. 1.000K or run"
"Gavan: Death or Moneys. Your choice. 500K or more"

The hails punched through the hard vacuum. Hortan opened his eyes, and saw the Marauder rushing him. The running light was up a notch he noticed, it now read 12832. Once more the harsh light of anti protons interacting with the xithricite in the armour plate on the Moth bathed the cockpit. The engines cut out, the silence almost worse than the crackle of disintegration. Again, the Marauder moved to 200 meters distance. After about 15 seconds of silence the Marauder turned on the Moth XC. Hortan closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, it was to the white light of the immediate recovery facility. Tired beyond comprehension, he reached for his green pilot suit and put it on. He rose from the berth and only then did he notice that he was not alone.

"Want to tell me about it?" Vardonx trust a protein drink into Hortans hand. Hortan took it and drank greedily.

"I mean, you look just like I felt after the last bout with the pierats;" Vardonx smiled, "even if it was good fun and all. The APRS is kinda hard on your system, especially when you are not used to it."

"He keeps on shooting my ship to bits. Almost as if he takes a savage joy in first making me helpless, and then killing me. I gotta go back," Hortan started to get up, but was pushed down again by Vardonx.

"Whoa there, who does what?"

"Unknown player node. I don't know why he hates me so" Hortan sighed.

"Listen, I'll get Mor and fly on your six, ok? Lets see if we can help you there."

Hortan got up and staggered towards the ship shop, the fatigue almost making him crawl. He did not even notice the girl in the light blue flightsuit with the worried expression. Getting another Moth XC, he launched as quickly as possible. Outside, Vardonx and Mor Isil were waiting in a Centurion and a Valkyrie respectively. Behind them he could see the sleek form of a Corvus Vulturius in the colours of The Vipers. The IFF read as Strat.

"You couldn't find anything less manoeuvrable? Or slower?" Mor Isil asked over the comms. "Or smaller?" Vardonx chipped in.

"No, this is the only vessel currently not able to mount a weapon, and so is completely harmless," Hortan replied, "I mean, normally you do not shoot the trader, you ruffle him and extort him and let him go."

"You really are a special case" Mor Isil said, "but it's your call"

The quartet set the course towards Latos, and once more at the wormhole Hortan closed his eyes ready for the jump. Only seconds before him engaging, the three combat ships had disappeared into Latos to scout ahead. Hortan jumped.

"yoda: Live or die. 1.000K or run"
"Death Incarnate: yarrrr die or pay 473.187. Me no cares"
"kalb: Pay me 500k or die"

The Marauder was thrusting frantically to engage Mor Isil, but upon seeing the Ole Sloth Moth XC VIII, Unknown player node disengaged and turboed towards Hortan. Death Incarnate pumped a single gauss shot into Hortans engines, and yoda finished them with a flare. Unknown player node halted his ship about 200 meters away. Gavan and Vardonx were fighting, and The Huntress and Mor Isil were facing off too. Strat had shot straight for Jolly Roger, who had joined the party, and the two were circling each other warily after the initial very damaging fly-by. The four pierats around Hortans ship were about to let Unknown player node serve number 12833 when a lone Marauder entered the sector.

Immediately the intersystem comms crackled. "Having a gankfest are we? You pirates make me sick. Die all, honourless scum"

Hortan looked at the IFF. Roda Slane. Obviously the pierats saw it too, because they immediately turned to engage the most hated of pilots in grey. Except for Unknown player node. He turned his marauder slowly towards Hortans ship and shot single streams of anti protons, prolonging the kill. In the background a swirling melee was taking place with at least one pierat turned plasma. The last shot hit the power coupler, just as Hortan closed his eyes.

He awoke, but could not get himself to open his eyes. He could sleep for a year and still take a nap afterwards. He curled up in fetal position and stayed like that for too little time. Somebody was shaking him. He turned his face, but still did not open his eyes. Coffee...real Eo coffee. He opened his eyes to a big steaming cup. Looking up, he could see Waldoze standing in front of him, the usually cheerfull mouth and eyes now looking sad.

"Drink lad, me and the boys are gonna have a wee blether with you"

Behind Waldoze he could see Mor Isil, Lambin, Vardonx, and John Eldritch. Behind them all, with a tin hat under his arm, Ecka was looking worried.

This is gettin too suspenseful man.. Im lovingit..

Keep em rollin..

-Lambin

Who died? :O

8. No easy solutions

Most of the TGFT council was gathered in the small room. Normally Hortan would have been deeply embarrassed to have to dress in front of so many people, but frankly he was too tired to care. He took the too small pants and the too large jacket with the name tag Horton.

"You need to stop doing that son," Waldoze said, "it will kill you real dead sometime soon."

"But I need to pay the guild back" Hortan stammered, the tears almost flowing both from the tiredness and the hopelessness of the situation.

"I refuse to believe that you are telling us the truth'" Surbius said from behind Hortan. "If you wanted to pay us, you could have done so in cash. I have seen the balance on your account. So please try again, why are you insisting on going to Latos?"

Hortan looked down to the floor. Vardonx sat down on the bench beside Hortan, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it mate, you can tell us"

"I needed to see her" Hortan whispered and refused to say more.

The matte black Corvus Vulturius with the larger than life CLM sign on the side, approached the the main dock at a speed much higher, not only than what was normally comfortable for the pilot, but especially for the crew working the ships. Ignoring the desperate pleas of the dock handler, the Vulturius slammed hard into the docking cradle with a precision born of many hours of flying. Ignoring the shocked cargo handlers, the pilot inside swung easily out of the cockpit and looked at the assorted trade vessels with a smirk. The Chief of the docks came flying, raging like an angry bull, with a mighty swearing streak that died the second he saw the pilot. Dressed in latex and leather, and not too much of it, the arterial blood red outfit fit her very nicely indeed. The only hard edges on her were the heavy projectile revolver on her left hip, and the frown she wore on her face. The same frown that made the Chief wither away, like early autumn frost before a thermonuclear explosion.

She ignored the chief and the dock hands and moved down towards the entrance to the TGFT part of the station. A single guard stepped up to her and demanded ID. She merely stared at him until he flinched and moved away. It was not that she did not have valid ID, it was not that she was wanted, it was merely the nuisance of having to provide it, that made her so hard on the guards. That, and the fact that she simply hated the too smug, easy bribable, rent-a-cops. With a flicker of her hand, she showed her credentials to the scanning bot at the entrance, and the admission light went green, to the surprise of most of the crowd looking. Which was at least all of the males, and some of the females too.

She went straight to the brains of the guild, the command centre. Not pausing the least, she ignored the two guards outside, and side stepped their clumsy attempt at halting her. Entering the holiest of TGFT, she steered straight for Ecka.

"Pappy, we need to talk"

Mor Isil and Vardonx walked Hortan down to his cubicle. Maybe walked was not the right phrase, dragged would be more describing. Vardonx opened the door and pulled Hortan over to the bunk. He sat down and looked at Hortan, the worry apparent on his face. Hortans eyes were closed and his breathing was easy.

"I think he is asleep" Vardonx said "lets leave him for now."

Mor and Isil left the room. As soon as they had left, Hortan opened his eyes. He lay still until he could no longer hear sounds outside the door. He got up from the bunk and headed for the door. He was just about to grab the handle and open, when a low knock came from the door. Startled, Hortan stopped breathing, and had to force himself to start again. He stood absolutely still and hoped that the person outside would go away. No luck, the knocking sounded again. Defeated once more, he opened the door. It was a girl with big brown eyes and brown hair, in a light blue flight suit. She looked at him and walked directly into his room without asking. As she entered, she turned and looked at Hortan, who was too stunned to speak.

"There is one thing i do not understand, just one thing."

Hortan remembered that an open mouth is generally not considered a sign of intelligence, nor even of sentience, and so closed his mouth. He closed the door too and turned around, the confusion now absolute.

"Bwah eh, how the why, huh?" Hortan replied in the best English his mother had taught him. In the internal mental picture he always ran, both his ego's strangulated themselves so as not to witness the next thing that happened. Deciding to attempt to gain the upper hand, Hortan tried acting cool. He took the chair, turned it so the back was in his front and sat down. With a leg on each side of the chair, the too small pants did what they were supposed to do when he sat. A kick to the groin would have been more merciful. Hortan fainted from the pain.

He must have died. Well, he wished he had died. He awoke on the floor, the girl sitting next to him. She had tried to find something to wake him with, and settled in the end for a bottle of Helio Mists. A single drop in the left nostril did the trick. Pain seemed to be his companion today. He sat up and looked into the brown eyes again. She looked back at him. Hortan decided that he refused to give in and stared more intensely. She smiled. He gave in and looked away, once more blushing like the engaged engines of a turboing Taur.

"You OK now?" her soft voice and Itani accent reminded him of an incident, he had had a year ago, and he blushed even harder.

"Yeah" he lied, "I am fine"

"So, I need you to help me understand, will you do that?"

"If I somehow can, sure" Hortan replied.

"How come you are trying to date The Huntress? I mean, she is a notorious pirate and you are a bor.., well not a very flashy, miner. What on Eo would the two of you have in common? "

Hortan smiled, and replied even though he knew she would not understand. "She is My Queen."

"Right, that explains a lot," the girl answered, the sarcasm stripping the paint off the walls, "care to elaborate?"

It took three hours and a pitstop at the vending machine to drag the information out of Hortan, but eventually the girl had the answers she needed. Once more life proved to be immensely more complex than previously thought. She was happy, but at the same time sad. Happy that she had solved her mission for Miexon, but so very sad that the shy kid opposite her would continue his destructive life until it would fizzle out in misery. And nobody would know why but her. She had to take a decision, and a very difficult one. Sometimes she loved her job, sometimes it was absolutely amazing. She had reached her decision. She smiled, he blushed even more. Good.

9. A Murder of Crows

Hortan was confused. Why was Nic dragging him to Ecka, and how did she know him? And how come she knew her way better than him, wasn't she in PA? That made him stop and smile, Nic from PA, heh heh, PA-Nic. The IQ-switch clicked to On inside his head. He stopped dead. She turned and looked impatiently at him.

"Your name is not Nic from PA is it?" he asked her.

She looked at him. "No, no it is not. It is Chi. But that is not important. Shall we continue?"

She turned and started to walk on, looked over her shoulder and tossed her head forward when she saw Hortan staying. He moved after her. After all, she knew where they were going and what they were doing. He was still lost. They came to a derelict looking side corridor with a door in the end. She went over to the side of the door and punched in a code. The door opened and showed yet another corridor with a door at the end. That door was flanked by some pretty nasty looking autoguns and a biometrics ID station. Without hesitation, she walked up to the station and put her palm on the scanner.

"DNA sample and hand print clear. Please provide a voice test," the machine pipped.

"If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody sees it, does it make a sound?"

"No stress detected. Door is opening."

With that, the door clicked and opened slightly. She opened the door fully and walked inside with Hortan in tow. The room on the other side was rather noisy, which was as it should be. It was after all the command nexus of TGFT. Hortan stopped dead in his tracks. How come this Chi knew of a secret entrance that could bypass the guards?

"Who are you?" he whispered to her. She stopped and turned, looked at him and sighed.

"You'll find out soon enough, lets get going before it is too late"

She moved up to the backside of the large comfy chair that was the commanders, bringing Hortan up with her so he could see the room. They were all present. Surbius, John Eldritch, Waldoze, Vardonx, Mor Isil, Pasqual, m.2, Lambin, even Moda. They seemed agitated and mad, and he could see Waldoze's hands clech and unclench continuously. Lambin was unnaturally still and alert, one of his hands in the pocket where something bulky was concealed. They were all looking at a person to the other side of the comfy chair. Hortan put his head forward to see. It was His Queen. HIS QUEEN! He practically jumped into the room.

"My Queen!"

"And so he arrives," as deep as the sound of tectonic plates colliding, Eckas voice. "We were talking about you son."

Hortan looked at Ecka, who smiled at him. Reassured that the man with the permanent grey of ore in his skin wasn't mad at him, he looked at his Queen again. She looked very different from the first time he met her. He remembered the day vividly, she had been wearing a white flowing summer dress and a beaming smile. Not that she was less beautiful now, but there was something almost feral, dangerous over her. And her smile was, well not beaming. More predatory, and by the looks on the faces of the miners and traders present, they were prey.

"The Huntress has told me a couple of things Hortan. If you would please explain two things to me son. First, why do you call her The Queen, and why do you insist on that you have to see her? It seems to me that the answer here is the solution to this nasty pirate situation." Ecka shifted in his seat and looked to The Huntress. "And you are certain that you do not know?"

The Huntress looked at Hortan as the snake before a tasty defenceless mouse. She was just about to answer no, when a sense of deja vu crept up on her. The predatory look softened, the hard lines around her eyes disappeared and the mouth started to turn from a frown to a smile. She killed the sentiment with no small effort, and the frown reappeared. "Aye, Ah do not."

Hortan looked at his Queen, then to Ecka, then to the guildies who were looking as confused as he felt, and then back to his Queen.

"But, she is My Queen. She has always been, ever since she taught me to mine Heliocene." He looked back to Ecka. "I asked you, Sir, to be allowed to date your daughter. And as I recall, you said yes."

"If you could handle her son, if you could handle her. And if she is willing which it does not seem to be the case right now." Ecka looked at Hortan with the stern fixing glare you learn at top level TPG commander school. "And now, if you could please answer my question in such a way that I understand it."

Hortan looked back at The Huntress, the to Ecka, then to The Huntress again. His mouth opened and closed, but no words were coming out. The stares of too many people was getting to him, and eventually he croaked "She is my Queen, my Queen" and sat on the floor.

The brown eyed girl stepped out from the cover she had been standing behind. John and Vardonx immediately went for their personal hand weapon while Waldoze ran towards Ecka to cover him.

"Intruder" he shouted.

Ecka looked to the side, saw Chi and smiled.

"Stand to, stand to. Easy all, I know this person."

John and Vardonx kept their weapons out, but trained them on the floor instead. Wardonx was looking slightly foolish halfway on top of Ecka, and he quickly disentangled his large bulk from the commander and stood protectively to his left side.

"You better introduce yourself. I have been expecting you for some time, but the rest of the crew I believe, have never seen you before." Even if it came out as a suggestion, there was no mistaking the order from Ecka. It was going to happen, and that was final.

"Members of TGFT, The Huntress" Chi nodded in her direction "I am councillor Tohasandra Chi of the Phoenix Alliance currently working undercover to assist in resolving the situation with this young man, the pirate guilds and yourselves."

"Toha?" She turned and saw Mor Isil looking at her with complete surprise painted in 40 feet neon letters across his face.

"Hi hun, I'll explain later, ok?" she said and faced Ecka again.

"So, you must have found something to make you break cover. Lets have a wee dram to calm the nerves all around, have a seat Ms Chi, and let us hear it."

Ecka found a bottle of 18 year old Nyrius cask strength Pylatis Delicht and pored a considerable dram for himself before letting the bottle pass around. The ancient ritual of sharing drinks, had the necessary calming effect on everybody except Hortan. He was still slumped on the floor where he looked up at The Huntress as a loyal pet would. For the first time in his life, he even let the bottle pass him by without noticing.

"Ms Chi, please, the floor is yours."

10. All good things

"The story is actually rather straightforward." Tohasandra walked out in front of the guild members and turned so she was facing The Huntress.

"I talked to Hortan for about three hours, and I must say that he has some very weird ideas of how the world runs. To highlight how strange he thinks, he is a complete pacifist. He abhors weapons and will not even transport weapons or parts that can make them. He believes that if he is very nice to the pirates, they will feel petty for him, and so not be able to attack him. Which is bullocks of course."

Tohasandra took a small sip of the whisky, nodded and smiled as it warmed all the way to her feet, and continued.

"But most strange of all, is the fact that he continues to insist that The Huntress taught him to mine in Helios. He even calls her My Queen, or My Latin Queen."

The Huntress narrowed her eyes, something was trying to force its way past the impervious facade of the swashbuckling pirate.

"He is fixated on her, and will do almost anything to be near her. Which is not very compatible with one of the most feared pirates of The Syndicate."

Tohasandra turned and faced Ecka.

"So basically, what you have here is a very strange young man, who is obsessed with the delusion that.."

"He is right." The words from The Huntress were said in a low voice, but they cut through the room like a xiRite plasma torch through butter. Everybody turned towards The Huntress, and what they saw was entirely different than the person that had swaggered into the room earlier. The aura of invincibility and confidence had disappeared, and she was now merely a beautiful young woman. The revolver, before so very fitting, was now completely out of place.

"He is right, and he is wrong."

Ecka leant back in his seat, narrowed his eyes, and poured another dram from the stash.

"Care to explain Hunt?" his deep voice and tone making the question into a statement of what was going to happen.

The Huntress looked at Ecka, at Hortan and at Tohasandra. She went over to Hortan and put a hand on his head. He looked up at her, but stayed seated on the floor before Ecka. It reminded Tohasandra of the dog she had seen in the temple on Eo. The complete trust was apparent in Hortans posture, and the trust was enforced and reciprocated by the way The Huntress held his head.

"I met Hortan for the first time, about two years ago. It was back when I was a peaceful trader and miner, he was a rookie pilot, and I helped him to mine the first Heliocene."

"You were a peaceful trader? I am sorry if I have a hard time believing that Huntress," Pasqual said. "I have only seen your name, either in relation to somebody getting pirated, or given as warning of where not to go."

The Huntress smiled at Paqual, the predatory look once more inhabiting her dark latina features.

"And that is how it would have continued, if not for Hort here." She looked down at him, the predator turning into concern. "When he met me, I was flying under another name. I was named as Latin Queen Isabella, and that is why he refers to me as his Queen."

"That makes some weird sense" Tohasandra said. "Why did you change name Huntress?"

"I found an artefact. Or it found me. The Darque Orbs of Geira. It demands that I feed them with combat and violence, and so I became The Huntress. It is my destiny, and I neither can nor will flee from it."

John Eldritch looked at Ecka. This sounded annoyingly familiar to a certain situation with a certain high ranking member of the TGFT council. Ecka looked back and nodded ever so slightly. John took his raven marked jacket from his shoulder, put it on, turned and walked out to find her.

"How does this solve the situation, and how does it fit in with the pirates? Am I unusually dense since I cannot see the solution?" Lambin was more than a little annoyed. And to top it off, his whisky glass was empty. The last problem was quickly remedied by Pasqual, who poured from his own personal bottle of Helio Mists.

"Now, that is what I was talking to Hunt about earlier." Ecka rose from the chair and went over to Pasqual. Not one to miss an opportunity, he thrust out his tin cup as well.

"It seems that Unknown player node has declared a personal vendetta on young Horton here." He drank deeply from the cup, smacked once with his tongue and brought the cup up to Pasqual to fill it again.

"If what Huntress here has told me is true, it has been brewing for quite a while. And what I think is the worst is, some of us here has contributed to it. It comes down to what he calls "carebearing"." Once more Ecka drank deep from the cup, lifted it to his eye and winked at it. He went over to his chair and sat down. His eyes fixed on the top monitor on the left side and stayed there.

"Sir, carebearing?" Surbius prodded.

"Och, aye, was drifting a bit there. Which reminds me of a story about a fellow and a wheelbarrow. But that is for later. Seems Unknown player node has been fuming at friendly helpless traders for a very long time, and the fact that young Horton managed to escape him in a Behemoth XC while Unknown player node was flying under false name, was the drop that initiated it all."

"So, a misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding," Tohasandra said frowning.

"Aye, a very expensive one indeed" Ecka mused, with a crooked smile on his lips. "I have been talking to Jolly Roger and MysticRogue, and they have nothing guild wise against young Horton here, so I consider that part of it closed. What we do with the lad and Huntress, is something else, but I will leave it to them. If you would care to assist Tohasandra, your help will be appreciated." Ecka leant back once more and brought the bottle of Pylatis Delicht from his stash and poured himself a dram more. The problem was over, they were all dismissed.

Tohasandra went over to Hortan and The Huntress. Even if she could in no way set herself in The Huntress's place, or even condone the piracy she performed, the two women were connected through the young man, that was sitting on the floor. She looked over at Mor Isil and tossed her head in Hortans direction. Mor Isil came over and helped getting Hortan on his feet.

The Huntress looked up into Hortans eyes and got his complete attention. "Listen to me now. Even if I do not fly as Latin Queen Isabella, you can still be my friend, ok? And if I at any time feel like going back to a more peaceful life, I can become your Queen once more. But for now it is too dangerous, and I do not want to see you get hurt, do you understand me?"

He looked at her. "But you are my Queen?"

"No, I am not. Not anymore dear, not anymore. Have patience, and maybe one day I will be. But not now."

She looked to Tohasandra and nodded. Tohasandra grabbed Hortans arm, motioned for Mor Isil to take the other, and The Huntress walked off. Vardonx escorted her all the way out to the matte black Corvus Vulturius and made sure she was not harassed on the way. As if that was going to happen, but he felt better now she had left the station. As she undocked, he could hear the klaxons go off, and the SF pilots run to their ships. Silently, and for the first time, he wished The Huntress best of luck in getting away.

Hortan could not believe what had happened, but he allowed himself to be led down to his cubicle. Mor Isil tucked him in, and left him with Nic, or Ms. Chi.

"I must say, I am very impressed Hortan" Tohasandra said. "I am not sure I could keep my love for a person going for years if I was not affirmed back. She must be very special. I know you are." She stroke him across the cheek, and he fell asleep. He never noticed her sneaking out, he never heard the noise from the hallway, he was for once not dreaming of his Queen.

Epilogue:

Hortan woke up to Surbius, Vardonx, Moda, Lambin, Waldoze and Pasqual. They were all smiling at him. Quickly, he got up and looked for his clothes.

"Get dressed mate, you have a busy day," Waldoze said, a huge grin under the immaculate, large mustache.

He took the clothes next to his bed, and winced at the thought of his very chafed thighs. However, the pants fit, the jacket felt good and the name tag said Hortan in neon yellow letters. The ball cap with the propeller said MINER in yellow letters.

"I had the size problem fixed" Surbius said, smiling, "so I expect you to dress properly from now on."

"And I have installed an autolog in you personal assistant so you don't have to fill out all those forms anymore" Moda beamed at him.

"And I am thirsty" Pasqual said, "Lets go mine and have some whisky, what do you say?"

Hortan got up. He was among friends. His guild was a good one. He was going to have whisky. And he was going mining. Sometimes, it really is a flashy life roid miners live.

Feedback is appreciated:)

Loved It !!!
Everything about it just drew me in wanting to read more.

cant wait for your next story :)

Renta

The ancient miner leaned back in his seat , bathed in the orange light of Dau as the moth filled up with ore . He listened to the comms chatter : TGFT going about the business of commerce, news , politics , the life of space feeling close and familiar across light years of the void .

It had been an interesting few weeks, young Hortan had certainly stirred things up for a while. Old Ecka bit into a black pudding roll and wondered what the next episode from the ongoing story of TGFT would be.........

*applauds

Brava! I was pulled in as well waiting to see what happened next, very nice :)

Fantastic mate! Read the whole thing in one sitting, straight through. Absolutely loved it!