She thought it was a good opener. Maybe she’d even redeemed herself after that blunder with Rasker Vipp. She glanced at him, but his face revealed nothing. He just leaned there, watching.
“So,” Holly said. “Who wants to start?”
Sam pulled out his own d-pad and tapped the screen. “The spaceport ismymain concern. We only have two operational landing pads. The grid pulses, as you saw when you arrived.” He scrolled through his notes. “I put in the order for the replacement solar cells after we talked. They’ll arrive in two days and I can have them installed the same day.”
“That’s good news,” Holly said.
“It used up most of the funds in the account I have access to.” Sam’s expression was flat. “Is there any way to access more? For other repairs?”
Holly chewed her lip. “I suspect there are morenitssomewhere. I just don’t know where Charles put them. I’ll have the estate lawyer, Mr. Binn, dig around and see what other accounts he can find.”
“The medical pod needs updating,” Alyce cut in. “It can only treat a handful of species right now. If we want to serve travelers properly, we need to expand its capabilities.” She ticked items off on her fingers. “We’d also benefit from a dedicated medic. We haven’t had one in twenty years. The turbines need fixing so the air circulates properly. The lights need calibrating for the forest and gardens. And for the love of thestars, we need to hire a new groundskeeper once things get better around here.”
Holly wrote furiously, her stylus flying across the d-pad. “Got it. All of it.”
“Can we talk about the ratings?” Harry asked, placing a hand over his heart. “Things are not going to get better around here until the ratings improve. They arekillingus. No one wants to stop at a station with two stars out of ten.” He waved a hand toward Holly. “You should read the comments—actually, no, you shouldn’t. They’d break your sweet spirit. The problem is, we’re rated so low, the only travelers we get are desperate ones.” He sighed. “I run a vibrant business by shipping out my fungi, butimagine if customers came here to place orders and sample my wares? Moone’s Landing is perfect for my operation because there’s less oversight for some of my…” He waved a hand. “Less conventional varieties.”
Tyer snorted. “He means illegal.”
“Nothing I grow is illegal inthisregion of space,” Harry protested, perhaps inadvertently broadcasting the reason why he chose Moone’s Landing as his base of operations. “But it’s getting harder to hire transports willing to come out here for special orders. The station’s reputation precedes it.”
“We have no concerns,” Orba said serenely, and Sula inclined their head in agreement.
Everyone turned to look at the Vepins.
Orba gracefully spread their hands. “We are seven hundred fifty-two, and nine hundred thirty years old, respectively. We have seen much change across the galaxy. Very little concerns us.”
“How nice for you,” Tyer muttered.
“All will work out as it should,” Orba continued, unperturbed. “In time.”
“One wonders why you two attended this meeting at all, then.” Tyer rolled his eyes. “I live on the far side of the outpost, by the pond. I would simply like to continue living there quietly, without issues. That’s all I require.” He examined his fingernails with studied disinterest. “If I can assist in that…”
“The pond is lovely,” Mish said, her voice strained. She looked at Holly. “We walk there sometimes. When the children are calm.” Mish twisted her hands in her lap. “IneedMoone’s Landing. I need somewhere safe to stay with my children. If my home planet wasn’t war-torn—” She cut herself off with a shake of the head. “But itis. My children need three or four more years until they mature into independently thinking people. No civilized system will take them until then. We’re too much of arisk. My husband is on a deep space mining rig for the next two years, so I have nowhere else to go.”
“You’ll have a place here,” Holly said firmly. “I am going to do everything in my power to make sure of it.”
Mish’s eyes grew wet. She nodded and looked away.
“I’m just happy to be here,” Cody said, stretching lazily. “Good vibes. Good people. Family.” He grinned at Holly. “What more could you want?”
The silence that followed was pointed. Harry’s sour expression suggested he could think of several things. Alyce narrowed her eyes. Even Orba and Sula exchanged a glance that somehow conveyed dismay, despite their serene features.
Holly forced herself not to snap at him.
“There’s something else,” Sam said, drawing attention back to himself. “The Galactic Registry of Way Stations sends inspectors out here every two years. Our last one was ten months ago, so we have some time, but we passed by only two points. We were given a stern warning.”
Holly’s stomach dropped. She’d read the inspection report, but it had slipped her mind. “What happens if we fail?”
“Moone’s Landing gets removed from the Galactic Registry of Way Stations.” Sam’s voice was grim. “We’d no longer appear on navigation systems. No travelers would find us, so we’d generate no income. The station would be finished.”
“So we have fourteen months,” Holly said.
“Yes.” Sam shrugged. “But if someone flags us for a violation and the inspectors come to do an emergency inspection, we’d likely fail.”
Holly let that sink in. Fourteen months. It felt like both an eternity and no time at all and it made her measly three-month leave of absence feel utterly inadequate. It would take longer than that to know if Moone’s Landing could survive. And on topof that, she’d assured Mish she’d save the station. What a mess she was already making of things.
Conversation continued with lively discussion about what to improve,howto improve, and what could and could not wait until later. Harry reiterated his very passionate concerns about the station’s ratings, and read one aloud that seemed to vex him:Moone’s Landing is one step up from the toxic slime pits on Xalkon-5.
