“Yes, I’m aware,” he mumbled, guiding her through the familiar halls, down towards main storage where, she knew, the door they used to exit the ship was located. “My life has become nothing but nattering human females lately.”
Haven giggled. He might sound bothered, but he still kept that hand on her back, and the way he pulled her in towards him, like he wanted to take her against his side, spoke far louder about his true feelings and how close he wanted her to him.
The main storage had two doors leading out – three if you counted the one that connected to the landing ship which could also take them out of the ship. The side door to one side was smaller and was the one they used the most. However, there wasalso a large loading bay door at the back that rarely opened. It had been used when they were repairing the ship and needed the extra space to get all the equipment and supplies in and out, but not since.
However, it was being used now, the entire back end of the ship opened as Captain Tanin watched while the four armed Rok, the blue, scaley twins with white hair, Sorbet and Tebros, and Trove, the domini male with long hair back in a neat ponytail, all worked together to guide and lower the hovers that were carrying the large boxes they were transporting.
“Start with upper storage,” Tanin was saying as Haven took the ladder steps down from said upper storage, right into Vytln’s waiting arms – he had gone down first to help her. “Put whatever can fit in the small storage rooms. We’re going to need all the space we have.”
“Must being a big delivery,” Haven said, impressed. Usually, their crew would only deliver small things. They were a delivery company, but they were expensive because they specialized in dangerous jobs. As such, it wasn’t typical for them to load up like this.
“We’re bringing relief supplies for a city,” Vytln said, putting a hand to her lower back again. “We’re getting a lot of credz for it.”
“Nice,” Haven smiled. It wasn’t anything she could break down and learn from, but the jobs they did were still interesting in their own way.
Tanin turned as they approached, inclining his head at them both. “I sent you the list of everything I need you to get,” he said by way of greeting. “Any questions?”
“None,” Vytln grunted.
“As soon as the others are done, they’ll get station leave for the rest of the day. Everyone is due back on the ship by midday tomorrow. We’ll be taking off then.”
“Aye, captain.”
“And you.” Tanin looked at her. She cocked her head curiously. “Don’t get into trouble while you’re out there.”
That wasn’t really what she was expecting him to say, and it made her laugh and smile. “Aye, captain!”
He didn’t question her referring to him that way. She didn’t know what Alred said to him, how he had advocated for her, but whatever it was, Tanin and Vytln didn’t even question letting her out. And she was definitely coming back, but the ‘prisoner’ thing, which already felt pretty loose, was like a funny joke now.
“What are we getting?” Haven asked, smiling up at Vytln as he led her out of the ship, down the ramp into the wide, open loading docks. “And where are we being?”
The large loading docks were wide, industrial, full of people, packed with large crates of supplies, with lots of noise bouncing off every far wall and ceiling. The docks had multiple gates, many of which were filled with more supply ships, all getting filled with similar crates. All of them marked with symbols that she couldn’t read.
“This is Cort-Valla,” Vytln said, answering her as he guided her down the marked paths through the docks, towards the entrance to the station itself. “It’s a supply station. It’s specialized in gathering food and supplies on large scales like this. Ships don’t really come here unless they’re picking up large amounts of supplies. Or if they themselves need large amounts of supplies –like the peacekeeper ships. Mega ships can only get resupplied through stations like this.”
“Where are we going then?”
“There’s still a place for workers and ship crew to eat and rest while here. It’s not as big or varied as other stations, but it’s better than being on a ship constantly.”
“What was Tanin sending us to buying?”
“We need some supplies for ourselves. We weren’t accounting for you when we got our last resupply, so we need more nutrition powder. We also need to refill our cleaning mist fluid tanks since we lost so much through that broken pipe. We also need some replacement parts. And I need to get you a new envirosuit.”
“Aw. I was liking mine.”
“It’s not good enough.”
She really liked it though. It might not have been top of the line or super fancy, but Vytln had made it just for her, and that made it special.
But that brief feeling of disappointment faded when they came into the small area that was segregated from the working part of the station. Small shops, food stalls, business fronts filled the space and, for the first time, she got to walk among them instead of slinking around them in the shadows.
Vytln took care of business first. He got a hover cart – a simple metal cart that had an optional cover – and went through getting everything they needed. He started with the extra bags of nutrition powder, then the replacement parts. He ordered the cleaning mist fluid, but the vendor would be bringing thatdirectly to the ship to fill the tanks, so there was nothing for them to carry.
Haven was having fun just going along, following after, looking at everything. It was a different experience just to have someone nearby so she could constantly ask what things were and what they were for. She fully expected Vytln to get annoyed with her. He seemed like the grumpy type who would quickly become aggravated with someone’s constant questions. Which would be a problem between them, because Haven had never been without a question in her life.
To her surprise and delight, however, he didn’t get annoyed or frustrated with her. He didn’t snap or roll his eyes or sigh as her questions went on and on. He just answered them. Sometimes without looking up from what he was doing, sometimes without even glancing at whatever had caught her curiosity, but he always answered in that same monotone voice.
She was a bit confused when they went to a what appeared to be a futuristically run down pawn shop, and even more confused when Vytln pulled a big ass yellow gemstone from one of the pockets of his pants. It was the size of her fist and already cut and polished to a sparkling shine.
