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After I had reached the Patch City space station in the Pyro system with a load of fresh food, the Citizens for Prosperity surprised me. They provided me with a Zeus for the final stretch to the destinations Bueno Ravine on the planet Bloom and Sunset Mesa on the planet Monox. The good thing was that I didn’t have to expose my White Rabbit to the risk of an attack. On the other hand, the lettering ‘Citizens for Prosperity’ and the logo with the two stars and the crescent moon on the hull of the spaceship seemed like a target. The factions in Pyro didn’t exactly have a friendly relationship with each other.

It was night when I reached Bueno Ravine. Flames danced on tall chimneys where gas was being flared. They cast a restless glow on parts of the mining settlement. Otherwise it was dark. Only a few lights shone. The Zeus touched down gently right next to an Argo SRV, a towing spaceship with a large tractor beam.

Because of the many attacks on settlements in Pyro, I was wearing heavy armor. I laboriously climbed down the ladder and stood under the Zeus in the light of the ground spotlights. All around me was an impenetrable blackness. I had barely taken a few steps into the darkness when I heard a voice out of nowhere. It sounded harsh, almost aggressive, but still familiar.

“STOP, don’t go any further! Who are you and what do you want here?”

“I’m bringing fresh food for the inhabitants of this settlement. Your voice sounds familiar. But it doesn’t match the aggressive tone.”

A figure emerged from the darkness. It wore light armor and its head and cheeks were shaved. The mouth was framed by a beard that pointed downwards.

“I know the face too, although the beard is longer than I remember.”

“Zero, is that you?” the person said in surprise. “You wouldn’t believe how happy I am to see you. It’s been ages.”

“Hermieoth, what a surprise. The ways of the universe are unpredictable.”

Hermieoth helped me unload the cargo. He told me that he had given up his business in Stanton after problems and had come to Pyro. He had met Friedrich Winters in Bueno Ravine. Friedrich had crashed his 600i on a delivery and was towed by Hermieoth.

“Is that your SRV standing there?” I asked him.

“Yes, exactly. And another thing. Friedrich is looking for Brubacker and Husky. They’ve both gone missing in the Pyro system. He asked me to ask around. And I actually have a lead.”

“Oh, that’s interesting. Friedrich also asked me to use my contacts in Pyro to find them. But let’s go inside. I feel unsafe out here. Pyro has no balance. I’m afraid of snipers.”

We sat down at a table in one of the buildings and had a Rust. Hermieoth told us that he had learned from the inhabitants that Friedrich was not the only one with the name Winters who had turned up in Bueno Ravine. The other Winters was accompanied by another guy. The two of them had left the settlement in the warehouseman’s Cyclone.

“And do you know where to?”

“No. And in Pyro, it’s better not to ask too many questions.”

“I’ll talk to the storekeeper. After all, I have quite a good reputation with the Citizens for Prosperity, I’m even here on one of their ships.”

The storekeeper finally told me that the two of them had set off for Carvers Ridge. He had instructed them to transport a crate of cobalt. In return, they would be allowed to borrow an Aurora in Carvers Ridge to get off the planet. I told him that if they showed up again, he should send them to Sunset Mesa.

That was a pleasant coincidence. I hadn’t expected to find Brubacker and Husky so quickly. Hermieoth and I set off in our spaceships for Carvers Ridge to follow the trail. It was only 30 kilometers, a stone’s throw. Flying low, we approached the settlement in the darkness. It was hidden behind a range of hills.

As soon as we passed the crest of the hill, all hell broke loose. Warning lights in the cockpit lit up red and laser flashes flew towards us. The settlement’s defense towers had switched on and taken us under fire. My carotid artery pulsed wildly as I frantically jerked the wheel around. I didn’t know where to steer. In the darkness, I could neither see the ground a few meters below me nor the hills around me. Outside the cockpit window, all I could see was black interspersed with laser flashes.

“I’ve been hit!” Hermieoth shouted into the radio.

“That’s a Headhunter settlement. Get out of here,” I replied.

After a few wild flying maneuvers, it was quiet again. We had been lucky. But we had lost the trail. We didn’t know whether Brubacker and Husky had arrived at Carvers Ridge, were still there or had already flown on. In the hope of finding something after all, we flew as low as possible back to Bueno Ravine with our headlights on.

“There’s something there,” Hermie suddenly reported over the radio.

A Drake Cutter appeared on the ground in the beam of light. It looked like a failed emergency landing. A person was walking away from the small spaceship. Hermieoth landed with the SRV to help, I secured it from the air with the Zeus.

Suddenly the Cutter exploded. There were no contacts on the radar. It must have exploded without any external influence. Had the pilot activated the self-destruct? Then the person who had run away from the Cutter turned around and returned.

“Hermie, be careful. That seems very strange to me,” I warned over the radio.

On the radio, I heard Hermieoth talking to the person. The person’s voice was very difficult to understand. It sounded as if they were using a voice changer or speaking through an old helmet. She refused any help and wanted to continue on foot.

“That was a strange one,” Hermieoth reported as we flew back to Bueno Ravine. “But somehow the voice sounded familiar. If you have a way to contact Kjeld, ask him if Grima is still on Grim Hex.”

In Bueno Ravine, I said goodbye to Hermieoth and flew on to Sunset Mesa. After unloading the fresh food there, I spoke to the Citizens for Prosperity and Gerald from the Rust Society. I told them about my search for Brubacker and Husky.

“If two guys show up who seem a little confused, send them to the location here on the drawing. But don’t give their names. I want to see if they’re still in balance and walking the middle path first.”

*

A few days later, I noticed an advertisement: “CREW IN PYRO IS LOOKING FOR WORK”.

It seemed like a good opportunity to recruit someone for the search. I responded to the ad.

I am currently looking for eyes and ears in Pyro. Two people are missing. Can you help with that too?
It’s two guys from Stanton. They are traveling with a Zeus. One is a somewhat clumsy journalist from ArcCorp, the other a daredevil racing pilot. However, he doesn’t seem to be on top of his game at the moment and seems to be a bit mentally unstable. And he’s the grandson of a successful entrepreneur. So he could be in for a good reward.

We promptly received a surprising response.

We are already working for the entrepreneur in question and are already on the case. The description of journalist and racing driver is a good one, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. The galaxy is sometimes a village. But contacts never hurt, so we wouldn’t be averse to a meeting in Starlight.

I met the sender of the message at Starlight Station in the bar. He fitted in perfectly with the ambience. He looked like a ruggedly handsome guy. Muscular, tank top, bandana, oversized moustache pulled way down. The kind of scoundrel you’d expect to find in a rancid bar at a table with empty beer bottles, some of which were broken.

“Have a seat. I’m Boris. Who are you?”

“I’m the one from the desert.”

“That’s too complicated. What can I call you?”

“Call me Sandworm”

“That’s funny. I’ll call you Sandman.”

“That’s good. What information do you have about the missing persons?”

Boris began to talk. But he didn’t know much, actually, nothing. He said his captain knew more, but he wouldn’t be back for another hour and a half. Boris said that they had actually wanted to set off for Monox with Friedrich. But he was unsure about that too. He would get the names of the planets mixed up as he hadn’t been in Pyro for long. After a while, it turned out that the crew was working with the headhunters. That was perfect, as my trail was lost with the headhunters in Carvers Ridge. I shared my information with Boris and asked him to pick up the trail there.

We had a deal, which we sealed with a Rust. Boris downed the Rust in one go and didn’t even have to cough. Afterwards we talked about Drake, the Prophet of Pyro and the possibility of acquiring E’tam and smuggling it into Stanton. Boris offered to get E’tam from the headhunters.

Even though Boris seemed to be a funny guy behind his rough exterior, I remained cautious. The conversation was just too smooth. And yet I hadn’t received any useful information from him about the whereabouts of Brubacker and Husky. Or was I being too paranoid? Boris spoke of trust, of reliability, of a code. I thought of Ray Keaton, who had none of that. Could it really be that I was dealing with an honorable crook?

After saying goodbye to Boris, I returned to Monox. I had laid out breadcrumbs with the help of the Citizens for Prosperity so that Brubacker and Husky could find their way to Monox and the community center. If Boris was right and their tracks were already leading to Monox, I had to hurry to get there before them.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)