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“What was going on?” asked Gerald, frowning.

“I have no idea. I was sure the spaceship had a full tank of gas.”

“The Citizens for Prosperity were definitely not happy that their spaceship had broken down in deep space. But you have the opportunity to make amends. They’ve approached the Rust Society about a tricky transportation job from Jackson’s Swap to Ruin Station. They’re providing the spaceship.”

I wondered why the Citizens for Prosperity were delivering something to Ruin Station. But I didn’t ask any questions. More importantly, it was an opportunity to enter Ruin Station on official business. It was a good opportunity to search for the data stick that the Xenothreat had taken from Brubacker’s Zeus. To my surprise, I got another Zeus. I wondered if it was the same one I had been stuck with.

A beautiful, almost cloudless desert day awaited me when I arrived at Jackson’s Swap. The settlement was idyllically situated between two monumental rock formations. An idyll that could be spoiled. There were always battles here.

After landing, I went to the local store. In Jackson’s Swap they had good functional clothing suitable for life on the frontier. And sometimes there were little interesting finds. The saleslady wrapped some of my newly purchased items in newspaper. When I looked at the newspaper, I was taken aback. It was an issue of Flatcat magazine, which also appeared in Grim Hex. One of the articles was about TYR, Kjeld Stormanson’s PMC.

“Where did you get the newspaper?” I asked her.

“A spaceship crashed on Monox. I think it was a smuggler’s ship. The scrap collectors who scrapped the wreck brought back a whole box full of this newspaper. Good packing material, otherwise useless.”

I thanked them, loaded the order cargo into my spaceship and set off on the long journey to Ruin Station. On the way, I took a closer look at the articles in Flatcat magazine. In addition to the usual reports about scandals and exploitation, there were interesting advertisements looking for personnel. TYR was looking for new personnel for its telephone reconnaissance, as were some space emergency rescue services based in Orison. And they were looking for volunteers for a humanitarian organization called Overshield. Navaja was the contact person. After the public ENOS test at Harpers Point, he had organized relief supplies for the troubled settlement, which I had then delivered. I sent Navaja a message directly.

After arriving at the Xenothreat-controlled space station, I first unloaded the containers and then went to the market to look for information about the data stick. If it really was anything like the Grand Barter Bazaar in Levski, some drunkard would know something and spill the beans. These markets were the ideal place to hear stories about secrets.

I strolled leisurely between the market stalls, had a drink here and there and listened to the market criers and guests. It was a wild hustle and bustle, but somehow subdued. After a while, I met a man who was looking for a smuggler. We quickly struck up a conversation and I offered him my services. He didn’t even try to talk to me quietly or inconspicuously. It was as if we were doing business as usual. And it was the same here on Ruin. Finally, he sent me into a back room of the gun store.

The room was dark and musty. It smelled of sweat, alcohol and drugs. The place was a symbol of secrets and shady dealings. There were several packets of drugs on a table and shrink-wrapped parcels on the floor, ready to be shipped. I was to take one of them to the Orbituary Station in orbit around the planet Bloom.

A few meters away from the table, there were several worn sofas around a table on a raised level. Sitting on the sofas was a group of frowning figures who were talking intensely. They seemed to be at odds about something. I pretended to be busy with the drug packets and tried to eavesdrop. It quickly became clear that the group belonged to the Xenothreat and that the conversation was not intended for foreign ears. If they realized I was eavesdropping, that would be the end of me. But I couldn’t just leave, what I was hearing was too important.

My heart was racing. Slowly, with trembling hands, I took a packet from one bowl and placed it in another. Concentrating on the conversation, I almost dropped it next to the table. The group spoke of a master key that gave them access everywhere. They disagreed about what to do with it.

Suddenly some of them got up and came running down from the raised area with the sofas. One of them said to the others in a stern tone of command.

“Until the problem with uncontrolled distribution is solved, the software will remain on Terminus.”

Then he looked at me and whispered.

“And you, don’t just stand there uselessly. Take the drugs to their destination.”

With my head down, I took the package and left the gun store. One thing was clear, the group had talked about the virus that was on the data stick. The virus that bypassed security systems and that I wanted. I had to go to Terminus.

Terminus, the outermost planet of the Pyro system. A cold, unreal world. There were two settlements under the control of the Xenothreat. Both were currently on the night side. When I approached the first one, I was immediately bombarded with missiles and shields. It would have been too easy if I could have loaded there. The only way to get to the settlement was on foot. However, the night on Terminus really was night. On this planet, the day was already not really bright, but the night was pitch black. I could barely see a hand in front of my eyes and had to wait until it got a little brighter. I landed a long way from the settlement and waited until dawn.

With the first light of dawn, I flew as close to the settlement as I could at low level and landed in the shelter of a crater on a patch of ice. Hopefully the ice was stable enough. Then I made my way on foot to the settlement four kilometers away.

It was bitterly cold. The temperature was -168 degrees Celsius. The distant star Pyros rose in front of me. It was not much more than a small white disk. In the backlight, the rock formations looked like black, petrified mythical creatures from hell that could awaken at any moment and attack you. But the rising star brought no warmth. It remained icy. My legs became heavier and heavier. They were as stiff as steel. Every step hurt. The cold crept deeper and deeper into my armor, gripping my body and mind with icy hands. My vision clouded over.

I had only made it 800 meters and was already almost delirious. There was no chance of reaching the settlement. I had to turn back and return to the spaceship. But my hypothermic body was failing. Doubts arose as to whether I would make it.

I dragged myself back with heavy steps. I didn’t know whether my eyes or my visor had frozen, but I could barely see the spaceship. At some point I lost my footing and slipped. I landed on my butt with a thud. I was sitting on a patch of ice and was too weak to stand up. Images of the desert flashed past me. Images of sand and strong sun. Images that provided warmth.

Then I remembered that I had landed on a patch of ice. With the last of my strength, I crawled on all fours until I touched a landing frame with my hands. I had reached the Zeus that had saved me.

My whole body trembling, I lay down in bed under the covers. To reach the settlement, I needed a cold protection suit or a closed ground vehicle. I didn’t have either. I was not prepared for a ground mission on this icy planet. For the time being, I had no choice but to take the drugs to the orbituary station.

At that moment, a message came from Gerald. He wanted me to pick up a few containers from Canard View on Terminus and bring them to Orbituary Station. The order came at just the right time. It gave me an official reason to fly to Orbituary, and no one would ask stupid questions.

It was also bitterly cold in Canard View. An icy mist hung in the air. It looked as if the atmosphere had frozen. In addition to my Zeus, there were two other transport ships in the settlement.

While I was loading the containers, a guy appeared. Probably one of the freighter pilots. But instead of going to his spaceship, he grabbed one of my containers with his tractor beam. That couldn’t be true. Was this guy trying to steal my cargo? I was just about to grab the container he was moving with my tractor beam when he set it down in front of the loading ramp of my Zeus. Then he went to his spaceship. I looked after him, puzzled. Was he really a helpful person now? Hard to imagine in Pyro. Or did he want to steal the container and had seen that the contents weren’t very valuable?

While I was looking after the guy, I noticed a Drake Mule, a small enclosed ground vehicle. Just what I needed. Without thinking twice, I drove the Mule into the cargo hold of my Zeus. Unexpectedly, I had another chance to reach the Xenothreat settlement. But first I wanted to take the cargo and the drugs to Orbituary Station.

However, things on Orbituary went a little differently than expected. First of all, I was surprised by the place where I had to drop off the drug package. There were lots of packages of different drugs on a shelf right at the entrance to the Habs. It looked like a public bookshelf where you could swap books. And to me it looked like an option for more smuggling.

And then there was trouble with the Citizens for Prosperity. They weren’t just pissed off about the bullet holes in the Zeus. They were really pissed off because I had taken the Mule in Canard View. They took it away from me immediately.

The data stick was out of reach for the time being. Without the right equipment, I had no chance of reaching the Xenothreat settlement. Everything I needed, everything that could help me, was in the Stanton system. I had to fly back and prepare myself better.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)