Ash had expected Seriff''s electronic''s shop to be a dingy hole in the wall with dusty shelves and a weird smell like most pawn store''s that he had been in on Dottier, but when he turned the corner, he found a sleek and modern looking establishment. The walls were bright white and all of the featured equipment had shrine-like display cases that had their own lighting and held them at chest level for customers to effortlessly examine.


    Ash didn''t actually know what anything was or what they did, but he couldn''t deny how good it all looked. Seriff raised his arms up high and gave an extended "Welcoooome!"


    "Seriff, good to see you again!" Ash returned the greeting.


    "Did you have any trouble finding my store? I forgot to give you directions here." Seriff asked.


    "We met a very helpful merchant in the outdoor marketplace down the road." Ash said.


    "Who?"


    "Charles was his name, I think."


    "Ohhh I know him, big personality. Loves to mess with newcomers." Seriff said.


    "Yeah, we found out the hard way, but he did send us in the right direction." Ash said


    "Check this out Seriff." Jayden said and pulled out his portable music player.


    "Ohhhh, what is this?" Seriff said with wide eyes, reaching out for the device.


    "This, my friend, is a fully loaded music player with both old Earth tunes and music from our planet. It''s one of a kind." Jayden explained. "How much are you willing to pay for it?"


    "Hmm, if it works and is loaded with rare music, I could pay three hundred credits." Seriff said, turning it on after pressing several wrong buttons.


    "Ohh come on, you ate half of our dinner when you came to the Solent, you can do better than 300." Jayden said smiling like a fox himself.


    "Yes yes, do you have any more.. Mac and Cheese?"


    "We brought some just for you, but you need to treat us right. Five hundred and we''ll throw in the mac." Jayden said, slamming a box of the delicacy on to the glass case that also served as his checkout area.


    "460 credits for the player and your mac." Seriff said, showing his teeth in what was probably a smile.


    "Hmm. You must not want this then." Jayden said, slipping the box back into Ash''s duffel bag.


    The smile was gone but Seriff replied "480 credits. I cannot pay more, I don''t know how fast this will sell. My father will not be happy."


    "Okay, 480 for both, you have a deal Seriff." Jayden said, clearly pleased with the haggling win.


    "Seriff, thank you. Do you know where we could get fuel for our ship?" Ash asked.


    "There is a fuel service here in the city. They will come to your landing pad and do it for you, but it is costly. You will need thousands, not hundreds. How much do you have?" Seriff asked.


    "This is it. 480 credits."


    "Noo noo. That will not do. Let me ask my father if he can help." Seriff said and walked into the back of the store.


    Ash waited patiently at the counter but the rest of the crew was already looking at all of the gadgets and large screens playing advertisements for them. Kate and Ruo held up what looked like a wrist watch but the display was holographic and was showing a view of Callidium in it''s orbit with the other planets and moons of the system. Seriff returned and smiled at the bewildered humans.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Ash, are you allowed to leave now?" Seriff asked.


    "We are only allowed to leave the ship right now, but I expect to be cut loose soon. I honestly don''t know what to do though, We don''t know where to go and we don''t have the fuel to go there anyway."


    "We often take orders for custom equipment from buyers that are off world. We have one ready to ship, a medical device, but it''s.. sensitive, yes, yes. Sensitive material. A delivery ship with a hyperspace drive and a crew who can''t operate the equipment is perfect. If you take the job, my father said he will refuel your ship and maybe have more work for you after. What do you say?" He was grinning his fox grin again. It was unsettling.


    Kate had made her way over to the counter, sensing the serious mood of the conversation. "Is there anything dangerous about this job Seriff?"


    "No, nothing dangerous. As I said, it is a medical device. It''s for a public figure who values privacy." Seriff said.


    "And you will refuel our ship before we leave? Is that the only payment?" She prodded.


    "Well, that is very expensive. The delivery job pays for the fuel."


    "How much fuel will we have left after the job?" Kate asked.


    "We shall see. I don''t know anything about your ship. We will not take advantage of you, Kate. We like you. You are good humans." Seriff said.


    "What do you think Kate? You asked good questions." Ash asked.


    "I believe him. Let''s do the job when we can leave and see how it works out in the end. We need the fuel." Kate said.


    "There is another option, humans. I would like to buy Charlie back from you and give you another unit. That one is special to me as you know. I will fill your fuel tanks from my own credits if you give me the AI."


    Ruo perked up from the corner of the shop and made her way over, Jayden in tow.


    "Ash you promised." He said with an intense look on his young face.


    Ash pursed his lips and looked around the shop for answers but found none. "Jay, we need to help Dottier as fast as possible. Not having to travel for this job and just getting the fuel to go.. that''s a better option."


    "Ash." Jayden said darkly.


    "We should sell it Ash, we need to move forward with the mission as fast as possible." Ruo said.


    "Shut up Ruo, You aren''t even a part of this crew. We saved you." Jayden said.


    "You saved me, and now I am a part of your crew. I am here, am I not?" She fired back.


    "Unfortunately yes. We aren''t selling Charlie, she is the one who actually saved you. Ash couldn''t have pulled off that maneuver."


    "Hey! Alright, alright. that''s enough. Seriff, I''m sorry, we need Charlie just the way she is. It is. Whatever. We''ll take the job as soon as we can leave."


    "Good good. I''ll have our people load the machine, I''m sure you''ll be allowed to leave very soon. You''ve done nothing wrong." Seriff said and smiled again.


    <hr>


    The Solent stood shadowed against the fading sunlight of the early evening on Callidium. Charlie opened the outer door as Ash and the crew climbed up the short ladder to reach it. It was easier to enter through the cargo hatch but Ash was leery of using that door for entering and exiting for fear of a malfunction that left the ship wide open.


    "Ash, I''ve received several messages for you, they''re on your personal tablet."


    "Thanks Charlie, I''ll take a look." Ash said and went straight to his room. The first message was a video message from Chiala.


    "Mr. Miller, I regret to inform you that the Congress of Callidium has decided against intervening in your war with the Sharlah. They feel that the Sharlah, being only a single war fleet, and taking losses on Dottier, will not be a threat to us. However, you and your crew are welcome to stay on Callidium for as long as you like or even live here if you please. You would need to fill out immigration documents and go through that process of course, but there shouldn''t be any issue getting you through it quickly. You are also free to come and go at any time. I am sorry, I know this is not what you wanted to hear. Please contact me if I can help you in any other way."


    Ash pounded his fist on the table. "Damn it!"


    "I am sorry Ash. It seems they feel they''ve done enough for humanity, bringing you to the Andromeda Galaxy."


    "They have done a lot, but it''s all for nothing if we get wiped out by the same enemy that we ran away from." Ash said and swore again. He pulled up another message. It was from Seriff. It seemed video messages were commonplace on Callidium. An image of the cheese loving fox appeared.


    "Ash, I am sending an attachment with the coordinates for your delivery. You will be meeting a very wealthy.. entrepreneur. It is very important that you make a good impression on him, ok? The fueling crew will be there in the morning and the equipment will be loaded soon. Please tell Charlie to let them into the cargo hold. Good luck and be safe."


    Ash rolled his chair back from the desk and hanged his head over the back of it. "Charlie, what are we going to do? Just aim the ship and fly until we find someone who will go to war for us?"


    "I am sorry Ash, I do not know the answer. I do know that you have to keep trying. If you fail Dottier will be lost. If you give up, Dottier will be lost. You must keep trying."