Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Chapter 8

Knowhere, Edge of the Galactic Rim

As always, Cosmo was waiting for the Bowie when it came in for a landing.

"Guardians finally return!" The dog's tail was a blur when the ramp finally descended, allowing Peter and the others to disembark into Knowhere's newly renovated docking bay.

Okay, partially renovated. Slightly renovated. But it was getting somewhere, just like the rest of the station.

"Good mission?"

Peter forced a smile as the dog circled him. "Yeah. Pretty good mission."

"We were almost killed numerous times!" Mantis added brightly, and Cosmo's tag stopped wagging.

"That does not sound like good mission."

Peter stifled a sigh. It had been a good mission. They'd done well, saved the people of Counter Earth from their oppressive rulers...so why did he feel so down? He knew the answer of course, but that didn't mean he planned to confront it. Maybe once he had a few drinks in his system.

But now wasn't the time for drinking. He'd committed them to a new mission, and the sooner they got started on that, the sooner he'd have a better distraction than the mini bar at their headquarters.

"Eh, we've seen worse." He paused, looking around the bay. "No Kraglin?"

The man usually wasn't far from Cosmo, given their unofficial positions as heads of the Knowhere rebuilding effort. When they'd purchased the station, Peter had figured the former Ravager would be the last to volunteer for such a duty, and yet he'd been the first. And as much as Peter missed him on missions, it was more than obvious Kraglin still had some skills to sharpen before he and his fin were ready for the field.

One might think nine years would be enough to master such a weapon, but the arrow refused to cooperate. Peter wondered if it missed its old owner.

"He is practicing at base," Cosmo replied as they walked across the bay. "Has been since you left. Cosmo is afraid walls may be Swiss-cheesed."

That got a genuine laugh out of Peter, and he shook his head as they stepped off the edge of the bay and onto the familiar streets of Knowhere.

It was odd to think that a space station that had once seemed so dark, dismal, and dangerous could now be called home. But here they were, walking down the well-lit, bustling streets of the galaxy's greatest pet project. The Collector hadn't left them much to work with, but when the people weren't afraid of those running the station—and all criminal scum had fled at the possibility of a run-in with the Guardians—it was surprisingly easy to find helping hand, especially when they were basically the celebrities of the station. Even now, people paused in whatever they were doing to watch the Guardians go by. It felt good.

Yes, they'd come so far from what Knowhere had been. And nothing was going to...

"Hey, Cosmo?" Peter looked down at the dog, who perked up in reply. "You remember those extra security measures we discussed? Like, with the control room and the scanners and stuff?"

"Peter Quill, Cosmo is not regular dog. Cosmo does not forget important things like 'extra security measures.'"

"Good." Peter cast a wary glance at the sky. "We're gonna put them to the test."

There. That was something he could distract himself with: keeping the Sovereign and their own pet project out of his pet project. Perfect. Well, not perfect. He'd rather them not be on high alert for an inconsistently powerful golden gladiator, but there was certainly a silver lining to the issue.