I waved a farewell to David. "Take care and say hi to your wife for me."
He waved back as he paused outside of Tobias' main access door. "I will tell her. I am sure Tobias will keep me out of trouble. We will have to visit again one day."
I called back, "Send a video call if you want. Some days can get pretty boring."
"I will keep that in mind. Farewell, until we meet again!"
With a bowing flourish, he spun inside his ship. The door promptly closed the moment he was inside, probably Tobias' efforts to keep his Captain's terrible dancing moves from embarrassing him.
I shook my head in amusement as I turned and headed towards the Starsong. The other Starship, which had chosen the name Astra for herself, had just left the docking station. It had been fun to visit with David.
We had talked more about the mindlink and our reactions to it, and in the end, we were both a bit more at ease with it. I had compared it to an earpiece that kept me informed, while he had compared it to a prosthetic hand or limb that helped someone with daily tasks they would have otherwise struggled with. I didn't quite understand his logic, but I had never really met anyone with a prosthetic limb, so I couldn't really comment on it.
The small amount of trading we had arranged was already completed, so we would be leaving this planet as soon as I was inside and the ramp was removed. The docking staff were already starting to pull the ramp back from Tobias, and I knew that they would head in this direction the second they finished.
The main access door opened as I walked up the ramp. Ronan was outside by the door as he leaned against the Starship, pretending to be a security guard.
"He isn't exactly pretending. He does have the training, and he is quite capable of fulfilling that role. You were just walking between the Starships, so there wasn't much he could do on such a small and unoccupied docking station."
I nodded at Ronan before heading inside the Starship. I replied, 'Makes sense. Although it could have been amusing to see him try to follow me onto the other two Starships.'
"He is aware that you are safe on any Starship. Thus, there was no need for such an attempt."
I refrained from commenting that Ronan didn't stand a chance at succeeding, even if he tried. The Starships would be watching him before he so much as put a toe on that ramp. I was fully aware that Starsong often tapped into the local surveillance cameras when we were docked as he kept an eye on things. The cameras' video feed was supposedly impossible to hack into, but Starsong never let a minor detail like that stop him.
"Tobias is already taking off, and we are free to leave as soon as they leave the atmosphere."
There was a good chance of meeting David within a few months since both Tobias and Starsong planned to use a number of the same ports. They specialized in different cargo, so there wasn't any problem with us docking at the same time. Starsong seemed to favor fruits, spices, metal ores, and gems while Tobias preferred manufactured goods that were in high demand.
I headed back to the Bridge and pulled up a list of our next stops on my Guide. It would be two days before we got to a planet called Folkar, then another five days before we finally reached our main destination, Sceltar.
Sceltar was a huge port that specialized in trade and passenger commute. It had over twenty docking bays on its largest docking station. We had contacted the company that had been looking for the rare metal we were carrying. They were skeptical that we actually had as much as we said we did, but they had stated that they would purchase as much as we had if it was of a good quality.
That huge sale would bring in a lot of profit. It would also open up a lot more room for other goods and cargo. Procurement was already looking into what they wanted to purchase to fill the space while we were at one of the largest trade centers in this corner of space. They had already sent me a list of five different suppliers who I would have to personally meet at Sceltar.
In the meantime, I had several days of boring space travel to endure.
* * *
I left the Cargo Bay, pleased that Victor was getting along very well with his new Overseer. I didn't foresee any more such problems in the Cargo Bay. Regan had come to my room the evening of that fateful day to apologize profusely for his actions. He had already apologized to Victor, who ended up forgiving him, before showing up at my doorstep.
Regan had been given a position as an assistant in a life support section where attention to detail was crucial. He was on probation, but he was throwing himself into his new training and was determined to make sure he would not repeat that particular mistake again.
All of the eight former-pirates were fitting in very well. Starsong was monitoring them but had no concerns. They were determined to learn and work hard, grateful that they even got the chance to prove themselves. I had watched them in-person as well as through some of the numerous hidden cameras, but they were all very dedicated to their work and fitting in with the crew as well as any other new member.
"We may have a complication at our next stop."
I refrained from groaning since I was walking down a corridor. 'What kind of complication?'
"It seems that the planet Folkar is at war with another planet in the same solar system, and each planet is attacking anything that tries to dock at the other planet. No traders or passenger shuttles are docking due to this tactic."
I went into a vacant mechanical room to better concentrate on the conversation without potential witnesses. I leaned against the wall as I said, "I guess that explains why they were willing to pay so much for any fruits or food products. Wait, those trades we arranged had a pretty high penalty fee if we backed out. Is that going to affect anything?"
Most pre-arranged trades had a penalty fee if a ship failed to hold up its end of the deal, and the ones on this planet had been shockingly high, although we hadn't thought anything about it since we would be picking up one new crew member while we were there. There had been nothing preventing us from stopping and several good reasons for us to stop.
"And there is still nothing preventing us from stopping. We will hold up our end of the trade deals and collect our new crew member. Neither planet has any large or powerful warships. Their mid-sized warships are no challenge for our shields or weapons."
Those warships were more powerful than the average Enforcement ship. If they decided to attack us, they were going to be in for quite a surprise. And it would give us some rather unwanted publicity...
"Sooner or later, people are bound to realize that attacking a Starship is a mistake. I am not about to run away because two immature leaders are in the middle of tiff and are acting like a pair of ten-year-olds having an argument."
I winced slightly. Starsong was clearly not impressed with whatever reason they were using to justify this fight. Considering we had just found out about it, it was just the two planets bickering and not a full-fledged official war; otherwise, there would have been notices at every port within a week's travel.
I sighed, "What kind of fallout should I expect when you manage to put several warships back in their place?"
In theory, a warship should be able to incapacitate the average trading vessel fairly easily. I was also quite sure that more than one warship would try to intercept us as we approached the planet.
"I do not anticipate much. Although, if the warships try to use force, the suppliers on the docking station will not underestimate you like so many do. Perhaps it is a good thing that Procurement already signed off on the trades. You only have one meeting scheduled with one supplier, and that meeting may be interesting."
I was more than a bit wary of his use of the word interesting. I knew what he was getting at though; if a trading ship managed to bypass or defeat several warships, then people would be very curious about which Captain had dared to attempt such a feat. Great... Life just loves throwing curveballs my way...
It was too ironic. I had just been walking through the corridors on a walk-about to keep boredom at bay, and right on cue, boredom decided it didn't like being snubbed and completely left the area to see if I would miss it.