The Planet Volatile

The planet of Volatile was a globe of red and black stripes against the inky black expanse of the universe. 

 It was small from my window on the shuttle, like a grain of sand getting bigger and bigger with every jump into hyperspace. When close enough, I could make out barely-there blues when the red clouds move around and some greens when the black lifts just a bit. 

 The Planet of Volatile was one of three sister planets that traveled around the same star. It was the only livable one, though its sisters were accurately named, Inhospitable and Doomed were far from being safe to human life. 

 The shuttle shuttered and dropped, and a few people gasped around me. I held on tight to the seat's armrest till the shuttle leveled out. My ears popped, and my eyes watered as the shuttle was dragged into Volatile's gravitational pull. The shuttle whined but didn't bend - didn't break.

 The flight attendant walked around in her heeled boots on the slightly tilted ship. Her brown hair bounced up and down with every step as she walked up and down the aisle. She didn't talk, just tapping on her shoulders and giving a few nudges here and there. She walked past me a few times before tapping on my shoulder.

 I jumped, and she gave a thin smile at me. I gave her a shaking smile back.

 The shuttle shook again and once again dropped, and my hand tightened on the armrest again. 

 The Pilot of the shuttle came onto the overcome, and with crackly words and a cheerful voice, he pronounced that we are in the gravity well of Volatile and shall be at the Hearth Haven City Space Port in two to three hours. 

 A little faster than my ship, but my Captain liked to enter atmospheres and gravitational pulls with fineness and slowness of a tigress on the hunt. The Merry Charter was a big ship, a true galleon, and the vehicle I was in was nothing but a boat in comparison. An exploratory shuttle, just big enough to take people on and go to where it was called. 

 Captain Cigar's calm voice was muttering in my ear, and if I focused, I could feel the phantom touch of her hand rub and hold mine. Her A.I. disk laid in the pocket of my Bomber jacket; its blue glow was turned down to its lowest setting without turning it off. The Disk hummed against my chest and was warming like a small light, and as the ship dropped once more, I clutched onto it.

 It was the closest way I could hold onto to Captain.

 "Your fine, Cas," Captain whispered to me. The Earplug that she was talking through was clear. Like she was there in the chair next to me and not an Artificial intelligence that had the memory of a person who was dead, which is highly illegal, that was a tiny chip with a beaten, screen shattered, A.I. disk. "Look, we had rougher landings than this." 

 "I trusted the pilot, the navigator, the Captain." I tapped against the A.I disk's motion center. Mores Code the only that I could talk to her without saying the word. "I do not trust the Captain of this Vessel."

 Captain laughed in my ear before telling me to brace tight, and I followed her command. The ship dropped and continued to decline at a steady rate. I held my hand to Captain's Disk; the flight attendant was once again walking up and down with aisle with a hand on every chair to keep her balance. She stopped in next to my seat and talked to the woman across from my row with a happy and upbeat voice. 

 I took a deep breath.

 I watched as the Volatile got closer and closer. 

 I held my breath as the Shuttle dived under the red clouds, and the Space Port of the City of Hearth Haven came into my sight. The Shuttle jerked and glided and stuttered as the arms of the Space Port anchored themselves into the side of the vehicle to stabilize it. The Space Port Arms brought the Shuttle down - gently, though it was still a shaky landing - onto the landing pad. 

 I was still sitting in my chair with Captain's steady artificial breath in my ear as other passengers got their baggage and got off. My finger left marks in the armrest, well my nails did. Captain gave a breathy laugh at the sight of the scratches, from where she could see it from the camera in my stud earring. The flight attendant walked back and forth, helping all those who needed help while ignoring me. When the last passenger got off the Shuttle, the Flight Attendant turned toward me.

 Her permanent smile fell, and I got up on unsteady legs and dug my hand through my pocket. I pulled out a wad of North Galactic Standard Bills and tossed them at her. She caught it with both hands and went straight to counting it. 

 I didn't waste my time watching her and grabbed my bag from the overhanging storage. Walking out of the Shuttle door and stepping on the first step - I threw my bag over my shoulder and turned back to the Flight Attendant, "Thanks."

 She didn't say anything, and I didn't expect her to. She had just smuggled me from out of the Lunar 42 system and into the Volatile system. I knew if her Captain - pilot - whatever they call Shuttle flyers now, knew, she could very well lose her job. 

 I wonder how she would react to knowing the person she had smuggled was the Engineer and Hermit of the Merry Charter Crew? Would she be in shock? Would she report me to the North Galactic Police? The military? The Navy? Or would she just shut up and let me be?

 I won't know, and I would never know, though I'm happy about that.

 The steps of the Space Port were steep, but the floor beneath them was a nice easy incline. My bag weighed on my back as I walked to the welcome center. The hallway's walls were plain with a movie and ad posters here and there. The floor went from hard tile to an off-gray carpet, making the path quiet. 

 I could see the Shuttle passengers were splitting up in different directions, and non-artificial light was coming from somewhere. 

 "Do you know the plan?" Captain asked.

 "Yes." 

 She hummed as I came to the checkout desk. I threw my bag onto the scammer table and looked at the half-asleep worker. He wasn't even looking at the screen. 

 "Welcome to Hearth Haven City. Have a nice stay, and please try out the City's iconic Lava cooked steak at the Bud's Lava-Lovin' Seasoned Steak." The man sounded dead. His voice was not excited nor energized. He was looking at his com and nowhere else - a teenage worker if I ever saw one.

 I signed and grabbed my bag, and walked out. I passed by the families reuniting and a corkboard full of posters and old worn papers.

 The doors beeped, and I could hear the smile in Captain's words. "Plan A. Part one. Is ago."

 Plan A. Part One. was a simple plan. Find the Bar called The Neat and find a man named Luther.

 Luther was a decent Helmsman for a Galleon Ship or a Shuttle. He worked for a crew when Captain Cigar was still recruiting for the Merry Charter. He disappeared about a few years before Captain died, only to resurface a few months before her death. 

 The city of Hearth Haven was alive as I walked to the slums of the city. Music was echoing from speakers and the radios all over. Women danced in long skirts that floated and fluttered around them, children weaved in between the women, some holding tiny drums and guitars. Men stood to the side, some drank, and some played the music the women were dancing to.

 I could see the sign for Bud's lava-Lovin' Seasoned Steak glowing bright red and smoke coming from the back. People were crowded around outdoor seating and were cheering loud and uncaring.

 I continued down the main road and passed many crowds. 

 And finally, I saw want I wanted. 

 They were built into the side of Big Red, Volatiles' largest volcano, was the bar The Neat. The Neat was on the edge of the Hearth Haven's slums and clearly showed it. Words and drawing on the walls and door.

 The rust-covered door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open, and I nearly gagged at the smell of it. The spoiled liquor and cigarette smoke was thick. A ceiling fan was going, but it did nothing but stir the smell up.

 The Barkeep was asleep on the bar was an empty bottle next to him and a puddle of something that I would not talk about next to him. 

 The bar was covered in falling posters and cracked red clay walls. The few tables the bar had were wood laminated, poorly done ones. 

 "The bar was better the last time we were here, right?" Captain asked in shock.

 I could only nod at her words.

 The Neat had seen better days. Clearly.

 But the man that I was looking for was right in the corner.

 Seating with his back to the wall with a laborer's uniform on - a blue jumpsuit with the top tied around his waist - and a hair braided back, Luther leaned over his drink.

 I went to him, stepping around other puddles of things, and stopped in front of him. 

 He didn't look up from his drink.

 I pulled a chair out and sat down. "Are you Luther?" 

 He looked up and tilted his head, "You are?"

 "Caster Odder. I'm a member of the Merry Charter Crew. I have a proposition for you."

 "The Merry Charter? Didn't Captain Cigar fall to the North Galactic Union a ways back?" 

 "Yes, she did."

 He was leaning forward at that. "And you are?" He asked again.

 "I'm Castor. The head Engineer. I'm better known as The Merry Charter Hermit." I leaned forward as he leaned back, and his hand disappeared under the table. Captain whispered in my ear that he was; going for his blaster. "Look, I know you, and I have - differences. But we have one thing in common: our hatred of the North Galactic Union." 

 His hand pulled away from his blaster. "Who's order are you hiring me on?"

 "My own. Daisy was forced into the Great North Galactic Fleet, and I want to get my first mate back. While messing with the Union. You want in?"

 Luther was a tall man with many scars across his dark skin. Many of those scars were made by the Union; all of them got there painfully. "You know want. I heard rumors about the Crew and you. If They're half as true, I'll join ya." 

 I held my hand out, and he took it.

 Plan A, Part one, was done. Time for Part two.