An unlikely pirate.

[Himura Suzume]

.Suzume sat behind the controls of the ship and smiled. Flying without an instructor telling you what to do was nice. Masaki was asleep in the back. Suzume cut the engines and let the ship glide through Kepler a bit, amazed by the near complete silence. She sat there, near the jumpgate to Shikoku watching a couple of ships approaching and preparing for the jump.
."Kepler sure isn't much to look at tho." she said quietly to herself. She reignited the engines and headed for the trade lane. She lined the ship up, docked with the ring and leaned back. Now they were on a straight track for the freeport of Ames Research Station.

."Tradelane disrupted." Suzume jerked upright at the announcement from the ships on board navigation computer. The ship made a rapid deceleration coming to a stop in the middle of nowhere. She was looking at three ships, one freighter and two fighters. Her communications device came to life with an incoming transmission from the freighter, the screen showing the face of a blond woman.
."Please cut your engines and stand by for a cargo scan." she said calmly with a smile. Suzume complied and watched the two fighters take up positions to either side of her. Suzume's heart was racing and her hands were shaking on he controls.
."No cargo in this one boys. Doesn't look like it's worth our time." the woman said after a while. "Pilot, you are clear to proceed." she continued.
.Suzume didn't even think to reply as she shakily started heading for the next lane ring.
."Oh, and pilot." the captain of the freighter continued. "Watch out for pirates." she laughed.
.The comlink cut out taking the woman's laugh with it as Suzume docked with the trade lane.

.They dropped out of the trade lane next to Ames Research station. Suzume moved the ship away from the lane slightly and then went in the back.
."Hey, Masaki. Wake up. We're here." she said, touching his shoulder.
.Masaki woke up with a jerk and a bewildered look on his face for a second. He quickly calmed down and smiled at her.
."Ahh, Suzume. So soon? I take it there were no complications then?" he said as he got up and walked into the cockpit.
.Suzume didn't mention the run in with what she could only assume were pirates. She didn't want to worry him. She watched Masaki punch in the code to transmit ID and papers and initiate the comlink.
."Ames Research Station, this is civilian shuttle transmitting ID and papers. Requesting to dock." he said as he sat down to take controls.
."Stand by for clearance." a male voice replied. "You are cleared to proceed to bay five. Welcome back." he said after a few seconds. Masaki started heading for the designated docking bay.
."You never told me you had been here before." Suzume said as she watched the station move across the view screen.
."What now?" Masaki replied, lining the ship up for docking.
."He said welcome back." Suzume answered. "I just didn't know you had been here before is all."
."Oh, yeah. I was here once dropping off passengers." Masaki said as the ship slid into the docking bay and landed.

.They headed down a quiet corridor leading from bay five to the rest of the station. The silence was exchanged with a buzzing of noises as the doors slid open, revealing a large hall. The hall was filled with people going about their business. A couple of fast food restaurants lined one wall, serving food to people who didn't stick around to eat it. Along one of the walls, temporary stalls were set up. There, captains or crew members of ships tried to attract fares, all of them apparently having the 'best ship in Sirius'.
.Masaki handed Suzume a pass card. "Take this. I called ahead and rented rooms." he said and smiled. "You wait there, I need to go talk to someone." He walked off.
.Suzume looked at the pass card reading '581B'. She walked up to a large board showing the layout of the station, figuring out how to get to the room.
.She stepped out of the elevator and walked down a corridor towards her room.
."581B, here it is" she said to herself as she arrived at the door. She looked at the pass card and furrowed her brow. "Why did Masaki already have the pass card when they landed?" she asked herself. She shrugged, swiped the card and stepped inside.

.After taking a shower, Suzume waited for Masaki while flipping through an old magazine. He had been gone for quite a while and Suzume was bored. She tossed the magazine on the table and went outside. She took the elevator down from the living quarters to the docking bay lounge, her goal set on one of the fast food restaurants. She stepped out of the elevator and realized just how hungry she was when the smell of food reached her nostrils. She walked past one of the restaurants. It served synth paste foods. She didn't mind synth paste. It was cheap and tasty. But right now she wanted something else. She walked up to a small stand selling burgers.
."Hi there little miss, hungry are we?" a man said, turning some burgers over on the grill. "Best meat in the independent worlds, this." he said surely.
.Suzume contemplated asking what kind of meat it was but decided it was probably not a good idea. "I'll take one." she said and handed the man some credits.

.As she strolled around the station, happily munching on her surprisingly tasty burger, she suddenly heard Masaki's laugh. She turned and looked and saw him sitting at a bar laughing with another man. She started walking up to them but before before she could reach them, the stranger spoke.
."So, you haven't manage to get access to her account yet?" the stranger turned his head slightly, revealing a bright white scar on his left cheek. Images of the scar flashed before Suzume's eyes. Him snatching her bag. Him lying in a pile of garbage with Masaki standing over him. She froze as she realized she'd been made a fool. She didn't know if she was more angry or sad, she didn't have time to think about it. The man with the scar turned his head and looked at her, widening his eyes.
."Hey, isn't that her?" she heard him say.
.Masaki quickly turned around and saw her. "Umm, hey Suzume. I, umm." He stood up and started walking towards her. "Look, I can explain." he said.
.Suzumi turned and ran and could hear Masaki yelling to his friend to get her. She ran down corridors and around corners. She eventually found herself back at the docking bay lounge. She slowed down and walked through the crowds, trying not to draw attention to herself. She walked up to one of the temporary stalls.
."I need passage. When are you leaving?" she said, hurried.
."Calm down miss." the man at the stall said. "We're leavin' in two days. You in a hurry?"
."You could say that." Suzume answered. "I sure can't wait two days. I need to go right now."
."Sorry, can't help you there miss. Still waitin' for a shipment, see." The man replied. "But you know what? There's a ship preppin' to leave right now. Saw they were lookin' for fares too."
."That's great!" she exclaimed. "What bay?"
.The man smiled at her coldly. "Now see, you seem to be quite keen on gettin' that information. That makes that information a commodity. Don't you think? Now maybe we can come to some sort of an arrange..." the man was cut short by Suzume shoving credits in his hands.
."I don't have time for this, what docking bay?" Suzume said, looking over her shoulders. She could see Masaki standing at one of the entrances to the lounge, visually scanning the crowd.
.The man's smile warmed up. "Docking bay three miss, right that way." he said, pointing.
.Suzume made her way towards the docking bay, trying to stay out of sight. She slipped into the corridor and the door closed behind her. She started running towards the entrance to the hangar. She entered the hangar to see a small Rhino freighter. A middle aged man was standing below the loading ramp looking at a small tablet in his hand. A couple of remaining crates were being loaded into the ship by dock workers. Suzume walked up behind the man and cleared her throat.
."Excuse me, sir." she said as the man turned around. "I heard you were looking for fares?"
.The man looked at her. "I was. I just decided to give up and take off." he said. "Can you pay? Do you know where we're headed?" he asked.
."I can pay, and I don't care much where we are heading." she answered.
.The man laughed and nodded. "In a hurry are we? Is it the law or the other way around?" the man shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't even want to know." he turned to the dock workers. "Hey, can you hurry up with that? Turns out we're in a hurry to leave!" he yelled.
.Suzume let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much. What do I owe you?" she asked.
."That depends on whether we get followed away from here. First, get inside and out of sight. We'll be lifting off shortly."
.Suzume walked up the loading ramp into the Rhino, soon to lift off and leave this place.

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To be continued