Gone & Missing

[Toaster]

Beige strutted towards the dockmaster’s office with all the confidence of whoever it was that actually owned Aomori Station, bursting into the room with a flourish as his trenchcoat billowed around him. Unimpressed, the lean man sitting behind a desk covered in an array of screens didn’t even look up to see who had entered.

“How may I help you?” The dockmaster inquired unenthusiastically. With an undeterred smile, Beige stepped forward, resting his hands on the desktop.

“I’m looking for someone.”

The dockmaster pulled his attention away from the displays before him and glanced up at the retired mercenary with tired eyes.

“Anyone in particular?”

Beige could almost see the motivation slowly seep out of the man. Still grinning, he pulled a small PDA out of his trenchcoat and placed it before the dockmaster, its small screen displaying Olivia’s ship identification. The gas miner’s eyes slowly dropped to the small device and read its contents. With a tired sigh, he began typing on one of his desk screens, browsing the station’s dock registry.

“A Stinger-class fighter belonging to a Miss Olivia Sable?” The dockmaster read from his screen. Excitedly, Beige slapped the tabletop.

“That’s the one!”

“Arrived and departed last on March 28th.”

Beige straightened up, thrilled to have so quickly found a clue that might lead him to Olivia.

“And where was she headed?”

The dockmaster’s eyes wandered back up to meet the mercenary’s. He cocked his head and frowned, as though he had been asked an obviously stupid question.

“Mister, I’m not at liberty to just hand out that information to anyone who storms into my office.”

Beige chuckled to himself and gave the man a knowing smile. Reaching again into his trenchcoat, he pulled out a handful of credit chits and placed them one by one on the desk between them.

“You’re not just ‘handing it out,’” he whispered in a conspiratorial tone. The dockmaster eyed the small row of chits with a raised eyebrow, then looked back up at Beige. With a slow nod, he reached out and pulled the currency towards himself.

“Says here that Miss Sable hired up to escort a transport ship carrying foods to the Hawaii in Sigma-19,” the man said, reading again from the registry.


* * *


The Inspiration shot out of the airlock, nearly colliding with a passing freighter. Beige hollered excitedly as Victor asked him to fly cautiously.

“Come on, Vic!” Beige cried, a wide grin reaching from ear to ear. “We’ve got a clue!”

The AI’s holo presence materialized on the dashboard before him, bobbing in an oddly chiding manner.

“That clue will not do us much good, sir, if we die in a traffic accident.”

Beige guffawed loudly.

“Where are we headed?” Victor asked once the mercenary had settled down again.

Beige pointed a thumb out through the canopy glass at the massive shape of a nearby jumpgate.

“Straight through there!”

---

Olivia Sable