I guess you can go home again

[LadyPhoenix]

It had been almost a year and a half and I'd been able to upgrade my ship a couple times. I was now the proud owner of a L'Ane transport. It cost a pretty penny to get all the controls and signage re-labeled from French into English but at least now I could read everything.

My good fortune was due to a man named Buck Owens and his company New Horizon Industries. He'd approached me not long after that first run to Bering and asked if I wanted to work for them as an independent contractor. They did a lot of work out in the Omicrons. Dangerous place but the money was good so I agreed. I'd never been outside Liberty except for Bering so this was a great chance to see more of Sirius. On arriving in the Omicron Xi system I discovered that the Corsairs were selling alien artifacts called "Xeno Relics" and that the elite in House space were gaga for them. Just one problem. They weren't exactly legal in House Space. But running them from Omicron Xi to California promised an eight figure payday, so I took the chance.

It wasn't easy keeping away from established trade lanes and traveling through jump holes exclusively but I finally made it to Fontana Freeport in California and offloaded the relics for around 30 million in profit. Now I was in the big leagues. When I got back to Omicron Xi, one of the 'sairs tipped me off that the Xeno Relics were not illegal in Gallia. The return wasn't quite as good but still substantial. And Buck pointed out there was am NHI base in Zurich where I could pick up molybdenum ore to bring to the Outworlder shipyard in Omicron Kappa which would more than make up for the lost revenue of selling the relics in Ile-de-France rather than California. New Paris was a nice place. Not sure I'd want to live there though. I'd done this run a few times and now it was time to go visit Amy on Houston.

The inertial dampeners kicked on as soon as I exited the trade lane above Houston. It was still a godforsaken planet but this was a victory tour, not returning in defeat. I put on my nicest dress and heels and walked out onto the mooring station to catch a shuttle. I'd messaged Amy that I was coming and she was waiting at the spaceport when I arrived.

"Oh my God, Jen, you look great!" she exclaimed. "Where's your ship, though?"

"Parked in orbit," I replied. "I sold that old Kestrel a while ago for something that could haul more cargo, then sold that one for something even bigger. I'll tell you all about it over dinner."

"What did you have in mind for dinner?" she asked.

"You know that fancy steakhouse we could never afford? I'm thinking that's our dinner spot. Then to the Neon Cowboy later."

"Jen, the Neon Cowboy is one of the most exclusive clubs in the city," Amy said. "They'll never let us in."

"Sure they will," I said. "We just need to take a little shopping trip first."