Blood is not water

[dead_shot]

Mohammad-Sadiq had his Zoner Borderworld Transport securely stationed in Barrier Nebula of Omega 49. It was time to rid the space between ship's hulls of the vermin. If radiation of Neutron star in Omega 41 did anything good it was for the growth of Kurile polyps.

He was almost done burning them off his ship, with the flame throwers attached to his work-pod, when the latent voice of ships Central Computer (he called her Sissy) came through his helmet's speekers:

''Unknown vessel approaching. Ship type - Bounty Hunter Bomber. ETA approximately 10 minutes''

Mohammad-Sadiq was sure that there was no bounty on his head. His lifestyle and personal philosophy lead him to very few hostile encounters in his journeys through border worlds. Yet, he knew that anything was possible in Sirius as it was today, so he decided to take all necessary precautions. His defenseless ship called ZonerStoner could be destroyed easily even by a single bomber.

"Sissy" he responded " establish an comm link and prepare decompression chamber. I'm coming back on board''

It usually took a while for chamber to prepare for secured opening, so he slowly took his work-pod towards the hatch. Pulling the grappling hook cord was the only exercise he was getting lately. He didn't trust pod thrusters since he saw too many malfunctioning causing their users to drift away into the void, or even die if they were captured by the gravity of nearby celestial bodies.

Computer voice came again: ''Comm link established. Secured channel opened''

Mohammad-Sadiq spoke softly the words he always used at the beginning of the conversations: ''May the be peace be upon you. This is ZonerStoner captain Mohammad-Sadiq Al Noori, kindly identify yourself''.

The voice that came in response made him feel like the protection of his pod disappeared somehow and he felt cold of the open space penetrating his suit and body all the way to the bones. The voice slowly pronounced: "Moussa...it's me''.
The dizziness provoked by hearing of his childhood nickname took over the feeling of cold in Mohammad-Sadiq's body. He could hear his own voice coming from distance as he replied with tremor:

''Fateh my brother, is that you?!''







*To be continued*

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the path to hell is paved with good intentions!