After relieving the last of SS-Farragut's hold of its human cargo, the ship's quartermaster conducted one final walkthrough of the ship's storage areas to make sure that there were no stragglers hiding among the crates and equipment.
Sure enough, he spotted a pair of feet sticking out from under some equipment.
"Hey, get up! What do you think this is, some sort of hotel?"
The dockmaster slid the baton out of its holder on his belt and made his way to the straggler. He lifted it up as he stepped around the corner.
The baton clanged to the floor as he read the tatoo inscribed on the corpse's body:
"To the captain and crew of the SS Farragut: You have overcome the odds and fought for what is right. You have saved the lives of thousands from a fate worse than death, and kept from death thousands more whose lives depend on the medication which you transport at risk to yourselves and your ship.
We are proud to award you the first-ever Order of Thermopylae.
Additionally, we award you the Immigration and Pharmaceutical Medals.
The medals, in addition to the monetary awards, will be found inside the body cavity of this former Bounty Hunter (he murdered numerous passengers by leaving them in space after "saving" them from a "slaver").
We look forward to continued reports of your accomplishments.
