After the actions of the Insurgency, as well as the widely known events and their logical conclusion, the entire remaining fleet of the insurgents was scattered across all possible channels of Liberty distribution. We will talk about one "Upholder" and the contents of its hold of those times.
The usual affairs of independent traders (not always legal) - to be able to trade something and at some time, this case was no exception.
The Upholder, whose identification number is Sierra-6, participated in those very actions of the insurgents, and was carried away to the black market of Liberty almost immediately, as things began to smell hot and threatened the life of its former owner. Of course, due to the rush to sell the ship, no one was interested in the cargo hold, since the scale of delivery of such ships was large. But in the hold there was something to look at.
The main character is a native of Manhattan, Chuck Noland - an inspector of the Liberty police, responsible for protecting the transportation of prisoners. Upon returning from another mission, he meets his fiancée Kelly Frears, and they agree to get engaged. But for now, Chuck is off to Texas on another important mission.
During the trip from Manhattan to Texas, the fighter piloted by Noland gets into serious trouble with the Insurgency forces, and as a result, falls into the hold of one of the supplies from that battle. Chuck escapes in an escape pod, but the tractor beam that came from the enemy forces' Upholder sentences him. Chuck, the only survivor, ends up in the hold of the Sierra-6, after which the ship with suspicious contents almost immediately went to the black market. His stay in the hold gradually becomes a period of reflection on his entire life. When he first exited the hold, Chuck saw that he was at one of the stations of suspicious traders who would hardly be happy to see an unfamiliar face. Chuck has to go through difficult physical and psychological tests: open the escape pod of another pilot (Albert Miller), who was less lucky after the battle, learn to carefully conceal himself and steal food from the station, set up the only safe place that no one looked at: the hold of that very Upholder, learn to heat it without significant fuel loss, and even remove his own tooth.
The boxes at the station, containing various household items, such as figure skates with steel blades, help in arranging everyday life, and a sealed donut with coffee from SUNBUCKS, painted with blood from Chuck's wound, named "Wilson" in honor of the famous food company of the same name, becomes his only friend and participant in the incessant discussion of emerging issues, mainly related to survival. One box, with an emblem in the form of angel wings, Noland leaves unopened, and usually comes to her to discuss the sealed coffee and donut from SUNBUCKS. Chuck is determined to return home, but he cannot leave the station. After all, there is no one at the station he could trust, and the Liberty police, according to Noland's calculations, are unlikely to look for him in such a place. Only once does Chuck notice a ship in the distance that seems to belong to the Liberty authorities, but even using a low-frequency coded radio found in the dead pilot's belongings, Chuck fails to attract attention. Chuck tries to slip onto the smugglers' ship unnoticed, but is thwarted by a man with a gun, apparently guarding him.
Chuck, having received a leg wound, which was a warning from the smugglers, is forced to return to normal life in the hold. Three years later, space brings a famous collector to the smugglers' station, whose gaze fell on the old Upholder. The collector asked whose it was and who he would contact to buy it. No one knew the answer, the owner had long since passed away, and the place was rented for three years in advance, just as the time is approaching when the ship will simply be thrown into the scrap heap. When the collector viewed the hold, an oil painting: the hold, equipped for household needs, could already be considered a separate apartment, which had everything needed for life, and Chuck stood in the middle of the hold, stunned and surprised. The collector was also surprised, but did not press Chuck at that very second, instead, he began to question him about what happened. After this whole heartbreaking story, the collector offered a deal that Chuck would remain alive, but would be sold on the open Liberty market, suddenly the authorities would notice and buy him. Of course, no one is going to sell him openly, but the collector has his own strings, thanks to which he will be able to convey the news of such an interesting lot.
Chuck, in turn, asked to take with him at least a sealed donut with coffee from SUNBUCKS, which had already become his friend, the collector did not mind. The deal took place. At the end of the story, Noland, removing a very tattered parcel with angel wings printed on top of the packaging (one of the ones stolen from the station immediately after the disaster and "saved his life" at the station), remembers that the collector's ship has exactly the same wings. Having told the collector about this, he was surprised, but was more happy than angry. With this joy, Noland was allowed to contact his loved ones.
When calling, Noland was not allowed to call any Liberty structures or ask to be saved, this was one of the conditions.
The call took place, but in the intervening time, everything has changed - in particular, Kelly Frears managed to marry the dentist Jerry Lovett, who treated Noland's teeth himself, and gave birth to a child. Chuck and Kelly still love each other, but they understand that they can no longer be together.
Calling his friend Stan, Noland told him about the station and the failed suicide attempt that motivated him to live and breathe.
There were no more calls. And the Liberty Police Pilot, along with Donut, went to auction on behalf of a mysterious but influential collector.
