Sanctuary

1: a consecrated place: such as

a: the ancient Hebrew temple at Jerusalem or its holy of holies

2a(1): a place of refuge and protection

(2): a refuge for wildlife where predators are controlled and hunting is illegal

b: the immunity from law attached to a sanctuary

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanctuary

The unmistakable sound of the frameshift spooling down, I opened my eyes, increased the throttle and peeled away from incoming star. Once I had put some distance between the star and myself, I dropped the Hiraeth into normal space, popped a heatsink, cut the engines, engaged silent running and waited in silence.

And I waited, my every breath echoing like a warning around the hastily deployed Remlock. Nothing, the scanner rings blinking as the sensor data refreshed, nothing.

I felt comfortable enough that the Viper had given up on me, after all they had a haul to go and retrieve before Kuzyk picked it up.

20 some jumps from Colonia. It was time to just push on, I woke the Hiraeth from silent running and locked onto the next system in the route and engaged the frameshift drive.

We made Jaques Station in good time, limping through the mail slot the distinct warble of the proximity warnings rang around the cabin. Throttling down and switching over to the manoeuvring thrusters I steered the Hiraeth to the assigned landing pad. As the landing gear gave a satisfying crunch, I threw my head back against the crash couch and let out a deep sigh of relief, time to order up hull and module repairs, that Viper had really done a number on me before I had managed to escape.

I hobbled out to the suit lockers investigating my gloves as I removed them, the dust from Ada’s escape pod embedded in the grip pads of the fingers. Changing back into my normal flight suit attire, I picked up my go bag and some personal effects then made my way to the express lifts.

The lift whirred and groaned as it trundled to my destination, ending in a merry chime indicating the doors were about to open. The doors seemed to open smother than they had closed, revealing the bustling crowded concourse. Pushing through the sea of commanders and support crew, I made my way to one of the banks of terminals, securing my self a position in front of one I began to browse through the local news and bounty boards.

Kevin Kuzyk and… Zaria Ruiz, I was guessing she must have been the Viper pilot. The feeds indicated their last known position was around the system Los. Their game must be to take down unsuspecting cargo or passengers ships and collect the escape pods, selling them on in Los.  I have heard that escape pods can be sold at Kracken’s Retreat, no questions asked.

I moved slowly up to the Inter Astra kiosk on the upper concourse, the whole unit was bathed in a blue ambiance emitted from a holo table showing the craft they had available to purchase. I looked at the attended, and my mind blanked. “Can I help you sir?”, nothing.

Not sure where I went in my mind, “Sir?” his voice echoed. I looked him in eyes, “You have no popper ships here” I barked, “I want two ships brought here, from The Tavern, 59 Virginis in the Bubble”. The poor chap was startled, I think I even startled myself. We proceeded to go over the usual administration and just like that, in 61 hours they will have been delivered.

The Sanctaidd Nos my Imperial Clipper, I will use this to make the rest of the journey back to the Bubble in some luxury. But first I would check myself into the station’s medical facility, I think the ordeal on SCREAKI LC-C D4275 12 C A had left some lasting physical and probably mental damage.

The other ship I requested, the Suo Gân, my rather athletic bounty hunting Imperial Courier.

When I get out, I am going hunting.