Malan put aside the flicker of curiosity at the slight difference between that title and any of the others he'd earned to that date as the white of Jump travel faded from his eyes, revealing another vast expanse of space.

  Only, when his eyes took in the sight before then, his breath caught in his throat, and he couldn't help but stare, wide-eyed at the sheer scale of the sight before them.

  The non-rational, sub-conscious part of Malan’s brain squirmed uncomfortably at the sight of something so unfathomably large and man-made floating there, suspended in space as though it weighed nothing. Of course, he rationally and scientifically understood it, but there was a fundamentally primitive part of him that wanted to flee at the sight of something so beyond the realms of possibility had it been upon a planet’s surface.

  It was a commonly known fact that the Celestial Nexus Bastion was vast. It was a space station like no other—a construct large enough to equal several cities. How could it not be massive?

  But seeing it was a different matter altogether.

  The pictures hadn’t come close to doing it justice. The whole thing was constructed around a gargantuan central cylinder which was actually where its power generation capabilities were housed. Then, stretching out from the central pillar were nine vast arm-structures that began narrow and then widened out in a bell shape before converging again into a narrow tip.

  Filling out the spaces between these arms, were a series of eight smaller attachments, shaped in exactly the same way, and then another behind that, creating a shape that looked uncannily like a gargantuan steel flower. Each set of ‘petals’ slowly rotated around the central pillar in opposite directions and a slightly different speeds, creating a strangely mesmerising effect when you stared too long.

  Around it, hundreds of ships of all shapes and sizes hurried to and fro like bees, though by far the largest contingent were UGC military ships, drifting slowly through the station’s orbit, lying in wait for any potential threat to a construct that had come to be the very heart of their civilisation.

  In one of those petal-like structures, Malan knew, UGC high command resided, with the galactic parliament in another. Between them, they oversaw the running of all UGC controlled space—and wielded influence far beyond even that. He glanced back at Tarai, whose eyes were just as affixed to the screens as his had been, though he suspected her attention was fixated upon another of those arms, where the Nexus Archives were contained.

  Malan’s displays quickly assessed the Nexus, locating dozens and dozens of various docking bays and places to land, highlighting them and labelling each for a potential landing destination. It wasn’t needed. They’d only actually been in system for about thirty seconds when his communications system chimed, and his display indicated a hail from the station itself.

  “Nexus security to Starbound Tanwen—do you read?”

  He resisted the instinct to open communications immediately, and instead his eyes flickered towards Tarai, and he gave a sharp nod.

  “Loud and clear. This is Starbound Tanwen seeking clearance to dock, please advise.”

  This was something he and Tarai had also discussed. Diplomatic communications—especially with the Nexus or UGC itself—were traditionally left to a Starbound’s Ananchra. This was due, in part, to these kind of tasks simply being what the Ananchra existed for in the first place. They were facilitators, meant to organise, plan and supply so the Pilots themselves didn’t have to. Tarai taking care of this for him meant his mind could be on scanning for threats, amongst other things.

  This had initially rubbed Malan the wrong way. He was quite capable of speaking for himself, and also didn’t like the unspoken message that he, as a Starbound, was now above speaking to regular people himself.

  Tarai had stuck to her guns, however, and made an argument that this was exactly the point. He was young, and new—just as she was—and a lot of eyes would be on them, examining them for any weaknesses. The Adepts were seeking to control him, and the UGC would absolutely want him as under their thumb as possible. Both would be watching him keenly to see what they could get away with—he couldn’t afford to show any naivety.

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  “Landing clearance has already been arranged for you, and I have already received confirmation you have passed contraband scan protocols. Landing Bay 17-C is preparing for your arrival, and I am sending through a flight plan now. Welcome home, Starbound. Nexus Security out.”

  Malan let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding as the comm channel closed, and Tarai flashed him a small smile. It had likely been meant to reassure him, but it was clear that she had been just as nervous as him—perhaps even more so, given she actually had to speak.

  The promised flight-plan quickly superimposed itself over his display, showing a pre-plotted course to their allocated landing bay, along with speed guidelines and the timings of other patrols and arriving and departing crafts. Pauses or reductions and increases in speed were indicated at specific locations to allow all traffic to flow smoothly around eachother, and Malan couldn’t help but be impressed at the efficiency of it.

  All it took was a quick mental cue, and Tanwen began following the plan at the indicated speeds, drawing them in to one of the Nexus’ many landing bays.

  Malan was left with nothing to do but watch as they drifted smoothly toward their assigned destination. They paused every so often to watch one hulking cargo cruiser and its escorts trundle across their path, and observed the formations of UGC cruisers and frigates patrol the length and breadth of Nexus space.

  Destroyer and Battleship class ships hung ominously in the middle distance, each carrying their own formations of fighter class patrol ships, forming a net of influence in the space around the Nexus itself. At the start of its life, it had been here that the fledgling UGC had staved off the combined onslaught of religious zealots and corporate conglomerates that had first tried to conquer the stars for God or profit. And it had been from here that the bloodied but unbroken UGC had begun its liberation and unification of the surrounding systems.

  Of course, there were plenty in Indie space that preferred the terms ‘conquering’ and ‘colonisation’, but Malan’s father had almost always preached that the truth, as ever, lay in the murky indecipherable grey somewhere between the two points of view.

  Centuries on, it almost didn’t matter. The UGC was the de facto human collective and maintained an uneasy relationship with the Independent territories on its borders more out of convenience than any real necessity. They could be taken, but the cost was simply too high, and the benefits too few—not to mention the poor optics of it. The UGC loved to position themselves as a benevolent, almost utopian human collective where prosperity, progress and equality was the prime directive.

  However, as they drew towards their assigned bay, and the buzz of both military and civilian traffic became more pronounced and suffocating, it was difficult to forget that their directive only extended so far as the people in charge of enforcing it.

  There were plenty of higher ups who would see a brand new Starbound as a huge opportunity to advance themselves and grow their influence at his expense, and likewise in the Nexus itself. Similarly, UGC command would look to bind him as closely as possible to them—to ensure his loyalty, his obedience as far as they possibly could. There was already plenty of talk in the public sphere about the existing Starbound being too independent, too distant. They would want to prevent that with him whilst he was weak.

  Had he gone the traditional route and trained here, he likely would have felt a reassuring warmth at the thought of the security officer’s welcome home. It maybe even would have felt like home.

  Instead, those words simply felt like a trap. A greeting designed to lower his guard as he walked directly into a pit of vipers.

  “Docking at Bay 17-C imminent,” Tanwen’s monotone voice announced, but the emotions he could feel from the other side of their bond echoed his own nervousness.

  They passed through the bay shields at a crawl, entering the vast open hanger alongside a civilian cruiser that drifted off to the left to land. Their path took them to a central raised pad where several techs scurried about, making preparations to see to his ship. It was the most prominent of about twenty hexagonal landing bays in the hangar, only perhaps half a dozen of them actually filled. The floor space itself was abuzz with people going about their work, hauling gear and carrying out routine maintenance and about a hundred other things that needed doing daily in a station this size.

  The room was actually two-tiered, with a great steel stairway that climbed up the far wall to an overlooking walkway and viewing area that ran all around the entire room. This was, perhaps, a little more full than usual, and as he felt the gentle shudder of touchdown, he couldn’t help but notice the people pointing and muttering at the sight of them.

  Tarai had noticed his gaze. “Try to ignore them, if you can. I hate to say it, but that reaction to you isn’t going anywhere. A Starbound is a big deal, even here. A new one, that hasn’t been trained and bonded at the Nexus, is an even bigger one.”

  “Was it that obvious?” he said, grimacing.

  “You’ve looked like you’re expecting a fight since we jumped, but seeing them was the first time I’ve seen you uncomfortable. If I had to guess, you’d have preferred a fight to a crowd.”

  “Is a fight still an option?”

  She rolled her eyes as she stood. “Come on, Captain. It’s time you officially introduced yourself to the Galaxy.”