-Conrad-

  Conrad viewed the Vooriin Kalaarn board with suspicion. Vistiin, his fellow loader, had just moved his Arbalester into a potentially very compromising position for him. The barrier he had set up would stop direct attacks, but that particular unit would ignore the cover it provided.

  He looked back across the board to where Vistiin’s partner, Stiirl, was setting up for a push and realized that they were planning to use the hammer and anvil tactic against him. His own barrier would prevent him from maneuvering his pieces into a safer position.

  His own partner, Furnaal, was watching his next move with interest, as it would make or break the coming engagement for both of them. Vistiin’s move was problematic. Not only did it generally prevent him from capitalizing on the protection that the barrier usually provided, but he had no way of answering the move without burning a precious resource that he really didn’t want to lose given the coming storm from both sides.

  “But then again, NOT doing something that can possibly create an advantage is going to put us in a bad spot as well. So, something to create both disruption to their coming plans and something that can set us up for our next move. Heh, the game isn’t called ‘Warrior’s Gambit’ for nothing. Time to make a gamble!”

  “Alrighty, then. I am burning a Command Token to move my own Arbalester into a mirroring position and striking at that one that you just moved.”

  “Oohh. Looks like you two have finally got that miser to separate from his Tokens.” Kelraan remarked, chuffing with laughter in the back of the rec room with Nooraal as they watched their respective charges battle it out on the game board.

  He elbowed the Department head beside him, “He’s almost as tight with his resources as you are, Nooraal.”

  “Heh, better to be tight fisted than to drop everything on the first pretty opportunity you see. Or do I need to remind you…”

  “Oh look, they are rolling to resolve.” Kelraan interrupted Nooraal’s return shot in an attempt to return focus back to the game.

  Both Furnaal and Stiirl glanced at each other with a grin, and Conrad found it hard to avoid doing the same. He knew that they had just found another story to dig out of their boss when he least expected it. Though they were currently opponents on the board, they were thick as thieves when it came to working over Kelraan for stories.

  He knew that this was in part because the old Ruulothi had an absolute treasure trove of them as a veteran spacer, and because the telling of these stories would oftentimes prevent them from doing extra make work.

  “Pretty sure he knows they are working him over to stop the extra work. Also, pretty sure he doesn’t care because he enjoys the story telling and attention. Oh, thank you, Lady Luck!”

  He let his grin come out in full force now, as he had just won the contested attack roll, taking Vistiin’s Arbalester off the board and reversing the balance of power around his barrier. Both of his opponents hissed in dismay, no longer having the pieces in place to remove his control over that part of the board.

  Furnaal grinned in triumph, “HaHa! The Winds blow for the Brave! Excellent!” He turned his grin towards his fellow engineer and spoke with a voice dripping with confidence, “Your turn.”

  Stiirl regarded him as one would an unwanted, overexcited puppy before turning to Vistiin, “I think he’s getting cocky, don’t you? It wasn’t even his move.”

  “Aye. Let’s see who your Winds favor after the next couple of turns, yes?”

  Their plans now skewered, the two reptilians worked to quickly recover and reset, trying to fend off Furnaal’s heavy assault on their positions while Conrad’s board control kept them separated. Conrad had to admit, they worked incredibly well together and lasted far longer than he would have if the situations were reversed.

  Conrad was just starting to position his pieces to invade Vistiin’s zone when Voorkar walked into the room.

  “Aah, perfect. Just the crew I had hoped to find. I apologize for the discourtesy, but I am afraid the game must wait. We are now in the queue for final approach and have been ordered to take on an inspector before we are cleared. They will be here shortly. Loadmaster Nooraal, Misters McLaughlin and Vistiin, you will be needed in the cargo bay. Master Kelraan, Misters Stiirl and Furnaal, the inspector will also be stopping by the engine room as well to verify the proper running of the engines.”

  Voorkar’s face and tone showed exactly what he thought of that, but he was professional enough to keep from saying anything. He endured the grumbling from the players and the two heads, who apparently had been doing more than just watching the game as they collected the various credit markers that had been laying between them.

  Conrad’s nerves at the idea of meeting a Galactic Official started to get the better of him, so he got Voorkar’s attention, “Anything I need to know or do, specifically?”

  The XO tilted his head in thought for a moment before shaking it, “No, I do not believe so. Nooraal will be there to answer any specific questions they may have, and it is… poor etiquette on Ruulothi ships to ignore the Department heads and speak to their workers instead. It should just be a record and inventory verification. The two of you shouldn’t need to suit up either, you are basically just there to be a visual verification of crew records.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  He followed his fellow crew members out and to their stations, but something in the way that Voorkar had explained things nagged at him. Though he waited until they were in the loading bay before asking, “Is people smuggling that much of an issue?”

  Nooraal waved his hand at the idea, “Nah. Not unless they are looking for someone specific. Especially on a planet like this where any foreign criminal would stand out like Maarel Flower. This is more of a check to see if we are supplying the new folks with things they aren’t supposed to have. Just be present and presentable, and everything will be just fine.”

  Vistiil rolled and squared his shoulders while sticking his nose in the air in a mockery of arrogance, “I am always presentable. Scales always polished. You are the ones that need to tame your wild and undisciplined fur.”

  “Oooh, is that so little glimmerscale? I’ll remember that next time I brush out my undercoat. I reckon you’ll wake to find yourself a fair bit fuzzier than you went to bed the night before.” Nooraal leaned forward as Vistiil shot him an indignant look of disgust, “And I promise I won’t be keeping track of just exactly where the undercoat I’m stickin’ to yer nose came from.”

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Vistiil’s look went morphed from to disgust to abject horror as Conrad busted out laughing. Nooraal tried but couldn’t hold back his own laughter, eventually Vistiil joined them.

  Nooraal eventually shook himself and straightened, returning to his Loadmaster voice. “Alright now, get yourselves back in order before the Official comes down here and finds us having a giggle fit. Conrad, find me those loading orders you were helping out with before. Vistiin, go down the line and verify that all the crates can be checked, and the internal views are working. It’d be just our luck that the Official finds the one that’s broke. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to our Rec and what really matters.”

  “Betting?” Vistiin asked.

  “It ain’t betting or gambling, you smart ass. It’s procuring alternate funds through risk investments. Get it straight!”

  Conrad and Vistiin smirked at each other before turning back to their work with a perfectly matched, “Yes, Sir!”

  ___________________________________________________

  -Lorthaal-

  “Of all the species in GalCom… just WHY did this inspector have to be a damned Valkarian? Whole species has their collective heads shoved so far up GalCom’s ass their damned vocal cords are being used as flutes.”

  The alien in question held itself with an air of import. The slim, fawn colored alien stood up to Lorthaal’s shoulder. Its long fingers wrapped around a data pad that it held up to its narrow face, the red, feathered crest on the back of its head shifted up and down, splaying out before collapsing again as it read the information before it.

  He knew it was stalling to be an annoyance, but he had to simply deal with it. In his experience, all inspectors acted the same, trying to show that they were in control when going onto someone else’s ship. It was a stupid game that he had no patience for but had to play all the same.

  Finally, the Inspector stepped forward on his long toes to stand in front of Loorthal, “You are Captain Loorthal of the Wind Runner, yes?”

  “More games. Of course, I am. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.” He thought. But he bit hit retort down and responded in a deferent manner that he definitely wasn’t feeling, “I am. Inspector…?”

  “Ah. My apologies. I am Inspector Hrooni.” The man gestured towards his nameplate, his twin nasal vocal cords chiming out in sync with one another, while his mouth remained shut.

  It was an odd trait of their species that Lorthaal still had difficulties wrapping his head around. The Valkarians, and some of their home world’s creatures, did not share their vocal chords with their mouth structure like all other known species. Instead, their vocal cords were split between two distinct nasal passages that ran directly to a lung each from slits just in front of their feathered crests. Their mouth remained solely for eating.

  “Inspector Hrooni, I will be leaving the ship under the control of my XO here, Voorkar, while we conduct the inspection. Where would you like to begin?”

  “Unusual, but acceptable as Ruulothi custom. The cargo hold seems the best place to start for a cargo inspection, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Lorthaal sniffed at the obvious slight, “Then I shall lead the way. Security Officer Ruufarrl, would you mind following to make sure no one gets lost in our spinal corridor?”

  Ruufarrl nodded to him, giving an amused ear flick at the by play, “It would be my pleasure, Captain.”

  Lorthaal in turn took no small amount of pleasure at the annoyed eye twitch the Valkarian let slip, “Very well, please follow me, Inspector.”

  ______________________________________________________

  In the end, the only thing Lorthaal could really do was simply keep an eye on the Inspector as he made his rounds, listening to him hem and haw in his near musical vocal notes as he made sure to studiously check every box on his inspection list.

  Once done with inspecting the cargo he returned to the head of the bay, and looked the crew up and down, paying close attention to both Conrad and Vistiil.

  “Hmm, a Sadiil and…” he stopped to double check his data pad, “A… human? Interesting.”

  He looked at Conrad again for a few more moments, eyes locking in on the Bloodclaw sash. His gaze was long enough that Lorthaal could sense the human getting nervous.

  “A verified Bloodclaw as well… Most. Interesting. It seems I am a bit out of touch with current events. I shall need to connect to the GalNet upon my return.” He finally turned away and looked towards Lorthaal once again.

  “Now, I believe an inspection of the engine room is in order?”

  “Aye, follow me.”

  Lorthaal proceeded to lead the Inspector not only to the engine room, but into the common areas as well as the bridge before the Valkarian was finally satisfied. In every area he had some sort of comment to make that seemed pointedly an attempt to irritate. His antics had held them up for several hours. Hours that Lorthaal was becoming eager to make back in some way.

  He let out a sigh of relief when the Inspector was finally off his ship, sitting back into his command chair on the bridge and waiting for the final clearance to land.

  Thankfully, the Inspector didn’t seem so spiteful as to hold up the entire line of ships and the notification chimed through only a few minutes after he had left.

  He growled in relief when Woorsiin verified that they were cleared, “Finally. Take us in, please. Let us be done with this venture as quickly as possible and return to our regular routes.”

  He thought back to the information that he had and the suspicions that he shared with the others about the timing of this event. “Nothing that stands out as obvious so far. At least not in and of itself. Just typical bureaucratic nonsense and exiled inspectors throwing their weight around. Hmm. Fine, just to be safe.”

  “Woorsiin. Stay on the scanners while we are here. If there is an odd change or anything that seems off, I want to know immediately.”

  “… Captain?” His Systems Specialist’s question hung in the air. He knew it wasn’t a question of the order itself, but rather one of clarification.

  “Just general problems. That fleet by the gas giant might decide to make a move after all, and it won’t take them more than a few hours to make it here. If you see or hear anything that seems like the overall situation is changing for the worse, let me know. I want to get out of here before it becomes a problem we can’t get away from.”

  “Understood sir, I will keep on the scanners. Just so you are aware, our touchdown is on the blind side of the planet at the moment, and we will be touching down around mid-morning local time. We may not be able to see and hear much for a bit.”

  Lorthaal snorted, “Of course not.”

  He finally sighed and accepted the circumstances, “Such is the way the winds blow.”

  _____________________________________________

  -Hrooni-

  He kept an eye on the data pad that he held as he returned to the station, flicking through the various screens that fed him information on the locations of ships in the general area and what each one was designated as for intent and content.

  As his shuttle finally docked he watched one in pip in particular fade around the far side of the planet. He nodded to himself and looked one final time at the security sealed docket that he had received months before. He compared the image within to his memory of the human on board the Wind Runner, though he knew he needn’t have bothered. Only one human would have the audacity to wear a Bloodclaw sash.

  He pulled up a final report as he walked toward the planet side of the station, confirming that the human aid ship was still grounded, waiting on the delivery from the Wind Runner.

  A satisfied musical trill left his nose as he walked towards the “back” of the station. “One final task left to do.”

  He was halted by a Chirleen Security guard that chirped at him to halt, “Mr. Inspector. What brings you to the Emergency Evacuation Pods?”

  Hrooni waved the datapad at the guard, “Just here for a surprise inspection to test them for malfunctions. They are GalCom property after all, Hweet.”

  The guard, rather annoyingly in spite of his familiarity, proceeded to call his supervisors to verify. But he remained patient. It was doubtful that they would bother to stop him in the end.

  His patience was rewarded as the Guard nodded to him and stepped to the side, “If you find any issues, please let us know immediately so that we can fix them.”

  “Don’t worry, I will do just that.”

  Hrooni stepped into the Evacuation Pod area, finding himself pleasantly alone. He went one by one to each of the pods and ran a diagnostic, before running another program for all but the last. As he stood before the final pod he ran two more commands from his pad before stowing it in its hip pouch.

  He stretched and popped his neck before taking a deep breath and stepping into the pod. He closed the hatch behind him, strapped himself into the chair next to the controls, and hit the launch button.

  As the emergency launch tone sounded and Hweet rushed into the Pod Bays to find the inspector missing and an emergency pod launched, two more things happened.

  The monitoring fleet began to move, and a device buried deep in the Station hummed to life.