Warm sun and the scent of a new city, fumes and all, were Heath’s first impressions of Eubank 2. A sizable population was enough for a spaceport, but not one that was teeming with amenities like a true hub. In fact it might be better described as a few empty fields with some hover dollies for moving cargo. Even so, it was busy. The few decades of colonization had established a brisk monster-part export market, which was profitable enough to be worth developing. And it was on the major routes which meant there would always be haulers. With weather like this in their biggest city, Heath could imagine it as a popular tourist destination in another few years.

  He came back to himself in time to see Emerald already halfway across their landing patch, on a direct course to the city. Heath jogged to catch up and started chattering away about all the things he was hoping to see.

  They were stopped by a pair of guards, in the kind of fit-all tan coveralls that were universally unflattering, a blazing sun symbol sewn on as a patch on the shoulder, sitting below the starburst of the Empire. From his research – or Loon’s summarization of the research – it marked the planetary government’s chosen crest.

  “Any weapons to declare?” the one on the right asked.

  “Just a phase pistol,” Heath said, self-consciously tapping the butt of said weapon while Emerald glared at the guard for asking.

  “I’ll mark it down. Everything should be fine, but we get the occasional beastie wandering close by. Keep your eyes up if you head outside the city.”

  “Thanks!” Heath called over his shoulder. Emerald had taken off already and he was again left running to catch up.

  “What should we do first? The market’s supposed to be pretty good. Or apparently the museum has some pieces all the way from the Dominion. Some rich Eubank relative donated them as part of the colonization. Or there’s the training hall. Loon says I should spend the whole time there. And like, I get it, but it’s not much of an adventure if you don’t see something new, you know?”

  Heath paused for breath but Emerald didn’t take the hint or add anything to the conversation. That was okay, Heath wore everyone down eventually.

  Emerald was walking with a purpose so Heath decided to go along with their plan for now.

  “Do you have a pathing Skill?” he asked after the fourth confident turn. Maybe just going along with the plan wasn’t his strongest suit.

  “People ask that kind of thing where you’re from?”

  Heath imagined what his mother would say if she heard him ask about a Class or Skills like that. His mother, who he should really make time to visit. An explanation in a compressed data packet and a ramble about how he was going to make Uncle Walt and her proud wasn’t a substitute. No, she wouldn’t be thrilled with him right now. Back to being quiet then.

  At least it gave him some time to get his tourist gawking in. Early colonies were usually similar to each other, the Imperial standard supplies were mass-produced to be easy and fast for settlers to establish a base. But there were always quirks. Clever Planners, Builders, Architects, and more relished the opportunity for advancement that came from added flair after being let loose to build a whole city from scratch.

  This city was nothing like that. The standard materials were still there, but where most colonies would see a splash of uniqueness, this place had collectively jumped in the deep end. The textured street where they were walking was flanked on either side by one- or two-storied buildings. It was the standard collection of shops, lodging, and bars you would see in any port, each in the most flamboyant version possible.

  Every building was decorated with its own design, with little thought to how they would flow from one design to the next. There was a mural telling the story of the Markesh Dungeon Run along the left side of the street they were walking down, while the right boasted a series of abstract mosaics in a rainbow of colors. One building was entirely bedecked in shades of green, and Heath used his new strength to leap in front of Emerald and convince them to stop for a picture. All he got was a sigh and a frown in response but they humored him anyway.

  A few streets later Emerald graced him with some more words. “No nav Skills. My build was more… it doesn’t matter. It’s not a skill, it’s a functioning nose.”

  With that they turned another corner and the most beautiful sight Heath had seen since leaving Madrigal. Row after row of steaming food carts, restaurants, bars, and an actual grocery depot lined the square. Heath felt the saliva pool in his mouth as he spied a traditional Jurken dumpling stand. They were his favorite, but he usually only got them once or twice a year when the Loon stopped in the gateway spaceports, megastructures marking the unofficial entrance to the Rim.

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  He flashed his [Personal Bank] skill and peeked at his balance. Not nearly enough for treats. The scene morphed from a fairy tale to a torture chamber. A hundred tasty things he couldn’t afford.

  “Fucking hells kid, don’t look like that. Here.”

  He hadn't noticed Emerald leaving his side, but he was presented with an order of dumplings that brought tears to his eyes.

  “Thank you,” he remembered to say before he popped the first one in, his mother still on his mind. Then the flavor took over. It tasted like savory sunshine. Which didn’t make sense but that’s still what it tasted like. The next one tasted like a hearty meal by a warm fireplace in winter. Not a sensation Heath had ever experienced, growing up in a tropical city and then becoming a Spacer. But something in his brain recognized the sense memory and reveled in it.

  The Jurken system had the quirk of having only one gate in or out. At some point in the last dynasty, the trade route was interrupted and the small on-planet colony had been lost. No one agreed on if it was a purposeful abandonment or a true accident, but it meant the Jurken lived in isolation for centuries. When the gate was re-discovered, a small explorer crew found a flourishing civilization and some of the best food in the Empire. Unwilling to be forgotten again, the planet lobbied successfully for reparations from the new dynasty, giving them exclusive trade rights for their most expensive exports.

  “Already worth the stop.” He looked over at Emerald who he saw had paired the meal with an actual glass of wine, which they had materialized from nowhere. Apparently their taste wasn't limited to booze that could eat through the Loon’s hull.

  Heath returned to his own meal, focusing entirely on the sensations until they were gone, leaving him pleasantly full but not stuffed.

  “Okay, we need to go outside the city real quick.”

  Again Heath was graced with a sigh and nothing else, but Emerald joined him when he started walking. And talking. He would start working on his silence tolerance just as soon as Emerald signed onto the crew officially. Until then, full charm offensive.

  *********

  “We came out here for dirt?” Emerald stood a few feet back from Heath’s where he was kneeling on the ground.

  They’d trekked for half an hour outside of the city until they reached the forest. Blue leaves formed a crown that almost exactly matched the sky far above, while the jet-black trunks grew in twisting shapes all around. It was awesome. Little animals ran up and down the trunks and branches, using them like their own personal highways. A few had kept up with them for their entire walk, now watching while hanging upside down above Heath’s head.

  “I try to pick some up every time I stop somewhere new.”

  “Why? Wait no, forget I asked.”

  “Too late!” Heath said cheerfully. “Because it’s fun. A little reminder of all the places I’ve been. Look at those little guys, and the trees. I’ve never seen anything like them. Every world has something like that. I’ll show you the whole collection later.”

  He rejoined his reluctant companion and started walking back to the city, only for Emerald’s hand to whip out and stop him. He really needed to figure out their level. They cocked their head to the side and listened for a minute.

  “Something nearby.”

  The two of them stood still but Heath couldn’t hear anything. Scenting food markets from across a busy city and hearing animals across a busy forest. How high was their Processing, exactly?

  Emerald hissed a few more curses and released him.

  Heath turned around to see a monster. That was all his brain could compute as the mass of limbs and teeth stalked forward. Survival instincts and his Reflex stat spurred him into action. He fumbled at his side and pulled the pistol with a shaking hand. At the same time the beast decided the pair of them weren’t a threat and loped across the clearing towards them.

  Heath got off a shot that went wide, burning into the side of a tree and letting a hot pink sap seep out along with an acrid scent of burned carrots.

  “Shit shit shit.” It was right there.

  Then the pistol was gone and three shots went off, their low thwump the only sign the plasma rounds had been fired.

  Heath took a moment to understand. Two holes were smoking in the beast’s head, where it slumped a few feet in front of him. Which in turn revealed the second of the monsters, smaller and still halfway across the clearing, with a matching hole burned in its skull.

  “Come on,” Emerald said, tossing the pistol back to Heath.

  “What if there’s more?”

  Emerald pointed to their chittering companions in response. “These things wouldn’t be coming back to nose around if there were.”

  “Right, yeah, that makes sense.”

  Heath set a course back towards the town, moving slightly faster than normal.

  “So no combat skills?”

  Okay Heath understood why questions about his class were so distasteful now. “I have [Marksmanship]. And [Steady].”

  “Oh yeah? What levels?”

  “One,” Heath said in a small voice. “For both.”

  “Bleeding Hell, kid. Wasn’t your uncle a lifetime spacer? How did he let you walk around without leveling those?”

  “They’re new! I took time in the training halls when we stopped. It’s just….the shooting range is always so boring. I was training to be a Pilot, not a delver. Didn’t make sense to focus on those when I could train anything else.” Which had always made sense at the time, but didn’t exactly hold up when his heart was still beating far too fast in his chest. “It just always felt like there would be more time. “

  “Yeah, I know what that’s like.”

  They walked in silence until they got back to the city and told the guards about the nearby predators. They split up for the rest of the afternoon. Emerald went off to do Emerald things, while Heath spent the time in the local shooting range, spending his well-earned credits to shoot until he got the buzzing sensation that indicated a Skill level. Then it was back to the Loon to stew on the encounter for the evening.

  A large part of him wondered if Emerald would even return to the ship. Despite his optimism, he wasn’t blind to the fact that the troubled spacer could probably make their way through the universe whenever they so chose. They certainly didn’t need Heath.

  But a half hour before their scheduled departure time, Emerald stumbled onto the bridge, reeking of booze, and settled into the station that Heath was starting to think of as theirs. They were asleep before the Loon took off.