“Psst. Heath. Are you up?”

  He jolted awake, heartbeat racing. Jenny Mae was leaning over him, whispering from a foot away. As awareness returned he realized he had fallen asleep in his Captain’s chair, a late night conversation with the Loon returning to him. Hours had passed while they theorized about possible improvements, and what the slow but steady growth the Loon was experiencing would mean for their strategy in the long-term.

  “Why?” he whimpered. His neck was complaining about the awkward angle, and there was no way he’d gotten more than four hours of rest.

  “What do you mean?” She stared at him with wide eyes, as though being awake at 5 in the morning, ship time, was totally normal.

  “Nothing. What did you want to ask?” Part of leadership – and [Leadership] – was picking his battles.

  “OH. I have a job for us.”

  “Okaaay.” He drew out the response in the hope she would elaborate. Jenny Mae found five jobs a day that they could take, she didn’t stop what she was doing and find Heath for all of them.

  “It’s a bit different than usual.”

  He sighed, any hope of more sleep swirling down the drain. “Tell me.”

  *********

  Two hours later, they were all wedged in around the table in their mess hall. It was a tight fit. Heath found his whole right side jammed up against Copperfield where they shared a section of bench meant for one person. Bleary eyes focused on their morning sludge, all except Jenny Mae who was already chipper and had finished a workout in the training room, research on the potential job, and something she called her ‘personal project’ before the others had gotten up.

  Heath waited until the food, and more importantly its gentle dose of an energizing stimulant, was finished before opening the conversation. “We have an opportunity.”

  Four pairs of eyes swiveled to watch him, three with varying degrees of apprehension, and one full of barely-leashed excitement.

  “Look boss, I’m down for a little light thievery if that’s what we need to do –”

  “What? No, that's not what I’m suggesting. Why do you jump straight to crime?”

  Copperfield cocked his head to the side. “You said ‘we have an opportunity’. That’s the universal indicator of something outside of normal legal bounds.”

  Heath looked around to see Emerald nodding and Ekaterina looking horrified. “Okay. I’ll rephrase. We have a contract we might take.”

  “And we all need to be here for this?” Ekaterina looked like she was itching to leave, now that the energy boost from the breakfast slime was kicking in. Probably to go to the training room. Heath was a little surprised she hadn’t already set up a second cot so she could sleep in there.

  “Yes. Because it’s going to be difficult on all of us if we do it.” That got everyone’s attention. “Jenny Mae, on screen please.”

  Following her cue, their Administrator sent a map onto the screen. It took the entire area, one long white line traced from the left side across to the right, bouncing between faint blue dots of known systems and gate pairs.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Frontier System D4245,” Copperfield read aloud. “Not the most creative locals huh?”

  Emerald sighed – not list worthy, Heath noted – before answering. “That’s the Imperial convention. Means there aren’t enough settlers yet to be recognized as a colony. Explorer outpost?” The last question was sent Heath’s way. It was easy to forget sometimes just how much longer than the rest of them Emerald had been working on the Rim. Then they would come out with some comment like that and remind Heath there were decades of their life still shrouded in mystery.

  “That’s right. The only permanent presence is the base of the Darkside Explorers, who have been contracted to map out the region ahead of the first settler wave. The job is to bring them their resupply, which we’d have to go pick up at the local hub, and then haul it out way past civilization. Or what passes for civilization out here, yes I know.” Ekaterina closed her mouth from what would have surely been a reminder that true civilization stopped at the edge of the Core.

  “Then we get to bring back their forage. The pay is great. More than we’d make in half a dozen runs like we’ve been doing.”

  “This is a common tactic to trick fools into bad contacts. If the benefit is so impressive, why would we be the one to take it. Our ship possesses no qualities that would have us favored over larger crews.” Ekaterina brought up a good point in the most offensive way.

  “Right. Well. It will take a bit over half a year to get there. Shorter route on the way back since their forage delivery is different than the supply pickup.”

  “That’s not too bad,” Copperfield started.

  “Half a year and three months of that is through unsettled space. Just monitoring outposts. So no docking for a day of shore leave or anything like that.”

  He could feel the enthusiasm in the room go down at the news. Well except for Jenny Mae’s who had known that detail from the start and didn’t mind at all. It wasn’t Heath’s first choice. Or his second or third. A trip that long would be pushing his own limits to what he could stand without going crazy. But the pay would be worth it. And they would have a contact with one of the more important exploration guilds in the entire region of the Rim.

  Jenny Mae piped up in the silence, adding details about the job. “The guild is paying two arms and both legs to advertise the job this far away from the starting point. I asked around and it sounds like their usual hauler got delayed on their last run, and there was no backup available. But we need to accept it now.”

  “We are leveling and attaining a profit here. I see no reason to break that pattern in exchange for months of tedium.” Ekaterina wasn’t quite frowning, but the line between her eyebrows spoke volumes on its own.

  “I don’t know, exploring sounds fun.” Copperfield was already coming around to the idea.

  “I’ve done a lot of long hauls, never to the Edge but close. It’s only tedium until you find something angry, lurking behind a moon no one has bothered settling yet. Then it’s something else.” Emerald scratched down their chin and pushed further into the corner to try and achieve a position where Copperfield wasn’t in their lap.

  “Another reason we should stick to our proven strategy,” Ekaterina was not budging an inch. “I joined the crew with specific expectations.” This was progress, Heath reminded himself. And she was part of the crew now, she should get a say.

  “There are at least three rank one dungeons on the route we have mapped,” Heath offered. “We won’t be without leveling opportunities. Plus we have the training room now. We’ve taken up the best rewards we’ll get from this cluster already. Moving to anywhere else with comparable dungeons would take us almost as long and not pay anywhere near as well.”

  “I bet,” Copperfield leaned over, “that the stuff we pull from those dungeons would sell for a whole pile of creds. No one is flooding the market with them yet.”

  “There are the bounties too. Imperial Dungeon Association, and any guild looking to expand, will pay for delve records. No one escapes the Edge without a few levels.”

  “What side are you on!” Ekaterina whirled on Emerald.

  “No side kid. Just saying.”

  “It’s an adventure!” Jenny Mae was bouncing on her toes where she stood, too excited to remain at the table. Or perhaps too cramped. “You came to the Rim to see something new right? What’s more of a challenge than going where no one else has gone before?”

  Oof. Heath wasn’t sure if Jenny Mae had done that on purpose, but he saw the blow land. This was some sort of noble thing where Ekaterina had to prove herself. If she was able to grow and see some of the world without her family’s backing then she would be deemed worthy. Or something like that. Playing it safe was not how ancient trials tended to work.

  Their sharp-tongued Wizard could find no rebuttal and silence fell.

  “We’ve discussed. It sounds like we’re in agreement, yes?” Heath looked around the table, making eye contact with each member of the crew. He didn’t need their approval, it was his ship and his call, but he wanted it all the same.

  Jenny Mae was already nodding so fast her hair was partially covering her face. Copperfield gave a thumbs up. Emerald shrugged and waved their hand. Finally, it was Ekaterina’s turn. The pause was long enough Heath thought she would restart the argument, but eventually she acceded with a curt nod.

  “Great. Jenny…” Heath trailed off as Jenny Mae bolted out of the mess and towards the nearest job hall to accept the contract.

  *********

  It was much later, after a course was plotted, and they had already departed their last port to make it to the pickup in time, that Heath was able to sit with the decision. Apprehension was there, keeping him company as it always did on longer trips. Even when the Loon had far more facilities and entertainment options, he hadn’t been a fan. Stuck in what amounted to a moderately sized house with five people for months on end. It might be a bigger challenge than the dungeons.

  Uncle Walt used to say that you couldn’t really know another person until you were forced to live with them, and that was why Spacers all hated each other. There was some truth hidden in there.

  But he couldn’t deny he was excited. The Edge! Every little kid dreamt of being one of the explorers. Fighting off monsters and finding new worlds that the terraforming seeds had already reached, or hadn’t, and all the wonders waiting there was a common fantasy growing up. And now he would get to do it. As a hauler, not an explorer, but with their new levels coming hot and fast, the difference between the two was fading by the week.