The officer checked his clipboard. He scanned it for my name without success.
"Uh, miss Titan...you're not on the cargo shipment list. If you'll excuse me, I have some other carriers to load up." He walked off.
I knew very well I wasn't on that list. I was here to meet a friend of mine.
I walked off down the loading dock, passing dozens of cargo ships that were being loaded for trade routes.
I spotted my friend leaning against a huge pile of crates. I ran towards him.
"What's up, Titan?" He asked.
"Nothing you'd find interesting, Chas. What'd you get for me to, uh, 'transport' this time?" I asked.
My friend smiled, lowering his voice and pulling his hat down over his head to shadow his face. "Supplies. Food. Water. For my good friends in the Outlands." he said with a grin.
"The Outlands?" I asked, "You've gotta be kidding me."
Chas shrugged. "Oh, and here I thought I was makin' a deal with Valeri Titan, best smuggler on this side of the Anteus system! Besides, I'd deliver them myself, but I'm not exactly the authorities favorite guy these days."
I sighed. "Fine. Who's getting the supplies? No way can all these crates feed the entire Outlands."
Chas handed me a clipboard. "The crates are distributed through Colonies 260 to 280."
"And whats the payoff?" I asked.
"All I'm gonna say is that those Outland 'citizens', are in a real bind for supplies. Basically name your price!" Chas said.
I loaded the crates onto a hover cart, and I steered them down to my ship.
Once I loaded the crates into my cargo bay, I returned to my cockpit and cranked up some old Earth music.
"This is Cargo ship Eighty Five B, the Kaiser, un-docking." I spoke into my mic.
I put on the autopilot, all the way to the Outlands.
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