Several awkward conversations about Farsight, the Harrith Incident, and somehow Brailack breeding, again, later, the team is sitting in a large cafeteria with Prathea, Murta, and two senior scientists. The rest of the staff appear to be elsewhere.
“So, you all are the ones who stopped the Peacekeepers from invading the Harrith system?” Jor’ Lu, a two-and-a-half-meter tall Burzzad asks, as she eats some type of porridge-like substance. Her pointed ears twitch as she watches Wil and the crew. Her pale skin is pulled tight over bones and rope-like muscles.
Bennie nods vigorously. “That was us all, alright! You should have seen it! We blew ships up! Everyone was shooting at us. We blew up a huge Peacekeeper ship! Wil was flying like no one’s business. Well, that is until the Ghost got shot to wurrin and we crash-landed on the planet, in a huge fireball.”
Wil glowers behind his cup of that same tea-like drink Prathea offered him earlier, coughing a little. “Yes, well—” he starts, but Bennie keeps going, somehow making the parts where the Ghost is nearly blown up and crashes take twice as long to tell as the fight leading up to that.
Jor’ Lu seems completely entranced with the story, her three eyes wide and unblinking as she listens to Bennie’s version of events, her ears sticking straight out to the side. Her companion—a short, fur-covered being named Xan—seems less impressed. When Bennie winds down, somehow ending his version with him leading the repair effort of the Ghost, Xan asks, “So when are we going to the ship?”
Jor’ Lu blinks rapidly, then looks at Xan then Prathea. “Yes. When do we leave?”
“And what do we do with it when we get there?” Murta asks. He looks around the table. “My people could make good use of a ship that powerful. It could restore the balance of power in the region.” He looks at Wil. “They wouldn’t need to resort to paying privateers. No offense.”
“None taken,” Wil says, smiling his most insincere smile.
Prathea puts her utensil down, and looks around the table. “I don’t know if we should go to the ship at all.” She raises a hand to silence Murta and Xan. “What will we gain? We’ve got the data from the probe, that’s more than enough to get Farsight to send a cruiser.”
“And what? Farsight gets a warship that rivals a Peacekeeper Command ship? Why? What’s to stop them from turning it over to the GC and the Peacekeepers? It could restore my people to power in the region,” Murta growls.
“Look, Murta, I get your point. I like your people a lot, but they’ve no claim on the ship—” Wil starts.
Murta stands up, pointing at Wil. “And what? You’d take it? Sell it to the highest bidder? Sell it to some criminal?”
“We could sell it to Harrith,” Bennie chimes in. “I bet they’d pay a fortune. Would easily buy the Consortium off, and then some.”
“Sell it?!” Murta screams.
“Murta, sit down,” Prathea says, resting her hand on his arm. “No one is selling it or giving it away, or doing anything with it. We don’t know anything about it yet. It’s idiotic to make plans for it when we know so little.”
“Then we should go. Check it out,” Xan pushes.
Jor’ Lu nods. “If nothing else, we can gather a lot more data to turn over to corporate.”
Prathea looks at Wil, then Zephyr. “Would you take us?”
Wil nods. “But not for free.”
Murta growls as Prathea nods. “Of course.” Then lower, under her breath, “Pirate.”