It was not good news. In fact, it was terrible.

The coordinates were on an uninhabitable part of the earth near an ancient city called London. From documentaries I had seen, it had previously been an important center of commerce and finance.

I took out the leaflet. It contained information on how to receive payment but little else. We were to meet a guy called Sol, it contained no description. With thoughts of the competition, I ignited the spacecraft and we left the thin atmosphere of the planet.

There was no sign of any Empire craft in the vicinity. We joined a large convoy on its way to the Earth, probably one of the Poles. We could peel off as we drew closer.

Tabitha told me that she would analyze where and when would be best to land by logging into orbiting satellites and downloading any weather reports from the planet.

As we expected, there was a red warning for that part of Europe. Despite, its northerly position, a warm front from the Caribbean makes it unbearably hot most of the time.

“I’ve got it,” Tabitha said from the rear.

“The World Meteorological Service is predicting a cold front to pass over London in two days. We just need to slow our approach.”

The ladies were beneficial if a bit giggly. They were sharing some sort of joke that they found increasingly funny. I smiled, unsure if I was part of it. They gave me the details I required.

“You will need to go these coordinates,” the lighter-haired one said.

She handed me a small, crumpled piece of paper. I checked it, ensuring it was legible, and placed it in my pocket.

“And what about payment?” After all, that was why I was here.

“Good question.” It was the other lady this time.

“You will be paid through an escrow account. You should log in and provide your details today. It will be paid in bitcoin.”

“Excellent,” I replied.

She handed me a leaflet.

Some work for Tabitha to do later, I thought to myself.

The lighter-haired lady looked at me and smiled, “You better get going. Quite a lot of interest in this job.”

I headed down the steps, the place was even more crowded now, and forcefully made my way through to Tabitha.

“Time to go.”

I told her the details as we went to the craft. We didn’t really know what we were facing till we put the coordinates into the onboard computer.

“Damn it,” Tabitha shouted.

“What?” I replied.

Three old men dressed immaculately in suits sat at a round table. They looked totally out of place.

I decided that I would get straight to the point.

“I’m looking for work. Leo told me you might have some and it might be dangerous.”

Better to get it all there.

The man in the center spoke.

“Under Article 2.543 of the Emperor’s Charter, please confirm if you are an Emperor’s Agent.”

“No, I am not.”

He sensed my puzzlement.

“Hull v Emperor. It’s a case that set a precedent that you must declare if you work directly for The Emperor. It’s one of the few protections left against the system. And yes, your appearance made it more likely I’d ask.”

“Well, I’m not. Tell me about the job.”

“Yes, it will be dangerous. We need something retrieved from Earth’s red zone. It’s an ancient artifact. Five thousand marks. Payment upon delivery only.”

That was a huge amount, way more than we needed. It would definitely bring the end objective within reach. On the downside, payment only upon completion meant that others would take up the offer so there would be stiff competition.

“Yeah, I’ll take it.”

Good, the ladies you were talking to will fill you in on the details.

It’s just as well that I like salmon. I gulped it down. It felt great to satiate my hunger. Tabitha was taking a bit longer to finish her meal, so I went to the bar to see what I could find out.

A burly, bald man was sweating profusely behind handing out drinks as quickly as possible. Numerous people were seeking his attention.

“Sorry.” I held out my hand hoping he’d pay me some attention.

I waited for a few minutes and eventually, he paid me some attention.

“What can I do for ya?”

“I’m looking for work.”

“Local, or do you have a spacecraft?”

“I can travel.”

“You should head upstairs then. Tell them Leo sent you. It might be dangerous work now.”

I told Tabitha what I was doing and to follow up after me if I wasn’t back in twenty minutes. Just in case this was a ploy against the downtrodden.

I walked up the stairs into a smoke-filled, lively atmosphere. Both stone and more modern artifacts were displayed on various tables. It was not at all what I had expected.

I informed the two ladies at the nearest table Leo had sent me. They pointed me to a table at the very back.

As we approached closer, it became clear that the festival was in full swing. What started as a small noise became a cacophony as we drew closer. It was a low-rise town; most terraced buildings were only two stories at most. The wide streets were thronged with mostly older people, a couple hundred Earth years old.

“What madhouse have you brought me to?” I jokingly asked Tabitha.

“Yeah it’s crazy, what will we do now?”

“Well, I don’t know about you but I’m starving. It’s been a while since we had something to eat. Let’s find somewhere to relax for a while. Then we’ll decide the longer-term plan”

“Sounds good to me.”

We continued along the long street until we came to a crossroads. On one of the corners, I could see an entrance to a pub advertising food, so I grabbed Tabitha’s hand and went straight for it.

It was dark inside and people were packed closely together like sardines. We pushed our way to the rear, where finally there was some space. We sat down and waited to be attended. After a few minutes, a flustered waitress with bright blue eyes and long jet-black hair heaved her way through several people and took our orders.

The small craft propelled itself forward and went straight under the sand like I had hoped. But now, I was facing the ultimate dilemma. Pull up too fast and be spotted by the Emperor’s fleet or stay too long underground and eventually hit something and die. I reckoned though that the pirates would have considered this and made sure there was no debris in the way. I never thought I’d have to rely on the thoughtfulness of pirates but there you go. Another thing that I had to take into account was the thick, toxic atmosphere that should hamper visibility.

After what seemed like an age of inner thoughts but in reality, no more than twenty seconds I pulled the craft up and out of the sand. Not a moment too soon either as we would have hit ruins if I waited a few seconds longer.

I stayed close to the ground of the habitat to avoid detection. The rest of the habitat was more of the same. Sand and ruins of cities. I kept on expecting to see some plant life but to no avail.

We reached the edge of the habitat and I now flew out back out into space and round to its underbelly.