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.

The Empire is seeking two terrorists. We know that you have them in your possession. Release them and you can go free. Glory to the Emperor!

This message then went on a continuous repeat.

I was right. They were after us. Suddenly, the ground stopped shaking. We didn’t have much time. They were giving the bikers a chance to bring us to them, I reasoned.

The tunnel led us to a large hangar with an array of ships. They looked old and beaten, and most exhibited marks from being previously hit by laser fire. There was no point in being picky so I went straight for the nearest one quickly getting into the cockpit.

“Will you be able to fly this?” Tabitha asked wide-eyed, in an excitable tone.

Its controls looked very familiar apart from a peculiar set of buttons off to the right that I hadn’t seen before. Then a ship buzzed passed us. Rather than going straight up, it propelled itself under the sand. I understood and pressed the top right button.

The leader and her cronies now entered the hangar and opened fire with small lasers.

Tabitha put on her belt as did I. I pushed on the accelerator.

I felt the ground shake or did it? Then it happened again. I opened my eyes and was hit by a cacophony of sounds. Our captives were under attack by aerial bombardment. They seemed very disorganized. This didn’t happen too often from their faces of astonishment. Then the thought struck me. It was us they were after and not them.

Tabitha was already taking action.

She was marshaling the other prisoners to try and push down the cell railings. I quickly got up and added my weight. At first, I thought it was hopeless but then I felt movement. I urged all those around me to keep going.

Then I suddenly lost my footing as the railings finally gave way. I looked up and saw the bikers had not noticed. But that wouldn’t last as other escapees ran right through them. Sure enough, some of them started collapsing to the ground under laser fire. I grabbed Tabitha’s hand and motioned for her to follow me.

The gang must have some of its own ships somewhere. And they were nowhere to be seen on the way in. So, we go deeper.

A hair, round biker suddenly appeared in front of us but realizing that he had no support, he let us scurry past. The ground continued shaking as we hurried down a tunnel.

Then we heard chatter over speakers that must have been installed in the tunnel.