Hard Luck Hermit

Though Kamak did not accept the “job” to attend the new military installation’s unveiling, he still kept an eye on it. The Wild Card Wanderer had taken to the stars, orbiting Centerpoint at a distance, to watch the installation far away from any pomp and ceremony. The massive gun battery drifted into place and was joined to the rest of Centerpoint’s honeycombed platforms, fusing the weapons to the neighboring residential and business districts. The platform full of short-range cluster armaments was an effective deterrent to any Horuk attacks, and a blighted eyesore on the otherwise sleek, modern space station.

Kamak scowled. Centerpoint had been designed as the shining beacon for universal society, the best of everything cooperation could accomplish. Now they’d strapped a gun to it. There had always been outlying defensive stations and security fleets, but seeing a cluster of guns the size of a small city right next to the arts district felt different. It felt wrong.

“I don’t like any of this,” Kamak said. “Smells like they’re up to something.”

Kamak had, naturally, gotten his crew up to speed on everything Ghost had said, to predictably mixed reactions.

“Luckily for us, I think their intent is fairly transparent,” Farsus said. “They see more value in us as propaganda than as bounty hunters.”

“It’s never that simple,” Corey sighed.

“No offense, Corvash, but you’re a little paranoid to begin with,” Tooley said. “And the whole Morrakesh thing probably didn’t help.”

Corey owned a laser sword now, and he still carried a knife in his boot everywhere he went. He’d also insisted on installing an upgraded security system in the Wild Card Wanderer, and, thanks to the fact that Tooley now slept next to him regularly, she knew he was an incredibly light sleeper, frequently waking with a start at even the smallest noise.

“How is some secret Ghost assassin guy showing up to threaten us not something to be worried about?”

“I just think Farsus has a point,” Tooley said. “Now that we’re bigshot heroes they want us retired so we can’t fuck up and get ourselves killed or embarrass ourselves.”

“I’d think you’d be more offended by that,” Corey said.

“I am very offended, but they’re also giving me lots of money,” Tooley said. As boring as the rich people gigs were, they paid well. “It’s creating some very conflicting emotions.”

Tooley had an ego the size of a galaxy, but a love of money that was just as big if not bigger. She had already paid off the sizable cost of the Wild Card Wanderer, and was stocking up savings for the future, and maybe even a new, better ship.

“God, I know,” Kamak said. The money was making it very hard to be as mad as he wanted to be. Having been on the bad side of a conspiracy to make the entire universe hate him, he found it hard to be mad about a conspiracy to keep him famous and successful. “I’d almost rather they were being assholes about it. It’d make it a lot easier to be mad.”

“We keep being stubborn about it, we’ll probably get them there,” Corey said.

“Well I’m real good at being stubborn,” Kamak said. “So I guess we’ll find out.”

“Do we have to?”

All eyes went to Doprel. His massive frame looked hollow and deflated.

“What’s the point?” Doprel asked. “What’s the endgame? Where’s our win condition? Even as a matter of pride, like, to prove we’re not fuckups, isn’t saving the universe enough for that?”

Kamak nodded. That was a pretty big boost to the ego.

“Maybe it is a good idea for us to quit while we’re ahead,” Doprel said. “Even just logistically speaking, it’s going to be fucking hard to top stopping the Invasion, guys.”

“Yeah, well, that’s an easier choice for you guys to make than me,” Kamak said. “Rest of you fuckers are going to be dead in a few decades. I still got the better part of three centuries in me, at least.”

Kamak leaned back in his seat and watched the guns on Centerpoint spring to life, scanning the stars for any sign of an incoming threat. For a moment, one of the colossal guns turned their direction, and Kamak stared right down the barrel. Corey watched the guns turn as they all drifted through empty space.

“Do you guys want to take a vacation?”

“Vacation? Now?”

“Yeah,” Corey said. “We haven’t really taken a breather since we stopped the Invasion. I think maybe we all need to take some time to relax and unpack.”

“I don’t know. Feels like we’d be giving these assholes a taste of what they want.”

“Let them think that,” Corey said. “Let’s take a break. Not think about work for a while, and see how we feel about retiring or not retiring in a week or two.”

“You want to take some time off, I won’t stop you,” Kamak said. “Take your vacation, if you want.”

“If he’s going, I’m going,” Tooley said.

“Ah, of course you are,” Kamak said. “I try to forget you two are shacked up.”

“You can always pay for shuttles,” Tooley said. “I’m not the only pilot in the universe. Even if I am the best.”

“Not ditching me that easily,” Kamak said. “Fine. You kids pick somewhere to go and take your fucking vacation. I’ll get dragged along.”