Ayos smiled to himself as he finished entering his information into the registry database on planet Tion.

Name: Kaim Sye

Occupation: Cargo Pilot

Ship: Adventure (0687332)

Cargo: Iron

Company: IOM

            It was always good to let the companies know their cargo had been transferred safely.

            Or at least, it would have been good, had it not all been lies.

His real name was Ayos Chaise, and his occupation was a cargo pirate. The only truthful thing he had entered was the fact that he had indeed brought the iron. The money for it was being transferred from IOM to his credit card right now.

With a pop the computer spat out his card and told him that the transfer was done. Most pirates did not bother to sell the iron directly to the companies who had ordered it; selling on the black market was much easier. But Ayos was not infamous enough to have to worry about being recognized by the companies, and he wanted to stay that way. The ships he hijacked never went “Missing”; if anything, it was the original crews who were in for trouble when they found their way to their respective planets months later with a ship now labeled as “Stolen”.

He grinned just thinking about it as he made his way back to his ship. He was clever all right. Not many pirates would have thought to leech half the fuel from their victims’ ships to prevent surprise arrivals. Of course, the worst-case scenario would be for the Razza to catch onto his plan and lay in wait for someone to register a cargo they knew had been stolen. But he knew that that would not happen. As long as he kept a low profile as an average pirate, it would not be worth their time.

He rounded a bend in the neon-blue docks to come into view of someone leaning next his ship, the Nighthawk. Irritated, he walked closer. “Hey! Be careful!”

The girl who had been looking at his ship glanced up. Light brown locks the color of cinnamon fell around a pretty face accented by two sparkling brown eyes. “Is this your ship?”

He nodded as he drew closer. “I’m a cargo pilot,” he explained innocently.

The girl glanced up at his ship. “That’s a cargo ship?”

He looked up at his ship. The ship was white with large dark stripes. The bridge of the spaceship stretched far above their heads, with the glass of the control room a tinted secretive black. On either side was an empty port, designed to hold fighter planes he did not have due to a lack of money when he bought her many years ago. Up front in the body of the ship was a small port designed for docking ships. With empty fighter ports resembling wings and the bridge shaped almost like a bird’s head, she did have a rather predatory glean.

Ayos shrugged. “Yep.” This girl was uncanny. He’d flown the Nighthawk for years and no one had ever doubted her identity as a cargo ship.

“Oh.” She studied the ship again. “Where are you going next?”

“To Asara.”

Suddenly a grin broke through the girl’s serious demeanor. “Really? That’s great!”

Ayos blinked. “What? Why?”

“That’s where I was going, too!”

Ayos suddenly had a suspicion. “Do you have a ship?”

“Well, no, but I’d appreciate it greatly if-”

“Can’t you read?” cried Ayos, cutting her off and pointing to the tiny sign painted next to the Nighthawk’s name. “No hitchhikers!”

She blinked and looked at the sign. “But I’m not a hitchhiker,” she clarified, “and I think I can be very helpful to you.”

Ayos crossed his arms. “By doing what? Cleaning dishes?” he said sarcastically.

She glared at him. “First off, I know you’re a pirate, so can quit acting like such a jerk.”

He stared. “How do you know?”

She grinned. “I used to work for the government – the Razza – and I still have access to their files. I know everything that’s going on.”

“And now you expect me to let you onboard?”

“Why not?”

“You just admitted to working for the Razza! For all I know, you might be some clever agent they use to catch pirates.”

She gave him a resentful look. “Would I have told you that I used to work for them if my goal was to trick you?”

Ayos shrugged. “Maybe you’re a dumb agent they use to catch pirates.”

“Hey!”

“Listen, I work alone. Go find some cargo carrier to harass.”

She clenched her fists. “If you just let me onboard, I can get you onto the Razza main database. I’m sure you’d be interested in the information they have on you . . .”

That interested him. “Fine, you can come onboard for just a second.”

She smiled. “And sign me onto your crew.”

He would have grumbled, but he knew he could sign her off again just as soon as he peeked at his profile. And who knew when opportunity like this would come by again?

It was a short trip up the black ramp and up onto the bridge of the Nighthawk, where her main computer was located. “Sign me up first.”

Ayos grumped and logged onto the Nighthawk’s computer, which was currently hooked up to the main database of Tion. He quickly clicked onto the crew registry screen.

After discovering that her name was Entyina – and odd name, even for this part of the galaxy – the rest was dry registry information. Ayos hit enter and clicked past all the warnings to receive the customary “Registry Received” message.

Entyina jumped up and down. “Yes!”

He stared at her suspiciously. “What?”

“I’m going to Asara!”

He blinked. “No, you are not. I can still sign you off if you don’t show me you can access the Razza database.”

She grinned. “No, you can’t. It’s the law here on Tion that it takes three days to recheck your background if you sign a crewmate off. It was one of the warnings you clicked past.”

Ayos clicked back. It was true. She had tricked him.

“Alright! Let’s get something to eat!” Entyina called, skipping off the ship.