On One Condition

by Squeaks7

Galen tugged the pack higher on his shoulder as he walked to the shipyard, his eyes hidden behind darkened goggles against the much too bright morning sun. Was he really doing this? Yes. Yes, he was! He couldn't believe she'd said yes, he thought for the thirtieth time since waking. Granted, his proposal lacked a bit of creativity as he'd imbibed a bit too much liquid courage before calling her up to propose. She'd understood him though despite the slight slur to his words. Obviously, he wasn't the first to do so seeing it was the preferred form of proposal for as long as he could remember. Even his grandfather had drunk dialed his grandmother way back in the early days of the colony, he thought grinning to himself.

Their small planet nestled among the Dainar Belt as one of nine colony planets settled within the last century. He enjoyed his life here, small as it were. That was one reason he was more than a bit surprised Mara had agreed so readily to his proposal. The beautiful Mara, dark curls and vibrant green eyes, always hovered just out of reach growing up. Being daughter of one of the most prominent citizens of Mevion, Galen had always counted himself lucky when her attention turned his way. Even more so after last nights accepted proposal.

Well, if he were being honest, almost acceptance. Her 'yes' came with one small stipulation. Which was the reason, instead of celebrating with his fiancé today, he was now climbing aboard his cruiser about to head out into the deepest reaches of space. Bertha had seen better days, he thought kicking the rusted control panel aside as he fiddled with the door controls, wiggling and jiggling wires until the hatch sealed tight. Yeah, Bertha was temperamental. Some would even call her a scrap heap but not him. Nope. Galen had worked on the old Delta class star-cruiser he'd pulled from a graveyard on Flaxon 5 until he had her space ready again. He'd poured blood, sweat and tears into the old ship and now eked out a decent living as a supply runner between the colonies.

Punching controls, Bertha sputtered to life. He flipped a few more switches, the whir of her boosters filled the cabin. He missed Tabs. Tabs had been with him since the beginning, the best crew and best friend he could ask for. This was a mission he needed to do alone though. The rarity, not to mention very illegal, nature of Mara's request meant he'd be gone until he found the artifact. He couldn't put the gangly youth in harm's way. Tabs would stay behind this time.

A deep sputtering drew his attention back to the controls. Tapping the flashing red light, he cursed under his breath.

"Come on, old gal. Don't do this to me now!" Galen encouraged the cruiser whose booster was muttering like a grumpy old man losing a game. Banging a fist on the control panel, the calming whir started up again. The cruiser shook, rising off the ground with jerk before speeding off breaking the atmosphere in moments. With a sigh, he set his coordinates before raking his hands through his sandy brown locks.

"I told you, you can't do this without me." Galen jumped at the voice behind him.

"What are you doing here? I told you I needed to do this alone, Tabs." He looked over the girl standing behind him. An abundance of messy red hair was twisted on her head while she sported her usual attire of baggy overalls. A smudge across her cheek let him know she'd probably been hiding below in the cargo hold.

"I've been with you for every mission since helping you put this heap back together four years ago. I'm not letting you leave me out of this trip... whatever it is." Crossing her arms, Tabs looked like an angry child. Her small stature dwarfed by too large clothes reminded him of the fourteen-year-old stow away she'd been way back when he'd first started working on the cruiser. Not much had changed, he thought shaking his head. She was still as stubborn and just as annoying, but he was actually glad for the company.

"Fine," he grumbled not letting her know his true thoughts. She slipped into the seat next to him taking over controls.

"So, where are we headed?"

"First, the black markets of Flaxon 5 then where ever the journey takes us."

"Why?"

"Well, I finally asked Mara to marry me. So, call it a wedding gift." Tabs' lips turned down in a frown at his words.

"You mean, blackmail more like it."

"She simply requested a hard to find, slightly illegal item to seal the proposal. What? Don't look at me like that, Kiddo. I know what I'm doing." He tugged at a loose curl escaping the knot on top of her head as she frowned even more. "I'm going to lay down. Wake me if there's trouble."

"Whatever," the girl mumbled as she set their course and watched the control panel. He shook his head and left the cockpit. It was actually a good thing she'd tagged along after all. Maybe when he woke this pounding headache would be gone, he thought throwing himself onto one of the two bunks in the small cabin off the back of the cruiser. Yep, Tabs always came through when he needed her, he thought drifting off.

~~~~~~~~

Galen jerked the kerchief back up over his mouth and nose as he trudged through the dust covered streets of Flaxon 5 a few days later. He'd left Tabs with Bertha back in the dust fields. She never talked much about her childhood growing up on this forsaken dust hole but nine out of ten times they set foot on it, she'd make up some excuse to tinker on the cruiser instead of joining him. He wouldn't think anything about it except it was the opposite everywhere else they visited. He'd given up trying to figure the girl out years ago and left her alone to do whatever she did best. Seemed like Bertha only ran smooth when the kid was around. Kid. Guess he shouldn't call her that as she wasn't much younger than him. She'd always be the scrawny, red-headed girl he picked up here four years ago to him though.

He ducked down a side alley, took the steps down to a worn, wooden door which set below a rather large brick building in the center of town and rapped three times. The door creaked open only to have the doorway filled by a beefy, giant of a man wearing a scowl which seemed tattooed permanently on his face.

"Yeah?"

"Um... I..." Galen's voice cracked as he coughed, clearing dust from it before starting again trying to sound a bit more confident than the first time. "I'm Galen and was told to see Mim about a... um... session." He tried remembering every morsel of info he'd ever heard about the underground black market boss of Flaxon 5. He tugged the bandana down and lifted his goggles on top of his head as the grumpy doorman looked him up and down before nodding and letting him in. Galen was led to a small room just off the entrance and told to wait as the giant walked through another door into the depths of what he presumed was the black market underworld.

He'd never visited the market nor had reason to as all his runs had been legit with the correct flight invoices to prove he purchased the goods on the up and up. But he'd heard things. Lots of things, in fact, during his years as a runner. There was money to be made in the underground trade. The risk of losing everything he had if he were caught never quite outweighed the benefits to him. At least, not before now. Now, he had the greatest treasure waiting back home for him and all he had to do was retrieve this one small item. Really, how hard could it be, he thought trying to remain optimistic as the door Grumpy went through moments before opened back up.

"This way," the same scowling man motioned as he waited for Galen to walk through the door into a dark cavernous room. Passing by rows and rows of crates and storage units, they came to another door at the far end. The man nodded towards it as he took up a wide stance to one side. Galen took a deep breath as he pushed it open, bright lights blinding him for a moment.

"I was told you wanted to see me," a balding thin man said from behind a worn desk. This must be Mim. He's not too scary, Galen thought.

"Mim? I'm Galen Davait from Mevion." He stretched his hand out in greeting but the older man simply glared at him until he lowered it, unease rising the longer he stood across from the boss of Flaxon 5.

"What do you want?"

"I'm looking for a lost century acquirement. Pre-colony."

"I'm not an antiques dealer."

"It's a commodity of the... invigorant variety." Mim quirked one brow up at the words.

"Those are rare."

"Yes. But I heard you may have a lead for one." The boss grinned at him, causing all thoughts of the balding thin man being nice fleeing for their life. The man was absolutely terrifying when his lips curled up.

"You're that supply runner, right?" Things just went from terrifying to diabolical with that one sentence. Mim knowing who he was didn't set well with him and couldn't be a good coincidence.

"Ye...Yeah." Smooth, Galen, he chastised as his thoughts scattered in a hundred directions.

"Maybe you can help me out with a little something."

"Like a favor?" Shut up, Galen. Why are you still standing here talking with this heinous man like you're his friend? But Galen's inner wisdom seemed to be on holiday as he remained fixed in the crime boss's office.

"Yes, just like a favor. I do something for you and you do something for me. Think we can make an arrangement?" Once again, Galen didn't listen as that small inner voice screamed for him to run and run fast. Just do something, anything but agree to this fool-hardy plan.

"Sure. What can I do?" If Galen had been alone he'd have smacked himself, but then, if he'd been alone he wouldn't be in the predicament he was in now. Owing a favor to a Flaxon pirate was not a good place to be. He watched the man punch something on the communication panel before sliding the small square screen across to him. His fingers itched to pick it up knowing the info he needed was on it.

"You'll find two names on there. The first, the one you need to sort out your predicament. The second, the one I need to sort out mine." Galen did his best to stop his hand from trembling as he reached for the small square display the size of his palm. His fingers hovered above it for a split second, knowing what was being asked of him. He scooped it up greedily to the cackling laugh of Mim. "You have six months to bring me my bounty. Understand?" Galen nodded a bit too eagerly. "Good."

Moments later he was dismissed and escorted out into the blistering sun by Grumpy. With a nod at the door, which wasn't returned, he tugged the kerchief back over his face, yanked the goggles over his eyes, and took off at a jog. Just before he reached the cruiser curiosity got the better of him. He unfurled his fingers from the screen, the names glaring up at him in bright glowing letters. The first, he'd never heard of. But it was the second which chilled his blood to the core. No longer was dust flying around him nor sun beating down. Chills caused a shiver to shimmy up his spine. In big bold letters, the name of his intended target stared back at him. TABS.

~~~~~~~~

How he'd even left the planet he wasn't sure. Most of the credit went to her... Tabs. The shock of seeing her name glowing up at him from that little screen didn't wear off for a while. They were already in orbit before she snapped her fingers at him, probably not the first time either. When he finally looked up there she was. Blue eyes glaring, frown on her face and red hair with a mind of its own heading in every direction. The same trail of freckles spattered across her nose as that first day he'd found her below in the cargo hold, he thought before snapping back to reality.

"What'd you say?" he mumbled.

"Did you get it? The name?" Yep, she'd definitely already asked, he thought, able to tell by the nip in her words.

"Oh, yeah."

"And?"

"Oh... here it is... Kippe of Talonia," he said fumbling with the small display before tucking it back in his pants' pocket. Her brows furrowed but her only response was punching in the coordinates. Now two days later Talonia lay just ahead of them and he was no clearer about the predicament he found himself in. There was no way he could turn her over to Mim. She was just a kid. He'd taken her under his protection all those years ago when he'd let her stay. He wouldn't let her get hurt now. Not because of him, he thought turning to watch where she sat in the commons area behind the flight deck. She hummed a song while tinkering with a piece of an old engine. No, she wasn't going to pay the price for his actions. Or be the price... however one looked at it.

More than once over the past couple of days, he'd wondered what she did as a kid to get her on Mim's wanted list. Every time he opened his mouth to ask, courage would leave him and he'd ignore the nagging in his head. A couple hours later, he was tugging his heavy jacket on readying to leave Bertha in search of one Kippe of Talonia.

"You coming?" he called out by the hatch. Tabs jogged out to meet him slipping a long coat over her normal attire of baggy cargo pants and loose shirt. He reached out to wipe a smudge of black off her cheek, obviously from the engine she was working on earlier. She jerked away from him with a scowl, rubbing her cheek as she did. Chuckling, he ruffled her hair as she hurried past him. His boots crunched over the frost covered ground, a chill biting him to his core. Tabs marched up the hill just ahead tugging her coat around her as she went. Why anyone wanted to live on this frostbitten world he had no clue. From the frying pan into the fire, as his grandmother used to say.

The settlement lay below them, in the valley. They'd landed just outside civilization knowing there wasn't much flat space on this hilly planet. Tabs trudged on through the frosty morning air, her breath blowing around her.

"I'll be back," she called heading further into town as he rechecked the map he'd pulled up on his communication panel. He grunted a nonverbal reply knowing she'd meet him back here at the appointed time. Now he needed to find Kippe. With little to go on, he trudged to the one place which always knew everything in small settlements like this. The pub was quiet this time of morning but several patrons still lingered over flat drinks, probably from the night before. Wood floorboards creaked beneath his boots and the air smelled of strong drink and unkept bodies, but it was warm. Sidling up to the bar, he ordered a drink and spent the next half hour trying to find out the whereabouts of the man Kippe from anyone awake enough to listen.

Discouraged, alone and cold he waited outside the pub for sign of his friend. He blew on his hands, rubbing them together as he bounced foot to foot, all the while trying not to bounce foot to foot. No one would take him serious if they saw him now. Runners didn't bounce around in the cold. They were tough and rugged. Yeah. That's him, alright, he grumped to himself. Tough enough to not even elicit a look as he walked into the bar nor even a lead, he scoffed.

"Run!" Tabs called out causing him to jerk around. A small figure ran down the center of the road, the floppy, brown coat bouncing around her as a head of bright curls came into view. "Run! NOW!" she screamed. That's when he saw them. The group of angry men chasing her. Galen ducked as blasts from a laser pistol ricocheted around him. What kind of new hell had she brought down on them? Her small fingers wrapped around his upper arm yanking him along with her as she continued running out of town. The bite of her firm grip into his skin was enough to shake the shock away, his feet pounding against the cold ground in rhythm with hers.

She was the first in the cruiser already flipping switches as the sound of metal rang around him as his feet scrambled up the hatch. He could see the heads of about a dozen men come into view over the rise of the hill. He punched the control panel only for the door to remain exactly where it was prone on the frozen ground. He fumbled with the cover to the panel, kicking it aside with one foot as he jiggled wires. Small hands pushed him aside and within seconds the hatch rose. None too soon either, he thought as blasts fired in their direction pinging and sizzling against the ship's walls. He felt the rumble of the ship as it took off. Pushing himself off the cold, metal floor where he'd fallen when she shoved him, he made his way to the cockpit to see her focused on entering coordinates.

"What was that about?" he asked leaning against the doorjamb not quite sure he wanted to know.

"I found Kippe."

"And?"

"I got the information you needed."

"He gave it to you?" She slung a look over her shoulder that'd withered weeds in a rainstorm. Galen simply raised a brow waiting for her to tell him what she did.

"I took it. He was being an arrogant, pompous, greedy..."

"Alright! I get the picture. So that's why we were being chased and there's scorch marks on the sides of my ship now?" Tabs had the decency to look a bit guilty at his words. He always did figure she loved old Bertha more than him, or any person for that matter. We'll worry about Kippe later. Good thing we didn't trade much on Talonia, huh?" He chuckled lightening the mood. A smile spread slowly across her face brightening her features. Without her usual, smudge of grime she looked pretty. A beeping on the communications panel interrupted his thoughts.

"It's an incoming com from Mara." Tabs barely hid the annoyance laced into her words as she told him who the interstellar call was from.

"I'll take it back here." He turned back into the commons area hitting a button on the communication panel built into the wall. Mara's beautiful face came into view, froze, then flashed in and out a moment before appearing again.

"Galen?" Static clouded her voice but he could see her clearly now.

"Mara! I'm surprised an interstellar call reached us out here."

"Have you made any progress?" That was his Mara always getting straight to the point.

"A little-"

"I was hoping you'd be back by now." Mara's lips turned down in a pout.

"I know, Sweetie. I'm trying but you know... space... travel... it does take time," Galen tried soothing his impatient fiancé. He didn't even mention the whole illegal aspect of the retrieval which she seemed to forget.

"Just... hurry."

"I know you miss me. I'll be back soon."

"And with my gift, right?"

"Of course. I promise." Static bounced across the screen before turning black. He must have lost the transmission. Hopefully, the few minutes they'd had to talk would be enough to calm Mara. She always got anxious when she was waiting for him to bring her something, like he usually did from his supply runs.

"She didn't sound happy." Tabs' voice interrupted his thoughts.

"She sounded fine. Just missing me," Galen said reappearing in the doorway of the flight deck.

"If that's what you're calling it," Tabs snorted rolling her eyes.

"And it's not nice to eavesdrop, kiddo."

"It's not eavesdropping when you blast the transmission within hearing range."

"Where are we heading, anyway? You never mentioned." He swore he saw Tabs cringe and she never cringed as he changed the subject.

"Daxxym."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But... that's through a wormhole loop. Bertha won't make that trip."

"Hey! You want the canister or not? Besides, Bertha's tougher than you give her credit." Galen couldn't control the tug at the corners of his lips. Tabs was right. He needed the artifact and Bertha continued to surprise him.

"I'm guessing you've already set the coordinates."

"The minute we took off." What would he ever do without Tabs, he wondered?

~~~~~~~~

Six days later found them on an old airfield, blending in among other runners and ships just outside the capitol of Daxxym. Glancing back, Bertha looked no worse for wear. The back to back hop through three wormholes to get here was nerve-wracking to say the least but they'd made it. Mostly thanks to Tabs. Not only was she a genius with anything mechanical, she could navigate a cruiser unlike any pilot he'd known. None of that auto-pilot malarkey for her. She knew how to sling-shot around a star and hop wormholes like the old timers who sat around cantinas talking about the good old days.

Daxxym was a bit out of his league when it came to trading seeing it wasn't much of a colony planet. At least, not anymore. Large, shiny buildings and hover cars zipped by as they walked into the city.

Nothing in his simple colonial existence prepared him for navigating this world. How was he supposed to find the artifact let alone retrieve it? Tabs only had a name to go by, Fenton. Their cursory scan of an old Daxxym database turned up nothing. Now they wandered a bit aimless without direction or plan, hoping they'd stumble on something. Daxxym did not seem like the place for black markets and pirates.

He felt more at home once they turned down a narrow road, alleyway really, lined by older, brick buildings. People here didn't look down their nose at them despite their nice clothes and sleek hair. Half-way down the lane, Tabs stopped, tugging on his arm as she did. He stumbled to a stop noticing where she pointed. There in the distance was a sign hanging over a warehouse looking building. The word Fenton's scrawled in bold, red letters across the sign. His heart pounded erratically. Any beat now, it felt as if it would break free inside his chest and jump around on its own.

"That's gotta be it," Tabs whispered still not moving. He tugged her along, not wanting to draw attention to themselves and led her into a bar a few doors beyond the large building sporting the mysterious name.

Two hours later, they'd found out much of what they needed to know about Fenton's by simply listening. Fenton it seemed was an old crime boss moved up in the world. He settled on Daxxym after making his fortune and while he was 'legitimate' now, he still slummed time to time according to the patrons around them. His name floated around on several conversations around them. But the buzz died the minute a young man walked in taking a corner booth. It didn't take long to realize this dandy with floppy blonde hair and stylish suit was none other than Fenton himself. How? He was no older than mid-twenties, not much older than Galen's twenty-two years.

Galen watched him, side-glancing his way every few minutes. Fenton grinned to the patrons, laughed at jokes around him but no one approached him. His hope went from high to cavernous depths the longer they set there. The man was a legend in these parts, it seemed. How would they get close enough to even see if he had the canister? Tabs slid from the stool where she sat mumbling about being back in a few minutes. Great, now even his best friend had abandoned him, he thought as the girl exited the bar moments later. Deciding to drown his sorrows a minute longer he ordered another round of Daxxym ale, sipping it while letting himself wallow.

Patrons came and went over the next half-hour while he waited on Tabs. Eventually, the sound of the door opening and closing grew old and he stopped jerking around to see if she'd returned. He wouldn't have realized when she did except for the hushed whispers bantering around him. He glanced towards Fenton's booth watching the beautiful red-head walk gracefully towards him in a flowing black dress.

When she turned towards him with a wink, he almost spit his ale out across the bar. He'd never seen Tabs in a dress. Scratch that. He'd never seen Tabs as clean or beautiful as she was now. The gangly youth he'd taken in no longer stood in front of him. Instead, a gorgeous woman had taken her place. And said woman was now walking out of the bar on Fenton's arm. Moments later the bartender slipped him a note that said, Keep it running.

Knots twisted in his stomach at the thought of another gun chase but he had to trust Tabs. What else could he do? Returning to Bertha, he started the old cruiser and then paced by the hatch watching for signs of the girl... woman... whoever she was now. Raking a hand through his hair, he pushed the confusion away as pounding steps alerted him of her presence an hour later. Shoving a metal container at him she ran past until she'd punched in coordinates and Bertha now sped through space away from the planet. As one they both exhaled, staring at the small, metallic cylinder.

"That's it?" she asked in a hushed tone. There was sadness in her voice despite their success.

"That's it." Why didn't he feel happier? They'd succeeded. He was on his way back to Mara with her gift. Securing the artifact in the ship's hold, neither spoke about that day on Daxxym, Fenton or what it'd taken Tabs to get the container. Life returned to normal. Tabs donned her baggy clothes, twisted her red curls up and tinkered to her heart's content on pieces of Bertha's engine, making tweaks to this or that. Despite it not spoken aloud, Galen couldn't help but remember the way her blue eyes sparkled holding her head high as she walked out with Fenton that day.

Two weeks later they landed back on Mevion. He tucked the cylinder in his bag, slug it over his shoulder and left Tabs with Bertha as he made his way through the settlement to find Mara. Knocking on the door of her father's large white mansion, Galen adjusted the itchy collar of his new shirt. Why was he nervous? This was what he'd been waiting for, wasn't it? A servant ushered him in to a small parlor but he didn't have to wait long. Mara ran in moments later looking lovely as ever.

"Did you get it?" she asked looking anxious. He nodded, gulping before shuffling through the bag for the metal cylinder. Rust-covered, faded burgundy glinted in the light as he held it up. He felt the liquid slosh inside as he shifted the canister. Mara's eyes narrowed reading the faded inscription. She crossed her arms with an audible huff.

"What?"

"It's.not.diet!" Each word left her lips slow and clear. Galen looked down at the can in his hand and then back up at the woman in front of him. How was he supposed to have known that? He wasn't a historian. Mara was saying something, words spewing from her pursed lips but he didn't hear them. His thoughts strayed to the girl he'd left back at the ship. She'd helped him despite disliking Mara and never uttered one disparaging word. Ok, maybe a couple, but not many. How had he been so blind all this time? Galen turned, leaving Mara standing in shock as he strode out of her house. He heard her call out behind him,

"Where do you think you're going?" Without looking back, he muttered,

"To apologize." And to find out a few secrets about a certain red-head, he thought, slipping the cold metal can back into his pack.

~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading my feeble attempt at sci-fi humor. And thanks to @LayethTheSmackDown for the generous invitation to take part in this amazing anthology! If you enjoyed the story, check out my new sci-fi adventure, Remembrance, now posting on my profile. ~SJ