“I know,” the younger woman said, looking distressed. “But I did the best I could. I even got a message while we were haggling that my Path score had increased by one.” She took a big breath. “It’s not that bad. We don’t have to wait to the last day, we can pay him before that. If we bring him the piTec in a week we’re only looking at an extra six thousand.”

Bulco grunted. “I don’t know why I’m so riled up by this. All we have to do is fix an alien spaceship, fly it to the moon, raid an alien outpost, fly back to Earth, and storm a castle guarded by a Warped Broodmother. I’ll probably be dead in a week, so I won’t have to worry about paying back the stupid alien’s loan.”

“That’s the spirit.” Lana smiled at him. “It’ll all work out in the end, you’ll see.”

“Alright, we’re nearly back at the freighter.” Nori’s hands blurred over her console. “Prepare for landing.”

“Remaining strapped in place - check,” Bulco grunted.

The monitors displayed the freighter approaching fast, then the faintest tremor ran through the shuttle and they were docked.

A message flashed on Nori’s view.

Navigator score increased by 1

“You’re getting better at this,” Lana complimented her. “I barely even felt it this time.”

“Yeah.” Nori nodded. “My Tec seems to agree. I just received the same message as you about my Path score increasing.”

“I wonder how it works. We should ask Alzigo next time we see him.”

“Come on.” Nori released her harness. “Let’s unpack everything.”

It was easier than they expected. The anti-grav carrier unfolded to the size of a dining table and hovered a few centimeters above the floor. Bulco and Nori easily piled all the equipment on top of it and then pushed it out of the shuttle. Once they were out, Nori input a series of commands on the light console outside the shuttle. The door closed, and the little shuttle hummed back to life. It levitated on its own and slowly flew out of the launch chute.

“I’m going to miss her,” Nori sighed. “A girl never forgets the first time she flew a shuttle into space.”

Nathan stopped next to her and patted her back sympathetically.

Nori blinked and looked at him in surprise. “Eh … thanks, I was only kidding.”

Nathan’s expression didn’t change, and he patted her one more time before turning to follow Bulco and the carrier.

They unloaded all their new purchases in the empty cargo hold.

“Damn,” Bulco said, scratching his neck as he looked at the pile. “I’ve got a shit-ton of work to do: fix the core, seal the hull breaches, work on the Hummer …”