Space Bunnies!

Chapter 4: Space Port

Bodi worked on his stories as Kai slept, utilizing his imagination to its highest capacity; during his watches, that was pretty much all he did after the ship's trajectory was locked in. Aside from the minor course correction to avoid stellar obstacles, the ship pretty much flew on her own. The duo took almost four days to reach their next point, with no stops in between but the standard watch rotation, as usual. Kai was straightforward like that. This was meant to be a short trip, so there was no point in stopping at stations or planets along the way.

"Are you sure you want to stay on the ship by yourself?" Kai asked from his console across from Bodi's. He hoped Bodi would change his mind before they reached their destination, but he was stubborn, like their mother. 

"I'm self-sufficient!" Bodi piped up. 

"Well...you say that, but you don't even know how to use a laundry basket sometimes."

"Kai-Kai, for real, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." Bodi insisted, "Just go down to the surface and try to have a good time."

"Okay...prepare for landing," Kai sighed. He could remember when Bodi was afraid to go out into their childhood garden without at least an escort from one of their parents. Now, he was claiming to be 'self-sufficient.' After contacting the docking controller and getting permission to land, Kai guided the ship's thrusters through a routine descent onto landing pad three, the central spaceport. 

Bodi would manage the landing gear to ensure they were down and locked for contact. The duo operated their control panels in silence. Bodi could tell it was hard on Kai because he loved keeping him safe. That's precisely why he picked this dangerous mission. He was trying to prove to Kai that he could do it independently and didn't need to be coddled—they were equal—both adventurers. 

After a safe touchdown, external clamps locked onto the ship and secured it as an airlock extended to meet them. Kai stood up from his spot and approached the farthest bulkhead, where an old-school chalkboard was positioned on the wall. He lifted the stick of half-worn chalk and held it out to his brother. "Do you wanna do this one?" Kai asked with a smile. He was referring to the 'successful maneuvers board.' A tradition taken up once they left their solar system, the rule was that anytime they'd come close to getting sucked into a black hole and escaped, survived narrow encounters with pirates, or completed landings with no complications, the number went up. They were up to 129 successful maneuvers. 

Bodi stood up and took the chalk from Kai. With a smile, he erased the 129 and made it 130.

"Hopefully, that isn't our last one..." Kai anxiously added as he made his way off of the ship.

 "You be careful," Bodi said as Kai left the cockpit. 

Kai nodded, then turned to make the short trek down the ship's corridor; from there, he quickly emerged from the docking port. He braced himself as he felt the real gravity of the planet; it always felt a little weird after traveling on the ship for a bit. His boots touched down on the surface. It was ice cold in the facility despite the binary suns burning bright just outside the massive windows lining the walls of the spaceport. Kai ventured further into the building. The architecture was beautiful, clean, unimpeded, efficient, and ginormous. It offered unobstructed views of the surrounding wasteland outside; the sight was so wide and open that Kai couldn't help but ignore the PA woman as she incoherently muttered information about flights and travel plans. Aside from the sand and abundant greenery on the surface, there wasn't much of anything out there, not a drop of water in sight, which made sense; one of the benefits of the desert was that it was very dry. Computers needed to be cool, it was easier to remove heat in a dry environment—thus making Devana the perfect site to cultivate a data center and silicon company.

 The port seemed busy today. Everyone was in a hurry, fluttering around the massive open space like bees on a mission—early morning rush...or maybe it was afternoon, perhaps? 

He knew that Devana was a capital planet—the headquarters for one of the most powerful megacorporations in the entire galaxy. Some of their smaller subsidiaries were also present here, the prominent names being 'Jetson Private HoverCrafts' and 'Skyline Interplanetary Industrial Concern.' These were just some of the brands they'd assimilated into their collective. They owned 15 other companies, and the number was counting. If Dau-Hira saw a promising name with technology they liked, they bought it. If they thought that a patent could improve the quality of life for their internal employees. They bought it. They did this so many times that they'd accumulated about 15 million patents on just about every major piece of technology floating around the galaxy, even Kai and Bodi's solar sailor had some worn labels that no doubt read 'Daughtler' at some point—until it faded with age. Despite the impressiveness of it all—it wasn't the most valuable company in the universe Kai was interested in; he was here for a mission, and he tried to recall all the information about his 'contractor' before he met with her. Usually, she would contact her employees remotely for less dangerous jobs. 

She preferred a certain amount of anonymity, which Kai could respect. What he didn't respect was the fact that she always seemed to know far too much about him than he did about her. She took an interest in all of her independent employees—and as much as he didn't like it...he couldn't just ignore her; she offered far too many job opportunities, from being a farm hand on an alien ranch—to bounty-hunting assignments...like the one Kai was here for today. He usually went for the less dangerous operations, but he had to please his brother...and although he was against it...he had to admit that it was pretty clever to get as many credits as they could so that they wouldn't have to do this again for a very long time.

 This place was ginormous, and he hadn't even left the port yet. He stopped walking when he reached an expanded map...Ghost didn't even tell him where he was supposed to be! She just told him to be here on the planet. Kai was confused...even as an explorer. As Kai eyed the map, his ear twitched as he heard the sound of motors whirring closer to his position; he turned to see an all-silver robot making its way over, and he was tense already. Omeocoon were partial to robotics, viewing them as distractions and unessential spy machines. They were dangerous, especially if one approached him randomly.

 "Greetings Mr. Kai. I am S9-B4. I will be your guide during your stay in the Daughtler-Hirabayashi plaza." Its spherical head lowered as its graspers clasped together and came into what appeared to be its version of a bow. Cute. He spoke with a proper Essex accent. Posh. "You will be staying in the escalade suite at the top of the Auberge Spire, and there appears to be one meeting on your itinerary with the boss. If you will follow me this way, I'm sure you are exhausted from such a long journey. A hot towel for you when you arrive at the room? I will even shine your boots."

"Wait? Hold on! There's nothing wrong with my—"

 "I'm afraid I must insist," S9 interrupted. The miss does not like unprofessional appearances. Speaking of, we must depart now if we do not wish to be late. Come, come." S9 articulated, rotated, and headed toward a smaller, much less impressive building—the corporate hotel.

Kai looked down at his foot and kicked his boot out. S9 was correct. They looked worn. "Hey, wait up," Kai called out as S9 did not wait for him, "Are you the newest model?" Kai asked, shaking off the embarrassment. 

S9 nodded in confirmation. "I am a ninth-generation J22-XL service unit commissioned by the central hotel. My line of service units was released three months ago, only the best for our escalade penthouse occupiers. The S9 series offers many improvements compared to the older S8, such as a new cooling system allowing me to draw in 50% more air and a high-performance processor that makes me sound much more organic than ever."

"Will I be staying overnight?" Kai followed up. 

"Indeed. I trust that won't be an issue?" 

Kai opened his mouth to speak but furrowed his brows; he needed the money. "No," he winced as he finally responded, "I just have to call my brother. Is that okay?" 

"Of course."