Space Travel

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Space travel is exceedingly dangerous.

No one knows that better than I do. After all, I've had plenty of experience.

But that, that last deal I made, that was ridiculous. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Then again, when do I ever, really? Anyway, it's tough enough to pilot your way out of the atmosphere of any planet without their national guard on your tail. Look, I didn't know that the guy who hired me was a fugitive. If I had, I swear that I never would have taken him on board. Certainly not in the middle of the day, at the very least. So there we were, trying to not explode from the atmospheric pressure*, and trying not to be exploded by the guns of the navy of Paxius Tellus.

I should point out now that I'm not big on having crew on my ship. Believe me, I've tried having copilots, first mates, even stewardesses, but they always turn out to be Space Trade Authority spies, or the offspring of old enemies and bent on revenge, or they get uncomfortable with some of my more morally ambiguous dealings and try to hand me to the STA or else just quit. So, needless to say, I did not have anyone to help me with shields and thrusters and reargunning,** and to generally assist me in clearing out of that planet, but then, I also didn't have anyone trying to garrotte me with space-piano wire. There are pros and cons to flying solo, I suppose.

Anyway, my ship is pretty damned manoeuvrable – it has to be for the line of work I tend to do – and I managed to get us out and away. I may have accidentally hit a button that released a few space-bombs*** behind me by accident, which gave us a nice little shield for me to clear out. During this climactic escape, my passenger was no help at all, doing little but cower in the corner while I heroically got us to safety. He reminded me of one of those hostages I rescued that time that that one space-mafia family hired me to look like one of their guys and pull a jailbreak of high-profile hostages taken by a rival gang to give their own organization "legitimacy" or something. But I digress. Anyway, I jumped us into light-space, and we were safe, at the very least, for the time being. Finally I had a chance to ask this guy I had just risked my life and ship for why in space he needed to get away so quickly. I did so.

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*I think that's what it is. Truth be told, I've never really known why leaving the atmosphere is dangerous, only how to not die when you do so.

**Not that I have any concealed weapons on my little boat, fine folks of the Space Trade Authority. That was purely a hypothetical statement of something a first mate could do if I had concealed guns on my harmless little pleasure craft. Which, just to be clear, I don't.

***Relax. I'm almost certain I didn't kill anyone. Probably.