Prosperity's Rise Book 1

Chapter 3 The Serial Number

Horonoka flew the ship down to one of the moons orbiting a gas planet in Kardonia's solar system. The moon had several domes on it where military families lived in retirement and scientists worked on the logistics of extracting metallic hydrogen from the planet.

He kept the ship hovering above the moon's gravity and shouted at a communications screen. "Look, I don't know ok? I don't know!" he yelled.

"You don't know what kind of ship you're flying?" asked the dockworker.

"It's Kardonian military!"

"A lot of ships here are Kardonian military," the dockworker replied. "What's the serial number?"

"Isn't it the same for all of them?"

"You're thinking of fuel rod type."

Horonoka was fuming. "Why do you need the serial number?"

"New landing rigs. Adjustable. We need to know what kind of ship it is so we don't damage it, but we can use the serial number if you don't know the type."

Horonoka pulled on his red hair with both his hands. "Where do I even find the serial number?" he roared.

The dockworker was unphased by Horonoka's outbursts. "Please don't shout sir."

"I just-" He took several deep breaths. "What do I do?" he asked, trying to be patient.

"Ok," began the dockworker. "First, go to settings."

Horonoka lost his patience. "Look, just eyeball it. Ok? I will literally pay you to just eyeball it."

***

In the lounge, Sana and Mia had finally calmed down the child. He was sitting in front of the TV next to Mia, watching a colorful program for children about different species working together.

Tygor let out a low clicking sound behind Sana. Her stomach twisted and she jumped.

"Dion, Tygor," she breathed. "Don't do that."

"How old would you say he is?" he asked. "It's hard for me to tell."

"Biologically, well," Sana squinted at the boy. "Definitely a preteen, he doesn't look like he's hit his growth spurt yet, and his voice is still high."

"So, he's quite young?"

"Well, yes and no,"

Tygor clicked a few times.

"I mean," explained Sana. "We can't keep him too long. Otherwise, he'll grow up with us instead of his parents. None of us are equipped to raise a kid."

"Speaking of, how's he holding up?"

The boy sipped his water and watched a Synathian with purple hair play hide and seek with a cheating Selendrie flying above her. He stared unblinkingly, his expression was blank and lifeless.

"Hard to say, I feel like he could break down at any moment. No doubt he's scarred for life."

Tygor shook his head. "That is a shame, but I suppose it'll build character."

Sana chuckled and put her head in her hands, her ponytail sliding across one of her long ears. "If you can call it that," she sighed. "You know, sometimes I think about sneaking things into Horonoka's food, see if I can chemically castrate him."

"Yesterday I would've told you not to."

"Not today?"

"At this point making sure he never has kids would be a service to the universe," he muttered, causing Sana to laugh. "Speaking of," he continued. "I should probably make sure he's not doing anything stupid."