"System check!" Taro barked, his voice echoing through the Central Command Room.
"Systems are all green, Mr. Teiro. A remarkably swift startup—she’s certainly got that brand-new-ship smell," Koume replied.
She turned her newly fashioned face toward Taro and gave a sharp, satisfied nod. Was it just me, or did she sound a little too proud of herself? Taro wondered. "How’s our link with the station?"
"Solid," Marl chimed in. "Departure clearance is in, and we’ve got a reserved slot in front of the Stargate. I also made sure Rocky is jointed up nice and tight."
Taro glanced over at Marl and Koume. They were both kicked back in their seats, looking just as ready as he was. He flashed them a confident thumbs-up.
"Man, I didn't realize we needed reservations for space. I’m seriously glad I’m not doing this solo... Alright then, let’s get this show on the road!"
Taro fired up BISHOP and began manually deploying the ship’s startup functions. Sure, there was an automated Launch Function, but if he just let the computer do everything, he’d never actually learn how to fly the damn thing.
[ THERMONUCLEAR BATTERY CONTROL: 50% OUTPUT ]
[ PROPULSION CONTROL PROGRAM: STABLE OPERATION MODE ]
[ CRUISE PROGRAM: INITIATED ]
As Taro wrestled the Overall Control Function into place, the ship shuddered, vibrating with the hum of high-voltage life.
"Destroyer Plum... Launching!"
On Taro’s cue, Marl punched in the final departure sequence. The massive ship began to drift slowly away from the station’s embrace.
"Execute ninety-degree horizontal rotation. Engage Overdrive. Target: Stargate SG-3835."
The ship responded with predatory grace. In less than four seconds, the destroyer finished its turn. Two main thrusters vomited out a torrent of fusion-heated hydrogen plasma, hurling the colossal hunk of black metal into the void.
[ OVERDRIVE: START ]
A high-pitched whine sliced through the air, followed by a sudden, heavy silence.
"Any problems?" Taro asked, peeling himself out of his seat. The chair was designed to automatically pivot into a reclining position to handle the G-force, making him feel like he was constantly trying to take a nap while flying.
"Zero abnormalities, Mr. Teiro. Honestly, if we had a breakdown just from starting the engine and warping, we’d be better off suing the manufacturers than flying," Koume remarked.
"Fair point," Taro grunted. He stood up, stretched until his joints popped, and grabbed a drink from the sideboard.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Marl asked, sounding concerned. "We’re already there."
"Huh?" Taro blinked.
The ship suddenly shuddered.
"Wait, what? I thought—oh crap, it’s right there—AGHHH! HOT! HOT! HOT!"
Coffee—or at least a liquid that looked like coffee—erupted from his cup. Taro’s shirt was instantly baptized in a scalding brown stain.
[ OVERDRIVE: TERMINATED ]
"...I managed to stain a brand-new ship exactly two minutes after takeoff," Taro groaned, dabbing at his chest. "Pretty wild, right?"
"If by 'wild' you mean 'childish,' then yes, Mr. Teiro," Koume sighed. "I’m putting the external feed on the main screen. This is your first time seeing a Stargate in person, isn't it?"
Taro looked up, ignoring his soggy shirt. The screen displayed a gargantuan, cylindrical megastructure. Surrounding it were thousands of vessels of every conceivable shape and size, buzzing around like gnats at a porch light.
"So that’s a Stargate... It’s actually pretty simple. I was expecting something with more spikes or glowy bits. But damn, it’s easily a hundred times bigger than the pictures."
Taro’s BISHOP interface informed him they were closing in at over 200 kilometers per hour, yet the gate didn't seem to be getting any bigger. It was so impossibly massive that his brain simply couldn't process the perspective.
"Station Control just sent over the Beacon Program. Executing now," Marl said.
Taro watched as the program took over. BISHOP began processing a dizzying stream of movement vectors and [COLLISION AVOIDANCE FUNCTIONS] to guide them into their slot.
"Look at all those ships... Are they really going to warp everyone at the same time?"
As they drifted into the mouth of the cylinder, the sheer scale of the fleet became apparent. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of ships waiting in neat, flat tiers.
"I guess they line them up like that so they don't crash into—wait, holy hell! What is that?! That’s not a ship, that’s a continent!"
A shadow fell over the Plum. Taro rubbed his eyes, convinced he was hallucinating.
"That’s a Gigantech Corp heavy transport," Marl explained, sounding impressed. "You don't see those often. I think the total length is nearly four kilometers. We’ll have to be careful not to get caught in its gravity well."
Taro’s jaw hit the floor. The Beacon Program had parked them directly beneath the belly of the behemoth. He felt like a tiny remora clinging to the underside of a shark.
"Man... I hope we get to fly something like that one day," Taro whispered.
Suddenly, the space around them began to bleed a ghostly, pale blue light. On his HUD, the Overdrive Device’s operating rate began to climb. It hit 100% and just kept going.
"Uh, Koume? BISHOP says the Overdrive is at, like, forty thousand percent. That’s a typo, right? We aren't about to explode?"
"It’s perfectly fine, Mr. Teiro. Based on the distance to the exit gate, I expect we’ll peak at about one hundred and fifty thousand percent. Essentially, the gate is performing the work of fifteen hundred standard Overdrives simultaneously."
An Overdrive device going into actual 'overdrive.' How poetic, Taro thought nervously.
"Jump in three, two, one," Marl warned. "If you don't want to wear the rest of that coffee, get in your seat."
Taro scrambled back into his chair, his sticky shirt clinging to him. Totally my own fault, he lamented.
The blue light intensified until the neighboring ships vanished into a sapphire fog. Then, the universe broke. Everything Taro looked at doubled and tripled, glowing with an agonizing radiance. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the light bled right through his eyelids.
[ JUMP DRIVE: CONFIRMED ]
In a world of blinding white, only the BISHOP HUD remained stable, ticking through its [FUNCTION GROUPS]. The Beacon Program executed its final line of code, and for a split second, even the HUD vanished into the void.
[ JUMP DRIVE: EXECUTE ]
"Cargo received in full. Good work, kid. I’ve wired the reward to your account; give it a look."
On the viewscreen, a businessman at their destination station gave a satisfied grin. Taro grinned back, watching the credit notification pop up on his HUD.
"Everyone’s using the big freighters these days," the man continued. "But guys like you who handle the small-batch stuff are a godsend. Waiting for a slot on a cargo liner takes forever compared to this."
Taro leaned in, his ears perking up. This was it—the "casual banter" that led to real money. No matter what century it was, networking was king.
"Happy to help. We actually find ourselves with a bit of a gap in our schedule," Taro said, leaning heavily on the just happened to be free angle. "If you’ve got anything else that needs moving, we’re your crew."
The man on the screen hummed, looking Taro up and down. "Rising Sun Corp, eh? Never heard of you. New startup?"
"Fresh on the scene," Taro said proudly. "Small team, but we’re all pros. I’ve got a salvage-expert mechanic and a literal genius for electronic warfare. We’ve got two ships ready to go, so we can handle more than your average courier."
"Two ships? Wait... were you the ones who brought in that destroyer this morning? My buddies were just talking about that. They were wondering why a military-grade warship was slumming it in a backwater like this."
Taro winced inwardly. Maybe the giant black warship was a bit too conspicuous. He made a mental note to look into some camouflage plating later. "Just happens to be the best tool for the job."
"Well, I don't care why you're hauling freight in a destroyer, as long as the goods get there. Hang on."
The man looked away, muttering to someone off-camera. Taro looked at Marl, who gave him a sharp thumbs-up. Keep the hook in, her expression said.
"Alright, I’m sending a list over. Look at your cargo capacity and pick what you can carry. The destination is four gates out toward the frontier. You need an advance?"
Taro checked Marl. She shook her head.
"We’re good for the Jump Fees," Taro said. "We'll take the whole lot. Our hold is empty, so the timing couldn't be better."
The man gave a two-finger salute. "Then we have a deal."
Taro hesitated, then awkwardly mimicked the salute. He didn't know if he was doing it right, but the client seemed happy enough.
"I’ll leave the loading schedule to you. Just move it as fast as you can. I want those poor bastards out there to get their supplies before they start losing hope."
The channel cut to black. Taro let out a long breath and pumped his fist.
"We did it!" Marl cheered. "And since this is a direct contract that doesn't go through station management, we don't have to pay the middleman margin. That’s pure profit!"
Taro couldn't help but beam. "Not bad at all. Hopefully, he becomes a regular... By the way, 'four gates out' means we use the Stargate four times, right? And Koume, why didn't we take the advance?"
Koume’s holographic girl-form flickered into view. "Your interpretation is correct, Mr. Teiro. As for the advance: an advance is a temporary loan, which naturally incurs interest. Since we have the liquidity to cover our own costs, it is more efficient to avoid the debt."
Taro nodded, feeling like a real businessman for once. He opened his account balance one more time. At the bottom of the ledger, in beautiful, glowing text, it read: [ RECEIVED: 50,000 CRD ].
"It’s not much once you account for the gate fees, but... damn, it feels good."
Taro took a screenshot of the balance and saved it in a folder marked [IMPORTANT DATA].
NEET ESCAPE: SUCCESSFUL