First Light, Shuttle Flight (Day 2 Early Morning)

The morning dawned, clear and cold. The sun crept over distant mountains, casting a sparkle upon the snow in the valley. As Dorian lashed his bedroll to the saddle, Horse nuzzled him. “What? Yah had yah feed, even a tin ‘o’ mah biscuits...oh, Ah gotcha.” He removed the canteen, then cupped his hand to splash water for Horse to have a long drink. “Yah could just eat tha snow,” he muttered. “Or then again…”

The snow around the shuttle was a torrent of animal tracks. The four toed claws of wolves had circled the entire craft. Here and there were yellow patches, territorial warnings that these strangers had best get off the pack’s land. “Fascinatin’,” the medic said to himself as he checked the coffee pot. “We’ll be on our way, soon enough,” he patted the big animal’s haunch.

Riley was up before the sun, pistol and a shotgun at the ready in case there were any four legged stragglers or anything else between her and the shuttle that was less than friendly. The planet itself - though cold - she had to admit were beautiful. The tail end of the lights was fading into the sunrise, causing a blue/ pink/yellow trail across the sky, but sight seeing wasn’t what was on her mind. A lump formed in the Lieutenant’s throat as Riley saw the trails of red, a stark contrast to the white background. No, Adler was too smart to leave the shuttle. Adler was too good with his guns. Adler was all right. He better be all right. She throttled the mule faster.

He heard the mule’s approach long before he saw it. Dorian wasn’t certain, but it sounded as if Riley had the engine wound up pretty high. She could be laboring through the snow, or, most like, her pilot instincts had kicked in and she felt ‘the need for speed.’ Fortunately, he had the shuttle cleaned out. Horse’s ‘gift’ had been swept clear...though he might be inclined to bribe Serena a few credits to give the deck a quick mopping after it returned.

Soo, he could see it, a flash of rusty yellow, tearing up the wash toward him. Riley wore goggles against the wind, but a few strands of her hair had escaped from beneath the beret. “A sight to charm the heart of man,” he chuckled to himself as she pulled the mule up to the campsite. “Good mornin’,” Adler greeted the Lieutenant. “A’ve made coffee, if yah could use some.”

Riley’s muscles relaxed, a wave of relief washing over her, giving warmth despite the bitter chill seeing Adler alive and unharmed. Regaining her bearing, she climbed off the mule, hanging the goggles over the handlebar as she did. “I don’t know if I trust anything that’s been in that shuttle,” she quipped, “Especially if it belonged to Laloyd. You sure it’s coffee?”

“As close as it gets on New Kasmir,” Dorian replied. “Got it from tha man who provisioned me fah tha night an’ set me up with mah friend here, Horse, meet Riley. Riley, meet Horse.” Introductions completed, he poured the steaming coffee into a metal cup. “We’ll have tah share,” he chuckled. “They only gave me one. Ah’m not contagious...promise.” He handed the cup over. “Shuttle looks good. If Ah read gauges right, looks like Miss Jacy had her fueled and charged up fah us.”

Riley took the metal cup, draining it half of the strong beverage, enjoying the warmth after the bitter cold ride. “Your germs wouldn’t stand a chance.” She kidded, tipping the cup towards the shuttle. “Nice of the blonde to fuel it, leave it in tact, honestly I wrote it off the minute she left with it.” As she spoke, she patted the big horse on the neck, taking another sip of the beverage. “Nothing else from her? Why she was on the El-Vee to begin with?”

The medic shook his head. “Nothin’ Ah found. Just a note addressed tah Vas,” he said as he slipped the envelope from his coat. “She had a boy catch me in tha street. He gave me this note with tha shuttle’s location.” To punctuate the remark, Dorian handed the slip of paper to Riley. “Not sure if it’s her handwritin’ or not...doesn’t much mattah at this point..”

“No, doesn’t.” She replied, putting the note into her pocket. “Glad to see you’re alright though. No trouble with the howlers? Looks like there were plenty of them afoot.” She said, waving her hand to the tracks on the ground. “Good fella, easy,” she told the horse when it brayed.

Dorian regarded Horse. “Ah think he likes yah,” he chuckled. “He’s got good taste. We were fine, closed up in tha shuttle with a little heat goin’. Did have one interestin’ moment,” he said before taking a swallow. “Ah had a fire goin’. Was sittin’ out, listenin’ tah the wolves, watchin’ tha stars. It sounded like they were movin’ off....til Ah looked down an’ saw one, about five meters away, lookin’ right at me.” He took another sip. “Big grey. Yella eyes. Nevah snarled or curled his lip. Ah got a shot off tah scare him, but’ he didn’t scare. Just stood there,” Adler said, “lookin’ right back at me. That’s when Ah chose ‘tha bettah part of valor’ and backed inta tha shuttle.”

“Only you, Dorian,” she said with a chuckle, “would have a standoff with a ruttin’ wolf of all things. You were missed on the Veil, as always there was some typical crew fèihuà. But I’m sure they’ll be plenty more where it came from. Looks like Captain is keeping that Leo bastard on for another run.”

It was always nice to see her smile or laugh, no matter how subtle the moments were. “Ah missed anothah party,” he grinned. “At this juncture, all Ah want tah know is what will Leo change his name tah now?”

“Mud if my hot blooded crew chief has his way.” She replied, giving the horse a final pat, and a quick nuzzle to the muzzle. “But he’s pretty much a cash cow. Leo, that is. He can call himself whatever he wants with the kind of money he brings in.”

“A neverending cast of characters,” Dorian chuckled. “Ah forgot to tell yah ‘bout tha hunter Ah met this mornin’.” As he refilled the shared cup, Dorian described his encounter with the old hunter, Roose, a meeting that had begun with pistol and knife but ended amicably enough. “Man’s got a knee injury,” Dorian concluded. “Ah gave him mah card. We might see him. Difficult tah say with a man cut of that sorta cloth.”

*A hunter,*Riley thought, nodding her head. *Explains the blood and tracks.* Her boots crunched through the snow towards the mule. “Lemme get her loaded up. You planning on riding back?”

He nodded. “Ah need tah return Horse tah tha livery stable. Thought while Ah was in town Ah might spread a few cards...see if Ah can drum up a little business. Should be back around noon...Ah promised mahself a little target practice, so yah oughtta see me round then...unless yah need me sooner.”

“Dorian Adler needs practice? What’s the verse comin’ to? You know what, forget I asked. Chances are there’s a story behind it, and I’m not so sure I want to hear it. And no, your services won’t be needed. Give some cards to Jat - he can give them the deckhands. I’m sending them out and about, need some new crew, especially --” she said, treading lightly -- “a mechanic.”

“So Ah heard,” the medic’s face was carefully neutral.

It dawned on the pilot that the reason the mechanic may have suddenly quit could have been a fallout with Dorian as easily as it was the situation with Jat, but either way was neither here nor there. She quit for whatever reason she had, she’d be replaced. Adler could go back to visiting cat houses between trips, at least now she was the wiser for it. “I know she was a *friend* of yours, so as such, she’s welcome to catch a ride to the next port of call for a portion of her shares. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to stay on this rock for any length of time.”

Dorian turned his head, eyes upon the horizon as he spoke. “Marisol Chavez is mah friend. Don’t have more’n Ah can count on one hand. She pulled me out of a blackness, a kindness Ah still try tah repay.” He filled a pause by draining the coffee. “If Ah see her, Ah’ll pass yah offah. But Ah conjure she’ll come around fah her share in a day or so.”

“We all heard you trying to *repay* her.” Riley quipped more bitterly than she intended as she pushed the mule through the snow. *Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? You won’t get the chance.*“When you see her, pass that offer along. Once we get back to the ship, I’ll have Jat show you how to fly one of these, just in case the situation ever comes up again.”

Dorian turned his back, lifting the coffee pot from the coals. Once the dregs had been poured out, he loosed a cloud of steam by jamming the metal pot into the snow. “Fahgive me if Ah decline,” he said cooly, before stowing both the pot and cup into a saddlebag. “Ah should get Horse clear fah yah liftoff.” With one toe into a stirrup, the medic swung himself onto the saddle. Safe flight, Lieutenant.”

“Decline?” Riley shot back, stopping in her tracks, the medic’s sudden change in demeanor not lost on the pilot. “Something happens to the ship, there might come a time you’ll need to fly one of these. You went to medical school, don’t tell me you don’t have enough grey matter left to learn one more skill?”

Adler gently spurred the horse, then turned the big animal with a light touch on the reins. “Alright,” he answered the taunt. “Ah won’t.” Another spur and a soft click of his tongue set the big horse cantering down the wash, away from the shuttle and Lunar Veil’s pilot.

Riley watched the doctor fade into the white backdrop of New Kasmir before dropping the smile she held, chiding herself as she pushed the mule into the back of the shuttle. “This.” She reminded herself as she went about the various knobs and buttons to bring the shuttle to life. Something put a bee in the medic’s bonnet. “Right here. This is why fraternization is a piss poor idea.”