Chapter 105: The End of the Missions

Lus pulled into the small hangar in the hidden moon base. He was still trying to figure out what to say to the Suppliers to convince them to call the Argo up with the promise of being paid upon their arrival.

He landed the shuttle, turned the engine off, and looked at Avil who was sitting in the copilot's seat on top of his bag. It'd been nice to have a companion with him for those long days of travel, making the return trip a lot less painful than the trip out to Sliaryt.

"Come on, buddy. We're almost home," he said as he scooped the cat up. "Unfortunately for you, though, I'm not in the mood to explain how I randomly gained a mutant cat, so you have to stay hidden."

Avil screeched in protest as Lus zipped him into the duffle bag. He left a little gap to ensure the cat got enough air but not enough that he could pop his head out and ruin everything. Taking one last look around to ensure he wasn't forgetting anything, Lus stepped out of the shuttle and into the hangar.

Supplier 3, a blonde Human woman, already waited there with the other Human and Kremel, just as before.

"Patron 413, you're back early," she said.

"I know. My trip was shorter than expected. If you could just–"

"Your courier is waiting." She curtly cut him off.

Lus raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he didn't say anything more as she turned and walked away. He quickly caught up, trying to puzzle out how the Argo would have known to come back early to get him. Did they decide to wait around just in case? Even then, why would they have sent someone with such perfect timing?

A few minutes of walking later, they came to a different hangar where Cewi-Bano waited. She smiled at Lus and nodded to the Supplier.

"Thank you. You have the rest of your payment, so we'll be on our way," the Nemarian said.

The Supplier and her entourage nodded. "Very well. It was a pleasure doing business with you, courier."

Lus followered Cewi onto the familiar Argo shuttle and breathed a sigh of relief as he sat in the copilot's chair next to his longtime friend. Once the door was closed and they had safely taken off, he dared to speak casually with her.

"It's good to see you, Cewi."

"Good to see you too, Lus. Especially in one piece and not half rotted away," she said with a grin.

"Yeah. Sliaryt isn't the kind of place I think I'd want to visit again." He cleared his throat. "But, uh, how did you know I'd be back so early? I was supposed to be there another week."

"Becky told us that you must have run into trouble. Something about your cat mysteriously disappearing, just like he did back when you made your escape from the senator's mansion," Cewi answered. "Speaking of, did you lose the cat somewhere along the way?"

"Oh right. Thanks for reminding me." Lus unzipped his duffle and let Avil poke his ruffled head out with a screech. "I'm glad Becky noticed and you guys trusted her enough to come back for me."

"Eh. We were in the area already so it was a small pit stop. If we'd been too far away, you would have just had to wait." Cewi shrugged.

Lus chuckled and leaned back in his seat as Avil crawled out of the bag and into his lap to curl up and take another nap. It amazed him how much that cat could sleep. Cewi didn't ask for any details about his trip, and when he tried to tell her about it, she told him to save it for the mission briefing that would be due upon his arrival. Instead, she filled him in on the Argo's adventures during his absence.

They were both laughing as they arrived back at the ship. She opened the rear door, and he found Wsr waiting just outside.

"Wsr," he said, walking to her and shaking her large hand. "Good to see you completely back in action."

"Good to be back in action." She smiled and reached for his bag and the cat in his arms. "I'll take care of these things while you debrief with the Captain and Cewi."

"Thanks." He patted her arm as he went past, following Cewi through the ship.

It was nice to be back on the Argo, surrounded by people he knew and trusted. And no one wanted to kill him. Not to mention he'd once again evaded Varyna and her attempt to wrest Leviathan from him.

The two of them went up to the briefing room where Captain Tave and Nippy both already waited. Cewi went to sit at the front of the table by them as Lus saluted and then fished the artifact piece from his pants pocket. He handed it to Captain Tave, relishing the relief and pride in having completed an entirely sole mission for his first time.

"Good job, Arten." Tave's voice wasn't even sarcastic this time. And maybe, just maybe, there was a hint of pride in there, like he was proud of Lus too.

"Atta boy, Lusac. I knew you could do it," Nippy said with a broad grin.

"As happy as we are to see the final piece, we do need to hear the full report," Cewi reminded the room.

Lus nodded and sat at the other end of the table. He took a breath and then filled in all the details about what happened with getting to Sliaryt, what happened on the space station, and then epic story about going down to the planet, retrieving the piece, and making his way back. He even included Varyna in his tale, claiming her motivations were all based on capturing him as a criminal–he wasn't ready to admit to keeping a Demon in the interbox yet–and talked about saving her from the Nemarian mafia.

"I then escaped using the cloaking device built into the borrowed shuttle and met back up with Cewi at the Suppliers' base," he concluded.

Everyone nodded, clearly impressed by his awesome battle story–Nippy seemed to like that part the best. Tave held up the piece and smirked.

"This marks the end of a rather tedious mission, but one that will pay well enough that anyone on the crew who wants to can comfortably retire if they so please," he said. He nodded at Lusac. "Good work, Arten. I recognize that you were integral in the completion of this job. I'll give you a few days to recover, and then we can discuss promotion opportunities."

Lus broke out into a smile. "Yes, sir. Thank you, Captain."

"You're dismissed." The Captain nodded to the door.

Lus stood up and then paused behind his chair before turning back to the three leaders of the Argo.

"Captain, if I may ask… who is this artifact going to? And what do they want with it?" he said cautiously.

Tave gave him an icy stare. "You know the rules, Arten. That's none of your business. Get out of here."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." Lusac walked out of the room, feeling a bit deflated at the answer. He was desperately curious to know at least a little about the artifact he'd nearly died for several times over, but it seemed those answers wouldn't come yet. As he was walking down the hallway to the ladder between decks, someone came up behind him and grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait a sec, Lus," Nippy said.

Lusac turned to look at him. "What is it? Did I forget something in my report?"

The Kremel shook his head. "No. I snuck away for a minute so I could answer your question. I respect Captain Tave, but I think he's wrong to not tell you the truth about the artifact. I'll give a few details, but you have to swear to not tell another soul."

He nodded excitedly.

"It's for the largest Kremel gang in the galaxy. They're waging a private war against the Nemarian Mafia, and apparently this artifact is going to be some kind of game changer for them. We don't know anything beyond that," Nippy explained.

"Oh," Lus said, a little disappointed it wasn't something more grand.

"Yeah. Not all that exciting. But remember to keep it secret still. I'd rather the Captain and Cewi-Bano didn't know I told you," the Kremel said.

"My lips are sealed," Lus promised.

Nippy patted his back and then returned down the hallway to the briefing room as Lus turned back to the ladder. He wanted to get back to his quarters to shower and put on something more comfortable. Then he was going to track down all his friends and let them know he made it home safe.

***

"See you guys later," Lusac said as Zer-Dasht, Oaty, and Wsr exited his apartment into the hallway. They all gave waves as they walked their separate ways, returning to their own quarters for the night. They'd just finished celebrating Lus's homecoming and promotion now that he actually had time for it. He'd been back on the Argo two full weeks now, and already he was back in the swing of things.

Originally Captain Tave offered to take him off cooking completely, but Lus remained adamant he keep his kitchen duties, partly for the [XP] but mostly because he didn't want Leviathan to get bored without him in there and then spill the secret to the next dinner cook.

Now he worked in a different section of engineering that kept up his technical skills without requiring so much time in the Fsylan tubes. The only downside was that he didn't see Becky as much during his shift.

Lus looked back at his couch where she waited with Avil. That was alright though. They made up for it with how much time they spent together after work. It turned out that the whole "dating" thing was a lot more fun than he'd originally expected.

He went and sat next to her on the couch, tossing his arm around her shoulders. "I'm convinced you're only with me for the cat."

Becky smiled and leaned her head against his chest, one still scratching Avil's chin. "As long as you have Avil around, you'll never know for sure."

Lusac looked down at her and sighed in contentment. Still, it was hard to fully relax when he had to keep such a big secret from someone he cared so much about. But tonight that would change.

"Hey Becks. You up for a little adventure?" he asked.

She looked up at him. "Depends. Any special cookies involved?"

He chuckled. "Sure. We can steal from my stash. What I want to show you is in the kitchen anyway."

They both stood up–Avil protesting his favorite caretaker abandoning him–and Becky followed him to the Argo's empty kitchen. The cleaning golem had already passed through, leaving everything spic and span after his messy cooking.

Becky went immediately to the nitrobox where he kept a supply of [Famous Chocote Chunk Cookies] and grabbed two out. He took a cookie from her and pulled her over to the interbox instead where a blank screen sat.

"You wanted to show me the interbox? Believe it or not, I've actually seen one before. A few times, actually," she said dryly.

Lus laughed. "It's what's inside the interbox that I want to show you."

"Leftovers from dinner?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

He shook his head with a smile and then tapped the screen. "Hey, Leviathan. Wake up. There's someone I want you to meet."

"Leviathan? Lus, what are you talking about?" Becky asked with a sudden seriousness.

He squeezed her hand. "Just wait. I'll explain everything. I want you to meet the being responsible for the success of all those missions and turning me into who I am today. Without him, I never would have gotten Avil which means we might never have reached this point. And well, as much as it pains me to say it, he's kind of my friend too."

"Lusac, I don't know what you're talking about…" Becky stared at him in concern.

"Leviathan. Stop sulking and come say 'hi' to my girlfriend," Lusac demanded, ignoring Becky's pleading. She would understand. He trusted her.

The lights flickered out, and Becky squealed quietly, grabbing Lusac's arm and pulling him close.

"Don't worry. He's just a touch dramatic," Lus whispered. He grinned as the screen on the interbox lit up and then a red, cartoon face appeared on it.

"WHO DARES DISTURB ME?" Leviathan's voice boomed through the kitchen, and Becky held Lus tighter.

He sighed and pointed at the screen. "Leviathan, meet Becky. And Becky, meet Leviathan, the Demon in our interbox."