The crew managed to fill the remaining ship’s storage with photon crystals. In any other circumstance, the wealth from the crystals would allow them to live extravagantly for a few years. With upgrades and repairs, they were not even sure how much they would have left. Once the crew finished storing the last of the crystals in the ship’s storage units, they gathered on the deck.

  “Where to now? We’ll need to get with a fence to sell all these crystals,” Franz said as he sat in his captain’s chair. Lutz quickly jumped on Franz’s lap as he sat down. The dragon could barely fit on Franz’s lap due to his size, but he chose to sit there regardless.

  “You aren’t going to like my suggestion,” Tal sighed as he lay back in his chair. Somehow, he always managed to lie far enough backward that he looked like he would fall off but never did.

  “Why’s that?” Franz asked as he rubbed Lutz’s head.

  “We probably have to go to Cerberus-3,” Tal said.

  Franz let out a groan. The Cerberus planets were rarely touched by the Imperium, which made them a hotspot for criminals. Cerberus-3 was especially ignored by the Imperium. The problem was that it had the scummiest of scum in the universe.

  “Do we really have to?” Franz asked. “They always cheap out there.”

  “Until we get that cloak upgrade, that’s our best bet,” Tal replied. “I don’t like it anymore than you do, but we can’t risk the Imperium detecting Lutz.”

  “You’re right. I just wish that we didn’t have to. That planet is such a pain,” Franz sighed before he turned towards Kelsa. “You ready to get going?”

  “Yep, anything is better than being in this black space,” Kelsa nodded as she moved towards her controls.

  “Then set course for Cerberus-3!” Franz said dramatically as he pointed his hand forward.

  Kelsa pressed several buttons on the controls in front of her. The ship began to shake and creak as it slowly lifted into the air. With one more press of a button, the crew could hear the landing gear shake as it drew itself back into the ship. With the last button pressed, Kelsa pushed forward a lever. The crew held onto various parts of the ship as it began to accelerate. Franz realized that Lutz was not yet used to the acceleration and gripped the dragon tightly before he went flying. Once the ship hit speed, the crew was able to let go and walk throughout the ship with ease. Kelsa moved her hands to the steering wheel at that point and started to move the ship in the direction of Cerberus-3. The red sand of the moon gave way to the darkness of space as the ship moved to its next destination.

  As the ship moved through the expanse of space, Felice took a seat next to Kelsa. Even though Kelsa knew which way to go, Felice still felt comfortable sitting next to her in case she needed help navigating. Meanwhile, everyone else retired to different parts of the ship. Despite Tal’s typical laziness, he did find interest in new things to dissect. So, he went to a chamber to release the giant mole from its storage. The ship had several large chambers for various activities. There was a workspace for Tal, where he tinkered and dissected monsters. There was a workout room for the entire group, but mostly used by Elio. Connected to the workout room was an open training area with a shooting range. There was even a library because Felice insisted that paper books were better than digital ones. In addition to these chambers, there was a small dining room and several bedrooms.

  Elio unsurprisingly left the deck to go to the workout room. Meanwhile, Franz stayed on the deck. He preferred to stay on deck during travel, even if he did not participate much in the actual travel of the ship. He grabbed a tablet off a stand and began to search for information on dragons. He knew that most information was fiction or legends, but he figured he could find some sort of real information amongst it all.

  The flight through space went well. Felice was able to help Kelsa navigate around Imperium patrols, and it seemed as though they went unnoticed. Franz realized it was even harder to find information than he thought. Nothing really went too deeply into the intricacies of dragons. Particularly, he wondered how their bond worked, but could not find any real info. As he flipped through screens on his tablet, Lutz started to get antsy. The white dragon started to toss and turn as he sat in Franz’s lap.

  Franz turned off his tablet and set it on a nearby table. He then scratched Lutz’s head. “Looks like you are getting bored. Let’s go to the training room.”

  Lutz let out a playful chirping sound and jumped from Franz’s lap. As Franz pushed himself out of his chair, Lutz impatiently circled it. Franz stood up, and Lutz ran towards the deck’s entryway. The dragon looked back at Franz and gestured his head forward like he was telling Franz to hurry up. Felice and even Kelsa giggled while Franz hurried to Lutz.

  Lutz took the lead through the hallway. Franz thought it was strange because he had not shown the dragon the way to the training room. Each time Franz tried to take the lead, Lutz moved further in front of him. Eventually, Franz gave up trying to direct Lutz. Franz’s only assumption was that somehow Lutz knew where to go because of their bond. The dragon easily navigated the pair through the ship and to the training room.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Once they arrived, Lutz started to zoom back and forth through the room. Franz walked past the training dummies and to a small cannon that was on the side of the room. The cannon was used to shoot balls into the air to practice shooting. Franz grabbed one of the orange balls that was used with the cannon. Then he chucked it across the room. Lutz immediately came to a halt as he watched the ball fly across the room. Before the ball could land, Lutz jumped into the air and grabbed it with his mouth.

  “Now bring it here,” Franz explained. “You catch it and bring it back. Then I throw it. It’s a game called catch.”

  ***

  Eventually, Lutz got tired of the game of catch. Franz was shocked at how long it took, though. The dragon seemed like he could keep going forever. As Lutz tired, the pair sat against the wall of the training room. Lutz’s head rested on Franz’s lap. Franz ran his hand across Lutz’s head for a little while longer before the pair fell asleep.

  After sleeping for a few hours, the pair were startled awake by the ship entering Cerberus-3’s atmosphere. The ship shook slightly as it broke through. Lutz jumped up in alarm from the shaking and took on a defensive posture. His tail and wings were raised as if he were ready to attack.

  “It’s okay,” Franz said as he stood up. “We are just getting close to our destination. Let’s head back to the deck.”

  Franz gently petted the dragon to comfort him. Lutz’s wings and tails lowered as Franz calmed him down. Then the pair left the training room to move towards the deck of the ship. They walked through the hallways, and Elio and Tal left their respective rooms to follow them.

  As the crew arrived on the deck, they took their seats. Lutz quickly hopped onto Franz’s lap and curled up. The ship was beginning to descend at one of the most notorious cities of the planet, Gehenna. The town was filled with high-rise buildings and various neon lights. The liveliness of the city’s first impression was like the bright colors of a poisonous plant. It hid the scum and villainy of the city. Anyone who lived in Gehenna was a criminal in some way or another. Some people came to the city to live out some fantasy of debauchery. If those people were not careful, they found themselves sucked right into Gehenna’s devilish pull. All that said, the Imperium rarely visited the planet and never visited the city. So, it was the perfect place to do business when someone was trying to avoid notice.

  “Ah, good ol’ Gehenna, how I have missed your arena,” Elio said as he looked at the city with nostalgia.

  “I swear you are the only person who could miss this place,” Felice rolled her eyes.

  “It’s not too bad, last time we were here, Kelsa and I won that big Imperium Strikers tournament,” Tal commented.

  “I still can’t believe there are enough nerds in Gehenna to have a tournament,” Franz said. “I agree with Felice, though. This place is the worst.”

  “Gehenna takes all types,” Kelsa said. “I’m sure if you guys tried, you could find something for yourselves.”

  “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” Felice said flatly.

  “You two are the worst at being pirates,” Tal said. “Half the fun is the trouble you can get into.”

  “There is good and bad trouble. The people here are bad trouble. Besides, I’m in it for the adventure,” Franz said.

  “We are coming close to the dock. Quiet while I focus,” Kelsa ordered the group.

  The ship flew through the outskirts of the city. It circled the city until it arrived at an exceptionally tall and wide metal building. The building was large enough to house over a hundred ships. There were large hangar doors throughout the building for a ship to pull into. As they grew closer, a red light flashed on the controls in front of Franz. Franz clicked a button next to it.

  “You here to dock?” A gruff voice came through the console in front of Franz.

  “Yep,” Franz replied.

  “Hangar 023 is open. Dock there,” the voice said. “One of our associates will get with you once you land.”

  The light dimmed after the voice finished speaking. Then Kelsa flew the ship around the building until they found doors labeled 023. As the ship approached the doors, they rose upward. The ship pulled into the area and docked. The small hangar was completely empty and made of concrete. After the ship came to a halt, Kelsa engaged the exit ramp.

  Franz stood up, and Lutz jumped off his lap. “I have to go talk to this guy. Go to my room for now. We can’t have them seeing you.”

  Lutz gave a small nod and walked in front of Franz towards his room. Franz could feel a bit of disappointment from the dragon. He wished that he did not have to hide Lutz. He could tell that the dragon did not like being cooped up in the ship. Franz would have to find something they could do where he could let Lutz out.

  As Franz walked out of the ship, he was greeted by a tall and thin man. The man was thinner than any human could possibly be and had green skin. His eyes were completely red. He was dressed in black robes, and his long fingers held a tablet.

  “Welcome to our docking station,” the man said in a flat voice. “How will you be taking care of payment?”

  “On leave,” Franz answered.

  “On leave comes with a fifteen percent additional charge. Will that be okay?” The man asked.

  “Come on,” Franz sighed. “We know how this goes. Give me the regular ten percent. Let’s skip the back and forth.”

  “I see you have docked with us before,” a wry smile formed on the man’s lips. “You’re in luck. I’m not in the mood for the back and forth either. We will settle on ten percent.”

  “Thank you,” Franz said.

  The man pressed his finger on his tablet several times and then handed it to Franz. “Please sign here.”

  Franz swiped his finger on the tablet and handed it back to the man. “Everything in order?”

  “Yes, enjoy your time on Gehenna,” the man replied before he turned to walk away.