32. Exploring Ashen Port Part 1

“Hmm,” Abyssal muttered as she viewed the bay around her through her cameras. Abyssal could see a few maintenance crew moving here and about, carrying large cargo crates and machineries, but ultimately nothing out of the ordinary. This place was as Abyssal imagined it to be, a normal-looking spaceport.

‘Place looks safe enough. I hope I don’t get mugged while exploring this place,’ Abyssal thought to herself.

“Abyssal ready to go, nyaa?” Meica asked Abyssal. Within her arms was Abyssal’s personal drone, Kaon, being carried like some sort of teddy bear. In her ear was a small earpiece— a way for Abyssal to talk to Meica without revealing herself to the world.

“Yep. Let’s go explore Ashen port!” Abyssal motioned her robotic arm forward.

“Please take care, Master. I will watch over the ship while you are out,” Kuon said to Abyssal, giving her a bow in the process.

“Keh keh, stupid Maid-drone don’t have to worry, Meica is with Abyssal, Will take care of her,” Meica sneered at Kuon.

“It’s because you are with her that I am worried. If anything were to happen to the Master’s drone, you can consider yourself terminated, cat. I will personally do the honours,” Kuon gave a threatening glare towards Meica. “Don’t bother coming back to this ship when that happens.”

“Bleargh!” Meica stuck out her tongue at Kuon. “Stupid maid drone just jealous cause Abyssal asked me to accompany her!”

The comment must have struck a nerve to Kuon as she glared harder at the nekomi. Meica only returned the favour by giving out her own glare to the maid. Sparks could be seen at their intense staring. Abyssal feared that the whole ship might burn down if they continued their passionate gaze at each other.

“Hmpph!”  The fight didn’t last long as Meica turned around and exited the ship. Abyssal could only give out a wry smile at the two.

Meica walked down the small ramp that connected Abyssal and the landing bay below, her tail went left and right as if waving the maid behind her.

“Hey, Meica. You two should get along. We are going to be on the same ship for quite some time, you know,” Abyssal said as they walked onto the landing bay.

“Hmph! As long as Maid drone won’t stop calling me cat, will never get along,” Meica replied, her cheeks puffed out like a balloon.

“I see…”

And so, with that the two girls begin their exploration of Ashen Port. Meica carried Abyssal with her arms and walked past a bridge that linked the landing bay to a large platform-like area. Within the large platform, Abyssal could see a bunch of maintenance workers moving about, carrying packages and cargoes. There were several tough-looking guards and drones moving about the place, giving the place a moderate feel of security.

Abyssal’s eyes traced the platform towards the very end to see an entrance that led further into the spaceport. She assumed that this was the place to go. It seemed that Meica realised this as well and had started to make her way there. However, just right after Meica stepped onto the platform, a man wearing construction clothing walked up to them. It was a young-looking man with a smile on his face and short hair. He wore one of those construction helmets as well.

“Hey, lady. Ya new around these parts? Don’t think I’ve seen your ship before,” he asked.

Meica tilted her head in confusion as she stared at the man that suddenly made a conversation with her. “Nyaa?”

The man flashed a small card attached to a lanyard on his chest. On the card was the man’s face, his name, and the words maintenance crew at the bottom of it. “A Maxwell class huh? You are a trader or something? Need any repairs or anything? If you want, I can show you the way to our partners where you can sell and buy your goods. That drone looks kinda old. Is it broken? Want me to have a look at it?” He asked all sorts of questions with a sincere smile.

‘My actual first contract, huh. A repair guy too at that. Interesting. This could be my chance to get some information,’ Abyssal thought to herself. She then did a small nudge towards Meica, signalling her to converse with the man.

“Ask him something,” Abyssal said to Meica through her earpiece.

“Un. Uh… nice weather we are having, ” Meica said to the man as she flashed him a smile.

‘Ehhh...’

Abyssal took a look around herself. Only the sight of metal and artificial lights could be seen. If she concentrated harder, she could hear even the sound of crickets. No wait, that’s just the sound of electrical wiring.

“...”

“...”

The immediate area stayed silent for a while, a blush on Meica’s cheeks.

“Sooo… you need any repairs? Your ship looks fine from here, just thought I asked,” Gale averted his eyes away to look at the S.A.S. Abyssal.

Meica, who was still flustered, opened her mouth to say something back to the man, but before she could, Abyssal activated her drone's speaker.

“Please forgive this girl. This girl is rather new to this whole thing, so she’s not exactly used to talking with people."

Gale was slightly shocked when Abyssal suddenly spoke to him. "...did the drone just talk..?" He mumbled to himself.

"Yes. I'm speaking through the drone from my ship. My name is Kapitan and I am the captain of this ship. I'm a little bit sick right now, so I'm resting within my quarters. This girl here is bringing my personal drone around and stuff," Abyssal answered the man while making up a fake story on the spot. Her tone was commanding, gentle and respectable, far cry from the real Abyssal.

Meica who was there nodded vigorously at Abyssal's answer.

“We don’t really need any repairs right now, but we could use some warp fuel. Our current reserves are running low.”

“Ahhh, that makes sense. Well, sorry to say this, but you are outta luck lady,” the man answered. He moved closer to inspect Kuon’s personal drone.

“Eh? Why is that?”

“I’m assuming you are using warp drives? We ran out of exotic matter. Ya gonna have to wait until our next shipment comes in from F.U.”

“... and how long would that take?”

“Hmm about a month or so, I think?”

“Ehh…. that’s a long time away…”

“Yeah, someone bought all of the warp fuel. Pretty sure you saw it as well, the owner of that large pinkish battlecruiser parked outside the port. We could have refused trade of course, but the higher up didn’t want any trouble. Who knows what those guns can do to us.”

“I see…”

“If you really need the warp fuel you can ask the owner of the battlecruiser. I think she’s hanging out in the space lounge or something.”

‘Talk to the owner of someone who owns a massive ship like that? How about no,’ Abyssal thought to herself.

“No thanks. I think we’ll just obtain the warp fuel at another port… By the way, just to ask, what are the rates for a refuel at this station?” Abyssal asked.

“Hmm,” the man looked at Abyssal’s ship. “No modifications?”

“No modifications,” Abyssal confirmed, whispering the following to herself : “yet.”

“Hmm, about fifty thousand for a full tank, give or take.”

‘Uwah?! That’s expensive as hell?!’

“I see. Well, we’ll better get going now. Thanks for the help,” Abyssal said to the man with a calm voice, hiding her shock.

“Alright. If you need any help, just look for me. I hang around the docking bay all the time,” He waved at Meica and Abyssal before leaving them alone.

As soon as he left, both Abyssal and Meica let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry, Abyssal. Got a bit nervous there. First time in spaceport.”

‘It’s my first time in a real space port as well, you know,’ Abyssal thought to herself.

“It’s fine, happens to the best of us. Come on, let’s go.”

“Un!”

And so, Meica continued her way towards the exit of the platform. They moved from the landing bays towards some sort of large lobby with many chairs and seats. Within said chairs were multitudes of people sitting down, waiting for something. At the end of the lobby, Abyssal could see a sign that says: 'arrival and departure'. Various people were lined up in an orderly fashion, being checked by a bunch of security guards before being allowed passage towards somewhere.

The place reminded Abyssal of a boarding station. On a side note, the side of the lobby that Abyssal entered didn’t seem to have much activity. It was as if she was at a mall, having recently come out of the parking zone into the complex.

‘Security is pretty lax if people can just come and go to the landing bay as they please. It was the right choice to leave Kuon and myself to safeguard the ship,' Abyssal thought to herself as she viewed Kuon from one of her cameras. She was in the process of her daily routine to clean up the ship. Abyssal then shifted her view towards the person who was carrying her personal drone, Meica, who was looking around the place in excitement.

‘Looks like I can still see and control the drone from here. I hope that I won’t suddenly lose connection when we explore deeper.’

* * * * *

“Woah!” “Nyaa!”

Both Abyssal and Meica voiced out in amazement the moment they exited the lobby— through an automated glass door. It was like going outside one's house after staying inside for a long time. Artificial sunlight burned through Abyssal’s ‘eyes’ and what revealed itself after she adjusted her cameras was a large busy looking street with a large road. In the middle of the road was a train track suspended in the air via a series of columns— complete with platforms and a train station.

Looking further at the two way street, Abyssal could see that it was shaped like a curve and looked to be kilometres long on both sides. Small streets and alleyways connect the large street to smaller streets and other areas of the space station— possibly to a residential area. The street most likely formed a huge circle and goes all over the station.

The whole place was bustling with people from all walks of life walking here and there. Some were walking in and out of restaurants, some shopping for goods and some were just sightseeing.

The other thing of note was that Abyssal saw only humans walking around. There were a few Nekomis and people with dog looking ears and tails, maybe a few walking drones and robots here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary.

'Do aliens not exist in this universe?' Abyssal asked herself as she continued to observe the people from all walks of life.

"Amazing! This is my first time in spaceport. Lots of people, no different than a city," Meica said to Abyssal, her eyes sparkled with amazement and curiosity.

Abyssal nodded in agreement to Meica’s statement. She too, was in awe with how the place looked. It was just how Abyssal imagined and more.“So, Meica? Anywhere you want to go first?” Abyssal asked.

“Hmm? I thought Abyssal wanted to buy stuff for ship?”

“I do. But… it’s like your money we are spending, right? I just wonder if you have any place in particular that you wanted to go first?”

Meica took a moment to think, her eyes closed as she mumbled some inaudible words. “Meica wants to go to fish market!”

‘Of course…’

And so, the two girls went exploring Ashen Port in search of a fish market.

In a space station.

As unlikely as that is.