Negotiations

The city of Kerwan Crater was a gritty place with lots of colorful and cheaply displayed religious paraphernalia. 3D printed idols of space walking saints adorned polymer shrines in many shop windows, and procedurally generated prayers could be purchased at kiosks inside the passages that connected the various lobbies and atriums. Jasper watched with some amusement as the daughter of a synthetic fruit vendor passed off goods to a young boy behind her mother’s back. The smirking young boy ran into a back alley where he joined a group of his friends which appeared to be involved in a game like cricket but with hoverboards and a holographic kookaburra ball.

The route was long enough that time could have been saved by taking a mag-tram, but after 2 months of travel from Ganymede, Jasper had requested the long way round. By the time they reached Deep Storage Vault 48, he was almost sad it was over.

“There it is,” said Zyon, pointing to a granite obelisk of a building. There was no door, but above the entrance arch was the inscription, “Kerwan Municipal Storage,” and underneath that in smaller letters, “Radiation Proof.”

“Right,” said Jasper. “And how would… That is to say, for the discrete gentleman, is there a preferred method of entrance you could recommend?” 

Zyon smirked at this. “I thought that might come up. Discrete isn’t really a part of my skillset, but I can get you in. For a price.” 

“Hmm, I’m not exactly flush with credits,” said Jasper, frowning.

“I’m not after credits. I need passage. Off Ceres. Discrete passage,” said Zyon.

“Hence the invisibility cloak,” said Jasper. 

“Exactly,” said Zyon. 

“Unfortunately my friend, the PLSR isn’t for hire. My crew and I have a mission to complete and we can’t afford to make detours.”

“It doesn’t matter where you’re going. I can pay for guest quarters on the ship for three months. In advance.”

“My mission is of a clandestine nature. I can’t just bring a civilian along for the ride.”

A guard had emerged from the arch and was approaching them, calling out “Sirs, this is a government facility. Can I see some identification?”

Jasper took a step back and Zyon turned away from the guard so that his hood obscured his face. 

“Ah,” said Jasper to the guard, “I think I have the wrong address then. I’ll be going.”

“You’re not a suit at all, are you?” Asked Zyon under his breath.

“Sir I will need to see some identification,” said the guard continuing to approach.

Jasper glanced quickly from side to side. Another guard was curiously watching from his right. 

“Three months, in advance,” said Zyon again.

“Fine, you’re on,” said Jasper.

The guard was right on top of them. Zyon quickly turned and removed his hood. 

“Ah,” exclaimed the guard, seeing Zyon’s face. “Arch Bishop Benda. Err, welcome.”

“Thank you, random guard. May I introduce the emissary from Cevtech Galactic, Ambassador Jaaayyy…son,” he said awkwardly giving Jasper a sidelong glance. “Ambassador Jason Greshnor. He is on a diplomatic mission to retrieve a Cevtech asset from Deep Storage. Would you be so kind as to assist us?”

“Of course,” said the guard, “It would be my honor, Arch Bishop.”

“Wonderful,” said Zyon.

“I will need to confirm your biometrics, Sir.”

“Ah, very well,” said Zyon. The guard produced a flat wand from his belt and waved it over Zyon’s face. A hologram must have appeared in his AR contacts confirming Zyon’s credentials because he said, “Well I’ll be. What a day this is.”

The guard approached Jasper who gave a nearly imperceptible head shake to Zyon. “That won’t be necessary, said Zyon to the guard. Cevtech prefers that his presence is not logged in the lower network in case of security breach. We have have our own records for the Ambassador.” 

“That, err, is against protocol sir,” said the Guard. 

“‘There is a time for rules and a time for exceptions,’” said Zyon, evidently quoting Cerean scripture. 

“Yes, Arch Bishop,” said the Guard. “Of course, you know best. I suppose so long as you are with the ambassador we can look away this once.”

“Gods bless you,” said Zyon to the guard.

“Provided he has the right encryption keys to the vault of course,” specified the guard.

Jasper nodded at Zyon.

“Of course,” said Zyon.