In other words, this aide was just passing off his own selfish demands as Councillor Lunache’s.
A council member should have their own dedicated shuttle in the first place.
Why did they end up borrowing this ship?
Thinking about that, I went to get some coffee from the cockpit, and in the lounge was just the maidservant Sarah Tryminal, who had removed her jacket, tie and pumps for more comfortable attire.
She had already folded down the sofa and retrieved the sheets and blankets I had stored near the bathroom, making a bed.
It was 10pm galactic standard time –
a bit early to sleep, but late nonetheless.
“Has Master Lunache gone to bed already?”
“Yes, Miss Lutia sleeps early unless working.”
Ms. Tryminal seemed happy discussing her employer in such a familiar way.
The distance between them seemed quite intimate.
Meanwhile, the aide raided the kitchen, drinking fruit liquor like a madman before passing out drunk.
Well, at least that kept him quiet.
“You’ve been with the council member a long time?”
“Yes, since that child was born. Lady Lutia’s mother was busy, so I helped raise her.”
Councillor, Lunache went to school with me.
For her to have raised Lunache, she seemed young.
Seeming to notice my doubts, she chuckled.
“This is a full body prosthetic. I’m actually an elderly lady. I could appear my real age, but keep this look in case I need to be Lutia’s body double.”
Indeed, her black hair, height, build and facial features resembled Lunache’s.
So her current appearance wasn’t her original look.
Well, best not to pry too much into that topic.
Instead, I asked about something else bothering me:
“By the way, why did you suddenly need to charter this ship? Don’t you have your own?”
“That ship became inoperable.”
But if so…
“Commercial passenger liners were an option. Lutia and I considered that, but then that boy insisted on privatizing one – five minutes before departure!”
So the aide was behind it after all!
“Of course they thought Lutia made that request, so we hurriedly apologized and let that ship depart. Then that boy tried to privatize the next flight, so we managed to stop him and charter this cargo ship instead.”
She sighed deeply after explaining.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I sincerely meant it.
“No, no…”
“Would you like some hot milk?”
“Please.”
I headed to the kitchen and conscientiously prepared honey-sweetened hot milk.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
The next day, that blasted aide was at it again.
Complaining about the bread brand,
criticizing the plain bathroom,
To put it bluntly, he’s a bad complainer of the worst kind.
After breakfast, I quickly retreated to the cockpit.
Around noon, the alarm suddenly blared.
“Dammit!”
I opened the throttle fully while deploying the barrier shield at full power to the rear – a beam struck it at that very moment.
The resulting vibration would certainly alert the passengers.
“Hey you! What was that shaking?”
“We’re under attack! I’m sending a distress call to GCPO while prepping to exit hyperspace, then going full throttle towards the nearest inhabited planet or military base!”
Narrating my actions out loud, I immediately carried them out.
Returning to normal space from the warped hyperspace, I sent a brief distress signal to GCPO about the attack.
GCPO quickly responded –
one of their few redeeming qualities.
[This is GCPO Galactic Republic HQ. What’s your current situation? Are you still safe?]
“Currently fleeing at full speed towards Planet Voldar! Attacker unconfirmed but definitely fired on us! Request assistance ASAP!”
[Roger that! We’ve already requested support from nearby defense forces! Brazen pirate act so close to the capital planet! Just get inside Voldar’s defense perimeter!]
“Understood!”
I cut the transmission and gripped the control stick tightly, staring at the radar intently.
Sure enough, I spotted the pirate ship’s signature closing in from behind.
I knew it was following us.
Well, I didn’t expect them to just let us go.
A notification sounded then.
“The enemy ship is hailing us?”
Suspicious for sure, but I decided to accept the communication while recording it – any information could be useful.
[Stop right there, Shaun Lyatt! Stop and hand over all your cargo!]
On the screen appeared a thug-like man who called out my name demanding we stop and surrender our cargo.
“My cargo is just a toothbrush and toothpaste! Dogran Ghazn, eldest of the Ghazn Brothers!”
I stated his name and details out loud to have it on the recording.
[It’s no use lying! I know your cargo is “rare minerals”! Hand it over now! There’s no way you can outrun us in that rust bucket!]
“So the dumbass Ghazn Triplets really did become pirates!”
[Shut yer trap! We’ll catch ya and let the boys take turns fixin’ ya to the beds!]
The eldest, Dogran shouted on the monitor,
[Let me go first, bro!]
then other male voices could be heard off-screen:
[Yeah gimme a go too, Magras bro!]
[Don’t worry Jigraga, I’ll let you both have a turn!]
Apparently those were the younger brothers Magras and Jigraga.
They proceeded to make vulgar, repulsive comments, so I cut the transmission.
“What’s with those guys?”
The aide then spoke up,
Well, if you heard the exchange earlier, it’s natural to want to ask questions.
“Former…associates. They’d accept a shipping job, sell off the real cargo, then deliver junk instead. They’d also kidnap female colleagues and passengers, assault them, and sell them on the black markets.”
When I heard this, he made a face like he’d heard something he didn’t like, and then aha! Then his face lit up with a flash of inspiration.
“If we inform them Master Lunache is aboard, surely they’ll be terrified!”
“Master Lunache the councilwoman is renowned for her beauty. Those creeps would happily try to abduct her, plus demand a massive ransom.”
“But this ship was formerly military – doesn’t it have any weapons?”
“It was completely disarmed for civilian sale. Just a beam for clearing asteroid debris.”
He kept suggesting ideas, but I had to shoot each one down.
“Tch! This is why I hate dealing with cheapskates!”
The aide seemed frustrated that all his ideas were rejected.
Meanwhile, their beam attacks kept rocking the ship with shockwaves and loud blasts as they narrowly missed us.
After sulking for a bit, the aide suddenly addressed me again.
“By the way, when they said ‘fixed to the beds’, are you perhaps a Sumerian?”
“Yes, but…?”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t mentioned that.
The aide’s face then contorted in rage.
“Then…never go near Master Lunache again, you slimy snail!”
So this guy was an anti-Sumerian bigot.
Sumerian people often get called “snail” or “slug” as insults when conflicts arise with other races.
But an “anti-Sumerian bigot” specifically refers to someone who genuinely believes Sumerians are inferior sub-humans.
Supposedly there were plenty 500 years ago when Sumerians faced persecution, but nowadays such blatant discriminatory ideologies are criminalized as hate speech and defamation.
That’s why I suspected General Steinberger earlier – a tiny few wealthy elites sometimes still harbor such prejudices in secret.
But there’s no time to dwell on that now.
One wrong move and we could all end up cosmic dust together. Even if we survive, we’ll just be playthings for the Ghazn Triplets.
Not that I care what happens to this wretched aide.
“I’ll make you regret this if we don’t get caught by those three idiots!”
But he don’t respond to my words.
I can’t believe there was a snail in Master Lunache’s class… Is Master Lunache unwell? Ifs he had some strange pathogen, it could be disastrous! That’s right! Since she even ate the food, as soon as we reach the capital, we must conduct a thorough examination immediately.
Bang!!!
In the midst of my muttering, a loud slapping sound suddenly rang out.
Wilutia-Lunache the Councilor and Sarah-Truminal were there, somehow.
“What are you doing, Master Lunache! Moreover, you must not enter a place where there are slugs like this!”
The aide was just as surprised, but more than that, she was shocked at being slapped by the Councilor.
“Who do you think you are?”
“Eh?”
The aide unintentionally responded, not understanding the meaning of the words spoken to her by the Councilor.
At this reaction, the Councilor frowned and then opened his mouth.
“You acted selfishly and made us miss the passenger ship, and since we had to hurry, you unreasonably borrowed this ship from its operator – reckless insults and verbal abuse. And to top it off, is a Galaxy Republic Councilor’s aide blatantly making discriminatory remarks? I employed you as an aide at your mother’s request, but this is the limit. After we arrive on the capital planet Voldar, you will be dismissed as an aide and sent to the inquisition committee! After that, you will have your aide qualifications revoked, face disciplinary dismissal, and even be arrested and imprisoned!”
It seemed a lot had built up, as she vented it all at once.
For a while, the only sounds were the beam hitting the barrier, the shocks, and the beam passing by the hull.
And finally, once the aide had rebooted, she said:
“Wha…why? I’ve only ever acted for your sake, Master Lunache! You were supposed to choose me as your lifelong companion in the future! This can’t be…there’s no way my Master Lunache would say such a thing!”
She was utterly confused by the unbelievable words from the Councilor.
Most likely, in his mind, he thought:
[I’m being useful to Lunache. Lunache also thinks I’m competent, useful, and indispensable].
But to put it bluntly, that’s too naive.
And for a while, he kept groaning while staring at the floor,
but then suddenly turned to face me with an expression of fury.
“So…you must have put something in Master Lunache’s mind! I won’t forgive you! Vile inferior SNAIL!!!”
Shouting that, he pulled out a large gun from his pocket, one too big to be for self-defense.
Even though he knows I haven’t really talked to the Councilor, how vexing.
Moreover, he doesn’t seem to understand what would happen if he shot me in this situation.
Right now, I’m gripping the throttle and control stick to keep the beam from hitting the barrier as much as possible.
In other words, I can’t escape.
But the next moment,
Bang!!!
With a tremendous sound, the aide collapsed to the floor.
“That was close.”
Sarah showed me the stun gun she had concealed in her cybernetic arm.
“I wish you had used it sooner. Specifically, before we boarded the passenger ship.”
If she had used it then, and we had boarded the passenger ship, the only trouble would have been the idiot triplets.
“But still, it was undoubtedly a dangerous situation…”
The Councilor seemed anxious, clasping her hands before her chest.
“Then rest assured. The cavalry has arrived.”
The beam coming from ahead was being absorbed into the Gazun brothers’ ship.
And after that, we passed a massive warship.
I eased off the throttle and let out a sigh of relief.
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