Rhys had the helm for the last few hours of their trip to Arn Gol, letting him enjoy the steadily darkening sky as they approached sunset. It was quite late for them to be docking at port, but Rhys wasn’t interested in wasting fuel by delaying their approach.

The docking fees out here at the edge of the Alliance were only small, likely to encourage more cloud ships to visit, so he would rather pay the extra five bits and be done with it.

Slowing them down as they approached, Rhys coaxed the Endeavour down into a docking slip with barely a bump. Patting the helm with a satisfied smile, Rhys shut it all down. As usual, one of the attendants was down to them in short order, taking the three five-bit coins that Rhys gave him for their stay in Arn Gol.

Three days seemed to be a good stretch of time from what he’d seen so far. Perhaps he’d buy a more extended stay at some point and have a break, but for now, he was still keen to make money and polish off as many jobs as he could.

Now they were docked; it was time to follow through on what he’d promised. With that in mind, Rhys gathered everyone in the galley, which was a tight squeeze at the best of times. Once they were all together, Rhys sat them down and leaned against the wall.

‘So, we’ve sailed together for a little time now. The kurador was a terrifying experience, but other than that, I think things have gone well. Still, the Endeavour will be here for two nights. If you want to stay on, I’d be happy to keep any of you. If not, then it’s been a pleasure.’ Rhys told them, holding up a hand as Tom started to speak. ‘Wait, don’t say anything now. Think it over. In the meantime, here is your pay. I’m going to head to the Captain’s Guild, so if one of you can wait on board until I come back, that would be good.’

Rhys waited for them to nod before passing out the coins and leaving them to it. He didn’t want to influence their decision at all if he could help it. It wasn’t that he thought that anyone would actually go, but he wanted to make sure that they had the option.

Perhaps he was worrying too much, but Rhys was particularly aware of how little actual experience he had. The encounter with the kurador and the far more experienced Aeolus had shown him just how far he had to go.

He was determined to get there, to be a successful captain. He had advantages that no other captain did, but they came with a price. Rhys was even more concerned with loyalty and dedication with only a small crew aboard the Endeavour. He had no room for anyone unsure of his leadership. If they were to learn about Zaxx, it could ruin everything.

Part of him wondered what would happen if the three of them did actually find out about Zaxx. How would they react?

Rubbing his face, Rhys let himself out and started down the docks to the Guild. He wanted to see what they had job-wise over the next few days.

There was only one other ship docked at the bottom of Arn Gol, and the other docks were too far away for Rhys to see who was or wasn’t there. Previously, there had been at least two other ships whenever he docked. He hadn’t really been paying too much attention, but the lack of activity around him had drawn his attention.

The other ship in the docks was shaped like the Endeavour but was a lot smaller. Rhys didn’t recognise the class, but it looked like it would carry a dozen pallets if he were being generous.

Of course, the bigger ships would be at the other docks, with access to the best jobs and premium goods. Still, it had been a while since he’d seen a ship quite so small. They likely specialised in moving things quickly between spires. After all, there were always people willing to pay extra for faster shipping.

Rhys could see a pair of grisly looked sailors on the deck of the other ship, a slight chill running down his spine as he realised they were both studying the Endeavour. One of them saw Rhys looking their way and nudged their companion, both of them turning away to continue their conversation out of his sight.

Something struck Rhys as odd about it all, but it was none of his business. They could be strange as much as they wanted, as long as they did it on their own ship.

Carrying on past the strange ship, Rhys headed for the Captain’s Guild, pulling out his medallion to show the guard on his way in.

‘Good afternoon, welcome to the guild!’ The attendant staffing the desk on the interior said as Rhys came in. ‘Can I have a few moments of your time?’

‘Of course, what can I do for you?’ Rhys asked, coming over to their desk to see what they wanted.

‘First of all, can I take your medallion number for our records?’ When Rhys nodded, the attendant leaned in and copied the number down before nodding in satisfaction and looking back to Rhys. ‘Thank you for that. Now, if you don’t mind, please could you detail any piracy-related encounters you have had in the last thirty days?’

‘Piracy?’ Rhys’s eyebrows shot up as he shook his head slightly.

‘Yes, there have been a few reports recently, so we’re taking steps to formally document how much is occurring. Have you had any encounters that should be reported?’ The attendant said, looking up at Rhys expectantly as they waited with their silverpoint pen poised over a piece of paper.

‘Actually, yes, I did have an encounter,’ Rhys said, remembering the ship that had chased him down into the cloud sea. It felt like an eternity ago, back when he’d been sailing by himself. He wasn’t even sure how long it had actually been, two weeks perhaps?

Rhys gave the attendant all the details he could remember and carried on into the Guild with a slight frown. He was a little concerned about where to go next. If pirates were more active in the area, they might be watching the main routes between spires.

Rhys took his time looking over the different boards in the Guild, checking out the jobs and cargo that were on offer. Surprisingly, quite a few jobs were available, but mainly heading southeast towards the Agrestal Expanse.

It only took a brief memory of the immense kurador to dissuade Rhys from heading in that direction. Sadly, none of the jobs he could see were heading further into the Alliance. A few jobs were available for nearby spires, but ideally, Rhys wanted to leave the area and explore a little.

Still, a few cargo pallets were ready to go, which was a little unusual. Typically, ships would stay docked and wait for their goods to sell. Apparently, this change in behaviour was due to the rising amount of piracy in the area. Visiting ships were selling their cargo to the Guild directly for a lower price and leaving as soon as possible.

Rhys was starting to get a little concerned now, first the lack of ships docked here, and now the fact that new arrivals were leaving as soon as possible. He’d not been too concerned about the Guild’s mention of piracy at first, but that was quickly changing.

There wasn’t anything he could do about it right now. He’d given the crew the timeframe to make their decision. It would be poor form to go back on that now. With that in mind, he might as well take advantage of the situation as best he could.

The Guild was buying this cargo at twenty percent below the standard price and selling it on at ten percent below. That meant that there was a slight profit margin built into the transaction for both them and the buyer. If Rhys could find somewhere that was buying at an above-average price, he could make quite the profit here.

Looking over the list again, Rhys saw quite the mix of goods. Everything from perishable foodstuffs through to two pallets full of cloud quartz. Taking his time, Rhys earmarked four different consignments. The first was the cloud quartz, which was going at four and a half sovereigns for both pallets. Next, he chose two separate pallets of iron ingots from Arn Dukatt.

There was little market for iron in Arn Gol currently. All the shipments from Arn Dukatt came this way, after all. Other metals, like copper and zinc, were still rare, however, as most of what was sent to be recycled was iron.

Both pallets cost him ten sovereigns and eight bits, a hefty investment, but one that would hopefully pay dividends in the future. Rhys didn’t want to invest any further into cargo, but the fourth consignment he had his eye on was a four pallet consignment of akast crystal.

Each pallet was a three-month supply of fuel for the average small ship, which would cost a sovereign and a half. That meant he was getting a huge amount of crystal for five sovereigns and forty bits after the discount.

Altogether, it was enough fuel to power a standard ship of the Endeavour’s size for a year, and Rhys fully intended to feed it all to Zaxx. He did want to check just what he’d be getting for all that, though.

Giving the Guild a promissory note for the goods and asking for delivery in the morning, Rhys left to head further into the spire. His next stop was to visit Kraus and Sons and see if Otto had any more business for him. After just spending twenty sovereigns, Rhys wanted to make sure he had more jobs lined up.

As Rhys went further from the docks and into the more developed area of the spire, the number of people around increased, eventually reaching the point that he wouldn’t stand out if he talked to himself.

‘Zaxx, are you there?’ Rhys muttered under his breath.

‘I’m always here, Rhys.’ Zaxx said immediately.

‘I’ve just ordered twelve months worth of akast crystals. How many points would I get for those when converted?’

‘From the numbers you’ve given me previously on usage in other, lesser ships of our size, I would estimate twenty units of fuel to be one Energy Unit.’ Rhys rolled his eyes at how Zaxx stressed the term. ‘So for twelve months, you would receive six Energy Units. You already have three to spend, and we have sufficient crystal on board already to gain a further five.’

‘Okay, so nine on hand then, and another five in reserve. What’s the most expensive upgrade that is available at the moment?’

‘That would be the rank two Power upgrade, which is one hundred Energy Units.’

Rhys blinked and almost stumbled as he realised what Zaxx had said. Thinking back on it, he did remember that there had been an absurdly high number, but somehow it seemed so much worse when he added up the numbers. It would take almost seventeen years worth of fuel for a Loggerhead class ship in order to buy that upgrade. He couldn’t even conceive of how many crystals that would be.

‘How high can these costs go?’ Rhys asked, already dreading the answer he was going to get.

‘Our pact produces the actual upgrades, so I can not provide a list of future ranks and their cost. However, each higher rank will provide a significantly stronger effect, so the cost will rise to match it.’

Rhys shuddered as he imagined how bad it would be if the cost increased at the same rate for the third rank. Of course, the impact of such an upgrade would be huge, but a thousand crystals per upgrade was sheer insanity. Hopefully, it would be something more manageable. Somehow, he doubted he’d be so lucky.