Rhys reached Kraus and Sons a few minutes later, heading inside to see the familiar layout of the store. A few people were shopping inside, so Rhys busied himself examining some of the artificed items that Otto had on display this time.

Frustratingly, Rhys could see that much of what Otto had available was of the new modular design. In fact, now that he was looking, Rhys realised just how few of the older style were present. Not that it made a difference to Rhys right now, but it was the principle of the thing.

Rhys waited for everyone to finish their business and leave before moving over to the young-looking man who had been serving them.

‘Good afternoon. I was hoping to speak with Otto if he’s here?’ Rhys asked, gesturing to the door that led to Otto’s office as he spoke.

‘Oh, of course, can I ask your name, please?’ The young man said, his face settling into a professional smile as he looked up from a ledger he’d been writing in.

‘Captain Hunt, of the Endeavour,’ Rhys said, mentally crossing his fingers that Otto would remember him.

‘Right, I’ll just go see if he’s available. If you’d wait a moment,’ the assistant said, putting away his ledger and heading into the back of the store.

Rhys only had to wait a minute or so before the portly store owner emerged, in the same maroon waistcoat that he’d worn last time. Having met a different Kraus now, Rhys could only marvel at how much alike the two of them looked. He’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference if he met them outside their stores.

‘Captain Hunt, what a wonderful surprise!’ Otto cried out, racing forward to shake Rhys’s hand enthusiastically. ‘Shall we adjourn to my office?’

‘Of course, after you,’ Rhys said, blinking a little in surprise at his greeting. He was happy to be remembered, but this felt a little disproportionate to their last meeting.

‘Tim, some tea and sandwiches please, if you would,’ Otto said to his employee before escorting Rhys through to his office with a firm hand on Rhys’s back.

A little confused, Rhys let himself be guided into the familiar office and took the same seat as last time. The skraa leather chair was just as comfortable as Rhys remembered. He was tempted to look how much it would be to get one for his cabin, though he imagined it would be fairly expensive.

Mentally shrugging, Rhys took the opportunity to look around the office in more detail. The main thing that stood out to him was the large painting on the wall to their left, which looked like Otto, but in a white waistcoat.

‘Ah, I see you’ve noticed the painting of my great-grandfather, the original Otto Kraus. We all have one, to remind us of who we are, just in case we forget,’ Otto said, chuckling to himself and winking at Rhys as he took his seat behind the desk.

‘The resemblance is uncanny,’ Rhys said honestly, looking between Otto and the painting.

‘Ah, we have a strong male line. One of those quirks of life, you understand,’ Otto said, waving away Rhys’s words idly. ‘Now, what brings you to my store, and how is my brother?’

‘Hans is well and sends his regards. He was happy to see the shipment and arranged some more work for me, which is also why I’m here. I’m looking for any work you may have that goes further into the Alliance.’

‘Excellent, I bet he was,’ Otto said with a smile, leaning back in his chair as he tapped a finger on his chin. ‘As for the other matter, well, that was why I was so happy to see you. After all, dependable captains are so hard to come by out here on the frontier.’

Rhys raised an eyebrow at the flattery but didn’t interrupt. He would reserve judgement for when Otto had told him the details. Still, his natural suspicion made him wonder how bad a job it was if Otto was bringing out the charm already.

‘So what do you need me for?’ Rhys asked, leaning back in his chair as Tim brought in a platter of sandwiches and a large teapot. Tim poured them both a cup of black tea and served the sandwiches, Otto waiting for him to leave before continuing.

‘I hired a ship to transport some goods to my brother Gunther in Arn Allinor, but the ship never arrived. Gunther now needs the shipment as a matter of urgency, so I’m looking for a fast ship that will head directly to Arn Allinor. From what I remember, the Endeavour is fast for its class, correct?’

‘That’s right,’ Rhys said, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair in thought as he sipped his tea. ‘But there’s more to this, isn’t there?’

‘What do you mean?’ Otto asked, his body language relaxed and just the right amount of curiosity in his response. Rhys wasn’t even sure what it was that made him think that Otto was nervous. The merchant seemed perfectly at ease. However, Rhys knew, with strange certainty, that Otto was hiding something.

‘I mean that there’s more to this. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. Just be aware that I’ll expect to be paid extra, and it better not endanger my crew.’ Rhys put his mug down and met Otto’s gaze with a confidence that surprised him.

‘I see,’ Otto said after a few moments, his expression carefully guarded as he considered Rhys’s words. ‘You are correct. There is a special aspect to the shipment that makes this consignment urgent. I’d be willing to pay extra for your discretion, of course.’

‘Absolutely, you and your brother have been good to me. I’m just making sure I know what’s coming onto my ship,’ Rhys said, giving Otto an easy smile.

‘I can understand that,’ Ottos said with a nod, moving on to the matter at hand. ‘I’m willing to pay two sovereigns for the delivery, which will cover the shipping costs. I will then add a further two sovereigns for the special aspect of the shipment. However, I would need you to leave as soon as possible and head straight for Arn Allinor at the best speed you can. I also need you to swear not to open the crates. Some are perishable, and the runes preserving them would be disrupted.’

‘The earliest I can leave is the day after tomorrow, in the morning. I will keep us at full thrust all the way there, though. I will also swear not to disturb or open your shipment, though I would like to know what is in there and how much I’m taking,’ Rhys said, more than a little intrigued at this point. He was assuming it was something like stolen technology or weaponry, but as long as it was safe to have on board, he didn’t really care.

‘There will be ten pallets of various goods and two crates of rare herbs for my brother. They are fragile and easy to spoil, as well as being expensive, so we tend to ship them as quietly and quickly as possible,’ Otto said, finishing his tea and setting it down gently. ‘If that is acceptable, I will arrange for delivery at dawn on the day after tomorrow. What do you say?’

‘I say that we have a deal,’ Rhys said, standing up and holding his hand out for Otto to shake. He didn’t believe the merchant about the herbs for a moment. No one paid two sovereigns extra for someone to stay quiet about rare herbs. Rhys didn’t doubt that there were actually herbs, or something similar, in there, but there must be another layer to it all. Still, he was willing to trust Otto that they weren’t dangerous, so it didn’t matter.

‘Marvellous,’ Otto said, shaking his hand firmly before pulling out a small coin bag from a drawer in his desk. ‘Here, I keep this on hand for larger purchases, but I’d feel better using it to pay you upfront.’

‘Thank you very much,’ Rhys said, nodding in thanks as he took the bag of coins and tucked it away. After how expensive this afternoon had been for him, it was nice to earn some money as well. Given how odd this whole interaction had been, Rhys wasn’t even going to comment on being paid upfront and in full.

Saying his farewells, Rhys headed back out of the store with a spring in his step. It might be a somewhat shady job, but he had money in his pocket and a destination for where to head next. Arn Allinor.

Arn Gol was the trading hub for this little area of spires, but Arn Allinor was the lynchpin of this entire section of Alliance territory. Rhys had never seen it himself, but he’d heard more than one story about it from sailors on spire leave.

Interestingly, Arn Allinor was big enough to have a shipyard and a military base on the spire but not actually part of the city. The spire itself was over a hundred miles in diameter, massive by any standard.

Rhys considered what goods might be popular at such a place. This could be an opportunity to make an easy profit. He knew that Arn Allinor had farming, mining and logging operations on the spire, so even though the shipyard used a lot of raw materials, the production was there to match it.

His instinct was that they would make money on more refined materials, like the salt they had. There were a lot of people living on that huge spire. He doubted all of them had easy access to luxuries.

‘Zaxx, has Oliver left the ship? Did he say anything about what he was doing with the salt?’ Rhys asked under his breath as he started back towards the docks.

‘Yes, Rhys, Mr Brown has left. He did not say where he was going, but he did mention to Mr Morgan that he would be finding a seller for the salt tomorrow. Interestingly, he then laughed and asked if Mr Morgan “got it”, a confusing interaction.’

‘It’s a pun, Zaxx. A salt cellar is what is used to house salt, and it’s pronounced the same as sellar. He was probably trying to cheer Tom up,’ Rhys explained with an eye roll. He did appreciate the effort on Oliver’s part, though. Tom had been a bit down ever since they’d first seen the Daedalus. Whatever it was that bothered him then was lingering on his mind, but Rhys didn’t know where to even start with an issue like that.

‘I see, I’m sure that it’s most amusing. Shall I move the salt to ensure it stays on the Endeavour?’ Zaxx asked.

‘No, leave it as it is for now. I don’t want to answer any difficult questions on how it moved. I’m on the way back now anyway.’ Rhys told him as he took the next turning down toward the docks. He intended to do a little more exploring of Arn Gol, but that could wait for tomorrow. It was getting dark now, and Rhys didn’t want to be exploring an unknown part of the spire in the dark.

Only Tom was on board the Endeavour when Rhys returned, the burly sailor keeping watch on deck to ensure no one tried anything. Considering that the odd ship Rhys had noticed earlier was still nearby, Rhys was happy that one of them had stayed behind like that. The last thing he needed was some idiots trying to break into the Endeavour.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t the thought of being robbed that worried Rhys. No, he was far more concerned about Zaxx taking the initiative and killing the intruders somehow. Rhys didn’t doubt that the eldritch creature had the ability to, one way or another, but just what that would look like, he had no idea.

Rhys shuddered at the mere thought of explaining why some intruders had been melted into the floor. Rubbing his face and sighing, Rhys went up on deck to check in with Tom. He was looking forward to telling him the good news about their new job.

‘Evening, Captain. You look to be in a good mood?’ Tom said, turning the statement into a question as he cocked an eyebrow at Rhys.

‘Indeed I am,’ Rhys said with a grin, walking over to lean on the railing next to Tom. ‘I’ve gotten us a job, one that will pay quite well. We’re going to Arn Allinor.’

Tom whistled and leaned back on the railing, his eyebrows disappearing up into his hairline. ‘Now that’s an abyss of a step up from some fringe spire runs. What are we carrying?’

‘Some general cargo for Kraus and Sons, from their branch here to the one in Arn Allinor.’ Rhys said with a slight shrug, omitting the extra element to the shipment entirely. That was going to stay between him and the client.

‘Really? Huh, you must have made quite the impression then. Normally only the bigger ships get contracts that head further into the Alliance. After all, who would trust a small ship with something valuable enough to be heading inward.’ Tom said, shaking his head as he turned to look out over the docks. ‘Not that I’m complaining, you understand. It will be good for the ship.’

‘Yes, it will,’ Rhys agreed, unsure of what else to say on the subject.

‘By the way, Captain, I should mention. That cargo ship over there looks all kinds of dodgy to me. I know I’m going to be staying on, so I’ll stay on the ship until we leave, just in case.’ Tom said, nodding to the ship that Rhys had spotted earlier.

‘As long as you’re sure,’ Rhys said, somewhat hesitantly. He’d promised that they’d have the time to make a proper decision, and he wanted to make sure that happened.

‘I am. I’d rather make sure we don’t have any issues here. In fact, if we’re going to start doing higher profile jobs, it might be worth getting some security onboard or a few more crew to help watch things.’

‘Hmm,’ Rhys said, unsure about that idea. He could see where Tom was coming from, but Rhys was loathe to increase the crew unless he had to. It was already hard enough to keep things straight and keep anyone from finding out about Zaxx.

‘Just consider it,’ Tom said, shrugging as he rose from his leaning position and stretched with a yawn. ‘Now that you’re back, I’m going to head downstairs and get some rest. Wake me up if you leave, though.’ Tom slapped Rhys on the shoulder as he headed for the stairs.

‘Alright, sleep well,’ Rhys called out, Tom waving at him as he went down the stairs.

Turning back to the docks, Rhys drummed his fingers on the railing in thought. He’d meant to ask Tom what it was that made him suspicious of the other ship. No matter, he’d catch up with him in the morning.