The Elrad system, near the Warp Station—
There it goes again. How many alerts is that now?
It's got to be some kind of glitch. Yeah. That's definitely what it is.
I'm Celestina Eshtal.
For reasons of my own, I've been working as an inter-system courier since I was barely twenty.
It's a hard world out there, you know... and if you want to keep eating, you do what you can.
Right now, that means I've got a client's cargo loaded onto my freighter, the Lemurias, and I'm zipping around the cosmos with it.
"Master, I suspect you are already aware, but for some time now an alert has been reporting anomalous sounds detected in the cargo hold."
The voice of my AI partner, Lilith, echoes through the cockpit.
Of course I'm aware. It's just that I am—very deliberately—pretending I didn't notice.
"O-oh, is that so? I hadn't noticed at all~... um... oh, right! Just to be sure—what exactly was that cargo still sitting in the hold again?"
No need to ask, really. Yes—this is a futile struggle.
(Please, please, stop before she answers! Alert—!)
"Receipt No. 13047: a corpse-storage capsule disguised as relief supplies—colloquially, a 'coffin.' Master, I cannot recommend continuing to ignore the warning. Please perform a visual inspection to confirm there is no abnormality."
"Nooo! No way, no way, no way! Lilith, you're an AI—just scan it or something and take care of it for meee!"
"A visual inspection by you will ultimately be required, but—... ... Scan complete. The sound is originating from inside the coffin. Incidentally, life signs are—none. (Baaa-duuum.)"
Lilith drops her voice and even throws in a spooky sound effect.
"Gyaah—!! Why are you adding creepy sound design—?! Stop it—! (sob)"
Haaah... why on earth did I take on such a troublesome job...
—Let's rewind a few days.
The brokerage in the city district of the planet Elrad IV—known to everyone as the "Window."
"Delivery request confirmed as complete. Your payment will now be processed."
That day, same as always, I was scanning the list of new jobs at the Window.
"Lili~th, how much have we got in the account again?"
"After deducting the Lemurias's maintenance costs, at the current rate the balance will run dry in about seven days. In a word: we are living hand to mouth."
"...So even scrimping, seven days, tops."
The Lemurias is my beloved ship. She looks like a hulking antique, but the truth is she's a special vessel, packed with all sorts of secret, OOPArt-like abilities.
Just what kind of 'abilities'—well, that comes later.
"Something close by, quick to knock out, and paying well above scale... isn't there anything like that~?"
"Even if such a job existed, it would carry risks, you know? The prudent choice would be to take on as many jobs as possible heading in the same direction—"
"I knoow, I know—... wait, oh! This one! Isn't the pay huge? A run just over to the neighboring Cardia system, for this much—that's more than triple the going rate!"
"Job description: urgent transport of designated cargo... No details are provided regarding the cargo itself. I recommend careful consideration."
"Right you are, Lilith. There's something to what you say. But what is it we need most right now? That's right—credits!"
Without hesitation, I reached for the 'Accept' button.
"Aaah—..."
"It's fine! If it's just to Cardia II, then as long as a Warp Station's open... let's see, four or five days should get us there. And there are a few delivery jobs along the route to resource-mining planets, so let's grab all we can carry."
Calculating capacity and cargo size, I punched the Accept button again and again.
"Master, we have contact from the client of that high-paying job just now. The cargo handover has been designated for the spaceport's loading bay—Zone Z."
"Ugh... 'Z'..."
"I did warn you. To be careful."
Loading Bay Z is the spaceport's underbelly—a place that ordinary customers, and even most cargo haulers, rarely set foot in.
Parts from wrecked ships, industrial waste, radioactive materials, even trafficked creatures whose trade is banned— Officially it's touted as being strictly controlled, but in reality it's a zone where 'turning a blind eye' to what comes in and goes out is rampant.
No use regretting it now.
First I received the 'legitimate' cargo at Bay B. After watching the transport drones carry the freight to my dear Lemurias, I headed for Bay Z.
Bay Z was dimly lit, scrap material and non-burnable trash piled haphazardly underfoot.
Lilith lowered her voice over the earpiece. "(Regarding this matter, I cannot judge whether accepting the job was the appropriate choice.)"
"But I've already taken it... and if I cancel, my rating drops, so there's nothing to do but go through with it, right?"
Before long, from the depths of the gloom, a figure in a deep hood appeared, a silver capsule in tow.
"Are you the courier?" A synthesized voice rang out, as though run through a voice changer.
"Yes, Celestina, at your service. May I inspect the cargo?"
As I spoke, I tried to peer at the person's face, but beneath the hood they wore a mask. (Way too suspicious...)
"This is a capsule containing a body. For certain reasons, I need it delivered to the planet Cardia II with all haste... As you may know, transporting a body requires various procedures, and those take several days..."
"(A body, huh...) I see. Understood. To Cardia II, in a hurry—correct?"
The hooded figure gave a slight nod and handed me an attaché case. "This is the advance payment."
I checked the contents: two ingots of rare metal.
"(Converted at the current rate, that comes to more than double the payment for this delivery.)"
(In other words, the pay for this job is more than six times the market rate?!)
Framing it as a proper job placed through the 'Window' while preparing a separate reward in goods like this—it's the standard trick for quietly hauling cargo that has 'a story' to it.
"(...So this is hush money.) Not bad at all. I've got a small container that'll camouflage the contents perfectly, so no problem there. Leave the rest to me."
The moment the hooded figure slipped away, Lilith lowered her voice once more. "(Are you certain about this? Transporting a body requires proper procedures—)"
"I knoow. Someone's surely in a terrible rush because the 'guest of honor' won't make it in time for the funeral date. Let's deliver the departed's 'feelings' to the bereaved family, shall we? Destination decided: Cardia II!"
"...Understood. Though it strikes me as less a matter of 'feelings' than of some 'scheme' lying hidden within."
Lilith inserts a sigh-like 'pause.' A partner with a real human touch—I honestly think so, again and again.
After seeing the transport drone carry off the small container, I too boarded the Lemurias.
"Lilith, could you scan the contents of the capsule, just to be safe?"
"Understood, Master. ... ... The interior of the capsule holds only a body. There are no life signs."
"Thanks. All right then—shall we depart?"
And so we left the spaceport of the planet Elrad IV behind. The next day, we stopped at a resource-mining planet to hand off cargo, then set course for the Warp Station.
"...The alert's gone quiet." "So it has. The sounds seem to have stopped."
From here to the Warp Station was still more than ten hours out— The thought of when that alert might light up again... I want this job over and done as soon as humanly possible.
"Lilith, could you check how backed up the Warp Station is?"
"Understood, Master. ... ... At present there are twenty-three warps queued ahead of us. Our estimated arrival is in eleven hours and forty-three minutes. The queue is highly likely to grow further."
"Whaat, that many?! ...Fine. Change of course! Leave the regular route and head outside the monitored zone. We're flying by the forbidden solo warp!"
"Not recommended. Use of solo warp requires the authorization of Cyril Harsch, Director-General of the Intelligence Division, Galactic Federation Security Bureau."
"Lilith, listen? Right now, this is an emergency. While that cargo is keeping quiet, we've got to hurry up and deliver it! I'll write you as many incident reports as you like afterward!"
"...Understood, Master. Checking remaining warp energy. Clear. Altering course. ... ... The warp drive will engage in three hours. ——I will not be accepting a ghostwritten incident report, however."
(Tch... she's got me figured out.)
On the monitor showing the cargo hold, a single small container sits in the gloom. It ought to be nothing more than ordinary freight—yet this time, and only this time, I couldn't help seeing it as something ominous.