When they got closer to the station, Jack's attention switched away from the blue frozen beauty to the square and bulky look of the station. It was an old design from the Empire's days. The centre of the station was a massive metal structure, that reminded him of an oversized toaster lying on its side. On top and below the toaster were four massive Turrets, each easily triple the size of Jacks' ship, which was about 300meters in length.
Jack knew, that the turrets were the main defence of the station and carried enough weapons to fight off a small Armada. But that was not all, the two "toaster slits" were the spaceport of the Station, the upper one for housing visitors, merchants and the bigger warships, the lower one exclusively for Void fighters, that could be launched in the thousands by the station. The small ships only had an operation time of a few hours, but that was more than enough to make a few bombing runs or intercept bigger ships. They were also not warp-capable as their structure was quite fragile.
From his viewport, he could see small swarms of the fighters patrol the space around the station. When they got closer a few of them, even added to his escort.
They approached the station without being scanned and were led to the military part of the upper spaceport. There Jack had to dock manually as the civilian AI had not been programmed to approach such a berth.
When he approached the landing ramp, Mordred was already awaiting him. As the only available officer, it was his job to accompany Jack to the Meeting with the station's commander.
He waited for Jack to pass and then fell in step slightly behind his captain.
"I talked to Lyna, you found another one right?"
Jack was silent for a moment. Mordred was the only one of the ship's starting crew still with him. He had given everyone an individual backstory then and it seemed somehow Mordred knew what they were about to face.
"Yea, they might be the strongest ones we ever saw. Also, we have to take them in as I lost the means to track and find them."
The other man cursed under his breath.
"You sure that's the only way?"
Jack nodded lightly and Mordred grunted as a sign of acceptance. The rest of the way they walked in silence.
...
The commander's office was as square and boxy as the station. Big rectangle windows filled one of the walls and projected a view of the planet below them. The commander sat behind a massive black metal desk, that looked like it had grown out of the station floor. Her chair reminded Jack of a throne and was clad in black worn-out leather.
The woman in question looked a lot more healthy than Jack remembered her from her portrait on the mission.
"Commander Vander, you look good, the new position seems to become you."
"Captain Jack, still trying to flatter an old woman I see."
The woman stood up, walked around the table and warmly hugged Jack, who immediately froze up when he felt something soft pressing into his chest.
The commander noticed and let go of him, laughing heartily and slapping his back in a friendly manner, that almost send him flying.
"I see you are still as innocent as a fair maiden from a fairy tale."
Mordred snorted from behind Jack, which made him even more aware of his shortcomings and did not help him in the slightest. But at least it turned Vanders' attention away from him.
"Look whos still alive, comhere big guy."
She embraced him without hesitation like Jack before. The two exchanged pleasantries, which gave Jack time to regain his cool. He cleared his throat and glared at the woman. It was that weird feeling again of meeting someone for the first time, but they felt really familiar somehow.
Normally he would not glare at people, but with the commander, it felt.
The woman caught his gaze and laughed again.
"right, you are here for a purpose, but I have to warn ya. Somethings not right with that thing."
"Do we look like everything is right with us?"
Mordred sarcastically asked, which forced another short laughter out of the woman.
"True, you Voidfarer are a special breed. Just make sure the paperwork is in order, don't want some bureaucrat to come here and ruin my retirement."
"Bah, don't worry, we have dealt with them before."
Mordred answered and Jack didn't feel the need to add anything.
...
A group of guardsmen guided them through the bows of the station. Jack used this opportunity to take a look at the prisoners. There were People from most of the known races here and every single one of them looked tense. He knew stations like this were used as a place to store prisoners that had no place in the planetary systems for all sorts of reasons. Their crimes ranged from being murderous psychopaths that needed to be sealed away forever to people that simply had the misfortune of knowing too much or being too vocal about their opinion.
To his own surprise, Jack found, that he had little empathy for the people imprisoned here, he knew some of them had done nothing to deserve such a harsh sentence, but still, looking at them sitting in their cells with blank stares somehow did not move him.
After some time, they arrived at a long corridor with a single door at the other end. One of the soldiers turned to them and handed Jack an electronic key.
"That's the cell you are looking for. We have to keep it separated from the rest, it's almost as if the mere presence could cause madness. If you want out again you have to use the radio, so we can confirm your sanity."
Jack was about to set out when Mordred cleared his throat behind him as if he was unsure if he wanted to say something.
The sound made him stop in his tracks and slowly turn around, looking at the big man in wonder.
"Everything alright?"
"I have a bad feeling about that cell. A really bad feeling."
Jack turned towards the cell and closed his eyes. He listened to his body which was normally quite adept at giving him signals if he did something stupid. After he was sure there was no such thing, he opened his eyes again.
"I don't know, feels fine to me."
He looked at Mordred who sighed and was about to say something, but changed his mind midway and closed his mouth again. He made another attempt, before shaking his head.
"You know what, I think I will sit this one out. Pretty sure you will be fine anyway."
Jack shrugged. He didn't really understand the commotion. Then again, in a universe capable of space travel he seemed to be the only person to enjoy it, so what did he know. They looked at each other for another moment, then Jack shrugged again and started walking again.
Mored looked at the back of his captain as the man approached the cell door without a sign of concern and felt a cold shiver run down his spine. The call of the void rang out from the cell like a song, it surged through the room like a great roaring symphony, threatening to devour everything and everyone who dared near it.
Still, he did not fear for the man, but for everyone else on their ship, if the captain really brought whatever was inside that cell back on board. He had seen what they could do, which was one of the reasons he never left Jack's crew. With all the flaws the captain had, he was remarkably resilient to the dangers of space and had proven time and time again to make the right decisions when push came to shove.
He noticed some of the Soldiers eying him strangely, so he put on his best Voidfarer death stare and glared back at them until they found some very interesting ditches and screws in the wall to look at.
Mordred laughed to himself, which outwardly sounded more like a bark. It had been over twenty years since he left the military, but intimidating greenhorns still worked well enough.
The soldiers who heard the strange noises stared at the walls with even more passion.