After checking the hull, I glanced at the empty cargo area of my small merchant class ship and proceeded to the front deck.
My decision to have the goods delivered to a hideout in the Narakan system, instead of moving the goods with this ship, paid off as a back up.
No one stopped me at the departure point.
Mahara agreed it was best to leave as soon as possible before the situation worsened and security around the planet heightened to a state of paranoia.
The Durgians knew the bureaucratic processes of Eden slowed the response of a full planetary lockdown from bribed insiders.
From Mahara's sources, the departure authorities and orbital control towers would take time to shut down, because of foreseeable arguments related to the economic disruption of galactic trade, especially export and import of goods.
Mahara rushed me in once a grouchy Haolean building inspector, probably on overtime, gave the skyscraper structure an all clear, except for the 44th to 46th floors.
That gave me ample time to grab all my belongings from the suite, let Mahara smuggle me out of the building through a secret passageway to bypass the police guards and surveillance drones lurking around.
With most of the police resources now concentrated on securing General's safe passage to the most secure area of Sector 1 on Eden, night meant a diminished police presence.
The assassination attempt triggered a media frenzy, plastering both billboards and news telecasts on all frequencies through the Great Swirl Council's territories, creating a political embarrassment for the Eden authorities for a security failure.
While en route to the garage mall in a Durgian-driven luxury hovercraft, we went past the initial rudimentary set ups of hovercraft blocks along the main highway and armed military drones flying overhead. Eden started entering a full security lockdown.
Any more delays meant being trapped in Sector 111 for god knows how long.
From the time I slugged Zhiva in the chin, I didn't see him after we entered The Durgema. Perhaps General Perkuna took him along to Sector 1.
Good riddance to that trouble magnet.
Mahara also told me about the Durgian freight which ferried my precious cargo of electronic components and parts for the war cruiser, left on its merry way to the Narakan system before the failed assassination happened.
Three days on Planet Eden came to an abrupt end with my plans foiled. My completion of the key task to re-supply the war cruiser parts offered me no consolation.
I wanted to obtain the classified information on the destruction of the Inti system. That plan went to nought. All my efforts made to secure a temporary hacking base were wasted after the sudden turn of events.
At least, better to look at the droid swarm than Zhiva's face. My bad feeling about Zhiva attracting trouble, like a powerful magnet running through ferrum ore nails, came true.
Zhiva is no longer my concern until we meet in space again. By then, who knows if we are going to duke it out in a second space battle in the future?
My only concern remained about what surprise Arabaki may have installed for me on the return to the main ship while I started the pre-launch checks and automatic undocking sequence before taking my seat on the shoddy merchant ship.
The last time I left Arabaki, droids and gang, those mechanical critters added oddball modifications.
The droid swarm modified, added and sometimes even removed the main ship's hardware, infrastructure or even the software, in my absence.
Arabaki even added two extra compartments to the war cruiser when I stayed too long on a super-sized terrestrial planet near the Carpusian system to deliver goods and buy supplies.
Not that I will complain, but the droids took one as their private research lab, which they never granted me access to under the premise of 'trust'.
Yeah right. I should have never showed Arabaki the access to the dictionary. The droid swarm learnt how to talk back.
The cargo door and pilot's door indicators glowed green with the fizzing sound of pre-take off pressurisation.
I looked at the front viewer to double check all the executed pre-launch commands as a bluish light of the shields washed over the ship. A buzz in my ear confirmed the now air tight and pressurised ship.
Any less than a 100% for an active air lock meant air leaks, which will cause this death trap of a junk will blow up from decompression once we enter the higher atmospheric levels of the planet.
Nothing like a self charging star generator to make my life easier. The solar cells on top of the ship soaked in light from the orange star of the planetary system and recharged the generator when the ship is idle.
"Garage Control Tower 10 to 666-888, you are number 1 at departure queue. Initiate thruster controls." The Garage Tower Controls spoke over the transmitter.
My hand reached for the throttles to pull them midway towards me to fire up the thrusters. Slowly the ship ascended while my other left hand used to flight stick to steer it out into the open space.
A slight rattle went through the hull as the thrusters moved my ship into position.
*CLANG*
I turned around to see what fell out again. Another panel from the ceiling fell. Leaving the atmosphere will be fun.
At this stage, I don't even know if the ejection button even worked.
"666-888 to Garage Control Tower 10, thrusters activated," I replied.
"Garage Control Tower 10 to 666-888, set heading vectors 213.67. Cleared for take off. Transferring to Orbital Control Tower 111."
My fingers punched the heading vectors on the keypad on the navigational command module and then activated the back viewing camera.
I pulled down the throttle to fire up the primary engine for take off.
*BOOM*
The body of the ship shuddered as the engine exhaust vents showered the parked ships and fellow space farers below with a large noxious blessing of blackish dust.
My ship sped away from the garage at high speed, leaving a trail of greyish smoke spewing through the vent exhaust in its wake.
I wondered how many ship owners below would have cursed the crap out of me.