"In the endless darkness, I'll never give up I'll keep on flying to you I'll find you, no matter where you are"
The cargo ship drifted silently through the vastness oceans of stars. Inside, the steady hum of the engines was covered by the popular ballad Libero's Stray Voyager. The melancholy tones of the band filling the dimly lit cargo hallway.
Jared sat against one of the large crates, his back pressed into the cold metal wall. His shockwave gun lean on his shoulder. He was here for a group mission to defend the cargo ship from potential robbery by the space pirates. Stupid rule of the Galaxy federation law make him stuck with disarming weapons, even though they know that pirates always bring along dangerous killer weapons. Not sure if they trying to secretly supporting the pirates, but Jared knows some of the law makers would want to make their secret dark business running smooth.
It's been a month since Herman was taken away from him. First thing he do is tracking Herman's location that is detected through the chip planted in his ear. But the GPS lead him to a place where Jared only found his chip on the ground. Removed. Possibly with sharp tool, obviously not by the vets. Because vets never remove chips.
This is so worrying, especially Jared didn't think that Logan would do such harm for his dog. She must've use something like knife to remove the chip, right? If he find out that Logan apparently did something to hurt his dog, Jared swear he would make sure she is suffers!
The driver, a happy old man with a young energy, glanced at Jared through the rearview mirror, trying to make conversation. He greets Jared, "Boy, why are you so serious? Have a bright attitude a little! When I was your age, everybody loves me for that and that's why I always have job and opportunities with me."
The driver always try to make conversation with him. Of course, Jared is the only companion accessible for him right now, through the opened window from the cargo cabin where Jared was stationed. 3 hours with only him as the only person around to talk to, Jared already know how this driver's conversation style working: everybody should learn from him. That's why Jared didn't respond to him because he want to save himself from boring self-absorbed conversation.
But that driver won't give up, he keep trying to break the silence, "Hey kid, I've been young too, you know? I know what you've been through. Life can be hard sometimes, but if you keep doing your best, soon enough, luck'll come your way and save your life. Cuz that's how I successfully coming out of the darkest phase in my life."
No response.
"My parents had died, my wife left me, my sons become bounty hunters and they never called me, I've been through worse than you! Even worse is when my brother owed me money but never return it, I let it all go and choose to be the happy person I always be!"
Jared respond to make him quiet, "No worries, I'm just losing my dog."
The driver laughed out loud, a deep, almost theatrical chuckle that echoed in the small space. "Just losing your dog?! Come on! It's not worth that much. It's just a dog! When I was about your age, I lost my mom to cancer! I got it real bad, but I still put on a wide smile and—"
Jared sighed and instantly regret responding to him. The reason why he is stationed alone in the most important room, is HIM. Everyone trying to avoid talking to him, but someone has to guard this cargo room, so Jared endures the discomfort.
He knew it's a bad idea to tell people about personal problems. No matter what he said, someone always had a story that outshone his own. They'd always find a way to one-up him. One day, they'd tell him about how much luckier he was, and the next, they'd start with a tale of even worse misfortune. People didn't ask out of genuine concern. They asked to show how much better they were, how much more they'd suffered, how much more they'd persevered.
It was a paradox. They are the strongest, but also the weakest; they are the toughest, but also the most fragile. Anything can be adjusted, depending on the topic. The only regret he has now is letting them one-up him. Jared swear that next time it will be complete silence.
The old man driver continued to ramble on about his own hardships, recounting how he lost a friend to a robbery, emphasizing how he'd survived that loss with strength and resolve. His voice was full of self-assurance, as if to say, Look at me, I've faced worse, learn from me! But Jared wasn't listening anymore. He tuned out, his attention elsewhere, flicking his wrist to check the smartwatch on his arm.
His eyes scanned the screen, hoping for some kind of update from the missing pet searchers through the Petfinder app. But there was nothing new.
Since he can't find Herman through GPS, now he depend on DNA tracking. Jared usually are so lazy to do mission, Logan need to drag him to get him work. Now he only sleep 4 hours a day because he is working hard doing any mission that he could do to get money. Any money will do, any missions will do. He had been a bodyguard to an annoying princess who want to go to ammusement park, spying on someone, beat someone out of not paying debt, he do it all to save money and only eat once a day. All just to pay for Herman's DNA extraction, so he can track Herman's DNA through petfinder app.
"I'm gonna find you, buddy!" Jared whispers to himself.
If Jared showed people what Herman looked like, nobody would want him. He was just a mutt, with no clear indication of what breed he was. A bit like a mini German Shepherd, but smaller, with tiny dots scattered across his coat, his shape resembling a mini gray wolf. He wasn't really a big dog, but also not a small dog. He barely reaching Jared's thigh in height. Just a random dog Jared had rescued from a muddy puddle in dog meat market.
However his sharp nose will make anyone want him. Who wouldn't want a dog like that? A dog that could sniff out cash, no matter where it was hidden? Especially if they are a bounty hunter. Especially if Jared destroy their trooper pod and he can't pay them back to replace what's lost.
A sudden tremor jolted the cargo ship, heavy metalic bumping sounds follows. Jared's instincts kicked in immediately—an attack. He didn't need to confirm it; he'd been through enough to recognize the telltale signs. Space pirates. It was always space pirates.
"Oh no, it's the pirates! There's no way we can win this, we all going to die!" the driver looked terrified.
Jared leave his post in the storage and jump through the door that connects to the driver's cabin. He push away the driver to the side and take over the wheel.
"You can't do this! We all doomed! I'm going to escape before they got us!" the driver then hurriedly leave the driver cabin, worried if someone else would take the escape pod before him.
When Jared rests his hands on the driving steer, he shivers in excitement. He can't help but grin and immediately take over the control panel. He quickly adapt to this old vehicle and not even being shy on accelerating the speed into it's maximum limit.
The tremors felt when the pirate's laser breach the shield and hit the cargo ship. But it's only signaling Jared to hit on the gas and speed even faster.
"Heee-haw!!" Jared screamed in excitement, life is where the speed is, he fly the cargo ship through the space debris, knowing the size of the pursuer won't last long there.
"What's the old man doing?! He is crazy to drive into the space debris!" a mercenary paniced.
"Who cares! Either way we'll at the fang of death!" the other mercenary replied while still continue shooting the pirate ships.
Jared gripped the controls tightly, sharp eyes and quick reflex controls the ship smoothly evading debris of a dead ship or rocks. As he enters deeper into the ship grave, the frustrated pirates starts shooting the obstacles around the cargoship he drove. The destroyed particle hits the glass, leaving strech marks. The barrier is still in cool down, so Jared has to hold on a little while. He clenched his jaw, excitedly dodging and weaving, determined to show them who's the king of the sky.
However the broken particles from the destroyed rocks eventually hits the pirates themselves causing leaking in their ship. They have to stop because they need to seal the broken hole and has no choice but to let the cargo ship go.
Jared drive the cargo ship out of the space debris like an eel running for their life. And after a while, he is soaring free without obstacles. The mercenaries celebrate this success, and rush to the driver's room, only to be surprised with Jared sitting on the driver seat.
"Oh it's you! I thought so. There's no way that yapping old man can do it."
"Where is the old man gone?" ask the other mercenary.
"I don't know, check the escape pod if it's still there or not," Jared smiles proudly and back focus on driving this cargo ship to the destination.
Before they could even finish celebrating their successful defense, police sirene heard, signaling them to stop the vehicle. They know someone is going to get fined.
"Damn! Where are they when the pirates are poking our ass?" Jared slammed the dashboard.