The stares were annoying me, and I knew that many of the people were whispering about me. As much as it annoyed me, I was pretty sure that it was bothering Ronan even more as he kept an eye on me from a distance. I was getting a lot of attention from all directions, which was undoubtedly making his job much harder.

Being the first trade ship to dock here in over two months was noteworthy, but word of the four defeated warships near the edge of this solar system was spreading like wildfire. The fact that such a young woman was actually the Captain didn't help with the gawking or whispering.

The small grace was that only the docking station staff and a handful of hopeful suppliers were on the docking station. I had no intention of going into the city below during this stop. I entered the trade hall, and it was easy to tell which one of the four suppliers present was the one I had scheduled a meeting with since only one was clearly prepared. Starsong had also provided me with his picture earlier, so I knew who I was looking for.

I went over to the table that already had several sheets of paper lined up. This meeting wasn't going to take enough time to justify me ordering a tea. The man got up as I approached and held out his hand. "Captain Wanderer, thank you for coming."

I shook his hand. "You are welcome. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me."

We sat down, and he pushed a small pile of papers closer. "Here are some potential trades that may interest you."

I picked up the papers and quickly flipped through the six sheets before going back to the first one for a more in-depth read. The quick overview would have allowed Starsong to scan everything.

'And what is the verdict? These numbers mean nothing to me...' This supplier dealt with unusual spices and most of the names on this list were not ones I recalled seeing before.

"As we had expected, there are not many good deals on this list. Nothing is seriously overpriced, but they clearly assume that a powerful ship means we are also rich, and they hope we are naïve enough to pay the average going rate. This was expected though, and the other trades we already arranged will more than make up for it."

I continued listening to him as I circled several lines that did happen to be good deals. The going rate on the other items would still allow a passable profit on a distant planet, but this would show him that we knew our prices.

I passed the sheet back to him, and we parted ways. The other suppliers watched me walk out, but Starsong had already told me that they didn't carry anything he was interested in.

"One of the people in charge of the docking station is waiting outside to escort you wherever you may be going. This is the sort of preferential treatment they give to any highly-reputable or influential Captain, so you don't need to overly worry."

A well-dressed man with grey hair was patiently waiting outside and approached me. "Good afternoon, Captain Wanderer. I hope your day is going well."

I paused for what was likely going to be idle chit-chat. "Thank you. Yes, it is. How is your day going?"

"My day is going well, thank you for asking. Your ship is the first trade ship to stop by for some time, and I see it is your first time docking here as well. On behalf of the docking station, I would like to inform you that we will be waiving the docking fees for up to three days if you wish to stay that long."

I was slightly surprised by their offer, but didn't show it. "That is a very gracious offer. I am afraid that extending our stay will not be as much of a benefit as you may wish, since we have already arranged to trade most of our food stocks."

He bowed slightly. "That is no worry. Please consider it our thanks for coming here, even though you had to oppose several warships to do so."

"Hmmm... They are likely counting on our now-rather-formidable presence to keep the remaining Jarco fighters at a distance, but I think several conversations may have occurred where no cameras or audio feeds were present. I will try to keep tabs on the people here as best I can."

I sometimes forgot that regardless of how advanced Starsong's capabilities were, he did have limits, particularly where no technology was present. "I hope my presence here doesn't cause too much concern after those events."

He shook his head. "No, no. You have clearly come to trade and only opened fire on those who attacked you first." He gestured across the docking station. "Please allow me to walk with you to your destination."

"I am just heading back to the Starsong."

"I would be honored to walk with you that far."

I refrained from making a sarcastic response regarding the fact that it was only a five-minute walk and we could easily see the towering metal hull from here. Trading spaceships weren't exactly small, so it was pretty hard to get lost when you could see them above the few buildings on the docking station.

I couldn't think of a way to start a meaningful conversation, and the man seemed content to accompany me in silence. He stopped at the bottom of the ramp, and I finally spoke, "Thank you. I hope your day goes well."

"Thank you," he replied. "And I wish you a good day as well."

I realized that he wasn't going to leave the base of the ramp until I was inside the ship, so I turned and continued walking up the ramp. As the door closed behind me, I inquired, 'Is he leaving yet? That was almost creepy.'

"Once the door fully closed, he started walking away. It was a courtesy normally offered to important Captains. I suspect within a few years that most ports on our regular route will react the same way when you leave the ship."

'They may call it respectful, but I call it weird. I have seen Captains of powerful fighting ships being treated like visiting kings, but you are primarily a trading ship. I think I only ever saw one trading Captain escorted around like that.'

"I could wax any of those fighting ships, and you know it."

'That is beside the point...'

Starsong didn't respond, and I continued down the corridor to see how Procurement was managing.



"You are needed on the Bridge."

'On my way.' I really hoped it was just another supplier requesting an in-person trade, but I had my doubts considering that Procurement had just told me that they had no such requests.

"We are about to be asked to function as peacekeepers. Apparently, the Jarco leaders who originally started this war were just overthrown, and the new ones want to create peace between Folkar and Jarco. They want a fair negotiation though, and they know that Folkar will want to take advantage of the fact that we just took out the Jarco warships."

'I don't know the first thing about peacekeeping talks between planets...'

"We will hang around to ensure that the end result will benefit both planets since it will only take a day or two with us pressuring both sides. They know none of their defenses can stop us if we brushed off four warships like annoying flies. They also know the war can't continue much longer since war drives away trade and they have already seen that neither planet is set up to grow enough food for their people."

I sighed and shook my head as I approached the Bridge doors. They opened up for me as I approached. The Officers were at their stations, but relaxed since there wasn't much they could do in port. They were at their consoles in case of an emergency.

Tanya waved as a friendly welcome. "You are back early. They are just about halfway done unloading everything we sold, so we will be here at least until nightfall. Care to keep us company while we languish in boredom?"

I sat down as I wondered just how bored they would get when we ended up docking here for a day or so as I attempted to dabble in politics. My attempts at dabbling were likely going to resemble me playing whack the piñata. I wondered how many people would get caught in the crossfire...

"I will help you keep the casualties to a minimum."

I ignored Starsong's comment as I responded to Tanya, "Let's just say that things are either going to get really boring or unfortunately busy."

I had the immediate attention of all of the Officers as they stopped whatever they were doing to focus on me. Tanya had not expected that sort of response, and she sat up straighter while inquiring, "What do you mean?"

I sighed and told her and the Communications Officer, "I am expecting some sort of communication before too long. The Jarco government was overthrown, and the new group wants us to mediate a peace treaty between them and Folkar."

He responded, "No messages have come in yet, and I was just mentioning the news articles about the government upheaval. It didn't occur to me that it may affect us unless we stopped there in the future."

I shrugged. "I am not sure when it may come in."

He glanced down at his console screens in contemplation. "If they do decide to ask us, then I suspect the message will come in sooner rather than later. Time is often essential for a trade ship, and they know that any delay will not be met cheerfully."

I muttered, "If they can't come to an agreement within three days, then we will have to orbit whatever planet is being stubborn just to make them nervous. This place is letting us dock three days free of charge, so they had better negotiate fast."

The Weapons Officer looked amused, which was odd for the fairly serious man. "I doubt it will take them three days. We knocked out four warships in less than three minutes. They won't wish to displease us, so I highly suspect that this will be one of the fastest interplanetary peace agreements ever negotiated."

All we had to do was get two groups to agree to stop attacking one another. If we could get them to play nicely together, then that would be even better.