"You seem to enjoy that brand, would you like a bottle to take back to your room?"

Ash couldn't remember exactly what he said in response to that question...which probably meant he said yes. He could the effects of the night as he was suddenly awakened by the piercing sound of the morning alarm. Ash threw off the sheets and smacked the alarm next to the bed to get it to shut up. The lights, signaled by the alarm, slowly lit up the suite as an automated voice came on over the intercom. "Good morning, Mr. Franklyn. I do hope you enjo-"

"Deactivate!" Ash screamed at the ceiling, forcing the voice to switch off. He sat on the edge of the bed wearing nothing but his dark pants and took a moment to collect himself. He looked over his shoulder to see he had gone to bed alone. That was disappointing, Ash had spent a lot of the night flirting with that lovely waitress and he had hoped it would lead to something. Or maybe it did and she simply rejected him. Though, given his uncertainty, it probably didn't matter either way. At this moment, Ash was actually more concerned about whether or not he had remembered to tip her. Ash got up from the bed, stood for a second, and remarked to himself. "Yeah, I'm sure I did."

Ash walked over to the other side of the luxury suite he was traveling in and entered the kitchen area. It was there that he noticed that he had, in fact, said yes to receiving a bottle of the whiskey he was drinking the previous night and it was now sitting on the kitchen counter. He opened the bottle, grabbed a coffee mug from the counter, and poured a bit into it. He then placed the mug into the coffee maker and stood there with both hands on the counter, trying to wake himself up, as the coffee brewed. Once it was done, Ash grabbed the mug and walked back into the living area of the suite.

It was a nice suite Gallen had gotten from him. About the size of a small apartment, the room had a large bed, a well stocked kitchen, a large living room with a view, and a really comfy carpet to stand on. The rich sure knew how to travel in style. Ash had no idea who 'Mr. Franklyn' was supposed be, probably an executive of some kind for Gallen to hack his passport on Ash's behalf. Not that Ash cared about the inconvenience he caused Mr. Franklyn by stealing his ticket, he could probably just buy a ticket on the next cruise out. He did pity the poor customer service rep that would have to deal with the inevitable complaint though.

With his spiked coffee in hand, Ash planted himself in the soft recliner chair in the corner of the living room and swiped his hand in front of the black sensor on the wall. Once he did, the shudders on the window began to retract upwards, allowing him to enjoy his glorious view that everyone tried so hard to block out. The lights sprawled from one end of the window to the other, the infinite stars of the cosmos and the great red nebula. Ash would say that it was like a painting but that wouldn't do it justice...It was truly a beautiful sight to behold, one that Ash never grew tired of looking at. He never grew tired of looking out at the stars, He never came to fear them like everyone else did. He didn't even fear the red cloud even after it was given the name 'Madrelan'. The nebula didn't deserve that name. It wasn't responsible for Rhea.

Another voice came on the intercom to break Ash's concentration. A real voice this time. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. At this moment, there is now only an hour and a half delay on Wakefield's public media service. The beginning of the morning program will be reaching us about now if you would like to view it. We will be commencing our final light-jump in about 2 hours and will begin docking procedures shortly after. Thank you."

Ash sighed and said out loud. "Screen on."

The digital screen built into the wall opposite to Ash switched on and the Wakefield morning news was, of course, discussing 'Rhea Day'. The male anchor was speaking. "Mayor Harland's office gave a statement last night, reminding all of us that all traffic at the shipyard will be heavy before and after Rhea Day. And that the special delegation from Rome will be arriving two days from now on Friday."

"I understand that the delegation will be larger than in previous years." The female anchor added. "Because, reportedly, the Chancellor's representative for the Wakefield ceremony will be the Director of Special Operations, Colonel Basileus Ryker."

"Ryker?" Ash said to himself as the newscast continued.

"If these reports are true." The female anchor added. "Colonel Ryker will be addressing the city of Wakefield prior to the Chancellor's Union wide speech on Rhea Day this Sunday."

Ash groaned. The reason he had decided to go to Wakefield was because it would be the best place to lay low during the weekend. Not only did the cyber-underground have no presence there at the moment, but it was typically low on the list of destination spots for VIPs during events like Rhea Day. The plan was for Ash to drink his way through the weekend without the risk of being discovered Union security forces. It'll be significantly more difficult to do that if Ryker was the VIP going to Wakefield this year. He didn't quite understand why a man of Ryker's rank would be going to a city like Wakefield on Rhea Day. Ash couldn't help but wonder what kind of bet the Colonel had lost to get that assignment. But all of this, of course, means extra security for Ash to be mindful of.

The two anchors carried on with their discussion on Rhea Day and everything that was happening on Wakefield over the course of the weekend which prompted Ash to say. "Screen off."

The screen went black and Ash just sat back into the recliner and drank from his mug. He looked around the suite again and couldn't help but be impressed with Gallen's work...even if it was incomplete.

----------

"So, the boarding pass is all set then?" Ash had asked Gallen before leaving the city of Columbia on the cruise ship.

"Oh, ye of little faith." The hacker answered. "I could get that for you in my sleep, if I slept. It was a cute side project while I focused on my hack of the news feed."

"Who hired you for that job?" Ash immediately regretted the question.

"No job, it's just fun. Imagine it, those empty suits are on the screen discussing the state of the ducks in the artificial pond-"

"Have you ever actually watched the news?"

"-and suddenly, BAM, porn my friend. Just hot, disgusting porn for the whole city to witness. I'm talking boobs, whips, and wildly inappropriate hairstyles. Oh, the horror."

"Well, that'll teach them...something I'm sure." Ash said dryly. He knew it was best not to question or engage with that statement. Ash knew Gallen Cayne well enough to know that to do so would send him down a rabbit hole of depravity from which there was no easy escape from. Instead, Ash pressed on with his questions. "How about the false irises and synthetic finger prints?"

"Oh." Gallen paused. "Well, I was going to get those from you but then I don't really want to spoil you. Plus, I have all the other important hacks to do."

Ash sighed. "So you forgot, wonder-boy. How the hell am I supposed to get through Customs?"

"Your resourceful, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

------

And figure it out he did, whether or not it would actually work was Ash's main concern at the moment. It took all the connections he had to get off Columbia but he'll have to be clever to get through customs on Wakefield. A city he had only been to a few times before. After the ship had made its final light-jump and went through the lengthy docking procedure that was downright torturous on the eve of Rhea Day weekend, Ash would soon see just how clever he is.

Once the ship was docked, Ash made his way down the boarding tunnel out of the ship and soon found himself in one of the many receiving areas of the Wakefield Shipyard. It was crowded, lots of people traveling during Rhea Day weekend, but Ash was a natural of navigating through such traffic. Out the windows of the shipyard, he could see all of the other starships navigating around each other to dock with the hundreds of tunnels the stretched out from the enclosed platforms of the shipyard. He could also see the smaller maintenance ships making repairs. And all of this was just one section of the shipyard, working here must've been a logistical nightmare.

Ash worked his way through the crowd, his travel bag in hand, and soon found himself at customs. He walked across the area, examining the various lines as he did. Or, at least, that's what he wanted the Union security officers to think he was doing. What he was actually doing was examining the security cameras at each customs station until he got a lucky break. He saw a line with a camera that had no red light. Wakefield was an old city, there was always something broken. The next question was the customs officer himself.

The line was as long and moved as fast as one could expect during Rhea Day weekend but Ash stood patiently as he slowly made his way up. He didn't look at the security officers, he didn't look at any of the other people in line, and he certainly didn't keep looking up to confirm that the camera was broken. He just stood in line with his large travel bag and, before to long, Ash found himself at the customs desk. He placed the bag on the conveyor to be x-rayed, there was nothing in there that he needed to concerned about. He didn't travel with weapons, they were easy to obtain when the situation required it so the risk was unnecessary.

Ash handed his hacked boarding pass to the customs officer who inserted it into his computer and asked. "Are you here for business or pleasure, Mr. Franklyn."

"Neither." Ash answered. "I have no business and what pleasure is there to have on a weekend like this?"

"I'll just put down pleasure."

Ash examined the customs officer who typed on his keyboard without making much eye contact. The man seemed reasonably put together at first glance but didn't take Ash long to spot the slight tears in the seams of his uniform. His skin was pale and beginning to crack, not enough exposure to the artificial UV lights. Plus he was thin, very thin. This man may not be from the Wakefield sewers but he wasn't far up from them. The Customs officer made a decent living but it apparently wasn't enough to cover whatever debts he had built up in his thirty-plus years. He was struggling to pay for food and vitamin D pills, probably because he was spending what spare money he had on maintaining his oxygen supply.

"Alright, Mr. Franklyn." The customs officer said, still not making eye contact. "If you could provide your handprint and retinal scan with the scanners in front of you."

Ash didn't do that. "Oh, I had a pretty good run at hold'em and won a fair amount of oxygen for myself."

"Yes, that's on here. You can collect it at warehouse 3. You'll have to pay to have it transported to where ever you're staying. You can't keep it here."

"Well, shit. That sounds expensive."

The customs officer sighed, still making no eye contact. "Well, you could pay for it with some of the oxygen itself."

"I could." Ash conceded. "But, then again, I have nowhere to put it all. I don't suppose you could help me out with that."

At that moment, someone from behind Ash yelled. "Can we get a move on please!?"

The Custom's officer grew impatient, "I can't help you with your oxygen storage. Please scan your-"

"You really don't have any need for oxygen." Ash stated bluntly, prompting the customs officer to finally make eye contact. Ash made a casual glance behind the officer. "The security camera seems to be out. You might want to inform security about that."

The officer turned to take a quick look at the camera as Ash continued. "Oh, I will certainly do the scans for you. I apologize."

Ash put his right hand just above the scanner and kept his eyes closed as he leaned down to the retina scanner. After that, he straightened back up and asked. "You get it."

The customs officer's eyes darted around a bit as he thought it over to himself. After a few seconds, he typed a few things into his keyboard and answered. "Yes, everything seems to be in order. Welcome to Wakefield, Mr. Franklyn."

"Thank You." Ashton Coppatt grabbed his bag and went about his business.