The Furious Monkey arrived at Central Station. Eager to escape the confines of the ship, Red was the first one down the ramp. They had the day to acclimate before the peace talks, and decided to spend it as a tourist.

Central Station was one of ten completely neutral stations in the galaxy. Most stations were owned or operated by specific factions, and as such only served the needs of those factions. However, being the central-most outpost in the galaxy, the space-faring races refused to give up the territory to any other group, so they shared it.

The temple aboard Central Station was just a few offices and a small memorial to Fenith Tyr. Only a few monks worked there at any given time, and they did not recruit or actively train personnel. Since they rarely saw action, the Central Station position was the pinnacle of achievement for many monks. To be assigned there was to be set for life.

In peace-time, anyway.

Red couldn't imagine being so far away from the rest of humanity. The race of the galactic core, Vobem, lived out insular lives with most of their laws forbidding outsiders from entering their space. As such, Central Station was rarely more than a pit-stop on the way to the Doghi Cluster on the other side of the galaxy. The Doghi were the eldest of the space-faring races, and it was rumored that they had elders who had lived for thousands of years, though Red had never seen one nor met someone who had.

In fact, Red knew next to nothing about the non-human races. The Jhikae Order recruited locally, and Red had been raised in human colonies. Their only encounters with Acrux, the closest neighbor, had been in passing. They were quite excited to be suddenly surrounded by other species.

Red met up with Aarbin outside of Sploo, the Acruxian restaurant. They ordered a three course meal consisting of Acruxian favorites: a spicy root vegetable soup, a rack of braised ribs, and a sweet berry frozen custard. Aarbin talked about their family and how they came to be on the crew of the Furious Monkey, while Red recounted their time with Carlyle. Carlyle's training had come into full swing, and she had even less time to talk than before.

After their meal, Red and Aarbin wandered the station. The main structure of Central Station was a cylinder with addition struts added on the inside and outside faces. It was huge, by far the largest station Red had ever seen. It was split into five sections: the command floors in the center of the structure were the smallest, while the other four sections were evenly split between the remainder of the facility.

The middle sections were dedicated to temporary market stalls and long-term business real estate. The outer sections contained all lodging, including capsule hotels, apartments, and even larger villas for the most esteemed visitors.

Red and Aarbin meandered across one of the market decks. They found a stall that sold ginormous blankets and other comfort items run by a young Doghi trinite. A beautiful throw caught Aarbin's eye, knitted out of spider-lace and depicting the creation of a black hole. They approached the Doghi and began haggling. Red watched their back and forth until finally, somehow, Aarbin succeeded and purchased the blanket at half-price.

They read the tag to Red. "Made by Cosch of Vermigio. Do not wash with water."

"I guess you'll hang it in your room, then?" Red asked.

"No way! I'm putting it on my bed. Gonna make out on the black hole blanket.

Their conversation was interrupted when Red received a message from Captain Dobbs to meet him back on the ship. They said goodbye to Aarbin and slowly made their way back, disappointed that their fun had been cut short. They didn't want to deal with politics, and they cared even less about economics.

Dobbs stood outside the entrance of the Furious Monkey. Red saluted him. "What do you need, sir?"

"Preliminary talks begin in an hour. We have to arrive early. Security reasons."

"Excuse me, sir, but aren't they supposed to start tomorrow?"

"The official ones do. This one is off the record. To get an idea of where the parties are coming from. The negotiator has asked us to attend, in hopes that our presence throughout the affair will keep things civil."

Red groaned and rolled their eyes. Dobbs laughed in response. "Honestly, you're right. This is not how I'd like to spend my evening. But as you know, duty calls."

Red nodded in agreement. "We deserve more time off. When was your last vacation?" they asked as the pair made their way towards the command deck.

"I finished my vacation right before we began that summoning rite. If all goes well, I'll accrue more leave at the end of the year."

"That's a while. A lot of work. Hopefully things don't fall apart out here. Otherwise you might not ever get leave."

"Funny enough, in the middle of wartime, you actually get leave more often as an officer. Of course, you might be screwed instead. Do wanderers get time off yet?"

"Not really. Just travel time between contracts."

"I tried to get them to change that policy, but you know how it goes..." Dobbs rolled his eyes. "Politics!"

Red laughed and then changed the subject. "Have you been by the temple yet?"

"No, we'll be meeting them tonight after the talks. There are five monks who work on Central Station, and they're all pretty old. Perhaps they are wise. It's always interesting to meet older members of the Order. The galaxy used to be even more dangerous than it is now, you know. They have all kinds of tales of drama and despair if you can get them to open up."

"You old enough to have stories like that yet?" Red wondered aloud.

"Of course, but one of the most interesting ones you were directly a part of. If we manage to get through the talks without a war, I'll tell you the story of the time I was taken captive by a cannibal cult in the middle of the Horsehead Nebula."

"Deal. I'll try to come up with one of my better stories as well." Red was already considering their options.

As they neared the chamber, Red felt a surge of anxiety. "Is there any word on how these talks will go? Is there hope of them reaching a fast agreement?"

"As far as I know, the Human Coalition has ordered the Merchant's Guild to pave the way for peace as quickly as possible. If they don't manage it, or if the Acrux are looking for war, we'll probably get it. However, I've been told that the stakes will be high if the Merchant's Guild fails, so they'll probably be ready to cede a lot of ground," Captain Dobbs explained.

They had arrived at the chambers where the talks would take place. The security officers in front of the door stood aside to let them through. Dobbs led Red to a pair of seats against the wall, away from the table in the center of the chamber. The air was slightly cooler in the room, Red figured in order to make it less likely for any given conversation to turn to blows.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Negotiator Pahll entered the chamber. She sat down at the head of the table and then greeted Red and Captain Dobbs, introducing herself. "I'm Negotiator Pahll. I trust that you'll be ready by my side to keep order while this chamber is in session."

Captain Dobbs nodded to her. "Indeed, Negotiator. We'll be here if you need us."

Pahll furrowed her brow, trying to discern something about the two monks. "Which of you is the wanderer?" she asked.

Red raised a hand casually. Pahll scoffed. "You don't look like much."

"My job is not to be physically imposing in the material plane, Negotiator. The mindscape is my primary domain," Red explained, already disliking her.

"Yes sir, you can leave the intimidation to me, if it pleases you," Dobbs added, picking up the slack in Red's tone.

"Very well. Can you both please join me at the table? On either side of me, please."

They both stood and made their way to their proper seats.