Chapter 3. First contact.

Thaum stood naked in front of a floating mirror. The ship didn’t have anything reflective so he had to make something himself. A strong chin. Deep-set brown eyes. Green spiked hair. Honestly, Thaum found this body hideous.

He grabbed his face and pushed inward. His face gave way as if made of clay. He molded it. Cracking and grinding sounds continued until he finished. Then he went on to his body. He first turned off his pain receptors then willed his mana to break his bones and reform them.

Thaum would need more material if he wanted to make himself taller. So he broke down most of his muscle mass and converted it. He went from a bodybuilder's physique on the low end of five feet. To a very toned man a little over six feet.

He stopped at handsome. People would like what they see, but without the extra attention being beautiful brought. There were just too many advantages to being attractive for Thaum to have a completely forgettable appearance.

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Days later.

Thaum had finished all the work he thought necessary. He resumed the short journey and shortly after the port came into view. It was too small at this distance to be seen directly. The display/window marked its position long before it would come into view.

When the ship got within fifty kilometers an automated message came through, [welcome to sector 78231 you are now in Botas conglomerate controlled space. Please power down all weapon systems while you are here. If you wish to dock send a request on the same bandwidth this message is on.]

Thaum told the computer dock and finished the procedures. A few seconds later the computer said, [captain ordered for me to finish the docking procedures. However, Captain has also ordered me to stop or disallow any scans of the ship. Which a level three scan is required to dock at this station. Would you like me to continue]

Thaum said, “shit hold on for a minute.” He stood up. Ran then swung into the storage room. ‘damn scanners’ he thought as he threw boxes all over the room. He found the one he was looking for and opened it.

Inside there were roughly twenty kilograms of Apollimus. A very large amount considering his crew-mate had a token-sized piece that he could live off of on some of the more isolated worlds.

Thaum wanted to sell this somewhere discreet, and while the scans were supposed to be private as long as you weren't carrying anything dangerous to the station itself. Thaum couldn’t trust that a few hours later some terminal wouldn’t ping a message, “hey this man has a lot of money and most of his weapons are empty”. The fact that this base seemed to be run by some sort of merchants group can only make the station less trustworthy to Thaum.

Thaum muttered an unnecessary incantation by habit and the box was sucked up into his body. Safely tucked away in a pocket dimension inside his hand. “Allow the scan,” said Thaum.

A few moments later the ship moved towards the port. Docking as normal. He sat in the captain’s chair. Watching everything for the first time personally. Memories of a dead man never quite matched the real thing.

The ship stopped and large arms secured the ship. Thaum asked, “this is the shipyard dock?”

[Correct. The fuel hatch has suffered minor damage and will require repairs to function.]

Thaum unbuckled, stood up, and walked to the back of the ship. Luckily the airlock door still opened. They hissed briefly adjusting internal atmospheres to match the stations. Then opened. A staircase only slightly better than a ladder automatically extended from the ship and reached the deck.

Thaum stepped out of his ship. It smelled stale. The lights were harsh and dim at the same time. He went through the corridors of the station. The walls either bare grey metal or a functional part of the station. Lit up by the occasional rectangular LED strip. Apparently, the station could afford expensive scanners, but not a couple of light-diffusing plastic sheets to stick over the LEDs.

Thaum disliked this place more with every step he took and sight he saw. The design stunk of merchants. And worst of all he didn’t know the revenue stream that ran this place. Which probably meant he was the revenue stream.

He arrived at the main hub. A large room with a few smaller sections where you would tell the automated computer what you wanted to trade. How much fuel you wanted, and anything else you could do at this bare-bones fuel stop.

He looked around. This room was empty too. The memories of alien species tugged at his mind. He wanted to know, but he didn’t want to spoil the surprise of seeing for himself. So he blocked those memories for the moment. Which was why it was so disappointing the station was devoid of life.

Thaum threw the valuable token into a deposit chute and said, “that is all I have left. Fix up my ship enough so I can continue flying” Only the bot heard him, but lying here costs nothing and could divert the attention of any possible listeners.

The computer asked, “currency accepted. What repairs will you require and which account would you like me to add the surplus credits to.”

Thaum said, “go over the details with my ship's computer.” before going back to his ship.

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Several days passed. The repairs were completed on the first day. Thaum spent the next few drifting through space in a low-power state. Half to make sure he wasn’t followed. And half because he wanted time to think about his next move.

Thaum was in a bind. He wanted to know where he was so he looked up the star charts in the ship's computer. They were all unfamiliar. He cared little about constellations. But he could figure out roughly where in the Galaxy he was by watching the night sky in whatever world he ended up in.

However, he couldn’t find a single familiar grouping of stars. Some similar. But not the same. He was in an entirely new Galaxy. He used the term “the great void” to refer to space. Because it was so empty. But the space between Galaxys was known as “oblivion”. Nothing existed there. It was where you sent things you wanted to stop existing.

Something must have happened while he was dormant. Even he couldn’t teleport that distance or even think of a method to. Theoretical or otherwise. He spent a day pacing the length of the ship. Thinking.

This was good and bad. Wonderful because a new Galaxy had promise for a functionally immortal man. Nothing killed boredom like a new world to explore. Or a million. And bad because he liked knowing what he was getting into.

Being reckless and getting into world-altering conflicts was fine for him, but only if he chose to do that. Nothing was more annoying than farting your way into a drawn-out war.

Thaum sat down after a day of pacing and mentally said the equivalent of, “fuck it. There is no use thinking about it.” He had half-century-old information. From an idiot. But he has been in worse situations.

He suddenly laughed. Since it's his first life here. He might as well greet the new galaxy as himself. Thaum reached inside his own soul. Found the shackles he placed to restrict certain aspects of himself. Then ripped them apart.

Thaum jumped into the captain's chair and grabbed the controls. “computer lock in Vagas four.” then began flying the ship himself. The token was worth more than he expected. He was able to have the ship repaired. Stock up enough to fill up his storerooms and have a little leftover.

He didn’t have the cargo capacity to take on anything else. And he wouldn’t give the port computer an account to add the surplus credits. So it gave him a dept contract. It was in a little metal box the size of a USB storage stick. And it allowed him to collect the money owed at any time at any of the conglomerate's facilities.

This was far harder to track than one of his old host's accounts. He would trade it for something at Vagas four. A small desert planet a few hundred thousand kilometers away that the station acts as a port for.

He checked the database for any information on the world. Pictures of lush mini-cities full of pointless aqueducts of flowing water. Some of a type of rock that was found on the planet. A semi-rare material. And a few images of some important-looking people judging by their clothing doing various handshaking and ribbon cutting.

Thaum would prefer more information, but he was lucky to get this much information on such a remote and unimportant world.

He familiarised himself with the ship until he reached orbit. A message came through, [captain landing procedures are already complete. I have prepared a course if you wish to fly there manually. Just follow the on-screen directions and prepare for reentry. I would suggest equipping an Eva suit as a precaution.]

Thaum thought about it for a moment. His host had a custom spacesuit with armor in his room. But he was taller now and far less bulky after his alterations. Instead, he reached behind and connected a few more belts to his buckle ring on his chest. You wanted to stay in your seat during reentry.

The ride down was bumpy, to say the least. Warnings and diagnostic data flashed in his periphery as he dived into the atmosphere. Everything took on an orange hue as the front hall plates heated up. Friction from the air was no joke at this speed.

The computer AI gave him several warnings personally. He glanced at the numbers and started slowing. The ship handled like it was moving through mud at first, slowly lightened up, instead feeling like swimming through water instead.

He focused on flying through each ring projected on the screen. Slowly a city came into view. He slowed to what he thought was reasonable. And observed the city. It was completely different from the pictures in the database.

The aqueducts were empty. Instead filled with the world's red yellow sands. Most of the buildings were in disrepair. Patchwork repairs dotted most structures. The colorful city a ghost of its former self.

It only improved slightly when he reached the landing pad. The buildings in the raised section of the city were better. Many still had the obvious signs of patchwork, but at least a building was a single color. Or a design and not whatever color the patch material was made from.

The ship gently set down on the launchpad. The airlock hissed as he exited. At the bottom of the ladder-stairs he met an alien holding a holopad. It, or he was humanoid. Covered in small scales and mostly human-like features.

Thaum had met weirder races. The only noteworthy thing he noted was the overly colorful clothing the alien wore. And later a backplate most of his species wore.

The alien said, “welcome to Vagas four. Whatever you are here for don’t cause trouble. Or do it somewhere I don’t have to deal with.” Then he left.

Thaum stood there for a moment. It was an unexpected first meeting with a new species. Not the worst. Not the best either. He was briefly tempted to grab the man and have him explain the strange exchange.

He shrugged. And entered the City.