"What are you talking about?" I ask the nonhuman man before me.

  "What do you mean?” He replies. “I'm offering to help you out. For the right price, of course. My name is Ralan. I’ve been sailing my whole life, maybe not so much in my older years, but I can still earn my keep."

  "You just said what I was trying to do was stupid and that it sounded like a tall tale."

  "No, I said relying on luck, especially someone else's luck, to accomplish your goal is stupid.” The man named Ralan circles around to my other side and stands a bit closer to me. “Fortunately, I don't need luck because I've got skill. Whether or not your gate in the middle of the sea exists doesn't matter to me. All I need to do is take you out there, right?"

  "Well, yeah..."

  "Then it's settled."

  "What? N-no! I mean, I don't know anything about you." I take a few steps away from him.

  "You want a freakin' job application?” He crosses his arms. “From the way you've been talking it sounds like you've either got me or nothing. Or is me being a hafon a problem? Are you still holding out to find help from another human?"

  "No, it's not that..." I murmur. I know he's right. I really don't have a choice. I guess I should be grateful I finally found someone to help me but I'm not too sure about this guy.

  "What? Do you want to hire me to sail you out into the maelstrom or not?" he presses further.

  "I do."

  "Good. I can take you out there. What's your name kid?"

  "My name is Sakti Vells. I'm not a kid. I'm twenty-three."

  He chuckles. “Okay, Sakti, I'll indulge your curiosity since we're doing business together. I was a privateer during the First War. Never lost a ship to the sea or to the enemy. After the war I did some odd jobs here and there. I eventually ended up here doing contract work for the New Republic on this planet. Mostly just protecting cargo ships from monsters as they traveled from one continent to the other. Point is, I have a clean and respectable service record. If you doubt my credentials, you can look them up in the service registry through the Ministry of Defense."

  "No, that's alright, an inquiry really isn’t necessary." I say. “It'll just delay things and, like you said, it's not like I have much of a choice."

  "You catch on quickly. That speeds things along.” Ralan pulls a cigar from his coat and starts to fiddle with it. “So, I’ll sail out into the maelstrom for you if you can pay. The price is five times the going rate to charter a boat at the docks for a week. I assume you’ve been all over so you know they are all basically the same price."

  I recoil at his blunt demeanor at asking for so much money. "T-that’s expensive..."

  "What? You can’t afford it? I can wait 'til you get the money."

  "No... I have the money."

  "Good.” Ralan runs his cigar under his nose before he cuts the end and lights it with a cheap lighter. “Everything is up front. Money is no good to a dead man, but I have family on another planet I can wire the funds to, so I’ll have earned my pay regardless."

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  "I understand, but like I said, I don’t plan on dying."

  Ralan puffs away at his cigar. "Hmph. Most people don't. You never know."

  "Now you don't sound so confident in your skill."

  Ralan shrugs. "I'm just being realistic kid. So, do you have the money?"

  I have the money, but it'll make a huge dent in my finances. I guess by now I should expect to be taken advantage of given the circumstance. If I don't take this opportunity, I might never get another chance like this. I dig through my bag and give Ralan an envelope of cash, pretty much all I had brought with me, not a small sum by any means. "That should be enough." I say.

  Ralan sorts through the money and counts it twice over. He stuffs the money into his coat. "Well, you’ve satisfied my requirements. We can leave whenever you’re ready for about a week out at sea."

  "Just like that?"

  "Just like that.” he echoes. “Do you think an old fish like me has anything else going on in his life?"

  "I can’t just leave now.” I say. “I need some time to prepare. I need to get permission for time off from my job. I also need to make sure my roommate will be okay with me gone for a while." I’d rather Sera didn’t get food delivered for a whole week.

  Ralan nods along, but looks far less interested in what I have to say now that he’s taken my money. "Mhmm... you do that. I’ll be ready whenever you are. I keep my ship, the Emerald, moored at dock eleven. It’s an old destroyer of non-human make so you can’t miss it. I live aboard it and never really sail out all that much anymore so you can come by any time you are ready. If it wasn’t obvious, we’ll be venturing out into the wilderness. There are no definite protections against monsters out at sea. It’s a three-day journey to reach the maelstrom and, assuming we survive the ordeal, it’ll take three days to get back as well. Just be ready for anything. The ship has defenses against monsters, but those will only take us so far. I wouldn’t be surprised if we gotta take care of at least some of them ourselves. All that to say, hopefully you aren’t afraid of monsters or anything like that."

  "Don’t worry about me, Ralan. I won’t be a burden. I just trust that you’ll hold up your end of the bargain." With confidence in my mission restored, or at least as much as I could muster given what had transpired, I return home.

  When I get home, I relay everything that had happened to Sera, but Sera responds with her usual lack of interest.

  Sera says, "So, you managed to find someone to help you out huh? Well, that’s good. I knew it’d work out somehow. Still, I can’t believe you just gave some random drunk THAT much money. If you handed me that much money, you’d never see me again, that's for sure. I’d buy a first-class ticket off this rock and be laughing all the way to the bank."

  "You think I got robbed?" I say.

  Seeing my forlorn expression, Sera quickly adds, "I’m sure it’ll be fine." She closes her eyes and wags her finger in the air. “You have pretty good judgment when it comes to people. I’m just saying you have way more faith in strangers than I could ever muster." She leans back into the couch and continues, “Worst case scenario you’ll have to file a claim with the Ministry of Defense. I’m sure they could easily track down a shady character like that no problem. I mean, a shark hafon? Those are pretty rare non-humans on a planet like this. Anyway, when are you leaving? You should probably do it soon. Shouldn’t keep this sailor guy waiting y’know?"

  "I’ll have to request time off from work, but I plan on leaving as soon as I can. It’ll still probably be a few weeks out."

  "Well, don’t worry about me.” Sera says. “It’s only a week. I can manage by myself for at least that long. You just focus on doing what you need to do, okay?"

  "I will." I affirm. "Thank you for humoring me lately. I’m sure if you had known my life would become so hectic you wouldn’t have wanted to become my roommate."

  Sera waves her hand to dismiss my statement. "It’s not a big deal. My ordinary, reclusive, life balances out the craziness going on in yours. What you have going on only affects me insofar as I allow myself to become involved anyway. So, don’t think that you’re bothering me or anything like that."

  "Well, thanks anyway. I appreciate you supporting me even though we haven’t really known each other that long."

  "No problem.” Sera says. “There is one thing I wanted to ask."

  "What is it?"

  "Well, you’re going to be going out into the wilderness, when you set sail, right? Aren’t you going to run into monsters and stuff?" Sera asks.

  "I’ve never been out at sea, but I imagine it’s the same as on land. Generally, you’ll run into monsters anywhere not protected by barriers. Since only the major cities and roads have barriers it’s common to run into monsters out in the wilderness. What about it?"

  Sera shudders at the thought of running into a monster. "Shouldn’t you take a weapon or something? I’ve read that the monsters in the ocean on Frontier are especially dangerous."

  "Yeah, I plan on taking my gun."

  "Oh, that’s good..." Sera says, but it is clear she isn’t impressed. "Don’t you think you should take something... bigger?"

  "Bigger? What do you mean?"

  "Y’know... like that hatchet."

  "The hatchet?” I repeat. “You want me to bring the hatchet?" I try my best not to look mad, but she sees through me, backs away, and raises her hands on the defensive.

  "Well yeah!” She avoids my eyes and turns her attention to the blank television screen. “It may not be very... modern but didn’t you say it is a magical weapon? It was able to cause a debilitating wound to a so-called immortal being, don’t you think that’d be a useful thing to have on hand?"

  "That doesn’t seem like a good idea. I think it would be better to not mess around with something like that.”

  Sera scoffs. "What’s to know? It may be a weird magic thing but it’s still a weapon. You swing it at stuff you want to destroy. Simple as that. You may have reservations about using something that hurt your friend, but you have a powerful tool at your disposal. Who knows what you'll run into out there? I don’t see why you shouldn’t use it to better protect yourself."

  I have to give it some thought, but I suppose she is right. I’d feel better having it on me than leaving it here anyway. “I guess so. Fine, you’re right, I’ll take it.”