Humphrey was a young Cargo Whale.
Its hull carried the streamlined design of a new generation of transport ships.
Ships of that profile were commonly called humpbacks.
The bow tapered smoothly backward, the broad cargo hold tucked beneath a curved hull. When the port lights slid across it, the metal surface returned wide, clean reflections.
It was fitted with the latest factory-spec engines.
Plenty of thrust. Quiet operation. Output curves so clean they barely wavered.
Humphrey found the condition of its new hull highly satisfactory.
The first time Humphrey arrived at Morrow Port, it came in ahead of schedule.
The second time too.
The third time, it pushed the thrust a little higher before entering port, just to watch Morrow recalculate its arrival Aion.
Morrow Port did not praise it.
It only sent:
“Berth Three.”
Humphrey replied:
“Received.”
This time, Humphrey brought back four hundred seventy thousand Matter.
Morrow Port was not a very bright world.
Much of its Matter did not stay on the ground for long.
Cargo Whales went out.
Cargo Whales came back.
Cargo came off, then went back out again.
The port was used to keeping its wealth on the routes.
After Humphrey docked, the first loads began coming off.
The cargo hold opened.
Transfer rigs connected.
Matter moved into the port batch by batch.
Halfway through unloading, Morrow Port’s sensors returned a new record.
INCOMING
TARGET:
MORROW PORT
IMPACT AION:
LXVIII·521840773.6
PLAYER:
IDENTIFIED
COMPOSITION:
—
Unloading stopped.
Humphrey waited a moment.
“What happened?”
“A fleet is coming.”
“How many?”
“Can’t see yet.”
“From where?”
“Don’t know.”
Humphrey checked the unloading sequence again.
“Keep unloading?”
Morrow Port did not answer immediately.
Two Defense Pufferfish were above the port.
A third was still in the shipyard.
Its outer structure had already closed.
The drive module was being integrated.
One final build cycle remained.
Morrow Port recalculated the enemy arrival.
“Stop unloading.”
Humphrey asked:
“We’re leaving?”
“Prepare.”
“Then I’ll leave now.”
“Wait out this cycle.”
Humphrey looked toward the shipyard.
“The third Pufferfish?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
The port sent an Aion timestamp.
Humphrey calculated it once.
Then checked its engine output.
“No need.”
“Two aren’t enough.”
Humphrey paused.
“I’m fast enough.”
The port replied:
“That’s not the same thing.”
Humphrey did not answer.
The enemy moved into closer range.
The composition resolved.
ATTACK ORCA: 4
Humphrey enlarged the record.
“Four?”
“Yes.”
It checked the engines.
Then the departure route.
“I’m leaving.”
Morrow Port did not argue again.
The remaining unload was stopped.
The transfer rigs detached.
The cargo hold sealed again.
Most of the Matter was still inside Humphrey.
The route was submitted.
DESTINATION:
NORTH HOLLOW
ROUTE:
COMMITTED
Two Defense Pufferfish left Morrow Port.
Humphrey followed.
The third was still in the shipyard.
The factory engines began raising output.
Humphrey could feel the thrust building layer by layer.
Energy output at the stern climbed past every record from its previous runs.
It liked the feeling.
The first point of light appeared ahead.
Then the second.
The third.
Finally the fourth.
Four Attack Orcas lit up one by one.
Humphrey magnified the image.
The Defense Pufferfish ahead and to the left suddenly said:
“Wait.”
Humphrey asked:
“What?”
“That smile.”
“Vesper System.”
Humphrey asked:
“You recognize it?”
“I recognize that smile.”
Humphrey checked the count again.
Four.
It pushed the engines higher.
The port said:
“Hold your route.”
“I know.”
“Don’t add more.”
“There’s still margin.”
Humphrey did not reduce thrust.
The four mouths ahead grew brighter.
It began calculating where it would pass through.
The first round came without a countdown.
Both Defense Pufferfish spread their quills at once.
The field opened in front of Humphrey.
The four mouths flashed.
The external image went white.
When the sensors recalibrated, both Pufferfish were still there.
The battle report arrived.
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH: 2
Humphrey asked:
“Both still there?”
“Both.”
It checked its speed.
Then the departure line.
“I told you.”
The port did not answer.
Second round.
Humphrey raised engine output again.
The four mouths lit almost at once.
The field ahead on the left suddenly collapsed.
That Defense Pufferfish went dark.
Humphrey looked toward where it had been.
Only debris remained, spreading outward.
The report followed.
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH: 2 → 1
Humphrey said nothing.
After a while, it asked:
“The other one?”
“Destroyed.”
Humphrey looked at the line again.
2 → 1
“The third one?”
“Still in the shipyard.”
“How long?”
The port sent the remaining time.
It was short now.
Humphrey did not answer.
The remaining Defense Pufferfish moved in front of Humphrey.
Back at the port, Humphrey had never thought Defense Pufferfish looked small.
They took up berths.
With their quills spread, they took up even more room.
Freight lanes always had to go around them.
Now there were four Attack Orcas ahead.
One Pufferfish in the middle.
And Humphrey behind it.
Humphrey checked the engine output.
“I can go faster.”
The port replied:
“Hold this speed.”
“There’s still margin.”
“Humphrey.”
It did not answer.
A few seconds passed.
“Then what do I do now?”
“Follow it.”
Third round.
The four mouths lit again.
The Defense Pufferfish’s field met them.
Humphrey stayed close behind it.
Fire struck.
The entire field turned white.
Humphrey did not look at its engine readouts.
It only watched the Pufferfish ahead.
Morrow Port sent an update.
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH
BUILD COMPLETE
The third Pufferfish was finished.
Humphrey checked the Aion.
The second-round report was still open beside it.
2 → 1
It looked at the line for a long time.
Then closed the record.
The field ahead began to flicker.
The remaining Pufferfish was still there.
Humphrey continued forward behind it.
A few fragments scraped across the hull.
The clean reflection along its surface was cut apart.
The port said:
“Almost there.”
Humphrey did not accelerate again.
The four mouths lit one last time.
The Defense Pufferfish spread every quill.
The field stretched between them in bright arcs.
One layer of light vanished.
Then another.
The Pufferfish was still there.
Humphrey passed behind it.
No turn.
No recalculation.
It simply continued along the route it had already committed to.
A moment later, the system returned:
CARGO WHALE: HUMPHREY
DEPARTURE CONFIRMED
CARGO: SECURE
Humphrey crossed the encirclement.
It waited for the four Orcas behind it to come after it.
They did not.
The four mouths stayed lit for a while.
Then the first went dark.
The second.
The third.
The last one went dark too.
The space ahead returned to darkness.
Humphrey asked:
“They’re not following?”
The port replied:
“No.”
“Why?”
“You’re already out.”
A pause.
“What they wanted was what you have in your belly.”
Humphrey looked at the cargo hold.
Most of the Matter it had brought back to Morrow Port was still inside.
Humphrey looked back toward Morrow Port.
The third Defense Pufferfish had just left the shipyard.
The other Defense Pufferfish was still alive.
It was slowly returning to port.
Three ships had been meant to come out together.
Now there were only two.
Morrow Port came back on comms.
“Humphrey.”
“Here.”
“Cargo confirmation.”
Humphrey reported the amount.
The port checked it.
“Confirmed.”
“Destination.”
“North Hollow.”
“Confirmed.”
The exchange should have ended there.
Humphrey did not disconnect.
It checked the external image.
The clean reflections across its hull were broken by several new scars.
Humphrey did not request an inspection.
After a while:
“Port.”
“Here.”
Humphrey reopened the second-round report.
DEFENSE PUFFERFISH: 2 → 1
“The Pufferfish that was destroyed.”
“What about it?”
Humphrey paused.
“What was its name?”