In the main security room on Pael, five pairs of eyes looked at the viewscreens. Four of them belonged to the regular security personnel, and the fifth was Elaine. In the last few days, she'd spent a lot of time in here, a look of constant worry on her face. The feeling was growing ever more certain inside her that Pael would be attacked. Soon.
At the moment, they were all looking at a low-fi transmission of Guybrush's face. "State your name and business," one of the security personnel said in reply to Guybrush's message.
"Glen Williams," said Guybrush smoothly. "I'm a new space trader. Just came across a seam of rubidium, and I'd like to trade it in."
"A new trader?" said one of the security personnel dubiously. "In that old ship?"
"Hey, it was all I could afford," Guybrush protested. "That's sorta why I'm here... to get a few things fixed."
"Received. Please await our decision."
The security man cut off the mike and a discussion began. "What do you reckon, guys?"
"I'm not sure," said one. "It's an old Mark IV - pirates used to fly them."
"Not recently they don't. I mean look at that thing. Even for a Mark IV it's out of shape."
One of the security personnel looked up from his computer. "It doesn't have identifying markings corresponding to any known space pirate. Looks legitimate."
"Computer scan shows no visible weapons, and the on-board computer says minimal systems are functional. Plus they can barely get twenty percent yield out of their engines."
"So, we let them in?"
Elaine, who'd kept quiet during the discussion, spoke up. "I say yes. If that rusting hulk is a possible threat we might as well pack this whole operation in now."
This was a somewhat unexpected comment from Elaine, given the way she'd acted over the past few days. "Uh, okay," said one of the men. He flipped open the comm channel. "Glen Williams, we've given you a twelve hour landing permit. Proceed through the main gateway and land in sector G."
"Received," said Guybrush. He cut the line and laughed. "See? I was right.
No problem at all."
He pushed them forward, heading toward a tiny black letterbox in the centre of this huge metal sphere. As they flew forward, Pael stopped looking like something small and insignificant and started to loom. The grey metal surface was almost featureless, and by the time they were almost at the gateway it ran straight up and down nearly vertically. Wally had the feeling they were rushing into the longest, deepest tunnel ever constructed.
Boss Hog passed through the gateway. The tunnel around them was wide and high, and ran straight ahead for a short distance. After two seconds they emerged into a huge lighted hangar. A squadron of fighters was lined up on the floor underneath them, set up and ready for instant takeoff.
Guybrush flew left, passing over space trader ships and general transport vessels. Finally, he found Sector G, which was about half-full. He brought Boss Hog gently down onto the hangar floor, right next to a small, unassuming craft.
Guybrush cut the power. The rumble and whine of Boss Hog's engines gradually faded away, into an unfamiliar silence. "We're here," he said.