The man stopped right in front of him, now only a few feet away.
''Luck doesn't fix an old ship like that,'' the man muttered. ''And that thing behind you isn't just some scrap either, seems pretty ancient… and that design too, never seen it before.''
Zion's stomach tightened, but his expression didn't change.
''I didn't have another choice,'' he said, forcing himself to be calm. ''I found it inside a cave, coupled with a batch of spare materials and one crate of food.''
The man raised his eyebrows, clearly unconvinced. ''Inside a cave, huh? And it just so happened to have spare materials laying around?''
Zion met his gaze and immediately understood he had to paint a more convincing situation.
''There was something else,'' he said flatly. ''Deeper inside the cave was a cage with human remains and a table with the schematic for the ship.''
The man's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of disgust flashing past his eyes. ''A cage, you say?'' he asked, voice lowering.
Zion nodded slowly, eyes darting across the place in case something went wrong.
As the man remained quiet and the rest of the crew stared intently at him, his heart pounded heavily in his ears.
'It seems like that hit a nerve,' he thought. 'But this was the easiest way to make it seem like I stumbled on a small pirate hideout.'
Finally, the leader looked up at Zion again. ''You've gotten quite lucky,'' he said, raising a hand in the air. ''Many can't say the same.''
Behind him, two scavengers started to move, walking to his ship while taking scanners out of their pockets.
[Nothing to worry about, host,] Uriel's voice sounded in his ear. [At most they'll be able to tell that it's old. Their scanners wouldn't be able to pick up how old exactly.]
'Alright,' he thought, relieved.
As blue light sprang from the scanners, Zion's attention fell back on the scavenger leader in front of him.
'It looks like he's buying my story,' he thought.
Zion knew pirates often hid themselves on death planets since no one usually came there, making it easy to push the blame on them.
''Captain,'' one of the scavengers finally called out from behind, snapping Zion out of his thoughts. ''The readings are odd. Some mats are really old, like over a few thousand years old, while others are around two to three thousand years old.''
The man's head tilted slightly. ''Mixed ages…'' he muttered. ''That does line up with a pirate's work.''
After a short moment of silence, the man mumbled something under his breath as a flicker of greed flashed through his eyes.
He looked back at Zion, his tone shifting to something smoother.
"You know," he said, "I like stories like yours. Lost explorer, stranded completely alone on a death planet, barely crawling his way out." A faint grin appeared on his face. "Almost sounds heroic."
Zion stayed quiet, thrown off by the sudden change in behavior.
The captain took a step closer to him, the grin on his face growing into a larger smile. ''This schematic you were talking about, do you still have it?''
Zion's eyes turned serious, immediately recognizing what was going on. ''I memorized it,'' he slowly said, readying himself in case something happened.
The captain's grin faltered for the first time. "Memorized it?"
Zion nodded. "The paper was falling apart the moment I touched it. So I studied it as closely as I could."
A murmur spread through the scavengers behind him while the captain's eyes narrowed slightly.
''Well then,'' he said calmly. ''Luckily for you, I'm a pretty generous businessman.''
He took another step closer, lowering his voice until it sounded almost friendly. "I'll buy the ship and whatever you remember of the schematic.''
''Thirty thousand credits, a week's supply of food and water, and most importantly…" He paused, his lips turning up into a faint smile. "…a 'safe' trip back to Daresk."
Silence fell in the hangar as the captain finished speaking. Everyone stared intently at Zion, each henchman steadying their weapon toward him as all of them knew what would need to be done if he declined.
For Zion, the decision was easier than expected though.
[Selling the ship like this eradicates all traces to host,] Uriel's voice slid into his mind. [A much better option than selling it at the mercenary planet.]
'They are ripping me off significantly,' he thought, heart aching slightly. 'I could've gotten ten, maybe twenty times as much for it considering how old it is.'
[Host still retains access to many other schematics within the Seraph-X database,] Uriel replied calmly. [Losing one ship is an insignificant trade for host's life.]
Those words landed exactly where they needed to.
'Right,' he thought, nodding slightly.
Zion exhaled once, letting a bit of the tension drain from his shoulders.
''All right,'' he said, voice low. ''I'll sell it.''
The captain's smile widened. ''Good choice,'' he said, then added, "My name's Ravel, by the way. Captain of this crew."
Zion gave a slight nod. "Zane," he said simply.
''Zane, huh?'' He flicked a hand, calling two of his men over. ''You, prepare the transfer. And you, guide our guest to a spare room.''
Two of the scavengers moved immediately, one pulling up a holographic slate while the other motioned for Zion to follow.
''We'll see each other later again,'' the captain said, as Zion was about to walk away. ''Once the payment is ready.''
Zion nodded slowly before following after the scavenger, feeling every pair of eyes on his back.
As he finally left the hangar, he followed the scavenger through a narrow corridor lit by faint red lights. The only sounds were their footsteps and the low hum of the ship around them.
Zion kept his head down, counting every turn in case he needed to remember the way back.
When they finally reached a sealed door, the scavenger stopped and pressed a panel. It slid open with a hiss, revealing a small reinforced metal room with a single bed and no windows.
As Zion stepped inside, the door closed behind him and locked with a dull click.
'It seems we survived for now,' he thought, feeling a wave of relief wash over him.