Chapter One -- The Fallen Keda is your typical port city. Its got four parts. There is the rich tourist area, beautifully kept and well patrolled, they call The Plaza. A place I used to be able to walk through with my head held high. Not now though. I couldn't afford it then and less so now. Then there is the trade and warehousing area, through which flows all the commerce that keeps this town in existence, they call The Market. Its not so well kept but is very well patrolled. They don't want anything happening here that might affect the life-blood. Outside of that is what they call the Low Town. An area of bars, restaurants and hostelries' aimed to clip credits from tourists and crew with money to spend but unable to afford the accommodations of The Plaza. It's reasonably safe there though security only walks it in pairs. Then there's The Pot. Its not patrolled. Its not kept at all unless you consider the scavengers picking through the trash as part of that. Life is cheap and expendable here. I wouldn't call it living but a few coins here can last a while if you can keep them. In it there is a dive that calls itself the Venus Inn. I don't recommend the stripper show. Its usually some drugged out hag looking for a few bits to score some more. Unless you are connected the barkeep won't hold a tab for you. He'll stick you and throw you out into the streets for the scavengers. If he's not big enough there are four apes who sit around just to help him. I'm not connected. I don't want them holding a mortgage on what soul I have left. I've an empty bottle on the table and I'm wondering if I have enough stomach lining left to order another one of the near toxic drinks which are about all I can afford. From a lord of space to Pot scum. That's me! Christopher Blankmen. I can't call myself Captain anymore. They pulled my ticket and confiscated my ship. I'm lucky they didn't throw me into the lockup to boot. All because the owner of the last consignment that I was bringing in hadn't paid port security to ignore the less than legal part of the shipment. Or maybe he had and they crossed him on it. I can't get back to him to find out since I've no ship now and I'm not putting myself back into the not so gentle environs of security to ask. I'm sitting in this dive drinking poisons they call names like Venus Mount because it's the one place in The Pot where I might hear about something that could let me pull myself out of this hole. The drinks are because they'll throw me out if I'm not buying. Right now I'm pretty near the end of the rope. There aren't many coins left in my belt pouch and I'm not hearing anything but the normal rumors which fly around when the crowd comes in. Then the door opened. Nobody took much notice as its a normal occurrence. Then it became noticeable. There was a spreading silence and the toad of a barkeep near shattered his face trying to plaster a grin on it. The four apes just stared with their mouths hanging open. I'd never seen that happen before. The skags and dregs started whispering but even that died off. The silence penetrated when nothing else had and I glanced up to see what was going on. To be continued..............