Almost confused by the last question made by Rosario, as many Outcasts have flown through Beta for infinite of reasons; he finally decided to respond unironically:
“I’ve passed through this system many times, recently. Mostly doing several runs from Galicia to Alba Station. We needed specialized equipment, so I came with one transport to deliver the stuff.”
Cruz almost felt proud of himself, noting his own accomplishments and how vital his work was during that time. Before being overwhelmed by pleasant satisfaction, he continued:
“As everyone seems eager to check Ruiz before the main event, who am I to deny that? He he.”
He almost chuckled at the useless effort of being accurately charming.
…
“Acknowledged, we will not intervene in your current task. Feel free to proceed as you wish.”
After denying the necessity of a docking clearance, Alberto Cruz tried to explain his motives in space; but he was not sure what to reveal exactly and this brought him doubts:
“We are on the mo-move right now, in an im-important operation.”
“RIGHT...So, what can Ruiz control do for you then? Besides wasting our time…”
Soft laughter was heard from the background, as the completely unconvinced interlocutor tried to answer in the most sardonic way possible.
“This is serious, compañeros. Some of our Asesinos are…”
“Asesinos? Who? Excuse me, but are you in charge of this operation of yours or…? You sound quite insecure, maybe we should send a couple of pilots to escort you inside; in this way we can recheck your...hold on a moment.”
Abrupt silence on comms. Cruz realized how a mistake it was to try to speak as mediator in this simple exchange of words; but his sudden frustration ceased as the mood on the other side changed so suddenly. Then, the expected grave voice changed to a feminine one; a slightly worried tone could be perceived:
“This is Ruiz control. Yes, I think we have something for you. There was an incident recently that our brethren tried to break through, in the bar. I was in one of the tables, taking a break, when one of the Maltese went completely mad about something…we don’t know what it was, but he started a fight; an uneasy euphoria, not the common one…it was disturbing. What was his name? Marcelo something…Marcelo Riquelme, si. That was the name…he made quite the impression around here. Of course, most of the crowd were laughing at the situation until blood and brutality started to appear. He was followed by several wingmen and he yelled that he was not going to return. In addition to that, we do not know much else. Ten minutes after he left the base, more pilots arrived…probably from your group, as they were expecting this guy and they left as quickly as they noticed he was not there. All of them went directly to the western side of the system and that’s all we know. Our apologies if my compañeros here didn’t take you seriously; they were not present during this situation and we didn’t honestly take it too much importance. One Maltese returned to Omicron Alpha to drop the message, I guess...as he left just after the second group launched themselves into space.”
Absorbed by the developments made by the lost ones, Cruz tried to elaborate questions regarding it; he even waited to check if the other members had questions. Being interrupted by the unease woman’s voice, making haste of the talk, she awkwardly changed her tone to a more decisive one:
![[Image: 0WfuF9g.png]](https://i.imgur.com/0WfuF9g.png)