Precious Cargo

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.


The prompts: This story must contain the words: Blanket, Cocoa and Skating


Precious Cargo

Astra looked out over the skyport landing zone. A blanket of ammonia snow covered everything. Craft of all shapes and sizes were scattered about in seeming random disarray. Astra knew better. Different technologies and different species meant that multiple accommodations would have to be met in order to prevent chaos.

Quantum Tunnelers were the easiest to berth. They simply popped into existence at the appropriate time and place. Once their cargos were transferred, they folded themselves into an adjacent dimension and were gone.

At the other end of the spectrum were the Reaction Engine machines. These tended to make a big mess of things when they arrived. They were loud, large and crewed by the most primitive of species. It was best to keep them separated from the rest.

Astra double checked her arrivals for the day. There were more than ten thousand ship arrivals and departures on her agenda – a typical load for the Galactic Distribution Center. What wasn’t typical was a ship due in just after midday.

Manned by an aggressive species, the ship would be heavily armed; such a waste of potential cargo space. Their trip had taken generations, another waste but this was one of time. Sub-light travel was so inefficient. The biggest waste was the cargo they sought – gold and diamonds. To them, these plentiful trinkets were worth the trip.

Right on schedule, the loud and ugly behemoth lowered itself onto a distant and isolated pad. Astra watched as the port workers began skating out to unload the cargo. She knew that every species was watching carefully as the precious treasure was unloaded. The bidding would be high and the savages would get their worthless payment.

Astra began to salivate as the first container was being offloaded. Across the outside was the single word – Cocoa.

Word count 300