draft ending

The crew of the UPPPM Belief In A Lower Power solemnly departed their dear ship. No one actually liked the ship of course. It constantly smelled strongly of burnt leafs, it always rumbled and creaked at warp, and its hatred for speed was so strong that half of the time spent in the space/warp was used speeding up. But the crew members had spent 7 years on Belief. Certainly the starship itself was none too nice, but the memories gained by her crew during their time on board has been merely a mixed bag. Entertaining, thrilling adventures were had on the Belief, some of which could even make decent prequel stories.

As Grak stepped onto the rescue ship, all of the crew were accounted for. He peered back as the plastic docking bag was sealed, and the atmosphere of Belief was allowed to escape into space. "Her final breath," Grak said.

"What are we going to do without a ship? Or worse, with a ship that's even older and more out of date than Belief?" James said.

"Don't worry, I have an idea," said Grak.

Alpha Centauri B's Station, the larger of the stations around either of the two stars, was a remarkable commercial and civilian hub. Essentially a massive mall 2 kilometers in circumference, α Cen B station is often considered "The Height Of Interstellar Capitalism." Others would rather consider it a somewhat darker market. Grak knew of a shop he visited the last time he had been at the station: Leeanherb Scientifically Valid Herbal Remedies.

The shop was nearly empty of course as it usually was at that hour, but the shopkeeper, Leeanne, was still working. The shop was lit only by holographic candles and the framed certification plaques, the abundance of which somehow managed to lend even less credibility to the establishment. Grak knew plenty of the validity of Leeanherb's medicines. Traddin psychology does not buy into the placebo effect quite as strongly for one thing, and he knew for a fact that the drug trip he had experienced the first time he visited the shop was not related to the fact he was already drunk.

Grak entered the shop. "Greetings, Leeanne," he said.

"We're closed," Leanne said before turning around, "Oh, hello Grak, it's been a while." Leanne put down the cases of something which would be illegal if the government acknowledged her work. "What can I do for you and your friends?"

"It's more along the lines of something I can do for you," Grak said.

"Oh?"

"Are you familiar with the drug Ixilozine?"  Grak asked.

"Never heard of it," Leeanne said, "What does it do?"

"It's a sort of a miracle drug, capable of bringing humans back to life in some circumstances, and it cures male pattern baldness as well."

"Fascinating, what's this got to do with me?"

"I have in this brief case the only remaining sample of a flower that generates this drug naturally. I brought it with me as a souvenir from another world. They're called Queen Beiolon flowers," Grak said. Leeanne recognized the name immediately, and Grak left the shop with a frankly quite ludicrous sum of money.

"We'll have enough money to buy our own ship!" James said.

"Let's go to the used shipyard now!" Tean said. And so they did.

"It's a Class IV M.P.C.V., operated by the Union of Planets, Planetesimals, Planemos, and Moons. You'll note the octagonal structure used to armor the propellant tanks, a holdover from the previous design. She's still got her white and red paint scheme of course, as she was previously owned by a museum. She's--"

"We'll take it."