“NO, NO, no, those go over there.” Molly waved her hands towards the inner wall of the planning space and tried not to show her frustration. They were one week away from Honora Station’s Inaugural Winter Party and everything was going to shit. “Please, consult with Dour’man before you do anything else.” She didn’t know the name of the bright pink alien in front of her, but she was pretty sure that the girl had been working for her for more than a week. A week in which she was pretty sure progress had actually moved backwards on the project.

It was supposed to be a simple job, something small enough for one person to plan, but big enough to boost Molly’s name recognition. This far out from any civilization, party planners—or event logistics specialists, as her business cards said—were few and far between. This Winter Party was Molly’s chance to prove herself and the thing she wanted to build a career on. But it was becoming more and more clear why so few people tried anything at outposts like Honora Station.

It was impossible to keep people on board for more than a week at a time. The pink alien girl was one of Molly’s longest term employees; everyone else was coming and going, seeking to earn a few credits during their layovers at Honora Station before going on their ways. The permanent staff couldn’t be spared for more than a few hours at a time, and Molly had already reserved who she could for the day of the party, and God forbid she approach any of the tourists and see if they wanted to spice up their vacations with a little manual labor.

Add to all that, there were no seasons on Honora Station, it being a space station. They changed the decorations in the main sectors a few times a year, but there was no planet to keep time by; all of it was merely an illusion to keep those living there sane.

It happened to now be winter in the heart of the Oscavian Empire, which was why the board in charge of the station had chosen the theme. Why they’d decided to hire Molly, who’d interpreted the theme based on her own Earth customs, she didn’t know. But they’d flown her out from the even smaller station where she’d been apprenticing and given her a budget and a deadline, letting her do what she wanted.

Molly would be excited about the opportunity, when she was done screaming in frustration at all the complications. One week to go and she’d dazzle everyone and instantly make this winter party a tradition that they couldn’t miss.

“Where are the pipes?” she turned to ask Jyx, today’s assistant. He was normally a medic on an Oscavian freighter that was in for repairs. He’d jumped at the chance to work for her when she’d put out the call for helpers.

“Which pipes are those?” the Oscavian asked, his purple skin glowing festively under the colored lights she’d had strung up.

“The ones to make the tree.” Molly sighed. Jyx had enthusiasm, but not the organizational skills needed to hold his position long term. She wouldn’t be heartbroken when his ship took off, though he was so excited about the party that she was bummed he wouldn’t be around to see it.

“What is the significance of the tree?” he asked for the third time since she’d explained what she wanted.

Molly took a moment to sit and grab a drink of water. She’d been going nonstop since she’d woken up that morning, and her throat was parched. “Back home on Earth a lot of people celebrate a holiday called Christmas. We put up trees, decorate them, and place gifts under them to open on Christmas morning.” She wasn’t about to get into Jesus or Santa Claus. There was no time to explain.

“There aren’t that many humans on Honora Station,” Jyx pointed out. “Shouldn’t you use one of the Oscavian winter festivals?”

Molly didn’t roll her eyes, but only barely. “We have the sun dial and crop basket for the Oscavian Festival of the New Harvest. And I’ve integrated a few more winter festivals from across the galaxy. It’s... eclectic.” It was a mess, was what it was, but Molly was doing her best. “Now go get the pipes set up like the diagram shows. I need to talk to the caterers.”

Jyx took off without any more prodding and Molly let her seat tip back so she could get a good look around. The party was set to take place in the main terminal of Honora Station with several rooms set aside for eating, drinking, dancing, playing games, and sharing stories. The event was meant to bring together everyone on the station in a joyous night that would be remembered for years. It wasn’t bound by any one culture’s traditions, which was both a blessing and a curse. Molly could do anything she wanted, but she was almost guaranteed to let someone down.

But she couldn’t let that get to her. As frustrated as she was, everything was coming together. The main decorations were set up and now they were putting up the finishing touches. When Jyx came back, she was ready for his report that the tree was under construction and he was ready for his next task, but the apprehensive look on his face stopped her hope dead. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Jyx cast his eyes down as if he expected her to lash out. “I can’t find the pipes anywhere. I’ve looked everywhere I can think, but they’re gone. You have my sincerest apologies.”

Molly took a deep, calming breath before she said anything. Jyx looked like he thought she was going to pummel him, but the pipes weren’t the first thing to go missing. They were on a space station, so things had a bad habit of getting re-purposed without anyone knowing. “That’s okay. Go ahead and start working on the star spectacle. I’ll see what I can find out about the piping. Thank you.”

Jyx looked up at her, still wary, but now hopeful. When she nodded at him again, he was off, leaving Molly to finish her water while her stomach twisted in frustration. Party planning thing wasn’t all glamor. She added ‘speak to station biowaste management’ to her list of things to do and took one more deep breath before jumping back into the fray.

***

TAV CURSED AS THE SECONDARY warning signal started flashing. They were still three light years out from the next port and his ship was falling apart. Juuno was doing her best to keep the engine running, but there was only so much that bonding gel and hope could accomplish. The ship lurched worryingly and Tav opened a line to the engine room.

“Tell me this is just a false alarm,” he practically begged.

All he could hear was the sound of banging and high pitched cursing in a language that his translator couldn’t identify. “I told Dansin that we wouldn’t make it to Karlea without replacing the backup thruster.”

Then she yelped and Tav jumped in his seat. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Juuno groused. “But if we don’t dock somewhere soon, none of us are making landfall again.”

Tav closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. He had one hundred and seventeen passengers aboard his transport ship and millions of credits worth of cargo. They’d chosen to fly with him because of his superior safety record, and he wasn’t going to let them down. He pulled up a star map and said a prayer to his ancestors, hoping there was some place they could dock before it was too late.

“You still there, boss?” Juuno asked before she whacked something else.

“Can we last for another day?” he asked. They’d jumped out of FTL a few hours ago and he didn’t trust the engine to start back to faster than light speeds. If it were possible, they’d be on Karlea before dinner. As it was, they were in a giant stretch of empty space with nothing but uninhabitable rocks.

“I can give you about twelve hours,” Juuno replied grimly. “And that will be cutting it close.”

He believed her. His last mechanic had been a lazy man who wouldn’t give Tav an honest ETA on repairs if he had a blaster pointed at his face. Juuno didn’t make promises she couldn’t keep, and if she said they only had twelve hours, she was going to tear herself apart to give him every minute. He looked at the map again and switched the view from planetary civilizations to all landing zones. He let out a whoop when a viable location appeared within six hours’ flight.

“That’s the first good sound I’ve heard today,” his mechanic said.

“We’re making a little detour, but I’ll have us docked in a few hours.” He refiled his flight plan and notified the station of their imminent arrival, marking their landing as a mechanical emergency. Even if the station was completely full, they would be sure to let Tav and his ship stop there to make emergency repairs.

“Where are we going?”

“Have you ever been to Honora Station?” There was an informational pamphlet linked to the map, but Tav didn’t have time to read it, not while he was forced to use manual controls to steer them on their way. He knew he’d been to the station several times, but never while in such dire straits.

“I’ve heard it’s a dump.” Juuno had joined his ship after working on an Oscavian pleasure vessel. She’d seen the finest things that this end of the galaxy had to offer and had left it all behind for some reason. Her eyes got dark whenever the topic came up, so other than asking for her work history and qualifications, Tav had never asked why she left. If she wanted to tell him why, she still had a few years before he perished. And she had to know he’d take her secrets to his grave.

“It’s a dump with a dock and a repair yard,” Tav corrected. “A few days there and we’ll be on our way. If we fly fast enough, we might only be a day late into Karlea.”

Juuno tsked. “Sorry, captain, we’re looking at a week of repairs at the least.”

“You said it was just the backup thruster.” Tav wasn’t a mechanic, but he knew what made his ship go, and replacing any of the thrusters shouldn’t have taken very long.

“It was just the backup thruster. A week ago. Since then we’ve been fighting a cascade of failures. That means you’re going to miss your rendezvous, doesn’t it?” She sounded sad for him, knowing just how precious Tav’s time was.

He’d been planning to meet with an old friend, Tyral NaRaxos, a fellow Detyen who had reached out to him after he was saved from certain death by meeting his denya, his mate, a human woman. Tav had thought it impossible, but as Tyral’s thirtieth birthday had passed and he was still breathing, the story had to be true. They hadn’t seen each other in years, and given the size of space, it was unlikely they’d meet again before Tav’s own thirtieth birthday in three years. He’d been looking forward to it, but Tyral only had a short layover on Karlea and he’d most likely be gone by the time Tav arrived.

“It isn’t meant to be,” Tav finally replied to Juuno. “I will send him a message once we reach the station. He’d much rather we remained safe than push on and put everyone at risk.”

Something hissed over the comm, which set off a new wave of cursing. “Get us there as quick as you can,” Juuno urged.

“Before you know it,” Tav promised. He increased their speed as much as he could and made the announcement to the passengers, telling them to report any issues to his second in command, Dansin. Served the man right for delaying the repairs. He hadn’t wanted to journey to Honora Station, but hopefully there he could find a replacement for the man who’d almost gotten them all killed.