3. Part X - Bannabil (Doomsday Comet and the Twelve Moons of Beledde IV)

There was a portly, beaming man with balding hair and a broad smile standing on the other side of the inner door. He'd delivered the greeting with such enthusiasm that for a moment, Father Frederich thought he actually might be sincere.

“I am Flortgralf,” said the man. “You, no doubt, are a trader. Unless you're a tourist?” Flortgralf licked his lips.

“The former,” said Father Frederich. “I am here to buy fuel for my spaceship.”

“Very good! Very good! Fuel! Yes! We don't accept money here.” Flortgralf bowed pointlessly. “Perhaps you should leave.”

“I did not intend to pay with money,” said Father Frederich. He was already becoming impatient. “I am a trader. I brought items to trade.”

“Oh? What, then? Pretty dresses? Dried meats? Intoxicating drugs? Padlocks?”

“Padlocks?” Father Frederich raised an eyebrow. “Is there much call for those?”

“You'd be surprised, sir.” Flortgralf bowed again. “Padlocks for the pens. Very useful. They wear out quickly and break often. We go through them like baby teeth.”

---

This is the third story in a series about Doomsday Comet and his journey across the moons of a distant planet called Beledde IV. This story contains: Geothermal activity, some tiny insects, a right boot with scuff marks on it, a tourism-based economy, and an unexpected small child.

Doomsday Comet and the Rogue Asteroids were a galaxy-wide phenomenon, their single, eponymous album topping charts in every system. There's nobody who hasn't heard of Doomsday Comet, and there's nobody who doesn't love his music – except for Doomsday Comet himself.
The eccentric musical genius who led the band now wants nothing to do with his fame. When he speaks of his fellow band-mates, he mutters darkly, cites infamous deeds, then quickly changes the subject. Whatever the circumstances surrounding the album's production were, he doesn't care to be reminded of them - which is hard when those hits find air-time wherever music is being broadcast, those melodies stick in the heads of every sentient being to have heard them.

These stories follow the misadventures of Doomsday and his companion, a monk from a space station monastery, as they journey between the moons of a backwater gas giant called Beledde IV. Doomsday only wants to find some peace and quiet and to enjoy himself as a tourist, but between his persistent fame, his penchant for getting himself into trouble, and the distant presence of a strange and ominous saxophonist who has been shadowing him for unknown reasons, his experiences on the moons rarely go so smoothly.
But that's okay, he's a brilliant musician: He knows how to improvise.

You shouldn't need to have read the rest of the series to appreciate this story, with the exception of the prologue, which can be downloaded for free here.

You can find out about the series and subscribe on a roughly pay-what-you-want basis to receive the stories as they're released at www.patreon.com/DeepwaterCreations, or pick them up individually here.

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