The Delivery

He stood on a rocky outcrop high above the desert floor. Once more he scanned the horizon with his viewfinder, muttering to himself.

A dry wind swirled across the planet's surface, kicking up sand and snatching at his tattered cloak. The twin suns blazed overhead, and he noted that they were nearing their apex. With mild annoyance he pulled a digital timepiece from beneath his robes. The glowing symbols confirmed that the courier was indeed late.

Teryx Prime was a hostile world where only the toughest survived. Each day presented a new, often deadly challenge, and it had been like this since the moment he arrived. It was a remote world, far from the center of the galaxy's habitation zone. Because of this, it lacked many of the comforts and technological advances that he had seen on other planets in the system. However, despite its archaic nature, like all other worlds there was one constant that he could always rely on. With this sentiment, the man's thoughts returned to the courier, and he hoped that the desert hadn't swallowed him up too, like the countless number of unfortunate souls who had perished in this unforgiving wasteland.

A metallic glint in the distance caught his attention, and he shielded his eyes from the suns overhead. It was too far away to make out, so he switched on the viewfinder once more. He set the zoom to maximum and squinted through the viewports. A hover-bike came into focus speeding across the endless sand. The man saw that the pilot was wearing the red robes of a courier which, due to the speed of the bike, were billowing out behind him. The hover-bikes propulsion engines coughed up a trail of dust that glittered in the desert air, and the man watched its progress for a few moments longer before beginning his descent to the desert floor.

Cautiously he navigated his way down the outcropping, knowing that one slip of the foot could spell disaster. He slid down the last few feet of rock and his boots sank into the soft sand. The hover bike was drawing near, and he could hear the whine of its engines. He waited impatiently as the courier covered the last few hundred meters that remained between them.

The hover-bike finally arrived, and the courier cut the engines, banking to a halt and spraying the man with rocks and sand. Annoyed, the man approached the rider whose face was covered with a sand helmet that matched the deep red of his courier robes. Without saying a word, the rider reached into the bikes storage compartment and withdrew a paper bag. He handed it to the man and started the hover-bike up with a loud roar. Without so much as a backwards glance the courier sped back off into the desert.

When the dust had settled, the man opened the bag and took note of the items. It contained two soft tacos, nachos bell grande, two beef chalupas supreme, one cheesy gordita crunch, and plenty of hot sauce. An alert popped up on his wrist comms that read: "Your DoorDash order has been delivered. Please rate your delivery and don't forget to leave a tip for your Dasher!"

The man smiled, closed the bag, and turned to begin his ascent back up the rocks; to a place where he could enjoy his meal in peace and admire the harsh beauty of this desert world.