Brûlée
We found ourselves on the outskirts of system 4B9-Z near the lesser known planet of Custar. It’s a small, bright, and mellow planet. A smooth sweet smell fills the air and the light is soft and glowing. The inhabitable area of the planet is contained on one hemisphere where the sun never fully sets, it just sweeps across the horizon in a perpetual dawn, enveloped in creme-colored clouds. We landed for a rest and refuel in this little haven.
We slept under a pastel starless sky, waking up to the subtle murmurs of a group of curious Custarians. We exchanged greetings and offered our last bottles of brew as a sign of good will. Custarians are notoriously warm, gentle, and generous beings. They appreciated the gesture and immediately examined our ship, noting its travel-worn look and dangerously low fuel level.
Excited to offer a helping hand, they returned to our ship the following day with 5 enormous tanks of fuel. The tanks were different from any we had seen before but they assured us, this was the best fuel in the 4B9-Z system. The fuel was harvested right from the uninhabited hemisphere of Custar. We filled the tank, with the unusual creme-colored, sweet-smelling fuel.
We were eager to get on our way, ready continue our explorations and replenish our empty brew store. With much gratitude to our hosts, we got in our ship started the engine, waved goodbye…and BOOM!!! The exhaust lit up in a blasting conflagration, sputtering and howling before extinguishing just as quickly as it ignited. We jumped out of the ship, horrified to find the exhaust of our ship covered in a burnt crystalized mess.
The Custarians had never seen anything like it. We went to work together, chipping off the crystals. It was Traveler who was first tempted by the sweet burnt scent of the crystals. He popped one in his mouth and his eyes got wide…the burnt fuel crystals were delicious. The fuel issue would have to wait another day. That day turned into a brew day.