Drop
The
Cat’s Paw
flew like a dream. Technically, maneuvering in space was not true flight, but Ava hardly cared about the pedantic distinction. The
Paw
felt like an extension of herself, sleek and nimble. She had always enjoyed piloting it, even when the void was filled with obstacles.
Perhaps especially then.
The
Cat’s Eye
, on the other hand, took some getting used to. It was nearly twice the size and had numerous protrusions along its outer hull that had to be considered when maneuvering through tight spaces. It was equipped with top-of-the-line sensor systems, a thicker hull, and powerful thrusters.
It was perfect for a system like this, where countless space rocks traveled along their own unintelligible orbits. The hull would protect them from smaller debris, while the sensor systems tracked and warned of anything that posed even the slightest threat to the ship’s structural integrity.
The shuttle also boasted a local AI core that was normally linked to the
9Lives
. To prevent their buyer from following the signal back to the main ship, they had temporarily severed that connection. Still, the local AI core would assist with piloting and track obstacles more accurately than any human pilot ever could.
Ava was flying with training wheels on.
She stifled her indignation.
Team A was aboard, along with Isaac and Kane. They had passed Ava in the Main while she was still yelling to herself.
“Summers, lock it in,” Captain Kane had said over a private comm.
The message was clear.
Remember who you are and what we are doing. Be the person I need you to be, and fall apart later on your own time.
Ava had quickly collected herself, sobering to the task at hand. She boarded the
Eye
and began a quick preflight systems check.
Ethan pulled the shuttle hatch closed and confirmed that Juarez and Peters were locked into their seats before securing himself in his own. Ava strapped herself into the pilot’s chair at the front of the shuttle, grasped both control sticks, and hailed the
9Lives’
bridge over comms.
“
Cat’s Eye
ready for departure,” she said.
“
Cat’s Eye
is clear. Artifact is deployed and ready for rendezvous. Good luck out there,” Sawyer answered from the bridge.
Ava drew in a calming breath and forced her body to relax as she released the hull locks, freeing the shuttle from the larger ship’s outer hull.
The
9Lives
continued forward, leaving them behind.
As the larger ship pulled away, Ava could see on her sensors that the
Cat’s Paw
was suspended on the opposite side of the ship’s wake. The shuttle looked barren, having been stripped of most of its practical hardware.
But it still looked like a dream, Ava thought.
Sleek and thin, but angular and powerfully swift.
There was the strange addition of a heavy ship cannon attached to the shuttle’s underbelly. Ava had envisioned the cannon mounted atop the shuttle when the captain said it was being attached. It looked somewhat ridiculous to her, but she knew it would pack a wallop if it had to be used.
A cannon like this had effectively infinite ammunition so long as the ship’s power cells could recharge it. It fired a ball of plasma trapped inside a magnetic field at high velocity and could severely cripple all but some of the largest vessels Ava had seen.
In a dogfight between similarly sized vessels, the cannon was overkill.
She noticed that the shuttle still had its forward grappling arms, the same ones used to harvest and redirect asteroids.
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Ava wondered about that.
An indicator on Ava’s HUD revealed the payload floating gracefully farther back in the wake. She turned the shuttle and directed it toward the artifact. As she neared, she pulled up, exposing the shuttle’s belly and allowing the artifact’s crate to contact the ship.
The artifact had been boxed inside one of their largest storage crates for transport. The crate had magnetic locks and hooks that interlocked with matching hooks beneath the shuttle.
She watched the indicators on her HUD as the locks snapped into place, showing green across the board.
“We are locked with the payload,” Ava broadcast over local comms to everyone within range of the ship.
“Excellent. Proceed to the nav marker,” Kane ordered.
Ava oriented the controls and pulled away from the drop zone.
The space immediately around them was generally clear but dark. With the system’s sun burning so low, there were few, if any, visual indicators of obstructions. Ava was entirely dependent on the system scans and the green-lined 3D model projected across her HUD.
To anyone watching her, it would look as though she were flying blind, when in reality she was maneuvering through an increasingly dense field of jagged rock.
Once she was well inside the field, she activated the shuttle’s external lights, no longer attempting to conceal her presence.
The lights revealed a nightmare of shifting stone debris around her as the shuttle ducked and wove between it. The AI charted a course as the rocks moved.
Even without the AI, Ava was confident she could have navigated the treacherous route, though it would have taken much longer.
Before long, the debris began to thin, and an open patch of space appeared.
Within it was a large asteroid that had once been a small planetoid or perhaps a moon.
Now it was only a shard.
It was perhaps three times the size of the asteroid where Ava had been born and raised. It generated a significant gravitational pull, yet the asteroid field seemed to shy away from it.
If the
9Lives
had translated directly to this location, it would have arrived safely, but it would not have been able to leave without suffering catastrophic damage.
The only way into or out of this location was with a leap drive, and depending on the model, it could take hours or days before the drive was ready for another translation.
“This is it,” Ava said as she moved the shuttle out of the debris field and into open space.
“Good work,” Kane said.
Then, over proximity comms, he ordered, “Weapons locked unless I say otherwise. Give them the opportunity to conduct an honest transaction, but remain vigilant and stay in communication.”
Ava had noticed that Kane wore both of his service pistols, one holstered at each hip, while his scatter shooter was slung across his back.
Any armed confrontation in the void was dangerous business.
All it took was one shot to compromise the integrity of a person’s suit, and then they would die from exposure. Accuracy was important, but so was the ability to send a broad spread of shrapnel toward a target.
If their opponents wore military-grade suits, it would be a clear indication they were preparing for a fight. Higher-grade suits were impractical for salvage operations because they slowed or even prevented maneuverability, but they could stop several rounds at medium range and allow their operators to advance into gunfire without immediate fear of death by exposure.
Each member of Ava’s team carried a bullpup rifle loaded with thermite rounds for just such an occasion, but she silently prayed they would not be needed.
No one won in a firefight fought on equal footing.
The shuttle approached the projected nav beacon, and Ava reduced speed. Her systems scanned the open void surrounding them but detected no vessels or power signatures.
“Captain? No escort. What are we looking for?” Ava asked over private comms.
“Hold on,” he said.
Then, over an open broadcast frequency, Kane announced, “This is Captain Kane Summers. We have business with Connor Dane.”
After a moment, a response came through.
“Captain.”
It was a woman’s voice.
“Well met. I note that you did not translate to the coordinates provided. It could have saved you quite the ordeal.”
“Who am I speaking to?” Kane asked.
“My apologies. I am Felicity Mhyre. I run this station and am acting on behalf of Connor Dane. I will be representing our interests in this matter. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Ava did not like her voice.
It was proper and arrogant, as though this matter were beneath her—a chore she was obligated to carry out.
“Understood,” Kane said. “Please transmit navigational data for drop-off, and we will set down.”
“Of course. We look forward to seeing you,” Felicity said.
Two icons appeared on Ava’s HUD. The navigational data had been transmitted to the
Cat’s Eye
, and the shuttle’s AI had updated her display.
One indicator marked where they were to release the artifact. The other identified the intended landing location for the team to disembark.
Ava noted that the navigational markers aligned with blinking lights she could barely make out on the surface of the world shard ahead.
She asked Kane over comms whether she should comply.
“Do it,” he answered.
Ava piloted the shuttle down toward the surface of the jagged little world.