Amira adjusted her magnifying visor and examined the fine wires of the superconducting coils for the hermesium fuel cell resting on her cluttered workbench. Using a wire welder, she moved cautiously to reconnect a few damaged wires. The wire welder’s flickering blue glow illuminated her face, highlighting the lines that drew across her skin.
Nearby, Carson hummed a low tune, occasionally broken by the screech of metal sliding against metal as he cleaned and reorganized the shop shelves. Dust motes danced lazily through the stale station air as they were disturbed by his movement. Amira hired him more for his energy than his expertise. Still young, maybe twenty-three at most, Carson learned quick. Plus, Amira appreciated the company more than she’d like to admit.
Shelves, overflowing with spare parts, half-built engines, and parts waiting for repair, lined the walls, along with the occasional salvaged panel. On the counter, probably the only clean surface the business, sat the RetroPlayer, playing a gentle electronic song just loud enough to drown out the noise outside the shop’s door. The lights flickered occasionally, caused by power surges that no one bothered to fix on a station perpetually teetering on the edge of functionality. Amira would have fixed it a long time ago, but she wasn’t going to help the station for free.
Carson held up one of the brackets that held the shelves against the wall. “Think this’ll hold?”
“It’s survived worse,” Amira replied without looking up. “Nayeli salvaged them from an old cargo ship and I’ve used ‘em since.”
She adjusted the position of a coil wire ever so slightly, and the welder hummed briefly before signaling a steady connection was made. She exhaled softly, wiped her forehead, and then leaned forward and rested her elbows on the workbench.
“How long did they wait before bringing it in for repairs this time?” Carson asked, standing over her shoulder peering at the fuel cell.
Amira motioned him to move from behind her. “Too long,” she sighed, shaking her head. “Always too long. These coils could’ve used some love months ago. The fuel cell housing hasn’t been touched, ever, by the looks of it. You know, the usual.”
A sudden, sharp beep from the shop’s front door pulled their attention. Amira turned and glanced instinctively.
“Speaking of the devil,” she said.
A tall, thin man entered, looking around with an expression of impatient curiosity. With a head of disheveled hair, his eyes scanned the shop until they settled on Amira, who stood and approached the counter.
The man gestured vaguely at the workbench. “Any luck? I really need that fuel cell back for work.”
Amira lifted her visor before she leaned over the counter, resting her elbows on the glass top. “You’re going to need to wait another week. You wrecked it all to shit. Next time, maybe bring it in before it’s completely fried.”
The man’s shoulders slumped. “A week?! Really? It’s just a coil, right?”
“It’s never ‘just a coil’,” she said, punctuating with a sigh and turning the music down. “The entire superconducting filament network was almost completely fused, and I’ve had to replace and reconnect a chunk of the finer wires. If you’d have brought it in earlier, maybe I could’ve saved you some money and a few days. I’ve damn near rebuilt half the thing from scratch.”
She walked back over to the workbench to bring the fuel cell back over to the counter. She tapped on the housing before showing him the bigger problem areas.
“Look, can I give you some advise when it comes to these cells and the coils?”
“I guess,” he said.
“If this or any of the other dozen or so fuel cells your ship might need fails while it has any amount of hermesium, you’ll be turned into a pretty pink mist. Bring them in sooner. Or don’t, your choice.”
The man shifted uneasily. “Look, I didn’t mean to let it get so bad. Jobs have been tight, and I had to keep running shipments.”
“I understand that,” Amira said, moving the fuel cell back to her workbench. “But equipment like this won’t last forever without proper maintenance. Give me a week. I promise it’ll work as good as new. Maybe better, if you’re lucky.”
He sighed and nodded. “Fine. One more week. But this thing better hold up.”
“It’ll do just fine,” she said, assuring him. She grabbed a towel to wipe the countertop. “You can also buy a new one from the mechanics down in the hangar if you’re that pressed. Just stop abusing them, or next time I might not be able to help at all.”
He muttered something under his breath as he turned to leave, stepping back through the shop’s doorway with that distinctive beep.
Just as the door slid closed behind the frustrated man, it opened once more, revealing Nayeli.
She strolled in casually. “Busy day?” Nayeli asked with a playful smirk.
Amira pulled the stool closer to the counter. “You could say that,” she said as she sat in the stool, leaning back and giving a little stretch. “What brings you in today?”
“I can’t stop by to say hello to my favorite person in the solar system?”
Amira looked at her with a stare indicating she knew better. “Nay.”
“Damn, Amira.” She chuckled. “Just finished a run out to the rings of Saturn. Had to drop off some hydrogen to the miners out that way in a priority shipment. Poor bastards are always on the verge of disaster.”
“Sounds familiar,” Amira said with an inflection. “At least they’re keeping you busy.”
“Everyone’s got an emergency and needs their thing somewhere yesterday. Tiring.”
“Yeppers. But that didn’t answer my question.” Amira smirked.
“Fine. Fine,” Nayeli said, putting her hands up. “So, while I was over that way with the miners, one of them mentioned an old, abandoned military outpost. They didn’t tell me directly, but it overheard some chatter about it.”
Amira raised an eyebrow. “An abandoned military outpost?”
“On Centaurus, around Proxima Centauri.”
“Risky, but potentially very profitable,” Nayeli said in agreement. “Space travels always carries some risk. For example, and my bigger problem, my partner’s down with radiation sickness. And to do this run, I would need an extra set of hands—yours, specifically. Interested in splitting whatever we find?”
Amira hesitated. She glanced around the shop. The whole place was barely hanging on by a thread. Taxes and rent for the business space would also come do in a few weeks. Time were rough. They were always rough. Amira was tempted. “Can I think about it? Give me a couple days.”
“Of course,” Nayeli said with a warm smile. She pushed off from the counter. “Take your time. But don’t wait too long, I won’t hold out forever.” She winked.
“I’ll let you know soon.”
“Awesome!” Nayeli said. “You eat yet?”
“Yeah, I had lunch a bit ago. Maybe we can catch a bite later?”
“Hell yeah! I’ll catch ya later, then.”
Nayeli waved goodbye as she stepped back through the shop’s door, leaving Amira and Carson to their work once again. Amira moved her stool back to the workbench before sitting down again.
“Carson, if you want, you can—”
The door beeped once more.
She turned. “Son of a—”
Rent Officer Bo entered her shop. Her chest tightened.
“Amira,” he said curtly, walking up to the counter and slamming down a datapad. “Rent notice. Due in two months.”
She didn’t even speak of this devil, merely thought it. Perhaps a poor time to have thought about it on her part, bringing that energy into the universe. She stood and approached the counter, picking up the datapad. She scanned the numbers on the display. Her heart sank into her stomach—another increase. The figures on the screen mocked her dwindling revenue. She pulled the data card from the datapad and handed the pad back to Bo.
“Again? This is ridiculous, Bo. You know I’m barely covering costs as it is.”
He shrugged unsympathetically with a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Not my problem. Better figure something out. Station management isn’t patient with overdue accounts.”
He spun sharply and left without another word. The door closed behind him, leaving Amira at the counter, staring out into the station through the door.
The next couple days passed agonizingly slow for Amira. Each morning, she unlocked the shop, hopeful that some work would appear to fill the schedule and for customers to empty the shelves. But each evening when she locked up, the shelves still remained overstocked and the schedule empty, save for the fuel cell repair job, which she was able to finish by the end of the second day. There’d been no additional customers, no new inquiries, and nothing to suggest that business would turn around any time soon.
After she locked the doors up on the second day, Amira found herself wandering the crowded lower levels of Nephelos Station on her way toward the observation deck. Some vendors shouted their wares vigorously at passersby, while others haggled with customers. Children chased each other through the wide walkways of this level, dodging and weaving through the crowds. The aroma of fried rice, fried potatoes, chicken, and other foods drifted through the area, occasionally mixing with the harsh odors of machine greases and oils. Amira drifted through the hordes of people, observing but never truly engaging. Her mind stirred far too much to be in the moment during her walk. Paying Carson would be difficult unless there is a change in the winds in the coming weeks. Rent. And utilities. She sighed.
The observation deck existed as the highest rated sector on the station, above even the various farming sectors. The deck was a wide-open space featuring large transparent panels that offered a breathtaking view of… nothing. Technically, you could see the portion of the Kuiper Belt that the station existed in, and a pinprick of light that was the Sun. Asteroids in the Belt were a bit sparse, though, so you’d be lucky to see one or two from the deck, depending on their angle to the Sun. How the people ranked the deck above any of the farming district was a mystery to Amira.
She enjoyed the moment for all of five minutes before a familiar voice came from behind.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Nayeli said.
Amira turned and smile faintly. Nayeli joined her at the railing, leaning against it casually.
“Still considering?”
Amira sighed. “Something like that,” she admitted quietly. Amira rubbed her temples. “Truthfully, the more I think about it, the more I realize I don’t really have a choice. Not if I want to keep the shop open.”
“Could always join my crew in a more permanent nature, if you find yourself liking it.”
Amira nudged Nayeli’s shoulder. “Oh, great, and be a fancy postal carrier?” She jested with a smirk on her face.
Nayeli put her palms up and shrugged. “Your loss. Anyways, I’ve been doing a more thorough risk assessment,” she started. Nayeli leaned over the railing, resting her elbows on the bar and mirroring Amira. “Of course, no journey is without risk. Radiation sat at the top of the list of issues we could face. The ship would take care of that no problem, but I don’t suspect we are going to be staying on the ship too much.”
“That doesn’t sound too terrible,” Amira said.
“Right, we’ll just make some on-the-spot decisions depending on the situation the universe provides us with. If the rumors are true, even half of the potential salvage brought back could set you up for months or years. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think we’d be able.”
Amira nodded slowly while taking a breath. She realized the decision had been made days ago, seconds after the offer was made. Her days-long hesitation had merely been fear and doubt speaking.
“Alright. Let’s do it. I’m in,” Amira said, standing up straight and putting her hands into the swell of her back.
Nayeli broke into a wide smile and threw her hands to her hips. “ Fantastic! I promise you won’t regret it. We’ll leave in a couple days. That’ll give me time to prep the ship, and for you to make sure the shop will be good to go. Sound good?”
“Sounds good to me.”
After giving Amira a hug, Nayeli turned and walked away, rattling off some lists of things she would need to prepare. Amira glanced back out through the window. Out there, in the black, something waited for her. Maybe a chance to regain control—or lose it forever. But, either way, for the first time in weeks, she felt certain about the path ahead.
The following afternoon, Amira had been going over the more basic, but important, shop operations with Carson, just to be sure he understood how to do things like sales. If she was to leave to Proxima Centauri for… she didn’t know how long exactly—regardless, she would need to be confident in his ability to do everything in her absence, minus repairs.
Proxima Centauri…
Four-and-some-change light-years away. Her knowledge of the star started and stopped there, though. She could look it up on the shop terminal if she really wanted, but she didn’t want to risk a virus on the damn thing. After the end of the Android Wars, everyone’s had to deal with junk code flying around the webspace, looking for unprotected systems on the network. Amira didn’t have the extra—ungodly amount of—money for an effective antivirus, nor did she want to spend time or, again, money trying to remove it herself. She could just wait until she got back to her quarters to use a local copy of the station’s digital library if the topic was still on her mind by that time.
The shop door chimed.
Nayeli strolled in, looking exasperated but gave Amira a wave. “Port mechanics are being a bunch of dicks and price gouging again. Mind if I raid the shelves for spare parts for tomorrow’s trip?”
“Now’s a great time to see how Carson does with a customer,” Amira said, giving a thumbs up.
“Aww, I don’t get the parts free?”
“Fifty percent off,” Amira said with a sarcastic shrug.
Nayeli rolled her eyes, then shifted through the shelves for the components she needed.
“Oh, you this this little shit?” She asked, holding up the housing to an exterior service light. “A thousand creds at the hangar. It was ten creds two weeks ago! Folded sheet metal!”
“Mmm, I’m hearing I should raise my prices.”
Nayeli stared a moment before Amira laughed.
Amira joined Carson at the counter while Nayeli continued to poke around the shelves. “You know I’m going to be going on an expedition of sorts. You’re going to be good here, managing things on your own?”
Carson straightened his posture and a smile drew across his face. “Yes, absolutely! You can count on me.”
Amira narrowed her eyes. “Good, because if I come back and you’ve wrecked this place, I’ll kick your ass.”
Carson chuckled nervously.
“I think this’ll do,” Nayeli said, slamming a box of parts on the counter.
Carson worked through the box and took payment from Nayeli, then pulled out a towel to wipe down the surface.
“Gonna meet me at the docks tomorrow?” Nayeli asked as she walked toward the door.
“I’ll be there,” Amira replied, waving.
The time had finally come for Amira to see what awaited her beyond Nephelos Station.
The next day, she stood in the bustling docks of Nephelos with her bags packed. Through the windows of the docks, Amira saw Nayeli’s ship. Waiting patiently, the medium-sized cargo hauler, the ‘Valkyrie’, needed something of a new paint job. Some of the lettering for the ship’s name were wearing off. Automated drones disconnected the fuel lines and cargo hoses one-by-one.
A background hum from the pumps and other machinery sat below the constant yelling and chatter that echoed around her as she made her way to Nayeli, who stood across the way next to her ship’s docking port, talking to the dock master on duty.
Amira’s ears raced with a whooshing sound that matched the pace of her heart. Underneath, a low volume, high-pitched tone. She took a deep breath. This would be Amira’s first time leaving the station.
She watched Nayeli finish paperwork with the dock master, before he exchanged some final instructions with her, then walked away toward another dock.
“Ready for your first trip out into the big black?” Nayeli teased gently as she stepped alongside Amira and gave her shoulder a reassuring nudge.
Amira smiled nervously. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose. How did you know it was my first flight?”
“Those wide eyes of yours. But, if you’re ready, I’m ready. Let’s go,” Nayeli said as she led Amira toward the dock hatch.
The ship’s interior sprawled out in front of her, massive and orderly. Amira and Nayeli entered through the hatch in the cargo bay, where empty metal and wooden boxes, stacked on cargo railing that spanned multiple rows and stretched from front to rear. In the center of the bay sat a cargo drone with its propellers folded, patiently waiting to be needed again. They walked by the latrine, then through the living quarters that held several beds, a small kitchen, and a trash processor. The walkway between the living area and the cockpit was filled with panels, screens, and other tech that gave some indication to the status of some system on the ship.
Taking a deep breath, Amira followed Nayeli in the cockpit and settled into the co-pilot’s seat. Nayeli flipped a couple switched and the instruments came alive with soft beeps and flashes.
“Tower, this is the Valkyrie. Requesting permission to undock and make way.”
“Valkyrie, this is the tower. You are clear to undock and make way from the station. Safe travels, Valkyrie. Tower out.”
With a slight shudder, the clamps released and the Valkyrie drifted gracefully away from the dock. Through the viewport, Amira watched Nephelos Station recede slowly away from them, and its lights gradually blended into the infinite expanse.
A sense of butterflies flooded Amira. Not in her stomach, but throughout her entire body. Nauseated and disoriented, the effects of space flight for first-time flyers didn’t skip Amira’s exciting achievement.
She held her stomach. “Do you have any meds? This is all amazing and awesome, but I’m feeling sort of sick.”
“I don’t, no. Don’t worry, though, here shortly, the acceleration will simulate gravity and you’ll feel right as rain.”
”Oh, great.” She tightened the straps to her seat harness. The butterflies floating around her insides became less rowdy.
“Initiating hermesium jump sequence,” Nayeli announced.
Amira’s heart pounded with the force of a thousand rocket engines. “How long until we reach Proxima?”
“Four days,” Nayeli said. “Try to relax. You’re about to see what you’ve been missing.”
The ship thumped around Amira, then, everything outside vanished. Outside, a surreal, endless darkness stretched infinitely. Instead of stars or galaxies, the universe around them transformed into a mirror, reflecting an infinite number of ghostly images of the Valkyrie, each the same and also minutely different.
Inside the ship, however, everything was normal. The instruments and screens glowed steadily, reading the ship’s current heading and location—the majority of the Sol system now far behind them. Even the engines continued their consistent humming.
“Strange, isn’t it? This is jumpspace,” Nayeli said, noticing Amira’s wide-eyed stare.
“It’s incredible!” Amira said, staring out at one of the reflections of their ship. “Like nothing I could have imagined.”
Nayeli unbuckled and stood. “Gravity will be normal during this leg of the journey, so, enjoy the view. We’ll be here for a bit. Stretch the legs, grab a bite to eat, whatever you need.”
Still looking out at the other ship, Amira noticed herself staring back. “Hey, I see me!”
She waved. The other Amira did not return the wave.
“I wouldn’t.”
“What?” Amira asked, glancing at Nayeli.
“It’s difficult to explain exactly,” Nayeli said. She tapped a button on one of the screens, switching the interface to a graph of some ship-specific system. “Those ships aren’t us. I mean… they are, but they aren’t. Jumpspace sorta, like, pulls the universe apart and shows you every possible path. They are us that took a slightly different path to get to this very specific space and time.”
The other Amira flipped them off, then a shade closed over the other ship’s windows. Other ships did the same, closing their shades.
“Hey!”
“Yeah, they—us?—can be assholes.”
Amira adjusted herself in her seat. “I wanna talk to the other me.”
“Oh, I definitely wouldn’t.” Nayeli put her hands to her hips. “If you want to be taken, reduced to photons, and then redshifted,” she made air quotes, “across the four-light-year span between the Sun and Proxima, that’s between you and God. Personally, not my preferred way to go out. I could tell you all about the first explorers that ventured out, and what happened to one of them.”
“Oh, no, no thanks.”
“It’ll supply you with enough nightmares for the trip.”
“No thanks. What’s red—I’ll just stay in here.”
And for four days, she wondered not about the universe outside until it was time to exit the jumpspace.
“You ready to see another world?”
“Another world? This would be my first world,” Amira said, tightening the straps to her seat’s harness.
Nayeli flipped a switch on an instrument panel above her head. “Well, then.”
The ship let out another thud, then the universe outside returned to normal. Amira stared out the window in awe as Proxima Centauri sat in the distance. Proxima was a small and faint red dwarf burning as fiercely as it could against the darkness. Orbiting, Centaurus sat in near darkness.
Nayeli tapped a screen, and the window seemed to augment what they were seeing, brightening and highlighting features of the planet. A pale atmosphere covered the rocky surface.
“Incredible,” Amira whispered softly, leaning forward in her seat, loosening the harness as needed. “It’s so beautiful.”
Nayeli smiled, never taking her eyes off the instruments as she searched for signs of the abandoned outpost. “It never gets old, no matter how many times you see it. Every system is just a little bit different. Sometimes the star is a different color, sometimes the planets are beautiful.”
“Wow.”
“Got something,” Nayeli said as she pointed to the readout on the screen. “Looks like our little abandoned outpost. Brace yourself, we’re heading in.”
Nayeli gripped her seat as the ship descended through Centaurus’ atmosphere. Winds buffeted the Valkyrie briefly, and rattled panels and jolted the two passengers before smoothing out as the ship was guided through the turbulence.
Below them, the faded structures of the long-abandoned outpost slowly became visible, starkly outlined against the barren landscape. The crumbling landing pad spoke of years of neglect.
“How long has this place been abandoned, exactly?”
“Decades, centuries, I’m not sure.”
“Why might they have left?” Amira asked.
“I imagine it might have to do with solar activity from the star, most likely. The planet is pretty close. Anyways, here we are. Let’s set her down.”
With careful precision, Nayeli guided the ship to the old, cracked landing pad, bringing her down until it settled with a gentle shudder. She powered down the engines and turned the instrument panels off, leaving the cockpit drowned in silence for a moment.
“Welcome to Centaurus,” Nayeli announced with a faint grin. “Let’s see what treasures this place is hiding for us.”
“Why would anyone set up anything on this planet?”
“I have no idea. I’m coming into this with just as much information as you. It was a military installation, so, I’d imagine something semi-important. Oh, almost forgot,” Nayeli said, flipping a switch to a screen near Amira. “You wanna tell me what it says?”
Amira looked at the screen, puzzled for a moment, before realizing it offered information about the atmosphere. Sensors confirmed the atmosphere held an Earth-like pressure, and was dominated by carbon-dioxide and nitrogen—with bits of oxygen. The bottom of the screen had a yellow flashing warning.
Amira glanced toward Nayeli. “It looks survivable. This blinking thing at the bottom is saying something about a rebreather, though.”
“Damnit,” Nayeli said, slapping a few more switches back on. “Almost forgot, we’re going to need some sunlight out there.”
With that, a small thud vibrated the ship, then the outside lit up. Amira stared out, amazed again.
“Neat, huh? It’ll last about eight hours. We should get moving back to the cargo bay, I need to prep the drone before we scuttle out of here for our little hunt.”
They unbuckled their harnesses, then moved through the ship toward the cargo bay. Nayeli pulled down the rebreathers and a couple warm suits, and tossed a set to Amira. Amira put the warm suit on, but wait to put the rebreather on.
“It’s going to be a tad cold outside, given the whole red dwarf thing, y’know?”
Amira grimaced. “Yeah, charming place, if it wasn’t for the cold.”
“Don’t suppose anyone could’ve stayed around to keep the heaters on,” Nayeli said, punctuating with a chuckle.
Nayeli finished inputting the parameters into the drone, and it came to life with a soft mechanical hum. The drone floated gently upward, hovering patiently, waiting to follow their movement.
With preparations complete, Nayeli opened the ship’s cargo ramp. A rush of icy air surged into the ship and immediately bit into any exposed skin. The cold cut deep, making Amira inhale sharply as she secured the rebreather mask snugly over her face.
Stepping cautiously onto the landing pad, they were greeted by weather-worn buildings and rusted structures half-consumed by creeping dirt and grime.
“Stay close,” Nayeli said with a voice muffled slightly by the mask, gesturing toward the outpost entrance.
Amira nodded. Her heart thumped a rapid tune as they approached the old structures. As she followed Nayeli into the outpost, the cargo drone trailed behind, flying high enough to avoid collisions with the buildings. The drone emitted this steady hum that offered a faint reassurance against the silence of the planet.
As they moved deeper into the outpost, Amira looked up and down the deteriorating walls and structures, noticing areas untouched by the artificial light—which sat in roughly the same position in the sky as Proxima. Something caught her attention, though. A viscous, slime-like substance that clung persistently to the shadowed recesses of the buildings that had faint tendrils of steam rising into the bitter cold air.
“Nay,” Amira whispered urgently as she pointed toward the strange substance. “Look at this.”
“What the hell is that? Some type of oil?”
Amira slowly shook her head. “No idea. But whatever it is, it seems to be near a heat source of some kind, because it isn’t frozen.”
The two exchanged a wary glance before continuing their exploration with heightened senses.
Reaching a larger building marked with the faded insignia of the United Combat Corps, Nayeli instructed the drone to land nearby. Nestled against the front wall of the building were large crates, boxes, and canvas bags with communications equipment, rifle magazines, and ancient computers. Amira perked up with a surge of excitement. Even these preliminary findings were quite valuable.
“Isn’t the UCC allergic to leaving behind sensitive equipment and weapons?” Amira asked.
Nayeli plopped a box onto the drone’s cargo area before looking to Amira. “Quite. It’s definitely strange. I was expecting to find something, but I didn’t expect to get a whole supply room’s worth of gear.”
“Take a gander inside, quick?”
Nayeli nodded.
Moving into the building, racks holding stacks of boxes made their way down the interior in rows. The boxes contained ammunition, spare ship parts—most of which were probably still classified—and replacement parts for rifles, pistols, and other arms. They both worked quickly to load the drone with the boxes, aiming for the more valuable items first.
Nayeli walked over to a weapon’s rack that held a dozen or so rifles. “Think we’ll need these?” She asked as she pulled a couple from the rack.
“The planet is barren, right?”
“Sure, but what about some other folks who come along while we’re here, looking for the same stuff we are?”
“Good point,” Amira said, accepting one of the rifles.
“You know how to use it?”
“Point it at the bad thing and pull the trigger?”
“Close enough,” Nayeli said, walking back toward the rest of the boxes.
As they finished loading, grabbing the last few boxes they thought valuable enough, preparing to move to another building, Nayeli stopped as her eyes were drawn toward the rear of the building. “What’s that? I didn’t notice that before.”
Amira followed Nayeli’s gaze, then they both approached cautiously. A large hole yawned open in the ground with ragged edges, as if torn violently asunder, with depths wrapped in darkness. The slime Amira saw earlier covered the mouth of the hole. It throbbed and creeped so very slowly.
“Eww!”
“This just keeps getting better,” Nayeli muttered.
They glanced at each other before silently agreeing to leave the hole behind, heading towards another building. Dormant workstations lined the next building they entered. Dust covered everything. Nayeli flicked a few switches, but nothing stirred.
“No power,” Nayeli confirmed.
Amira put her hands to her hips and cocked her head. “You don’t say?”
“Listen, I don’t wanna hear it. Just externalizing my thoughts.”
Nayeli stepped back outside and looked over the building, trying to find the power source.
A moment later, she pointed upward and yelled back into the building. “Solar panels on the roof. If we can clear them, we might get some power.”
“This place barely gets any light. Why would they use solar panels?”
“Light comes in more than one wavelength, Ami. These panels probably focus on another band.”
“Give it a try, I guess, Nay.”
Nayeli commanded the drone up and over the solar panels, using the drone’s propellers’ downdraft to whip up gusts strong enough to blast away the dust and dirt from the panels. Amira stared through the doorway as the outside world became a temporary brown mask.
Walking back through the door, Nayeli brushed herself free of the dirt and made toward the breaker. “I think that should do it, once the dust settles.”
After a minute, she flipped it with an audible click. After a tense pause, a few overhead lights flickered uncertainly before settling into a steady, reassuring white glow.
“Well,” Nayeli said. “At least now we can see what we’re doing in here.”
“Much better than the artificial star-thing outside, too.”
“Right? It was starting to give me a headache. It’s too bad manufacturers don’t have a less intense version.”
Amira put her hands into the swell of her back, then stretched backwards. “You didn’t bring any pain meds out, did you? I could probably use some.”
“No,” Nayeli said, leaning on a doorway momentarily. “I can have the drone grab it for us when I send it back, though, if you want.”
“I don’t see why not.”
Moving deeper into the building, they located a room with ceiling-height server racks. Amira pushed a button on one of the rack-mounted servers, turning it on. Subsequently, other servers on the rack also spun up. They roared to life with a loud hum from the cooling system, filling the room with an unnecessary amount of noise and a bit of vibration in the floors.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Amira said.
Nayeli hollered in excitement.
But, beneath their feet, another vibration quickly caught their attention. Intense and unsettling, the vibration caused the server racks to rattle. Clearly unrelated to the servers themselves.
Amira looked over. “You felt that, right?”
Nayeli nodded. “Yeah. Quake, maybe?”
Amira shrugged. She opened the terminal that hung from the center of the rackspace and quickly scanned for intact data. Immediately, she noticed encrypted, and likely classified, files.
“This could be worth something, outside the hardware itself. There’s still data on these servers,” she said.
“You want some help?”
Amira shook her head. “I haven’t been working at a repair shop, with the dumbest customers in the solar system needing me to unlock their ship’s computer because they forgot the password, just to let you,” she smirked as she glanced at Nayeli, “take all the fun when we find cool shit.”
“Well, have at it, then.”
And she did, for nearly half an hour. But, nothing, not even some ancient military encryption, could keep Amira out. Hell, she’s had ship computers with more stubborn security than these servers.
“I got it, easy peasy,” she said, raising a fist in the air for a second.
Nayeli peered over her shoulder as she scrolled the list of files. “Wow. How did you manage it so fast?”
Amira perked up. “Oh! You see, I had to reverse engineer the kernel for the OS, but to do that I ha—”
“That’s cool. What’s that file, there?” She interrupted, pointing at the screen.
Amira sighed.
She opened it, revealing an extensive report and analysis of some strange looking creature. Neither Amira nor Nayeli could understand the details of the report, though. It was a bunch of military and medical mumbo-jumbo.
“This is definitely something important,” Nayeli said. “Let’s get these servers back to the ship.”
Amira nodded and powered the servers down. Together, they disconnected the racks and prepared to load them onto the drone waiting outside.
As Amira and Nayeli loaded the servers and other equipment onto the drone, an unsettling but muffled screech pierced the air from inside the warehouse they’d visited earlier. Immediately following, the sound of crashing crates, boxes, and racks being knocked over caught the attention of Amira.
“What was that?” She asked with wide eyes.
“No clue,” Nayeli said. “But, let’s not wait around to find out.”
They hastily stacked the gear onto the drone until the drone protested. It emitted a loud warning beep.
“Weight limit reached,” it announced in a mechanical voice.
Nayeli balled her hand into a fist. “Damnit! Return to the ship, unload cargo, come back immediately.”
The drone acknowledged with another beep before ascending and carrying the gear back to the ship.
Amira paced in a circle, never taking her eyes from the warehouse. “We need to hurry.”
Silence fell over the warehouse since the initial disturbances. Perhaps another quaked caused things to fall over?
“Agreed,” Nayeli said, gripping her rifle tight.
Then, the warehouse door exploded outward, sending fragments of wood and metal flying as a large alien creature rolled and stumbled through the debris, screeching furiously. For a moment, it struggled violently on its side, writhing and kicking up dust and dirt before finally righting itself. The beast stood on four muscular legs and had some sort of protective armored shell covering its torso and the top of its head.
Its piercing eyes locked onto Amira and Nayeli, who froze momentarily in shock. From its broad shoulders protruded sharp, spear-like limbs that twitched aggressively as the creature let out another bone-chilling screech.
“Now seems like a great time to get the fuck moving!” Nayeli shouted, breaking the spell as they both scrambled to find some kind of safety.
Nayeli brought her rifle up and fired at the creature. Rounds ricocheted off its thick shell. The alien paused briefly, snorting and shaking its head irritably from the minor annoyance. It let out a guttural growl before charging at them.
“Look out!” Amira shouted as she dove to the side.
Nayeli rolled in the other direction.
The beast narrowly missed, barreling past them and smashing through the door of the server building behind. The building shuddered under the impact and blew dust and dirt into the air. The alien creature crashed about inside the building.
Scrambling to their feet, Amira and Nayeli shared a quick, tense look before hastening to regroup. Taking advantage of the chaos inside the server building, they dashed toward another nearby structure, hoping to find temporary refuge.
Nayeli put her arm to the wall, leaning against it. “We need to get back to the ship,” she said, gasping for air through the rebreather as she frantically scanned the area for the safest route back.
Amira peered anxiously back toward the server building, as best she could from the angle. “But that thing could burst out at any second.”
“That’s exactly why we need to move now.”
Amira gripped her rifle tight. Both women stayed close to the door as they waited for the next explosive moment from their pursuer . After several tense minutes of silence broken only by the muffled noises of the alien thrashing violently within the server building, Nayeli made the decision.
She turned to Amira. “Time to move, now.”
With a shared nod, the bolted from the building, sprinting toward the walls of the outpost. Amira’s rebreather worked overtime, doing its best to provide her with oxygen, and to keep the visor from fogging up. She pushed every muscle, straining herself, desperate to reach the Valkyrie.
Another explosive crash. Wonderful. The alien creature erupted from the building, kicking up dirt as it swiftly turned. With another roar, it charged, cutting off their escape route and forcing them to a skidding halt.
“Great,” Nayeli said.
In a moment of desperation, Amira raised her rifle and squeezed off a frantic shot. By sheer luck, the bullet struck true, penetrating the alien’s eye. The beast emitted a pained screech, stumbled forward awkwardly, then collapsed to the ground in a puff of dust and dirt.
A tense silence followed before Nayeli finally let out a shaky laugh.
“Hell of a shot, Ami!”
“Thanks,” Amira said. “I want to check it out real quick.”
They cautiously approached the alien’s lifeless body to inspect its armored plating and deadly limbs. As they were absorbed in their examination, the drone returned overhead, struggling to stabilize against a sudden fierce gust of wind. The gust slammed the drone into a nearby building, shattering two of its propellers.
“Damn it,” Nayeli said, watching the drone wobble precariously before landing roughly near them. “We definitely need to fix it before we leave. I ain’t leaving the drone. Shit’s expensive.”
Amira sighed. “Let’s get moving then, we don’t have much time. There’s probably more than one of these things.”
“Shouldn’t you be fixing it? I mean, you’re the mechanic.”
Amira crossed her arms half-assed, still holding the rifle. “Whose drone is it?”
“Damn.”
Nayeli opened the drone’s maintenance panel and pulled out the tools and two spare propellers from the onboard storage. Despite having the necessary parts on hand, swapping them out would take precious minutes they might not have. She moved as quick as she could.
“Keep watch,” she said.
Amira nodded. She scanned their surroundings anxiously with the rifle gripped tight. Amira was, hopefully, ready for whatever may emerge as Nayeli worked to bring the drone back to life. Another quake shook beneath her feet. Nayeli nearly dropped her tools. Then, multiple screeches echoed from the warehouse, rising from the depths of that dark hole in the ground.
“They’re coming!”
“Working on it,” Nayeli said while working feverishly to secure the propellers. Despite her efforts, it proved quite difficult under pressure. “Come on, you stubborn piece of shit.”
Another tremor rattled through the frozen earth beneath Amira’s feet, stronger this time, confirming the awakening of more of those things. From the warehouse, multiple frantic roars filled the air. They grew louder by the second.
Amira stared at Nayeli, then back to the warehouse. “Hurry!”
Nayeli cursed under her breath as she worked the damaged props. “Patience is a virtue.”
Another alien burst forth from the warehouse and charged straight at them. Amira quickly raised her rifle, firing several shots. One bullet grazed its shoulder, causing it to shriek, but not slow its advance.
“Nay!” Amira yelled while she continued to fire.
“Almost there!” Nayeli said, snapping the last prop into place.
She rapidly secured the propeller with the bolts, tossed the tools back into the storage, then activated the drone. It hummed weakly, but rose into the air.
“We’re ready!” Nayeli shouted, grabbing her rifle. “Time to get moving.”
“Jesus, finally—”
The warehouse exploded. Amira wouldn’t be able to give a much better description than that. The alien that was rushing them ran for a second more before a cloud of dust surrounded it, and two very clean halves emerged, rolling along the ground before coming to a stop after a few feet. One of the halves continued to twitch, almost like it was trying to crawl to get to Amira and Nayeli.
A colossal, snake-like creature with thick armored scales emerged from the remains of the warehouse. Razor-sharp spines lined its body, and six eyes dotted its head. Inconveniently, the creature also blocked Amira’s and Nayeli’s way out.
The monstrous alien rose to a terrifying height and released a deep roar that reverberated through the frozen air and rattled their bones. Amira and Nayeli stood momentarily frozen, staring in horror.
Nayeli clenched her jaw and gripped the rifle tight. “This couldn’t possibly get any worse.”
Amira glanced at her in disgust. “How fucking dare you bring that energy into the universe at this very moment.”
“My bad.”
Without further hesitation, Nayeli opened fire on the snake. Amira followed suit. Their rifles barked a rapid beat. Rounds pinged uselessly off the alien’s armored body, hardly leaving even a scratch. The creature seemed unfazed altogether. It revealed its hood and the creature’s head flared wide.
With a terrifying speed, the alien raised itself higher into the air, positioning itself to slam down on Amira.
Nayeli pointed to the side. “Move!”
The both dove away at the last possible second as the ground shook from the impact of the snake, sending shockwaves that rippled through the surrounding buildings.
Desperate for shelter, they scrambled back into the building they previously hid in and quickly shut the door behind them. Amira pressed herself against the wall, breathing heavily, and she could—temporarily—only hear a high-pitched noise and a whooshing sound that filled her head to the beat of her heart.
Outside, deafening roars continued, accompanied by violent slams and crashes. A minor quake shook Amira, then suddenly, everything went silent.
Just as Amira and Nayeli exchanged glances, the ground beneath their feet shook again, stronger than before.
Nayeli kicked the door open, then shoved Amira out. “Time to go!” She yelled, running for the ship, pulling Amira along with one hand holding Amira’s free arm.
Seconds after fleeing the building, the gigantic snake erupted from the ground, obliterating the structure in an explosive burst of debris.
Seeing the drone still hovering far above, Amira’s frantic mind paused and her eyes narrowed. “I think I have a plan.”
“Well?!”
“Make that prick eat the drone,” she said, fighting with the rebreather for more air.
“Are you—fuck. Fine.”
Nayeli’s eyes narrowed as she slowed her pace, waiting, Amira knew it wasn’t going to be an easy ask, but something was better than nothing. Amira knew timing was everything. The monstrous alien rose once more, towering above them. It started a deep, throaty roar that echoed off each building.
“I’m sorry, little dude,” Nayeli said as she commanded the drone straight into the snake’s mouth.
The drone did exactly as asked, disappearing into the creature’s mouth. It writhed and lashed out pugnaciously, smashing into buildings and scattering debris in all directions. With a final, furious thrash, it slammed backward and burrowed back beneath the surface, vanishing from sight.
Amira stared, stunned, breathing heavy.
Nayeli let out a shaky breath. “Let’s get the hell out of here while we can.”
They ran.
The ground beneath them quaked once more as they ran desperately toward the Valkyrie. Behind them, innumerable alien screams rose up from the tunnels left behind by the alien snake. Breathless, Amira and Nayeli arrived at the ship, scrambled up the cargo ramp, closed it, then quickly strapped themselves into their seats.
“Hold on!” Nayeli said, flipping switches.
The engines roared to life, and the ship rose from the surface with haste.
Sweat prickled along Amira’s skin as the gripped the armrest of her seat with clammy hands. Outside the viewport and below, the massive snake-like alien resurfaced. Unable to pursue the ship, it made no attempt to scurry behind. Instead, it reared back and opened its mouth, expelling several chunks of something into the sky like a living cannon.
“What the hell is it doing?” Amira asked, unable to take her gaze away.
Nayeli glanced at a readout on one of her screens. “From the looks of things, trying to shoot us down.”
Amira looked at Nayeli. “They are shooting at us? With what?”
“You know what, that’s a good question. Should we go back and ask, or…?”
“I would need to get a change of pants, first.”
Nayeli scrunched her face. “Eww!”
Amira shrugged, they both laughed, then the Valkyrie burst into orbit. Poor thing’s engines strained as Nayeli pushed it away from the planet. Behind them, objects fired from the creature streaked upward, and adjusted course to intercept the ship.
“Hmm. Small update.”
“I didn’t like how you said that.”
Nayeli raised an eyebrow as she glanced over at Amira, who had this sort of shit-eating grin on her face. “My bad, “ she said with a smirk. “They’re trying to shoot us down, but using a very recent invention called,” Nayeli waved an arm in an arc as if presenting a prize, “tracking.”
Amira’s face fell flat. “Thanks.”
The Valkyrie twisted and turned through space, dodging desperately, but after several tense minutes, one struck home. It slammed into the ship’s aft section, embedding itself deeply in a vulnerable panel.
Alarms resounded through the cockpit and red warnings flashed.
“Hull integrity compromised,” an automated voice announced.
“We have a problem,” Nayeli said, struggling to keep the ship steady.
Amira’s face went white and her skin prickled with goosebumps. “Oh, you don’t say, Nay?”
“Look, it could be worse.”
A screech reverberated from the cargo bay. Amira froze momentarily, then narrowed her eyes and turned to Nayeli.
“You fucking bitch!”
“My bad.”
Amira crossed her arms. “I don’t think I remember you mentioning alien boarding parties on the risk assessment.”
Nayeli, tapping seemingly randomly at the screen, glanced at Amira. “Oh, trust me, it’ll be on there next time.” She let go of the controls and turned to face Amira. “I don’t mean to state the obvious, but seeing as we’ve been boarded, and I can’t leave the controls…”
“Oh, you dirty bitch! You’re gonna make your bestie go into the back and fight the scary monster!?”
Nayeli stared.
“What about spacing the cargo bay?”
“Not while we’re moving, I can’t.”
“Then stop..?”
Nayeli continued to stare.
“God damn it.”
“At least you’ve got experience killing them, right?”
Amira stared, then unbuckled from the seat. She grabbed one of the rifles, took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and moved to the cockpit doorway.
“Oh, just a slight radiation risk, she says,” Amira muttered to herself.
“What’s up?” Nayeli asked as she turned.
“Keep me on my feet, this is my second time flying and I don’t want to be swimming around the cargo bay with something that wants to eat me.”
Nayeli threw up a thumbs-up. “Gotcha.”
Amira walked to the back of the Valkyrie with a tight grip on the rifle and a surge of adrenaline bursting through her veins. As she pushed through the doorway to the cargo bay, she froze for a brief moment. Staring directly at her, and snarling aggressively, was one of those damned four-legged beasts. Without further hesitation, she raised the rifle and fired. The shots echoed deafeningly through the bay.
“Don’t put a hole in my ship!” Nayeli said over the speaker system.
“Fuck you, Nay!”
“I love you, too.”
The alien lunged, forcing Amira to dive and dodge. Despite her efforts, the creature slammed her brutally into a wall, knocking the air from her lungs. Before she could react, one of its aculei pierced through her leg and pinned her against a metal crate.
“Son of a bitch!” She screamed as she slammed the butt of the rifle against the alien’s face several times.
“Is now a good time?”
“NO!”
Amira’s vision blurred as pain surged through her, but with desperate strength, she jammed the rifle into the alien’s snarling face and emptied the magazine. The alien convulsed violently before collapsing limp. Its lifeless body pressed her against the wall and crate.
Then, she was thrown to the opposite side of the cargo bay and against another crate, then the forces of the moving ship forced her and the alien’s corpse across the floor to the middle of the bay.
“I don’t have a seatbelt back here,” Amira shouted.
“I was trying to warn you.”
She laid on the floor with the alien’s body over her legs. “I miss my shop,” she whispered.
Her legs, waist, chest, arms—well, everything—hurt. Her body throbbed and stabbed at her mind through each of her nerves. She took a moment to gasp and hold her leg. But, she couldn’t lay there forever, so she gritted her teeth against the pain, and shoved the lifeless alien off her. Leaving behind a trail of blood, Amira limped her way back to the cockpit. She collapsed into the seat and strapped herself in before she ripped a length of fabric from her shirt to bandage her leg as best she could.
“Sup,” she said with a slight vocal fry.
Nayeli looked back and her eyes grew wide. “Damn girl! That’s gonna hurt like a mother fucker later, but hold tight for a moment.”
“It hurts now, so, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
The ship thumped, then the universe outside receded into an infinite black. Nayeli lowered the window shades before they settled into the uneasy calm of the four-day journey back to Nephelos Station.
After the four exhausting days, Nayeli docked the ship when they finally arrived at the station. Then, over the next several days, they unloaded their hard-earned haul and carefully catalogued each item. They sorted through an array of ship parts, weapons, and ancient computers. The encrypted data they received provided the most intrigue. The data promised insights into the aliens they encountered, long-forgotten United Combat Corps operations, and communications between the military commanders and civilian leadership in the United Governments of Sol.
“So, what’re we going to do with the data?” Nayeli asked as she stopped leaning against the empty drone dock in the cargo bay and walked toward the alien.
“Who’d want it?”
Nayeli tied a rope around the alien carcass and dragged it toward the hatch. “Scientists?
“The government? They have scientists, and maybe the military will want some of it, too.”
“I reckon this little guy is going to be very popular soon.”
“Oh, very,” Nayeli said as she sent a signal to request a cargo drone to pickup the carcass via a wall-mounted screen near the hatch.
A few days later, they approached the station’s government, presenting detailed accounts of their experiences and encounters on Centaurus. Over the course of the following week, their full findings, including the data, were shared, and they negotiated terms and solidified their standing as invaluable citizens to the station.
Recognizing the significance of their discovery, the government awarded Amira and Nayeli with a generous research grant. The station provided ample resources, equipment, and personnel to further investigate the alien lifeforms.
With the recognition of their adventure, Amira’s shop became the go-to place for folks looking for repairs, spare parts, and, of course, any remaining relics they brought back from Centaurus—of which there were none; the station had acquired most of it. With the shop in a good place, and a need for her elsewhere, Amira gave responsibility of the shop over to Carson.