Fortunaand I weren’t due to depart for two days.We’d docked at Elegium Station because I had a line on a high-value cargo job, one we needed to get our new venture off the ground.The plan was to load the cargo onto the ship then rendezvous with the rest of the crew.We’d deliver the goods and make some easy money.
“Lights.”The room illuminated gradually, highlighting the clothes I’d stowed on a chair last night.Such disorder wasn’t like me, but I’d been up late studying the ship.My brain had been exhausted from trying to cram a lifetime of knowledge into a few hours.I was ecstatic that I’d managed to dock her without any problems.
Dragging on yesterday’s clothes, I rubbed a hand over my blurry eyes, then grabbed my weapon from the locked desk drawer.It fit easily, comfortably, into the holster at the small of my back.
The door to my quarters slid open with a whisper.I stepped into the passageway cautiously, scanning from side to side, taking in as much of the corridor as I could each time.
The lights in the hall were set for simulated nighttime, not quite dark enough to create shadows where intruders could hide, but not wide open either.“Lights to full.”
No signs of intrusion or forced entry.
No signs of anyone, but the steady hum of the engines beneath my feet told me that something was going on.Ships didn’t fly themselves.
As I slipped into combat mode, my breath slowed and my other senses snapped to attention.I hadn’t expected to feel this way after I’d left the service.Hadn’t expected the hit of adrenaline that came with each mission.
Focus sharp, I continued down the corridor, clearing the crew quarters methodically and peering into the cargo hold.Every time I entered a room, I prepared for an attack that never came.
What the hell kind of operation was this?
The empty corridor and the running engines were starting to well and truly creep me out.Navy ships were never quiet.I’d only had theFortunafor a week and still wasn’t used to being alone on her.
Had that asshole at the shipyard sold me a haunted ship?
Get a grip, Dax.
The engine room and the bridge were the only places I hadn’t checked.The bridge made the most sense.It was easier to fly a ship from there.If you wanted to disable one, it was easier to do that from the engine room.
Still at high alert, goosebumps still crawling up my skin from the apparent emptiness, I approached the bridge carefully.
The door to the bridge was sealed.I’d left it open on my rounds last night.I was sure of it.
Who the hell was on my ship?
Whoever it was, they were about to learn that you didn’t mess with a member of the space corps.
My right hand pulled my blaster free, while my left palmed the sensor by the door.It flickered green and the door slid open.
Blaster ready, I stepped onto the bridge, already scanning for hostiles.A quick step left put the wall to my back and gave me my first view of the intruders.Theintruder.
My jaw dropped.
Whoever I’d expected, it wasn’t the woman in the pilot’s seat.Myseat.
Head draped over the back of the chair, a dark braid hanging behind her, she didn’t move when I entered.Didn’t even stir.Was she dead?That was the last thing I wanted or needed.
Steps light, my weapon still out, I circled the entire bridge.My attention returned to her again and again, even when I was checking under the ship’s consoles and behind the holo table.TheFortuna’sbridge was so small, there really was nowhere to hide.
The woman was the only one on the bridge.Which begged the question, who the hell was she?Why was she here?
My mystery woman hadn’t woken while I moved around the bridge and she didn’t now while I studied her.The logo over her left breast marked her as station crew and a sewn-on patch said her name was Dupree, but neither of those facts explained what she was doing on my ship.They didn’t explain the half-eaten container of noodles that smelled garlicky and delicious and made my stomach rumble either.And they sure as hell didn’t explain why I saw stars outside the ship’s windshield when I should have been looking at the docking platform on Elegium Station.
Once I’d verified that her chest continued to rise and fall, I tackled the more pressing question: Why the hell had my ship left Elegium Station?
I wasn’t supposed to leave until I had my cargo.Turning my ship around was the only way I could salvage this.
Giving my unwanted passenger a dark look, I holstered my blaster and settled into the navigator’s seat.Flipping the comms on, I reached out to the station.
“Elegium stationmaster, this isFortuna.Requesting docking access.”
