The words hit harder than they should have. Of course she'd noticed my tendency to maintain control, to preparecontingencies for every possible failure. I'd been doing exactly that with our professional collaboration, accepting her designs while constantly engineering failsafes, just in case.
"I trust you," I said. And meant it.
Her dark eyes searched mine, looking for certainty. Whatever she found must have satisfied her, because she nodded once. "Then let's save eight hundred people."
The transport shipMercy's Wingdeparted Mothership seventeen minutes later with a full rescue team: Vaxon and his security detail, medical personnel led by Zorn, engineering specialists, and us, the unlikely navigation team.
Jalina sat beside me at the auxiliary tactical station, her hands steady on the interface despite the ship's acceleration. We'd synced our displays so she could see my calculations in real-time, and I could see her visualization overlays.
TheVeritaxisappeared on sensors, listing badly as it tumbled toward the asteroid field. Hull breaches visible on the external scans. Life support failing. We had less time than Captain Tor'van's original estimate.
"Two hours, fourteen minutes until the field intersection," I reported.
"Then we work fast." Vaxon's voice was granite-steady from the pilot's station. "Navigation team, I need a path."
The asteroid field filled the viewscreen as a chaotic swarm of rock and ice, spinning through space in patterns that looked random but followed complex gravitational mathematics. Beautiful and deadly in equal measure.
I pulled up the field's structural data, calculating density gradients and orbital trajectories. Numbers flooded my display, variables multiplying faster than consciousness could track. My training took over, processing the data through practiced analytical frameworks.
Beside me, Jalina stared at the viewscreen with the same intensity she brought to studying empty cargo bays. Her fingers moved through the holographic asteroids, tracing invisible paths.
"There," she said suddenly, highlighting a route. "That corridor, between those two large asteroids. They're rotating in opposite directions, creates a stable channel."
I ran the calculations. She was right. The corridor would remain navigable for the next ninety-three minutes before the asteroids' rotation shifted the passage closed.
"Confirmed. Transmitting coordinates to Vaxon."
Mercy's Wingadjusted course, diving into the asteroid field with controlled precision. The first asteroids swept past at distances that made even my calculated calm waver slightly. Massive rock formations, some larger than Mothership, spinning through space close enough to see surface details.
"Secondary route needed," Vaxon called. "Debris field ahead."
Jalina was already tracing it. "Up and right, thirty-seven degrees. There's a gap."
I calculated. "Confirmed, but the gap is narrowing. We have eight seconds."
"Then we go fast."
We did.Mercy's Wingshot through the opening with meters to spare on either side, asteroids closing behind us like teeth.
My markings brightened involuntarily with am adrenaline response I couldn't suppress. Beside me, Jalina was grinning, her fear transmuted into exhilaration.
"Again," Vaxon demanded. "Next path."
We fell into rhythm. Jalina would see the spaces, I'd confirm the mathematics, Vaxon would fly. Her visualizations and my calculations merged into something greater than either alone.Intuition validated by precision, analysis informed by spatial awareness.
This was what collaboration should feel like. What our expansion project work had been building toward before I sabotaged it with my emotional incompetence.
"Veritaxisdead ahead," Vaxon announced. "Preparing intercept."
The colony transport tumbled through space, surrounded by asteroids on all sides. Getting close enough to extract eight hundred beings while avoiding collisions would require extraordinary precision.
"I need a parking space," Vaxon said. "Somewhere stable we can maintain position long enough for evacuation."
Jalina studied the asteroid patterns surrounding theVeritaxis, her mind working through three-dimensional traffic flow problems. "There. Those four asteroids form a semi-stable configuration, like a pocket. If we position ourselves in the center, they'll provide temporary shelter from the field's larger movements."
"Temporary how temporary?"
"Forty-seven minutes," I calculated. "After that, the configuration destabilizes."
