TheArawenhovered in the airlock as repressurization took place. Once the lights flashed green, the large double doors slid open, and they glided into the docking bay.
Arin was up before they touched down, unstrapping her safety harness and jumping to her feet. She was edgy. The whole damn flight had made her edgy. She’d had too much time to herself, and she’d been consumed by thoughts of hypothetical invasions, insects that could survive nuclear blasts, and Kordolians who could cut swathes through squads of seasoned peacekeepers.
Not to mention the damned intelligence people. They wanted her to gather data on the Kordolians.
How the hell was she supposed to do that without putting herself in mortal danger?
Even the friendly ones were killers.
“Good luck, Sergeant.” The captain was a grizzled old veteran called Baraka who had a laconic way about him. “We’d stick around, but… actually, there’s no way in hell you’d convince me to stick around, even if you paid me half theDalustones in the Universe. You’re a brave lady, Varga.” He peeredat his monitors, which provided an overview of the dimly lit loading dock.
Empty cargo containers lined the dock, and large plates of refined Armium metal were scattered across the polished floor. They must have been left behind when the cargo crew had hastily dumped all excess weight just before they’d left Fortuna Tau.
There was no point in trying to move them now; the things probably weighed about a ton each. At least they hadn’t been scattered across the landing pad.
The dock was eerily empty, illuminated only by backup lighting. She hadn’t exactly been expecting a welcoming party, but this was a little bit creepy. Sighing, Arin slung her pack over her shoulder and raised a hand. “See you planetside, boys.”
Baraka and his navigator, a kid called Loic, nodded towards her, carefully keeping their expressions neutral. Arin could guess what they were thinking. They probably half expected her not to return. But she couldn’t afford to think like that. She had every intention of returning to Earth.
“We’ll open the lower hatch when you’re in the exit pod.” Baraka gestured towards Loic. “Kid, go with her and make sure nothing follows her onto our ship.” His expression betrayed his unease. “Take the bolt auto-rifle from the weapons hold and shoot anything with more than two legs.”
“We haven’t found any Xargek on the freighter,” Arin reassured him. The captain was getting a little jumpy. Abandoned, dimly lit loading docks and rumors of flesh-eating alien insects could do that to a soul.
“I’m not taking any chances,” Baraka growled. “Go with her, kid.”
“Got it, Sir.” Loic unfolded his long limbs from the navigator’s seat and shuffled after Arin. They passed through the main cabin and climbed down a metal ladder that led to the lower levels. TheArawenwas a standard-issue Federationtransport vessel. The interior was spartan but well maintained. It was the same transport that had been used to retrieve Arin from the freighter and bring her down to Earth to attend the Senate Committee.
Loic disappeared for a few seconds, returning with a long rifle in his hands.
They reached the lower exit pod, passing through a small airlock. Loic glanced around, searching for unseen threats. The exit pod was bathed in harsh white light, in contrast to the shadowy world Arin was about to enter.
Loic looked up at a monitoring camera and gave Baraka the“OK”signal.
“Looks like this is where we leave you, Sergeant.” The captain’s rough voice filtered through a set of hidden speakers.
Arin glanced at the ceiling and nodded. There was awhooshas the outer doors slid open. Loic stepped back, his gun raised, his eyes darting back and forth as he peered across the empty dock.
A ramp extended from the ship to the floor below. As Arin prepared to exit down the ramp, a shadow appeared in the corner of her vision.
She swore, dropping her pack and reaching inside her jacket for her bolt-pistol. The shadow turned into a dark blur, whipping past her in a rush of cold air. Loic cried out in alarm as Arin spun, raising her gun. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her mouth went dry.
It all happened too quickly.
One minute, she was about to step off theArawenand into a deserted docking bay. The next minute, she was standing face-to-face with her favorite nightmare.
“Hello, Arin.” Rykal smiled, his pearly white fangs gleaming in the bright light. Loic’s bolt rifle was in his hands. The navigator had backed off into the corner, his eyes wide with terror.
“Rykal,” Arin snapped, exasperation creeping into hervoice as she struggled to control her rapidly beating heart. Where the hell had he come from? “What are you doing?”
Loic was staring at her as if she were barking mad.
Rykal’s smile widened. How he managed to be the perfect combination of friendly and menacing was beyond her. “And here I thought you’d be happy to see me.” His golden eyes roamed over her figure, and Arin resisted the urge to zip up her leather flight jacket. How dare he check her out so insolently, so blatantly, as if this were some kind of intimate liaison? Arin settled for pointing her gun at his head. It gave her a false sense of control, even though she knew he could probably disarm her in the blink of an eye.
Heat rose under her collar, and Arin was grateful for the modified military-issue Syntech suit she wore underneath her jacket. It covered her from neck to toe and was specifically tailored to her biometrics. She much preferred it to the bulky peacekeeper armor she usually wore, especially on long flights from Earth to space.
“Maybe I’d be happier to see you if you greeted me normally, instead of staging an ambush.”
“Ah.” Rykal lowered the stolen bolt rifle. It hung lazily in his hand as his expression turned serious. “Please understand that if an unknown vessel enters my domain, I have to run a full check. You’d be surprised at what we find onboard some ships. Besides, if the Federation has been kind enough to send us a vessel with atmospheric re-entry capabilities, then we have to take advantage of that, don’t we? You would do the same thing, Sergeant.”
