{"data":{"id":17794,"title":"Drifters (Part One)","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/serialized-fiction\/17794-Drifters-Part-One","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/17794","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/17794","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Drifters","images":[{"id":24643,"name":"Drifters-Title.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/wtilj01zds70xr\/source\/Drifters-Title.jpg","alt":"","size":725702,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2020-09-21T17:00:57+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/24643","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/24643\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"Writer\u2019s Note: Drifters: Part One was published originally in Jump Point 5.1.\nHelluva time for the a\/c to cut out, Reynolds thought as he stared through the scuffed cockpit glass and cued the comm.\n\n\u201cYou need to take a second and think real hard about what you\u2019re doing here.\u201d His fingers tapped anxiously on the flight stick, and he could already feel the sweat forming under his suit.\n\nAbout five minutes ago, an EMP tripped his Retaliator, the Echo Calling, out of quantum. Five ships \u2014 a Freelancer and a bunch of fighters that looked patched together with tape, glue and bad intentions \u2014 waited in an attack pattern. The ambush had surprised him. They\u2019d scouted this route for weeks to try and avoid this possibility. What had surprised the ambushers was that the Echo still had guns and shields. Nickels had finally gotten around to installing that backup power plant, so although Echo\u2019s engines were affected by the EMP, they were more than equipped to mix it up. That little fact gave their attackers pause.\n\n\u201cCap! Two more contacts, aft side, drifting thirty degrees down,\u201d Nickels yelled from his terminal.\n\n\u201cPower down your weapons, disengage your cargo, and drift,\u201d said the attacker\u2019s spokesman over the comms. From the appearance of the cockpit in the background, he looked to be flying the beat-up Freelancer. Probably their leader . . . or the one wearing the communal balls for the week. Reynolds didn\u2019t recognize him, but whoever this was knew everything important about the Echo, in particular what they were transporting.\n\n\u201cListen to me,\u201d Reynolds leaned into his camera. \u201cSay you take us in a rush, you know who you\u2019re stealing from. That kinda trouble? That doesn\u2019t just go away.\u201d\n\nSpokesman hesitated. It was just a flicker where the fa\u00e7ade of toughness dropped. Just a flicker, but Reynolds survived noticing things like that.\n\n\u201cDetach your cargo and leave.\u201d The fa\u00e7ade was back in full effect.\n\n\u201cNot gonna happen.\u201d Reynolds glanced at his screens. Maybe a minute \u2019til the engines were back online. He flipped to the Echo\u2019s internal communication network. \u201cHow we looking, people?\u201d\n\nIn the top turret, O\u2019Neil stared in horror at the circling ships. It took him a second to realize that Reynolds\u2019 question included him.\n\n\u201cTop turret up,\u201d he managed to stammer out. Sweat rolled down his face and into his eyes. He instinctively tried to wipe it away, but his hand kept banging off the faceplate of his suit. He blinked hard as he listened to Reynolds argue with whoever was on the other side of the guns leveled at him.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be stupid, man. You ain\u2019t gotta die here today,\u201d the Freelancer captain said.\n\n\u201cWith what you\u2019ve got?\u201d Reynolds fired back.\n\n\u201cFly away. Just fly away . . .\u201d O\u2019Neil mumbled to himself. His hands started to tremble.\n\n\u201cBottom turret\u2019s set, Cap, whenever you wanna light these bitches up,\u201d Frears replied over the comm as he calmly cycled through the ships in his field of fire.\n\n\u201cWhat I\u2019ve got is five on one. You do the math,\u201d the Freelancer captain replied. This guy wasn\u2019t giving up.\n\n\u201cWhat you\u2019ve got is a glorified tug and a bunch of shit fighters.\u201d\n\nFrears chuckled. Whoever these morons were, they were used to pushovers who\u2019d drop their cargo at the first sign of trouble. They picked the wrong crew this time.\n\nThat\u2019s when he noticed a smudge on the back of his helmet, stowed down by his feet. He took his eyes off the idiots outside to have a closer look. A smudge of engine grease. Son of a bitch, he thought. Nickels must have tried it on. Ever since he\u2019d shelled out the credits for the new CDS suit, the crew had been hovering like vultures.\n\nBack in the cockpit of the Echo, Reynolds received reports from the rest of the stations. Engines were cycling and should be up in thirty. This Freelancer captain obviously didn\u2019t want a fight or he would\u2019ve opened fire by now. Reynolds just needed enough time to get mobile. Once they were moving, they could weather anything thrown against them long enough to get out of there.\n\n\u201cThis is the last time I\u2019m gonna ask. You know what we want.\u201d The Freelancer captain managed to muster all the menace he could.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re repeating yourself,\u201d Reynolds responded. His eyes were locked on his readout, watching the engine\u2019s power meter climb, waiting for just enough power to start moving.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re heating up missiles!\u201d Nickels shouted suddenly.\n\nOne of the old, beat-up 300s had drawn a lock. Reynolds muttered. They were out of time.\n\nO\u2019Neil\u2019s turret was already swinging towards it.\n\n\u201cWait\u2014\u201d the Freelancer captain tried.\n\nThat\u2019s when it all popped off.\n\nSpace lit up with the exchange of lasers and bullets. The first exchange was devastating. The Echo was mangled from the storm of incoming fire, but its shields and thick armor managed to weather the mortal strikes of the initial assault. With the Retaliator\u2019s return fire, the 300 was the first to go, immediately sliced apart from O\u2019Neil\u2019s turret fire.\n\nThe Freelancer launched a full spread of missiles. The Echo\u2019s engines suddenly flared to life and the massive bomber dove and deployed countermeasures. The turrets focused fire on the Freelancer, chewing down the shields and punching a series of shots through the cockpit before it could react.\n\nThe Echo tumbled and twisted, swarmed by fighters undeterred by the loss of their fearless leader. Laser fire sprayed from its turrets, beautifully pirouetting through space until a rocket punched through weakened the shields and annihilated the Echo\u2019s cockpit. The Retaliator\u2019s beautiful evasion turned into a death spiral and the fighters pounced for the kill. The last remaining turret killed the final fighter moments before an explosion ripped the Echo in half.\n\nThen, silence. The massive fragments of spaceship quietly drifted in place. Occasional secondary explosions from areas of the ships still pressurized went off, ejecting the final volumes of oxygen and flame into space.\n\nAnd with that, space was still again.\n\nA point of light, initially indistinguishable from a star, slowly grew, eventually drawing close enough to be recognizable as a ship. Critics had famously called the 2918 Constellation \u2018the one misstep in RSI\u2019s proud lineage\u2019 and it was tough for many to argue. The hull plating on the nacelles was often sized incorrectly, creating odd gaps where the glow of the engine would seep out. This 2918 Connie was somehow still flying, although by the sight of it, it wasn\u2019t for the universe\u2019s lack of trying to kill it.\n\nThe ship slowly drifted towards the sprawling battlefield. Retro thrusters gently pulsed to bring it to a halt.\n\nMagdalena \u201cMags\u201d McCann moved from the nav station on the deck and stepped to the front of the observation window. Dressed in pajamas, a bathrobe and space boots (she hated cold feet), she swizzled her spoon around her bowl, hunting out some lingering RumblePops cereal hiding in the murky depths of sugary milk. Kennelworth\u2019s \u201cWhere We Go\u201d blasted over the bridge\u2019s tinny speakers.\n\nMags looked over the vast destruction, crunched the last RumblePop in her mouth, and grinned.\n\n\u201cSweet.\u201d\n\nInside the Harlequin, Kennelworth\u2019s singular brand of gutbucket rock wasn\u2019t restricted to the bridge; it was being pumped throughout the ship for everyone\u2019s benefit. While the outside of the battered Connie looked rough, the inside was even worse. Random frayed wires dangled from exposed paneling, bonded together with gum and tape. A particularly gaping hole in the wall had a circle drawn around it with \u201cDon\u2019t Touch\u201d written helpfully nearby. Inside the hole, something sparked sporadically.\n\nThe music abruptly disappeared from the intercom. Mags cleared her throat.\n\n\u201cHey, everybody. Sorry to bug you . . .\u201d\n\nInside one of the sleeping berths, Honan Yao picked through a bag of discarded vials, looking for one that had a little bit of charge left. He plugged any potential candidates into his hypo to check the level, but nothing.\n\n\u201cI know things have been a little rough since I took over.\u201d Mags\u2019 voice echoed from the tiny wall speaker. Yao was too focused on his search to care. His mind started to drift to alternative injection methods in case this ended up being a bust. None of the solutions were ideal, but desperate times . . .\n\nHe finally tossed the bag aside. He contemplated going to engineering, but he\u2019d have to get up. Then it hit him . . .\n\nYao went into another compartment and pulled out his old medical field kit.\n\nSuccess. At least for one hit. His adrenaline started to surge as he quickly popped the small vial of ink-black liquid into the hypo.\n\n\u201cThe past few weeks, we\u2019ve \u2014\u201d Yao shut off the speaker and settled back. When the WiDoW hit his system, it was like falling down a chasm of warm pillows.\n\nAnd he welcomed it because he could forget now.\n\nLike the rest of the ship, the cargo hold had seen better days. The vast open space was just that, vast and open. Only one container actually had any salvage in it but, even for salvage, it was just junk.\n\nKel picked through it all the same. He methodically moved through each piece, studying every millimeter for structural integrity, potential for spare parts, and elemental composition. The Banu had been trained at one of the best Mining Soulis in the Protectorate. The Essosouli himself had even commented on Kel\u2019s astute observational skills and claimed that Kel had the potential to ascend to Mastery level within the Guild.\n\nWhen the Harlequin\u2019s previous captain had purchased him from the souli, he was a little disappointed to interrupt his advanced studies, but he wasn\u2019t about to miss out on traveling with actual Humans.\n\nHe extracted a busted lamp from the container and studied the frayed wires coming out of it.\n\n\u201c\u2026anyway, I\u2019ve got something that might make it all better. Come on up to the bridge.\u201d\n\nKel\u2019s eyes lit up. He gently laid the lamp down (would need to be completely rebuilt internally, but the structure was at least aesthetically appealing) and bounced up to the bridge.\n\nA battery slapped into a small holdout pistol. The handgrip hummed momentarily as the heater cycled the power and the ammo counter rose. Trin \u201cDropshot\u201d Liska tucked the pistol in her waistband and walked over to her locker. A small, dense woman in her early thirties, every moment of struggle in her life was etched into every scowl on her face and into every tattoo on her body. So even at a glance, it was obvious she\u2019d been through some shit.\n\nShe pulled out the heavy ballistic cannon from the top shelf. The word \u2018Diplomacy\u2019 had been scratched into the barrel. She checked the breach then sifted through the magazines on the shelf until she found a fully loaded one, slammed it, and racked a round.\n\nHer brother, Ozzy, watched from his perch on the railing in the engine room. His leg bounced rapidly, the only outward sign of any emotion. Equally vacantly angry, he shared the same litany of scars and tattoos as his sister. They both shared pack tats of the Souther Titans, a ragtag gang that supposedly started as an offshoot of the Tooth & Nails on Spider, but to many, it sounded like bull. Ozzy only had three bleeding scar tattoos (indicating three years of \u201crobbin\u2019 and ramblin\u2019\u201d), while Trin had eight.\n\nHe did, unfortunately for him, have QuarterDeck-made tattoos that his sister did not.\n\nMags\u2019 voice barely overpowered the loud whine of the ship\u2019s massive engine.\n\n\u201cYeah, so exciting times. I\u2019ll see you guys up here.\u201d\n\nTrin looked at her brother. He jumped off the rail as she tossed him another pistol and they made their way up.\n\nMags studied the readout on the terminal, carefully tagging and prioritizing the debris fragments. Kel stood up at the front window, excitedly calling out what he was seeing.\n\nThe door to the bridge hissed open. With a quick glance back, Mags saw Trin perch up on the wall.\n\n\u201cHey Trin, is Doc on his way up?\u201d she asked while punching some tags.\n\n\u201cThere! There!\u201d Kel exclaimed, pointing out some debris. \u201cEnergy cells. Very minimal wear. Fresh. Very fresh.\u201d\n\nTrin glanced at the front window. The wrecked 300 was currently front and center outside.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d she finally asked.\n\n\u201cWe got ourselves a payday.\u201d Mags could barely contain her excitement as she tagged some more fragments on her terminal. Trin glared at the back of her head. Ozzy moved over to the other side of the bridge, his pistol held loose at his side.\n\n\u201cYeah? Anything like the last one?\u201d Trin replied.\n\n\u201cLook, I apologized for that, okay?\u201d\n\n\u201cApologies don\u2019t pad my account.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy fence swore he could move . . .\u201d Mags spun the captain\u2019s chair to face her as she spoke. Her sentence drifted off when she saw both Trin and Ozzy perched up. She looked back and forth between the two. Ozzy kept the pistol out of sight, but hiding his hand was just as obvious.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s going on, Trin?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s it look like?\u201d Trin fired back.\n\n\u201cIt looks like you\u2019re in the same place you stood right before we tossed Malcolm out of the airlock.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreat memory,\u201d Trin said, chuckling. She scratched an itch on her lip with the hand holding Diplomacy.\n\n\u201cGuys, seriously. I\u2019ve only been in charge, for what, like two months?\u201d Mags settled back in the chair and casually glanced at a screen. Internally, her mind scrambled for some kind of out. Last thing she wanted to do was escalate this situation unnecessarily; she\u2019d seen Dropshot waste too many people. Kel, unfortunately, was too preoccupied gaping out the window to be much help. \u201cYou gotta give me a chance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBefore Malcolm touched void, you said things\u2019d be different.\u201d Trin stepped forward as she spoke. \u201cThat\u2019s what you told us. Lower profile, bigger score.\u201d\n\n\u201cRun silent and smart was what she said, sis.\u201d Ozzy finally decided to chime in.\n\n\u201cThanks, Oz. You know how my memory goes when I\u2019m upset.\u201d She turned back to Mags. \u201cPoint is, shit ain\u2019t changed.\u201d There was a nasty, tense silence . . . except for:\n\n\u201cXT-20 fuselage. No. Bad condition. Look at the scorch. Unusable.\u201d Kel droned in the background before finally turning around. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t . . .\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s when he finally realized what was up. Ozzy moved the pistol into sight, so the Banu didn\u2019t get any ideas. Trin cleared her throat.\n\n\u201cAnyway, here we are, still scraping away with nothing to show for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoc can\u2019t even keep an honest high anymore,\u201d Ozzy muttered. Trin shook her head, severely disappointed.\n\n\u201cOkay. Fair enough.\u201d Mags slowly rose, her hands up. \u201cWe can work out your issues and move forward.\u201d\n\nTrin smiled.\n\n\u201cYeah . . .\u201d She stepped forward, raising her gun.\n\n\u201cWait!\u201d Kel shouted as he lurched forward, keeping his hands out as well. Trin stopped. Mags slowly opened her eyes and looked around, pleasantly surprised that the pair had actually listened to the Banu. Kel waited a few moments and carefully considered his words before speaking. Finally:\n\n\u201cI know I only the ship slave \u2014\u201d\n\nMags slumped.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re not our slave, Kel,\u201d she said with a sigh.\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d Kel waved her off and continued. \u201cCaptain Mag much better than Old Captain. She want money like us. Old Captain like money too and we like money.\u201d\n\n\u201cHuh?\u201d Ozzy mumbled as he glanced at Trin.\n\n\u201cBut Captain Mag listen to us. Old Captain never talk to us. Just yell.\u201d Kel moved forward as he spoke, almost pleading with Trin. \u201cCaptain Mag help Trin Liska. Old Captain not go to hell world to get Ozzy Liska. Captain Mag did.\u201d\n\nMags gave a little nod in agreement. She almost missed all of Kel\u2019s little speech, trying to figure out if she still had a pistol stashed on the bridge. (Back when Malcolm was running the show, she never felt safe being more than three steps away from a weapon.)\n\n\u201cWe need to trust Captain,\u201d Kel said finally. He walked over to Mags. \u201cWe trust in her and good things will come.\u201d\n\nThen he patted her on the forehead. Mags wriggled out of the way. Three weeks ago, while docked up on a transfer station, Kel had seen a father gently pat his daughter on the head before letting her run off to play and had been doing it ever since.\n\nIt was sweet . . . but kinda annoying.\n\nThe important thing was that it seemed to be working on Trin. She hadn\u2019t shot Mags, so that was already a victory. Ozzy glanced at Trin, looking for the go-ahead to start shooting. Trin glanced out the front window at the fractured 300.\n\n\u201cSo that\u2019s the big news? A fighter?\u201d\n\nMags made a big show of keeping her hands in view while she reached over to the flight stick. She gently angled the ship down, revealing the sea of wreckage: the Retaliator, the Freelancer, and the rest of the fighters.\n\nThat sight gave Trin and Ozzy pause as they gaped at the vast destruction. They stared silently for a few moments, but didn\u2019t lower their guns.\n\n\u201cSo . . .\u201d Mags finally said. \u201cCan we get to work?\u201d\n\nThe Harlequin\u2019s hold was bursting with activity. The floor screeched open to reveal the cockpit of the Merlin embedded underneath. Trin ran some final system checks on the snub and topped off the fuel. Ozzy entered pulling on the final pieces of his flight suit as he approached the open cockpit. He popped his helmet on and slipped into the cockpit.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s go, let\u2019s go. We gotta start cutting before anyone else stumbles onto this,\u201d Mags\u2019 voice carried over the tinny intercom.\n\nOzzy banged the cockpit laminate twice to signal he was set. The floor panels shrieked closed until the Merlin was out of sight. Trin cued the comm.\n\n\u201cBird\u2019s flying.\u201d\n\nShe made her way over to the storage locker with the other EVA suits. Kel was already suited up and carefully triple-checking his tools.\n\nTrin pulled her suit out of the bin and slammed it onto the floor. She gave a quick once over for tears or punctures before she started pulling it on.\n\n\u201cHow are you looking, Kel?\u201d\n\n\u201cFully prepared, Trin Liska.\u201d Kel carefully and expertly replaced each tool in the field kit. \u201cTools are ready.\u201d\n\nTrin sealed her suit and slung a shotgun.\n\n\u201cMine too.\u201d\n\nBack on the bridge, Mags was still in the captain\u2019s chair. Ever since the interrupted mutiny, she\u2019d kept herself busy positioning the Harlequin for easy deployment and reclamation of salvage. She watched Ozzy\u2019s ship quietly fly to the edge of the wreckage field and begin a wide sweep.\n\nWithout warning, her stomach bottomed out. That moment of pause while looking at the distant Merlin was enough to let the gravity of the situation she\u2019d narrowly avoided come crashing down.\n\nShe doubled over in the chair and tried to catch her breath. This was far from the first time she\u2019d had a gun in her face, but there was something about this time . . . there was a finality, like her luck had finally run out, that chilled her.\n\nMaybe she could run. Wait until Trin had stepped off, then just run. Ozzy was a great pilot, but he probably couldn\u2019t take on the Harlequin and survive. Worst case, she could batter him enough to get away. That\u2019d mean she\u2019d probably have to leave Kel, which seemed unfair. Doc . . . she wasn\u2019t sure how he\u2019d react . . .\n\n\u201cHey,\u201d a sleepy voice said.\n\nMags pulled herself together and turned back to the panel as Yao shuffled onto the bridge and slumped into one of the seats.\n\n\u201cDoc . . .\u201d she brought up another scan window on her terminal and tried to look busy. \u201cYou missed an interesting discussion.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen was that?\u201d Yao asked with a yawn.\n\n\u201cA couple hours ago,\u201d Mags glanced at him, unsure if he was messing with her. He looked genuinely ignorant. \u201cI called you, called everybody.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight . . .\u201d he snapped his fingers and nodded. \u201cThat was today?\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah . . .\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s cool,\u201d Yao tapped his fingers on his terminal window, waking it from sleep. They danced across the screen, deftly selecting a series of folders and programs. An episode of Lost Squad started playing. \u201cWhat\u2019d you all talk about?\u201d\n\n\u201cShooting me or throwing me out of an airlock. Maybe both, I don\u2019t know.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yeah. Trin was pretty pissed.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou knew?\u201d\n\n\u201cSure.\u201d\n\n\u201cThanks for the heads up, Doc.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome on, Mags. Trin\u2019s not that good at hiding her emotions.\u201d He settled back in his seat, perfectly content that the issue had been resolved.\n\n\u201cI also found us a job,\u201d she finally offered up.\n\n\u201cCool. Where?\u201d He said lazily. He was too fixated on the spec show.\n\n\u201cHere . . .\u201d she looked at Yao. He hadn\u2019t taken his eyes off the show. \u201cWe\u2019re doing it.\u201d\n\nYao nodded and gave a thumbs up.\n\nThe comm from the airlock chirped.\n\n\u201cExiting airlock now,\u201d Trin said. Mags could hear Kel excitedly talking in the background.\n\n\u201cCopy that. We got you.\u201d\n\nMags shut down the comm. Trin sounded back to normal, like the incident earlier had never happened. Mags knew that this job would have to pay out and she\u2019d need to line up something quick right after. Otherwise, she\u2019d be right back in the same situation. In the meantime, she guessed she should probably start stashing guns around the ship again.\n\nYao started gently snoring.\n\nTrin and Kel stepped off into the void. Some people were weirded out by the moment when gravity disappeared. For them, gravity was security. A tether that kept you in place. The lack never bothered Trin. She was always amused hearing people yammer on about it. It was a conversation she\u2019d end up having whenever she\u2019d go planetside. It actually just occurred to her that she\u2019d never had the conversation while on a station. Maybe once somebody got on solid ground, they started reflecting. She didn\u2019t get it.\n\nTrin didn\u2019t have that kind of fear. It wasn\u2019t out of some innate toughness, it was an awareness that space was constantly trying to kill you. That was just something you either accepted or not. Trin had spent too much of her life trying to figure out who else was trying to kill her. Even in the best of her days running with the Titans, she had to deal with bounty hunters, Advocacy, not to mention her own crew, to even start worrying about space. That, she could always depend on.\n\nThe massive hull of the Retaliator had worked itself into a pretty hefty spin. Boarding it, much less salvaging it, would be next to impossible unless they slowed it down.\n\nTrin adjusted her pack and started matching the rotation speed of the wreck. She pulsed the EVA thrusters to push herself closer and closer until she was able to get a hand on it. Trin pulled herself onto the hull and activated her mag boots to lock on. She dug one of her custom portable remote thrusters out of her case and activated the magnetic seal to attach it to the blasted metal.\n\nKel was hard at work at the other end of the debris doing the same thing. When complete, he waved Trin down and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.\n\n\u201cYou can just use comms, Kel.\u201d\n\n\u201cApologize, Trin Liska.\u201d He quickly replied and gave another enthusiastic thumbs up.\n\nTrin brought up her mobi and connected to the interface that controlled the remote thrusters. She\u2019d built these back in her breaching days and although they had a limited amount of fuel, they had some power to them. They did have a tendency to explode though.\n\nShe sustained the thrusters against the roll and eventually the Tali slowed down. When it finally stopped, Kel broke out his salvaging kit and cracked it open.\n\n\u201cYou all good here, Kel?\u201d\n\n\u201cGood, yes, okay.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll check the hold,\u201d she said as she unslung her shotgun.\n\n\u201cGood, okay.\u201d\n\nTrin pulled her shotgun, racked a charge, then disappeared through a gaping hole in the side.\n\nKel watched a piece of a turret slowly float past. A pair of hands still gripped the firing sticks. Kel stared curiously at them for a moment, then fired up the cutting torch and got to work.\n\nThe halls of the Retaliator were a shattered maze of twisted metal. Trin gently floated through the passageways, sweeping the shotgun back and forth. Based on the destruction, there was no way anything could\u2019ve survived in here, but she wasn\u2019t taking any chances.\n\nShe moved forward, meter by meter, checking corners and ready for anything. She drifted back to her days with the Titans. While they dabbled in all sorts of mischief, their prime focus was chopping ships. As the main breacher in the pack, it was her job to board disabled ships, kill any survivors, and then do enough repairs to get it flying.\n\nThis one definitely wasn\u2019t flying anywhere ever again. She passed some crew lockers and opened each one. Nothing but spare jumpsuits.\n\n\u201cOf course . . .\u201d she muttered to herself.\n\nUp ahead, the hallway bent to the left. There should be a bulkhead and then a door to the cargo section. Trin was hoping that whatever kicked off this fight was worth it. As she neared the bend, her flashlight picked up a form in the next compartment of the ship.\n\nShe kept her weapon trained on it and set up a firing position behind the doorframe. Upon closer inspection, it was most likely Human. The EVA suit it had on was spotless, like one of those new CDS ones. She cued the comms on her suit.\n\n\u201cGen comms. Any survivors in Retaliator? Identify yourself.\u201d\n\nThe form just floated there. No movement.\n\nTrin grabbed a floating scrap of metal and flung it at the body. It tapped off the leg.\n\nStill nothing.\n\nShe put a round in its back. The blast spun the body around, revealing the pale, frozen face of one of the gunners. Seemed he wasn\u2019t able to get his helmet on before the vacuum got him.\n\n\u201cFind somebody?\u201d Mags chirped over the comms.\n\n\u201cNope,\u201d Trin replied as she pumped another round into her shotgun and pushed forward. She swept the corpse off to the side to reveal a small entry panel leading to the cargo hold. Interestingly, the panel was wired into some kind of backup power.\n\n\u201cOh, hello.\u201d Trin slung the shotgun and dug through a pouch for an interface cable. Once her mobiGlas and the door connected, she booted up the Knock\u00b2 program to run a preset hacking protocol. After several seconds of digital negotiation, the panel turned green. The door expelled some trapped atmo as it started to slide open.\n\nTrin had her shotgun up and braced before the door opened. She kicked off the floor and floated into the Tali\u2019s cargo hold. One sweep of the flashlight was all she needed to discover a very unpleasant truth.\n\nIt was empty.\n\n\u201cBecause of course it is . . .\u201d\n\nTrin safetied her shotgun and slung it before cueing her comm. \u201cTali\u2019s clear.\u201d Trin turned to exit when she caught a glimpse of something tumbling in the darkness. She pulled a flashlight to have a look. It was a lockbox, like one of those military footlockers she\u2019d seen on those spec shows.\n\nShe snared it and checked its locks, but couldn\u2019t open them. A small access panel revealed another digital interface with a keypad. Trin reattached her mobi and kicked off another hack. As she waited, she examined the lockbox a little closer. Thing looked solid, like it could take an explosive solid. All very good signs about what could be inside.\n\nShe glanced down at her mobiGlas. The hacking program was still trying to hack the password. Suddenly, her mobi went dead.\n\n\u201cSon of a bitch.\u201d\n\nBack aboard the Harlequin, everyone was gathered around the mysterious box. The hold was already full with choice parts of the various ships, expertly broken down and arranged by Kel. Trin was arranging her tools to do a thorough examination of the box while Mags paced in the background. From the look of determination on Trin\u2019s face, clearly the box\u2019s challenge had been accepted.\n\n\u201cAdmit it. It has to be something valuable,\u201d Mags said nervously as she walked. \u201cI\u2019m not crazy, right?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery exciting, Captain Mags. Yes.\u201d Kel said as he watched Trin attach a terminal to the lockbox\u2019s control panel.\n\n\u201cTo be clear though, you didn\u2019t see any clues as to what\u2019s inside?\u201d Mags\u2019 nerves started to get the better of her. \u201cI mean, we don\u2019t think it\u2019s like, chemical weapons, right? Or like a virus?\u201d\n\n\u201cTitanium weave case very good to protect, but not rated for biological containment. If a deadly virus, Humans would be dead by now,\u201d Kel responded cheerfully.\n\n\u201cCould you two shut up?\u201d Trin snapped as she sifted through unfiltered code on her screen.\n\n\u201cSure, sorry,\u201d Mags said and forced herself to sit down.\n\n\u201cYes, apologize.\u201d Kel approached Trin and patted her on the forehead. Trin didn\u2019t bother to swat his hand away.\n\nTwenty more minutes of waiting passed. Trin tried every trick in her vast and well-proven book. Each time, the lockbox didn\u2019t budge.\n\n\u201cScrew it. Kel, grab your drills.\u201d\n\nThe Banu raced off excitedly.\n\nHours later, the lockbox was sitting on the table of the common area. Various tools had been used and discarded around it. The surface of the box had been carved up like some kind of mechanical autopsy in an attempt to bypass the lock without damaging whatever was inside. Yao had migrated back to his berth, occasionally watching the show.\n\nMags entered from the hold wearing an EVA suit. Once inside, she pulled the helmet off and wiped the sweat off her face. Ozzy was still in the hold arranging the crates, also decked out in EVA gear.\n\n\u201cGot another batch of scrap inside,\u201d she said in between guzzles of water. She glanced at Yao. \u201cAnything?\u201d\n\n\u201cNope,\u201d he murmured and sipped on his tea.\n\nMags headed to the hold and started peeling off the EVA suit.\n\n\u201cAll right, Kel,\u201d Trin mumbled as she sifted through the security panel\u2019s programming. \u201cTry reattaching that power cell.\u201d\n\nKel pulled a hardwired battery with a pair of exposed leads and surgically placed them alongside the existing power system.\n\nThe lock clicked. Trin and Kel looked at each other. A grin spread across Trin\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cWas that what I thought it was?\u201d Mags yelled from the other room. Heavy bootsteps clomped closer before she suddenly appeared in the doorway.\n\nKel started cleaning his tools and returning them to their cases. Trin unlatched the case. She glanced at the faces around the room then flipped the lid open . . .\n\nIt was a rock. Roughly the size of a Human head. Some iridescent flecks of violet in there, but just a rock. Ozzy quietly drifted into the room to see what the commotion was about.\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d Yao murmured as he tried to peer from his bed.\n\n\u201cLooks like a rock to me,\u201d Ozzy replied and walked to his berth.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what I thought.\u201d Yao puffed his pillow and settled back.\n\nTrin didn\u2019t say anything, simply stood and walked out of the room.\n\n\u201cNo, no, no!\u201d Mags rushed forward and dropped down beside the case. \u201cYou don\u2019t go through all that trouble for an ordinary rock.\u201d\n\nMags carefully picked it up and peered at it closer. In the light, the violet flecks danced a bit brighter.\n\n\u201cKel, you got your scanner?\u201d\n\nThe Banu passed her a hand scanner from his kit. She flipped the terminal on and began scanning it. After a moment, she gasped.\n\nOzzy looked over.\n\n\u201cWhat . . .\u201d\n\nMags bursts into a half smile, half laugh, like she couldn\u2019t decide which to commit to, and turned the scanner to Kel. He immediately started clapping.\n\n\u201cSpeak!\u201d Ozzy yelled. \u201cWhat the hell is it?\u201d\n\nMags laid the rock back in the box and went to her mobiGlas. A Galactapedia entry appeared on everyone\u2019s wrist.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s called eriesium. In its refined state, they think it can act as a power source, but Humans haven\u2019t really been able to study it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat it worth?\u201d Trin\u2019s voice came from the doorway.\n\n\u201cVery rare,\u201d Kel chimed in.\n\n\u201cAnswer the question.\u201d Trin didn\u2019t break her gaze on Mags.\n\n\u201cLast I heard, it was about 80,000.\u201d Mags could barely form the words.\n\n\u201cNot really impressed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn ounce.\u201d Mags ran her fingers over the contours of the stone. \u201cEighty grand an ounce.\u201d\n\nThat got everyone\u2019s attention. They looked at each other in silence until Trin finally blurted what was on everyone\u2019s mind.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re rich.\u201d\n\nWardlow Reclamation was a dead-end junkyard in the ass end of nowhere. The ratty carpet in the waiting room had been eaten by whatever bugs had infested the place and there wasn\u2019t a picture on the wall taken this century. Interestingly enough, it had won a customer service award in 2921 from some publication that was probably now long out of business. The award had been printed and displayed in a homemade frame near the front counter.\n\nMags had been staring at it for ten minutes when an idea occurred to her.\n\nTrin sat across from her, equally bored.\n\nThey\u2019d touched down the Harlequin a few hours ago to offload the scrap from the ships. The owner and his crew were slowly picking through everything and putting together an appraisal. The eriesium had been transferred to the standard-issue lockbox Trin was using for a footrest.\n\n\u201cGotta admit, Mags,\u201d Trin said with a stretch. \u201cThis is just the jolt we need to turn things around. Sell this off for some quick Creds and be on our way.\u201d\n\nThe plan had been to save the eriesium until the appraisal was done, so it wouldn\u2019t throw off the estimate. However, Mags was now considering another option.\n\n\u201cWhat if we didn\u2019t?\u201d\n\nTrin shut her eyes and groaned.\n\n\u201cNow. I mean. We bide our time, find the right kind of buyer. Look where we are,\u201d Mags pointed out the customer service award. \u201cYou think we\u2019re gonna get a fraction of what it\u2019s worth here? They can\u2019t afford it and we\u2019re cheating ourselves by off-loading it to the first shithole we come to.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t . . . don\u2019t do this.\u201d Trin rubbed her temples to alleviate the sudden migraine that was forming. \u201cFor like a day, I had forgotten about throwing you out of an airlock.\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, but imagine if you could throw me out of your own airlock,\u201d Mags replied with a grin. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of money we\u2019re talking about here.\u201d\n\nA door behind the counter opened and the squat, sweaty owner stomped inside. He smacked at a keatfly buzzing near his head as he turned on the terminal at the counter. The system began to sync with his mobi. The owner was sifting through the list when he was seized by a fit of wet coughs.\n\nHe fumbled an inhaler out of his pocket and took a hit. The coughing didn\u2019t subside. He shook the inhaler and tried again. No luck. \u201cBevin,\u201d he yelled out the open door in between coughs.\n\n\u201cBevin! Send someone to Kel-To. I need more medicine.\u201d\n\nThe fit finally ended. The owner spit something viscous onto the floor and looked at Mags and Trin.\n\n\u201cYeah, okay. Assessed your scrap. You got anything else?\u201d\n\nMags looked at Trin, who was glaring back. Trin finally relented and sank back in her seat. Mags jumped up and moved to the counter.\n\n\u201cCheck the list, payout\u2019s at the bottom,\u201d The owner turned the terminal to face her. \u201cHit Accept to accept.\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, sure. Looks good.\u201d\n\nThe owner looked at her.\n\n\u201cThen hit Accept.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight, sorry.\u201d She hit the button. The scrapyard owner sniffled and printed a transfer receipt.\n\nTrin grabbed the lockbox and started to head to the door. The owner noticed it for the first time.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s in there?\u201d\n\n\u201cFour broken teeth,\u201d Trin replied without missing a beat.\n\nMags and Trin stepped outside into the baking sun. The smell of oil and scorched metal filled the air. The Harlequin was waiting on one of the nearby pads. All the crates of scrap had been offloaded and stacked neatly for processing. Seeing his crewmates emerge from the office, Kel waved goodbye to the landing pad crew, who look a little befuddled.\n\n\u201cI hate how happy you are about walking away from money,\u201d Trin muttered.\n\n\u201cWrong, Trin. I\u2019m happy because we\u2019re walking towards real money.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you even know how to sell this off?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not, but we\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d Mags took the lockbox from Trin to carry it the rest of the way to the ship. Just as they hit the ramp . . .\n\n\u201cHey!\u201d\n\nMags and Trin turned back to see the group that Kel had just left.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s this shit about you owning a slave?\u201d\n\nMags and Trin exchange a weary glance.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s not a slave,\u201d was all Mags could muster. The landing crew start to advance. \u201cDammit . . .\u201d\n\nMags slapped the button for the ramp. The ramp didn\u2019t move. The landing crew broke into a sprint when they realized what she was trying to do.\n\nShe hit it harder and the ramp suddenly began to rise into the ship. The first landing crewmen arrived a nanosecond too late. Muffled sounds of rocks being pelted at the hull emanated through the hold. Kel\u2019s head appeared in the doorway.\n\n\u201cSell good?\u201d\n\nThe scrapyard owner finished balancing the figures for the day\u2019s transactions. The sun was about to set. As dreadful as the day was for his sickness, the cold of the night was even worse. He felt the slight tickle at the back of his throat that would precipitate another coughing fit.\n\n\u201cBevin! Did someone get my damn medicine?\u201d he yelled into the intercom. There was no response.\n\nThe owner pushed himself out of his seat and shuffled outside. He shielded his eyes from the setting sun.\n\n\u201cBevin, do you think it would actually be possible for somebody to do something when I tell you to?\u201d\n\nWhen the owner lowered his hand, he froze. His entire staff, fourteen people, were dead, executed with casual precision around the scrapyard. He saw Bevin among them.\n\nThe owner stumbled back, raced inside the office and slammed the door. He turned and leaned heavily against the door. His heart pounded and brought on another coughing fit.\n\nHe didn\u2019t even notice the two people now in his waiting room. A man and a woman, wearing pristine, unmarked combat armor and holding silenced weapons.\n\n\u201cHi.\u201d The man spoke first. The owner nearly hit the ceiling. He feebly put his hands up and started blubbering.\n\n\u201cYou recently acquired salvage of a Retaliator.\u201d\n\nThe owner didn\u2019t speak words, just noises. The man put a bullet through his thigh. He dropped to the ground.\n\n\u201cYes! Yes!\u201d The owner finally reclaimed the power of speech.\n\n\u201cWho sold it to you?\u201d the man asked as he crossed the room and placed the still hot barrel of the pistol to the owner\u2019s temple. \u201cAnd be specific.\u201d\n\n\u201cCame in earlier today. Some old beater of a ship. Two women. Human. Never seen \u2019em before.\u201d The owner keyed something on his mobi. The woman studied the incoming data while the man kept his focus on the owner. \u201cThese two didn\u2019t happen to have a lockbox with them, did they?\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, I mean, yes. They did,\u201d the owner said in between coughs. \u201cWouldn\u2019t sell it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese women give a name?\u201d\n\n\u201cJust the reg on the ship.\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, those are fake,\u201d The woman said without looking up from her mobi. The man looked at the owner and sighed.\n\n\u201cWait \u2014\u201d\n\nBang. The man stood and wiped blood spatter off the barrel.\n\n\u201cWe have anything solid to go on?\u201d he asked finally.\n\n\u201cJust this.\u201d She held out her wrist.\n\nThere was a security cam still of Mags and Trin sitting in the waiting room. The man looked at them closely. He punched in on one of Trin\u2019s Souther Titan tattoos.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d\n\nTO BE CONTINUED\u2026","de_DE":"Es ist h\u00f6chste Zeit, die Klimaanlage auszuschalten, dachte Reynolds, als er durch das zerkratzte Cockpitglas starrte und den Funkverkehr einschaltete.\n\n\"Sie m\u00fcssen sich eine Sekunde Zeit nehmen und gr\u00fcndlich dar\u00fcber nachdenken, was Sie hier tun. Seine Finger klopften \u00e4ngstlich auf den Flugstab, und er sp\u00fcrte bereits, wie sich der Schwei\u00df unter seinem Anzug bildete.\n\nVor etwa f\u00fcnf Minuten l\u00f6ste ein EMP seinen Vergelter, den Echo-Ruf, aus dem Quantum aus. F\u00fcnf Schiffe - ein Freelancer und ein Haufen K\u00e4mpfer, die wie mit Klebeband, Klebstoff und b\u00f6sen Absichten zusammengeflickt aussahen - warteten in einem Angriffsmuster. Der Hinterhalt hatte ihn \u00fcberrascht. Sie hatten diese Route wochenlang ausgekundschaftet, um zu versuchen, diese M\u00f6glichkeit zu vermeiden. Was die Hinterh\u00e4ltiger \u00fcberrascht hatte, war, dass das Echo noch immer Waffen und Schilde hatte. Nickels hatte sich endlich dazu durchgerungen, dieses Ersatztriebwerk zu installieren, so dass die Triebwerke von Echo zwar vom EMP betroffen waren, aber mehr als ausger\u00fcstet waren, um es zu verwechseln. Diese kleine Tatsache lie\u00df ihre Angreifer innehalten.\n\n\"M\u00fctze! Zwei weitere Kontakte auf der R\u00fcckseite, die um drei\u00dfig Grad nach unten driften\", rief Nickels von seinem Terminal aus.\n\n\"Schalten Sie Ihre Waffen ab, l\u00f6sen Sie Ihre Ladung und lassen Sie sich treiben\", sagte der Sprecher des Angreifers \u00fcber die Kommunikatoren. Vom Erscheinungsbild des Cockpits im Hintergrund aus sah es so aus, als w\u00fcrde er den verpr\u00fcgelten Freelancer fliegen. Wahrscheinlich ihr Anf\u00fchrer . . . . oder derjenige, der die Gemeinschaftsb\u00e4lle f\u00fcr die Woche tr\u00e4gt. Reynolds erkannte ihn nicht, aber wer auch immer das war, wusste alles Wichtige \u00fcber das Echo, insbesondere was sie transportierten.\n\n\"H\u00f6ren Sie mir zu\", lehnte sich Reynolds in die Kamera. \"Sagen Sie, wenn Sie uns in Eile nehmen, wissen Sie, wen Sie bestehlen. Macht das irgendwie \u00c4rger? Das verschwindet nicht einfach so.\"\n\nDer Sprecher z\u00f6gerte. Es war nur ein Aufflackern, wo die Fassade der Z\u00e4higkeit nachlie\u00df. Nur ein Flackern, aber Reynolds \u00fcberlebte, als er solche Dinge bemerkte.\n\n\"L\u00f6sen Sie Ihre Ladung und gehen Sie.\" Die Fassade war wieder voll funktionsf\u00e4hig.\n\n\"Wird nicht passieren\". Reynolds blickte auf seine Bildschirme. Vielleicht eine Minute, bis die Motoren wieder online waren. Er schaltete auf das interne Kommunikationsnetzwerk von Echo um. \"Wie sehen wir aus, Leute?\"\n\nIm obersten Gesch\u00fctzturm starrte O'Neil entsetzt auf die kreisenden Schiffe. Es dauerte eine Sekunde, bis ihm klar wurde, dass Reynolds' Frage ihn mit einschloss.\n\n\"Oberer Gesch\u00fctzturm nach oben\", schaffte er es, hinauszustottern. Der Schwei\u00df rollte \u00fcber sein Gesicht und in seine Augen. Instinktiv versuchte er, ihn wegzuwischen, aber seine Hand schlug immer wieder von der Gesichtsplatte seines Anzugs ab. Er blinzelte heftig, als er h\u00f6rte, wie Reynolds sich mit demjenigen stritt, der sich auf der anderen Seite der auf ihn gerichteten Gesch\u00fctze befand.\n\n\"Seien Sie nicht dumm, Mann. Du musst hier heute nicht sterben\", sagte der Freelancer-Captain.\n\n\"Mit dem, was Sie haben?\" Reynolds schoss zur\u00fcck.\n\n\"Fliegen Sie weg. Einfach wegfliegen . . . .\" murmelte O'Neil vor sich hin. Seine H\u00e4nde begannen zu zittern.\n\n\"Der untere Gesch\u00fctzturm ist eingestellt, Cap, wann immer Sie diese Schlampen anz\u00fcnden wollen\", antwortete Frears \u00fcber das Funkger\u00e4t, w\u00e4hrend er ruhig durch die Schiffe in seinem Schussfeld fuhr.\n\n\"Was ich habe, ist f\u00fcnf gegen eins. Rechnen Sie es sich aus\", antwortete der Freelancer-Captain. Dieser Kerl gab nicht auf.\n\n\"Was Sie haben, ist ein verherrlichter Schlepper und ein Haufen beschissener K\u00e4mpfer\".\n\nFrears kicherte. Wer auch immer diese Schwachk\u00f6pfe waren, sie waren an Schieber gew\u00f6hnt, die ihre Ladung beim ersten Anzeichen von \u00c4rger fallen lie\u00dfen. Diesmal haben sie sich die falsche Besatzung ausgesucht.\n\nDa bemerkte er einen Fleck auf der R\u00fcckseite seines Helms, der an seinen F\u00fc\u00dfen verstaut war. Er nahm seine Augen von den Idioten drau\u00dfen ab, um genauer hinzusehen. Ein Schmutzfleck von Motorfett. Hurensohn, dachte er. Nickels muss ihn anprobiert haben. Seit er die Credits f\u00fcr den neuen CDS-Anzug ausgesch\u00fcttet hatte, schwebte die Crew wie die Geier.\n\nZur\u00fcck im Cockpit des Echo erhielt Reynolds Berichte von den \u00fcbrigen Stationen. Die Motoren liefen auf Hochtouren und sollten in drei\u00dfig Minuten hochgefahren werden. Dieser Freelancer-Kapit\u00e4n wollte offensichtlich keinen Kampf, sonst h\u00e4tte er schon das Feuer er\u00f6ffnet. Reynolds brauchte nur genug Zeit, um mobil zu werden. Sobald sie in Bewegung waren, konnten sie alles, was ihnen entgegengeworfen wurde, lange genug aushalten, um von dort wegzukommen.\n\n\"Das ist das letzte Mal, dass ich frage. Sie wissen, was wir wollen.\" Der Freelancer-Captain schaffte es, alle m\u00f6glichen Bedrohungen aufzubringen.\n\n\"Sie wiederholen sich\", antwortete Reynolds. Seine Augen waren auf seine Anzeige gerichtet, er beobachtete den Anstieg des Leistungsmessers der Maschine und wartete darauf, dass gerade genug Leistung vorhanden war, um sich in Bewegung zu setzen.\n\n\"Sie heizen die Raketen auf!\" rief Nickels pl\u00f6tzlich.\n\nEiner der alten, angeschlagenen 300er hatte ein Schloss gezogen. murmelte Reynolds. Sie hatten keine Zeit mehr.\n\nO'Neils Gesch\u00fctzturm schwang bereits auf ihn zu.\n\n\"Warten-\" der Freelancer-Kapit\u00e4n versuchte es.\n\nDann kam der Durchbruch.\n\nDer Raum erhellte sich durch den Austausch von Lasern und Kugeln. Der erste Austausch war verheerend. Das Echo wurde durch den Sturm des eintreffenden Feuers verst\u00fcmmelt, aber seine Schilde und seine dicke Panzerung hielten den t\u00f6dlichen Schl\u00e4gen des ersten Angriffs stand. Mit dem Gegenfeuer des Vergelters ging die 300 als erste los, die sofort von O'Neils Turmfeuer zerst\u00fcckelt wurde.\n\nDer Freiberufler startete eine volle Streuung von Raketen. Die Triebwerke der Echo erwachten pl\u00f6tzlich zum Leben und der massive Bomber tauchte auf und setzte Gegenma\u00dfnahmen ein. Die Gesch\u00fctzt\u00fcrme richteten das Feuer auf den Freelancer, kauten die Schilde ab und feuerten eine Reihe von Sch\u00fcssen durch das Cockpit, bevor es reagieren konnte.\n\nDas Echo st\u00fcrzte und verdrehte sich, umringt von K\u00e4mpfern, die sich durch den Verlust ihres furchtlosen Anf\u00fchrers nicht abschrecken lie\u00dfen. Laserfeuer spr\u00fchte aus seinen T\u00fcrmen, piroutierte wundersch\u00f6n durch den Raum, bis eine durchschlagende Rakete die Schilde schw\u00e4chte und das Cockpit des Echo vernichtete. Die sch\u00f6ne Flucht des Vergelters verwandelte sich in eine Todesspirale, und die K\u00e4mpfer st\u00fcrzten sich auf den Tod. Der letzte verbliebene Gesch\u00fctzturm t\u00f6tete den letzten J\u00e4ger kurz bevor eine Explosion das Echo in zwei H\u00e4lften riss.\n\nDann, Schweigen. Die massiven Fragmente des Raumschiffs drifteten leise an ihren Platz. Gelegentliche sekund\u00e4re Explosionen aus Bereichen der Schiffe, die noch unter Druck standen, explodierten und schleuderten die letzten Sauerstoff- und Flammenmengen in den Weltraum.\n\nUnd damit war wieder Platz.\n\nEin Lichtpunkt, der zun\u00e4chst nicht von einem Stern zu unterscheiden war, wuchs langsam und n\u00e4herte sich schlie\u00dflich so weit, dass er als Schiff erkennbar war. Kritiker hatten die Constellation 2918 bekanntlich als \"den einen Fehltritt in der stolzen Abstammungslinie von RSI\" bezeichnet, und es war f\u00fcr viele schwer zu argumentieren. Die Rumpfbeschichtung der Gondeln war oft falsch dimensioniert, wodurch seltsame L\u00fccken entstanden, durch die das Gl\u00fchen des Motors durchsickerte. Irgendwie flog diese 2918 Connie immer noch, obwohl das Universum nicht versucht hat, sie zu t\u00f6ten, wenn man sie so sieht.\n\nDas Schiff trieb langsam auf das weitl\u00e4ufige Schlachtfeld zu. Retro-Triebwerke pulsten sanft, um es zum Stillstand zu bringen.\n\nMagdalena \"Mags\" McCann bewegte sich von der Navigationsstation auf dem Deck und trat an die Vorderseite des Beobachtungsfensters. Gekleidet in Pyjama, Bademantel und Raumschiffstiefel (sie hasste kalte F\u00fc\u00dfe), schwenkte sie ihren L\u00f6ffel um ihre Sch\u00fcssel und jagte einige verbliebene RumblePops-M\u00fcsliriegel, die sich in den tr\u00fcben Tiefen zuckerhaltiger Milch versteckten. Kennelworths \"Where We Go\" dr\u00f6hnte \u00fcber die blechernen Lautsprecher der Br\u00fccke.\n\nMags blickte auf die gewaltige Zerst\u00f6rung, knirschte den letzten RumblePop in ihren Mund und grinste.\n\n\"S\u00fc\u00df\".\n\nIm Inneren der Harlequin war Kennelworth's einzigartige Marke von Gutbucket Rock nicht auf die Br\u00fccke beschr\u00e4nkt; sie wurde zum Nutzen aller durch das ganze Schiff gepumpt. W\u00e4hrend die Au\u00dfenseite der verbeulten Connie rau aussah, war die Innenseite noch schlimmer. Zuf\u00e4llig ausgefranste Dr\u00e4hte baumelten an freiliegenden Verkleidungen, die mit Kaugummi und Klebeband zusammengeklebt waren. Um ein besonders klaffendes Loch in der Wand wurde ein Kreis gezeichnet, um den hilfreich \"Don't Touch\" geschrieben stand. Im Inneren des Lochs funkte sporadisch etwas.\n\nDie Musik verschwand abrupt aus der Sprechanlage. Mags r\u00e4usperte sich.\n\n\"Hallo, alle zusammen. Tut mir leid, Sie zu st\u00f6ren. . .\u201d\n\nIn einer der Schlafkojen durchw\u00fchlte Honan Yao einen Beutel mit weggeworfenen Ampullen und suchte nach einer, die noch ein wenig Ladung hatte. Er schloss alle potenziellen Kandidaten an sein Hypo an, um den F\u00fcllstand zu \u00fcberpr\u00fcfen, aber nichts.\n\n\"Ich wei\u00df, dass die Dinge seit meiner \u00dcbernahme etwas schwierig waren. Mags' Stimme hallte aus dem winzigen Wandlautsprecher wider. Yao war zu sehr auf seine Suche konzentriert, um sich darum k\u00fcmmern zu k\u00f6nnen. Sein Verstand begann zu alternativen Injektionsmethoden abzudriften, f\u00fcr den Fall, dass dies am Ende ein Reinfall werden w\u00fcrde. Keine der L\u00f6sungen war ideal, aber verzweifelte Zeiten . . .\n\nSchlie\u00dflich warf er die Tasche zur Seite. Er \u00fcberlegte, in die Technik zu gehen, aber er musste aufstehen. Dann traf es ihn . . .\n\nYao ging in ein anderes Abteil und holte seine alte medizinische Feldausr\u00fcstung heraus.\n\nErfolg. Zumindest f\u00fcr einen Treffer. Sein Adrenalinspiegel begann zu steigen, als er das kleine Fl\u00e4schchen mit der tintenschwarzen Fl\u00fcssigkeit schnell in das Hypo spritzte.\n\n\"In den letzten Wochen haben wir -\" Yao schaltete den Lautsprecher aus und lehnte sich zur\u00fcck. Als das WiDoW sein System traf, war es, als ob er in einen Abgrund aus warmen Kissen gefallen w\u00e4re.\n\nUnd er begr\u00fc\u00dfte es, weil er es jetzt vergessen konnte.\n\nWie der Rest des Schiffes hatte auch der Frachtraum schon bessere Tage gesehen. Die weite offene Fl\u00e4che war genau das, weit und offen. Nur in einem Container befand sich tats\u00e4chlich Bergungsgut, aber selbst f\u00fcr die Bergung war er nur Schrott.\n\nKel hat es trotzdem durchgesehen. Er ging methodisch durch jedes St\u00fcck und untersuchte jeden Millimeter auf strukturelle Integrit\u00e4t, Potenzial f\u00fcr Ersatzteile und elementare Zusammensetzung. Die Banu waren an einer der besten Mining Soulis im Protektorat ausgebildet worden. Der Essosouli selbst hatte sich sogar \u00fcber Kels scharfsinnige Beobachtungsgabe ge\u00e4u\u00dfert und behauptet, dass Kel das Potenzial habe, innerhalb der Gilde zur Meisterschaftsstufe aufzusteigen.\n\nAls der fr\u00fchere Kapit\u00e4n des Harlequin ihn von der Souli gekauft hatte, war er ein wenig entt\u00e4uscht, seine fortgeschrittenen Studien zu unterbrechen, aber er wollte nicht darauf verzichten, mit echten Menschen zu reisen.\n\nEr entnahm eine zerbrochene Lampe aus dem Beh\u00e4lter und untersuchte die ausgefransten Dr\u00e4hte, die aus dem Beh\u00e4lter austraten.\n\n\"... jedenfalls habe ich etwas, das alles besser machen k\u00f6nnte. Kommen Sie mit auf die Br\u00fccke.\"\n\nKels Augen leuchteten auf. Er legte die Lampe sanft hin (m\u00fcsste innen komplett neu aufgebaut werden, aber die Struktur war zumindest \u00e4sthetisch ansprechend) und h\u00fcpfte zur Br\u00fccke hinauf.\n\nEine Batterie schlug in eine kleine Auslegepistole. Der Handgriff brummte kurz, als die Heizung den Strom einschaltete und der Munitionsz\u00e4hler anstieg. Trin \"Dropshot\" Liska steckte die Pistole in ihren Hosenbund und ging hin\u00fcber zu ihrem Spind. Als kleine, dichte Frau Anfang drei\u00dfig, war jeder Augenblick des Kampfes in ihrem Leben in jeden finsteren Gesichtsausdruck und in jede T\u00e4towierung auf ihrem K\u00f6rper eingebrannt. Selbst auf den ersten Blick war es also offensichtlich, dass sie viel Schei\u00dfe durchgemacht hatte.\n\nSie zog die schwere ballistische Kanone aus dem oberen Regal heraus. Das Wort \"Diplomatie\" war in den Lauf geritzt worden. Sie \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte den Bruch und sichtete dann die Magazine auf dem Regal, bis sie ein voll geladenes fand, schlug es zu und zerschie\u00dfte eine Patrone.\n\nIhr Bruder Ozzy beobachtete von seinem Sitzplatz auf dem Gel\u00e4nder im Maschinenraum. Sein Bein h\u00fcpfte schnell, das einzige \u00e4u\u00dferliche Zeichen einer Emotion. Ebenso leer und w\u00fctend teilte er die gleiche Litanei von Narben und T\u00e4towierungen wie seine Schwester. Beide teilten sich Rudel-Tattoos der Souther Titans, einer zerlumpten Bande, die angeblich als ein Ableger der Tooth & Nails on Spider begann, aber f\u00fcr viele klang das wie ein Stier. Ozzy hatte nur drei blutende Narbentattoos (was auf drei Jahre \"Rauben und Herumlungern\" hinweist), w\u00e4hrend Trin acht hatte.\n\nZu seinem Ungl\u00fcck lie\u00df er sich von QuarterDeck T\u00e4towierungen machen, die seine Schwester nicht hatte.\n\nMags Stimme \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigte kaum das laute Wimmern des massiven Motors des Schiffes.\n\n\"Ja, so aufregende Zeiten. Ich sehe euch dann hier oben.\"\n\nTrin schaute ihren Bruder an. Er sprang von der Reling, als sie ihm eine weitere Pistole zuwarf, und sie machten sich auf den Weg nach oben.\n\nMags untersuchte die Anzeige auf dem Terminal und markierte die Tr\u00fcmmerfragmente sorgf\u00e4ltig und ordnete sie nach Priorit\u00e4t. Kel stand am vorderen Fenster auf und rief aufgeregt, was er sah.\n\nDie T\u00fcr zur Br\u00fccke zischte auf. Mit einem kurzen Blick zur\u00fcck sah Mags Trin auf der Mauer sitzen.\n\n\"Hey Trin, ist Doc auf dem Weg nach oben\", fragte sie, w\u00e4hrend sie einige Schilder durchstanzte.\n\n\"Da! Dort!\" rief Kel aus und wies auf einige Tr\u00fcmmer hin. \"Energiezellen. Sehr minimaler Verschlei\u00df. Frisch. Sehr frisch\".\n\nTrin warf einen Blick auf das vordere Fenster. Die verungl\u00fcckte 300 befand sich derzeit vorne und in der Mitte au\u00dfen.\n\n\"Schlie\u00dflich fragte sie: \"Was ist hier los?\n\n\"Wir haben uns einen Zahltag verschafft. Die Mags konnten ihre Aufregung kaum in Grenzen halten, als sie einige weitere Fragmente auf ihrem Terminal markierte. Trin starrte auf ihren Hinterkopf. Ozzy ging auf die andere Seite der Br\u00fccke, die Pistole locker an seiner Seite gehalten.\n\n\"Ja? Irgendwas wie die letzte?\" antwortete Trin.\n\n\"H\u00f6ren Sie, ich habe mich daf\u00fcr entschuldigt, okay?\"\n\n\"Entschuldigungen f\u00fcllen mein Konto nicht auf\".\n\n\"Mein Zaun schwor, er k\u00f6nne sich bewegen . . .\" Mags drehte den Stuhl des Kapit\u00e4ns, so dass er ihr gegen\u00fcberstand, w\u00e4hrend sie sprach. Ihre Strafe verging, als sie sowohl Trin als auch Ozzy auf dem Stuhl sitzen sah. Sie schaute zwischen den beiden hin und her. Ozzy hielt die Pistole au\u00dfer Sichtweite, aber das Verstecken seiner Hand war ebenso offensichtlich.\n\n\"Was geht hier vor, Trin?\n\n\"Wie sieht es aus? Trin schoss zur\u00fcck.\n\n\"Es sieht so aus, als w\u00e4ren Sie am selben Ort, an dem Sie standen, kurz bevor wir Malcolm aus der Luftschleuse geworfen haben\".\n\n\"Tolles Ged\u00e4chtnis\", sagte Trin kichernd. Sie kratzte sich mit der Hand, die Diplomatie hielt, ein Jucken an der Lippe.\n\n\"Jungs, im Ernst. Ich bin erst seit etwa zwei Monaten verantwortlich. Mags setzte sich wieder in den Stuhl und blickte beil\u00e4ufig auf einen Bildschirm. Innerlich k\u00e4mpfte ihr Verstand nach einer Art Ausweg. Das Letzte, was sie tun wollte, war, die Situation unn\u00f6tig eskalieren zu lassen; sie hatte gesehen, wie Dropshot zu viele Menschen verschwendet. Leider war Kel zu sehr damit besch\u00e4ftigt, aus dem Fenster zu schauen, als dass sie viel helfen k\u00f6nnte. \"Sie m\u00fcssen mir eine Chance geben\".\n\n\"Bevor Malcolm die Leere ber\u00fchrte, sagten Sie, dass die Dinge anders sein w\u00fcrden. Trin trat vor, w\u00e4hrend sie sprach. \"Das haben Sie uns gesagt. Geringeres Profil, gr\u00f6\u00dfere Punktzahl\".\n\n\"Leise und schlau war, was sie sagte, Schwesterchen\". Ozzy beschloss schlie\u00dflich, sich einzumischen.\n\n\"Danke, Oz. Sie wissen, wie mein Ged\u00e4chtnis funktioniert, wenn ich ver\u00e4rgert bin. Sie wandte sich wieder Mags zu. \"Der Punkt ist, die Schei\u00dfe hat sich nicht ge\u00e4ndert.\" Es herrschte eine h\u00e4ssliche, angespannte Stille . . . au\u00dfer:\n\n\"XT-20-Rumpf\". Nein. Schlechter Zustand. Sehen Sie sich die Versengungen an. Unbrauchbar\". Kel dr\u00f6hnte im Hintergrund, bevor er sich schlie\u00dflich umdrehte. \"Ich w\u00fcrde nicht . . .\"\n\nDa wurde ihm endlich klar, was los war. Ozzy brachte die Pistole in Sichtweite, so dass die Banu nicht auf Ideen kamen. Trin r\u00e4usperte sich.\n\n\"Wie auch immer, hier sind wir nun und kratzen immer noch ab, ohne etwas vorzuweisen\".\n\n\"Doc kann nicht einmal mehr ein ehrliches Hoch halten\", murmelte Ozzy. Trin sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf, schwer entt\u00e4uscht.\n\n\"Okay. In Ordnung.\" Mags erhob sich langsam mit erhobenen H\u00e4nden. \"Wir k\u00f6nnen Ihre Probleme l\u00f6sen und vorankommen.\n\nTrin l\u00e4chelte.\n\n\"Ja . . .\" Sie trat vor und hob ihre Waffe.\n\n\"Warten Sie!\" rief Kel, als er vorw\u00e4rts taumelte, wobei er auch die H\u00e4nde ausstreckte. Trin blieb stehen. Mags \u00f6ffnete langsam die Augen und sah sich um, angenehm \u00fcberrascht, dass das Paar tats\u00e4chlich auf den Banu geh\u00f6rt hatte. Kel wartete einige Augenblicke und \u00fcberlegte seine Worte sorgf\u00e4ltig, bevor er sprach. Schlie\u00dflich:\n\n\"Ich wei\u00df, ich bin nur der Schiffssklave -\"\n\nDie Mags sind eingebrochen.\n\n\"Du bist nicht unser Sklave, Kel\", sagte sie mit einem Seufzer.\n\n\"Ja, ja\", winkte Kel ihr zu und fuhr fort. \"Captain Mag viel besser als der alte Captain. Sie will Geld wie wir. Der alte Captain mag auch Geld, und wir m\u00f6gen Geld.\"\n\n\"Hm? murmelte Ozzy, als er Trin ansah.\n\n\"Aber Captain Mag h\u00f6rt auf uns. Der alte Captain spricht nie mit uns. Schreien Sie einfach.\" Kel ging vorw\u00e4rts, w\u00e4hrend er sprach, und flehte Trin fast an. \"Kapit\u00e4n Mag hilft Trin Liska. Der alte Kapit\u00e4n geht nicht in die H\u00f6llenwelt, um Ozzy Liska zu holen. Captain Mag tat es.\"\n\nMags nickte ein wenig zustimmend. Sie h\u00e4tte beinahe Kels kleine Rede verpasst, als sie versuchte, herauszufinden, ob sie immer noch eine Pistole auf der Br\u00fccke versteckt hatte. (Damals, als Malcolm die Show leitete, f\u00fchlte sie sich nie sicher, wenn sie mehr als drei Schritte von einer Waffe entfernt war).\n\n\"Wir m\u00fcssen dem Captain vertrauen\", sagte Kel schlie\u00dflich. Er ging r\u00fcber zu Mags. \"Wir vertrauen ihr, und gute Dinge werden kommen.\"\n\nDann klopfte er ihr auf die Stirn. Mappen zappelten aus dem Weg. Vor drei Wochen hatte Kel, als er an einer Umsteigestation angedockt war, gesehen, wie ein Vater seiner Tochter sanft auf den Kopf klopfte, bevor er sie zum Spielen wegrennen lie\u00df, und seitdem tut er es immer wieder.\n\nEs war s\u00fc\u00df ... aber irgendwie \u00e4rgerlich.\n\nDas Wichtigste war, dass es bei Trin zu funktionieren schien. Sie hatte Mags nicht erschossen, also war das bereits ein Sieg. Ozzy warf einen Blick auf Trin und suchte nach dem Startschuss f\u00fcr das Schie\u00dfen. Trin warf einen Blick aus dem vorderen Fenster auf die zerbrochene 300.\n\n\"Das ist also die gro\u00dfe Neuigkeit? Ein K\u00e4mpfer?\"\n\nMags machte eine gro\u00dfe Show, indem sie ihre H\u00e4nde im Blick behielt, w\u00e4hrend sie zum Flugstab griff. Sie winkelte das Schiff sanft nach unten und enth\u00fcllte das Wrackmeer: die R\u00e4cherin, die Freiberuflerin und den Rest der K\u00e4mpfer.\n\nDieser Anblick lie\u00df Trin und Ozzy innehalten, als sie die gewaltige Zerst\u00f6rung bestaunten. Sie starrten einige Augenblicke lang schweigend, senkten aber ihre Waffen nicht.\n\n\"So . . .\" sagte Mags schlie\u00dflich. \"K\u00f6nnen wir an die Arbeit gehen?\"\n\nDer Einfluss des Harlequin war voller Aktivit\u00e4t. Der Boden quietschte auf und gab den Blick auf das darunter liegende Cockpit des Merlin frei. Trin f\u00fchrte einige abschlie\u00dfende Systempr\u00fcfungen an der Sto\u00dfstange durch und f\u00fcllte den Treibstoff nach. Ozzy begann, an den letzten St\u00fccken seines Fluganzugs zu ziehen, als er sich dem offenen Cockpit n\u00e4herte. Er setzte seinen Helm auf und schl\u00fcpfte ins Cockpit.\n\n\"Auf geht's, auf geht's. Wir m\u00fcssen anfangen zu schneiden, bevor noch jemand dar\u00fcber stolpert\", \u00fcbertrug Mags' Stimme \u00fcber die blecherne Gegensprechanlage.\n\nOzzy schlug zweimal auf das Laminat des Cockpits, um zu signalisieren, dass er gesetzt war. Die Bodenpaneele schlossen sich schreiend, bis der Merlin au\u00dfer Sichtweite war. Trin leitete die Kommunikation ein.\n\n\"Vogel fliegt\".\n\nSie machte sich mit den anderen EVA-Anz\u00fcgen auf den Weg zum Lagerschrank. Kel war bereits angezogen und \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte seine Werkzeuge sorgf\u00e4ltig dreifach.\n\nTrin zog ihren Anzug aus der Tonne und knallte ihn auf den Boden. Bei Tr\u00e4nen oder Einstichen gab sie noch einmal kurz nach, bevor sie anfing, ihn anzuziehen.\n\n\"Wie siehst du aus, Kel?\n\n\"Vollst\u00e4ndig vorbereitet, Trin Liska\". Kel hat jedes Werkzeug im Feldkit sorgf\u00e4ltig und fachm\u00e4nnisch ersetzt. \"Die Werkzeuge sind fertig\".\n\nTrin versiegelte ihren Anzug und warf eine Schrotflinte.\n\n\"Meiner auch.\"\n\nZur\u00fcck auf der Br\u00fccke sa\u00df Mags immer noch auf dem Stuhl des Kapit\u00e4ns. Seit der unterbrochenen Meuterei war sie damit besch\u00e4ftigt, den Harlequin so zu positionieren, dass er leicht eingesetzt und geborgen werden konnte. Sie sah zu, wie Ozzy's Schiff leise an den Rand des Wrackfeldes flog und eine weite Suche begann.\n\nOhne Vorwarnung flaute ihr Magen ab. Dieser Moment des Innehaltens beim Blick auf den fernen Merlin reichte aus, um die Schwere der Situation, der sie knapp entgangen war, zusammenbrechen zu lassen.\n\nSie kippte auf dem Stuhl um und versuchte zu verschnaufen. Dies war bei weitem nicht das erste Mal, dass sie eine Pistole im Gesicht hatte, aber irgendetwas an dieser Zeit ... es gab eine Endg\u00fcltigkeit, als w\u00e4re ihr das Gl\u00fcck endlich ausgegangen, die sie abk\u00fchlte.\n\nVielleicht k\u00f6nnte sie laufen. Warten Sie, bis Trin weggetreten ist, dann rennen Sie einfach. Ozzy war ein gro\u00dfartiger Pilot, aber er konnte es wahrscheinlich nicht mit dem Harlequin aufnehmen und \u00fcberleben. Im schlimmsten Fall k\u00f6nnte sie ihn so weit schlagen, dass sie ihm entkommen k\u00f6nnte. Das w\u00fcrde bedeuten, dass sie Kel wahrscheinlich verlassen m\u00fcsste, was unfair erschien. Doc . . . sie war sich nicht sicher, wie er reagieren w\u00fcrde . . .\n\n\"Hey\", sagte eine verschlafene Stimme.\n\nMags riss sich zusammen und drehte sich zum Podium zur\u00fcck, als Yao auf die Br\u00fccke schlurfte und in einen der Sitze plumpste.\n\n\"Doc . . . .\" zeigte sie ein weiteres Scan-Fenster auf ihrem Terminal an und versuchte, besch\u00e4ftigt auszusehen. \"Sie haben eine interessante Diskussion verpasst\".\n\n\"Wann war das?\" fragte Yao mit einem G\u00e4hnen.\n\n\"Vor ein paar Stunden\", blickte Mags ihn an, unsicher, ob er sich mit ihr angelegt hatte. Er sah wirklich ignorant aus. \"Ich rief Sie an, rief alle an.\"\n\n\"Richtig . . .\" schnippte er mit den Fingern und nickte. \"Das war heute?\"\n\n\"Ja . . .\"\n\n\"Das ist cool\", tippte Yao mit den Fingern auf sein Terminalfenster und weckte es aus dem Schlaf. Sie tanzten \u00fcber den Bildschirm und w\u00e4hlten geschickt eine Reihe von Ordnern und Programmen aus. Eine Episode von Lost Squad wurde abgespielt. \"Wor\u00fcber haben Sie alle gesprochen?\"\n\n\"Mich zu erschie\u00dfen oder aus einer Luftschleuse zu werfen. Vielleicht beides, ich wei\u00df es nicht\".\n\n\"Oh ja. Trin war ziemlich sauer.\"\n\n\"Sie wussten es?\"\n\n\"Sicher\".\n\n\"Danke f\u00fcr die Vorwarnung, Doc.\n\n\"Komm schon, Mags. Trin ist nicht so gut darin, ihre Emotionen zu verbergen\". Er setzte sich wieder auf seinen Platz und war vollkommen zufrieden, dass das Problem gel\u00f6st war.\n\n\"Ich habe auch einen Job f\u00fcr uns gefunden\", bot sie schlie\u00dflich an.\n\n\"Cool. Wo?\" sagte er faul. Er war zu sehr auf die Spekulationsschau fixiert.\n\n\"Hier . .\" schaute sie Yao an. Er hatte seine Augen nicht von der Show gelassen. \"Wir machen es.\"\n\nYao nickte und dr\u00fcckte den Daumen nach oben.\n\nDer Funkspruch aus der Luftschleuse zirpte.\n\n\"Wir verlassen jetzt die Luftschleuse\", sagte Trin. Mags konnten Kel im Hintergrund aufgeregt reden h\u00f6ren.\n\n\"Kopieren Sie das. Wir haben Sie.\"\n\nMags haben die Verbindung unterbrochen. Trin klang wieder normal, als w\u00e4re der Vorfall zuvor nie passiert. Mags wusste, dass sich dieser Job auszahlen w\u00fcrde und dass sie gleich danach schnell etwas organisieren musste. Andernfalls w\u00fcrde sie sich wieder in der gleichen Situation befinden. In der Zwischenzeit vermutete sie, dass sie wahrscheinlich wieder anfangen sollte, Waffen auf dem Schiff zu verstecken.\n\nYao begann sanft zu schnarchen.\n\nTrin und Kel traten in die Leere. Einige Leute waren verwirrt von dem Moment, als die Schwerkraft verschwand. F\u00fcr sie war die Schwerkraft Sicherheit. Eine Fessel, die sie an Ort und Stelle hielt. Der Mangel hat Trin nie gest\u00f6rt. Sie war immer am\u00fcsiert, wenn sie h\u00f6rte, wie die Leute dar\u00fcber jammerten. Es war ein Gespr\u00e4ch, das sie immer dann f\u00fchrte, wenn sie auf dem Planeten war. Eigentlich fiel ihr nur ein, dass sie dieses Gespr\u00e4ch noch nie auf einer Station gef\u00fchrt hatte. Vielleicht begann jemand, sobald er festen Boden unter den F\u00fc\u00dfen hatte, dar\u00fcber nachzudenken. Sie hat es nicht verstanden.\n\nTrin hatte nicht diese Art von Angst. Es war nicht aus einer angeborenen H\u00e4rte heraus, sondern aus dem Bewusstsein heraus, dass der Weltraum st\u00e4ndig versuchte, Sie zu t\u00f6ten. Das war einfach etwas, das man entweder akzeptierte oder nicht. Trin hatte zu viel Zeit ihres Lebens damit verbracht, herauszufinden, wer sonst noch versuchte, sie zu t\u00f6ten. Selbst in ihrer besten Zeit bei den Titanen musste sie sich mit Kopfgeldj\u00e4gern, der Advocacy, ganz zu schweigen von ihrer eigenen Crew, auseinandersetzen, um sich \u00fcberhaupt \u00fcber den Weltraum Gedanken machen zu k\u00f6nnen. Darauf konnte sie sich immer verlassen.\n\nDer massive Rumpf des Vergelters hatte sich selbst in eine ziemlich heftige Drehung versetzt. An Bord zu gehen, geschweige denn ihn zu bergen, w\u00e4re so gut wie unm\u00f6glich, es sei denn, man w\u00fcrde ihn verlangsamen.\n\nTrin passte ihren Rucksack an und begann, sich der Drehgeschwindigkeit des Wracks anzupassen. Sie pulsierte die EVA-Triebwerke, um sich selbst immer n\u00e4her und n\u00e4her zu schieben, bis sie in der Lage war, die Maschine in die Hand zu nehmen. Trin zog sich auf den Rumpf und aktivierte ihre Magnetstiefel zum Einrasten. Sie grub eine ihrer ma\u00dfgefertigten tragbaren Fernd\u00fcsen aus ihrem Koffer und aktivierte die magnetische Dichtung, um sie an dem verdammten Metall zu befestigen.\n\nKel arbeitete hart am anderen Ende der Tr\u00fcmmer und tat das Gleiche. Als er fertig war, winkte er Trin nach unten und dr\u00fcckte enthusiastisch den Daumen nach oben.\n\n\"Sie k\u00f6nnen einfach Komms verwenden, Kel.\"\n\n\"Entschuldige dich, Trin Liska\". Er antwortete schnell und dr\u00fcckte noch einmal enthusiastisch den Daumen nach oben.\n\nTrin brachte ihr mobi hoch und schloss sich an die Schnittstelle an, die die Fernsteuerd\u00fcsen steuerte. Sie hatte diese in den Tagen, in denen sie in die Bresche sprang, gebaut, und obwohl sie nur eine begrenzte Menge an Treibstoff hatten, hatten sie eine gewisse Leistung. Sie neigten jedoch dazu, zu explodieren.\n\nSie hielt die Triebwerke gegen die Rolle und schlie\u00dflich verlangsamte sich die Tali. Als sie schlie\u00dflich stoppte, holte Kel sein Bergungsger\u00e4t heraus und brach es auf.\n\n\"Alles in Ordnung bei dir, Kel?\"\n\n\"Gut, ja, okay.\"\n\n\"Ich \u00fcberpr\u00fcfe den Laderaum\", sagte sie, als sie ihre Schrotflinte entfaltete.\n\n\"Gut, okay.\"\n\nTrin zog ihre Schrotflinte, zielte auf eine Ladung und verschwand dann durch ein klaffendes Loch in der Seite.\n\nKel beobachtete, wie ein St\u00fcck eines Gesch\u00fctzturms langsam vorbeischwebte. Ein Paar H\u00e4nde griff noch immer nach den Schie\u00dfst\u00e4ben. Kel starrte sie einen Moment lang neugierig an, z\u00fcndete dann den Schneidbrenner an und machte sich an die Arbeit.\n\nDie Hallen des Vergelters waren ein zertr\u00fcmmertes Labyrinth aus verdrehtem Metall. Trin schwebte sanft durch die G\u00e4nge und fegte die Schrotflinte hin und her. Aufgrund der Zerst\u00f6rung war es unm\u00f6glich, dass hier drinnen etwas h\u00e4tte \u00fcberleben k\u00f6nnen, aber sie ging kein Risiko ein.\n\nSie bewegte sich vorw\u00e4rts, Meter f\u00fcr Meter, kontrollierte die Ecken und war zu allem bereit. Sie driftete zur\u00fcck in ihre Tage bei den Titanen. W\u00e4hrend sie allen m\u00f6glichen Unfug trieben, war ihr Hauptaugenmerk auf das Zerhacken von Schiffen gerichtet. Als Hauptverletzerin im Rudel war es ihre Aufgabe, behinderte Schiffe zu entern, alle \u00dcberlebenden zu t\u00f6ten und dann genug Reparaturen durchzuf\u00fchren, um sie zum Fliegen zu bringen.\n\nDieser flog definitiv nie wieder irgendwo hin. Sie ging an einigen Crew-Schlie\u00dff\u00e4chern vorbei und \u00f6ffnete jedes einzelne. Nichts als Ersatz-Sprunganz\u00fcge.\n\n\"Nat\u00fcrlich . . . .\" murmelte sie vor sich hin.\n\nVorne beugte sich der Flur nach links. Dort sollte es ein Schott und dann eine T\u00fcr zum Frachtabschnitt geben. Trin hoffte, dass das, was diesen Kampf ausl\u00f6ste, es wert war. Als sie sich der Kurve n\u00e4herte, nahm ihre Taschenlampe im n\u00e4chsten Abschnitt des Schiffes ein Formular auf.\n\nSie lie\u00df ihre Waffe darauf gerichtet und richtete eine Schussposition hinter dem T\u00fcrrahmen ein. Bei n\u00e4herem Hinsehen war es h\u00f6chstwahrscheinlich ein Mensch. Der EVA-Anzug, den sie trug, war makellos, wie einer dieser neuen CDS-Anz\u00fcge. Sie \u00fcbermittelte die Signale auf ihrem Anzug.\n\n\"Gen comms. Gibt es \u00dcberlebende der Vergeltungsma\u00dfnahme? Identifizieren Sie sich.\"\n\nDas Formular schwebte einfach dort. Keine Bewegung.\n\nTrin schnappte sich einen schwimmenden Metallschrott und schleuderte ihn auf den K\u00f6rper. Er klopfte das Bein ab.\n\nImmer noch nichts.\n\nSie steckte ihm eine Kugel in den R\u00fccken. Die Explosion wirbelte den K\u00f6rper herum und enth\u00fcllte das blasse, gefrorene Gesicht eines der Sch\u00fctzen. Er schien nicht in der Lage zu sein, seinen Helm aufzusetzen, bevor das Vakuum ihn erwischte.\n\n\"Jemanden finden? Mags zwitscherten \u00fcber die Comms.\n\n\"Nein\", antwortete Trin, w\u00e4hrend sie eine weitere Patrone in ihre Schrotflinte pumpte und vorr\u00fcckte. Sie fegte die Leiche zur Seite, um ein kleines Eingangsfeld freizulegen, das zum Frachtraum f\u00fchrte. Interessanterweise war das Panel mit einer Art Notstromversorgung verkabelt.\n\n\"Oh, hallo.\" Trin schleuderte die Schrotflinte und grub sich durch einen Beutel f\u00fcr ein Schnittstellenkabel. Sobald ihr mobiGlas und die T\u00fcr verbunden waren, startete sie das Programm Knock\u00b2, um ein voreingestelltes Hacking-Protokoll auszuf\u00fchren. Nach einigen Sekunden digitaler Verhandlung wurde das Panel gr\u00fcn. Die T\u00fcr stie\u00df einen Teil der eingeschlossenen Atmo aus, als sie sich zu \u00f6ffnen begann.\n\nTrin hatte ihre Schrotflinte hochgehalten und sich abgest\u00fctzt, bevor sich die T\u00fcr \u00f6ffnete. Sie trat vom Boden ab und schwebte in den Frachtraum der Tali. Ein Schwenken der Taschenlampe gen\u00fcgte ihr, um eine sehr unangenehme Wahrheit zu entdecken.\n\nEr war leer.\n\n\"Denn nat\u00fcrlich ist es . . .\"\n\nTrin sicherte ihre Schrotflinte und schleuderte sie, bevor sie auf ihr Kommando antwortete. \"Tali ist frei\". Trin drehte sich zum Ausgang um, als sie einen Blick auf etwas erhaschte, das in der Dunkelheit taumelte. Sie zog eine Taschenlampe, um nachzusehen. Es war ein Schlie\u00dffach, wie eines dieser milit\u00e4rischen Schlie\u00dff\u00e4cher, die sie auf diesen Spektakeln gesehen hatte.\n\nSie schnappte ihn und \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte seine Schl\u00f6sser, konnte sie aber nicht \u00f6ffnen. Ein kleines Zugangspaneel enth\u00fcllte eine weitere digitale Schnittstelle mit einem Tastenfeld. Trin schloss ihr Mobi wieder an und startete einen weiteren Hack. W\u00e4hrend sie wartete, untersuchte sie das Schlie\u00dffach ein wenig genauer. Das Ding sah solide aus, als k\u00f6nnte es einen explosiven Feststoff aufnehmen. Alles sehr gute Anzeichen daf\u00fcr, was sich darin befinden k\u00f6nnte.\n\nSie warf einen Blick auf ihr mobiGlas. Das Hacking-Programm versuchte immer noch, das Passwort zu knacken. Pl\u00f6tzlich war ihr mobi tot.\n\n\"Mistkerl\".\n\nZur\u00fcck an Bord des Harlequin waren alle um die geheimnisvolle Kiste versammelt. Der Laderaum war bereits voll mit ausgesuchten Teilen der verschiedenen Schiffe, die von Kel fachm\u00e4nnisch zerlegt und arrangiert worden waren. Trin ordnete ihre Werkzeuge f\u00fcr eine gr\u00fcndliche Untersuchung der Kiste, w\u00e4hrend Mags im Hintergrund auf und ab ging. Der entschlossene Blick auf Trin's Gesicht zeigte, dass die Herausforderung der Kiste eindeutig angenommen worden war.\n\n\"Geben Sie es zu. Es muss etwas Wertvolles sein\", sagte Mags nerv\u00f6s, als sie ging. \"Ich bin doch nicht verr\u00fcckt, oder?\"\n\n\"Sehr aufregend, Captain Mags. Ja.\" sagte Kel, als er Trin dabei zusah, wie er ein Terminal an die Schalttafel des Schlie\u00dffachs anschloss.\n\n\"Um es aber klar zu sagen: Sie haben keine Hinweise auf den Inhalt gesehen? Mags Nervosit\u00e4t begann sie zu \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigen. \"Ich meine, wir glauben doch nicht, dass es sich um chemische Waffen handelt, oder? Oder wie ein Virus?\"\n\n\"Titan-Gewebekoffer sehr gut zu sch\u00fctzen, aber nicht f\u00fcr biologische Eind\u00e4mmung eingestuft. Wenn es sich um einen t\u00f6dlichen Virus handeln w\u00fcrde, w\u00e4ren die Menschen jetzt schon tot\", antwortete Kel fr\u00f6hlich.\n\n\"K\u00f6nnten Sie beide die Klappe halten?\" Trin schnappte zu, als sie ungefilterten Code auf ihrem Bildschirm durchsiebte.\n\n\"Sicher, Entschuldigung\", sagte Mags und zwang sich, sich hinzusetzen.\n\n\"Ja, entschuldigen Sie sich.\" Kel ging auf Trin zu und klopfte ihr auf die Stirn. Trin machte sich nicht die M\u00fche, seine Hand wegzuschlagen.\n\nWeitere zwanzig Minuten des Wartens vergingen. Trin versuchte jeden Trick in ihrem umfangreichen und bew\u00e4hrten Buch. Jedes Mal r\u00fchrte sich das Schlie\u00dffach nicht vom Fleck.\n\n\"Schei\u00df drauf. Kel, schnapp dir deine Bohrer\".\n\nDie Banu raste aufgeregt davon.\n\nStunden sp\u00e4ter stand das Schlie\u00dffach auf dem Tisch des Gemeinschaftsraums. Um sie herum waren verschiedene Werkzeuge benutzt und weggeworfen worden. Die Oberfl\u00e4che des Kastens war wie bei einer Art mechanischer Autopsie zerst\u00fcckelt worden, um das Schloss zu umgehen, ohne das, was sich darin befand, zu besch\u00e4digen. Yao war zu seiner Koje zur\u00fcckgekehrt und sah sich gelegentlich die Sendung an.\n\nMags, die aus dem Laderaum kamen und einen EVA-Anzug trugen. Im Laderaum angekommen, zog sie den Helm ab und wischte sich den Schwei\u00df vom Gesicht. Ozzy war immer noch im Laderaum und ordnete die Kisten an, die ebenfalls mit EVA-Ausr\u00fcstung ausgestattet waren.\n\n\"Ich habe noch eine weitere Ladung Schrott drinnen\", sagte sie zwischen Wasserspritzern. Sie warf einen Blick auf Yao. \"Haben Sie etwas?\"\n\n\"Nein\", murmelte er und nippte an seinem Tee.\n\nMags begaben sich in den Laderaum und begannen, den EVA-Anzug abzuziehen.\n\n\"In Ordnung, Kel\", murmelte Trin, als sie die Programmierung des Sicherheitspanels durchsah. \"Versuchen Sie, die Energiezelle wieder anzuschlie\u00dfen.\n\nKel zog eine festverdrahtete Batterie mit einem Paar freiliegender Kabel und platzierte sie chirurgisch neben dem vorhandenen Stromversorgungssystem.\n\nDas Schloss klickte. Trin und Kel sahen einander an. Ein Grinsen breitete sich \u00fcber Trin's Gesicht aus.\n\n\"War es das, was ich dachte, dass es das war? Mags schrieen aus dem anderen Raum. Schwere Stiefelschritte dr\u00e4ngten n\u00e4her, bevor sie pl\u00f6tzlich in der T\u00fcr\u00f6ffnung auftauchte.\n\nKel fing an, seine Werkzeuge zu reinigen und sie in ihre Koffer zur\u00fcckzubringen. Trin schloss den Koffer auf. Sie warf einen Blick auf die Gesichter im Raum und klappte dann den Deckel auf . . .\n\nEs war ein Fels in der Brandung. Ungef\u00e4hr so gro\u00df wie ein menschlicher Kopf. Einige schillernde violette Flecken, aber nur ein Stein. Ozzy schwebte leise in den Raum, um zu sehen, was es mit der Aufregung auf sich hatte.\n\n\"Was ist das?\" murmelte Yao, als er versuchte, von seinem Bett aus zu sp\u00e4hen.\n\n\"Sieht f\u00fcr mich wie ein Stein aus\", antwortete Ozzy und ging zu seinem Liegeplatz.\n\n\"Das habe ich mir gedacht. Yao schnaufte sein Kissen auf und lehnte sich zur\u00fcck.\n\nTrin sagte nichts, stand einfach nur auf und ging aus dem Raum.\n\n\"Nein, nein, nein!\" Mags eilten vorw\u00e4rts und lie\u00dfen sich neben dem Fall fallen. \"Man geht nicht durch alles, was t M\u00fche f\u00fcr einen gew\u00f6hnlichen Stein\".\n\nMags nahmen es vorsichtig auf und schauten es sich n\u00e4her an. Im Licht tanzten die violetten Flecken etwas heller.\n\n\"Kel, hast du deinen Scanner?\"\n\nDer Banu reichte ihr einen Handscanner aus seiner Ausr\u00fcstung. Sie klappte das Terminal an und begann mit dem Scannen. Nach einem Moment keuchte sie.\n\nOzzy schaute hin\u00fcber.\n\n\"Was . . .\"\n\nMags l\u00e4chelt halb l\u00e4chelnd, halb lachend, als k\u00f6nne sie sich nicht entscheiden, auf was sie sich festlegen soll, und dreht den Scanner auf Kel. Sofort begann er zu klatschen.\n\n\"Sprechen Sie! schrie Ozzy. \"Was zum Teufel ist das?\"\n\nMags legte den Stein zur\u00fcck in die Kiste und ging zu ihrem mobiGlas. Ein Galactapedia-Eintrag erschien an jedermanns Handgelenk.\n\n\"Es wird Eriesium genannt. In seinem veredelten Zustand glauben sie, dass es als Energiequelle dienen kann, aber die Menschen haben es noch nicht wirklich studieren k\u00f6nnen.\n\n\"Was es wert ist?\" Die Stimme von Trin kam aus der T\u00fcr.\n\n\"Sehr selten\", l\u00e4utete Kel ein.\n\n\"Beantworten Sie die Frage\". Trin hat ihren Blick auf Mags nicht gebrochen.\n\n\"Zuletzt h\u00f6rte ich, dass es etwa 80.000 waren. Mags konnten die Worte kaum bilden.\n\n\"Nicht wirklich beeindruckt\".\n\n\"Eine Unze\". Mags fuhr mit ihren Fingern \u00fcber die Konturen des Steins. \"Achtzig Riesen pro Unze\".\n\nDas hat die Aufmerksamkeit aller auf sich gezogen. Sie sahen einander schweigend an, bis Trin schlie\u00dflich verriet, was allen durch den Kopf ging.\n\n\"Wir sind reich\".\n\nWardlow Reclamation war ein Sackgassenschrottplatz am Arsch der Welt. Der sch\u00e4bige Teppich im Wartezimmer war von dem Ungeziefer gefressen worden, das den Ort befallen hatte, und es gab kein Bild an der Wand, das in diesem Jahrhundert aufgenommen worden war. Interessanterweise hatte es im Jahr 2921 einen Preis f\u00fcr Kundenservice von einer Publikation gewonnen, die wahrscheinlich schon lange nicht mehr im Gesch\u00e4ft war. Die Auszeichnung war gedruckt und in einem selbstgemachten Rahmen in der N\u00e4he der Ladentheke ausgestellt worden.\n\nMags hatte es zehn Minuten lang angestarrt, als ihr eine Idee kam.\n\nTrin sa\u00df ihr gegen\u00fcber, ebenso gelangweilt.\n\nSie hatten den Harlequin vor ein paar Stunden gelandet, um den Schrott von den Schiffen zu entladen. Der Eigner und seine Crew k\u00e4mmten langsam alles durch und stellten ein Gutachten zusammen. Das Eriesium war in die Standard-Schlie\u00dfkassette \u00fcberf\u00fchrt worden, die Trin f\u00fcr eine Fu\u00dfst\u00fctze verwendete.\n\n\"Ich muss zugeben, Mags\", sagte Trin mit einer gewissen Dehnung. \"Das ist genau der Ruck, den wir brauchen, um die Dinge zum Guten zu wenden. Verkaufen Sie das f\u00fcr ein paar schnelle Creds und machen Sie sich auf den Weg.\"\n\nEs war geplant, das Eriesium bis zur Fertigstellung der Begutachtung aufzubewahren, um die Sch\u00e4tzung nicht zu gef\u00e4hrden. Mags zog nun jedoch eine andere Option in Betracht.\n\n\"Was w\u00e4re, wenn wir das nicht t\u00e4ten?\n\nTrin schloss ihre Augen und st\u00f6hnte.\n\n\"Jetzt, meine ich. Wir warten auf den richtigen Zeitpunkt ab und finden den richtigen K\u00e4ufer. Schauen Sie, wo wir stehen\", wies Mags auf die Kundenservice-Pr\u00e4mie hin. \"Glauben Sie, wir bekommen nur einen Bruchteil von dem, was es hier wert ist? Sie k\u00f6nnen es sich nicht leisten und wir betr\u00fcgen uns selbst, indem wir es in das erste Drecksloch abladen, in das wir kommen.\n\n\"Tun Sie das nicht . . . . tun Sie das nicht\". Trin rieb sich die Schl\u00e4fen, um die pl\u00f6tzlich auftretende Migr\u00e4ne zu lindern. \"Denn wie einen Tag lang hatte ich vergessen, dich aus einer Luftschleuse zu werfen.\n\n\"Ja, aber stellen Sie sich vor, Sie k\u00f6nnten mich aus Ihrer eigenen Luftschleuse werfen\", antwortete Mags mit einem Grinsen. \"Das ist die Art von Geld, \u00fcber die wir hier reden\".\n\nEine T\u00fcr hinter der Theke \u00f6ffnete sich und der gedrungene, verschwitzte Besitzer stampfte hinein. Er schlug auf eine Keatfly, die in der N\u00e4he seines Kopfes schwirrte, als er sich am Schalter zum Terminal drehte. Das System begann, sich mit seinem Mobi zu synchronisieren. Der Besitzer sichtete die Liste, als er von einem Anfall nassen Hustens erfasst wurde.\n\nEr fummelte einen Inhalator aus seiner Tasche und nahm einen Schlag ein. Der Husten lie\u00df nicht nach. Er sch\u00fcttelte den Inhalator und versuchte es erneut. Er hatte kein Gl\u00fcck. \"Bevin\", schrie er zwischen den Hustenanf\u00e4llen die offene T\u00fcr hinaus.\n\n\"Bevin! Schicken Sie jemanden zu Kel-To. Ich brauche mehr Medikamente\".\n\nDer Anfall endete schlie\u00dflich. Der Besitzer spuckte etwas Dickfl\u00fcssiges auf den Boden und sah Mags und Trin an.\n\n\"Ja, okay. Hat Ihren Schrott bewertet. Haben Sie noch etwas anderes?\"\n\nMags blickte Trin an, der zur\u00fcckstarrte. Trin gab schlie\u00dflich nach und sank auf ihren Sitz zur\u00fcck. Mags sprang auf und ging zum Schalter.\n\n\"Pr\u00fcfen Sie die Liste, die Auszahlung steht unten.\" Die Besitzerin drehte das Terminal zu sich um. \"Dr\u00fccken Sie auf Annehmen, um zu akzeptieren.\"\n\n\"Ja, sicher. Sieht gut aus.\"\n\nDer Besitzer sah sie an.\n\n\"Klicken Sie dann auf Annehmen.\n\n\"Richtig, Entschuldigung\". Sie hat den Knopf gedr\u00fcckt. Der Schrottplatzbesitzer schn\u00fcffelte und druckte einen \u00dcberweisungsbeleg aus.\n\nTrin schnappte sich das Schlie\u00dffach und machte sich auf den Weg zur T\u00fcr. Der Besitzer bemerkte es zum ersten Mal.\n\n\"Was ist da drin?\"\n\n\"Vier gebrochene Z\u00e4hne\", antwortete Trin, ohne einen Schlag zu verpassen.\n\nMags und Trin traten nach drau\u00dfen in die pralle Sonne. Der Geruch von \u00d6l und verbranntem Metall erf\u00fcllte die Luft. Der Harlequin wartete auf einem der nahegelegenen Polster. Alle Kisten mit Schrott waren ausgeladen und zur Verarbeitung ordentlich gestapelt worden. Als er sah, wie seine Mannschaftskameraden aus dem B\u00fcro kamen, winkte Kel der Besatzung des Landeplatzes zum Abschied, die etwas benebelt aussah.\n\n\"Ich hasse es, wie gl\u00fccklich Sie sind, dass Sie vor dem Geld davonlaufen\", murmelte Trin.\n\n\"Falsch, Trin. Ich bin gl\u00fccklich, denn wir gehen auf echtes Geld zu\".\n\n\"Wissen Sie \u00fcberhaupt, wie Sie das verkaufen k\u00f6nnen?\n\n\"Ich wei\u00df es nicht, aber wir werden es herausfinden. Mags nahmen die Schlosskiste von Trin mit, um sie den Rest des Weges zum Schiff zu tragen. Gerade als sie die Rampe erreichten . . .\n\n\"Hey!\n\nMags und Trin kehrten um, um die Gruppe zu sehen, die Kel gerade verlassen hatte.\n\n\"Was soll der Schei\u00df, dass Sie einen Sklaven besitzen?\n\nMags und Trin tauschen einen m\u00fcden Blick aus.\n\n\"Er ist kein Sklave\", war alles, was Mags aufbringen konnte. Die Landungsmannschaft macht sich auf den Weg. \"Verdammt . . .\"\n\nMags klatschte auf die Schaltfl\u00e4che f\u00fcr die Rampe. Die Rampe bewegte sich nicht. Die Lande-Crew brach in einen Sprint aus, als sie merkte, was sie vorhatte.\n\nSie traf es h\u00e4rter und die Rampe begann pl\u00f6tzlich in das Schiff zu steigen. Die ersten Besatzungsmitglieder kamen eine Nanosekunde zu sp\u00e4t. Dumpfe Ger\u00e4usche von Felsen, die auf den Rumpf geschleudert wurden, drangen durch den Laderaum. Kels Kopf tauchte in der T\u00fcr\u00f6ffnung auf.\n\n\"Gut verkaufen?\n\nDer Besitzer des Schrottplatzes hat die Zahlen f\u00fcr die Transaktionen des Tages ausgeglichen. Die Sonne stand kurz vor dem Untergang. So schrecklich der Tag f\u00fcr seine Krankheit war, die K\u00e4lte der Nacht war noch schlimmer. Er sp\u00fcrte ein leichtes Kratzen im hinteren Teil seiner Kehle, das einen weiteren Hustenanfall ausl\u00f6sen w\u00fcrde.\n\n\"Bevin! Hat jemand mein verdammtes Medikament bekommen\", schrie er in die Sprechanlage. Es gab keine Antwort.\n\nDer Besitzer stie\u00df sich von seinem Sitz und schlurfte nach drau\u00dfen. Er schirmte seine Augen vor der untergehenden Sonne ab.\n\n\"Bevin, denkst du, es w\u00e4re tats\u00e4chlich m\u00f6glich, dass jemand etwas tut, wenn ich es dir sage?\n\nAls der Besitzer seine Hand senkte, erstarrte er. Sein gesamtes Personal, vierzehn Personen, war tot, mit beil\u00e4ufiger Pr\u00e4zision um den Schrottplatz herum hingerichtet. Er sah Bevin unter ihnen.\n\nDer Besitzer stolperte zur\u00fcck, rannte ins B\u00fcro und knallte die T\u00fcr zu. Er drehte sich um und lehnte sich schwer gegen die T\u00fcr. Sein Herz klopfte und verursachte einen weiteren Hustenanfall.\n\nEr bemerkte nicht einmal die beiden Personen, die sich jetzt in seinem Wartezimmer befanden. Ein Mann und eine Frau, die eine makellose, unmarkierte Kampfr\u00fcstung tragen und schallged\u00e4mpfte Waffen in der Hand halten.\n\n\"Hallo\". Der Mann sprach zuerst. Der Besitzer h\u00e4tte fast die Decke getroffen. Er hob schwach die H\u00e4nde hoch und fing an zu weinen.\n\n\"Sie haben k\u00fcrzlich die Rettung eines Vergelters erworben.\n\nDer Besitzer sprach keine Worte, nur Ger\u00e4usche. Der Mann schoss sich eine Kugel durch den Oberschenkel. Er fiel zu Boden.\n\n\"Ja! Ja!\" Der Eigent\u00fcmer erlangte schlie\u00dflich die Sprachgewalt zur\u00fcck.\n\n\"Wer hat sie Ihnen verkauft?\" fragte der Mann, als er den Raum durchquerte und den noch hei\u00dfen Lauf der Pistole an die Schl\u00e4fe des Besitzers hielt. \"Und seien Sie genau.\"\n\n\"Kam heute fr\u00fch herein. Irgendein alter Schiffsschl\u00e4ger. Zwei Frauen. Ein Mensch. Noch nie zuvor gesehen\". Der Besitzer hat etwas auf seinem Mobi eingetippt. Die Frau studierte die eingehenden Daten, w\u00e4hrend der Mann sich weiter auf den Besitzer konzentrierte. \"Diese beiden hatten nicht zuf\u00e4llig ein Schlie\u00dffach bei sich, oder?\"\n\n\"Ja, ich meine, ja. Das haben sie\", sagte der Besitzer zwischen den Hustenanf\u00e4llen. \"Wollten es nicht verkaufen.\"\n\n\"Diese Frauen geben einen Namen?\"\n\n\"Nur das Reg auf dem Schiff\".\n\n\"Ja, die sind gef\u00e4lscht\", sagte die Frau, ohne von ihrem Mobi aufzublicken. Der Mann sah den Besitzer an und seufzte.\n\n\"Warten -\"\n\nPeng. Der Mann stand auf und wischte die Blutspritzer vom Fass ab.\n\n\"Haben wir etwas Handfestes, um weiterzumachen?\" fragte er schlie\u00dflich.\n\n\"Nur dies.\" Sie streckte ihr Handgelenk aus.\n\nEs gab eine Sicherheitskamera mit Mags und Trin, die im Warteraum sa\u00df. Der Mann sah sie genau an. Er stie\u00df auf eines von Trin's Souther Titan-Tattoos.\n\n\"Los geht's.\"\n\nFORTSETZUNG FOLGT...","zh_CN":"Writer\u2019s Note: Drifters: Part One was published originally in Jump Point 5.1.\nHelluva time for the a\/c to cut out, Reynolds thought as he stared through the scuffed cockpit glass and cued the comm.\n\n\u201cYou need to take a second and think real hard about what you\u2019re doing here.\u201d His fingers tapped anxiously on the flight stick, and he could already feel the sweat forming under his suit.\n\nAbout five minutes ago, an EMP tripped his Retaliator, the Echo Calling, out of quantum. Five ships \u2014 a Freelancer and a bunch of fighters that looked patched together with tape, glue and bad intentions \u2014 waited in an attack pattern. The ambush had surprised him. They\u2019d scouted this route for weeks to try and avoid this possibility. What had surprised the ambushers was that the Echo still had guns and shields. Nickels had finally gotten around to installing that backup power plant, so although Echo\u2019s engines were affected by the EMP, they were more than equipped to mix it up. That little fact gave their attackers pause.\n\n\u201cCap! Two more contacts, aft side, drifting thirty degrees down,\u201d Nickels yelled from his terminal.\n\n\u201cPower down your weapons, disengage your cargo, and drift,\u201d said the attacker\u2019s spokesman over the comms. From the appearance of the cockpit in the background, he looked to be flying the beat-up Freelancer. Probably their leader . . . or the one wearing the communal balls for the week. Reynolds didn\u2019t recognize him, but whoever this was knew everything important about the Echo, in particular what they were transporting.\n\n\u201cListen to me,\u201d Reynolds leaned into his camera. \u201cSay you take us in a rush, you know who you\u2019re stealing from. That kinda trouble? That doesn\u2019t just go away.\u201d\n\nSpokesman hesitated. It was just a flicker where the fa\u00e7ade of toughness dropped. Just a flicker, but Reynolds survived noticing things like that.\n\n\u201cDetach your cargo and leave.\u201d The fa\u00e7ade was back in full effect.\n\n\u201cNot gonna happen.\u201d Reynolds glanced at his screens. Maybe a minute \u2019til the engines were back online. He flipped to the Echo\u2019s internal communication network. \u201cHow we looking, people?\u201d\n\nIn the top turret, O\u2019Neil stared in horror at the circling ships. It took him a second to realize that Reynolds\u2019 question included him.\n\n\u201cTop turret up,\u201d he managed to stammer out. Sweat rolled down his face and into his eyes. He instinctively tried to wipe it away, but his hand kept banging off the faceplate of his suit. He blinked hard as he listened to Reynolds argue with whoever was on the other side of the guns leveled at him.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be stupid, man. You ain\u2019t gotta die here today,\u201d the Freelancer captain said.\n\n\u201cWith what you\u2019ve got?\u201d Reynolds fired back.\n\n\u201cFly away. Just fly away . . .\u201d O\u2019Neil mumbled to himself. His hands started to tremble.\n\n\u201cBottom turret\u2019s set, Cap, whenever you wanna light these bitches up,\u201d Frears replied over the comm as he calmly cycled through the ships in his field of fire.\n\n\u201cWhat I\u2019ve got is five on one. You do the math,\u201d the Freelancer captain replied. This guy wasn\u2019t giving up.\n\n\u201cWhat you\u2019ve got is a glorified tug and a bunch of shit fighters.\u201d\n\nFrears chuckled. Whoever these morons were, they were used to pushovers who\u2019d drop their cargo at the first sign of trouble. They picked the wrong crew this time.\n\nThat\u2019s when he noticed a smudge on the back of his helmet, stowed down by his feet. He took his eyes off the idiots outside to have a closer look. A smudge of engine grease. Son of a bitch, he thought. Nickels must have tried it on. Ever since he\u2019d shelled out the credits for the new CDS suit, the crew had been hovering like vultures.\n\nBack in the cockpit of the Echo, Reynolds received reports from the rest of the stations. Engines were cycling and should be up in thirty. This Freelancer captain obviously didn\u2019t want a fight or he would\u2019ve opened fire by now. Reynolds just needed enough time to get mobile. Once they were moving, they could weather anything thrown against them long enough to get out of there.\n\n\u201cThis is the last time I\u2019m gonna ask. You know what we want.\u201d The Freelancer captain managed to muster all the menace he could.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re repeating yourself,\u201d Reynolds responded. His eyes were locked on his readout, watching the engine\u2019s power meter climb, waiting for just enough power to start moving.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re heating up missiles!\u201d Nickels shouted suddenly.\n\nOne of the old, beat-up 300s had drawn a lock. Reynolds muttered. They were out of time.\n\nO\u2019Neil\u2019s turret was already swinging towards it.\n\n\u201cWait\u2014\u201d the Freelancer captain tried.\n\nThat\u2019s when it all popped off.\n\nSpace lit up with the exchange of lasers and bullets. The first exchange was devastating. The Echo was mangled from the storm of incoming fire, but its shields and thick armor managed to weather the mortal strikes of the initial assault. With the Retaliator\u2019s return fire, the 300 was the first to go, immediately sliced apart from O\u2019Neil\u2019s turret fire.\n\nThe Freelancer launched a full spread of missiles. The Echo\u2019s engines suddenly flared to life and the massive bomber dove and deployed countermeasures. The turrets focused fire on the Freelancer, chewing down the shields and punching a series of shots through the cockpit before it could react.\n\nThe Echo tumbled and twisted, swarmed by fighters undeterred by the loss of their fearless leader. Laser fire sprayed from its turrets, beautifully pirouetting through space until a rocket punched through weakened the shields and annihilated the Echo\u2019s cockpit. The Retaliator\u2019s beautiful evasion turned into a death spiral and the fighters pounced for the kill. The last remaining turret killed the final fighter moments before an explosion ripped the Echo in half.\n\nThen, silence. The massive fragments of spaceship quietly drifted in place. Occasional secondary explosions from areas of the ships still pressurized went off, ejecting the final volumes of oxygen and flame into space.\n\nAnd with that, space was still again.\n\nA point of light, initially indistinguishable from a star, slowly grew, eventually drawing close enough to be recognizable as a ship. Critics had famously called the 2918 Constellation \u2018the one misstep in RSI\u2019s proud lineage\u2019 and it was tough for many to argue. The hull plating on the nacelles was often sized incorrectly, creating odd gaps where the glow of the engine would seep out. This 2918 Connie was somehow still flying, although by the sight of it, it wasn\u2019t for the universe\u2019s lack of trying to kill it.\n\nThe ship slowly drifted towards the sprawling battlefield. Retro thrusters gently pulsed to bring it to a halt.\n\nMagdalena \u201cMags\u201d McCann moved from the nav station on the deck and stepped to the front of the observation window. Dressed in pajamas, a bathrobe and space boots (she hated cold feet), she swizzled her spoon around her bowl, hunting out some lingering RumblePops cereal hiding in the murky depths of sugary milk. Kennelworth\u2019s \u201cWhere We Go\u201d blasted over the bridge\u2019s tinny speakers.\n\nMags looked over the vast destruction, crunched the last RumblePop in her mouth, and grinned.\n\n\u201cSweet.\u201d\n\nInside the Harlequin, Kennelworth\u2019s singular brand of gutbucket rock wasn\u2019t restricted to the bridge; it was being pumped throughout the ship for everyone\u2019s benefit. While the outside of the battered Connie looked rough, the inside was even worse. Random frayed wires dangled from exposed paneling, bonded together with gum and tape. A particularly gaping hole in the wall had a circle drawn around it with \u201cDon\u2019t Touch\u201d written helpfully nearby. Inside the hole, something sparked sporadically.\n\nThe music abruptly disappeared from the intercom. Mags cleared her throat.\n\n\u201cHey, everybody. Sorry to bug you . . .\u201d\n\nInside one of the sleeping berths, Honan Yao picked through a bag of discarded vials, looking for one that had a little bit of charge left. He plugged any potential candidates into his hypo to check the level, but nothing.\n\n\u201cI know things have been a little rough since I took over.\u201d Mags\u2019 voice echoed from the tiny wall speaker. Yao was too focused on his search to care. His mind started to drift to alternative injection methods in case this ended up being a bust. None of the solutions were ideal, but desperate times . . .\n\nHe finally tossed the bag aside. He contemplated going to engineering, but he\u2019d have to get up. Then it hit him . . .\n\nYao went into another compartment and pulled out his old medical field kit.\n\nSuccess. At least for one hit. His adrenaline started to surge as he quickly popped the small vial of ink-black liquid into the hypo.\n\n\u201cThe past few weeks, we\u2019ve \u2014\u201d Yao shut off the speaker and settled back. When the WiDoW hit his system, it was like falling down a chasm of warm pillows.\n\nAnd he welcomed it because he could forget now.\n\nLike the rest of the ship, the cargo hold had seen better days. The vast open space was just that, vast and open. Only one container actually had any salvage in it but, even for salvage, it was just junk.\n\nKel picked through it all the same. He methodically moved through each piece, studying every millimeter for structural integrity, potential for spare parts, and elemental composition. The Banu had been trained at one of the best Mining Soulis in the Protectorate. The Essosouli himself had even commented on Kel\u2019s astute observational skills and claimed that Kel had the potential to ascend to Mastery level within the Guild.\n\nWhen the Harlequin\u2019s previous captain had purchased him from the souli, he was a little disappointed to interrupt his advanced studies, but he wasn\u2019t about to miss out on traveling with actual Humans.\n\nHe extracted a busted lamp from the container and studied the frayed wires coming out of it.\n\n\u201c\u2026anyway, I\u2019ve got something that might make it all better. Come on up to the bridge.\u201d\n\nKel\u2019s eyes lit up. He gently laid the lamp down (would need to be completely rebuilt internally, but the structure was at least aesthetically appealing) and bounced up to the bridge.\n\nA battery slapped into a small holdout pistol. The handgrip hummed momentarily as the heater cycled the power and the ammo counter rose. Trin \u201cDropshot\u201d Liska tucked the pistol in her waistband and walked over to her locker. A small, dense woman in her early thirties, every moment of struggle in her life was etched into every scowl on her face and into every tattoo on her body. So even at a glance, it was obvious she\u2019d been through some shit.\n\nShe pulled out the heavy ballistic cannon from the top shelf. The word \u2018Diplomacy\u2019 had been scratched into the barrel. She checked the breach then sifted through the magazines on the shelf until she found a fully loaded one, slammed it, and racked a round.\n\nHer brother, Ozzy, watched from his perch on the railing in the engine room. His leg bounced rapidly, the only outward sign of any emotion. Equally vacantly angry, he shared the same litany of scars and tattoos as his sister. They both shared pack tats of the Souther Titans, a ragtag gang that supposedly started as an offshoot of the Tooth & Nails on Spider, but to many, it sounded like bull. Ozzy only had three bleeding scar tattoos (indicating three years of \u201crobbin\u2019 and ramblin\u2019\u201d), while Trin had eight.\n\nHe did, unfortunately for him, have QuarterDeck-made tattoos that his sister did not.\n\nMags\u2019 voice barely overpowered the loud whine of the ship\u2019s massive engine.\n\n\u201cYeah, so exciting times. I\u2019ll see you guys up here.\u201d\n\nTrin looked at her brother. He jumped off the rail as she tossed him another pistol and they made their way up.\n\nMags studied the readout on the terminal, carefully tagging and prioritizing the debris fragments. Kel stood up at the front window, excitedly calling out what he was seeing.\n\nThe door to the bridge hissed open. With a quick glance back, Mags saw Trin perch up on the wall.\n\n\u201cHey Trin, is Doc on his way up?\u201d she asked while punching some tags.\n\n\u201cThere! There!\u201d Kel exclaimed, pointing out some debris. \u201cEnergy cells. Very minimal wear. Fresh. Very fresh.\u201d\n\nTrin glanced at the front window. The wrecked 300 was currently front and center outside.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d she finally asked.\n\n\u201cWe got ourselves a payday.\u201d Mags could barely contain her excitement as she tagged some more fragments on her terminal. Trin glared at the back of her head. Ozzy moved over to the other side of the bridge, his pistol held loose at his side.\n\n\u201cYeah? Anything like the last one?\u201d Trin replied.\n\n\u201cLook, I apologized for that, okay?\u201d\n\n\u201cApologies don\u2019t pad my account.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy fence swore he could move . . .\u201d Mags spun the captain\u2019s chair to face her as she spoke. Her sentence drifted off when she saw both Trin and Ozzy perched up. She looked back and forth between the two. Ozzy kept the pistol out of sight, but hiding his hand was just as obvious.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s going on, Trin?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s it look like?\u201d Trin fired back.\n\n\u201cIt looks like you\u2019re in the same place you stood right before we tossed Malcolm out of the airlock.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreat memory,\u201d Trin said, chuckling. She scratched an itch on her lip with the hand holding Diplomacy.\n\n\u201cGuys, seriously. I\u2019ve only been in charge, for what, like two months?\u201d Mags settled back in the chair and casually glanced at a screen. Internally, her mind scrambled for some kind of out. Last thing she wanted to do was escalate this situation unnecessarily; she\u2019d seen Dropshot waste too many people. Kel, unfortunately, was too preoccupied gaping out the window to be much help. \u201cYou gotta give me a chance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBefore Malcolm touched void, you said things\u2019d be different.\u201d Trin stepped forward as she spoke. \u201cThat\u2019s what you told us. Lower profile, bigger score.\u201d\n\n\u201cRun silent and smart was what she said, sis.\u201d Ozzy finally decided to chime in.\n\n\u201cThanks, Oz. You know how my memory goes when I\u2019m upset.\u201d She turned back to Mags. \u201cPoint is, shit ain\u2019t changed.\u201d There was a nasty, tense silence . . . except for:\n\n\u201cXT-20 fuselage. No. Bad condition. Look at the scorch. Unusable.\u201d Kel droned in the background before finally turning around. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t . . .\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s when he finally realized what was up. Ozzy moved the pistol into sight, so the Banu didn\u2019t get any ideas. Trin cleared her throat.\n\n\u201cAnyway, here we are, still scraping away with nothing to show for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoc can\u2019t even keep an honest high anymore,\u201d Ozzy muttered. Trin shook her head, severely disappointed.\n\n\u201cOkay. Fair enough.\u201d Mags slowly rose, her hands up. \u201cWe can work out your issues and move forward.\u201d\n\nTrin smiled.\n\n\u201cYeah . . .\u201d She stepped forward, raising her gun.\n\n\u201cWait!\u201d Kel shouted as he lurched forward, keeping his hands out as well. Trin stopped. Mags slowly opened her eyes and looked around, pleasantly surprised that the pair had actually listened to the Banu. Kel waited a few moments and carefully considered his words before speaking. Finally:\n\n\u201cI know I only the ship slave \u2014\u201d\n\nMags slumped.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re not our slave, Kel,\u201d she said with a sigh.\n\n\u201cYes, yes,\u201d Kel waved her off and continued. \u201cCaptain Mag much better than Old Captain. She want money like us. Old Captain like money too and we like money.\u201d\n\n\u201cHuh?\u201d Ozzy mumbled as he glanced at Trin.\n\n\u201cBut Captain Mag listen to us. Old Captain never talk to us. Just yell.\u201d Kel moved forward as he spoke, almost pleading with Trin. \u201cCaptain Mag help Trin Liska. Old Captain not go to hell world to get Ozzy Liska. Captain Mag did.\u201d\n\nMags gave a little nod in agreement. She almost missed all of Kel\u2019s little speech, trying to figure out if she still had a pistol stashed on the bridge. (Back when Malcolm was running the show, she never felt safe being more than three steps away from a weapon.)\n\n\u201cWe need to trust Captain,\u201d Kel said finally. He walked over to Mags. \u201cWe trust in her and good things will come.\u201d\n\nThen he patted her on the forehead. Mags wriggled out of the way. Three weeks ago, while docked up on a transfer station, Kel had seen a father gently pat his daughter on the head before letting her run off to play and had been doing it ever since.\n\nIt was sweet . . . but kinda annoying.\n\nThe important thing was that it seemed to be working on Trin. She hadn\u2019t shot Mags, so that was already a victory. Ozzy glanced at Trin, looking for the go-ahead to start shooting. Trin glanced out the front window at the fractured 300.\n\n\u201cSo that\u2019s the big news? A fighter?\u201d\n\nMags made a big show of keeping her hands in view while she reached over to the flight stick. She gently angled the ship down, revealing the sea of wreckage: the Retaliator, the Freelancer, and the rest of the fighters.\n\nThat sight gave Trin and Ozzy pause as they gaped at the vast destruction. They stared silently for a few moments, but didn\u2019t lower their guns.\n\n\u201cSo . . .\u201d Mags finally said. \u201cCan we get to work?\u201d\n\nThe Harlequin\u2019s hold was bursting with activity. The floor screeched open to reveal the cockpit of the Merlin embedded underneath. Trin ran some final system checks on the snub and topped off the fuel. Ozzy entered pulling on the final pieces of his flight suit as he approached the open cockpit. He popped his helmet on and slipped into the cockpit.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s go, let\u2019s go. We gotta start cutting before anyone else stumbles onto this,\u201d Mags\u2019 voice carried over the tinny intercom.\n\nOzzy banged the cockpit laminate twice to signal he was set. The floor panels shrieked closed until the Merlin was out of sight. Trin cued the comm.\n\n\u201cBird\u2019s flying.\u201d\n\nShe made her way over to the storage locker with the other EVA suits. Kel was already suited up and carefully triple-checking his tools.\n\nTrin pulled her suit out of the bin and slammed it onto the floor. She gave a quick once over for tears or punctures before she started pulling it on.\n\n\u201cHow are you looking, Kel?\u201d\n\n\u201cFully prepared, Trin Liska.\u201d Kel carefully and expertly replaced each tool in the field kit. \u201cTools are ready.\u201d\n\nTrin sealed her suit and slung a shotgun.\n\n\u201cMine too.\u201d\n\nBack on the bridge, Mags was still in the captain\u2019s chair. Ever since the interrupted mutiny, she\u2019d kept herself busy positioning the Harlequin for easy deployment and reclamation of salvage. She watched Ozzy\u2019s ship quietly fly to the edge of the wreckage field and begin a wide sweep.\n\nWithout warning, her stomach bottomed out. That moment of pause while looking at the distant Merlin was enough to let the gravity of the situation she\u2019d narrowly avoided come crashing down.\n\nShe doubled over in the chair and tried to catch her breath. This was far from the first time she\u2019d had a gun in her face, but there was something about this time . . . there was a finality, like her luck had finally run out, that chilled her.\n\nMaybe she could run. Wait until Trin had stepped off, then just run. Ozzy was a great pilot, but he probably couldn\u2019t take on the Harlequin and survive. Worst case, she could batter him enough to get away. That\u2019d mean she\u2019d probably have to leave Kel, which seemed unfair. Doc . . . she wasn\u2019t sure how he\u2019d react . . .\n\n\u201cHey,\u201d a sleepy voice said.\n\nMags pulled herself together and turned back to the panel as Yao shuffled onto the bridge and slumped into one of the seats.\n\n\u201cDoc . . .\u201d she brought up another scan window on her terminal and tried to look busy. \u201cYou missed an interesting discussion.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen was that?\u201d Yao asked with a yawn.\n\n\u201cA couple hours ago,\u201d Mags glanced at him, unsure if he was messing with her. He looked genuinely ignorant. \u201cI called you, called everybody.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight . . .\u201d he snapped his fingers and nodded. \u201cThat was today?\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah . . .\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s cool,\u201d Yao tapped his fingers on his terminal window, waking it from sleep. They danced across the screen, deftly selecting a series of folders and programs. An episode of Lost Squad started playing. \u201cWhat\u2019d you all talk about?\u201d\n\n\u201cShooting me or throwing me out of an airlock. Maybe both, I don\u2019t know.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yeah. Trin was pretty pissed.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou knew?\u201d\n\n\u201cSure.\u201d\n\n\u201cThanks for the heads up, Doc.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome on, Mags. Trin\u2019s not that good at hiding her emotions.\u201d He settled back in his seat, perfectly content that the issue had been resolved.\n\n\u201cI also found us a job,\u201d she finally offered up.\n\n\u201cCool. Where?\u201d He said lazily. He was too fixated on the spec show.\n\n\u201cHere . . .\u201d she looked at Yao. He hadn\u2019t taken his eyes off the show. \u201cWe\u2019re doing it.\u201d\n\nYao nodded and gave a thumbs up.\n\nThe comm from the airlock chirped.\n\n\u201cExiting airlock now,\u201d Trin said. Mags could hear Kel excitedly talking in the background.\n\n\u201cCopy that. We got you.\u201d\n\nMags shut down the comm. Trin sounded back to normal, like the incident earlier had never happened. Mags knew that this job would have to pay out and she\u2019d need to line up something quick right after. Otherwise, she\u2019d be right back in the same situation. In the meantime, she guessed she should probably start stashing guns around the ship again.\n\nYao started gently snoring.\n\nTrin and Kel stepped off into the void. Some people were weirded out by the moment when gravity disappeared. For them, gravity was security. A tether that kept you in place. The lack never bothered Trin. She was always amused hearing people yammer on about it. It was a conversation she\u2019d end up having whenever she\u2019d go planetside. It actually just occurred to her that she\u2019d never had the conversation while on a station. Maybe once somebody got on solid ground, they started reflecting. She didn\u2019t get it.\n\nTrin didn\u2019t have that kind of fear. It wasn\u2019t out of some innate toughness, it was an awareness that space was constantly trying to kill you. That was just something you either accepted or not. Trin had spent too much of her life trying to figure out who else was trying to kill her. Even in the best of her days running with the Titans, she had to deal with bounty hunters, Advocacy, not to mention her own crew, to even start worrying about space. That, she could always depend on.\n\nThe massive hull of the Retaliator had worked itself into a pretty hefty spin. Boarding it, much less salvaging it, would be next to impossible unless they slowed it down.\n\nTrin adjusted her pack and started matching the rotation speed of the wreck. She pulsed the EVA thrusters to push herself closer and closer until she was able to get a hand on it. Trin pulled herself onto the hull and activated her mag boots to lock on. She dug one of her custom portable remote thrusters out of her case and activated the magnetic seal to attach it to the blasted metal.\n\nKel was hard at work at the other end of the debris doing the same thing. When complete, he waved Trin down and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.\n\n\u201cYou can just use comms, Kel.\u201d\n\n\u201cApologize, Trin Liska.\u201d He quickly replied and gave another enthusiastic thumbs up.\n\nTrin brought up her mobi and connected to the interface that controlled the remote thrusters. She\u2019d built these back in her breaching days and although they had a limited amount of fuel, they had some power to them. They did have a tendency to explode though.\n\nShe sustained the thrusters against the roll and eventually the Tali slowed down. When it finally stopped, Kel broke out his salvaging kit and cracked it open.\n\n\u201cYou all good here, Kel?\u201d\n\n\u201cGood, yes, okay.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll check the hold,\u201d she said as she unslung her shotgun.\n\n\u201cGood, okay.\u201d\n\nTrin pulled her shotgun, racked a charge, then disappeared through a gaping hole in the side.\n\nKel watched a piece of a turret slowly float past. A pair of hands still gripped the firing sticks. Kel stared curiously at them for a moment, then fired up the cutting torch and got to work.\n\nThe halls of the Retaliator were a shattered maze of twisted metal. Trin gently floated through the passageways, sweeping the shotgun back and forth. Based on the destruction, there was no way anything could\u2019ve survived in here, but she wasn\u2019t taking any chances.\n\nShe moved forward, meter by meter, checking corners and ready for anything. She drifted back to her days with the Titans. While they dabbled in all sorts of mischief, their prime focus was chopping ships. As the main breacher in the pack, it was her job to board disabled ships, kill any survivors, and then do enough repairs to get it flying.\n\nThis one definitely wasn\u2019t flying anywhere ever again. She passed some crew lockers and opened each one. Nothing but spare jumpsuits.\n\n\u201cOf course . . .\u201d she muttered to herself.\n\nUp ahead, the hallway bent to the left. There should be a bulkhead and then a door to the cargo section. Trin was hoping that whatever kicked off this fight was worth it. As she neared the bend, her flashlight picked up a form in the next compartment of the ship.\n\nShe kept her weapon trained on it and set up a firing position behind the doorframe. Upon closer inspection, it was most likely Human. The EVA suit it had on was spotless, like one of those new CDS ones. She cued the comms on her suit.\n\n\u201cGen comms. Any survivors in Retaliator? Identify yourself.\u201d\n\nThe form just floated there. No movement.\n\nTrin grabbed a floating scrap of metal and flung it at the body. It tapped off the leg.\n\nStill nothing.\n\nShe put a round in its back. The blast spun the body around, revealing the pale, frozen face of one of the gunners. Seemed he wasn\u2019t able to get his helmet on before the vacuum got him.\n\n\u201cFind somebody?\u201d Mags chirped over the comms.\n\n\u201cNope,\u201d Trin replied as she pumped another round into her shotgun and pushed forward. She swept the corpse off to the side to reveal a small entry panel leading to the cargo hold. Interestingly, the panel was wired into some kind of backup power.\n\n\u201cOh, hello.\u201d Trin slung the shotgun and dug through a pouch for an interface cable. Once her mobiGlas and the door connected, she booted up the Knock\u00b2 program to run a preset hacking protocol. After several seconds of digital negotiation, the panel turned green. The door expelled some trapped atmo as it started to slide open.\n\nTrin had her shotgun up and braced before the door opened. She kicked off the floor and floated into the Tali\u2019s cargo hold. One sweep of the flashlight was all she needed to discover a very unpleasant truth.\n\nIt was empty.\n\n\u201cBecause of course it is . . .\u201d\n\nTrin safetied her shotgun and slung it before cueing her comm. \u201cTali\u2019s clear.\u201d Trin turned to exit when she caught a glimpse of something tumbling in the darkness. She pulled a flashlight to have a look. It was a lockbox, like one of those military footlockers she\u2019d seen on those spec shows.\n\nShe snared it and checked its locks, but couldn\u2019t open them. A small access panel revealed another digital interface with a keypad. Trin reattached her mobi and kicked off another hack. As she waited, she examined the lockbox a little closer. Thing looked solid, like it could take an explosive solid. All very good signs about what could be inside.\n\nShe glanced down at her mobiGlas. The hacking program was still trying to hack the password. Suddenly, her mobi went dead.\n\n\u201cSon of a bitch.\u201d\n\nBack aboard the Harlequin, everyone was gathered around the mysterious box. The hold was already full with choice parts of the various ships, expertly broken down and arranged by Kel. Trin was arranging her tools to do a thorough examination of the box while Mags paced in the background. From the look of determination on Trin\u2019s face, clearly the box\u2019s challenge had been accepted.\n\n\u201cAdmit it. It has to be something valuable,\u201d Mags said nervously as she walked. \u201cI\u2019m not crazy, right?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery exciting, Captain Mags. Yes.\u201d Kel said as he watched Trin attach a terminal to the lockbox\u2019s control panel.\n\n\u201cTo be clear though, you didn\u2019t see any clues as to what\u2019s inside?\u201d Mags\u2019 nerves started to get the better of her. \u201cI mean, we don\u2019t think it\u2019s like, chemical weapons, right? Or like a virus?\u201d\n\n\u201cTitanium weave case very good to protect, but not rated for biological containment. If a deadly virus, Humans would be dead by now,\u201d Kel responded cheerfully.\n\n\u201cCould you two shut up?\u201d Trin snapped as she sifted through unfiltered code on her screen.\n\n\u201cSure, sorry,\u201d Mags said and forced herself to sit down.\n\n\u201cYes, apologize.\u201d Kel approached Trin and patted her on the forehead. Trin didn\u2019t bother to swat his hand away.\n\nTwenty more minutes of waiting passed. Trin tried every trick in her vast and well-proven book. Each time, the lockbox didn\u2019t budge.\n\n\u201cScrew it. Kel, grab your drills.\u201d\n\nThe Banu raced off excitedly.\n\nHours later, the lockbox was sitting on the table of the common area. Various tools had been used and discarded around it. The surface of the box had been carved up like some kind of mechanical autopsy in an attempt to bypass the lock without damaging whatever was inside. Yao had migrated back to his berth, occasionally watching the show.\n\nMags entered from the hold wearing an EVA suit. Once inside, she pulled the helmet off and wiped the sweat off her face. Ozzy was still in the hold arranging the crates, also decked out in EVA gear.\n\n\u201cGot another batch of scrap inside,\u201d she said in between guzzles of water. She glanced at Yao. \u201cAnything?\u201d\n\n\u201cNope,\u201d he murmured and sipped on his tea.\n\nMags headed to the hold and started peeling off the EVA suit.\n\n\u201cAll right, Kel,\u201d Trin mumbled as she sifted through the security panel\u2019s programming. \u201cTry reattaching that power cell.\u201d\n\nKel pulled a hardwired battery with a pair of exposed leads and surgically placed them alongside the existing power system.\n\nThe lock clicked. Trin and Kel looked at each other. A grin spread across Trin\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cWas that what I thought it was?\u201d Mags yelled from the other room. Heavy bootsteps clomped closer before she suddenly appeared in the doorway.\n\nKel started cleaning his tools and returning them to their cases. Trin unlatched the case. She glanced at the faces around the room then flipped the lid open . . .\n\nIt was a rock. Roughly the size of a Human head. Some iridescent flecks of violet in there, but just a rock. Ozzy quietly drifted into the room to see what the commotion was about.\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d Yao murmured as he tried to peer from his bed.\n\n\u201cLooks like a rock to me,\u201d Ozzy replied and walked to his berth.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what I thought.\u201d Yao puffed his pillow and settled back.\n\nTrin didn\u2019t say anything, simply stood and walked out of the room.\n\n\u201cNo, no, no!\u201d Mags rushed forward and dropped down beside the case. \u201cYou don\u2019t go through all that trouble for an ordinary rock.\u201d\n\nMags carefully picked it up and peered at it closer. In the light, the violet flecks danced a bit brighter.\n\n\u201cKel, you got your scanner?\u201d\n\nThe Banu passed her a hand scanner from his kit. She flipped the terminal on and began scanning it. After a moment, she gasped.\n\nOzzy looked over.\n\n\u201cWhat . . .\u201d\n\nMags bursts into a half smile, half laugh, like she couldn\u2019t decide which to commit to, and turned the scanner to Kel. He immediately started clapping.\n\n\u201cSpeak!\u201d Ozzy yelled. \u201cWhat the hell is it?\u201d\n\nMags laid the rock back in the box and went to her mobiGlas. A Galactapedia entry appeared on everyone\u2019s wrist.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s called eriesium. In its refined state, they think it can act as a power source, but Humans haven\u2019t really been able to study it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat it worth?\u201d Trin\u2019s voice came from the doorway.\n\n\u201cVery rare,\u201d Kel chimed in.\n\n\u201cAnswer the question.\u201d Trin didn\u2019t break her gaze on Mags.\n\n\u201cLast I heard, it was about 80,000.\u201d Mags could barely form the words.\n\n\u201cNot really impressed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn ounce.\u201d Mags ran her fingers over the contours of the stone. \u201cEighty grand an ounce.\u201d\n\nThat got everyone\u2019s attention. They looked at each other in silence until Trin finally blurted what was on everyone\u2019s mind.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re rich.\u201d\n\nWardlow Reclamation was a dead-end junkyard in the ass end of nowhere. The ratty carpet in the waiting room had been eaten by whatever bugs had infested the place and there wasn\u2019t a picture on the wall taken this century. Interestingly enough, it had won a customer service award in 2921 from some publication that was probably now long out of business. The award had been printed and displayed in a homemade frame near the front counter.\n\nMags had been staring at it for ten minutes when an idea occurred to her.\n\nTrin sat across from her, equally bored.\n\nThey\u2019d touched down the Harlequin a few hours ago to offload the scrap from the ships. The owner and his crew were slowly picking through everything and putting together an appraisal. The eriesium had been transferred to the standard-issue lockbox Trin was using for a footrest.\n\n\u201cGotta admit, Mags,\u201d Trin said with a stretch. \u201cThis is just the jolt we need to turn things around. Sell this off for some quick Creds and be on our way.\u201d\n\nThe plan had been to save the eriesium until the appraisal was done, so it wouldn\u2019t throw off the estimate. However, Mags was now considering another option.\n\n\u201cWhat if we didn\u2019t?\u201d\n\nTrin shut her eyes and groaned.\n\n\u201cNow. I mean. We bide our time, find the right kind of buyer. Look where we are,\u201d Mags pointed out the customer service award. \u201cYou think we\u2019re gonna get a fraction of what it\u2019s worth here? They can\u2019t afford it and we\u2019re cheating ourselves by off-loading it to the first shithole we come to.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t . . . don\u2019t do this.\u201d Trin rubbed her temples to alleviate the sudden migraine that was forming. \u201cFor like a day, I had forgotten about throwing you out of an airlock.\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, but imagine if you could throw me out of your own airlock,\u201d Mags replied with a grin. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of money we\u2019re talking about here.\u201d\n\nA door behind the counter opened and the squat, sweaty owner stomped inside. He smacked at a keatfly buzzing near his head as he turned on the terminal at the counter. The system began to sync with his mobi. The owner was sifting through the list when he was seized by a fit of wet coughs.\n\nHe fumbled an inhaler out of his pocket and took a hit. The coughing didn\u2019t subside. He shook the inhaler and tried again. No luck. \u201cBevin,\u201d he yelled out the open door in between coughs.\n\n\u201cBevin! Send someone to Kel-To. I need more medicine.\u201d\n\nThe fit finally ended. The owner spit something viscous onto the floor and looked at Mags and Trin.\n\n\u201cYeah, okay. Assessed your scrap. You got anything else?\u201d\n\nMags looked at Trin, who was glaring back. Trin finally relented and sank back in her seat. Mags jumped up and moved to the counter.\n\n\u201cCheck the list, payout\u2019s at the bottom,\u201d The owner turned the terminal to face her. \u201cHit Accept to accept.\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, sure. Looks good.\u201d\n\nThe owner looked at her.\n\n\u201cThen hit Accept.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight, sorry.\u201d She hit the button. The scrapyard owner sniffled and printed a transfer receipt.\n\nTrin grabbed the lockbox and started to head to the door. The owner noticed it for the first time.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s in there?\u201d\n\n\u201cFour broken teeth,\u201d Trin replied without missing a beat.\n\nMags and Trin stepped outside into the baking sun. The smell of oil and scorched metal filled the air. The Harlequin was waiting on one of the nearby pads. All the crates of scrap had been offloaded and stacked neatly for processing. Seeing his crewmates emerge from the office, Kel waved goodbye to the landing pad crew, who look a little befuddled.\n\n\u201cI hate how happy you are about walking away from money,\u201d Trin muttered.\n\n\u201cWrong, Trin. I\u2019m happy because we\u2019re walking towards real money.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you even know how to sell this off?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not, but we\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d Mags took the lockbox from Trin to carry it the rest of the way to the ship. Just as they hit the ramp . . .\n\n\u201cHey!\u201d\n\nMags and Trin turned back to see the group that Kel had just left.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s this shit about you owning a slave?\u201d\n\nMags and Trin exchange a weary glance.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s not a slave,\u201d was all Mags could muster. The landing crew start to advance. \u201cDammit . . .\u201d\n\nMags slapped the button for the ramp. The ramp didn\u2019t move. The landing crew broke into a sprint when they realized what she was trying to do.\n\nShe hit it harder and the ramp suddenly began to rise into the ship. The first landing crewmen arrived a nanosecond too late. Muffled sounds of rocks being pelted at the hull emanated through the hold. Kel\u2019s head appeared in the doorway.\n\n\u201cSell good?\u201d\n\nThe scrapyard owner finished balancing the figures for the day\u2019s transactions. The sun was about to set. As dreadful as the day was for his sickness, the cold of the night was even worse. He felt the slight tickle at the back of his throat that would precipitate another coughing fit.\n\n\u201cBevin! Did someone get my damn medicine?\u201d he yelled into the intercom. There was no response.\n\nThe owner pushed himself out of his seat and shuffled outside. He shielded his eyes from the setting sun.\n\n\u201cBevin, do you think it would actually be possible for somebody to do something when I tell you to?\u201d\n\nWhen the owner lowered his hand, he froze. His entire staff, fourteen people, were dead, executed with casual precision around the scrapyard. He saw Bevin among them.\n\nThe owner stumbled back, raced inside the office and slammed the door. He turned and leaned heavily against the door. His heart pounded and brought on another coughing fit.\n\nHe didn\u2019t even notice the two people now in his waiting room. A man and a woman, wearing pristine, unmarked combat armor and holding silenced weapons.\n\n\u201cHi.\u201d The man spoke first. The owner nearly hit the ceiling. He feebly put his hands up and started blubbering.\n\n\u201cYou recently acquired salvage of a Retaliator.\u201d\n\nThe owner didn\u2019t speak words, just noises. The man put a bullet through his thigh. He dropped to the ground.\n\n\u201cYes! Yes!\u201d The owner finally reclaimed the power of speech.\n\n\u201cWho sold it to you?\u201d the man asked as he crossed the room and placed the still hot barrel of the pistol to the owner\u2019s temple. \u201cAnd be specific.\u201d\n\n\u201cCame in earlier today. Some old beater of a ship. Two women. Human. Never seen \u2019em before.\u201d The owner keyed something on his mobi. The woman studied the incoming data while the man kept his focus on the owner. \u201cThese two didn\u2019t happen to have a lockbox with them, did they?\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, I mean, yes. They did,\u201d the owner said in between coughs. \u201cWouldn\u2019t sell it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThese women give a name?\u201d\n\n\u201cJust the reg on the ship.\u201d\n\n\u201cYeah, those are fake,\u201d The woman said without looking up from her mobi. The man looked at the owner and sighed.\n\n\u201cWait \u2014\u201d\n\nBang. The man stood and wiped blood spatter off the barrel.\n\n\u201cWe have anything solid to go on?\u201d he asked finally.\n\n\u201cJust this.\u201d She held out her wrist.\n\nThere was a security cam still of Mags and Trin sitting in the waiting room. The man looked at them closely. He punched in on one of Trin\u2019s Souther Titan tattoos.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d\n\nTO BE CONTINUED\u2026"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":36,"created_at":"2020-09-23T02:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"5 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-07 19:01:34","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":17793,"next_id":17797}}