The just about adequate ship, Moonshine was shuddering as it passed the massive asteroid with barely fifty miles to spare. The fringes of the asteroid belt were always tricky, even with good equipment, so this was not a new thing for the three humans and one AI aboard the Moonshine.
The youngest crew member was Maaz Techist. He failed to notice the shudder all together; so absorbed was he in his study of the document on his screen- AI maintenance and transfer protocols- Updated Nov-2350. Although less than fifteen standard years of age Maaz was amazingly good at tech and mechanics, at least of most kinds of space ships and flyers. He had been around and inside ships since he could remember and tinkering with the computers and tech most of the time. Maaz had learnt enough in his short life among the dregs of the society, not to show all of his prowess. That Moonshine was space worthy was largely due to his "tinkering" but Maaz was happy to give credit to the maintenance techs and the captain and the Luck Goddess.
Two sharp horns blared in rapid succession- calling for strapping down- echoing around the ship followed by the message. "Ten minutes out. Take docking posts."
The gravelly voice of the pilot and captain, Rover Dranz blared from the PA. Rover had been running a transport and salvage Business for the last couple of decades. After the end of the Thousand Day War there were many like him- leftovers of the spacers. Although many of the spacers were not affiliated to the Jovian Colonies- the failed rebels; since they lost the war very badly- the Earth Cooperative (EC) tended to lump all of them together. If you did not have an EC identity you were "Them".
But profit is a great enabler of reasonable behavior. With literally thousands of wrecks and millions of tons of metal debris floating the space between Saturn and Venus, salvaging was required and many of the hundred or so space stations desperately needed tech crews willing and able to work in zero gravity- so spacers were offered a general amnesty and even incentives for salvaging military tech. After the changes wrought by the discovery of safe hyperspace travel by employing trained Navigators, humans were rediscovering the need to explore and metal was in more demand than ever.
Maaz paused his reading- this was the second time he had gone over the material.
"Tank. I think the transfer was fine. You have been cloned."
Tank was the AI running Moonshine. It was an old military surplus, fobbed off to the Moonshine as "cutting edge". But in the couple of years Maaz and Tank had been together it had "evolved" into a fast and uniquely adaptive system limited only by the dithering infrastructure that was Moonshine.
"Thank You Maaz. My copy is a 100% secure. Ejecting the drive now."
"Yeah! OK. Gotta strap in up front." Maaz pocketed the small drive with a satisfied smile and hurried out of his room.
The Asteroid WB341261 loomed over Moonshine as it approached the docking platforms tethered to it. It was a "Free" port- a thieves den. One of many spread across the Belt. A thriving market for scrap, surplus gear and foodstuff, where no questions are asked. There were four long range laser platforms, all of them were aimed at the Moonshine till Rover sent over the correct codes. The doors to an interior dock parted and a gigantic set of mechanical arms extended out to guide the ship to its appointed place.
The hanger was a natural cavern fitted with equipment necessary for docking and handling ships. There were four platforms marked out, each with its suit of mechanical arms and loading equipment. Besides Moonshine there was only one other ship in the dock. And it was a very unusual design; like a black pyramid with notches at intervals where barrels and radar and sensors were clustered.
When Moonshine was safely anchored the Captain waved for his Navigator to follow him. The Navigator was Nila Sordin, a seasoned spacer who had a nasty drug habit which had been her fall, from navigating giant freighters across the galaxy to crewing with Rover Dranz. She holstered her stun baton and followed him towards the starboard hatch. The captain stopped when he saw Maaz ogling the black ship via his view slate and cuffed him on the head.
"Stay right here, outta sight." He growled at Maaz and murmured more to himself than to Maaz or Nila:
"What in the Galaxies is a Jovian proto-type doing here?"
The hatch opened as Nila punched in the codes and stood aside. Rover puffed out his chest , rested his hand on the gun at his belt and stepped through but he had not even taken two steps down the ramp when he felt the gun at his temple. Nila he thought.
"Now captain, don't even twitch wrong." Nila gave him a nudge with the gun and then spoke out loudly.
"Take him, this is what you asked for."
Three armored men and a tall woman stepped out from the shadow of the huge docking unit. The woman was Shira Marrow or "Shira One Arm" as she was infamously known. Rover Dranz recognized Shira immediately and it turned him cold. He was sure he was going to die in the next few hours, all because he had accepted a bounty amount bigger than she had offered. A stupid mistake he acknowledged, to think that the galaxy is a very big place. And stupid to think he could pawn high end stuff like Fusion Batteries without Shira getting to know about it.
A mercenary came forward to restrain Rover and Nila sped down the ramp directly towards Shira; stopping a few feet from her and giving a nod of respect. She kept her hands clasped in front of her as she spoke.
"Chief, my payment. I need it."
Shira waited a few heartbeats than gestured to the man on her right. He pulled out a packet from inside his jacket and handed it to Nila, who opened it immediately and when satisfied that it was what she had bargained for, clutched it to herself. Shira spoke.
"That should last about a month. You want to stick around Nila, there are jobs I may want done. We have this place to ourselves." She gave a cold smile before adding.
"The previous owners have disappeared."
Nila nodded. "Of course. Chief. I need a little time is all."
Shira waved her away and addressed the captain. "30,000 EC credits were a good payment for those batteries Captain." "Bring him here."
Shira had Rover was chained to a pillar. She made him give over the ships codes so they could unload the cargo of twelve batteries. Rover had little fight in him, but he pissed himself after the second blow to his middle and this caused a few minutes of delay where every one moved away from the Moonshine allowing Maaz to crawl out from the stern hatch along with a backpack of his things and lugging a case of six fusion batteries. He had stuffed the original crate with spare parts and junk to cover the weight and then a quick weld with a hand held laser had sealed the crate. It would take them fifteen to twenty minutes to safely open the crate again.
Maaz headed straight towards the Jovian ship trying to keep in the shadows and staying quiet. He reached the ship even as Shira's crew entered the Moonshine. The entry hatch was closed but a small device with a keypad was plugged into the security console beside it. Maaz recognized the sequencer, he had used a similar device to open hatches to junked ships. Now only if it has done its job thought Maaz as he pressed the Unlock button. To his delight, the hatch opened silently.
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