To Jayda the flaw made the bottle more beautiful, as if cut from real stone. Jayda lightly sprayed the perfume on her wrist and closed her eyes as she inhaled the exotic odor. Perfect.
Not that she expected anything less. She was more than a chemical engineer. Her senses could identify every separate element, including ones thought odorless under normal conditions. Out here the most indiscernible oils could be extracted. It was one of her specialties.
She felt no guilt pocketing the bottle. A quick glance at the time reminded her of the cargo ship’s arrival. She headed to her room to suit up.
Standing by the airlock, she flexed her knees as gravity came up a few degrees. Her eye twitched at the intrusion the cargo ship represented, but it was part of the deal.
The computer confirmed approach and guided the ship to Sienna’s cargo dock. The lights of the airlock cycled, red, yellow, a long hold and then green. She released the lock from her side and stepped back.
A tall broad-shouldered man stepped through the airlock. He held the portal with one hand, extending the other. “Maldonado! I’m Capt. Dolan.”
Jayda stared up at the man. Now she could see the face that had been half-hidden by interference. She ignored his hand and bowed her head instead. “Welcome aboard. If you’ll come with me to the galley, we’ll complete the paperwork.”
Dolan nonchalantly shrugged a shoulder. She turned and led the way. With her back to the man, she was able to fight down the shock. This had to be a cruel coincidence.
She avoided eye contact with the man as they worked through the transaction. It was simple. The raw materials would be dumped into her cargo holds or onto awaiting cargo platforms. Then robots would transfer thirty carefully packed containers into his cargo holds.
It only took an hour to complete all the transactions and though he tried, she refused to engage him in conversation.
As soon as the last containers were locked down, Jayda stood up. “If we’re done, I have sensitive experiments waiting.”
“Of course! Hate to be the cause of an olfactory accident.” He laughed. “Though I don’t see how you turn a hazardous cargo into perfume. Either you’re really good or this is a front for a WMD operation.”
He stepped in front of her. “I’m not secretly loading explosives, am I?”
When she didn’t laugh, he bent down to force eye contact, not letting off as Jayda backed away from him. “Have I done something to offend you?”
Jayda swung away, holding her breath as she left the galley. “No. Now please, my work...”
She continued, hearing the click of his boots on the flooring behind her. She could tell from the cadence he’d been military. At the airlock he politely bowed his head, not attempting the handshake again, and then he was gone.
CHAPTER TWO
He was gone, but he had stirred up an old memory.
Jayda made her way back to the galley and sat down in her work chair. “I’m just tired, that’s all. I’m seeing things that aren’t real.”
Sleep would clear out the all-nighter, but she hated it when these episodes struck. It would take days to chase the nightmares away, thanks to Capt. Dolan.
But sleep would have to wait. Even though they’d exchanged cargos, it would take at least an hour before they were on their way.
She also had the hazardous cargo to deal with. Her service robots had to move it out to the safety perimeter.
Jayda focused her bots on their task. It served as a distraction, only remembering Capt. Dolan when the computer warned his ship was disengaging the docking clamps.
She sighed in relief, but immediately seized the arms of her chair.
The whole station shifted and alarms blared. Screens around her chair sprang to life, transmitting images from repair-bots as they scurried like bugs to where computer sensors indicated damage.
The Dolan 4 had struck her station.
“Computer, open comm channels!” She waited only a second. “Capt. Dolan, what the hell did you just do?” She barked at him.
“Wasn’t our fault!” Dolan barked back. “We just got hit by a particle storm.”
“Are you sure? I got no warnings.” She double-checked the computer’s early warning system. The perimeter drones should have warned the computer to strengthen the station’s shields.
“I’m not showing a storm and I felt impact.” The computer identified a hull breach in one of the cargo bays. “You ran into my station!” She got no answer. “Capt. Dolan, respond!”
“Yes, I did, now leave me alone…” Dolan turned away to shout his orders. “I’ll get back to you when I have things under control.”
He disconnected the link. Jayda switched to outside surveillance. His ship was free of the docking clamps, adrift, powerless.
Powerless? That startled her. Jayda directed external repair bots to scan his ship. As they approached they lit up the hull and she could see the damage.
Small explosions flared from the starboard engine. She could see atmosphere venting along a distinct path down the hull where the ship’s skin was torn open.
“Computer, launch all bots to the Dolan 4. Stop her drift and stabilize.”
She pulled up controls for the robotic lift arm. “Computer, reconnect me with Capt. Dolan. Force the line open, emergency protocol.”
It took a few seconds of the computer demanding his attention, but he responded. “I don’t have time for this, Maldonado.”
“I’m aware of your ship’s condition. You’re losing atmosphere. My repair-bots will tug you close enough I can pull you back to the station. Concentrate on evacuation.”
Dolan nodded, shouting orders over the alarms. He stopped to take a report from a young woman. Blood streamed down the side of her face.
He punched at the wall. “Maldonado, our medic is dead. I hope you’re trained in medicine.”
Jayda felt her hands shake. “I can’t… I’m not… I’ll do what I can…” She was backed into a corner, but knew her duty. “Hold tight.”
It was her turn to disconnect the comm-link and get to work drawing the ship back to the docking clamps.
As soon as the docking
