“Interesting,” Jade whispered. I walked behind her, checking over her shoulder as she combed the files. “I’m seeing it too. I’d say the Racers can withstand the radiation, but that planet doesn’t look friendly enough to investigate. Probably a gas giant, and not one I’d like to fly near.”
“Agreed.” I glanced at Luther, who was marking our trajectory and attempting to determine the gravitational pull of the distant planet. “R11, can you crunch the numbers? Send out probes, gather what we can, and if we find something related to the Velibar, I want to know about it.”
R11 set to work. “I’m on it, sir.”
We waited while the readouts arrived over the next half hour. Varn arrived on screen, his eyes bleary.
“What’s happening?” he asked, finding us stopped mid-system.
We filled in the Killer captain, and he nodded once. Varn stifled a yawn with a palm. “I’d love the Velibar to be here. I could use some target practice.”
The computer beeped near R11, and I rushed to it. The probes had finally rounded Planet X’s orbit, and the giant Squid came into view.
“Is it operational?” I asked. The four long tentacles drifted in space, and I couldn’t see a single exterior light powered on.
“It doesn’t appear to be,” Jinx said. “We’ll need to get closer to find out for sure.”
Luther sat up straighter, and Jade adjusted her seat. Was it worth delaying our mission to investigate a hidden Squid all this way from Earth? And yet, I didn’t believe in coincidences. “Let’s do it. Aster, gear up.”
“We’re boarding their ship?” Jade asked.
“Why not? If it’s dead in the water, we’ll see what we’re up against. This could be extremely valuable insight.” I was nervous about endangering my crew, but this was an opportunity we couldn’t squander.
“It could also be a trap,” Jinx said, ever the conspiracist.
R11’s screen rolled with dense clusters of information, too fast for a human to read. “From what I can tell, the Squid has been dormant for over a decade. The energy readouts are non-existent. Also, the radiation levels are indicating 9.7 Earth years have passed since it stopped here.”
“Good news for once. If they’ve been lingering for ten years, surely it’s empty.” Luther jumped to his feet.
“I’m coming too.” I hopped to the pilot’s seat, guiding Pilgrim closer to the planet. We kept our distance, arriving near the Squid from the far side, avoiding being pulled into orbit.
The Squid was gigantic, and R11 located what appeared to be a docking hangar near the lower section, directly below one of the wings. I flew, moving cautiously, remembering what had happened when I’d tripped the proximity sensors on the alien vessel on my way to Eris a few months before. Nothing exploded, and I breathed easier as I brought Pilgrim to the hull.
“This is tricky,” I muttered as I attempted to latch on to the alien ship. “Any ideas, Jade?”
She ran a scan over the hull, and a 3D image rotated on her screen. “There.” She sent me the image, and I understood.
“Do you think it’s pressurized?” I asked.
R11 was the first to answer. “It appears so, Captain. You should be safe.”
“Extend the arms and hit the controls with a surge,” I suggested.
Jade went to work. A few minutes later, she shot a flux of power from the underside of our Racer and fried the Squid’s bay controls from the exterior. The hatch spread open, revealing a dozen docked enemy flyers. My heart pounded as I expected them to attack, but it seemed like R11’s predication was accurate. They were unmanned vessels.
“I wonder why they abandoned this,” Luther said.
I tapped the communication, finding Varn front and center. “We’re going to land. Suit up Aster, and we’ll meet you on the floor.”
“If Hawk’s going, so am I,” Varn demanded.
“Fine. Aster and Varn, Luther and I will go. Jade and Jinx, stay put, and be ready to pull us out if need be,” I ordered.
When the screen went blank, Jade grabbed my arm. “Arlo, maybe we should send the robots instead.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Luther asked her. “Don’t worry about the captain. I’ll be there with him.”
“Just be careful,” she told us.
“We will.”
We left Jade in the cockpit and descended into the cargo hold.
“I don’t have a lot of experience with these.” I pointed to the lock box of weapons they’d outfitted us with. I had the basic Primary training offered to pilots but little more. I was a racer, not a fighter.
“Don’t worry about that.” Luther used a code, and the doors opened. “I’m on your side.” He took out a Widowmaker and checked the power level, finding it fully charged. He passed me a smaller weapon, a handheld firearm. “This thing is good old-fashioned ballistics. Point and shoot. That bullet will pierce anything but the hulls we make our ships with. For good reason.”
I nodded and began strapping into my armored suit. I’d used them a lot, especially when Capricious had struggled to maintain adequate life support. I’d slept in my suit more nights than I cared to recall, hoping my air system would reactivate during the night. More often than not, it had.
The last time I’d donned a suit like this, I’d been trying to save Veera from Eris’ mines. These versions were nicer, a personal model designed by SeaTech, using Espace’s patented HUD. They were muted gray, with blue accents along the cuffs and elbows, and the SeaTech logo on the chest. Luther clipped his helmet into place, and the tinted face shield blocked his face. He knocked his gloved knuckles against it, and the console on his left wrist glowed green, indicating he was pressurized and ready.
I followed the same motions, and a minute later, I was inside, finding the temperature cool as I started to sweat. I tapped the controls, scrolling past
