It was a rhetorical question. As the person who handled their money, he knew exactly how much they had in their accounts and it was nowhere near enough to outfit an entirely new engine.
She growled in frustration. "This had better not be you meddling in my life again. You know how much I hate that place."
He started for the door. "Maybe you should be more careful in your flight maneuvers then."
She threw a wrench.
The wrench froze three inches from him. There was a slight whomp as he tossed the wrench back toward her.
"At least this way, we'll get top dollar for the wreckage you salvaged instead of having to go through a middleman," he said, his voice trailing behind him as he left the room.
Somehow, his silver lining didn't make Kira feel any better.
CHAPTER TWO
Kira vibrated with impatience as she waited for the airlock to open. Jin was busy on the bridge, completing the docking checklist required of every ship prior to its passengers disembarking.
His job was made more difficult by the fact they'd chosen the cheapest option for a berth. It meant they docked on the outside of the station, lining their airlock up with one of many on the station's underside. It was less expensive, but it came with more security checks.
They could have chosen the more expensive route of docking on the flight deck on the interior of the station, but Kira had rejected the option before Jin could propose it.
They couldn't afford to waste the money. Besides, this option allowed for a quick getaway if necessary. She had a past on this station. Coming back here even after years away was tempting fate.
She fidgeted with the sleeves of her hoodie, pulling it over her hands. She was dressed simply in a pair of utilitarian cargo pants that fit nicely while giving her freedom of movement. A camisole and thin hoodie completed the outfit.
She was average-sized for a woman, barely hitting five feet, seven inches. She had a runner's frame, lean and lithe, with muscles stretched over her long lines.
Despite her apparent slimness, she possessed a hidden strength, surprising many an enterprising salvager seeking to take advantage of her. They saw the delicateness of her features, the burgundy color of her hair and gray-purple eyes that changed colors in a certain light, and made certain assumptions.
Assumptions she was happy to disabuse them of.
Jin floated toward her.
"You finished?" she asked. She was already itching to be gone, mostly because she wanted this trip over and done with. The sooner she got on the station and finished her task, the sooner she could return to the safety of the Wanderer.
"All done," he chirped. "The station's AI was extremely slow. It’s long past due for an update."
"You didn't talk to a human?" Kira asked.
"They ask too many questions. I hacked the station and dropped our application directly into their systems. We should be good to go."
It seemed her friend had thought of everything.
She folded her arms across her small chest and turned to the airlock as he took up his customary spot, hovering to the left of her head. His small form nearly brushed against the hair she kept cut just below her chin. It waved around her face like miniature tentacles, one of the reasons she kept it short—the better to contain its madness.
"Remember the rules, Kira. Don't draw notice if you can help it. Don't start fights. Don't give people a reason to look twice at us," Jin warned.
"I got it the first time." And the second. And the third; to say nothing of the fourth. At this point, Jin was beginning to sound like a broken record.
"I want to make sure. You have a tendency of forgetting when it suits your needs," Jin said as the airlock hissed open.
Kira hesitated to step off her ship. Jin had nothing to worry about. She had no interest in bringing attention to them. Her entire way of life counted on staying beneath everyone's notice. She hadn't come this far to throw it all away.
"In and out. No problem," Kira told herself.
"There better not be," Jin snorted. "Without that part, we won't make it to the next station."
Kira ignored him and stepped into the docking tube, her plain black boots echoing softly around them as Jin whirred at her side.
*
"It's so different," Jin said in awe as he took in the station. "It looks nothing like it did during the war."
Gone were the utilitarian gray walls and narrow spaces she remembered from her previous visit. They'd been perfectly functional—sterile, not a small scrap of color to soften the place. Now, the station looked elegant and timeless, bright spots of color saving it from being too monotonous.
Peacetime had been good to O’Riley, taking it from an obscure military outpost to a thriving hub of trade and government. The central area where warships had once docked for servicing was now an open-air market. The atrium slightly resembled a beehive, with dozens of levels of terraces clinging to the edges and a wide-open space in the middle of the station where several varieties of small ships floated from level to level like bees sampling the different delights.
The ships were personal cruisers, not meant for actual space travel. Some resembled old Earth sailboats, complete with a mast and sail to catch the wind currents stirring the interior of the atrium. Air gondolas also navigated the space, carrying couples intent on a romantic tour of the beehive. Still other ships were built for speed and zipped through the air with reckless abandon.
Kira even saw a few hoverboards staying close to the terraces as hoverbikes made the journey from below to those terraces high above.
A long tram crossed from one side of the atrium to the other. It rushed over an open drop, the floor of the station far below it.
Above it all was a large dome where dozens of bright UV lights meant to imitate a miniature sun twinkled. Those lights were the reasons for the small trees and planters filled with thriving flowers and bushes that lined the walking paths which bustled with business. High-end merchants had laid claim to the physical shops set along the walls, while smaller vendors plonked their mobile carts wherever they pleased—including the middle of the walkway
In a way, it was genius, forcing tourists to stop and look as they threaded through the maze the carts turned the walkway into.
O'Riley was a shining gem of human ingenuity. Class and privilege shone from the carefully crafted engineering marvel. The station was an emphatic statement, saying this wasn't the backwater of the galaxy anymore. The war might have humbled humanity, but it hadn't broken them. They rose from the ashes to rebuild better and stronger than ever.
Kira and Jin shuffled along the terrace as Kira tried to tamp down the irritation of being surrounded by so many bodies. She’d forgotten how crazy this place was, the press of humanity almost claustrophobic.
For someone used to the quiet of a small ship, this place was a madhouse. A dizzying confusion to senses adapted to solitude and plain walls.
Chaos hammered at her. Voices, sights, sounds–everything drawing her nerves tighter and tighter.
She took a deep breath and then another before she pushed everything away, concentrating on centering herself in the here and now.
Kira spotted a kiosk and strode over to it as Jin flitted from one thing to another. He didn't have the same issues with crowded places as she did.