The "Rust Bucket" wasn't just a name; it was a physical description. Docking Bay 94 smelled of stale hydrogen and the slow, agonizing death of heavy machinery. Kael slipped through the hydraulic doors, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The glowing lines on his fingertips were pulsing now, a golden rhythm that seemed to sync with the distant, heavy thud of Hegemony boots on the catwalks above.
"Jax, I'm at the bay," Kael hissed into his comms. "Where's the contact?"
"Pier 4. Look for a modified freighter that looks like it was held together by prayer and duct tape," Jax replied, his voice shaking. "And Kael? You need to hurry. The Hegemony just blacked out the local grid. They're door-kicking every hab-unit within six blocks."
Kael saw it. The ship was a YT-710 light freighter, though its original hull was barely visible beneath layers of mismatched heat shielding and jury-rigged sensor arrays. A ramp was lowered, spilling a pool of flickering amber light onto the greasy floor.
Standing at the base of the ramp was a woman who looked like she hadn't slept since the Great Collapse. Her flight suit was smeared with engine oil, and a pair of heavy welding goggles hung around her neck. She was holding a pulse-pistol with the practiced ease of someone who expected trouble.
"You're late, Scav," she said, her voice like sandpaper.
"I was busy being shot at," Kael retorted, glancing over his shoulder. "Are you Mina?"
"I'm the person with the only working engine in this sector. That's all you need to know." She squinted at him, her eyes dropping to the pocket where the drive lay. "You have the package?"
Before Kael could answer, the bay's main lights died. In the sudden darkness, the red tactical lasers of the Hegemony Seekers sliced through the gloom like blood-red wires.
"Get on the ship!" Mina yelled, diving behind a stack of cargo crates.
Pew-pew-pew!
The air sizzled as high-intensity bolts hammered into the Rust Bucket's hull. Kael scrambled up the ramp, his boots slipping on the oil-slicked metal. He felt a searing heat near his shoulder—a near miss—as he tumbled into the ship's cramped cargo hold.
Mina followed, sliding through the closing hatch just as a Seeker drone slammed against the exterior. The heavy locks engaged with a satisfying clunk, but the ship groaned under a fresh barrage of fire.
"Strap in! It's going to get bumpy!" Mina shouted, sprinting toward the cockpit.
Kael threw himself into a seat that smelled of old tobacco and ozone, fumbling with the harness. Through the cockpit's reinforced glass, he saw the docking bay doors beginning to slide shut—the Hegemony was trying to lock them in.
"Mina, the doors!" Kael screamed.
"I see 'em!" she barked back. She slammed her palm against a series of toggle switches. The ship's engines didn't roar; they screamed, a high-pitched whine that vibrated Kael's teeth. "Hold onto your soul, Scavenger!"
The Rust Bucket lurched forward. Mina didn't go for a smooth exit. She rammed the nose of the ship into the gap of the closing bay doors. Sparks sprayed across the viewport as the freighter's reinforced prow ground against the station's heavy plating. The ship groaned, metal screaming against metal, until—with a violent jolt—they burst through.
Suddenly, the claustrophobic darkness of the docking bay was replaced by the infinite, terrifying beauty of the void. The Ring hung behind them, a massive, rotating graveyard of steel illuminated by the distant, dying glow of the sun.
"We're out," Kael breathed, his heart finally slowing.
"We're in the vacuum," Mina corrected, her hands flying across the controls as she dodged a volley of fire from the station's external turrets. "There's a difference. We've got three Hegemony interceptors screaming out of the hangar behind us. We can't outrun them in a straight line."
"Then what do we do?"
Mina looked back at him, a fierce, reckless grin cutting through her exhaustion. "We go where they're too scared to follow. We're heading for the Debris Field."
Kael looked at the obsidian drive in his hand. It was glowing brighter now, the geometric patterns on his skin beginning to crawl up his forearm.
"Jax?" Kael called out.
There was no answer. Only static. The "Echo" had started, and as the ship plunged into the graveyard of shattered moons and ancient satellites, Kael realized that the scavenger life he knew was dead. He wasn't just running for his life anymore; he was carrying the ghost of a planet.