Justyn tugged his helmet on, then listened for the quiet hiss as the air circulated through his suit. As Nissa put her helmet on, he pressed the ignition button on the skimmer. With a quiet hum, it rose off the ground. Leaning forward, he curled his hands around the handgrips.
Nissa did the same.
“Let’s go.” He pressed down on the throttle and the skimmer moved forward smoothly. He approached the huma-field covering the opening of the bay. He noted Nissa and her skimmer moving in behind him.
Seconds later, he shot out into space.
Ahh, he loved this. Many people found spacesuits claustrophobic, and being out in the vastness of space without a metal hull surrounding them downright terrifying.
For Justyn, it was the opposite—the ultimate freedom. He found it damned exciting and exhilarating.
Nissa skimmed up beside him and even with the fierce look of concentration on her face, she was smiling.
They pointed themselves toward the nearby icy moon. Behind it, the green glow of the planet provided an intense backdrop. Minutes later, they were skimming across the moon’s cracked, dark surface.
The wreck appeared ahead. A large hulk looming up from the landscape.
Holy space dust, it was fairly intact. Awed, he took in all the details of the wreckage of what was once theNero.
There was a large tear on the side closest to them. He pointed to it and Nissa nodded. It would be an easier option for entry than cutting their way in.
He nosed his skimmer in through the gaping hole, into what had once been a shuttle bay.
Once he and Nissa had moved all the way to the far wall, he activated the skimmer’s magna-brake. The sled dropped down to the metal floor and clung. Nissa secured hers as well.
“That way?” she said through the comm system built into the helmet. She pointed toward a double doorway leading into the ship’s interior.
He pushed off from the skimmer. The low gravity made walking tricky, so he jumped, sailing through the doorway. The door had been torn away and hung at a crooked angle. He adjusted the light attached to his helmet and moved into the corridor.
The light illuminated the tight space. A thousand years before, starships were smaller, with far less room. He madesure Nissa was right behind him as he made his way down the corridor, headed for the cargo bay.
Everywhere he looked, it was as still as a tomb. Any loose objects had long since floated away. Metal was torn and twisted, and pieces of wiring and paneling hung down from the ceiling.
Justyn squeezed past some metal sheeting blocking the corridor. “We should almost be at the cargo bay.”
Nissa glanced at the mini-Sync attached to her forearm. “Just around the corner.” She followed him past the debris.
He made the turn, then stifled a yell. A body floated gently past him.
He reached back and gripped Nissa’s arm before she ran into it.
“What?” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh, Goddess.”
The body was frozen solid, mouth wide open, eyes glazed over. Trapped here with a limited atmosphere, his body had been preserved. He looked as though he’d only recently died—certainly not a thousand years ago. Justyn just hoped the poor guy had moved on to a better place. With a tug, Justyn pulled Nissa with him down the corridor.
“Cargo hold.” He gripped the edge of the door frame. The words “Cargo Bay 1” were emblazoned on the metal door.
He tried to open the door, but it was wedged shut. He withdrew an expandable pry bar from his tool belt, expanded it, and stuck it in the middle of the doors. With a few grunts, the door gave way and opened.
He shone the light around. “Fuck!”
“Oh, no. No, no.”
The entire cargo hold was gone. Ripped away. Only tatters of metal made up the remainder of the hull.
“What the fuck happened to them?” He studied the shredded wall. “Radiation didn’t do that.”
“They must have hit something.” Her voice sounded dejected. “It would have caused rapid decompression, they’d have lost control, and hit the moon.” She closed her eyes. “It’s gone. The Constitution is gone.”
