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“It’s okay,”I sent back. It had probably been good for her to burn off the excess energy before we got to the facility.
“We need to go over the plan,” Raxnor said, pulling out his phone. Then he walked me through everything he’d worked out the day before. Kirel had hacked the space station’s schematics and work roster. We’d arrive during the mining facility’s night cycle, when the lab I wanted would be empty.
By the time I’d memorized the route from the closest airlock to the lab, we were on approach.
“Bathroom everyone,” Raxnor said. “Whether you think you need to go or not. I don’t want anyone distracted once we’re inside.”
The guys went first, then me. Mollie turned the controls over to Tark for a few minutes and took her turn, going ahead and putting on her spacesuit.
Then, one by one because of the cramped quarters, the rest of us pulled our spacesuits over our clothes, leaving off only our boots. I was glad. Mollie had told me that for long missions, she usually wore nothing but her undies under her suit. But the thought of going into a Tula facility practically naked felt way too vulnerable.
The matte-gray fabric was actually more pliable and comfortable than the human spacesuit I’d been trained to use for asteroid mining. The only odd thing was how big the bubble helmets were, but they’d been designed to accommodate a Zaarn’s double set of horns. We left those off and sat back down, Raxnor once again pulling me onto his lap.
“Here, Lila.” I patted my thighs.
Once she settled into place, Raxnor wrapped the safety straps around all three of us. Then he wrapped his arms around me, his hands resting on my pet’s back, ready to act as another layer of protection.
“You ready, little buddy?” Kirel asked Vree.
“No. I hate going to sleep.” The robot puppy turned in a circle, then halted, his bright voice going a little sulky. “But if I have to.”
Kirel picked him up and flipped him over. After opening a hatch on Vree’s tummy, he popped out a rectangular block and slotted it into the cleaning bot. The cleaning bot’s wheels spun, and Vree’s voice said, “I’m here! I’m awake!”
“Good job.” Kirel set the new Vree on the floor. “You’re going to fool them all.”
The bot spun in a circle, his tone now delighted, “I am, aren’t I?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, especially when Lila complained,“Me disguised, too! Me fool them all!”
“I’m sure you will, niña.”I scratched under her chin until she purred.
“We’re on final approach, people,” Mollie called out from the front of the craft.
The space station filled the viewscreen. I’d seen the schematics, but that was different than seeing it in person. You could barely tell it was anything other than the asteroid it had once been. The long cylinder of rock had been hollowed out via mining, the insides smoothed, and the whole thing set spinning around its long axis to produce gravity on the inner surface. A light tube ran down the very center of the living space inside, and each end held a docking port—one for mining ships and the other for passengers.
We wouldn’t use either.
Mollie flew us over the dark-gray, pitted surface, slowing the shuttle until we seemed to crawl. Finally, an airlock came into view, the perfect circle of the hatch standing out against the irregular surface. She expertly brought theDartto a halt above the hatch. It looked like we now held still, but she was actually still flying. She’d simply matched the asteroid’s movement so perfectly you wouldn’t be able to tell unless you looked in the other direction to see the stars moving.
The station hung on the edge of the asteroid belt, where the possibility of collision remained low. The mining ships went into the belt and brought back raw ores for processing. The Grug had given the Tula here special equipment so they could make the gray aliens some of the rarer alloys needed for computer manufacturing. That was the equipment I needed.
Raxnor touched my chin and turned my head until I met his eyes. His expression was more serious than ever, which for him was really saying something. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to go back into Tula controlled territory.”
“You need me. I’m the one who knows how to work everything.”
“We do.” He tipped his head. “But Kirel can create a secure comms channel between theDartand his comp. You could tell Tark what to do.”
“What are the risks in that?”
His eyes flickered with indecision. Would he tell me the truth?
“The comms signal is risky. It could alert them that we’re here.”
Relief rushed through me that he hadn’t hid anything in an attempt to protect me. “The entire mission would fail, and everyone would get caught. Nope! Not going to happen.”
“I simply want you to have the choice.” He gazed at me with such sincerity that my heart skipped.
“Thank you,” I whispered as tears filled my eyes. “That means everything.” He understood what being robbed of agency had done to me and wanted to keep me from feeling that way again. He’d told me the full truth about the risks to the mission, too, so that I could make an informed decision. He respected me.
