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“Got it,” Mol-Lee said, her tone unhappy.
I grunted. Finer feelings could wait for when we’d completed the mission.
“I’m in. I’ve hacked the security system and set all the cameras on a loop.” Kirel said. “I’m going to cut the lights in here and send Vree off to scout, so be prepared.” He tapped at the inner hatch’s control panel for a moment.
“I’m a good scout!” Vree said.
“You’re the best, little buddy,” Kirel agreed. “But don’t forget—cleaning bots can’t talk.”
“I know that!”
“Okay, then. Here we go.”
We plunged into darkness. Then the inner hatch opened on a tunnel bored through the charcoal-gray rock of the asteroid. A string of industrial lights led off into the distance, where the tunnel curved out of sight.
Vree rolled forward and quickly disappeared around the curve.
Kirel held his comp up so we could see the screen, which showed a view from the cleaning bot’s forward camera. After confirming the way remained clear all the way to the next junction, he texted for Vree to wait for us.
We headed out, Kirel in the lead. Before Zo-Fee could step out into the tunnel, I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Opaque your helmet. That way, if anyone sees you, they’ll hopefully assume you’re a Zaarn female.” It would still be a surprise—no Zaarn females worked the mining ships that docked at the facility—but it would be less of one than an unknown alien, and if we were spotted, those extra seconds could be the difference we needed for success.
She nodded and tapped at the controls on her left forearm, and my mate’s beautiful face disappeared behind a matte-gray haze made to act as camouflage.
The rest of us left our helmets transparent. We were clearly Zaarn—no other species needed helmets this size—and Kirel’s hack of the cameras meant the Tula wouldn’t have a record of us. Being able to read each other’s facial expressions at a glance could help if we ran into trouble.
Lila stayed by Zo-Fee’s side as we hurried along the tunnel, Vree scouting ahead.
“Why is it so empty?” my mate whispered over comms, even though our helmets were sound insulated.
“These are some of the older mining tunnels from before the Tula turned the asteroid into a space station,” I said.
“They’re only used for maintenance these days,” Tark added.
“Don’t worry, there are plenty of the lizard frekkers around,” Sul said. “They’re just up in the main living section of the facility.”
“You mean the part facility we’re about to enter?” Kirel asked, amusement coloring his voice.
“Yep.”
I growled. They were good fighters with impeccable skills, but my friends talked to frekking much. “Let’s stay focused on the mission, people.”
“Sure boss,” Sul said, his tone pure smartass. He grinned and ducked forward to get out of the way of my fist swipe.
When we reached the base of the ladder we wanted, Kirel disappeared up into the vertical shaft cut through the rock. A few moments later, he said over comms, “I’ve hacked the trapdoor’s controls. Can someone bring me Vree?”
“On it!” Sul called out. He scooped the robot from the floor and climbed using only one arm.
Time dragged as we waited for the robot to scout. As much as I appreciated Kirel’s thoroughness, another part of me hated every second my fated mate remained in danger. The muscles in my shoulders tightened into knots, and I had to stop myself from reaching for my blasters.
“All clear!” Kirel said over comms. “But the hatch is in an exposed area. We need to hurry.”
“Glitter, can you take Lila up?” I asked, knowing the starwisp could hear us even through our sound-insulated helmets.
Instead of answering directly, the kreecat rose into the air, and the two of them disappeared up the shaft.
Tark and I shared a quick look, years of working together giving us a shorthand method of communication.
At his nod, I propelled Zo-Fee forward. “You go next.”
