The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 13.2

 [Celeste]

Moon pointed at the forward visual display. "There it is!"

A dark pitted asteroid, shaped roughly like an egg, appeared in the distance, looming larger as they approached. Numerous craters and deep crevices marred its surface. It occupied a vast space with other rocky objects between the orbit of two large gas planets. The telemetry showed dimensions of approximately two kilometers on the long axis and one-and-a-half kilometer on the short.

Celeste wrinkled her forehead. She expected a facility on the surface of a lush green planet, a smaller version of the former Temple of the New Covenant on Earth, not this. "That is Sanctuary?"

Moon nodded. "A hollowed-out space rock would be the perfect place to hide it. You would not even know it was there until you get close."

Sai said over the speaker, "Confirmed, sir. I read internal voids and energy sources, most of which are at one end of the asteroid. Three docking ports are indicated."

Blinking blue squares appeared on the asteroid image, each associated with a surface crater or crevice. A yellow three-dimensional schematic also appeared, showing internal details. Tunnels with interconnecting passageways radiated out from a group of caverns. Each dock included a hollow bay.

Moon said, "Hail it, Sai."

"Hailing open, sir."

"Sanctuary, this is Phoenix Star. Request permission to dock."

Moon and Celeste held their breaths, but no response came. After a few moments, a white beacon blinked at the location of a docking port near the rounded point of the ovoid asteroid.

Moon glanced at Celeste. "Well, they aren't very talkative. Sai, proceed with docking. Take it slow and easy."

"Yes, sir."

In half an hour, the ship shuddered as the docking clamps latched on to the side of the Phoenix Star. Sai said, "Docking complete, sir. Powering down the fusion reactors to minimum output. Sensors indicate breathable atmosphere and zero-point-nine-gee gravity in the dock bay."

Moon said, "Visual view." An image from the ship dock door showed a short walkway with windows extending to an empty and mostly dark open area that would be the dock bay. He narrowed his eyes. "Do you see any activity out there, Sai?"

"No, sir. The bay is mostly empty."

Moon turned toward Celeste, rubbing the stubble on his chin. "I don't like this. There should be someone to meet us."

Celeste said, "Perhaps, Sanctuary is unoccupied?"

"Yeah. Probably so. But the facility AI should have sent a bot, or at least a message."

Celeste's eyes widened. Her heart throbbed. "Is there something wrong? You're not worried, are you?"

He waved his arm as if to brush away any concern. "No. I get these gut feelings sometimes. It's probably nothing."

Sai interjected. "That is true, Priestess. Moon's accuracy rate for such non-specific feelings is only about twenty-four percent."

Moon rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Sai." He stood up. "Wait on the ship for now. I'll go first to check it out. If everything is good, I'll come back and get you."

Celeste nodded, her eyes still wide. "Okay. Just be careful."

He smiled. "No worries."

Celeste did feel worried as Moon donned a blue-gray armored spacesuit and strapped a pulse gun to his waist. Her stomach churned. If there are no worries, why is he putting on armor and carrying a weapon?