Star Child

Seven - Enceladus

Ripley Oasis buzzed with activity. Spacers hustled through the wide corridors as they went about their business. Despite the amount of foot traffic this Oasis saw, the station was clean and well kept.

Oases were space stations floating above a planetoid at various points around the universe where spacers, humans who lived and worked in space, could refuel their ships, pay for temporary lodging, renew their access codes to utilize dropholes, and mingle with other travelers in the various restaurants and bars. Each station was different in design, some resembling the International Space Station with offshoots stemming from one central station while others resembled massive spoked wheels. No matter their design, they had the same function.

An interstellar rest stop.

Not too far from each Oasis was a massive ring-shaped portal that would send ships into Faster Than Light travel. These Dropholes allowed safe interstellar travel. Without them, space travel was dangerous. Before the time of ships having the necessary technology to achieve FTL, cryogenic sleep was necessary for even short distances at a time.

Locked in the orbit of a gas giant's moon, Ripley's drophole was a massive marvel of the most advanced engineering known to mankind. Ripley Oasis circuited the edge of Enceladus's gravity field, a gas giant that was twice the size of Jupiter in the Milky Way galaxy. Blurred lines of sandy white, sage green, beige, sky blue and creamy white painted the planet in varying stripes of color. It was the only scenery travelers would see during their stay on Ripley's.

Enceladus looming out in the darkness of space on the other side of the window was what Kade Stanton currently admired. This beautiful planet was the only interesting thing to look at after coming out of cryo sleep.

He and his crew of four had slept for weeks while on their hunt for Kade's bounty. It was here that her last known whereabouts had been traced to. This oasis so far had proven to have just what he needed to find her, to find Ashaki Sawyer. His employers would once again be reminded of why he was good at his job and why they paid him so handsomely in the first place.

Like Miss Sawyer, he was an important asset.

Kade turned his back to the window when the soft sound of the door sliding open echoed in the small waiting area. He and his crew stepped into the small office of the beady eyed bureaucrat, Joseph Sloan, he noted with a quick glance at the small name plaque on the messy desk before him.

Joseph Sloan seemed in his mid-forties with a receding hairline and many frown lines to boot. His stiff gray suit was a bit oversized and casually pushed up on his arms. He surveyed Kade and the four men who stood behind him with questioning brown eyes. Wetting his lips and straightening his blue tie, he greeted the waiting men.

"Greetings, gentleman, what can I do for ya?" His gaze swept over each man that occupied the small gray office.

Leaning forward, his elbows resting on a stack of papers, Kade slid forward a data tablet. "I'm looking for this woman. She renewed her access codes with you just days ago according to our intel."

Mr. Sloan squinted his eyes as he took in the digital image of a black woman with golden-brown eyes and corn-rolled black hair. There was recognition immediately, much to the satisfaction of Kade.

"Yeah, she was here alright." He explained, "She was antsy and tried to rush me. Didn't realize this shit takes time. It's not a one and done thing to renew codes. There's a whole damn process, you—"

"I don't care about the process, Sloan. I'm here for the woman, that's all." One of Kade's crew stepped forward, pulling a pistol out of his waistband. It was a popular model that didn't require bullets but instead shot plasma. A small black and yellow striped cartridge housed the needed energy pack.