Symphony of stars

Chapter-7

Hours passed in the blink of an eye. Aaron found himself torn between his projects and the woman sleeping behind him. He'd never felt so divided. There was something about Tir being so close that was comforting. It helped him focus on the gadgets, but he just couldn't stop glancing back at her.

The curve of her neck and the slow rise and fall of her chest was hypnotizing. A quick glance turned into a stare and Aaron had to whip his head back around to work on his gadgets. As he was silently scolding himself for the third time the echoing thud of boots on the catwalk made him jerk.

"Tir, you down here?" Ethan called as he leaned over the rail.

Staring up at the teen through the blue tint of his goggles, Aaron was working up the courage to explain why the woman was sleeping in his hammock. "I'm here. What's up?" Tirana announced from behind him. Jerking his head around to look at her, Aaron was surprised to see she'd answered without even opening her eyes. She just laid there, waiting for the boy to answer her.

Ethan's foot tapped against the catwalk impatiently. "We're coming up on the most run down out of the way looking outpost I've even seen."

Dropping the little screwdriver and the ammo shell onto the crate, Aaron rushed to the steps. He was already hurrying down the catwalk before Tir managed to swing her feet out of his hammock. He might have heard Ethan try to stop him, but he was already moving through the corridor to the control room.

The only window he'd seen on the ship was there and that's what Aaron wanted to be. He needed to see the Trove, even if it was still a little spec in space or just a bleep on the radar.

As Aaron burst into the control room he saw it. Spread out in front of the window were hundreds of asteroids. The distant star lit up the system, throwing shadows over the back of each rock. Moving closer, he didn't have to search out the Trove. He spotted it right away, tucked into the slow drift of a cluster.

Home was so close.

"Is that the Trove?" Tir asked from behind him.

Barely glancing back, Aaron nodded. "It's the only place I call home," he admitted, taking in every detail of the sight. The Trove was a small deserted mining camp that he had found years ago. Right away, he'd set to work transforming it into his personal paradise. The asteroid that it sat on wasn't the largest in the belt. Still, it was large enough to support the sprawling hallways and towering ship ports.

Over the years Aaron had installed countless systems and modifications. Nothing happened on or near the Trove without him knowing it. Except over these last months, anyway. There were no signs of any ships docked at the Trove. That didn't mean they hadn't been there or hadn't flown a shuttle straight down to the surface gate.

Inspecting the space around his home, Aaron mumbled, "There doesn't look like there's any debris."

"Why would there be?" Tir asked, stepping up beside him.

Lifting his hand, Aaron gestured to the shorter tower on the Trove. It would be impossible for her to pick it out from this distance, but he still felt the need to point it out. "If there isn't a docking code approved at latch on the ship is attacked by a short burst particle weapon."

Tirana turned to him wide eyed. "Are we going to be able to dock?"

Aaron nodded. "Yeah. I can send the code from here and it won't attack. I'm surprised no one attempted to dock. Other ships are rare in the Junkyard, but at least one passes through a month."

"By junkyard you mean the asteroid belt?" Tirana asked, taking a seat in the pilot's chair. She didn't bother waiting for him to answer before continuing, "Give me that code and I'll setup the docking sequence."

Everything stopped and Aaron stared out at space. Tirana asked him for the security code to the Trove. Was that normal? Did people share those things? The security of the Trove was a private matter to Aaron. Was that normal? He didn't know, but when he glanced at Tir and saw her sitting there, swiping through the different monitors and screens, he didn't really care.

Taking a deep breath and promising himself he could change the code once he was home, Aaron said, "Alpha. Eighty-two. Omega."

Pretty green eyes glanced up at him even as Tir punched in the code. "That's a really simple security measure. Sure that's all of it?"

Shrugging, Aaron shuffled his feet. "No one thinks simple about these things."

"I guess so. As long as it gets us docked it's all good," Tirana said, standing from the seat. Aaron's gaze had drifted back to the Trove and excitement bubbled to life. He was almost back in the safe comfort of his home.

Aaron was so captivated by it that he almost didn't notice the gentle hand on his shoulder. Then he felt Tir's fingers squeeze him carefully and realized the normal hectic fear of the unknown wasn't rushing over him. She was touching him and he wasn't uncomfortable about it. In fact, it was nice.

A quick pat and her hand was gone. "Well, I got you here. Maybe we can chat about a tune-up while we're docking."

Tirana flashed a brilliant smile and Aaron felt himself melting. "Anything you want, Tirana. Anything."