Symphony of stars

Chapter-8

Docking the Nexus was a piece of cake. Everything was automated, after all. Once Aaron's security code was put in the ship was on autopilot towards the tower that latched onto the small air locked door of the bay hatch. From there it was just a few hisses and clamps before everything was setup for him to run into his waiting home.

Aaron stayed in the control room, searching for any signs of another ship or shuttle that may have shown up while he was gone. There was nothing, but an uncomfortable knot had formed in his gut the closer they got. Something was wrong. [/mycred_sell_this]

Shaking his head, Aaron held onto logic. There was no debris that he could see and none of Tirana's scans showed anything other than his normal setup. As soon as the last latch hooked in place he rushed from the control room and back to the cargo area.

With a skill reserved for Aaron alone, he packed away his tools and projects in hast. He trusted that everything would still be exactly like they were. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he stood in front of the air lock.

Ethan was standing by the door, watching a small screen. He glanced up and Aaron felt his eyes judging him. "Ready to get home, huh?"

Nodding, Aaron could envision the flexible tunnel expand with air. "Yeah. I've been gone too long." The jitters overtook his feet and he shuffled back and forth. "Ready to be home," he mumbled.

Behind him, Tirana marched across the cargo bay and let out a laugh. "I'm excited to see this place myself," she said, stepping up next to Aaron. Her hand patted his back and he could feel the good will of the touch.

A bleep sounded from the screen and Aaron knew the airlock would open. "All clear," Ethan said and a rush of air blew passed them as the door swished open.

"Ethan, stay here. I'm going with Aaron to make sure everything is okay," Tirana said. Aaron barely registered it as he stormed down the sterile white shaft. The grated floor supported his weight with ease and in the blink of an eye he was standing in front of the Trove's airlock door.

His hand paused over the key pad for only an instant before Aaron punched the release code and the door opened. The dingy mining complex stood in sharp contrast to the clean white docking tether. "This is the port. If someone managed to get in they would have access to this area. Nowhere else though," Aaron announced, stepping out of the tether.

Tirana stepped out beside him and looked up and down the corridor. Aaron noticed her covered hand hovering by her sonic pistol. A traditional firearm wouldn't be overly dangerous in the Trove, but he always preferred the sound weapons. They were almost classy and much cleaner than other guns. Except from caster weapons, which were just a beautiful technical wonder, sonic weapons were his favorites.

As the Shimmie woman stepped out in front of him, Aaron got distracted watching her legs. He ignored his plan of searching for anything that could be wrong in the port. His eyes instead traveled up over her knees and passed her thighs to the sway of her plump round bottom.

He didn't notice the odd flash of light low to the floor until Tir walked through it and the symphony of the Trove changed. The tone of the whirl changed and the comforting tempo picked up to a hectic race. Aaron's eyes went wide behind his goggles as he rushed to see where the attack was coming from.

Tir didn't seem to notice the danger. Aaron grabbed her arm to pull her away from the odd flash of light and thankfully she followed him close to the rust gray wall. In the half second it took him to pull her back a cloud of smoke billowed into the corridor, quickly expanding.

"What the hell is that?" Tir asked, moving her hand to cover her mouth and nose.

Aaron shook his head and frantically started pulling her towards the airlock. "I don't know, but we have to get out of here." Still holding her arm, he tried to open the dock door leading back to the tether. Beside him, Tir tilted her face down to her shoulder and tried to watch for anyone using the smoke as cover.

Smacking the unresponsive keypad, Aaron turned from the door. "It won't open. Come on," he said, tugging her along behind him across the hall. "There's an escape panel."

The sounds around him changed again as the smoke thickened and Aaron felt himself start to get dizzy. By the time they reached the wall opposite the dock door his vision was blurring and Tirana was moving sluggish. Heavy footsteps were echoing around them as he started trying to pry the metal panel from the wall.

Magnets held the metal in place, but the right pull and twist should easily release the hidden escape route. Aaron had to let go of Tirana to shift the heavy panel aside. "Stay close," he said, reaching back for her hand.

That's when the footsteps stopped and the hazy lights started. Electricity surged through the air around them, sending painful jolts of fire through Aaron's bones. He lost his breath as he watched Tirana's emerald eyes go wide. She collapsed to the ground, body twisting with pain.

Aaron wrestled with the fear. He should reach out for her, but the heavy booted footsteps were closer. The electricity had stopped, but Tir was out cold on the floor.

"There she is," a voice rang out nearby.

A protective surge rushed through him and Aaron was reaching out for her, determined to drag her into the shaft. Before his stiff fingers to touch her she was pulled away. As she quickly disappeared into the smoke, he nearly rushed forward, intent on saving her.

He stopped. Whoever had Tirana was armed and had been in the Trove long enough to set traps. "I'll be back," he promised himself and lunged into the escape shaft.

"There's another one!"

The shout came just as Aaron jerked the panel back into place. A twist of the corner magnets locked the panel in place, but that didn't stop whoever was out there from beating on it. Surrounded by the echoing thudding of kicks Aaron scramble down the dark shaft.

Leaving Tirana behind ate at him. Aaron didn't know who the men were but they'd clearly be able to tell what Tir's claws were worth. Even if they didn't, she was a beautiful woman worth more than her weight in credits. No longer happy to be home, all he wanted was to get Tirana away from those people, but to do that he had to scurry around the Trove like a rat and find out how he was going to safe her.

Because as she'd vanished into the smoke Aaron knew, regardless of anything else, he had to save her.