Galactic Gambit

Chapter 1

She was in a dream. Pacing the deck as she watched her crew board an unmanned ship adrift deep in space. Standard procedure, just a regular day at work. A voice filtered through the comms system.

"Captain, we've breached the door, preparing for entry. No sign of life so far," Officer Maxwill informed her. She narrowed her eyes to the holo display and watched as they crept in. As the first few were inside the foreign ship, red lights began flashing.

Neo clicked the comms button and gripped the edge of her control terminal as she anxiously yelled through to Officer Maxwill, "Get back, everyone back—" But it was too late.

The opposing ship's security protocols were activated the moment they stepped inside, and immediately vented the oxygen from the docking chamber, her own ship trembled beneath her feet. Everyone on deck began securing the ship, locking down all the connecting bays and corridors at her command before too much damage could be done. A violent quake shook the ship, and Neo watched as pieces of her ship, as well as the one they were about to pillage, began whipping past the windows. Section by section began to break apart and explode outward. They simply weren't fast enough to stop it.

She stood resolutely before what remained of her crew, knowing any moment would be their last. Dangers of scavenging in space, she thought. A broken off section of the hull came barreling toward the observation window. With only a split second before impact she looked one last time upon her crew, their fearful expressions burned into her mind as they braced for impact.

~

Neo burst up from her bed, wildly scanning the room in the aftermath of her too vivid dream. She swiped the back of her hand against her forehead, the sticky sweat coating it instantly. The neon clock hung precariously from the wall showed that she was almost an hour late.

"Fuck," she grumbled as she raced to the bathroom. Neo grabbed her toothbrush and paste and began vigorously brushing her teeth, while her not so well rested reflection peered back at her. Her silver wavy hair was rumpled and tangled, and bits were still plastered on her forehead from sweat. She grimaced and tossed her toothbrush into the sink basin and used her fingers to pry apart the disheveled mess before pulling it back in a ponytail. She rushed to her closet for her uniform, the unflattering olive-green atrocity hanging next to all the others like it, and her few pairs of black slacks.

When she finished dressing, she raced to the door, breaking away down the corridor and weaving through the stream of crewman. By the time she got to her station on deck, Captain Radyn was furiously staring a hole through her as she slinked past to her seat. Marla, who was not really a friend, yet more of an annoyance she had to sit beside, raised her brows in a look that said, you're in trouble. Neo already knew that, though. It wasn't the first time she had been late, and probably not the last either, but in Radyn's eyes, punctuality was everything.

"Erasmus," he barked from his seat, causing her back to stiffen. She knew it was coming. "My office in ten." Nervousness skittered through her bones. She had never been called to his office before. Reprimanded in front of everyone? Countless times, but this felt like more. This felt . . . bad. Neo skimmed through the work orders that had been sent to her, since there was never any actual work to be done considering a relief pilot was only ever needed if the other two couldn't perform their duties.

Marla clicked her tongue from beside her and said, "Late again? You should really work on that." Neo cut her eyes her direction, not bothering to say all of the vile things she wished, but Marla simply wasn't worth the waste of breath. Neo marked a few orders as completed. She had finished them yesterday but cut out short after work so she and her best friend Rhea could go drinking together. Hence the reason she overslept.