Blink: Interdiction (Book 4)

03

Damn Smith for knowing him so well.

Darien glared at the fast-approaching armoured sphere of Blink Station Alpha. He would never have abandoned the chance to come back to Blink, no matter the circumstances, and the head of Blink operations knew it. So here he was, ready to hurl himself back into the nightmare of Ravine for a second time. Huge asteroid-mounted rail guns tracked his little ship as he made his approach, his shuttle blurting out identification protocols every ten seconds to keep the gunners pacified.

With a heavy sigh, he reached forward and opened a comm channel.

"Station BL-Alpha, this is shuttle ID Gamma-14581, inbound from Thracia Prime, Blink ID code, Alpha Hammer One – redacted. Requesting permission for docking."

It took longer than he remembered for the dock controller to respond. Presumably they'd needed to rerun the clearances owing to his long enforced absence from the station. Eventually, though, the message came through.

"Shuttle Gamma-14581, this is BL-Alpha dock control. You are cleared for approach to docking bay 15D. Follow uploaded course instructions until you're inside our auto-tether range."

"Copy, BL-Alpha – following course. Gamma-14581 out." The comm channel fizzed with static and Darien tried to relax against the pilot seat, running through the motions that he'd not had to practice for months. The station loomed larger and larger, a metal planetoid hidden away in an asteroid field – an empty blip on the sensors for most passing ships.

Despite the circumstances that had brought him here, Darien couldn't suppress a small tremor of excitement at being back. The station's landing tether locked his trajectory a few moments later and he released the controls, letting the automated systems deposit him in the docking cradle. With a clunk, the docking arms fastened his shuttle in place and for a moment he just sat there, processing the sensation of being back where he knew he belonged.

After ordering his thoughts and calming his racing heart, he stood up and turned, triggering the shuttle's exit ramp as he did. The hiss of hydraulics tremored through the ship as the ramp descended, forming the final bridge back to Blink Station Alpha.

His Blink-issue combat boots made dull clunking sounds as he descended the ramp, out into the crisp, white-walled interior of Blink's primary command station. He stepped out into the hustle and bustle of the docking bay, a space ringing with bawling voices and engine thunder. The hot tang of burning fuel filled his nostrils, and everywhere he looked he saw columns of figures moving in organised mayhem.

A four-wheeled crawler rumbled past him, laden with equipment and four station technicians in shapeless grey overalls. He swerved around it and darted towards the nearest hanger entrance, into the white-walled tunnels, where Blink's unique brand of interstellar law enforcement was being applied. He was met there by a pair of marines, a man and woman clad in deep evergreen flak-jackets, berets, and armed with long rectangular assault rifles.

He recognised the man – Corporal Barker, a veteran of the station's defence detail. The hatchet-faced private standing alongside him must've been new. She didn't seem to recognise him either, her expression blank and she looked to her companion to take the lead.

"Darien Flint," Barker said with a sidelong grin. "How've you been, kid?"

"Getting by," he replied as they shook hands. "Feels good to be back."

"I'll bet it does."

"So you're my welcoming committee?"

"Guess so." The marine shrugged. "Normally you'd need to head down to admin and officially get signed off of your suspension, but Smith didn't think you'd want to waste time with red tape."