The Fringe Wars

3.13

Complications

Torrent Headquarters, Terra

Reyne entered orbit on the opposite side of Terra from where the CUF fleet sat above Rebus Station. He was surprised to find no drones or ships preventing him from landing. Of course, to leave, he needed the space docks, and the CUF sat in position to make a shooting gallery of anything that launched from the docks.

Fortunately, the CUF didn't know about Seda Faulk's secret spaceport, which had become the torrent headquarters on Terra. Once the Gryphon broke the atmosphere, Reyne kept the ship at an altitude of twenty thousand meters so he could maintain a decent speed and not fight turbulence on his trip halfway around the world.

Even pushing the engines, it took another four hours for the Gryphon to reach Seda's runway. He tapped the comm and announced across the ship, "Prepare for landing."

"I don't see it yet," Wen, a new torrent from Nova Colony, said from the seat Sixx usually sat in.

"Trust me, it's there," Reyne said. With a holographic canopy above the property, the spaceport looked like a rocky pasture. Reyne had been in and out of there before, though each time he brought the ship through the holographic ground was an unpleasant adrenaline rush.

As the ship sped toward what looked like rocky ground, Wen sucked in a breath.

Reyne held his breath too, until the ship passed through the camouflage and the spaceport came into full view. "It's there," he said on an exhale.

He'd sent an encrypted ping as soon as he'd entered orbit, to announce his arrival. When he saw a docking bay with a green light, he maneuvered the Gryphon into position and initiated the docking sequence. The ship lowered into the bay with a screeching thud, and Reyne winced. He glanced back at Wen. "I'm a bit rusty."

"I'm not complaining," Wen replied. "We're still alive, aren't we?"

"I'm shutting down engines," Boden's voice came through the comms.

Reyne tapped his comm. "We're here. Welcome to Terra. Grab your bags and prepare to exit."

Wen stood. "I guess I'd better go clear out my bunk then."

"See you outside," Reyne said without looking back. He initiated the shutdown sequence, and the panel displayed the status of each system as it shut down in order. When the panel went blank, he unbuckled his seatbelt and stood.

He rubbed his stiff fingers and stretched his back. Every joint complained at lack of movement for so many hours. In his younger days, he could sit for an entire day without any problems. But he was sixty-seven now. If he were a citizen, he'd be in the prime of his life, but in the fringe, sixty-seven made him downright old.

He entered a code to lock down the Gryphon's systems, and headed off the bridge. In the hallway, the dozen fresh-faced torrents stood at the door, ready to exit. Though, calling them "fresh-faced" was a stretch. Most were still skin-and-bones, and a few were up there in age with Reyne.

"Coming through," Reyne said as he weaved through the ragtag group. He opened the door and exited first. He stood off to the side as the rest walked down the ramp. A few were a bit wobbly as their bodies adjusted to the shift from the reduced gravity Reyne kept the Gryphon at to Terra's 1.2g.

"New arrivals, over here." A man waved at the crowd, and the passengers migrated in that direction.

Reyne noticed Sixx standing at the end of the dock, his arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his face. Reyne smiled back, and strode toward his second-in-command.