A deep space salvage crew boards a derelict ship. Their mission: to prep the wreck for towing. But something onboard may wreck their mission instead.
Is Fear Itself
As Scavenger 17 closed the distance to the derelict ship, a vibration ran through it. A metal panel buzzed. The ship shuddered, shaking the crew in their seats, then rocked as though struck by something.
“Chrissake!” Talbert shouted.
“Cheng?”
“Heavy solar flare, Captain,” Iris Cheng reported. “There'll most likely be more. Star in this system is a hyperactive gee-one.” Brushing some of her long black hair over an ear, she gave Talbert a deliberate gaze. “Hot sector.”
“Aw, you rock my world, Cheng.” Talbert shook his head, a goofy grin on his scruffy mug.
“One thousand meters,” Devereux said. “I have the full ident: N'Sabi, D-S-one-seven-zero-one.”
“Okay, focus people,” McInchak said. There was already one snafu because of the solar flares and he wanted his crew sharp. “Kennicot, start crawling. Cheng, run a hull integ on it, and try a biologic scan while you’re at it. Dev, open me a channel.”
The cramped cockpit cabin of Scavenger 17 became a hive of activity, with the crew rustling about in their consoles, busy with their specific duties.
McInchak rubbed his square chin. N’Sabi. He vaguely recalled some media buzz on her about six or seven years back, something about it being the first zoological transport to make a hyperspace jump with “live cargo.” Big news at the time, especially since she’d been commissioned only three years prior, and up to that point it was a feat no one else had been able to accomplish, the usual result being what was termed critter fondue.
“You’re on,” Dev said, as the com unit crackled to life.
McInchak cleared his throat. “D-S-one-seven-zero-one, this is Captain Ewan McInchak of the salvage ship Scavenger Seventeen. Do you read?”
Only static emitted from the com unit speakers.
“Com could be knocked out, Cap,” Dev offered, brushing his dark moustache with forefinger and thumb. “By the looks of her, she’s been through hell.”
McInchak grunted. He could almost feel the worry lines around his eyes burrowing deeper.
