Their boots shuffled on the metallic floor. Cori had her eyes on her notepad, and scrolled through the authorizations to the arrivals and departures of the ships. She sighed. That was Eli's job, not hers, but he was too busy fixing the ventilation system and now she, a pilot, was stranded with an engineer, doing routine checks. 

She'd rather be flying. But she knew the command wouldn't allow her, not after the results of the damn tests. Sometimes, all the wanted was to punch them in the face, hop on a ship and fly to a desertic moon. 

She stopped and checked the station's map. One more deck and they were done.

"We now must go to deck six", she announced, and got no response. 

She turned on her heels. Valentina was looking at the large window that extended across the whole hallway, absent-minded. Cori cleaned her throath, without worrying about politeness.

"Valentina."

She turned her head to Cori. "I'm sorry," she said, and forced a smile as she walked toward her, with quick steps. 

Cori raised her eyebrow. "Deck six."

"Deck six. Uhh, this way," she said, and pointed with her index finger to where they had came from. Cori frowned at the gesture. "Oh, I'm sorry," Valentina murmured, and pointed with the whole hand to the same direction, as the protocol said. 

"Don't worry. I used to slip up all the time, too. Just… try to be more careful. This can get you in trouble," Cori explained, and smirked. The index finger was considered offensive by some cultures, and had gotten her in despairing situations that became funny later, and now brought a taste of nostalgia.

Valentina nodded, reliefed, and led the way in silence and without hesitation, even when there was an embranchment. Cori put the notepad on the big pocket on her shirt and glanced at the stars outside, dotting the dense darkness of space, or at Valentina, walking across the station as if the knew it as the back of her hand. 

"Did you memorize the map?", she asked the girl at a certain point. Valentina's big brown eyes stared at her, scared or surprised. 

"Almost," she confessed. "We've been working at this station for almost a season now. It's not so complicated to walk around, and I'm good with maps. I'm an engineer, after all." 

"How did you end up here?"

"What?"

"I mean, you're an engineer. How did you end up in an outpost like this one?", she repeated, trying to make her tone sound more gentle. 

"There was anything for me at the stations," she explained. "And I like being here. The crew is nice, the outpost is quiet. There's always something to do, but there's plenty of time for myself… and the stars…", her voice became softer, and she looked at the window again "make everything worth it."

Cori smiled, internally wishing she had Valentina's attitude. But she wasn't a dreamer. She was an explorer, an adventurer, and that quiet place with its beautiful stars was sucking her vital energy. 

Then, the dreaded question came:

"What about you?"

"Ah?"

"What are you doing here? You don't seem to like this place a lot."

"There was anything for me back there, too," she said, dryly, and swallowed hard. The command decided there was anything for me back there, she thought, but kept her mouth shut. 

When Valentina noticed she wouldn't get a more convincing answer, she gave another half hearted smile. "We're almost there," she said, and went back to walking in silence. 

Cori almost felt bad for her, but, again, didn't say a word. She quickly tied her long, curly hair into a bun when they entered the hallway that led to the deck, and put the most professional expression she could make on her face. She and Valentina stood for a moment on the door's threshold. Cori put her hands behind her back, and examined the cargo ship that waited at the bay. 

"They're transporting ore, from the planet to the Mining Company's processing station. The captain is miss Rebecca Hart and there is only one person at the crew, Frankie Viattor," said Valentina, reading from her own pad. She rose her eyes and smiled. "It'll be quick."

"Yes, it will. Can you do the talking this time? My system is taking a little longer to load than usual. I'll do the security check." Cori frowned at her device, and shook it. There seemed to be sand inside those old things. She had complained about it to almost everyone, but it seemed that the Command had forgotten about the distant outpost, and more than two standart-years had passed since the last time they had changed equipments. 

"Of course." Valentina nodded, and walked torwards the freighter. Cori watched her ring the intercom, say something into it and enter the vehicle when the doors opened and the ramp unfolded, making way to her to pass, then rested against the wall and focused on her notepad again. The program was almost loaded. 

She took the scanner from her pocket, turned it on and approached the ship. When the blue beam of light met the metal plates that covered the vehicle, it turned green, and green it remained while she walked around and examined if the security protocol was being followed, with a bitter taste on her mouth. She used to hate the security checks when she was a pilot, but doing them was worse. She'd give anything to have the long waiting back, if it also brought her old life back. 

Cori uploaded the data and waited for Valentina near the door. She was taking longer than usual, and Cori was about to enter the ship and drag her colleague, who probably was doing some small talk or being nice to the crew, out of it, when the girl walked out of the door with pale cheeks and scared eyes. 

"We've got a situation," she whispered, on a hushed tone Cori had never heard her use before. She didn't have time to ask what was wrong. Valentina grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the door, getting away from the ship, as she explained.

 "Rebecca Hart and Frankie Viattor are not there. This is a crew of five people plus the captain. None of them are licensed, and they don't exist in the system. And they're not transporting ore." She made a pause to catch her breath. "They say they are, but… they're transporting weapons."

A charge of adrenaline ran through her bloodstream. She looked at Valentina, serious. 

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. I've got the pictures…", she said, and handed her notepad, but Cori dismissed it with a wave. There was an aura of innocence around Valentina, and Cori underestimated her more often than she should. It was not her fault that she had big eyes, rosy cheeks, despite her brown skin, and puffy hair, and seemed as she has came out of a tale for children. 

"Do you think we can handle it?", Cori asked. 

"Won't you call the guards?"

"Of course I will. Do you think we can handle it until the guards arrive?"

Valentina bit her lip, thinking, and then nodded. "Have you got a plan?"

"I do," she lied, and an idea began to outline itself in her mind. Weapons. They had weapons. She cracked her knucles. "I will… call the guards. We will go in there and disctract them until help comes. It's simple."

"How are we distracting them?"

"Make up a problem with the capitain's license. I'll go to the basement, where the cargo is…"

"Why?"

Oh, why couldn't Valentina buy it at once? "To collect evidence."

"Hm. Fine," she agreed. "Take care, will you?"

Cori smiled as they began to walk towards the ship again. "Don't worry about me. And act like nothing happened."

A man, perhaps the capitain, was waiting at the door, arms folded. He was almost a head taller than Cori, who was tall. She swallowed hard. 

"Capitain Luca," began Valentina, her voice shy, "my colleague needs to take a look at your cargo, and I… I…"

"She needs to see your ship's license and, huh, your flight plan. We found a little problem," said Cori, with the most natural tone she could make in front of a threathening and impatient person. She shrugged. "We're sorry about this, but it's the protocol."

The man frowned and looked at the girls for a few seconds that lasted hours. Cori held her breath, and gave a sideways look to Valentina, whose nervous hands were on her belt. 

"Alright," he said. She exhaled. "My pad is on the cockpit. And one of my men will take you to the basement. Please come in." 

He walked up the ramp, and gestured for them to follow him. Cori felt a hand grab her wrist, and turned her head slightly to face Valentina. She gave an assuring smile, and could say something kind if the captain hadn't spoken before.   

"This way", Luca said to Valentina. She gave Cori one last desperate look before following him into the cockpit, who watched them go and the door be closed with a slam. 

Someone behind her cleared their throath. She spun on her heels, heart beating fast. 

"Basement," said the deep voice of another man, with an accent she couldn't recognize. His dark hair was half tied into a bun, and he was almost as tall as her and far from being as scary as the capitain. A part of the tension inside her dissipated.  

She nodded, and, in silence, followed him to the end of the hallway. The floor cracked as they walked. She frowned. It was made of wood. Whoever those people were, they had money. 

He opened the last door, and went downstairs. She touched it. Wood, real wood. Even for her, who had some considerable life experience and had seen rooms and furniture made of wood, that was new. With a lump on her throat, she went downstairs. 

The man had turned on the lights of the basement. It was wide, more than twice the side of the crew's ship basement, but it seemed smaller because of the tall metal boxes that clogged the room. 

Cori took her notepad out of her pocket, and, under the man's watchful eye, began to pretend she was typing something. She swallowed hard. Maybe Valentina was right, and maybe, maybe, her plan wasn't a good idea, but there was no turning back now. 

She rose her eyes to the man. 

"I need you to open one of the containers, please," she said, telling her voice not to shake. 

"Is it really necessary?"

"It is." 

"Well. I won't argue with a security officer," he said, but there was no humor on his voice. She put her notepad back into her pocket and clasped her hands behind her back when he walked to the nearest container and unlocked it. 

He gave a few steps back and gestured for her to approach the container. One, two, three careful steps. She focused on the cold metal of her medal against her skin as she leaned forward to see what was inside…

Weapons. They didn't even make an effort to hide them.

She was still deciding whether she would politely walk away and call the police or grab one of the rifles, attack the man and take Valentina away from that ship when a sharp pain hit her back, ran through her body and threw the world in a deep black hole.