Fracture - Book One of the Glass Galaxy Trilogy

Chapter 7: Dushel Station

April 1st

3:16 AM

We burst out of our gravity jump three hours into the new month, arriving on the edge of a red dwarf star-system. Viliana immediately began feeding our fleet high-accuracy sensor data on the system using her ship's enhanced sensors. She quickly picked out four planets spread around the star, and I sifted through the information she sent in on them.

The two planets closest to the sun were barren rocks, tidally-locked as they orbited around the sun in an eternal game of tag. Their proximity to the sun rendered their inward facing surfaces unbearably hot, even for someone properly equipped, while the outward face was hundreds of degrees below zero. I reluctantly concluded that the two planets were worthless.

The outermost planet was not much better than the inner two. It was a massive gas-giant, presumably a failed star, and while it could be of value to a force greater than ours, I had no choice but to dismiss it. I was leading a crew of pirates, not scientists, and there was no way that they would be capable of heavy-atmosphere engineering. Thankfully, the central planet was the jewel we were seeking.

It sat firmly in the star's habitable zone, protected by a thick, breathable atmosphere, and water littered the surface. An asteroid belt formed several rings around the modestly-sized planet, casting shallow shadows down onto the planet below and giving it a mysterious look. A quick survey of them showed a higher-than-normal concentration of metal within, making them perfect for mining, and indicating that the rings were most likely the remnants of one or more moons. It was a bountiful planet, capable of supporting colonization and excavation, and it was the source of food for the regional pirates.

Viliana performed a second, more detailed, sensor sweep on the asteroid belt, and a red dot appeared on the system-map we were constructing. "There's an asteroid station inside the belt," confirmed Alizabeth, "There is only a token fleet guarding it at the moment, but we will need to get closer to discern the defenses of the station overall."

I opened a fleet-wide communication channel as I charted a short-range jump for the fleet, "We will be arriving at our destination in five minutes, all hands to your stations. I repeat, all hands to a battle-ready stance, we don't know if they are going to take our arrival peacefully." I closed the channel, initiating the synchronization process between the fleet's gravity drives.

"Do you think they're going to resist?" Aria asked nervously from behind me.

I turned to face her, a deep worry clouding her eyes. "With any luck they won't," I said carefully, "but either way we will have to fight Reaper's mother." Aria looked uncomfortable, as if she wasn't saying something. "If you aren't up for this, I need you to tell me now, Aria."

She shook her head, "No, no. I could never wait here while you all risked your lives. It's just..." She turned her gaze away from me, looking down to the side while fidgeting with her rifle. A moment later she looked back up at me, giving me an obviously fake smile, and saluted, "Never mind me, Admiral. I will be fine."

I turned back, facing forwards in my seat and shook my head. I decided not to press the issue. So long as it didn't interfere with Aria performing her role, then it didn't matter right now. Once we were finished with this mission, we were looking for Kaeya, and I couldn't let any distractions get in the way of that.

The drive synchronization finished, and our fleet -fifteen vessels in total- was pulled into the gravity dimension as we rocketed forwards magnitudes faster than the speed of light. The galaxy around us blinked out to be replaced by a vast emptiness, devoid of all color and shape besides our ships. The only indication of our speed and location was given to us through our ship's gravity drives, which were constantly calculating our true position back in reality, and I stretched my arms and legs to relieve their tension.