Aetherbound - E.K. Johnston Page 0,28

Harland is done.”

“You’d better,” Ned said, and the comm went quiet.

The screens changed to show the interior of the ore-processing facility as Fisher coordinated the work that needed to be done before the next shipment arrived. Fisher went to the calorie dispenser and requested something to stay awake. It didn’t taste very good, but it would do the job, and that meant Fisher could too.

11.

NED RETURNED FIFTEEN MINUTES before the Harland was due, which meant he couldn’t have gotten very much sleep. He looked better, though, and he wasn’t drinking a stimulant this time, so Fisher counted it as a win. It was nearing midnight on the station’s chronometer, the darklight shift half over. The restaurants and shops on the colonnade were long closed, but a few bars would still be open. Fisher didn’t frequent any of them, but he did read the health inspection reports, so he knew what amenities the station had to offer.

“This ship has been out there for twenty years,” Ned said, reading the screen in front of him. “The last time it was here, we weren’t even born yet.”

“How old is that ship?” Fisher asked. The newer ships could make the mining run in five years. Two decades meant the ship was practically ancient, and probably huge.

“It’s old,” Ned said. “It’ll have to dock on the lower half of the ring.”

That made unloading slightly more complicated, but there was nothing for it. That was the only place they could put a ship of that size. What they lacked in speed, they made up for in hauling capacity.

“Get a load of this thing.” Ned was now looking at a technical readout of the ship. “Most of it is engine and cargo space. There’s like four rooms. I would go absolutely insane.”

Ned did not take well to staying in one place, which wasn’t exactly a quality one looked for in the person who was locked into Brannick Station by his genetics, but at least the station was gigantic and there was plenty to do.

“Only the captain and first officer are scheduled to come on board,” Fisher said. “They’re not even helping unload. It’s going to be all on our end.”

Ned shuddered.

The boys watched as the docking procedures were completed and the airlocks regulated. As expected, only one crew airlock cycled for use, along with the main and auxiliary holds.

“There’s nothing in the second hold,” Fisher reported, skimming the official register. “They’re just opening up to maximize air recycling. I’m going to switch the cameras to run maintenance.”

“That’s fair enough,” Ned said. “And also handy, since that’s where we should have unloaded the Cleland, so they might think it was weird if the hold was empty when they know there was a ship in front of them.”

“Everything is working out very nice for you,” Fisher said sarcastically. “I didn’t nearly have a heart attack or anything.”

Ned didn’t reply.

“Do you want to go oversee the unloading?” Fisher offered an olive branch. “If you start doing it on regular shipments, you can do it when your friends come in as well.”

Ned brightened. He was out of his chair and heading for the door before Fisher could draw breath. It was something, at least.

Fisher watched on the monitors as the ship was unloaded. It was strange not to have anyone get off and help or supervise or go get a drink on the colonnade. Instead, the Brannick team removed enormous crates of semi-processed ore from the hold of the Harland, stacking them in the cavernous loading bay until they figured out what was going where. A requisition list popped up on Fisher’s screen, mostly medical supplies and food. He sent it on to the quartermaster to be filled. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Fisher even saw Ned shaking hands with a tall woman he assumed was the captain. She didn’t look particularly thrilled about it.

A flicker of movement caught his eye. All the cameras in the other loading bay were maintenance cycling through one monitor since there wasn’t anything going on there right now. Or at least, there wasn’t supposed to be anything going on there right now. Fisher turned away from his brother’s image, and brought up the secondary cameras on more screens until he found what he was looking for.

A small figure dropped out of the Harland and made her way across the empty floor. It had been scrubbed after the Cleland had departed, partly as procedure and partly to destroy evidence, so there wasn’t really anything for