Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles #1) - T.A. White Page 0,1
of space. Ominous and foreboding, the ship’s lines were full of sharp edges. If it had been intact, it would have bristled with weapons capable of tearing her small ship apart. Kira didn't know if the feelings she got from it were based in her own perceptions and history or because the ship was a graveyard for those who never made it out.
"Any of the cannons look salvageable?"
Kira magnified the ship in her viewer. It was difficult to tell, since it continued to rotate along the same lines it would have when it died.
"No, they're torn to bits. There are pieces here and there, the rest of the parts are likely floating around me," she said.
"Do you think they're worth salvaging?" he asked.
"Not on this trip. I'll focus on the main body for now. We can mark the location and return for the rest."
"All right, I'm ready for you to begin your approach. Remember, these ships tend to have nasty defenses. Try not to trip them this time."
"I haven't forgotten."
"You say that, and yet you always seem to find trouble." His voice was tart. "I'm not coming to get you this time."
"Don't worry. I don't expect you to. Just make sure to keep the Wanderer out of danger," Kira said. Before he could respond, her voice turned businesslike. "Beginning my approach."
"Your trajectory is good. You should reach the ship in four minutes and ten seconds."
Kira maneuvered closer, her heart rate remaining steady despite the danger. She'd made it three meters when her proximity alert went off, the screen in her mask flashing red. She hit her thrusters, shooting left. A silver shape sailed by her.
Guess that meant the ship's defenses were intact. A grin took over her face.
When they finally cracked this nut, they were going to make a mint. Enough for a new food synthesizer capable of making food that tasted like food and not the chalky crap she was currently living off.
"What was that?" Jin asked.
"Nothing," she told him, her voice distracted.
The weapon chasing her through the wreckage looked like a long silvery ribbon. It moved as if it were organic, darting around pieces of metal with a lithe, sinuous glide as it followed Kira. It reminded her of Earth's eels. She'd never seen one personally but she'd seen pictures in books and in video.
This thing moved in much the same way, as if it was swimming through space. If it caught her, it would wrap around her before yanking her apart. That was if it didn't burn through her suit first.
"Is that a strigmor eel?" Jin's outrage was clear even over the comms.
Kira didn't bother denying it, too busy trying not to fly headfirst into any wreckage.
"How did you set off the ship's defenses?" he cried.
"Little busy here." Kira thrust down, the eel just missing her.
"Did you not cloak? I told you how important it was to cloak," he wailed.
"I cloaked," Kira said through gritted teeth. She veered to the ship. Maybe it wouldn't follow her inside.
"Don't go inside the ship. That's a horrible idea."
An instant later a second proximity alert went off, alerting Kira to another eel heading her way.
"Told you." Jin's voice was smug.
Kira ignored him, dipping down as she zigzagged recklessly through wreckage capable of cutting her to pieces if she ran into it.
She rounded a piece of particularly large metal, the first eel right on her tail, the second peeling off to try to trap her from the other side. She flicked her eyes up and to the left, blinking twice to trigger her defensive flares. Hundreds of tiny lights, each one a metal ball bearing no larger than a marble, streaked out from her suit.
The first eel flew into them, the balls attaching to its skin in a big clump. Seconds later they burst, splitting the eel in half.
Kira shot away from the wreckage, just in time for the second eel to come up from underneath. She darted through the deadly obstacle course, the eel no more than a few lengths behind her.
Her new suit with its upgrades was a blessing now. It was its own miniature spacecraft, capable of the flexible maneuvering a ship would never have been able to replicate. She'd designed it to her specifications, sourced every piece of it. Now it was making all that time, effort, and money worthwhile.
The viewscreen expanded and contracted as she searched through the wreckage for the perfect spot to take out the other eel.
There. Two long pieces of wreckage floated together, connected