The old agricultural shuttle dropped out of Faster‑Than‑Light travel around 0438 local time. The hull shuddered and popped as the ship settled into the tug of the station’s artificial gravity. The seating area, once a cargo bay, was dim and unevenly lit, its mismatched fixtures buzzing over vinyl seats that had survived better centuries.
The cabin seals exhaled a long hiss as the atmosphere escaped. Lights strobed. Klaxons wailed. The whole shuttle felt like it was announcing its arrival whether anyone wanted it to or not.
“Damn it!” the attendant screeched as it pushed the E-stop. Nothing happened. “Unda hotpo, stinking crap…” it muttered as it smacked the control panel. The third time, the klaxon warbled and stopped.
Kade gripped the cracked green armrest, flexing his fingers to keep them from going white.
“Yata Hodna,” the attendant mumbled as it slid past his chair with an urgency that only comes when your life is on the line.
“Uhh, partner…you need a hand?” Kade hollered as a jet of cooled steam hissed past his ear.
“Mu, mu…no, please stay in your seat!” it commanded. Kade shrugged as he sat back, “aw-ight, pal.”
The shuttle banked hard and groaned as it flipped, burning to slow the descent. The oxygen boosters filled the cabin with a loud puff-puff-puff. The attendant ran by again, this time much calmer, or what passed for calm in their species.
Kade felt a tingle in his chest; something felt wrong. He swallowed and took a deep breath. His hands were gripping the armrest through the shakes.
He’d had run‑ins with their species before, a peculiar breed built for thin atmo, able to go hours without a proper breath. The work crews called them skimmers, though that wasn’t their real name. Their actual word for themselves was a throat‑clicking tangle of sounds no Terran mouth could manage. He could tell this one had spent the majority of its life in vac, its skin was a faded gray instead of the vibrant blue and brown speckled dots that usually adorned their arms and neck.
The old atmo-station came into view through the one port that hadn’t been patched over. The crooked docking ring clung to the station cylinder, three uneven arms bolted around the top of the main unit. A cluster of rocks and small asteroids had been tethered together to serve as a satellite. Orange and green beacons blinked against the dark, marking its slow orbit as it helped the station hold its artificial gravity.
Kade felt that tingle again. The station was darker now, but it still had that same dread just under the surface. The kind you don’t see until it's too late.
Kade leaned back, closing his eyes as he felt the soft trickle of moisture from a leaking pipe. His skin crawled, the steely lizardy hands of Sepav clouding his mind. He cleared his throat and wiped the moisture away.
“We land in twenty,” the skimmer yelped, skidding past the section once more before locking itself into a seat.
Most of the passengers were the usual mix you’d find on a run this far out. Some miners headed home with dust still in their boots, traders clutching crates of cheap goods, a couple of drifters who looked like they’d been living off station rations for too long. Nothing was worth a second glance.
Except for her.
She sat near the back, wrapped head to toe in heavy blue robes that didn’t belong anywhere near the edges of the verse. The fabric looked too clean, too perfect, like it had never brushed against a bulkhead in its life. Only her eyes showed. A solid light blue, pupils were a sharp red point in the center. They didn’t blink the way they should. Not alien but not quite human either.
There were stories about the early settlers, how some of them spliced their DNA with whatever they thought might give them an edge. The traveler had never met one. But something about her, her mannerisms, her measured movements, told him he was about to.
He glanced her way, and their eyes met. The pull was immediate, almost mesmerizing in the stillness. Her fabric mask shifted in a way that made it clear she was smiling. He felt his own mouth twitch into a nervous grin before he turned back to the seat, pretending that moment hadn’t reached straight through his chest.
The shuttle circled docking slot 797, oxy jets hissing as it eased in for a perch. A heavy mechanical thunk rolled through the cabin when the landing gear locked, the quarter‑atmo settling over the hull like a slow, deliberate hand.
He swallowed; his throat was dry, as he wiggled in his seat. The fasten seatbelt sign went out. The skimmer hopped down the aisle to the hatch as the package bays overhead began to open. The robed lady stumbled as she stood up and fell into the traveler's chair.
“You ok?” He asked as he helped her up.
“Sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve been in atmo,” she said, her voice a hushed whisper under the ship’s commotion. They looked at each other. Her eyes blinked vertically. He felt his fingers loosen from her arm before he even realized he’d grabbed her. He'd never seen anyone like her.
“My name’s Kade Rourke,” he mumbled, hesitating before offering a handshake.
“Charmed, Kade.” Her tone was smooth, almost amused. “You wouldn’t be able to pronounce my name, but you may call me Kesh.”
He couldn’t tell if he should feel insulted or intrigued. Maybe both. He shook her gloved hand and tilted his head toward her, trying to read whatever expression might be hiding behind those robes.
“Thank you, Kade. Hope I see you around before I leave,” she said as she shifted her body and walked off the ship.
“Unda hotpo! Do you know who you just spoke to?” the skimmer huffed, leaning over the seat in front of me, its large brown eyes studying his face.
He shrugged. “No. Should I?”
“The Kesh. Kesh Ossaryn.” It blinked fast, waiting for recognition.
Kade winced his mouth and shrugged again.
The skimmer let out a frustrated chirp and bounded off down the aisle, muttering, “stupid terrans.”
Kade gathered his things and checked his face in the polished metal panel above the seat. Yep, still a handsome devil. He slid out of the row and walked off the ship.
The air was heavy and smelled of metal as he made the atmosphere lock. His chest tingled again, and he couldn’t will it away. The chatter of the port drowned out the sound of anything else. The air was filled with the smell of too many species, too close in an area, and some sort of fried food he couldn't place.
This time, it was going to be different, at least he hoped so.