13

The concrete apron around the main hangar was rough under Arkk’s belly and tail. Light was leaching from the evening sky, but the port’s floodlamps hadn’t yet switched on. Gau had flown its ship to the spaceport’s perimeter, keeping close to the canopy to avoid registering on Kressheel Port’s radar. Arkk crawled toward the open maw of the hangar under cover of Carnivore’s holographic projector, which camouflaged his body the same color and texture as the concrete. Gau had said the holos and the encroaching twilight would be enough to hide Arkk if he went very, very slow. He was doing that and more, freezing every time a vehicle swept out into the dusk or settled into a launch cradle on the flare of rockets. The Urd had weak night vision, but what they had was highly attuned to movement.

The lit entrance to the hangar loomed closer. Arkk crawled a last few agonizing meters on his belly to the edge of the main bay door Gau had indicated. His scales crawled with apprehension as he craned his neck to peek inside.

Harsh floodlights illuminated the bay’s white metal walls and cut stark black shadows from the Terran ship embedded cocoon-like in scaffolding spars. It rested in a shallow divot in the bay floor, like a colossal egg, conduits running into its belly from hatches surrounding the repair cradle. Catwalks lined the walls of the bay and crisscrossed high above the ship’s hull. Save for the repair drones working on the ship, the side of the chamber in Arkk’s view was empty.

He tensed his legs to make a dash for the freighter when Gau’s voice in his ear stopped him. “Not yet.” The sound quality was tinny through the commlink inside Arkk’s ear. “Some Urd coming this way.” As soon as the Osk said it, two Urd emerged around the sloping side of the Skycatcher, both carrying folders full of flimsies. Arkk shrank back, still watching as one opened the door in the hangar’s west wall that connected to the office.

The door closed after them. “Now, Arkk,” Gau said. “Go!”

Arkk sidled along the interior wall of the hangar, staying in the cameras’ blind spots as Gau had told him. He halted in a hidden spot between the Skycatcher’s hull and the transport shuttle berths along the building’s east wall. The repair drones paid Arkk no attention as he leaped onto the scaffolding and began to climb.