15

The Urd provided almost as much of a distraction with their shouting as Arkk’s sabotage did. Gau slid his ship into the shadow of the Skycatcher on quiet auxiliary jets, the engines muffled by the commotion. He’d used his bots to blank the two cameras directly in his flight path but kept the Carnivore’s holo-camouflage running. Any casual onlookers would see an innocent surface-to-orbit shuttle tucked next to the Skycatcher.

Gau slipped out of the airlock facing the freighter, crouching in the space between his craft and the larger ship to hide from any cameras he’d missed. He kept his upper body hunched as he sidled over to the repair drone module hanging in an alcove on the wall a meter away. He flipped down the screen and input the specifications for his ship, the location and nature of the damage, and type of repair needed. After a blip of consideration, the face of the module split along four lines; he saw only black through the aperture created before it extended a pair of spindly legs, like an insect emerging from its egg case.

Gau briefly closed his eyes in relief. The repair module had accepted his specs. He would be off Rreluush-Tren soon. Now he just had to hope Arkk’s diversion bought enough time.