“Maybe you should leave your gun on the ship,” Lana said. “We don’t want you accidentally shooting Alzigo—he’s the owner.”

The sharpshooter frowned. “Why would I shoot him?”

“You’ll see.”

“I’m going to use the station’s auto repair service,” Bulco grunted.

“And I’m going to settle our loan with Alzigo,” Lana said.

Nathan glanced at the ship’s large front viewscreen and twitched a finger. A message flashed across the screen.

Asteroid Cannon upgrade: 45%

“I’m staying,” he said simply. With a thought, the pod he was using as a chair closed up, sealing him in Unity’s peaceful embrace.

***

The four members stepped through the docking bay corridor that connected to the main docking tube. Bulco stayed behind, letting the three women pass, then he accessed a holographic terminal mounted on the wall. A ‘scanning’ message appeared, blinking for several seconds before it was replaced by new lines.

Scan results:

Life Support: overload detected. Fix: 12,000

Structural integrity compromised. Fix: 26,000 piTec

Internal damage: Fix: 9,000 piTec

With a grunt, he approved all items and then paused when he noticed that one of the small menus on the side was for styling. He smiled to himself, clicked the console for several moments, then deposited the crystallized, teardrop-shaped piTec into a small port.

Through the windows mounted on the sides of the corridor, he could see several long robotic arms disengage from the sides of the space station. A blue bubble of pure force appeared surrounding their ship, then the arms passed on through and started working, opening panels, dipping deep into the ship’s interior, removing components and replacing them with new ones. It was a fascinating show.

After several minutes, the Engineer glanced at the console.

Work progress:

Life Support: 3%

Structural Integrity: 1%

Internal damage: 5%

They had some time to kill.

Shrugging, the large man reentered the freighter. Watching the automatic repair system from up close was a learning opportunity he didn’t intend to miss.

***

“Holy crap!” Cattie’s eyes were wide as saucers. “This place is huge.”

Nori led her and Lana through the docking bay that opened into the main docking tube. Dozens of doors, just like the one they just passed through, appeared on the sides of the corridor.

“I know, right?” Lana smiled at her. “I couldn’t believe it myself the first time I was here.”

“First time?” the Sharpshooter arced an eyebrow at her. “How many times have you been up here.”

Lana raised her brow at Nori. “Three times?”

The Navigator nodded. “This will be our fourth.”

“Damn, you girls are veritable veteran space adventurers.”

They took to the left, reaching the large vault door that led to the station’s main deck. The doors opened, revealing a vast open space, and one tall alien.