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I listlessly poked at my noodles. The barstool wasn’t getting any more comfortable as time went on. Groaning, I shifted my weight from one buttock to the other.

“Don’t you like it?”

I looked up. The vendor at the noodle stand at the Grand Barter Bazaar was eyeing me pityingly. Only now did the babble of voices from the bazaar reach me again.

“Uh, yeah. Just not hungry. My mind’s elsewhere.”

He smiled, took the half-full noodle box, and placed a Schmolz right in front of my nose.

I stared at the newspaper in front of me, as if it would answer my questions. How was I supposed to solve a cold case? Kylo’s murder had happened years ago and had long been forgotten until the investigation file resurfaced. But the file had been tampered with. Why in the Prophet’s name would someone want certain information to disappear? What were the specific circumstances surrounding Kylo’s murder? Did it even make sense to look into this? We’d uncovered scandal after scandal, yet nothing had changed. But this time, it was personal. Kylo had been more than just a contact. He’d left me his Cutlass Black. Without him, I might never have become a pilot and seen the endless possibilities in the Verse.

Back then, I’d already tried—without success—to find Kylo’s killer. My hunch was: a rival, someone who wanted to take over Kylo’s drug operations. I’d suspected Wallace and Recco back then, but not seriously. What if it was even worse?—Someone from the Committee, or the head of security at the time, Cabassa. No, that couldn’t be; it would have trampled on the ideals of the People’s Alliance.

But what if it was? I had to find out who the killer was. But where do you even start when reopening such an old case, especially when the file had been tampered with? — Talk to the people from back then. I downed the Schmolz in one gulp, slammed the bottle down on the counter, and jumped off the stool.

Five minutes later, I was at Recco’s. She was standing behind her counter, with a blue banner bearing the People’s Alliance emblem and the slogan “Stronger Together” hanging in front of it.

“Zero! What’s up?” she called out to me. “Glad to see you’re wearing the family uniform.”

I was wearing overalls with the People’s Alliance emblem. Recco had given them to me—so I’d know where I belong. I got straight to the point.

“I have a question about back then. The crates from Stanton that I took to Levski on your orders. Why did they actually have to go to Wallace’s drug lab?”

Recco gave me a puppy-dog look.

“Well, you know—those were stimulants for the hard-working miners. I wanted to save them from an accident like the one I had. To always stay fully focused, you know. But the committee didn’t support that. That’s why it had to be done in secret, and Wallace’s place was a good hiding spot. You know I’ll do anything to protect the family.”

Recco’s expression turned sad. She continued in a soft voice.

“Unfortunately, I can’t protect everyone. Isaac….” She swallowed, struggling to find the words. “His parents raised him to believe in what we’re trying to achieve here. But he lost his faith in our cause. He defected to the Moraines and helped them ambush our convoys. I tried to bring him back…”

Recco groaned in pain.

“Isaac lost his life in the process.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded, turned around, and walked away. Either she was telling the truth, or she was damn good at lying. I believed her—or was that naive?

Maybe Wallace could help me out, but he was living in the Stanton System now. Maybe that was the perfect excuse for a hot bath at the spa on Orison. Besides, I was hoping to finally find buyers for my salvaged components at Cousin’s Crows. Ray Keaton had backed out, and I’d been stuck with that damn stuff ever since.

That evening, I went to Jendrikon’s regulars’ table. I tried to bring up the Kylo case, but Zwiebus shut me down. Jendrikon, Pike, and Zwiebus were soon dead drunk and no help at all. So I set off alone in the Star Runner toward the Stanton System. I had very valuable cargo on board. My White Rabbit’s speed, stealth capabilities, and crypto server might still come in handy.

On the way, I stopped in Sunset Mesa to visit my old friend Gerald. We stood on the roof of a building and exchanged information. Warm dust hung in the air. It felt good to feel the Monox Desert again. I breathed in its scent deeply. I’d missed it. But I couldn’t stay.

A few hours later, I reached the jump point from Pyro to Stanton. The White Rabbit drifted toward the wormhole amid jagged asteroids. Then a contact flashed on the screen. Thirteen kilometers. Right at the jump point. Corsair. I felt a rush of heat. The ship hung motionless among the boulders, as if waiting for something. For me? Had I been betrayed?

My fingers flew across the controls. Thrusters down. Life support down. Coolant down. Radar down. The signature reading dropped, but not enough. Damn it. The Corsair could still track me. I pressed my lips together. There was only one option left. Shields off. I hesitated for a heartbeat. Then I flipped the switch. The hum of the shields fell silent. The signature plummeted. Detection range under two kilometers.

The White Rabbit—unprotected. But invisible.

I forced myself to breathe calmly as the Corsair slowly crept past the cockpit window toward the stern. Every meter felt too short. The Corsair remained motionless. Four kilometers. Five. No reaction. Only when the wormhole filled the viewport did the knot in my stomach loosen. The White Rabbit plunged in.

I reached the Stanton system safely, sold my valuable cargo, and set course for Grim Hex. I emerged from the quantum tunnel. Grim Hex and the Yela asteroid belt lay before me. At the same time, three contacts appeared on my radar. Corsair. Constellation. Perseus. Concentrated firepower. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. Was it the same Corsair that had been lurking at the jump point in Pyro? Maybe this wasn’t a coincidence after all. Before I could even finish the thought, the ships fanned out. Interception course. Shit. My gaze darted between the radar and the windshield. Asteroids everywhere. Dark boulders, big enough to hide behind. Jump away? No. Not after all that effort. I diverted power from the systems and cut the shields. The seconds dragged on. Then the contacts changed course. Search pattern. I exhaled. They’d lost me. As long as I kept a two-kilometer distance, they couldn’t lock onto me.

I changed course. I made a wide arc around the ships. Again and again, my gaze drifted to the left. Was I far enough away? Suddenly, it grew dark. The shadow of the moon Yela—the asteroids were now only faintly visible. Navigation became more difficult.

Finally, I’d flown around Grim Hex. Suddenly, the Corsair changed course—straight toward Grim Hex. Damn it. It took up position by the hangar doors. I turned the control wheel. Grim Hex shifted to the right in my field of view. After a few seconds, I turned the control wheel again; the White Rabbit swung back toward Grim Hex. A narrow gap between two boulders lay directly ahead, barely visible in the darkness.

I checked the Corsair’s position. It was still hovering three kilometers in front of the hangar doors. Now. I gripped the controls tighter. The gap between the asteroids suddenly seemed much narrower than it had a moment ago. Slowly. Don’t tense up. The White Rabbit rolled onto its side. Ahead of me, black rock walls closed in on the cockpit windshield. Too close. Way too close. A boulder scraped right past the top of the cockpit. Instinctively, I ducked my head. Nonsense. Still, I stayed crouched until the passage opened and the hangar doors appeared ahead of me. Clearance to land. A door slid open. The Star Runner slipped inside. Touchdown. I slumped in the pilot’s seat and ran my hand over the controls. My White Rabbit—I was glad I had her.

Without further ado, I went to Wallace. The old drug chemist looked as if his own drugs had eaten him up from the inside. Black veins stood out beneath his skin; sweat glistened on his bald head. Even as I walked, I fired my first question at him sharply.

“Were you expecting me?”

He stared at me grimly.

“Expected you? Why would I? Haven’t seen you in ages! I’d already forgotten about you.”

Probably forgotten because of his drug use. I softened my tone.

“Why did you leave Levski and come to Grim Hex?”

“Lousy question. You were there, too. So much for égalité. Didn’t apply to everyone. That head of security…”

Wallace rubbed his head with his hands.

“Cabassa,” I added.

“Probably. He was a piece of shit. Would’ve killed me.”

Did the security chief at the time have something to do with the murder? No, I didn’t want to believe that. Maybe it was a rival after all.

“Who dominated Jumptown back then?”

Wallace looked at me in disbelief.

“Jumptown? It went up in smoke. During the Jumptown Wars.”

“Jumptown doesn’t exist anymore?”

“It does—on Daymar.”

It was hard to talk to Wallace when he was high. I managed to get him to give me directions, then I gave up, annoyed. I had to talk to Zwiebus, and besides, the spa in Orison was waiting.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)