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Patch City. Filthy, dirty, run-down. Typical Pyro. We were sitting around a round table for a debriefing. Playing cards were scattered across it. I tried to pick one up. It was stuck fast. I let go immediately and was glad I was wearing gloves.

Zwiebus reported on his investigation in Levski.

“Cabassa left Levski in a hurry a while back. Just got up from his desk and headed for Pyro. Never showed up again.”

Cabassa. The former head of security. Zwiebus seemed downright obsessed with him. I didn’t care. We didn’t need old stories; we had to follow the lead we’d picked up in Jumptown.

I turned to Pike.

“What did you find out about Gaslight?”

“Prospect Depot is a hub for illegal goods. A dangerous place.”

I nodded.

“That matches what I’ve found. Even the Rust Society keeps its distance. Uninvited guests are met with bullets there.”

Frustrated looks. No one said anything. Still, I couldn’t help but grin.

“But I’ve got a way in. A spaceship in the hangar at an asteroid base. It’s bringing raw materials for drugs to Prospect Depot—drugs grown on Monox. There’s just one catch…”

More frustrated looks.

“…they won’t hand the ship over willingly. But if we take it over, we’ll get to Prospect Depot without a shootout and can look around in peace.”

A short while later, we were sitting in the Prowler Utility—the stealth ship the Rust Society had lent me on a previous mission. Unnoticed, we approached an asteroid field hidden within a gas cloud. Two smaller ships were patrolling around an asteroid with position lights—our target. After we took out the two ships, we hid the Prowler in a hollow of the asteroid and floated in EVA toward the base’s entrance.

Debris and an abandoned ship were drifting in front of the airlock. Not a good sign. The airlock was just as dilapidated as everything else in Pyro. Cables hung from the ceiling, panels were missing, and the dim light flickered. I peered inside through a pane of glass: no movement.

A hiss. Steam. Pressure equalization. The inner bulkhead slid aside. With our weapons drawn, we advanced.

“Straight ahead—that must be the security office. That’s where the access codes for the hangar are supposed to be,” I whispered.

We made our way over warped metal plates and grating toward the office window. Ahead of us, the corridor split. We stopped, listened—an oppressive silence. My breathing was steady. Too steady. I was surprised myself.

Suddenly, a movement—to the left, behind a container. I raised the crossbow and looked through the scope: a head. My index finger curled slightly. A soft click. With a tsssss, an arrow whizzed toward the head. The head tilted backward and disappeared. Still, a deadly silence.

I moved on silently. Suddenly, a shot rang out behind me. I flinched.

“Good thing I have the sniper with me,” Pike said dryly. “There was another one back there.”

Now I was on edge after all; I exhaled sharply and kept moving. Above a door, a sign glowed: SECURITY. Pike went inside.

“Everything’s locked; we can’t go any further.”

At that very moment, gunshots shattered the silence. Zwiebus came running up.

“There are more guys out there!”

“Let’s secure this floor first,” Pike decided and set off.

We reached an area with several passageways branching off from it. Graffiti, trash, and rust everywhere. In the bar and the gun shop, we took out more enemies. Then we found ourselves back in front of the security office.

Pike and Zwiebus checked the entrance; I took the window side. Nothing. No way in. Frustrated, I kicked a bottle. Now what? Was that it? I turned my head and let it snap back against my neck. That’s when my breath caught in my throat. Above me, a ceiling panel was missing—an opening into a ventilation shaft.

“Pike, Zwiebus, I found something.”

They both came running over.

“And how are we going to get up there?” asked Zwiebus.

“Wait a minute,” Pike said, thinking. “There’s a container back there. We can use that to help us climb up.”

Without further ado, he used the tractor beam to position the container under the hole and was the first to climb up.

“Stop! There are laser booby traps.”

A loud explosion echoed through the base.

“Okay, we can keep going.”

The former security officer clearly knew exactly what he was doing.

We crawled through a dimly lit shaft until we reached an opening. One by one, we jumped down.

The security office. Trash. Overturned cabinets. Empty weapon and ammunition crates. Pure chaos. Then I spotted a note on a table. A code.

“That must be it,” I said triumphantly.

“And how do we get out of here?” Pike asked.

Zwiebus pointed to a corner.

“There’s a hole leading down. But there are laser traps in the way.”

Pike pushed past me.

“Let me try.”

A shot. An explosion. We jumped down and landed in a pile of trash bags. Luckily, my helmet was sealed tight. That must have smelled disgusting. In single file, we followed a narrow tunnel.

We stopped abruptly. Voices—right above us. The explosion had apparently alerted the entire station. Cautiously, we put one foot in front of the other. Quietly, so as not to attract attention. We reached a ladder. Pike climbed up first, then Zwiebus.

I followed. Halfway up. Suddenly, an automatic weapon rattled. I froze, ducking my head. Seconds later, Pike’s voice rang out.

“Taken care of!”

Finally, we reached the entrance to the hangar. This was the moment. The access card was waiting. I looked at the others—hesitated. They nodded. I entered the code.

We stepped into an antechamber. A terminal; the view into the hangar blocked by containers. Pike and Zwiebus provided cover while I approached the terminal.

“I’ll open the hangar door. Then we can get out quickly in the ship.”

A metallic crash echoed through the hangar. The locking clamps released. Then came the scraping sound of the large hangar doors.

“Go! Let’s hurry!”

We made our way through a maze of containers. Finally, a clear view of the open hangar door. Outside, asteroids glowed in the brown-red haze of the gas clouds. Where was the spaceship?

“I’m going up to get a better view.”

“Be careful!” Pike warned. “There might still be enemies here.”

The metal stairs clattered with every step. Once I reached the top, I let my gaze sweep across the hangar. Containers, shelves, and crates were scattered chaotically about. In the center was an empty landing pad. The star Pyros cast a warm beam of light inside. I kept searching. Once more. Then again. Nothing. My stomach clenched.

“There’s no one here!” Zwiebus called out.

Pike’s voice rang out from the maze of containers.

“There are bunk beds here. Syringes. Drug paraphernalia.”

We met up with him.

“Looks like they’re using the stuff themselves. Are you sure it’s being shipped from here to Prospect Depot?”

All for nothing. All my frustration burst out.

“No idea. Maybe the info was outdated. Maybe my informants were high, and I was chasing a fairy tale. Whatever. This was a total bust. We could’ve saved ourselves the trouble!”

“It was worth a try,” Zwiebus reassured me.

Pike was already heading for the exit.

“We’ll find another way to check out Prospect Depot. Come on, let’s get back to Patch City before reinforcements arrive.”

I followed the two of them. The code had been real. So had the base. Only the trail had led to nowhere.

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