A mission on Lyria took an unexpected turn.
My head was buzzing. I sat on a stool in a dark alley. Opposite me sat a guy on a sofa. Slowly the memory came back. Someone had hit me from behind. When I raised my head, the guy said, “Good morning Sweetheart, have you got lost? This is a dangerous area here.” I said, “I’m looking for Tecia Pacheco.” The guy looked at me puzzled. He grinned and said, “You need an invitation to meet her, maybe I have a ticket for you.”
An hour later I was sitting in my Cutlass and was leaving ArcCorp. The ticket was an order. I was supposed to pick up some stuff at an outpost on the moon Lyria. Everything was top secret, probably not completely legal. If I could find Tecia Pacheco like that, it should be fine with me.
Lyria reminded me a little bit of Yela. It was an ice moon. But it had its own beauty, somehow I liked it. The outpost was well hidden, I thought spontaneously of Jumptown. Then a Hammerhead appeared on the radar. The hair on my neck rose up. A hidden outpost, a Hammerhead, the memories of the battles at Jumptwon hit me like a knife. I feared the worst. I took cover behind a mountain and flew in a wide arc around the outpost. I kept my distance and wanted to see what the Hammerhead had in mind. In a confrontation, I would have no chance.
Then the Hammerhead radioed me. If I was looking for the drug lab, I would be right. I was confused. The drug lab? Was this a second Jumptown? I said that I was only here to get the garbage and if I could land. I got the landing clearance. After landing, the Hammerhead also landed.
I walked into the building and was surprised to find that it was a drug lab, just like Jumptown. Then the pilot of the Hammerhead reported. I should not think of taking anything except the three boxes I had as mission goal.
I was instructed to bring the boxes to the Hammerhead. I had my doubts that in the boxes was really garbage. It was better not to ask questions.
I had just brought the last box on board when a jolt went through the ship. It started. I went to the cockpit to see what was going on. When I entered the cockpit, I stopped in amazement. A beautiful panoramic view of Lyria was in front of me.
I was told that we would take the boxes to a secret transfer location. After that I would be brought back to my Cutlass. The cargo was probably especially valuable, why else should it be transported in a heavily armed Hammerhead.
When we were in orbit I had to leave the cockpit. I was not allowed to know where the journey went. I was only told that we would unload via the front airlock. So I brought the boxes to the front.
We were in Quantum Flight for a while. I could not say how long and where. Then came the announcement that we were at the destination. I opened the airlock. We were still in space. We were in an asteroid field. The remains of a destroyed space station lay before us. I could not see any other ship. I attached a tracking transmitter to each box and threw it out of the airlock.
When I was back at ArcCorp, I rented a Hab. I was determined to stay until I got the invitation from Tecia Pacheco.