The hum of the Driftknight's engines filled the command room, a low and steady pulse beneath the ship's approach to the asteroid belt.

Kara stood at the console, eyes flicking between the nav display and the blinking comms queue.

The rendezvous was close. But her mind was elsewhere.

The hatch slid open.

Kara didn't turn fully. Just enough to catch the familiar silhouette drifting in. Akiko. Ears low. Tail still. No spark in her step.

That alone raised an eyebrow.

"Well, well," Kara said, straightening. "Didn't expect to see you up here. Figured you'd be in the workshop until the last second, trying to pull a miracle out of spare parts."

Akiko hesitated. Her hands gripped the console's edge. "Yeah, about that…"

Kara waited.

"It's not going to happen," Akiko said quietly. "Not yet, anyway."

Kara kept her voice even. "Did Tanya finally put her foot down, or did you light the workshop on fire again?"

Akiko winced. "We almost did. Twice. But we caught it in time."

Kara said nothing, letting the silence stretch.

Akiko shifted, clearly uncomfortable. "The materials we have aren't good enough. We couldn't handle the heat. Couldn't get the rig stable. We'd need way better components to make it work."

She's learning, Kara thought. No dramatics. No justifications. Just the truth.

Kara crossed her arms. "I'll admit, I'm surprised."

Akiko blinked. "You are?"

"I figured you'd come in here with some half-melted prototype, trying to convince me it was worth betting the core on."

Akiko grimaced. "I… thought about it. But it didn't feel right. I didn't want to push my luck and make things worse."

Kara let the silence hang again, then nodded. "Looks like you're learning, little fox."

Akiko frowned, perhaps uncertain if she'd been scolded or praised.

Kara allowed a faint smirk. "I gave you permission to work on this knowing it was a long shot. Honestly, I'm relieved. It takes more guts to walk away than to gamble the ship."

Akiko exhaled, tension easing from her shoulders, though the frustration was still evident. "So... what now?"

"We stick to the plan. Offload the salvage, get paid, see what Tarek wants next. As for your project?" She shrugged. "Put it on ice. If we come across what you need, we'll revisit it. But don't let it distract you from the next job."

Akiko nodded, her tail flicking once. "Got it."

"Good." Kara turned back to the console. "Now go get some rest. You look like you've been wrestling a plasma torch barehanded."

Akiko turned to go.

"Akiko."

She paused at the hatch.

Kara didn't look up. "Good effort. Even if it didn't pan out."

Akiko lingered, expression unreadable, then gave a quiet nod. "Thanks, Captain."

The hatch closed behind her.

Kara let out a slow breath. The kid was reckless. But if she kept this up, tempered her fire with patience, she might be someone worth betting on.

But for now, there was a ship to run. A crew to protect. And systems that didn't fix themselves.

She threw herself into the work. There were always things to check, reports to file, subtle course corrections to oversee.

By the time the asteroid belt came into view, most of the crew had rotated shifts. The quiet hum of preparation settled over the bridge like a second skin.

It loomed ahead, an endless sprawl of drifting rock and frozen debris, lit only by the distant glimmer of Eridani's sun.

The Driftknight slipped into its shadowed heart, each maneuver from the thrusters rippling faintly through the hull.

Kara braced one hand on the console's support rail, her boots locked into the floor loops for stability. The engines were quiet. The silence felt deliberate, almost reverent.

Behind her, a soft fidgeting broke the stillness.

She didn't need to turn. Akiko's presence was obvious, tail flicking in slow arcs, ears twitching where she floated in the auxiliary couch's harness. Emotions scrawled across her body like a second language.

Kara didn't comment. Just kept her eyes on the nav display. The belt demanded attention. And Ralyn Veck demanded caution. Neither left much room for mistakes.

The thought of bringing Akiko into the meeting gave her pause. Ralyn wasn't fond of unpredictability. And Akiko... well, her reputation didn't exactly scream "diplomatic asset."

But when it came to tracking mana hotspots, she was their best shot. Better a risk than a wasted opportunity.

"Captain, we're approaching Veck's transport," came Quinn's voice from the helm. "He's cleared us for docking."

"Understood," Kara said, tightening her grip slightly. "Bring us in clean. I don't want to turn his ship into salvage."

A soft chuckle. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Kara glanced back. "You coming with me, or staying strapped in?"

Akiko perked up. "Depends. Is this the kind of meeting where I'm useful, or the kind where I get to be the exotic wildcard in the corner?"

Kara's mouth twitched. "Useful, if Veck says so. Otherwise, keep your ears down and your mouth shut."

Akiko gave a lazy salute. "Aye aye, Captain."

The Driftknight shuddered gently as the docking clamps engaged. Kara double-checked the alignment readout, then nodded. "Nice work, Quinn. Keep us steady. If anything so much as twitches, I want to know."

"Copy that. Good luck in there."

Kara released her grip, pushed off, and caught the corridor rail to reorient. "Akiko, on me. And remember, this isn't a fight. Keep your fire to yourself."

Akiko unstrapped with practiced ease, trailing behind her. "I'll try," she muttered. But there was no heat in it.

The airlock cycled open.

At the far end of the docking tunnel, Ralyn Veck waited. One hand braced on a handrail, his frame lean and sharp-eyed. No armor, no overt weapon, just that piercing gaze and a lifetime's worth of reading people.

Kara drifted into range and caught the rail beside him, steadying herself.

"Kara Ellan," Ralyn said. "Punctual."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Wouldn't miss it," she replied, offering a firm clasp of his arm. "Ralyn."

His gaze shifted past her. To the kitsune trailing silently in her wake.

A flicker of recognition. A narrow-eyed pause.

"Interesting crew," he said at last.

"She's useful," Kara said, unbothered. "You'll see."

He didn't argue. Just gestured down the corridor. "Let's talk."

Kara followed, pulling herself forward along the rails. Akiko trailed in silence. Tension radiated off her like static, but she held it tight, focused.

Veck's ship was all patched steel and utilitarian hallways. No frills. No polish. Just the scars of hard travel and harder choices.

Kara felt right at home.

The meeting room was cramped and utilitarian. Bare metal walls, bolted chairs, no pretense of comfort. Just another compartment built to survive, not to impress.

Kara drifted in without ceremony and strapped herself into the nearest seat. Ralyn followed, securing himself opposite her with the ease of someone long used to navigating tight spaces and tighter negotiations.

Akiko hesitated at the threshold. Kara didn't look at her directly, just tilted her head slightly in invitation. Akiko took the cue and floated forward, securing herself without a word. Her posture was rigid. Her eyes tracked everything.

Kara didn't blame her.

Ralyn tapped the embedded panel beside him, and a map unfolded across the wall. A sector of the asteroid belt, star-marked and strewn with glowing red indicators.

"These are the confirmed disappearances over the last three months," he said. "Small freighters. Mining vessels. One patrol boat. No wreckage, no distress calls."

Kara kept her expression neutral. "Pirates?"

Ralyn's mouth twitched. "That's what Haven wants people to think. But pirates don't erase ships. They leave debris. Trails. Survivors."

He zoomed the display inward. A cluster of red pings closed around a pulsing orange beacon.

"This was flagged by a Haven listening post two weeks ago. Their prototype mana detector picked up a spike. Something big. They dispatched a ship to investigate."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Anything we should know about the ship?"

Ralyn nodded. "The ship is the Sovereign, recently retrofitted, but they're flying blind. The detector isn't precise. Just a direction and a lot of noise. But they'll follow it until they hit something."

His gaze shifted briefly to Akiko before returning to Kara. "That's where you come in."

Kara didn't glance at Akiko. "We're not interested in feeding Haven intel."

"You won't have to. Tarek's betting you can get there first. With her help"—another glance—"you might find whatever's broadcasting that signature before the Sovereign stumbles across it."

Kara folded her arms. "And what are we walking into?"

Ralyn's confidence flickered, just slightly. "We don't have hard data. All we know is that nothing comes back from inside that zone. No signals. No debris. Nothing."

Kara watched him carefully. "You're telling me this hotspot eats ships."

"I'm telling you it takes them," he said. "And we don't know how."

Akiko shifted beside her, but Kara didn't turn. She could feel the tension radiating off the younger woman like static.

"Whatever it is," Ralyn continued, "Haven will try to claim it. And if they do, we lose any chance at understanding it, let alone controlling it."

Kara gave a slow nod. The map pulsed between them. An invitation and a warning.

"And if we beat them to it?" she asked.

"Then we change the board," Ralyn said. "That's all Tarek needs."

Kara looked at the map again. The glow of the anomaly seemed to pulse with its own rhythm.

The room dimmed as the hatch cycled open behind them, the corridor beyond cast in cooler light. Kara didn't speak. There would be time to regroup after.

She maneuvered herself into the airlock leading to the Driftknight, Akiko trailing close behind. It sealed behind them with a soft hiss, cutting off the hum of Ralyn's transport.

Kara pushed off the handrail, drifting down the short corridor toward the Driftknight's side of the dock. She didn't look back, didn't need to. Akiko's presence trailed close behind, sharp and restless.

The silence held, for a moment.

"If it's holding onto ships… maybe it's not just scavenging," Akiko said, catching a handhold with practiced ease. "Could be a containment protocol. Or something bigger. Some kind of pattern we haven't seen before."

Kara keyed in her clearance at the next rail. "You always think this much out loud?"

Akiko hesitated, then gave a soft, sheepish exhale. "I guess I'm trying to make sense of it. It doesn't fit the patterns we've seen. Like something's shaping the wreckage. Feeding on it, maybe. Or hiding in it."

Kara raised a brow but didn't look back. "Great. Now you're making it sound like it's nesting."

Akiko didn't laugh.

The airlock cycled. Kara exhaled. "Wonderful."

Akiko drifted through first, fluid and precise. She always moved like that. Half instinct, half intuition. Kara followed, deliberate and steady.

She hadn't missed the way Akiko had held herself during the meeting. Tight, reactive, like every muscle was on standby. Ralyn had noticed too. He'd kept it to himself, but the read had been there.

Whatever this job was to her now, it wasn't just professional. Something deeper was pulling at her.

As they glided through the Driftknight's corridor, Akiko spoke again, quieter this time. "You felt it too, right? Whatever's out there, it's more than just hardware."

"Maybe," Kara said. "Or maybe it's a trap designed to lure in people who think like you."

Akiko's tail flicked behind her in a controlled arc. "I've seen worse traps."

"That doesn't make you immune."

"No," Akiko said, gaze steady. "Just ready."

Kara paused at the corridor's junction and turned. The girl's eyes were sharp now. Focused. Not scattered, not naive. Whatever fire lived in her, it wasn't just burning for the thrill anymore.

"You're right," Kara said. "We're here to find out. Just don't lose your edge chasing answers."

A moment passed. Then Akiko gave a small, crooked grin. "Wasn't planning to."

"Mm." Kara pushed off the rail again. "Come on. Quinn's probably already spinning conspiracy theories."

Akiko followed. Kara glanced back one last time.

The way her tail moved. Measured. Balanced. Still a spark there. But maybe… maybe it was learning where to burn.

When they arrived, the Driftknight's bridge was quiet, save for the soft hum of systems and the occasional beep of a console.

Kara pulled herself into her command chair, boots finding the footholds out of habit. Outside, Ralyn's transport drifted free, fading into the belt's endless sprawl.

"Quinn," she said. "Take us out. Nice and easy. Let's not scrape anything we can't fix."

"At your service, Captain," Quinn replied. "Undocking complete. Plotting the course now."

Kara leaned forward, fingers moving across the console. The waypoint Ralyn had given them resolved on the nav map. A pulse of faint orange amid a lattice of red markers. Not far, by system standards. But in the asteroid belt, close was always a matter of perspective.

"Course locked," Quinn said. "We're clear for a steady burn."

Kara let herself lean back, watching the ship settle into rhythm. Quinn was solid. The crew was focused. But the mission pressed down like a weight. Different from their usual runs. Heavier. More than just a salvage op.

Hours stretched ahead. She stayed in her chair, eyes on the holographic map. The waypoint hovered at the edge like a dare.

The Driftknight wasn't built for this. It was a workhorse. A survivor. Not a symbol, not a blade. For years, that had been enough. Fly under Haven's reach. Take what others missed. Stay small.

But things were shifting. Jobs were turning into missions. The stakes didn't just scrape the surface anymore, they ran system-deep. Magic had seen to that.

No one understood it. Not Haven. Not the rebellion. Not the people wielding it. But everyone wanted to claim it. To shape it. To weaponize it.

Kara watched the map shift slightly as their course auto-corrected. The red-ringed disappearances didn't blink. They just waited. Quiet. Absolute.

Ralyn had said little. He didn't have to. Kara had read enough between the lines. Whatever they were walking into wasn't just unknown. It was unprecedented.

Her thoughts flicked, unbidden, to Akiko. All twitching energy and unpredictable brilliance. The kind of person who filled silence with fire. Kara had brought her on as an asset first, valuable for her exotic abilities. A wildcard, too volatile for trust, but useful all the same.

But lately? There was something else. That edge again. Potential. And danger.

Akiko had proven herself more than once, even as she brought down more heat than they could handle. But Kara couldn't shake the feeling that brilliance like hers always came with a cost. Maybe not today. Maybe not this mission. But soon.

The belt stretched ahead, silent and waiting. The system was already kindling, and Kara couldn't help but wonder if this would be the spark that lit the match.

The holographic map shimmered with updated telemetry as the Driftknight slid deeper into the asteroid belt. The waypoint Ralyn had flagged hovered in faint orange at the edge of the display.

But Kara wasn't watching the waypoint.

Her eyes were fixed on the long, unmistakable signature of a frigate creeping into sensor range.

The Sovereign.

Kara leaned forward, jaw tightening. The Haven frigate wasn't subtle. Its fusion plume burned like a flare against the void. A declaration of power, of presence. Haven never hid. They didn't need to.

"They're not subtle, I'll give them that," Quinn muttered from the helm, adjusting the Driftknight's attitude with careful precision.

"They don't have to be," Kara said. "Not when they've got firepower to match."

Her voice was calm, measured. But her thoughts moved faster than the ship.

The Sovereign wasn't close enough to be a threat yet. But it was moving on the same vector. If they didn't get ahead of it, Haven would find the anomaly first. Worse, they might spot the Driftknight. Then this wouldn't be a race. It would be a confrontation.

"Quinn," Kara said, tone clipped. "Cut the main drive. Switch to RCS only. I don't want to give them a heat trail."

"Aye, Captain." His hands danced over the controls. The main engines fell silent, leaving only the whisper of microthrusters. The ship drifted forward on inertia alone. A ghost among the tumbling rocks.

The transition was immediate. Kara's boots hooked instinctively into the floor loops. The bridge settled into microgravity discipline. No wasted motion, no chatter. Just tension coiling in silence.

She turned her chair slowly, eyes finding Akiko where she was strapped into the auxiliary couch. The kitsune was quiet. Still. Ears tilted back.

Kara studied her for a breath. Calculating.

"Alright, little fox," she said, breaking the quiet. "You're up."

Akiko blinked. "Right now?"

"Yes, right now. We need eyes out there before the Sovereign gets too close. Scout the anomaly. Find the signal. No delays."

Akiko was already moving, unstrapping with practiced ease. Her tail drifted behind her in the low-G like a tether line.

Kara raised a hand. "But—" Her voice sharpened. "Do not engage. I don't care what's out there. You wait for backup. Understood?"

Akiko paused, jaw twitching like she wanted to argue. Then her ears tilted back in quiet understanding. "Got it. Scout only."

"Good." Kara leaned back, arms crossing. "Get moving. And Akiko—"

She paused.

Akiko looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Stay safe."

A crooked grin. "You got it."

Kara watched her slip out of the bridge, her light frame moving effortlessly in the low gravity.

She trusted Akiko's skill. She wouldn't have sent her otherwise. But trust didn't settle the knot in her gut.

Out beyond the belt, the Sovereign burned bright and steady, a slow predator on their tail. And whatever lay ahead, whatever pulled ships into silence, wasn't waiting to be found.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.