Eva Jane Carter waved down Slim's A-TAG transport and made a break for it through the clouds of dust from where she'd sheltered in a recess at the side of a building on the outskirts of the complex.

The rendezvous she had set up was located by the south end of the communications command post nestled safety in the rocky valley bottom where visibility was still viable, sheltered as it was from the harshest extremes of the environment.

As Slim pulled along side she darted in and slipping into the co-pilots chair through the side door, throwing back the hood that had kept the sand from her face and tossing the boys a smile for good measure.

'Some weather we're getting, hey?' She said, reaching for the universal patch bay device slung over her shoulder and planting it across her knees where she could begin tasking.

'You're not wrong, kid. How was your weekend?' Slim referenced the two day stretch Carter had spent poking around the communication post alone while he and '88 had been picking.

'Not bad. I take it you got what we came for,'

'Yeah. We're loaded up alright. Hey, I mean't to ask before, did you get a forecast on the drop zone? I don't like the idea of this storm getting serious while we're waiting for Edge Seven,'

'Yeah. We're cool. The drop zone is clear. The storm passed us to the southeast mostly. Hey, you're not worried we'll get blown away, are you?' She joked.

'Nah. How's the Captain?'

'Impatient,'

Slim laughed and Keilor '88 piped up from the rear of the vehicle. 'Don't worry, you'll get used to it.'

'Apparently he's been circling us underneath some sort of upper atmosphere electrical disturbance while we've been busy. Better than a cloaking device according to him, but I guess it's a little boring up there. The uplink was nice and clear, though. He said he was dropping a beacon drone to guide us into the landing sight,'

Carter's device flashed as an alert rolled by on the screen. She tapped in and checked it out.

'What is it?'

'Oh. Nothing. I still have the communication uplink with Strickland on standby. Had to keep the beam narrow to keep the noise down. I don't want those orbitals picking up on our activities if I can help it. I might just be jumping at shadows but I thought I picked up a bit of unnecessary chatter out there between the orbital substations and their satellites over the last couple of days. Something might be up so stay tight,'

Slim grimaced.

'Don't worry. I hear those things have been abandoned for so long they're likely defective. They're probably just bouncing around some outdated command signal that can't be terminated without authorisation,' Keilor suggested.

'Yeah, you could be right. I'm just a little edgy about it, that's all,'

''88's right. You shouldn't worry. Not this far out into the rim. Nobody comes out this far anymore. Not since the collapse. It's the other end of the deal that you need to plan for. When the money changes hands, that's when the trouble will start,'

'Right,'

'Have you figured where we're going to have to take this nine series of yours?'

'Right into the jaws of death! Allied Militia territory. Hah. Are you ready, Carter? Trust me, you've got to live for that shit. Have you even been back since you left?'

'No. And I don't share your enthusiasm. The way I figure I've still got a price on my head. Allied Militia is for life. They don't just let deserters go their own way, you know,'

Slim smiled. 'No sweat, Carter. You a natural technician. Nobody here is going to sell you out. We're family now. One for all and all for one, that's what I say.'

'Thanks Slim,'

'So how far is this drop zone?'

'Closer than the one we used on the way in. Just stay close to the westerly side of the valley wall and ill let you know when we're close,'

They coasted along in the A-TAG while Carter turned back to her universal patch bay.

She was still linked to the on site communications via remote signal. She had to be so that she could use the bases old antenna to amplify her uplink enough to reach Edge Seven. And while she was still patched in, she was running a shutdown of the essential services she'd needed while inside. That way the three scrappers left no trace they'd ever been moon side.

It was always best practise to cover your tracks when you were trying to survive outside of civilised space. It wasn't just the authorities that you had to fear, but bandits or other scavengers who had falling on hard times and grown desperate. You never really knew what was out there waiting to rain on your parade.

From the back '88 was telling Slim one of his stories. The bred for purpose space trooper wasn't short of the odd yarn, Carter had learned that in her short time with Captain Strickland's crew. Right now he was trying to scare the shit out of the older man with a little horror trip through ins and outs of the stimulant powder trade. As Carter had been told, '88's last of many assignments had been as the muscle for a smuggling outfit that dealt mostly in the stuff.

Carter listened in as she worked.

'So, this buddy of mine got tangled up with a crew in the stimulants trade. Only they worked out of Dominion Space, where the real money is. Then one day they disappear. The whole lot of them. Someone's told me latter that Dominion turned them all into Biomechanoids. It's a harsh price to pay I say. The poor bastards,'

Carter knew what had given issue to the topic of conversation. It was where they were headed. The only folk willing to pay top dollar for a black market life support system were the powder harvesters. They'd probably use it to set up shop in some out of the way place, where they could synthesise their drug of choice for on selling purposes. But even though that meant going inside allied militia territory to hand over the goods, it wasn't her old buddies that had Carter worried. It was dealing with scum that made a living off of other people's misery that was the crux of her problem.

It wasn't a choice she would have found acceptable had she had command of this crew, but she didn't, and though it was a little tough to get used to the fact she didn't call the shots like she had back in her days with the militia, she knew she had to bite the bullet and get the job done just like everybody else struggling to get by this far into the distant reaches of the galaxy. At least, that was, until she saved enough for her own ship. Then she could do as she pleased.

'Hey. We're in range of the beacon,' Carter immediately let Slim know when she saw the acknowledgment flash onto the patch bay's screen.

'That was quick,'

'Do you want me to send the points to your autopilot?'

'Nah. I'll keep her on manual. Send me a readout and I'll bring her in myself.'

After breaking the autopilot holding pattern that had locked Edge Seven on course as it shadowed an atmospherically disturbance, Captain Strickland deftly eased his ship into a descent as confirmation came through that the A-TAG had closed on the beacon drone he had sent earlier.

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The pilot's tactical display lit immediately, registering the turbulence that was buffeting his forward shields as he coasted out of the rough weather, but the impact on his power reserves were minimal and of no consequence. The old tin can was tougher than that and Strickland knew it.

Over the years he'd put his ship through hell and she'd never let him down. Not once. Although, Captain Strickland didn't necessarily enjoy being reminded of the handful of times Edge Seven had almost failed him. Not even when it was brought up light heartedly or as an aside.

Like most outer rim pilots, he had a paralysing fear that one day he'd forget some routine maintenance or some such thing and wind up letting his crew mates down. And it didn't pay to give much forethought as to what the consequences would be for that. In these parts of the galaxy any there were any manner of ways to die.

Anyhow. After three days of patiently watching and waiting to hear from the team below, it was time for action.

The first order of the day was to get everyone aboard and then hightail it back to the safety of the nearest spaceport. Once that was done he could sort out how they were going to shift on this life support system they'd found, and from there make the necessary arrangements and connections. But those were another days problems. Right now he just had to focus on the tasks at hand.

'Ollie, does the scanner have a lock on that transport yet?'

'That's a yes, Captain.'

'That's it then. It's go time. Let's hope there's nobody passing by out there when we come out of this storm, I really ain't in the mood for any hassles today,'

'What's got you worried? We haven't seen another ship the whole time we've been here,'

'Ah. I don't know. I got an itch, that's all. Call it paranoia or whatever you like, but things have been a little too quiet lately. This crew is due another bout of bad luck if you ask me. Twenty years I've been scrapping and this is the calmest, smoothest stretch of them all. I tell you, it won't last. It never does,'

'Yeah. Well I hope you're wrong, all things being equal,'

'That ain't likely, kid,'

Ollie sighed and turned back to the scanner a moment, but there was nothing of interest to report.

'Do you want me down in the cargo bay?'

'Yeah. But hold up a moment. I'll need a broad spectrum readout of the system once we're out of range of this storm. If there's anything moving out there I want to know about it.'

'Got it. Did Carter have access to those broad spectrum read outs from down there on the moon?'

'She did. She said she ran a couple over the last few days. They all came back clear. I don't know. She's a good kid, and smart. But I don't know how I feel about taking on a militia runaway like her. Maybe I made a mistake giving her a shot,'

'You think? If you ask me we need all the help we can get. Do you think we ever would have found this nine series without her?'

'Well, don't get ahead of yourself. We haven't sold the thing yet. It might end up being more trouble than it's worth,'

'If you say so,'

Captain Strickland grunted. 'Don't be smart, Ollie. Right. It's time we got in there and got things done.'

An alarm sounded.

'Ollie, check that will you. Are we all clear on that readout?'

'Shit,'

'What?'

'Not good,'

'I thought you said the system was clear?'

'It is on our scanners, but the signal bounce just hit from our closest orbital. Somethings out there at long range. According to this it's coming at us fast from the other side of the star. I'd give it twenty five minutes or so before it reaches the moon. Must be on an intercept course,'

'Damn it. I told you this would be tight. Get on the horn to Carter down there. We need that transport ready to load already,'

Ollie tapped into the communications array.

'Carter. This is Edge Seven do you read, over.'

'This is Carter. Go ahead Edge Seven,'

'Possible hostile ship approaching on scanner scope. Prepare for immediate extradition. Acknowledge,'

'Acknowledged, Edge Seven. We're prepped and ready. We're about half a click away from that beacon.'

'Copy, Carter. Standby for pickup.'

'Ollie, what's going on?'

'I don't know. A ship just appeared out of nowhere at the edge of the system. It's on an intercept course. We have got to move. Hold on a second will you,'

Strickland had boosted the throttle, a move that pinned both crew members back momentarily.

Edge Seven was now tearing away towards the drop zone in a race against time.

'Are we going to make it out of this system before he catches up with us?' Ollie asked his Captain.

'We'll go close. But we'll need to be quick with that pick up. You better let Carter know. When I bring Edge Seven in, I ain't gonna touch the dirt, right. I'll get you to go down and open the cargo bay door and Slim will have to drive that A-TAG aboard while I manoeuvre the thrusters and stay airborne. As soon as the door is sealed behind them we are away. Got it?'

Ollie nodded and reached for the comm once more.

'Hey, Carter. You copy?'

'Yeah, I got you,'

'Fly in, fly out, Ok? The quicker we get out of here the better. Confirm that, Carter. Fly in, fly out,'

'Confirmed, Edge Seven. See you onboard.'

'Shit,' Captain Strickland swore. 'By the time we breach the upper atmosphere and get clear of the moon itself he'll be almost on us, even if the pickup goes well. Ollie, you better get down to the cargo hold and prep. Get the others up here as soon as you can. And let me know as soon as that door is shut tight behind them.'

'Understood,'

'And tell '88 when you see him to get on the cannon. We might need to shoot our way out of this one.'