It first appeared as a tiny blue dot on the screen.

As it grew, the shapes of continents became visible.

And oceans.

Lots and lots of oceans.

“Is that our destination?” asked Kaine as he entered the control room.

Without looking back at him, Val nodded.

“Alterica is its name.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Me neither.”

“I thought you knew the rim like the back of your hand?”

She snorted. “It’s bigger than you might think. The rim spans around the edges of the whole Imperium. It’d take me a lifetime to circle all around it. I usually always stick to the same areas.”

“And this is not one of them?”

“Not really,” she muttered.

The rip her ship had been sucked through had taken them further than she’d ever been. Rimzana was a well-known world, so it had been easy to identify—and to know what to expect. This, though, was something different.

Kaine sat in the chair next to her and leaned over to look at the data. He frowned.

“Am I reading this right?” He tapped at the display and she clicked her tongue in annoyance. “The temperatures seem really low?”

“Subzero.”

“Surely, not everywhere...”

She shrugged as she swiped through the data.

Her passenger’s eyes grew wide as he read.

“You can’t be serious.”

“What?”

He pointed at the text.

“Permanent snowstorms, that’s what! You can’t drop me off here!”

She squinted at him.

“What does it matter to you? Are you planning to settle here?”

“Well, no, but—”

“They probably have a cushy underground city where you can wait until you find a ship to take you home.”

He made a face but remained quiet.

Val snorted as she looked back at the screen.

The planet had grown quite large now as they flew straight toward it.

“We are receiving hailing messages from the surface,” said Nim.

Val pinched her lips, a thoughtful expression on her face.

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“Send them record number five.”

“Done.”

“Record number five?” asked Kaine.

She glanced at him with a mischievous grin on her lips.

“We have a wide range of identities in our database that we use depending on circumstances.”

“Why not give your real name?”

He must have realized the answer even as he asked the question, because he let out a small ‘oh’ and fell quiet.

“When one does not like the Imperium, it is best to keep a low profile. I’m sure you can relate.”

Kaine nodded as the ship entered the planet’s atmosphere and raced down through the clouds.

When they came through, they saw a world of white and blue. There were few other colors below. Raging winds blew across the snow-covered plains, where little vegetation could be seen. In the distance, toward the north, lights shone through the night.

Starrider changed course to head toward them.

“We will land at the Ganhuyden Airfield,” said Nim. “Coordinates have been received. A welcome committee awaits us.”

Val sat back, letting the AI handle the rest of the procedure. He’d always been the better pilot, anyway.

“I hope you have my payment ready?” she asked casually.

“I’ll need to access a credis to make a withdrawal.”

She glanced at him with a cocked eyebrow.

“Why not do a wristpad transfer?”

He made a face. “When one does not like the Imperium, it is best to keep a low profile. I’m sure you can relate.”

She would have laughed, but the comment made her uncomfortable. Wanting to remain anonymous was one thing, obfuscating money transactions was quite another.

Val was glad she’d soon be rid of this guy.

The ship shook as it initiated its descent.

Kaine stared at the screen.

“That doesn’t look so modern.”

The windswept landing strip was surrounded by old, decrepit buildings. She saw a few vehicles, but all of them seemed broken and stranded. Except for one that was slowly gliding in their direction.

It certainly wasn’t what she had expected.

She thought there would be some opening in the ground, and that they’d be taken directly into the underground compound.

Then again, this was the rim. Why would they have anything so advanced? These worlds were, for the most part, forgotten and abandoned by the Imperium. Except for a few select ones, like Rimzana. There usually were good reasons—political or military ones—for those remaining in the Emperor’s good grace.

Starrider stopped shaking when it touched the ground and they heard the engines slowly turn off.

“About as modern as your ship,” muttered Kaine.

“I heard that!”

He shrugged as he stood. “Well, I guess we might as well go meet with these people.”

She got out of her seat and headed for the hatch.

“We should suit up before we go out there.”

“Not a bad idea.”

The suits were meant to help on worlds where humans could not breathe the local air. While this was not the case here, the winds and intense cold would kill them in seconds if they were not properly protected. The suits could help with that as well.

They slipped into them, and Val felt the synthetic material stick tightly against her. A thin transparent membrane covered her head, but there were tiny invisible nanobots—billions of them—spread through the fabric that carried hours worth of oxygen.

The door opened and they stepped out.

Despite the suit, Val could feel the icy winds blasting against them. But it was bearable.

They slowly made their way down to the surface, where three silhouettes waited for them. It was difficult to make out their faces because of the snow and darkness.

When they were within a few feet, she realized they were all women. One of them held out her hand and Val grabbed it.

Once connected, the suits opened a communication channel between them.

“Welcome to Alterica. I’m Onna, chief of staff.”

“Val. I just need to refuel and drop off my passenger.”

The woman frowned as she glanced at Kaine.

“Why would he want to come here?”

“He doesn’t intend to stay.”

“I would imagine not. Come. We will be more comfortable inside. We can talk there.”

She let go of her arm and headed toward the vehicle.

They got in and it drove toward one of the smaller buildings at the northern edge of the landing strip.

No one talked during the trip. Physical contact was not required here, as they could have disabled the head-covering membrane, but all of them chose not to. It would be a short ride, anyway.

Within a couple of minutes, they reached their destination.

A gate opened, letting the vehicle in.

The sound of the roaring winds died as soon as the gate closed behind them.

Onna took her suit off, and everyone followed her example.

Kaine glanced around, a frown on his face.

“I don’t see a lift going down.”

Their host looked confused.

“Down? Why would we go down?”

“To the underground city, I mean.”

She blinked, then laughed.

“I fear you are mistaken, friend. There is no such thing here.” She waved her hand around. “All we have are these discarded shells from a distant past.”

Val winced.

This was not going to end well...