Free Asteroid by Viola Grace Page A

She knew the ebb and flow of the rocks. If Control couldn’t read it, they wouldn’t pursue it but her shift was over and she could.
    “Acknowledged, Control. Gunner Hadros leaving station.”
    “Acknowledged, Gunner.”
    With a sigh, she removed her headgear and left her station. There was something or someone out there and she was determined to find it.
    Sebena walked the halls, clasped hands with a few of the other gunners going off shift.
    Nilia walked with her for a way. “Do you want to hit the gym?”
    “No. I am going to take a zipper out to see something that caught my attention. Wanna come?” She smiled at the other woman’s look of horror.
    “Why would you want to go out there when we spend all day staring into those lifeless rocks?”
    “Because something caught my attention.”
    “Good luck and have a good evening out there then. I am heading for the hot tub and that new gunner on number three. He seems to have an interest in me and I have no objections.” She stroked her hand down her lush hip and Sebena had to admit that it would take a powerful will to ignore her friend’s charms.
    Nilia was a mind-numb Wyoran whose deep red skin and chestnut hair drew the attention of most males on a normal day. Now that she was entering a receptive phase, every masculine head in the ship turned when she passed.
    It was funny to watch, but Sebena had other things to do. She had a life sign to find.
    The launch bay’s monitor had looked at her in astonishment when she signed out a suit and a zipper. The small craft was designed for one person, but it had grapples to collect samples of any likely minerals.
    Sebena had a collection of another kind in mind.
    She snugged herself into the EVA suit and did a pressure check the moment she finished snapping her helmet into place. The suit held constant pressure, so she was good to go.
    The Sheppan was locked in until the following morning, processing and parcelling the day’s haul. It would still be here when Sebena returned.
    She locked herself into the zipper and left the launch bay. She typed in the coordinates that she had noted on her scans, adjusted for drift and hit the accelerator.
    She skimmed around the floating mini-planets and large-sized rocks all moving fast enough to kill her on impact.
    Her display told her that she had been flying for an hour when the blip appeared on her screen.
    “Aha! Got you now.”
    A slight turn to the left and she was right on the readings that were flaring up on her display.
    “Oh, wow.”
    An escape pod was lodged against a chunk of mineral. She used her grapple to attach the zipper to it and left her transport to examine her find.
    The pod was bright with energy and it was registering as containing a living being, so she knew her duty. She returned to the zipper, removed a hammer and after she attached a tether to the pod, she started to chip it loose of the mineral.
    Her oxygen supply chirped to let her know that she was down to half a tank. With stronger movements, she hacked the pod loose. The moment that it floated free, she fastened it completely to the underside of the zipper and she climbed back into her transport to head home.
    “Control, this is Gunner Hadros. I have found a survival pod and am bringing it and its living occupant in for examination and medical treatment.”
    “Acknowledged, Gunner. We will have medical staff waiting in the launch bay.”
    “Thank you, Control.”
    She hit the accelerator and tried to steer clear of the rocks trying to crush her. With the pod attached to her zipper, it was a little harder to manoeuvre, but she managed to get back to the Sheppan just in time for her oxygen supply to redline with warning.
    She released the pod and it floated into the launch bay on its own, skidding across the surface and resting neatly on the metal floor.
    Sebena’s zipper landed with less grace than the pod and she staggered out of her vehicle while the monitor sealed the bay and increased the