By Christina Kamnikar

Part 6 -- Asteroid Belt (with Satellite Accessories)

Time: May 17, 2260

Flynn eased the jumper into docking position with the AENet satellite, and carefully matched the spin on the small flyer to that of his target. Narrowing his eyes, he flipped the magnetic clamps on, then grinned as they engaged, and gave Todd the thumbs-up. "Got it."

"Man, you're good at this. Did you fly the ISN shuttles before the mess with Clark started up?" the intern asked, unhooking his safety harness and checking his mobile EVA maneuvering unit to make sure it was secure. "'Cause if you didn't, I'd say you've got a fall-back option for your next career if we stay stuck out here."

"Nope. You have to have a license before ISN will let you fly those."

Todd suddenly stopped with his hand half-way to the canopy lock, staring wide-eyed at Flynn. "You don't have a license!?"

"Who's going to arrest me in the middle of the asteroid belt? Insterstellar highway patrol?" Flynn grinned at Todd and clapped him on the shoulder, laughing at the kid's expression. "Relax. I've logged enough flight hours to take the exam. I just never got around to it."

"Oh." Todd didn't look very reassured, but he shook his head and blew out a relieved breath. Flipping the catch on the canopy and floating out, after securing his drag line and grabbing his small laptop, he ascended the ladder into the entry cell for the satellite.

Flynn double-checked the docking seals, attached his safety line to the external ladder, then shut the canopy and followed him. // Of course, I've never been very good at written exams, either... So why bother studying for it? // Best not to mention that to the kid. He was a decent pilot, and it was one of the few places Flynn rarely took stupid chances. Space could be more unforgiving than a New Vegas loan shark with an overdue bill, and risking other people's necks was not something he was prepared to explain to Daniel. Especially not when he had Robin to back him if Flynn screwed up.

The past two and a half weeks had been the quietest time Flynn had spent in over three years, and if it hadn't been for the bad food and boredom, he would have had to admit to enjoying it. He didn't have anyone on Earth to worry about; and no one on the outer colonies, either. // Not family, anyway--- which makes me luckier, for once, than some people... // Daniel was his best friend; Daniel's lady was here, so *he* had one less thing to worry about; and while the positions of many of his other friends and colleagues was tenuous at best, there wasn't anything he could do about them. It galled him that Jane and Rick and the others were suffering, and that there was nothing he could do, but he was trying to avoid thinking about it. Except to hope that those still free were keeping out of sight, and not doing anything stupid enough to get them caught by Nightwatch.

The company on the satellite wasn't bad, either. Aside from Daniel and Robin, he was beginning to like Harry Kilroy and Drew D'Ambow. Harry he owed now, for getting him off of Luna and finding this bolthole. D'Ambow struck him as a good guy--- they had work contacts in common, so he'd heard about him from a couple people, none of whom called him a brain trust, but all said he'd stand you a round of drinks on occasion. Xia, Margo and Sophie he didn't have a real handle on yet, although flirting with Sophie and having her flirt back was a good way to kill a boring half-hour. Xia was too young, really, and Margo had a boyfriend in jail. // Off-limits, both of them. Too bad. // Kit Redfern was a silly nit, but the station was big enough to avoid him most of the time.

And Wally Salinski and Todd Meyers were men after his own heart. Devious, determined, and not above breaking the stupider rules.

"Got the code key?" he asked, steadying himself on the handrails as he leaned onto the entry platform, catching his breath.

"Almost there---" Todd frowned at his lap-sized computer; one with enough memory and speed to hack into the basic security AENet's communications satellite had set-up for their property. Between Todd's knowledge of computers, and Wally's contraband info on satellite network passcodes, the two of them had managed to hack into four satellites within range of the Devlin-Arpels miner, with Flynn flying them to their prey. "Plugging and chugging, plugging and chugging... got it." Todd punched another button, then grasped the external pressure release, and carefully pulled on it. A grinding noise gave way with a sudden puff of air, and it swung inward.

"Yes! Very nicely done, Mr. Meyers."

"Thank you, Mr. Allen. A piece o' cake. At least with Wally's passwords, it was." Todd bowed and grandly ushered Flynn into the satellite, then secured the door in the 'open' position.

Flynn hop-walked in, steadying himself on the wall and taking a look around the small, two-person interior of the small communications satellite. Banks of glowing keypads and monitors met his eyes, most of it keyed to stock exchange data pouring in from Earth and the outer planets. Just the kind of thing they needed to upgrade their system. "My respect for Mr. Salinski grows by leaps and bounds. Truly a man of many talents."

"Yeah, Wally's got the goods. I think he remembers the codes to every satellite he's ever had access to in this system." Todd hop-bounced over to the communications board, glancing over the array with relish. "Ah-ha! Cool. They've got extra power cells. We're in business. Grab those, we want them," he said, pointing to a bank of glowing cubes slotted beneath the main desk. "Hmm... what else do you have for me, my pretty? Come to Papa..." he mumbled in an evil tone, then looked abashed when Flynn raised his eyebrows dubiously at him. "Umm, it's just... you know. If you had a chance to, uh, set up your dream system, and, well, you just had all these *parts* waiting for you, and...."

"Say no more. I recognize technical avarice when I see it. Daniel gets that way about sound hook-ups on occasion." Flynn disconnected the excess power cells, loading them into a nearby carrying case, while Todd happily played with AENet's computer and muttered under his breath. // Geeks... gimme a camera with enough batteries, and I'm happy. And, okay, some really good lenses. And some really high-density data crystals. And... all right.// Flynn grimaced to himself, smothering a rueful laugh. // Fine. I'm exactly like Todd and Walter. I just like my toys to be more portable. Which makes me action-geek, I suppose... //

"Frequency enhancement module --- we'll disconnect that from the roof outside--- and broad-spectrum sound amplifiers... Damn. I don't think we can take those, they won't fit in the jumper."

"We can always make another trip. It's not like we've got anything better to do," Flynn pointed out.

"No, I mean, there's no way to get them in there... well, maybe the guts. Yeah. Give me a minute here, I'll figure out how to pop them out of their casing so we can take the main components with us. Wally and me will jury-rig something up when we get them hooked up back on the Satellite O' Love," Todd said in a pre-occupied tone, bending over a bank of flashing lights that Flynn wouldn't have known how to begin to disassemble.

He blinked at Todd's last comment. "I beg your pardon? The Satellite O' Love? Since when?"

Todd flushed deep red, rolling his eyes. "Xia's fault. Not mine. All hers. I'm staying out of it."

"Out of what?" Flynn asked, deeply entertained. "C'mon, give. You can't keep any juicy information from your fellow journalists. Not when there's absolutely nothing else going on. At least, not that I know of...."

"She'll *kill* me," the younger man muttered, shaking his head.

"If you don't tell, I'll just ask her myself."

Todd finally looked up from his work, his mouth dropping open in horror. "You wouldn't. Would you? Please say no. I mean it, she will smother me in my sleep, you'll have to space my body---"

"Well, perhaps not." Todd sighed in relief. Flynn smirked wickedly. "But then again, it *could* slip out. I could get distracted, forget what I'm not supposed to tell people, and, well, we're going to be stuck in the Asteroid Belt a while..."

"You're scum, Flynn."

"Thank you. I'm glad you've caught on so fast. Saves Robin the trouble of enlightening you later."

Groaning, Todd forced the case on the sound components bank open and began rummaging inside. "Xia has a thing for Drew, okay? You'd probably figure it out pretty soon anyway--- she's not exactly subtle. She and Sophie were talking about how long we might be stuck out here, and Xia was saying that Drew was going to get ... well, bored.... and Margo's got Jake, even if he isn't here, and he and Drew are buds, and Robin's got your friend Daniel, and---"

"And the divine Miss Tenatta is not exactly a Drew D'Ambow fan, so that leaves the field clear for your colleague," Flynn finished off, grinning.

"You got it. *Please*, please don't say anything about it. Or tease her. Okay? I'm just sick of hearing about it, it's not like she's his type. We're pals, so she tells me this stuff, and I figure I have to listen to it, even if I don't like it."

"Ah." Flynn considered him for a second, then the dozen nosy questions he could ask Todd, then wisely backed off. // We're going to be living in each other's pockets for the foreseeable future --- and there's no reason to push the limits on our tolerances for each other yet. I'll know more than I want to about these people soon enough. // "Understood. I'll keep it to myself. And wish her the best of luck. Silently, of course." Todd snorted, and nearly snapped off the tip of the penknife he was using on the interior of the amplifier, then quickly jerked the component out of its case. "That's nicely done, too. Anything more?"

"The roof module---"

"Right. Gimme that, I'll store it and fire up the flyer, you get the module."

"Thanks. With all this, I think we've got everything on our shopping list except the de-jammer Wally wants to lift off the Quintero satellite tomorrow."

Flynn nodded in approval. "Perfect. Then we'll finally have something better to do than watch the 'police actions' on Mars."

"Yeah. Maybe we can get the sports networks," Todd said with mild sarcasm. "Sophie would love that."

"You never know. Besides, they could still have the Home Shopping Network running." Flynn grinned as Todd snorted again, this time in amusement, and then he turned to exit the satellite. For just a second, Flynn paused on the threshold, marvelling at the view. A million stars were visible, clearer than they could ever be from atmosphere. A trail of glittering gold dust spread across the north-west quarter of the sky, winding into the distance as the edge of the Asteroid Belt faded away. And in the southern sky, the bright red form of Mars, about the size of the moon as seen from Earth, even though they were much farther away than the distance between Earth and its satellite.

It was gorgeous, alien, and the most desolate sight he'd seen in a very long time.

// Home. For now, anyway... // Flynn thought in resignation. // Better get used to it, Allen.... //