"Those suits," Annie said, nodding at the frozen load operator, "they're built to resist a lot of stress, right? Cave-ins? Meteorites and such?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You think"-and here she leaned closer, as if the two of them were sharing a secret-"a little bump from my ground guy here trying to edge it into the cargo hold could hurt it even a wee bit?"

The man's face remained set. Then a bit of a smile.

He certainly looked seasoned, to Annie's expert eye, but who knew? Something was bugging him. Maybe he was prone to roadsickness.

She'd have to keep an eye on him.

"I guess not." Then, a genuine smile.

"So how about I get him to finish getting your suit on board, and you can go to the bar and grab a cold one before we head out?"

"Sounds like a plan." Then, after a pause, "Captain."

Another smile, and McGowan headed for the bar, the not-so-creatively named Star Lounge.

Annie looked up at the load operator.

"Okay, Jackie, let's get 'er in. The clock is ticking."

The operator began to ease the crate inside the hold, this time getting the angle right so the crate slid into the open underbelly of the SRV.

Crisis averted, Annie thought, and then-as if that would be the only problem she'd have to deal with before they took off-a trio of high-pitched chirps signaled that she had a message.

She touched her earpiece and turned away from the SRV.

"Captain Scott."

"Annie, I got something you'd better see."

Humphries-the terminal director. Nothing came into or left Mobius without his approval. His voice sounded tight. No banter.

"Come up to the office," he barked.

"I'm in the middle of-"

"Now."

Annie looked back at the load operator, who was now picking up smaller containers and loading them. He had a good twenty, thirty minutes more work before they could start boarding passengers. Close to another hour, Standard Earth Time, before they could leave.

"Be right there."

And she started hurrying through the open expanse of the terminal to the elevators that led up to the Sky Box, the director's office.

"Get you something, pal?"

From the bartender's demeanor, Rodriguez could have been in his favorite dive bar on 9th and 46th.

Pretty damn far away from that ...

"Sure. What do you have that's cold?"

The bartender gestured at a tap. "Got a fresh barrel of ER Dark on tap."

"Sounds good."

"Brewed right here."

Rodriguez looked up to see if the guy was putting him on. Not a hint of a smile. "No shit."

"So fresh it'll slap your face."

"You convinced me."

The bartender turned away to grab a pilsner glass, and suddenly the seat beside Rodriguez was taken.

"I'm traveling with a lot of chips in case-you know, if you get bored."

He turned to see that he now had a new best friend and travel companion. The Chippie.

"I'll remember that," he said casually, not wanting his need to show.

She stuck out a hand with long, slender fingers.

"Sinjira Renku," she said.

"Is that one name or two?

Ignoring his question: "Looks like maybe we're on the same SRV."

He took her extended hand and gave it a quick shake. Her grip was warm. Firm.

"Looks that way," he said, wishing the bartender would hurry up with that beer.

"What are you doing? Business? Vacation?"

"What's that?" Rodriguez said, then he grinned.

"Work? Whatcha do?"

"I'm a scientist. I do ... science things."

The girl made a silent "O" with her mouth, but Rodriguez wasn't sure if she caught his sarcasm or not. With Chippies, you never knew. When the bartender slid the beer in front of him-with an actual frothy head-she said quickly, "Oh, yum. Me, too."

The bartender turned to get her a beer.

Then Sinjira turned and scanned the room, this waiting area for the SRV passengers. Rodriguez knew by the blinking red light on the side of her head that she was recording.

"What do you think of ... her?" Sinjira said, nodding a bit too broadly at the woman sitting at a far table in the corner. A dark cowl shadowed her face. Obviously trying not to see or be seen.

"Looks like she wants to be left alone."

"My guess is she's one of those religious nuts. A Seeker. Going on the Road to find-what?" And here Sinjira made her two lithe hands explode in a display of fingers shooting out. "The meaning of life?"

"Could be..."

Sinjira's eyes moved on.

"How about that one over there? The big guy all by himself. What's his deal?"

"Beats me. People go on the Road for lots of reasons. He may not even be on our SRV."

"I hope so. He looks lonely." She shot Rodriguez a sly smile. "So why doesn't he come over and buy me a drink?"

Then: "He looks..." She touched her forefinger to her lower lip, which glistened with a deep-red lipstick. "Interesting."

Then she stopped as Rodriguez took a slug of the beer.

Tastes as good as it looks.

"Whoa. Look at him. That guy over there. Looks damn eager, doesn't he? He might be worth a chip. Edgy, anxious. Some freaks like that stuff."

"Go for it."

After another deep slug, Rodriguez turned and glanced at the man Sinjira had spotted. He wore a long coat even though it was a constant 71 degrees in here. Not exactly pacing ... but he shuffled back and forth.

Stopped. Looked around.

Every move screamed nervous.

Then Rodriguez said, "Let's hope he's not on our SRV."

"Amen, brother," Sinjira said. The bartender placed a beer in front of her, but she ignored it and went back to studying the workers and passengers who filled the lounge.

Annie knocked and then entered the director's office.

"What's up?"

Humphries stood next to his desk. Beside him was a shorter man. She had obviously interrupted their conversation, although Humphries had summoned her.

The two of them looked at each other as if trying to figure out who was going to speak first. Humphries began.

"Hello, Annie."

But that was all.

"Sounded pretty urgent," she replied.

"Well..." Humphries looked at his companion.

"What the hell is it?"

"There," Humphries said, "there's been a problem along your route."

"A problem?"

"Near the Omega Nine Terminal."

"And?"

"An attack on the mining colony. Could be ... everyone was slaughtered ... or captured. It's gone quiet."

"Quiet?"

"No transmissions. Nothing at all."

"You think Runners?"

"Who else? But nothing's been confirmed." Humphries took a slow breath. "Not even why someone would attack the operation. Nothing of any value there except for the ore, which they could've grabbed off a freighter once it was carrying it back."

"And they have a processing facility ... where?" Annie paused. "They're not that organized. They couldn't run smelters without the World Council catching on."

"Space is a big place ... and getting bigger by the day."

"So how'd you find out about this attack?"

Another look at the man with him, and then Humphries tapped the large flat-panel screen behind his desk. It came to life, and after another gesture, a holovid started playing.

A face appeared.

Eyes wide with fright. Face streaked with sweat. Chewing his lip before he spoke.

Was the guy injured ... or just totally terrified?

"This is ... Thalos Station. We've been attacked." A burst of static scrambled the hologram for a second, and then: "... wiping us..."

His eyes darted around. Time was obviously of the essence if he's gonna get the pod out in time, Annie thought.

The last word ended it, though.

"... out."