[Cassy]

I found renewed lightness in my step as Kate took Val and me to the Ark Hope — an appropriate ship's name. It was so nice of her to help us find work.

Maybe now I would get to stay on the Phobos Transit Space Station, at least for a while. A surprisingly pleasant place, clusters of living spaces, shops, and work facilities, each like a small village, were separated by green parks and hydroponic agricultural plots. The station was nearly self-sufficient in basic food stocks, although more exotic choices were imported.

The central hub housed heavy industry and the fusion power plants, while the wide spokes held docks and environmental processes. The Ark was docked mid-way along a spoke. Being closer to the center of rotation than the ring, the artificial gravity was less, which made the work easier.

Due to the station rotation, up pointed toward the Ark and the central hub. I craned my neck to catch a view of the colony ship through a window above. It was huge. Easily the largest space ship I had ever seen, it resembled an elongated four-sided pyramid with massive thrust cones on the bottom. Gantry supported tunnels connected it to the spoke.

But as we waited for the next spoke lift ride, my heart dropped. There stood the she-devil herself — Khlo Azrial, captain of the mining ship Erobus. With tight, fashionable clothes on a curvy frame, immaculate makeup, and styled dark hair, she was almost as vain and she was greedy. Her heavy, sweet perfume was at best inappropriate for enclosed areas like the space station. By rumor, multiple cosmetic enhancements made her appear much younger than actual.

Khlo greeted me with a self-assured smirk. "Dr. Cassandra Adams, what a surprise to see you. Thought by now you would have gotten the hint and gone home."

My fingernails pressed into my palms as I repressed the simmering rage. "Still here," I replied in as calm a voice as I could muster. "I found employment on the Ark Hope." That was a small lie — I didn't have the job yet.

A sly smile rose on her face, a malicious I-know-something-you-don't kind of smile that twisted my gut. Could she have blackballed me from the Ark Hope, too?

"Good luck," she cooed, meaning the opposite. "Do tell me later how that works out."

As I struggled to find words, Khlo continued. "Oh, by the way, Cassy, your mining activity hold will soon be overturned."

"You can't do that. The biohazard risk is too big. We need to analyze the samples first."

"What samples?"

"The one's that I took--" My jaw dropped. Had she...

"It seems there were no samples, and between that and your clouded judgment... Well, I'll get my claim back." She sighed mockingly. "It's a hard lesson for some, I know, but I always get what I want." She turned, then looked back one more time. "Have a nice day, Cassy."

Heart pounding with teeth clenched in seething rage, I nearly exploded as I stomped into the round lift.

"Damn," Kate huffed. "I hate calling any woman a bitch, but she earned it."

Val placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't let her get to you, Cassy. She's not worth it."

Val was right. I blew out a breath and willed my body to relax. "Still," I replied, "wouldn't mind stitching her ditch."

The lift let us out on a dock platform that bristled with activity. Numerous workers in various colored overalls rushed around an orderly jungle of equipment and stacked crates. After scanning our identification badges, Kate led us through the dock tunnel, past two sets of heavy oval isolation doors, and into the ship.

There was as much activity inside the ship as outside. We moved aside several times to allow equipment and supplies to pass on motorized skids. Welding arcs flashed within open compartments. Through one hatch, I glimpsed clear-topped stasis tubes fastened to support beams, stacked much higher than I could see, where the next batch of deep-space colonists would sleep through the journey.

Eventually, we reached the executive office off the bridge, as indicated by a sign above the oval hatch. A tall, muscular man in a blue ship uniform rose to meet us. Ruggedly handsome with an intimidating presence, he had piercing steel-blue eyes, a strong squared jaw, and gray-speckled hair cut in classic military buzz. He scanned us, but his eyes softened as they came to Kate, lingering there.

Kate held a breath, returning his gaze, then said, "Captain, these are the women I told you about — Cassy Adams and Val Diaz."

I could plainly see why he attracted Kate, at least on a physical level.

"I am John Greer, Captain of the Ark Hope. Pleased to meet you both," he said with a polite nod, shaking our hands. My slim hand disappeared within his huge grasp. "We need your skills. Let me get right to the point. Pending favorable background review, could you start work tomorrow?"

"Yes," we both answered. But a queasiness grew in my stomach. Would my current troubles disqualify me? Or the incident in grad school? And what about Val?

The captain turned toward another man, who sat with his back to us at a computer terminal. "Eric, would you show these ladies around the ship?"

"Yes, sir," the man responded.

Eric was just as tall, but with a leaner build. With sandy-brown hair, light skin, hazel eyes harboring hints of mischief, and warm smile, he was handsome in his own right, but in a less regimented way. "Cassy and Val, right?" We nodded. "Follow me, then."

Kate turned to leave, but the captain's words halted her. "Kate, may I speak with you on a personal matter?"

"Of course, John," she answered in an uncharacteristically weak voice. Again, their eyes met in lingering gazes as we followed Eric out.

Val and I grinned at each other — we both noticed the silent emotion that passed between them. And based on Eric's half-grin, I think he did too.

We bounded along the passageways, as if in slow motion, due to the reduced artificial gravity. Eric was a flight engineer, coming from a military background, and third in command. I found myself captivated by his every word as he led us into the engineering section deep within the ship. If hired, Val would work on the fusion power systems, and I, the biological reclamation processes.

Val noticed my attention, and when Eric was temporarily occupied, talking to someone else, she nudged me with a half-grin. "He is cute. You should try for him, Cassy."

"Oh, no," I replied as pleasant sensations warmed me from the inside. I admitted to myself an initial attraction, but I didn't want to jeopardize my employment. Besides, I didn't know much about him.

The four fusion reactors, shaped like long tubes bristling with attachments, were truly massive — the biggest Val had ever seen by her admission. But then, the ark was enormous, and it took a lot of power to accelerate it. Val reveled in her element and could hardly restrain her glee as she darted around the reactor systems.

Next, Eric led us into the ship bowels where the bio systems were located, which processes ship wastes and reclaims water, essentially the sewage treatment plants. Layers of slimy grime splotched the tight maze of piping and the floor below.

Val wrinkled her nose. "It stinks down here."

"Well, this is where the shit goes," Eric explained, then turned to me with an apologetic grin and a shrug. "Nobody likes to clean the filters. Sorry about the mess, Cassy."

"I've seen worse," I replied. As a biologist, I studied life, and life was messy.

My eyes traced the process, comparing it to the control matrix displayed on an overhead view panel, until I came to a series of large flat-top pots along the back wall. It was a closed system, differing from my previous experiences, but then it still had to function during periods of weightlessness.

"Are those to the bio-digesters?" I asked.

"I think so."

Bio-systems were my forte. Wanting a closer look, I tied back my thick hair and shimmied through tight spaces between vertical piping and around the vessels. Whoever laid this out didn't think about accessibility. Slime dripped down from around the filter lids, collecting in disgusting globs on the floor, and I understood why no one wanted to swap out the filter elements.

As I came to the digester, something else caught my eye. Barely visible and wedged under the vessel by the wall, small red numbers counted down on a black cylindrical object about the size of a kitchen waste bin. That shouldn't be here. Not at all.

A tremor crawled down my spine. "Eric, you need to see this."

He didn't fit nearly as well through the equipment, so climbed over it, choosing foot holds along the piping. Perching on one knee and peering down from the digester flat-top, his face paled, confirming my suspicion.

"Shit," he muttered.

Eric whipped out his com-viewer from a side pocket and pressed a button.

"What is it, Eric?" came an impatient voice over the speaker.

"Captain, we discovered a pocket nuke in the bio-plant. And it's active."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir." Laying down, he handed the viewer to me. "Show him, Cassy."

I pointed the camera at the device.

Kate stuck her face into view. "Holy shit..."

"How much time do we have?" the captain asked.

I glanced at the numbers. "Three-hundred-and-twenty seconds."

"Can you get it out?"

"No. Difficult. It's fastened down somehow."

"Eric? You'll have to deactivate it. I'm calling an evacuation."

"I can't reach it, sir!" Eric replied, nearly shouting.

"I can, I think," I said with a stressed voice, my gut twisting. "Just tell me what to do, Eric."

"Do it," said the captain. "I'm on my way."

Within two seconds, a beep sounded over the intercom system, followed by an urgent voice. "This is the Captain. Abandon ship! Evac to the dock. This is not a drill. I repeat — abandon ship!" Then red lights flashed and klaxon horns blared.

260 seconds...

Heart pounding, I dropped to my stomach and squirmed under the digester pot. "Okay, I'm there. What do I do?"

Eric peered down from above. "You'll need to take the cover off. There should be four fasteners." He turned and said, "Val, bring me that tool case over there."

"Okay, I see 'em," I said as Eric lowered down a bolt driver, placing it against my outstretched palm. "What direction do I turn?"

"Standard. Righty tighty, lefty loosy."

"Got it."

My hands trembled as I placed the tool on the first bolt. Pressing the trigger, it whirred, spinning the bolt up. One down, three to go. Beads of sweat formed on my brow.

The second and third bolts came easily, but the fourth, not so easy. It laid in shadows and further away at an awkward angle. I stretched, bridging on my stomach to force my head and shoulders up, reaching. Finally, the driver connected to the bolt, but when I pressed the trigger, the driver slipped off.

180 seconds...

From above, Eric warned, "You need to hurry, Cassy. There's not much time left."

"I'm trying!" I yelled in a harsher voice than intended. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Eric extended his viewer, turning on the flashlight application to provide additional light. "You've got this, Cassy."

Taking confidence from his words, I wriggled a few centimeters closer and extended the driver.

"There," Eric said. "Try to hold it more upright."

Doing so, I triggered it and blew out a breath as the last bolt spun out and fell away.

120 seconds...

Eric lowered down an open pocket-knife. "Pry off the cover with this."

The metal half-shell cover came up easily enough, but because of the tight space, it hit the vessel bottom, and I couldn't move it away, plopping back down when I released it.

Panic rose in my gut. "I can't get it out of the way!"

"Let me help," Val replied, then she dove head first within the piping, extending a hand down. "I can hold it up."

100 seconds...

So here we were, contorted in awkward positions, clustered around a ticking nuclear bomb. Not how I wanted this day to go.

"Good," Eric said while lowering down a cutter tool. "Now you just need to cut the power supply wire."

Raising up, I bumped my head. The bomb guts were a maze of wires coiling around a cylindrical core and I could barely see inside.

"Which wire?"

"The red one next to the power cell, closest to you," he answered. "I'll guide you." I extended the cutters within the casing. "To the left..." he said. "Closer to you. There!"

I snipped only air. "Damn it!"

80 seconds...

"Okay. Try again," said Eric. "This time a little deeper. To your right, down. There!"

Snip. Nothing.

Growling in frustration, I poked down into the bomb guts, snipping blindly with the cutters.

"Careful, Cassy!" Eric yelled. "You don't want to short it out and set the bomb off."

"Now you tell me!" I shouted back. Just great...

40 seconds...

"You can do this, Cassy," Val said in an unexpectedly calm voice.

"Can you see the wires, Val?"

"Not from my angle. Sorry."

"Let's try again," Eric said.

I blew out a calming breath. "Okay."

As I wriggled my body closer, the cutter hit against the bomb shell, falling from my hand to the floor. "I dropped it!"

20 seconds...

Extending my hand, I poked around behind the bomb, desperately searching for the cutters. Sharp pain radiated from my hyper-extended shoulder joint, and my heart raced as panic set in. "I can't reach it!"

10 seconds...

"Umm, Cassy," Eric panted. "Now is the time."

With a grunt, I shoved my bare hand into the bomb guts, feeling around with my fingertips.

5 seconds...

There, the power cell. I grasped the cylindrical object, and crying out, yanked with all my might.

Sparks flew. Blinding flashes. My hand — burning pain.

The numbers went blank.

Eric stuck his head down as far as it would go, and called out, "Cassy! Are you okay?"

After taking a deep breath, I answered, "Yeah. But let's never do that again." Eric broke out in chuckles, followed by Val, and I couldn't help but join in.

Wedged under the digester, I found myself unable to back out. "I'm stuck. A little help, please?"

Upside down above me, Val said, "Me too."

Eric hauled Val up, then crawled under the piping and grabbed my ankles, sliding me out along the grimy floor.

Once cleared, I sat up and gazed at the power cell. Small cuts, scrapes, and burn marks leaked blood from my hand, but in the present euphoria, I felt no pain. As Eric came to my side, I handed him the cell.

A bright smile that warmed my heart burst onto his face. "Awesome, Cassy!"

Noxious brown gunk smeared my body and hair. "God, I'm a mess."

Eric plopped down beside me. "But the most beautiful mess I have ever seen." He gazed into my eyes and gently cradled my injured hand. "Umm, maybe this is not the best time, but may I buy you a drink? I mean... Maybe after we clean up?"

"Yeah," I replied with a smile. "I know a good tavern."