Chapter 3
THREE
ELAINA
Her hand was steady as she clicked the wire connectors into place in the satellite solar sensor on the workbench. This tech had come from a manufacturer she wasn’t familiar with, so it had taken some investigation to confirm the specs and config as best she could. If she’d gotten these wrong, the panel would short-circuit spectacularly, becoming just another piece of space junk. That wasn’t what people paid her the big tokens for.
Elaina was about to test the current when the aggressive chime of a visitor walking through the sensor made her look up.
It took a moment to register the full extent of the man in the doorway. Was that armor ? She tried not to stare at the plating on his chest and shoulders, the lines too intricate, the material too thick. It looked… ancient.
Her eyes flicked to his face only briefly, registering short black hair with a sprinkling of gray that matched the salt in his trimmed beard. A sharp jaw and mouth set tensely in a thin line. Two frown lines, subtle yet nonetheless etched between his brows, added to the relative severity of his appearance. And then Elaina couldn’t avoid them anymore— the blue-gray eyes that met hers at just that moment. She averted her gaze.
Cute. A little retrofit, sure. But cute.
It hit her then, another wave of post-orbital gravity aftershock. Elaina rubbed her sternum, trying to distract herself from the jarring sensation.
“Can I help you?” Tuskin called out.
In her peripheral vision, the man approached Tuskin’s bench.
“I was told this is the place for repairs.” His voice was quiet and incongruously warm in its lack of inflection, with an accent she couldn’t quite place. The low, soft timbre of it was not at all what Elaina had expected from the man’s rugged appearance.
“That’s right,” Tuskin said. “Let’s take a glance.”
She flexed her fingers nervously, fighting the rising sensation that something is wrong . She should’ve recovered from orbit by now. Why was this paranoia, this dread, taking so long to stabilize?
She should’ve taken more time off. Her tools clattered as she pushed her stool from the bench.
She felt eyes turn on her, but didn’t look up. Clearing her throat, Elaina retreated to the back room. A customer shouldn’t see her like this. Leaning against the wall at the chest of electronics drawers, with the voices outside hushed to the point of incomprehension, Elaina breathed deep and waited for her head to settle. If this wasn’t going to resolve itself soon, she was definitely going to the doc. It had never taken her so long to get used to being planetside after an orbital shift before. Not longer than a sol. It had been three sols now and she was still not back to normal, and she did not like that.
Anchor down, Elaina.
As the feeling abated, Elaina made her way back into the main floor, where Tuskin was back at work, alone. A new dataslate sat on a pile at the edge of the workbench.
“Said he wants it back today,” Tuskin chuckled with a small shake of the head. Elaina eyed the pile of work in the queue before him—it would be a few sols at best.
“When’s he leaving?” Obviously the man had been an offworlder. Wouldn’t be staying around for long.
Tuskin shrugged. “Didn’t ask. Said I’d ping him soon as I had news.”
As Elaina picked up the slate, a familiar sensation tugged at her fingertips. A current pulling her to a thing that needed repair. “I’m ahead on that solar sat patch. I’ll take a look.”
“Elaina Fairan? Busying herself with a dataslate? Don’t you have ships to realign?” Tuskin eyed her.
“I’m still a bit off after orbit,” Elaina admitted. “Need something quick to distract myself.”
“Fair enough. His connect’s in there apparently. Said if we’re good enough to repair it, we’re good enough to find it.” Tuskan scoffed. “Clearly didn’t know who he was gonna be dealing with.”