Kim Possible is property of Disney. All original characters are property of author. This is a work for fun, not profit. A Six-string Samurai fan fiction.

Tremulant Star

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Prologue

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The gulf was vast, an endless expanse of darkness that cut a swath at the base of the canyon, big enough to hide even an Amaranth-class ship like the Infinity's Reach. It was almost perfect, if not for trace mineral deposits running through the canyon walls disrupting the onboard sensors. She was running blind.

But, it worked both ways, and her pursuit would have a much harder time tracking the Infinity's emissions through the interference.

Cutting back on the thrusters, the Infinity's forward motion slowed to a crawl; the stabilizers on the port side narrowly missed a rocky outcropping as the ship banked around a barely visible bend in the trench. Leaning forward in the pilot's chair, the woman steering the ship all but ignored the instrument panels in favor of the view through the thin sliver of the windshield. It was barely cutting it, with only the forward exterior lights running, and there were several more near collisions as jutting ledges seemed to leapt in front of the Infinity out of the void in the gulf.

The Infinity had made planet fall on the night side of Arcadia, not that she'd had much of a choice in the matter at the time, with a patrol on her tail, less than a few light minutes behind. On the other hand, Arcadia itself was her own decision. She needed to lay low for a while, and a pastoral little backwater like this was as good a place as any, and better than the busier ports of the 3-Ring. Those were noticeable, not to mention much too high profile for her these days. Though there had been a time when that hadn't been the case, back before she'd first even heard of the star map. Days spent at resorts, parties, living only for the moment, fast and easy off of a fat stipend at the beginning of each month from her father. It was sweet while it lasted, until everything went to shit.

Shooting a glance to the small box she'd tossed into the empty co-pilot seat, the raven-haired pilot couldn't help but smirk. This time, it would have to be enough. She wouldn't be coming back here, not ever, if she had her way. She wouldn't have to. "I'll be set for life," more the pity that no one else was around to share her sentiment, the grin on her face shifting back to an expression of concentration as the channel she'd been guiding the ship into began to narrow perceptibly.

"Damn it!" there was a flicker across the control display, the whole ship shuddered unsteadily for a moment as a stabilizer grazed the cliff face. More of the instruments went haywire as the interference from the canyon spiked.

Topping things off, a brilliant bolt of azure energy pierced the darkness just to the front of the Infinity, leaving an afterimage across her vision. Muttering a few choice words, the long-haired pilot flicked a few switches, toggling up a hazy display across the windshield that outlined the rock formations to either side of the ship, and cut the forward lights. It was more than just risky, it was stupid, but having the lights on at this point was no better than painting a target on the ship. The tracers on that beam were unmistakable. They'd caught up, and a whole lot faster than she wanted to give them credit for. "Sharp bastards. Can't even catch a freakin' break with these guys."

There was a small warning tone as the spotty sensor grid registered another shot, but it was off by more than a hundred meters to the rear. It wasn't much solace, but enough to assure her that they did not have a firm bead on the Infinity, and were more than likely, just taking pot-shots to try and draw her up out of the canyon. The angle of the first blast put the other ship somewhere well above, off the starboard. The wire-frame HUD on the windshield steadied for a few seconds, long enough to show the path was beginning to veer to the left, while widening out just a bit, giving the Infinity plenty of room to play with on either side. If it opened up any more, she might be willing to risk turning up the speed a little to try and put more distance between the trailing ship, but too much faster and the thruster burn would show up visibly, not just on her pursuit's likely wonky scanners. Right now, for all they knew, she could have flipped a 180 and gone back in the other direction.

As long as she kept it low, they would have no choice but to either come in after her, or stay put and wait for the Infinity to make a break out of the canyon. She was betting on them staying put, but then again, gambling wasn't exactly her forte. She didn't believe in luck anyway. As far as Sheri was concerned, if there was something you needed, you didn't wait for it to come to you. You just had to have the balls to reach out and take the damn thing for yourself. Her father had taught her that much, at least.

So she had, and where did that get her? Saddled with a ship that was more notorious than its owner, on the run from a single-minded Galactic Justice Officer; that's where it landed her. So much for making her own luck. Ironically, that sentiment brought an unbidden smile to her face. If anything, she sure as hell wasn't suffering from terminal boredom anymore, not by a long stretch. The stupid map had seen to that. The map, and the box she was currently in possession of. A box that had her wanted on both sides of the galactic law. Well, the contents of the box, to be more precise.

The kicker was, she couldn't even get the damn thing open to get at it.