Chapter One
Salvage vessel: Eliza
Quietus Star system
Darkness surrounded the interior of the ship. The ship was as silent as a tomb. A hiss of air sounds and the lights begin to flicker on. Life support slowly came back online from long months of inactive use. The lights illuminated a room. In a circle twelve metallic pods laid. They all carried a single human being. The pods opened and the hissing of air flowed around the room. Slowly one began to stir…
Flight Lieutenant Samuel Colt stirred in his pod. He groaned as he slowly awakened from his long sleep. He sat up and breathed. His head titled at an angle and a smile spread his lips. He was awake and alive. He was pleased that the crew and him weren't forever lost in deep space. He looked around and saw the others starting to stir in there pods. He smiled softly. Being awake only meant one thing. They have come across a possible pay day.
#
"Oh man, it feels so good to eat some food." A ginger haired scruffy mechanic by the name of Eric Patterson spoke at the table.
Colt smiled and shook his head at the man. No one told Eric that his bright orange hair had been sticking up in every direction humanly possible. "Hey, what's so funny?" Eric smiled.
"Nothing just that you look like a talking super nova." Colt chuckled.
Colt watched as Eric reached up to check on his hair. Colt tried his best to hold in a laugh but he completely lost it. "Oh fuck you man!" Eric swore.
"Hey, we decided to respect your privacy and not mention it." An African American woman by the name Shanti Smith another mechanic smiled at Eric.
Colt shook his head and went back to eating his noodles. Eric and Shanti had a thing for each other and he believed they will be sneaking off to do the evil deed when no one is looking. He never thought he'd miss the taste of stale noodles but his body clearly was carving the reprocessed crap. "Colt, you really are packing that crud down aren't ya?" Navigational Officer Katarina Vasilev spoke charmingly through her Russian accent.
Colt arched his eyebrow and looked at the raven haired Russian beauty. She looked right back at him with her light blue colored eyes. Colt smiled and went back to eating his bowl of noodles, causing Katarina to have a fit of laughter. Colt had a thing for Katarina and she had a thing for him. They were what others would call joined at the hip. It was really nothing but a fling. He didn't think it was too strange, he was the pilot and she was his co-pilot. Colt winked at Katarina as he slurped up another noodle. She shook her head and gave him the you're bad look with her eyes. Colt grinned and took a swig of his orange juice.
"Hey exo, I got a question." A Hispanic man by the name of Jesus Gomez spoke to Colt.
Colt looked at Jesus. The man was the ship's doctor and he was known to have a gambling problem. Colt figured this was either going to about money or why they were awake. "Well, what is it Jesus?" Colt motioned toward the man with a wave of his hand.
"Why are we up? Did the ship find us a pay day?" Jesus asked eagerly.
Colt swore the man saw, smelled, and heard dollar signs. "That's the obvious conclusion isn't it?" Colt answered with another question.
"Ah c'mon man." Jesus whined. "That has to be it right? So c'mon what did the ship find?"
Colt shook his head and smiled. "Does it look like I had time to go check?" Colt chuckled as he motioned around the mess hall.
Jesus smiled. "Ah c'mon. Everyone knows that the cap and you are close. She tells you everything."
Colt smiled. Jesus was right about that. Colt and Captain Sandra Williams were close friends. Colt had served with her for about twelve years now, six as a colonial marine and the other six as her right hand on this rusted old salvage operation. Colt didn't complain though, the salvage business had made him a fairly large fortune, he had about a few million stashed away in his bank account. He couldn't say the same for Jesus though. The man kept gambling away his profits. "Jesus, seriously I don't know what we found yet. I haven't had time to talk to Sandra yet." Colt was the only man on the ship allowed to refer the captain by first name.
"You serious man?" Jesus complained. "Be nice to have at least a clue how big this haul is going to be."
"It's going to be a big one." A low husky feminine voice sounded behind Colt.
Everyone froze and looked toward Colt's direction. He smiled and turned around, in front of him stood an athletic built red head with sharp green eyes. She smiled at Colt warping the razor wire scar on her cheek. For a woman in her mid-thirties she was beautiful but the scar made her look more like a pirate queen than a princess. She had no sign of visible wrinkles and she still looked as vibrant as the day she became Colt's commanding officer in the corps. Colt stared at the badass bitch everyone referred to as captain. He smiled at Sandra Williams. "How big, cap?" Colt barked out.
Sandra smiled at him and winked. "Huge. It's a space station." Her eyes shined with greedy promises.
Colt smiled as he heard the others cheer in success. He continued to watch Sandra. He wasn't entirely honest. Sandra and he had an even larger past. They were lovers once, maybe they still were he wasn't sure anymore but they still made damn good partners in the salvage business. "A space station, out here?" Colt asked.
Sandra nodded and chuckled. "Yep an abandoned Weyland-Yutani station, after all it looks like no one saw it for some time."
Colt arched an eyebrow. How can a person lose a space station? "Anything in the database that says why it's lost?"
Sandra cocked her head to the side and motioned for Colt to follow her to the bridge. Colt nodded and followed after her while everyone was cheering about how rich they were going to be. Yeah a space station would be the jack pot of all salvage jobs. Colt had his suspicions though. If the station belonged to the company and was abandoned, it just simply couldn't be good. His life in the corps taught him that much. "So exactly how does a multi-trillion dollar company lose a space station?" Colt asked with a cocky straight tooth smile.
Sandra chuckled and led them onto the cramped bridge. She leaned against Colt's pilot station, tempting him with her eyes. Colt knew what she was doing. She was going to try to seduce him so he'd forget about asking about the station. This was why there relationship didn't work out in the first place. Every time he wanted a question answered she'd offer sex instead. Colt walked up to her and grabbed her hips. He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately on the lips. Sandra moaned and wrapped a leg behind his hip. Two can play at this game. He pulled back and smiled. "So, the station?"
Sandra groaned and pushed him away. "Christ Sam, I try to get my rocks off on a big find and you interrogate me?"
Colt chuckled. "That's an exo's job right? I'm just looking out for everyone."
Sandra moaned and stomped her foot. "C'mon Colt, how about we fuck first and then I tell you?"
Colt laughed, he laughed so hard his lungs hurt. "Every fricken time Sandra. C'mon just for once stop playing with my dick and tell me about the station."
Sandra bit her lower lip. She swayed her hips and cocked her head to the side. She looked up at him through her green eyes and lifted the side of her shirt, exposing her pale belly. "You sure you don't want to Colt?" She whispered a suggestion of heated fevered pleasures.
Colt really wanted to, he always cared for Sandra and even he lusted for her still in his dreams. She felt right to him, unlike Katarina who was just a fuck buddy. He could see she still cared for him too. Hell they still occasionally slept together behind the crew's back. He groaned and shook his head. "Stop, please." He begged. "Or I will bend my Captain over my station."
Sandra giggled. "That sounds like fun, are you going to relieve me of command?" She teased.
Colt reached out and grabbed the back of her head. He was about to lose it. He found his strength and smiled. "You are too easy to play cap." He whispered. "Now c'mon tell me, I just want to know what we're walking into."
Sandra moaned in protested and pushed him away again. "Ok, fine." She muttered. "I guess Katarina is better for you."
Colt rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and groaned. "Don't bring Kat into this. You know she's just a fling." Colt said.
"Yeah, well what about us Colt? We broke up and yet we still screw? Ever thought of that? Are we fuck pals too or more huh?" Sandra was trying her best to change the subject from the station.
Colt didn't know what to say, she had him in the proverbial corner on this one. He shrugged and that just seemed to anger her more. He could count the steps Sandra was performing, first she tried lust, now she is using anger, next will be guilt. "Well are we an item still or not? I want to know!" She shouted.
Colt covered Sandra's mouth with his hand. "Be quiet will you? Do you want the crew to hear us?"
Sandra glared at him through her green eyes. She bit the inside of Colt's hand. Colt pulled back his hand and cursed. Sandra sneered. "Oh I get it. You just don't want that Russian piece of ass of yours to hear." Sandra sobbed. "Am I not good enough for you? Didn't I care for you every way I could?" Great there was guilt.
Colt lost it. "Fine if you're going to play these mind games then fine. It was your idea to break up, remember? It's also your idea to come back and seduce me every time you feel like it. Luckily for you, I'm a god damn horn dog. Now if you aren't going to answer the question, I will be leaving now." Colt snapped and turned to leave.
Sandra hugged him from behind. "Please don't go okay? I'll tell you." She sighed. "I just wanted to celebrate."
Colt sighed, like he hasn't heard that one before. "You'll answer my question then?"
"You have my word Sam." She whispered.
Colt nodded and turned around. Sandra went back to lean on his pilot station. She looked at him. "This doesn't reach anyone else, ya hear?"
Colt smiled. Finally they were acting like business partners and not a bickering couple. "You know you'll always have my word Sandra." Colt said.
Sandra smiled at his comment. He figured every time he said that it gave her some form of comfort. What he said was true anyways. He wouldn't share anything that went on between them. "Ok, the data base says the Station was lost in a meteor storm. Yet our computer found no sign of meteorite damage. Weyland-Yutani covered its destruction up."
Colt swore. "You gotta be fucking kidding me?"
Sandra shook her head. She definitely wasn't kidding. "So why are we even trying to salvage something that even the company wants hidden?" Colt asked.
"Well, it's a jackpot. That station is a deep space research station. It's full of expensive equipment and it was covered up by the company. Just imagine how much its database alone is worth, especially to a competitor." Sandra smiled.
Colt nodded his head. That station would definitely by the jackpot of all jackpots. They are looking at millions, maybe even billions in profits. He just didn't like how its destruction was covered up. He thought about it, does the risk justify the reward? "They must have had a good reason to just abandon it." Colt spoke casually.
Sandra eyed him and smiled. "Yeah for them. However I can think of a million good reasons to why we should uncover it."
Colt had enough to retire already. Did he need the extra risk for one last big haul? He walked out to the observation window. He could see the station in the distance. It was orbiting a blue frozen moon. Behind the moon laid a huge blue gas giant, its rings were a lot like Saturn's. "How long has the station been missing?" Colt asked.
Colt felt Sandra creep up behind him. She placed her hand on his hip and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Five long years." She spoke softly. "Damage appears minimal from scans."
Colt nodded his head. Something that happened five years ago would be long gone. Yeah, he could accept the risk. All that would be on that station would be ghosts. Ghosts that have been falling inside the black for five years. He wanted to bring those ghosts to light. Colt could smell the money already. "Will this be our last haul captain?" He asked.
"Yes it will, Sam." She bit her lip and moaned playfully. "We can retire together and live the rest of our lives on a warm beach."
Colt chuckled. He really liked the sound of that. "Well, when do I start?" He turned and smiled at the green eyed temptress that was his captain.
Sandra giggled a heavenly sound and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I thought you'd never ask."