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“All right, then,” Qui
Staring blankly at the blinking parade of lights in front of him, Pe
“Never mind,” Qui
The Rocinante dived toward the planet, blazing through the air in a nimbus of fire. It was a far more aggressive approach pattern than Qui
“Hell, no,” Qui
A patchwork of clouds spread out beneath them. Qui
“Relax,” Qui
As if sensing Pe
“No worries,” Pe
“I’m on it,” Qui
The Rocinante drifted to a halt above a muddy brown river. Qui
Pe
Qui
“Tell me about it,” Pe
Countless old odors called the dimly lit cargo bay of the Rocinante their home. The most recent stench was from decayed vegetables, a vivid reminder of the Nejev contract that had gone so miserably wrong just a day earlier. Old machine oil and well-hidden patches of mold and mildew competed to create the most pervasive stink. Pe
Secured on a thin metal pallet in the center of the hold was the ship’s sole item of cargo: a magnetic-containment pod full of antimatter. They had taken it aboard by opening the Rocinante’s ventral cargo bay doors and pulling it up from the vendor’s warehouse with the ship’s motorized winch; the plan was to deliver it the same way. Pe
“Roger that,” Qui
“Opening bay doors,” Pe
A sliver of light formed between the massive doors, and that crack widened as the doors slowly lowered open, leaving the fuel pod suspended in its harness attached to the winch cable. Reflected sunlight from the planet’s surface flooded the cargo bay. Wind noise and the roar of the Rocinante’s engines in hover mode drowned out the doors’ servomotors as Pe
A broad hatch in the middle of its secondary hull slid open, and Pe
Over the intercom, Qui
Pe
The Denobulan held up his hands, wide apart, and slowly moved them closer, advising Pe
“Nice,” Qui
Pe
Minutes later, after he had closed the ventral cargo bay doors, he climbed back up to the main deck and returned to the cockpit. “So,” he said as he fell into his seat, “is that it?”
“Not quite,” Qui
“Gentlemen,” said a dignified-sounding voice with an accent that Pe