The first week Aya barely left the room.
The second week she started listening to the ship.
The Ghostline had rhythms.
Metal groans inside the walls.
Elias swearing at machinery somewhere below deck.
Brakk’s heavy footsteps.
Rhea humming softly while organizing medical supplies.
Malak laughing at things that weren’t funny.
Normal sounds.
That was the strange part.
Nothing on the ship felt efficient.
People talked too much.
Argued too much.
Laughed too loudly.
Doors stayed unlocked.
Nobody monitored her movements.
Nobody questioned how she slept with knives hidden beneath her pillow.
Nobody demanded reports.
And somehow…
That unsettled her more than violence ever had.
Three weeks after arriving aboard the Ghostline, Aya still wasn’t sure if she was staying.
But she also wasn’t leaving.
Because she had nowhere else to go.
Malak never pressured her.
That confused her most of all.
The first time she tried to explain that she would leave once she recovered, he had leaned against the hallway wall outside her room and shrugged.
“You can stay as long as you want.”
No conditions.
No negotiations.
No suspicion.
Just simple acceptance.
It made no sense.
Brakk hated it.
Aya noticed the way he watched her during meals.
The way his body shifted slightly whenever she entered a room.
The way his eyes automatically tracked exits and objects nearby.
He remembered exactly what she was capable of.
Good.
That made two of them.
A few days later Malak received a transmission from an old smuggling contact while sitting in the galley drinking terrible station coffee.
Aya passed through quietly and caught fragments of the conversation.
Increased military cargo movement.
Resource stockpiling.
Fleet repositioning near outer systems.
The Federated Colonies were preparing for something.
Malak didn’t like unknowns.
So for the next few weeks, the Ghostline stayed clear of Federation territory and picked up smaller independent jobs along the outer rim.
Which was how they ended up carrying medical supplies to the mining colony of Blackwake Reach.
The delivery point sat near the edge of charted space at an independent station called Iron Haven.
The last major stop before the deep outer rim.
No government controlled it.
No navy protected it.
And everyone passing through obeyed one rule:
Don’t cause problems for Marx.
Marx took one look at Malak as he stepped off the loading ramp and sighed like a woman already exhausted by him specifically.
“You still owe me docking fees from two years ago.”
Malak placed a hand over his chest.
“That accusation hurts me deeply.”
“Good.”
Her silver cybernetic jaw clicked faintly as she looked him over.
“You look poorer.”
“I am poorer.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
Malak grinned.
“Because being poor on Iron Haven means I’m still alive.”
Marx snorted once.
“Barely.”
She pointed a metal finger toward him.
“No shootouts on my station.”
“You say that every time.”
“Because every time I end up replacing windows.”
Malak started walking backward into the crowd.
“That only happened twice.”
“Three times.”
“One of those explosions was unrelated.”
Marx yelled after him:
“GET OFF MY STATION BEFORE YOU COST ME MONEY.”
Malak laughed the entire way down the corridor.
The station itself was crowded and loud.
Freighters filled the docking lanes.
Miners packed the markets.
Mercenaries, smugglers, scavengers, and traders pushed through narrow corridors beneath flickering lights.
Aya stayed near the ship while the others prepared the exchange.
Brakk immediately folded his arms.
“I’m staying here.”
Rhea rolled her eyes.
“You volunteering or babysitting?”
“Both.”
Aya ignored him.
Malak stretched lazily before standing.
“Easy job. Medicine handoff. No shooting. No explosions. Probably.”
Elias snorted.
“The fact you said probably ruined the confidence.”
Malak grinned.
“I’ve got an errand to run anyway.”
Rhea pointed at him immediately.
“Absolutely not. Last time you disappeared we almost got arrested.”
“Allegedly.”
“Malak.”
“Relax. You two can handle a supply exchange.”
Then he looked toward Aya.
For half a second his expression softened slightly.
“Try not to stab Brakk while I’m gone.”
Aya blinked once.
“No promises.”
Brakk groaned.
“I hate this ship.”
Malak laughed and disappeared into the station crowd.
The walk to the exchange point was awkward almost immediately.
Rhea carried the transaction tablet while Elias pushed a hovering cargo crate filled with medical supplies.
Neither seemed entirely sure how to walk beside the other normally.
Elias cleared his throat.
“So… statistically speaking… this has been one of our least disastrous station visits.”
“We’ve been here four hours.”
“Exactly. Strong start.”
Rhea smirked.
“Your optimism is adorable.”
Elias nearly tripped over the cargo crate.
“I am not adorable.”
“Sure.”
He adjusted his jacket awkwardly.
“For the record, I’m actually considered intimidating in certain engineering circles.”
“I’m sure you terrify printers.”
Elias looked offended.
“You joke, but printers are inherently evil.”
Rhea laughed.
And for a moment everything felt normal.
Then footsteps echoed behind them.
Fast.
Too fast.
Aya would have noticed immediately.
Elias didn’t.
The first miner slammed into him from behind hard enough to send him crashing into the wall.
Pain exploded across the side of his head.
Rhea spun instantly.
Three figures emerged from side corridors wearing patched mining gear and respirator masks.
Not professionals.
Desperate people.
One grabbed Rhea before she could react fully.
Another hit Elias again as he tried reaching for the alarm device clipped to his belt.
The corridor tilted sideways.
Voices blurred together.
Then darkness.
When Elias woke up, his head felt like someone had replaced part of his skull with reactor scrap.
He staggered upright slowly.
The cargo crate was gone.
Rhea was gone.
Blood dripped down the side of his face.
For one terrifying second panic swallowed him whole.
Then he ran.
Brakk was already moving before Elias finished explaining.
“They took her WHERE?”
Elias pointed weakly toward the industrial sectors.
“Old warehouse district… I think…”
Brakk grabbed a rifle from the weapons rack.
Aya appeared beside him almost silently.
“I’m coming.”
Brakk didn’t even look at her.
“No.”
He stormed down the loading ramp.
Aya followed anyway.
“Turn around,” Brakk snapped. “I don’t need your help.”
Aya kept pace beside him effortlessly.
“You need your sister.”
Brakk glared at her.
“And you think I trust you?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Aya scanned the station corridors carefully as they moved.
Watching footprints.
Fresh scuffs.
Recently disturbed dust near maintenance doors.
“Seven people,” she said quietly. “Heavy boots.” “One injured.” “They’re inside.”
Brakk checked his rifle.
“We go in fast.”
Aya shook her head immediately.
“No.”
Brakk frowned.
“No?”
“Too loud.” “Too risky.” “If they panic… Rhea dies first.”
Brakk hated how quickly the words landed.
Aya pointed toward an upper maintenance walkway.
“We enter there.”
For several seconds Brakk simply stared at her.
Then finally:
“Fine.”
They slipped through the warehouse shadows almost silently.
Brakk moved surprisingly well for someone his size.
Aya moved like she belonged there.
Neither spoke.
Then voices echoed from deeper inside the warehouse.
Brakk tightened his grip on the rifle.
Then froze.
Someone was laughing.
Rhea.
Brakk blinked once in confusion.
Aya tilted her head slightly.
Brakk shoved the door open hard—
—and stopped.
Rhea sat beside a battered table drinking from a dented metal cup while several exhausted miners stood nearby looking deeply uncomfortable.
The moment she saw Brakk she waved casually.
“Hey.”
Brakk stared.
“...What?”
“Relax,” Rhea said. “It’s fine.”
“Fine?!”
One of the miners immediately raised his hands nervously.
“We didn’t mean to hurt anybody.”
Another looked sick with guilt.
Rhea sighed.
“They’re the miners we were meeting.”
Brakk frowned.
Slowly lowered the rifle.
The oldest miner stepped forward carefully.
“We couldn’t pay for the medicine.”
He gestured helplessly toward the others.
“The Collective bought the neighboring systems.” “Prices tripled.” “Supply routes got cut off.” “People are getting sick.”
Aya watched silently from the shadows.
The miner continued.
“We only meant to scare you.” “Then the kid got knocked unconscious and everybody panicked.”
Elias.
Rhea nodded.
“So they grabbed me and ran.”
Brakk looked horrified.
“And you’re just… sitting here drinking with them?”
“They offered tea.”
“Rhea—”
“Brakk.”
Her voice softened slightly.
“They’re desperate.”
The room fell quiet.
Finally Brakk exhaled heavily.
“Malak’s not gonna like this.”
Rhea smiled faintly.
“No.” “But he’ll understand.”
Then she noticed Aya standing beside him.
One eyebrow lifted immediately.
“Well this is new.”
Brakk looked irritated instantly.
“Don’t start.”
Aya looked away.
Back aboard the Ghostline, Rhea finished wrapping a bandage around Elias’ head while he complained dramatically from the medical chair.
“I suffered a severe cranial injury.”
“You’ll survive,” Rhea said.
“But what if my intelligence declines?”
Rhea smiled sweetly.
“Now you’re only slightly smarter than everyone else.”
Elias looked deeply offended.
“That is not remotely true.”
Brakk snorted from across the room.
Aya sat quietly near the doorway pretending not to listen.
Then the cargo ramp opened.
Malak walked inside carrying a large sealed box in both arms.
He stopped immediately.
Looked at Elias’ bandaged head.
Looked at Brakk.
Looked at Rhea.
“...Why do I feel like I missed something expensive?”
Everyone started talking at once.
Rhea explained the miners.
Brakk complained.
Elias exaggerated his injuries.
Aya remained silent.
Malak listened carefully.
Then finally nodded once.
“Yeah.” “That sounds about right.”
Brakk crossed his arms.
“And where exactly did YOU disappear to?”
Malak’s grin slowly returned.
“Important captain business.”
“That explains nothing,” Elias muttered.
Malak set the large box down on the galley table.
Then opened it dramatically.
Inside were matching dark jackets.
Black fabric.
Silver trim.
A snarling jackal emblem stitched across the back.
And beneath it, bold silver lettering:
VOIDJACKALS
Silence filled the room.
Malak looked painfully proud of himself.
“So?”
Brakk stared blankly.
Rhea immediately burst out laughing.
Elias whispered:
“...Oh no.”
Aya picked one up slowly.
Ran her fingers across the stitched emblem.
And for the first time since boarding the Ghostline…
She smiled.