Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles #1) - T.A. White Page 0,2

by a thin beam. That was perfect.

Kira veered for it, hitting her turbos and increasing her speed. The eel fell back slightly. Enough for her purposes.

She darted between the two sheets, brushing against one side and leaving several sticky charges on it before moving to the other side. The maneuver was performed in seconds.

She hit a hard reverse on her thrusters, gritting her teeth as the suit shuddered to a stop. She turned on her back to face the opening she’d just flown through and waited.

The eel didn't disappoint, sailing into the small space, its body slithering toward her as it spotted her.

She smiled at it. "Hello, beautiful."

She lifted her arm, lining up the shot as it prepared to dart after her. She fired, a blue light streaking toward the eel. It easily dodged, moving to the side as the light missed it.

Her smile widened. She kicked her thrusters online, using them to send her rocketing away from the eel, her eyes locked on it.

The light hit the sticky charges. A force punched Kira in the chest, then the metal around the eel imploded, warping around it and killing it.

Kira continued her backward glide.

"The eels have been neutralized," she said.

"Good, now that you're done playing, maybe you can get to work. You have four hours of air left and it'll take you nearly that long to get close again," Jin said.

"Roger that," Kira said.

She flipped around so she was facing the ship again. This time she was more cautious in her approach, maneuvering so her path mirrored the space junk orbiting the wreck. It meant a less direct trajectory, but it was safer.

An hour later she finally floated into the hull of the ship through one of the holes on its exterior without setting off any other defenses.

"Jin, you there?" Kira asked once inside the ship.

No response came. It wasn't a surprise really. They'd been prepared for it, and given this ship's defense measures were still online, it was nearly a given. The Tsavitee ships had some type of mechanism that disrupted communications. Even after all these years, Consortium scientists couldn't figure out how it worked.

Either way, it meant Kira was on her own.

The inside of the ship was as dark and oppressive as the outside, a tomb that hadn't been disturbed since the day it was destroyed. Twelve years of silence and solitude, everything in the exact same state as the day it had stopped.

Kira's forehead wrinkled in disgust at the thought of what could be floating unseen next to her. It could be stray metal, the bodies of the crew, or one of the nasty little surprises the aliens liked to leave behind. One never knew, and Kira had encountered all of the above at one point or another.

Kira wasted no time, flicking on her suit's headlamps. She’d turned them off during her approach. The beams from her helmet and shoulders pierced the black. Despite being high-powered, they did little but create thin slices of light in the oppressive blackness. Helpful but not nearly enough.

She unhooked one of the industrial glow lamps from its slot along her side, breaking it against the cold metal and giving it a shake before letting it go. It bobbed to the end of its string, the soft light illuminating the space in a way her suit lights could not.

She grimaced in distaste at the sight of the ship around her. It didn't matter how long she'd been doing this—a Tsavitee ship always gave her the creeps and left her feeling like she was walking through maggots. Still, they helped keep her in business, so she'd table her dislike until she was in her own bunk.

She fired her thrusters in a small burst, propelling herself slowly along the long corridor. In a human vessel, she would be in what was referred to as the lower aft section. It was a term originating from humanity's seafaring history and one they'd adapted once they began to move into space.

Kira couldn't be sure, but if she had to guess she'd say this part of the ship would have been used as quarters for the infantry landing parties. It'd probably also been home to the nasty little monsters and toys they created for the specific purpose of doing as much mayhem and destruction as possible.

For that reason, Kira moved carefully as she headed for the engine room, judging it as the best place to find something worth salvaging.

The government paid top dollar for intact engine parts. They’d