Chapter 6 · Graveyard Run

The nav screen went red before I even strapped in.

"Patrol cluster. Four ships." Senna's voice stayed flat, but her hand moved fast, killing the transponder. "They're sweeping the debris field."

I looked out the viewport. The wreckage went on forever. Twisted hull plating. Shattered solar arrays spinning slow. A cargo hauler split clean in half, its guts frozen mid-spill. This used to be a convoy. Now it was a graveyard.

"They're looking for us," I said.

Senna didn't answer. She was already pulling us into the thickest part of the field, where the dead ships clustered like corpses in a mass grave. The engine whine dropped to a whisper. Running dark.

I hated flying dark. No transponder meant no one knew you were there. Also meant if something went wrong, no one would come.

"How close are they?" I asked.

Senna tapped the screen. Four red dots, moving in formation. "Close enough."

My hands found the co-pilot controls without thinking. Muscle memory. Senna glanced over, and I saw the question in her eyes.

"I can fly," I said. "You want to live, let me fly."

She didn't argue. Just shifted her grip on the stick and nodded. "Your ship."