The Phobos Transit Quilters Guild

Chapter 3 - Not How I Wanted This Day to Go

[Cassy]

I found renewed lightness in my step as Kate took Val and me to the Ark Hope — an appropriate ship's name. It was so nice of her to help us find work.

Maybe now I would get to stay on the Phobos Transit Space Station, at least for a while. A surprisingly pleasant place, clusters of living spaces, shops, and work facilities, each like a small village, were separated by green parks and hydroponic agricultural plots. The station was nearly self-sufficient in basic food stocks, although more exotic choices were imported.

The central hub housed heavy industry and the fusion power plants, while the wide spokes held docks and environmental processes. The Ark was docked mid-way along a spoke. Being closer to the center of rotation than the ring, the artificial gravity was less, which made the work easier.

Due to the station rotation, up pointed toward the Ark and the central hub. I craned my neck to catch a view of the colony ship through a window above. It was huge. Easily the largest space ship I had ever seen, it resembled an elongated four-sided pyramid with massive thrust cones on the bottom. Gantry supported tunnels connected it to the spoke.

But as we waited for the next spoke lift ride, my heart dropped. There stood the she-devil herself — Khlo Azrial, captain of the mining ship Erobus. With tight, fashionable clothes on a curvy frame, immaculate makeup, and styled dark hair, she was almost as vain and she was greedy. Her heavy, sweet perfume was at best inappropriate for enclosed areas like the space station. By rumor, multiple cosmetic enhancements made her appear much younger than actual.

Khlo greeted me with a self-assured smirk. "Dr. Cassandra Adams, what a surprise to see you. Thought by now you would have gotten the hint and gone home."

My fingernails pressed into my palms as I repressed the simmering rage. "Still here," I replied in as calm a voice as I could muster. "I found employment on the Ark Hope." That was a small lie — I didn't have the job yet.

A sly smile rose on her face, a malicious I-know-something-you-don't kind of smile that twisted my gut. Could she have blackballed me from the Ark Hope, too?

"Good luck," she cooed, meaning the opposite. "Do tell me later how that works out."

As I struggled to find words, Khlo continued. "Oh, by the way, Cassy, your mining activity hold will soon be overturned."

"You can't do that. The biohazard risk is too big. We need to analyze the samples first."

"What samples?"

"The one's that I took--" My jaw dropped. Had she...

"It seems there were no samples, and between that and your clouded judgment... Well, I'll get my claim back." She sighed mockingly. "It's a hard lesson for some, I know, but I always get what I want." She turned, then looked back one more time. "Have a nice day, Cassy."

Heart pounding with teeth clenched in seething rage, I nearly exploded as I stomped into the round lift.

"Damn," Kate huffed. "I hate calling any woman a bitch, but she earned it."

Val placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't let her get to you, Cassy. She's not worth it."

Val was right. I blew out a breath and willed my body to relax. "Still," I replied, "wouldn't mind stitching her ditch."

The lift let us out on a dock platform that bristled with activity. Numerous workers in various colored overalls rushed around an orderly jungle of equipment and stacked crates. After scanning our identification badges, Kate led us through the dock tunnel, past two sets of heavy oval isolation doors, and into the ship.