The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 2.5

"Umm, yeah. Of course." His eyes followed her swaying hips up the ladder, clad only in tight black underwear.

Oh, that's nice. He shook his head, chastising himself. What am I doing ogling a Sol Priestess?

She squeezed between the pipes and disappeared into the hole. Moon followed her partway up the ladder, gazing upward. A beam of light danced in the darkness above as Celeste lit her way.

She called out, "What am I looking for?"

"It's a yellow cylinder bolted to the beam about three meters up or so. There's just two bolts to take out."

After a moment, she replied. "Okay, I see it. Wait, there are two of them."

Moon said, "Just remove the lower one."

"Alright. Why do you have two beacons?"

"I have a fake one. It helps sometimes when I need to hide my movements."

Celeste sighed. "Are there any regulations you haven't broken?"

"Maybe a few. It's good to have goals in life."

"Right," Celeste grumbled. "Okay, I see the bolts. Which way do I turn them?"

"Standard. 'Righty tighty, lefty loosy'."

"Is that the technical term?"

Moon replied. "Yeah. You might be surprised how useful it is."

The ship lurched and shook as the hum from the fusion reactors and quantum drive increased in volume.

Celeste gasped. "What was that?"

"Just Sai making speed and course corrections, I think." He turned his head and called out, "Sai, do you have a course solution?"

A voice came from a wall speaker. "Yes, sir. Increasing relative speed to sixty-eight C. Time to intercept approximately twenty-three minutes."

"Any sign that the Corsair sees us yet?"

"No, sir. They are maintaining constant speed and course."

"Stay directly behind it if you can. Oh, Sai, send one of your external maintenance-bots to the forward docking hatch. We are going to need it."

"Yes, sir."

Moon took two more steps up the ladder and poked his head into the narrow passageway. Clangs sounded periodically as the wrench she wielded struck the beam.

Hmm, nice legs too.

He said, "How are you coming, Priestess?"

"I almost have the first bolt out. It's a tight fit in here."

"Well, you need to hurry it up. We don't have much time."

"How fast do I need to go?" The wrench clanged again, and she shifted her stance.

"Umm, like your life depended on it."

"Oh... There! I got the first bolt."

With a final turn, the bolt came loose but slipped from her grasp. It fell, bouncing among the beams and piping, to strike Moon on the head.

"Oww!" A hand covered his forehead. Probably deserved that.

"Sorry." The wrench clanked against metal as Celeste started on the second bolt. "What is your so-called 'wild ass plan' anyway?"

"Karma."

"What?"

"You'll see. Keep going."

She grunted. "There! Got the second bolt." The bolt fumbled in her hand and fell. "Watch out, Moon!"