What was supposed to be a short trip felt like ages as I approached the station as fast as I could without overshooting it and ending up on the other side of the system. There is this moment every pilot knows, just as you drop out of supercruise and into normal space, where all your atoms seem to hang for a second and then form back around you.

Giraud Ring, the station where I was to meet Keria, appeared before me as I felt my atoms materialize, my kidney picking up a few extra bits from the feel of it. But instead of enjoying that moment as I normally did, I pushed the throttle and speeded straight to the gate, risking a fine.

To where my pursuer was awaiting.

Suspended there between me and the station.

Burst laser fire shot straight at the canopy of my ship. My shields barely held as I put all system resources into the engines. My only hope was getting close enough to the station to enter the no fire zone. If the ship attacking me decided to carry on with the laser barrage, it would risk being blown to bits by the station defences. Stations don’t like other ships opening fire in its vicinity. They also don’t like idlers, people who go in without requesting permission, and clowns. And will treat them all the same violent way.

I could see my shields about to be depleted as the station got closer. Even without shields, my ship’s hull would be able to withstand a bit of punishment before exploding into bits in the vacuum of space. Just as I had hoped, all firing stopped the moment I entered Giraud Ring’s no fire zone. Hull integrity intact, my pursuer could fly right beside me and wave, and do nothing without risking death by space station.

A beautiful sight.

Once my ship was secured and the engines disengaged, I unstrapped myself from my seat, took the small case under an arm, and half-walked, half-ran down the station terminal. Kirea and Canico had neglected to tell me something crucial, warn me about something critial, but I was beyond caring or asking. I just wanted to get rid of the package, get paid, and put all this behind me. Smuggling was not worth getting killed over.

I sped through corridors and alleys inside the station, trying to get the most direct route to the rendezvous point. Most stations look alike from outer space, and the docks follow a similar pattern, but once you get inside, they are all assembled in a confusingly different, seemingly haphazard, way.

Our meeting point was in a semi residential area, a few shops and storefronts adorning the block. Local time put me at roughly four in the morning standard hours. Either Kirea was awake, expecting me, or was about to get her beauty sleep rudely interrupted.

I turned the last corner and a narrow alley stretched out in front of me. According to my datapad, the house would be nearby. I couldn’t make sure, because the moment I looked down to check, a loud bang echoed through the alley, and I felt the force of a projectile fly a few millimetres over my head. I instinctively jumped towards a wall and pressed myself against a dumpster as a second shot rang by. Kinetic weapons! Whoever was shooting at me was using projectile missiles! I was outraged.