‘Stroid security was supposed to be easy work. A prelude to retirement. Slow and safe. A balm for my old bones. I duck a double-blast that shatters the rock above me, grabbing a fist-sized outcropping to counter the spin my sudden movement threw me in.
“Fuck!” Below Micha’s voice on our private channel, I hear a hiss that can’t bode well. “Rock fragment nicked my suit.”
I take a quick peek around the bend in the tunnel. Half a dozen of the pirates, in their motley suits, have spread around the circumference of the opening, outlined against the starfield. I duck back half a second before another barrage lights up the bend, and look further down the tunnel, where Micha is spinning, propelled by a plume of air and ice crystals jetting from her shoulder.
