Ash stared through the viewport, eyes scanning the growing silhouette of Stellar Prime. He kept glancing at the scanner, then back at the station, then at Rhea.
"Stop it, Ash," Rhea said without looking away from the controls. "None of them are there. See? It's quiet."
Ash leaned back in the co-pilot seat, arms crossed. "Yeah, I can see that. But I expected them to ambush us anyway. If I was in Jackal's position I would've left at least one patrol waiting. Just for the sake of it."
"Well, thank god he's dumber than you," Rhea muttered, a tired smirk tugging at her lips.
Ash sulked, sinking lower in his seat. "Still feels wrong. Too easy."
Rhea finally glanced at him. "Ambush or not, we can't just dock in the open. Jackal will come looking for the ship one way or another. We need to lay low for a while."
"Agreed," Ash said. "But hide how?"
Rhea's smirk widened into something almost mischievous. "Well… I know a girl who knows where to hide stuff." She winked.
Ash groaned. "Nooo way. Seli? She wouldn't let us near her workshop."
"Wanna bet?"
"Not when you're that confident," Ash said.
Rhea laughed. "Girl owes me one and I know she won't turn me down."
She opened the short-range encrypted comm.
"Hey Seli, it's Rhea. Listen… I can't explain everything right now, but I need a safe place to hide Luna for a while. You're the only one who can help me."
A beat of silence. Then Seli's voice came through.
"Wow... No hello Seli, no how are you Seli. Straight to do me a favor, Seli."
Rhea rubbed her temple. "Seli, please. This is serious. And remember you owe me."
Seli let out a short laugh. "Alright, alright. Calm down, girl. I was just pulling your chain. Sounds bad enough to rattle even you. Bring her in. Come slow. I'll meet you there."
Rhea exhaled. "Deal. We're on our way."
They guided Luna carefully through the lower service tunnels, avoiding the main traffic lanes. The old restricted mining sector looked completely abandoned from the outside. But when Seli keyed in an old override code a hidden secondary hatch hissed open.
Inside was clean and reinforced. Fresh plating welded over old structural supports and tools hung in neat rows along one wall. A small living corner with a cot and a basic stove sat in the back. Seli had turned the forgotten bay into her own private sanctuary.
Seli was waiting for them when they landed. She was a wiry women in her early 30s, she watched Luna settle into the deepest alcove.
"You brought trouble," she said flatly as soon as the outer hatch sealed. "I can smell it from here."
Rhea stepped forward, hands raised. "Just for a while, Seli. We just need to hide the ship and the cargo. No one can know it's here."
Seli's gaze moved from Rhea to Ash,then she sighed. "Fine."
She helped them guide Luna into the final position then locked down the heavy emergency bulkheads. Once the ship was powered down some of the tension finally bled out of Rhea's shoulders.
Seli wiped her hands on a rag. "You've got maybe six hours before I need this space back for work. Stay out of sight. And Rhea… next time you call in a favor, try not to sound like a stranger."
Rhea gave a nod. "We owe you."
"You already did," Seli said, heading for the exit "Now we're even."
The door sealed behind her.
Ash flopped onto the old couch in the corner with a heavy groan.
"God… I'm so tired I could sleep for two whole days," he muttered, throwing an arm over his eyes.
Rhea dropped into the chair across from him, kicking her boots up onto a crate.
"You're telling me. I genuinely thought we weren't gonna make it out of there alive. Craziest run I've ever had."
She looked over at him.
"My brain is still trying to piece everything together. But Ash… your core is actually awakened now, right? I wasn't seeing things back on the ship?"
Ash lowered his arm and nodded slowly. "Yeah. I don't know exactly what happened, but that orb did something crazy".
"I've never heard of one awakening someone like that before."The power that came off you." Rhea shook her head. "The whole ship actually lit up for a second. Powerful but completely uncontrollable. Most people grind for years just to get a decent grip on their core and you just got handed something you have no idea how to use yet."
Ash gave a tired laugh. "Pretty much. We'll talk about it more later."
He sat up, rubbing his face. "Right now we need to figure out the immediate stuff. Hiding Luna. We can keep her here for a while, right?"
Rhea nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can convince Seli to let us stay longer than six hours. She owes me more than she likes to admit." She paused. "But we can't hide here forever., Especially you. Although if the Hounds find you they'll try to squeeze the truth out of you one way or another."
She got up and walked over to the ship, pulling out a few of the loot items. She picked up one of the capsules and turned it over in her hands.
"I still can't believe it. Biggest haul of my life and we probably can't even sell it."
Ash stood up and joined her. "Yeah. And even if it wasn't for the Hounds, we don't know if Zelth is involved in any of this. I'm not sure we should tell him anything yet." "Zhao is supposed to come in with a shipment soon though. He's got more reach than Zelth and he's much more kinder person. And Han trusts him, so it might be worth feeling him out about moving some of this quietly. Or at least figuring out what we can do next ."
Rhea set the capsule down carefully. "Yeah but we have to be careful. One wrong move and this whole thing explodes in our faces."