LOCATION: The Halo

  STATUS: Departure

  The hull of the Vanguard groaned, the scream of metal being thermally cut. Sparks showered down from the hangar ceiling as Devan’s drones breached the outer pting.

  Inside The Mighty Sparrow, Phoenix’s hands flew across the dashboard.

  -Link established, Phoenix said, his voice tight. I’m feeding you the engine telemetry now. Keep the gain high, Market. If the signal dips, the illusion breaks.

  -I read you, Sparrow, Market’s voice came over the comms. It sounded tiny, filtered through the cheap radio of the escape pod. The pod is hot. Thrusters online.

  -Go, Phoenix whispered.

  The rusted escape pod shot out of the Vanguard’s breach. It wobbled, its ancient stabilizers fighting the vacuum, but it moved fast.

  As soon as it cleared the shadow of the derelict, Market hit the switch.

  The bck box screamed.

  It took the live data from Phoenix’s engine, the vibration, the heat, the magnetic signature of the MTC thrusters, and amplified it ten thousand times.

  On every sensor board in the sector, the tiny pod didn't look like a piece of debris. It looked like a desperate ship burning its st reserves to escape.

  On the bridge of the Cold Moon, the tactical officer shouted.

  -Contact! High-energy burn breaking cover!

  Captain Devan stepped forward. He looked at the red blip tearing away from the derelict.

  ID: THE MIGHTY SPARROW STATUS: FLEEING

  Devan smiled.

  -He panicked. He’s trying to run the minefield.

  -Sir, the target is entering the Sector 4 Hazard Zone, the officer warned. Density is critical. There are active munitions in that cluster.

  -I don't care about the trash, Devan snapped. Lock main batteries.

  The officer hesitated but obeyed.

  -Fire, Devan roared. Vaporize him!

  The Cold Moon shuddered. The massive railguns running along its keel charged and fired. Three tungsten slugs streaked into the darkness.

  In the cockpit of the Sparrow, Phoenix watched the scope. He saw the railgun trails.

  -Market, break left!

  -Too te, Market’s voice came back. Get them to Venus, Jimi.

  The railgun rounds smmed into the escape pod.

  There was no sound. Just a blinding, silent fsh of white light. The derelict munitions, the pod, the bck box, and Himaya Market, all gone instantly.

  But the tungsten rounds didn't stop there. They punched through the expanding vapor cloud and hit a drifting minefield cluster behind it.

  It set off a chain reaction, shattering the surrounding debris. Millions of shards of metal, gss, and frozen reactor cores were accelerated to bullet speeds.

  And the Cold Moon was right in the path.

  -Hard to port, Devan screamed on the bridge of his ship.

  It was too te. The wave of debris hit the MTC cruiser. Shields fred and died. The hull buckled. The bridge window cracked, then shattered.

  Phoenix watched from the shadow of the Vanguard as the massive ship was swallowed by the cloud of dust. The Cold Moon was fyed. Its engines died, it melted into the graveyard of the Halo.

  -He’s gone, Phoenix whispered.

  He looked at the empty spot where Market’s pod had been.

  Bit was staring at the scope. The kid reached out and touched the gss.

  -Market? Bit asked.

  -Hold on, kid, Phoenix said, swallowing a lump in his throat and hitting the throttle.

  He smmed the engines to max. The Mighty Sparrow shot out of the hangar, diving away from the expanding debris cloud. They surfed the shockwave, the ship rattling so hard Phoenix thought the bolts would shear.

  The massive android in the cargo bay braced its hydraulic arms against the bulkheads, holding the frame together by brute force.

  -Caution, it buzzed. Structural integrity compromised. We are leaving the Work zone.

  -Yeah, Phoenix grunted, fighting the throttle. We’re leaving.

  They punched through the edge of the Halo and into the clean bck of space.

  Phoenix cut the engines and the cockpit fell silent again.

  The radio crackled. It was The Marley.

  -Sparrow! We saw the fsh! The Blockade ships are scattering! What is your status? Where is Market?

  -He’s gone, Phoenix said ftly.

  -What do you mean gone?

  Phoenix looked at the Orrery. He looked at the impossible distance between them and Venus.

  -This is Captain Lyons, Phoenix said over the radio. Set coordinates for the Morning Star. Follow my vector. And don't look back.

  He uploaded the flight pn.

  Phoenix looked at Bit. The kid was curled up in the seat, holding his yellow helmet.

  -Well, kid, Phoenix said softly. We’re not getting paid. We’re wanted criminals. And we’re flying a broken ship toward a pnet that rains acid.

  Bit looked up. He tapped his heart three times.

  -Yeah, Phoenix said, tapping his beads. Three times for a miracle.