Anna bathes in the bathroom, soap suds thick across her skin.
Arthur stands at the bedroom window, staring out. He closes his eyes—
—and steps into the Void, beneath the canopy.
Mist falls from the giant suspended orb of water.
He walks to the table.
Anna sits opposite him, watching. Waiting.
Then—
“What happened, Arthur?”
“Hunters. Cowardly bastards.”
Disgust crosses his face.
“Thomas and Sarah… do you think they’re still out there? In that swamp?”
Worry threads through every word.
Arthur thinks for a moment, then sits at the table.
“No. They must have been taken.”
Their eyes meet.
“The only reason we’re here is because they couldn’t find us.”
Anna leans in. “But where?”
Arthur shakes his head. “I have no idea. Any number of people or organizations could be trying to pick us up.”
He concentrates.
A memory book appears on the table with a heavy thud.
“Our one clue: transponder code LHRS1456-239.”
He leans in. “I scanned them right before we went down.”
Anna leans back, frustration sparking. She hits the table with her fist.
“Well, at least we have a place to start.”
Arthur vanishes from the Void—
—reappearing in the real.
He crosses the room and picks up the comms device.
On the other end, the hotel desk clerk answers,
“How may I help you today, Mister Hammond?”
Arthur mouths to Anna, “Do you want food?”
She nods.
“I’ll take whatever the house special is. Two of them. And I’ll be needing an information terminal.”
“We’ll have one right up, sir,” the clerk replies.
“Thank you. Bill the room.”
Arthur hangs up.
Anna steps out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.
“Tell them we need weapons, too.”
Arthur looks at her — half disbelief, half agreement.
“I don’t think this is that kind of hotel, Anna.”
He turns away as she gets dressed.
“First, we need a new ship.”
He can’t help thinking of the Solace.
“Someplace we can call home. A place we can stay ahead of these damn Hunters.”
A faint smile. “Then we’ll need weapons.”
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“I loved the Solace. That ship was amazing,” she says, smiling — nostalgia wrapping around her like a warm coat.
“Two hundred sixty-nine years we kept her running. She was more replacement parts than original.”
Arthur looks at her—
—and for a moment, he sees Sarah.
A violin begins to play from nowhere.
Its gentle melody carries him into memory.
The family sits together, listening as Sarah plays a piece she composed—
a private, intimate concert.
Arthur leans back, revealing Sean, early twenties, smiling. Anna leans over, resting her hand on his shoulder.
Thomas grins.
The music swells, reaching its crescendo.
They all rise and clap.
Sarah bows, walks to Arthur—
—and they kiss.
A knock at the door—
the doorman arriving with their food—pulls Arthur back to the present.
The clapping fades.
“Lot of great memories,” he murmurs. “That’s for sure.”
“Let’s get to Sol’s,” Anna says.
Arthur starts gathering his few belongings.
“Good idea. We can buy a small ship — something just to get us there.”
“And some weapons.”
---
Before long, they have their own little hopper ship.
It’s old and smells like sweaty grease, but it works.
The hum of the chained gates is loud and unnerving.
The ship rattles and heaves — but somehow holds together.
There’s no room for walking or work — just four seats and an engine.
“Now I really miss the Solace,” Anna says, stealing the words from Arthur’s mouth.
“Reminds me of Cresor,” Arthur smirks.
“They dropped me and the squad into battle in something just like this.”
Anna remembers.
“That battle was crazy — even for me.”
She leans back, settling nervously into the chair.
“Memories are a funny thing. I’m not Sarah — in fact, I try to be as far from her as possible.”
She pauses, thinking of a past that is both hers and not.
“But we share so many memories. And they’re just memories.”
She shakes her head.
“In a way, they aren’t even ours. And in another… they form who we are at our core.”
Arthur looks at her.
“Me and Sarah talk about this sometimes — late at night.”
He smiles.
“We came to the conclusion: we are them, and these are our memories.”
He checks his console.
“How much time?” she asks.
Arthur smiles, remembering a trip to Florida — the kids constantly asking "Are we there yet?"
He laughs under his breath.
“I think it’s okay to feel lost sometimes,” he says softly.
“We hold a lot of pain.”
His smile fades.
“More loss than anyone should endure.”
He leans back in his chair.
“We’re gonna find them."
---
A gate floats in the darkness—
a small bit of humanity among the stars.
It pops with electricity. Blue fire erupts as the Hopper bursts through.
In the distance, a sign drifts in space:
SIGN: WELCOME TO SOL’S
JUNKYARD AND SHIP EMPORIUM
The Hopper blows past it.
Beyond—
a massive station, surrounded by derelict ships and parts as far as the eye can see.
The Hopper drifts slowly into the docking ring. Moments later, the door slides open.
Arthur and Anna step out, stretching their cramped legs.
The station is quiet. Only two other customers browse parts.
Arthur nods to the clerk helping them.
The clerk nods back.
The Hammonds move with purpose toward a massive vault door.
Arthur presses a button.
After a moment, the door hisses open.
Inside sits an older man in a fitted suit, smoking a pipe—bald head gleaming. He occupies a tight little office, stacks of invoices everywhere except, somehow, the desk.
“Arthur! What can I do for ya, my friend?” he says, stumbling over his words.
“I need a ship, Sol,” Arthur replies.
“Finally trading in the Solace, huh?” Sol asks—suddenly nervous.
Arthur starts to answer, but Anna cuts him off, narrowing her eyes.
“No. Some hunter bastards destroyed it.”
She watches his reaction—sweat beading on his forehead.
“And now we have to go find them.”
She smiles. “All of them.”
She puts extra emphasis on all.
Anna whispers in Arthur’s ear from the Void,
“This guy knows something. He’s never this nervous.”
Arthur studies him.
“I’ve had my eye on that cruiser for years. How much?”
Sol flips through his books.
“One hundred seventy-five thousand credits.”
He hands Arthur the manifest.
Arthur scans it.
“Is it still fully operational?”
“Yeah. Still has the launchers and firing systems.”
Sol points to the manifest. “Just like you see there.”
Arthur flips a page forward—then back.
“Sensors? They still there?”
Sol gives a nervous laugh.
“Would I do you wrong?”
He reaches across the desk and takes back the manifest.
“A guy wanted to rip them out last solar, but I was thinking of making her my new home away from home.”
Arthur presses his thumb to the scanner, then keys in a code.
Sol smiles like he just won a game of cards.
“She’s all yours.”
“Is there an information console I can purchase?” Arthur asks.
“A good one.”
“Yeah. Hey—I’ll throw that in for free,” Sol says, stoking his pipe.
Anna raises a brow.
“Free, huh?” Arthur says, extending a hand. “Thanks, Sol.”
Arthur turns, meeting Anna’s eyes.
She knows he’s just as concerned as she is.
—
A memory hits them both at the same time.
Thirty years earlier—the whole family sits in Sol’s office.
“Sol, all I want is for the parts to be in decent shape,” Arthur says, frustrated.
Sol smiles.
“You never give anyone anything.”
He looks Arthur in the eye.
“If a customer wants it, they’ll buy it.”
“Why don’t we just go to the lot in the Aega Cluster?” Thomas asks.
“I hear their prices are better anyway.”
Anna nods.
“And the quality too, from what I hear.”
Sarah stands, tying her hair into a bow.
“Sorry, Sol. Looks like we don’t need these parts. Maybe we’ll come back next week.”
“Nothing’s free, darling.” He shoos them away.
“These parts might not be here when you come back.”
The memory fades slowly.
Sol’s voice pulls them back.
“Can I help you with anything else?”
—
Arthur’s expression hardens.
“What did you tell them, Sol?”
Anna steps forward.
“We know you said something to someone.”
Sol hesitates—a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.
Anna grabs his tie and yanks him forward, eyes cold.
“Who did you sell us out to?”
Sol pulls his tie free, straightening it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His eyes dart between them.
“I deal in parts, not information.”
Arthur leans close.
“If anything happens to my wife or my brother, you’re a dead man.”
He grabs Sol by the neck and hauls him onto the desk.
“You think those four bodyguards out there can save you?”
Sol tries to act tough despite the fear.
“They came asking, sure.” He knocks Arthur’s hand away.
“But I didn’t say anything. I don’t know anything.”
“You told them something,” Anna says.
“About Solace.”
She steps closer.
“You gave them our new transponder code. That’s what you did.”
Sol’s eyes widen—caught.
He stomps a hidden button beneath his desk.
The two clerks and two shoppers rush in—each holding shock batons crackling with energy.
They stop just inside the doors. The room barely big enough for seven people who aren’t fighting.
“You don’t have to do this—” Arthur warns.
One swings a baton.
Arthur steps forward, breaking the arc of the swing. He strips the weapon away and tases another in the ribs—electricity lighting the room.
Sol reaches into a desk drawer.
Anna kicks it shut—his hand caught. He screams.
She yanks it open again, grabs a pistol, and cracks him across the face.
She fires—one bodyguard drops.
Sol lunges for the weapon.
She fires again, catching him in the leg. He screams.
Arthur finishes the last two attackers with fluid precision, the baton whining as it discharges.
“Sol. Who did you talk to?” Anna asks.
Sol, nursing a broken hand:
“They didn’t say—and I didn’t ask.”
He spits blood onto his desk.
“Waving that kind of cash around… only a fool would’ve said no.”
He spits again, trembling.
Anna picks up a fallen baton—it hums with electricity as she steps closer, eyes burning.
—
Later, Arthur carries an information terminal aboard and sets it by his workstation.
The docking hatch seals behind them with a metallic thud.
He glances at Anna.
“Did you hurt him worse?”
Anna looks at the baton in her hands.
“He’ll be okay. Might walk with a limp.”
She lifts her eyes to his.
“So… what are we going to name her?”
Arthur smiles, relieved she didn’t kill Sol.
“The Anubis.”
Anna nods.
“The Anubis. It’s fitting.”
Arthur taps the terminal.
“I have the docking logs for the last six months.”
Anna looks at him.
“I scrubbed the security footage. Let’s get out of here.”
The engines ignite—
gate light flickering across their faces.
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