Opening paragraphs - Book Two

CHAPTER ONE

  "Come around behind her," Mr. Diem directed from the co-pilot's position on board the Destiny's Shadow, coaching the dark-haired teenage girl who sat in the pilot's seat next to him.  He pointed through the transparent canopy at one of hundreds of enormous transport and cargo ships lumbering around them.  He watched Autumn nervously, wiping away the small beads of sweat forming on his dark face with the sleeve of his flight suit, as she maneuvered the ship through the overcrowded space surrounding the Vigilant.  The giant, spinning space station - once a powerful Alliance Navy outpost, now an icon of lust and greed, owned by some anonymous private corporation outside the influence of the Alliance - loomed in front of them.  "Easy.  That's it."

  "Come on Mr. D," said Autumn, moaning sarcastically.  She did not take offense in the directions and fatherly guidance Mr. Diem was obsessed with giving her.  She knew he trusted her and her piloting skills, which she had learned from his best friend...her father.  "You're starting to sound like Papa Ralph."

  "I'll take that as a compliment," he replied.

  Autumn guided the ship alongside the giant space station, effortlessly flying through thousands of protruding docking ports that dotted the outer hull of the Vigilant.  Following the instructions from the stations landing control officer, she rolled the sleek craft over the padded, oval-shaped seal of docking port number 32-6-3827.  Small bursts of air escaped through microscopic holes along the edge of the seal, equalizing the pressure between the Destiny's Shadow  and the Vigilant.