Rain - a rather unusual visitor here.

  Small droplets left tiny speckles in the dirt. A hooded figure looked up to the skies - above was almost nothing but gleaming metal and concrete - an unreachable city.

  Just how long has it been since it last rained?

  The corrugated steel panels pattered instrumentally as the wooden beams creaked from the added weight upon the tarps. A small puddle formed in the open hand of the hooded figure.

  Something is about to happen… What else could it mean?

  Weaving through the sea of faces that all seemed to look the same, they made their way out of the rain. An awning made the perfect cover. Lowering their hood, the figure let out a sigh.

  “Annelynn?” a strong voice called out from behind, “That is you, right?”

  Startled briefly, the figure took a look around their surroundings. Just as they thought, peeking around to see above the awning, a neon sign displayed the name of a scavenging company. Looking down into the newly formed puddle, glowing from the warped and refracted neon lights. There was the reflection of a young woman. She had pale blue hair loosely tied back into a low bun, and leafy green eyes that almost seemed to glow in the reflection.

  You’ve seen better days. Just hang in there.

  “Eh? Did you hear me? You’re the one right?” the strong voice called out again, this time closer than before.

  “Oh!” She jumped to attention, “Yes, yes that is me! I apologize, I got lost in thought.” Annelynn slumped a little, slightly embarrassed.

  The man thinks audibly for a moment, as if inspecting her. “Are you sure you can handle it? I mean-”

  “Oh, try not to worry about me, I can handle it no problem,” she cuts him off, “I know I may not look it, but I am very capable.”

  “If you say so, I’ll just have to trust you on that. This way, to the back.”

  He had augmented arms - likely an occupational surgery. It wasn’t an uncommon thing to see. Nearly everyone was augmented for some reason or another.

  Annelynn follows the man to the back of the shop and into the yard. A massive net filled with debris that had fallen from the world above loomed overhead. A large crane waited on standby while workers carefully navigated the scrap materials for anything too fragile for the crane.

  “What I need from you is to manage this cable. They will attach it to anything too heavy to move by hand. Once they give you the signal, pull with everything you’ve got.”

  “That seems simple enough. Who normally does this?”

  “Well, those guys up in the net normally do. There was an accident a few days ago,” he sighed into his hand, “and we lost the net crew. Now we are shorthanded around here. I’ll be here to help you with the cable.”

  “No need. I can handle this myself. Try not to stress yourself.” She wore a deadpan, yet focused expression.

  He just laughed, “Let’s just see how you handle it first. I won’t have another workplace injury so soon, especially not a contractor.” He wore a confident face of disbelief, as if ready to take over at the first sight of a struggle, “And be careful. I don’t need to tell you that we don’t usually work in the rain - expect the unexpected.”

  The rain - I almost forgot. What a lovely feeling the rain is.

  She stood at the ready, and certainly dressed the part it seemed. Her utility jumpsuit was nicely padded and of high quality, though quite worn out. A thick black and yellow jacket provided more than enough pockets for anything she could possibly need.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  From the net above, one of the workers peered over the edge, extending his hand in a circular winding motion. That must’ve been the cue to reel it in. Annelynn pulls at the cable, reeling it into the spool. The worker above looks back at the debris then steps aside. A large turbine engine, in good quality too, began shifting toward the edge of the net. Workers used hand signals to communicate when to pause and resume as they created a path and aligned the engine.

  “Wow, that is quite the find. Looks heavy.” the strong voiced man grabbed the cable, “I know you said you can handle it, but I just can’t risk you overestimating yourself and hurting yourself or someone else.”

  Annelynn just sighed in frustration, then returned to her focused expression, watching the engine.

  One last pull extracted the engine from the net, now suspended over open air. The man seemed surprised that the cable barely budged once the engine was freed. He slowly released his grip, noticing that Annelynn could actually hold it up on her own, and she didn’t even look stressed about it.

  Without instruction, she slowly began lowering the engine to the ground, hand over hand allowing gravity to carry the cable away from the spool. The man positioned a cart where the engine would land.

  The wet cable slipped through her grip. Annelynn braced her foot on the spool, stopping it from spinning. The smell of burning rubber immersed the air as her sole smoked against the friction. She was able to recover before any damage could occur. Soon enough the engine was lowered safely onto the cart, ready to be hauled to the shop.

  It was easy work, and it paid well enough. Though, this is not somewhere I fit in.

  A few hours passed, and Annelynn got a hefty pat on the back, “Good work out there. Hell, wouldn’t mind having you join the crew if you want something stable.”

  Visibly uninterested, she shrugged, “I will pass on the offer. There are many work opportunities out there, and they could likely all use my help.”

  He sighs in disappointment, but ultimately understands, “Well enough. We appreciate the help, come with me and I’ll load up your cred-stick.”

  She showed her cred-stick to him - the palms of her gloves ripped and torn from the cable incident. He crunches some numbers on his datapad, then with a quick scan, the credits were transferred to Annelynn.

  Annelynn walked the streets once more. Everyone around seemed to be enjoying the gentle downpour. Children could be seen splashing in the newly formed mud, and the parents had a calm, almost serene look as they supervised. The slums have never looked so… safe.

  She found herself at the recruitment pub once again, brushing the hair from her face as she slumped over the table at her booth. “Another dud…” she sighed to herself, disappointed. Listing after listing scrolled up her datapad as she searched for a new job, though nothing seemed to catch her eye.

  Frustrated, she planted her face flat on the table and scratched at the knicks in the wood. Just at the peak of her boredom, once the rain had fizzled out completely, a man entered the pub.

  He had this freelance look about him. Too clean to live in the slums - too unkempt to live in the city above. The way he walked in - that confidence - it was like he knew exactly what he was looking for.

  “I’m looking to hire someone.” he called out.

  “Obviously!” a patron from the pub chuckled, and others joined in.

  Instead of a negative reaction, the man joined in as well, laughing alongside the crowd. “Well there is this uncharted space, the Phalanx,” he got low, slowly gesturing his hands wide as he got a more serious expression, “a real dangerous sector. Could use someone to help me establish safe travel.”

  Uncharted you say? Well you have my attention.

  He leaned on Annelynn’s table, but seemed to pay her no attention, “I promise it will be more than worth the credits.”

  “Ah,” a patron scoffed, “I’m not about going into the void. That sounds like a suicide mission. That sector is known to be a death sentence - not to mention the pirates.” The other patrons followed in stead, seeming to lose interest.

  The man seemed disappointed, but not surprised. He had a smile on his face as if he knew the outcome before it even happened.

  Here goes nothing, I suppose.

  “I can do it.” Annelynn spoke up.

  The pub went quiet - all eyes on Annelynn.

  “You?” the man said, almost condescendingly with a smirk, folding his arms, “You’re going to chart the Phalanx?”

  She stands in frustration, “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Shrugging, he states, “You hardly look like you even know what a star is, yet alone an asteroid.”

  Her hands clenched the edge of the table, the wood giving in - slight snaps beneath her fingertips. “I - will - do - it. Got it?”

  This opportunity will not slip past.

  His eyes shifted to the finger imprints on the table, then he extended a hand, “Gentle now. You can call me Orion.”