Nick met Damian and Triskar in front of the engine room. They were both wearing what looked like rubber suits, and Damian was holding an empty one in front of him like a loose trash bag. He had a helmet in his other hand.

“EVA suit,” he said handing the trash bag to Nick. “Get inside and it’ll pressurize for you. Leave your gun out.”

Nick placed his gun on the floor and stepped into the suit. It was dark red, and could have fit three of him. “I think it’s a little big…”

“Oh really?” Damian rolled his eyes. “Get over here.”

The loose suit had a black plastic ring around the collar. Damian shut the collar and tightened it until it was just shy of painful. He flicked another switch, and the fabric of the suit shrank until it clung to Nick like a second skin.

“It’s a tri-layer suit,” Damian said. “The outer layers are tough enough that they shouldn’t break for anything short of plasma fire, or a really sharp knife, but if it does, the inner layer’s a kind of expanding polymer that’ll close most holes fast enough to not lose all your air. This,” he handed Nick the helmet, “has a filtration system that could last days, if necessary. You’ll die of thirst before you suffocate.”

“Cheery,” Nick said. “And if I don’t want to die at all?” 

“You stick close to me for that, got it?”

Nick nodded. He put the helmet onto his head. There was a click as it connected to his collar, then a whir as the suit pressurized. It smelled like plastic. 

“Can you hear me?” Nick asked.

Damian nodded. “Suit’s got comms built in.” His voice echoed in the small space. “If you need to speak out loud, there’s a button here.” He pointed to a spot on his own helmet. 

Triskar held out a belt and what looked like a vest made of metal. “Put these on,” Triskar said. “The belt will hold your gun, and the vest serves as a bit of armor.”

“Armor?” Nick asked. “Am I going to need it?”

“Of course not,” Damian said. “In and out, with the Kreeth none the wiser. But a little caution can’t hurt. The vest also ties on to the rope.”

“Rope?”

“To climb into the station,” Damian said. “I think our spot’s just a single story, but I’m not sure.”

Nick put the belt on and hooked his gun into the holster. The vest tightened so it fit snugly. “Is that it?” Nick asked

Damian nodded. “We go out up.” He pressed a button on the controls next to the engine room door. A circular trap door opened in the ceiling and a ladder descended. “Stargazer’s got an airlock for vacuum exits. Climb up here, and the door will close behind you.” 

Damian led the way. When he got to the top of the ladder the door closed underneath him, and the control panel lit up red. When the panel switched to green, Triskar showed Nick what button to push, then climbed the ladder himself. Nick went last, when the panel light again turned green.

Nick climes up into a small, round chamber, just barely taller than he was. The door closed as soon as his feet were clear of the entrance, and a button lit up inside the dim chamber. Nick pressed it, and another door snapped open above his head.

“Careful,” Damian’s voice sounded in Nick’s head. “The gravity’s weird.”

Nick climbed up the ladder toward the roof of the Stargazer. As soon as his head crossed the line, he felt dizzy. He grasped the edge of the roof and looked around. The Stargazer was berthed perpendicular to the Indomitable. What was up before was now sideways. It made him nauseous. 

Nick inched his way out until he was sitting on the edge of the door, balanced so that he fell neither into the Stargazer nor out, onto the floor of the Indomitable’s hangar. Damian and Triskar stood at the base of the ship, watching him. 

Damian waved at him to slide down. Nick took a deep breath and pushed off the edge, sliding down the only-almost-vertical drop, reaching the ground and falling into a crouch.

“You okay?” Damian asked. 

Nick nodded. He stood up and looked around. They were standing in a room the size of an airplane hangar. The ceiling above them was open to the stars, on purpose, it looked like. A few ship stood nearby, slowly decaying on their berths. A few of them were broken, at least two scorched. There was nothing once-living in the room. The Stargazer sat in a nest of aging metal identical to the ones around it. It fit perfectly.

“Is this it?” Nick asked.

“Is this it? When this ship was operational, this room would have held a dozen short-range fighters, ready for flight at a moment’s notice,” Damian said. “There’s one of these hangars just about every square mile of ship. I’d show you the places they launched the capitol ships, but those are all down near the equator. This is a small part of a very large machine.” He turned to Triskar. “How’s the atmosphere?”

Triskar was looking at a small hand-held device. “Thin,” he said. “It’s a good thing we’re wearing our suits. There’s not enough to support life, and the composition’s off, too.”

Nick shivered. “It’s cold in here.”

“That’d be the atmosphere,” Triskar said. “Just thick enough to sap heat from the body.”

“Is it dangerous?” Damian asked.

“We’re safe for now.”

Damian nodded. “Then let’s not waste time.” He pointed to a large door on the far side. “Away we go.”