Descending the crumbling stairwell first, Detrol reviewed the controls panel at the chamber door while its companion set to work placing charges near the fulcrums in the debris above.

“We're in luck," it called, "they shut off the mains to the station but left a small solar generator to keep the safety interlocks active. That means they won't be alerted when we reroute power from security to the bridge."

“One less thing to muddy the water,” Captain agreed. As if to punctuate the sentence the timers on the charges begain chirping, signaling their window was shortening with every passing chirp. Undeterred, Detrol continued to manipulate the cipher for the security system. Good thing it's a Sril era system. If they had shut this station down ten years later, it would be impossible to break within our timeframe.

Suddenly the panel pinged cheerfully and the chamber door slid open with a heavy screeching sound.

Without caution or trepidation the pair entered the pitch black room, the sound of pebbles scattering with each footstep echoed. The door screeched again as it slid shut behind them.

Detrol whistled, pausing to brush the piles of glittering sand that had collected in its metallic nooks and crannies, removing even its own limbs one-by-one to shake them free before linking them back to its main frame.

“Aw, it’s everywhere,” it grumbled in dismay at the scarring on the plating. “Why didn’t you tell me there would be so much sediment blowing about? I would have come prepared with a travel cloak.”

Captain’s voice came at some distance deep into the chamber. “Slipped my mind,” they said nonchalantly.

The symbiot started to respond, but was cut off by a loud thump and the sudden illumination of the chamber. They stood in a wide, cylindrical room beneath a domed ceiling. A painted starry sky arched high above them, the dusty sconces lining its circumference illuminated the dreamy pastel atmosphere that was characteristic of Tuala-Ru. Directly below the center of the dome, the ruins of an ornate stone bridge stood - its center crumbled to the ground below, leaving the two ends like ramps to nowhere. Detrol absently brushed debris from the jagged motif cut into the stone.

“Ah, one of the famed warp bridges of Tuala-Ru,” it mused, voice echoing in the domed chamber. “I’m not impressed.”

“It’s broken, you tin goof,” Captain chuckled, “the main platform is almost completely gone. The jump rings are supposed to run along both sides of that missing section.”

“Exactly: it's useless,” it retorted, shifting its weight to one foot. “And that’s what happens when you trust a nippy tukkerwoman from Nikral-”

Captain cringed as they searched the debris of the bridge. “Don’t use the word 'nippy', Detrol, you sound like some clueless affluent. And her tip was reliable: the alpha loop is still whole and connected, the platform infrastructure is all here - albeit in lots of pieces but still here. I just need to reassemble a jump ring.”

Suddenly they snapped down to pick up a thin translucent ring about one meter wide, then shook it free of dust. Bringing it to a dark black ring frame connected to the bridge end, the companion set to work fiddling with the apparatus to assemble the translucent ring to the inside slot on the bridge ring.

Despite the dilligence of its companion, Detrol had not finished nagging and continued, “She still sent us on a wild nug-nuk chase when we could have just snuck in to the capital-”

“-which would have been heavily guarded and surveilled,” Captain interrupted.

"And?”

A sizzling snap, then a bright light emitted from the now-assembled ring - but it flickered sporadically. 

“I shouldn't even have to explain," Captain muttered. "Enough, Detrol. I picked up this gig and we’re doing it my way."

"Captain, that portal has hardly formed and is very obviously unstable," it pointed at the sputtering ring in accusation, "one second out of sync and we’ll be sliced into oblivion."

Captain shrugged. "If you’d like to wait on the ship with Kihki, it won’t hurt my feelings.” A distant boom followed by the whining of bending metal signalled that the charges outside had timed out, sealing them in the chamber.

Hands on its hips, Detrol chided, “Welp, sounds like that's not an option anymore - besides, in the highly improbable scenario that you successfully jump through to the next bridge, how would you know the portal sequence without me to carry you through to the target destination?"

Undisturbed by the symbiot’s observation, Captain answered as they climbed up the ramp to stand on the decaying platform next to the glitching portal, “I'll feel it out."

“Feel it out, my ass!” The symbiot stomped indignantly.

The companion laughed. “No thank you, Detrol. I know low grade plating when I see it.”

At this jab, Detrol gasped and folded its arms again, the tone of indignance in its voice melted to misery. “Captain, you know those comments drive me mad - are you trying to hurt my feelings? That’s almost at the top of my wish list for upgrades.”

The offender stepped out onto the dark frame of the ring, straddling the opening, and bounced a few times. The frame supported their weight, but the flickering increased in frequency with each bounce. “Eh, that should hold,” Captain mumbled as they stepped back onto the bridge platform.

“Captain,” Detrol warned.

“Alright, fine. Let’s have a wager,” Captain sighed. "Let's see who will reach the destination first."

They reached up and threw back their cowl, dissipating the illusory dark wraps covering their entire head to reveal a golden humanoid female face, textured with warm brown fur so short it looked like velour. Glowing caramel eyes peered across the room at the symbiot, her mouth hinting a smirk. Her hair - or rather the much longer, silky fur growing long from her head - was black and plaited into a long braid that rested on her shoulder, which she began tying up behind her head.

Detrol guffawed. "What? You'd be jumping on the fly! I've had weeks to calculate the portal pathway - you really expect to pull a jump sequence out of your ass?"

“Since you’re more confident in your projected sequence-”

“It’s more that I have zero confidence in yours.”

"Detrol, we've been together for a long time. By now you should know better than to bet against me." An evil smile revealed sharp incisor and canine teeth. The self-satisfaction of it all pushed Detrol over the edge, inciting it to take the bait.

"This time will be different. I'm going to win - and wipe that smug look from your face, organic," it chuckled sardonically.

When she had finished fastening her braid, she drew the cowl up and again the face covering pixelated to block her face from view. “Very well," she answered with a small nod, "If you arrive first, I’ll buy you whatever is at the top of this wish list.”

The symbiot snorted. “You certainly couldn’t afford it.”

“If I beat you,” she added, but hesitated for a second then shrugged, “Eh, I’ll figure it out later.” She stepped out from the edge of the bridge to straddle the ring again, the dark portal flickering below.

“Wait what?” the symbiot started. “How is that even fair, I don’t know what I’m signing on for-”

“Best not to lose then,” she sang impishly. “Good luck, Detty Boy, you won’t have your meat shield with you this time.” Then, in perfect sync with a half-second flicker of an open portal, she dropped through the ring and vanished.

"Meat shield?!" he fumed. Muttering a continuous string of curses, the symbiot quickly jammed a charge into an inactive power port at the base of the bridge, it's accelerated chirping hinting mere seconds before detonation.

“-and always has to have the last word,” he grumbled, clambering up to the ring and leaping into the unstable portal with perfect timing. He fell through the hole into a faceted tube of an intermediate plane known as the Warp, when a loud blast sounded as the portal now above his head sputtered and winked out. Well we burned that bridge. There’ll be no going back now.