“Not that I’m aware of.” Whether Jackin’s gruff tone came from annoyance at not being informed by the Legion, or the colossal-sized wrench this situation threw in their current plans, Cavalon couldn’t say. “It doesn’t matter,” Jackin continued. “We’re not here for the relay. We only need to use their comms.”
“Yeah,” Warner said warily. “But it doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”
Jackin chuffed. “No, it really doesn’t.”
“Will we be able to dock?” Emery asked.
“Probably,” Jackin said. “Assuming their basic systems are still online. But we won’t be able to get through the air lock without access from the other side.”
Cavalon licked his lips and squinted at the screen. To involve himself or not involve himself …
“What is it, Oculus?”
He looked down to find Jackin staring up at him expectantly. “Uh, just thinking…” Cavalon said. “We can still latch on, right? Equalize? Open the hatch?”
“Yes, but we won’t be able to open the air-lock door beyond that.”
“I can open it. Let’s dock.”
Jackin regarded him seriously for a few seconds, then turned back to the console. “All right. Let’s grab that core and fill it up while we’re here.”
Jackin steered them toward the starboard air locks of Kharon Gate, and Cavalon returned to the engine room. He’d just pulled the partially depleted warp core from the fuel compartment when Jackin’s voice rang out over comms.
“Strap in. Grav’s going ninety in ten, nine…”
Cavalon hurried back to the common room. Emery and Warner had strapped into the half-circle bench, and Cavalon slid in beside them and harnessed in.
“… two, one.”
His stomach flopped, and his head grew heavy as he went from sitting on his butt to lying on his back. With a hollow clang, the ship drifted to a stop. A series of short handles hummed as they extended out from the floor—now the wall—leading up to the now-vertical hatch in the center of the room.
Jackin’s voice crackled over comms. “Docked.”
“Damn shitty, tiny transport vessels,” Warner grumbled. The large man released his harness and slid awkwardly off the side of the bench.
Cavalon released himself, shimmying his feet to land on the wall—now the floor—beside him.
Jackin’s head appeared through the doorway of the cockpit on the ceiling. “Latched on fine. Looks like their systems are still online.” He reached out and pressed the release switch for the hatch, and with a hiss of air and a clunk, the circular door opened. He gripped the doorjamb and swung through, feet clanging against the metal floor as he landed inside.
Cavalon cradled the warp core in one arm and ascended the rungs, then dropped to the floor on the other side. A few narrow banks of crimson-hued lights dimly lit the primary air lock, the result of some kind of power-saving mode.
Warner dropped in next, followed by Emery. She had a weapons belt around her waist with three more clutched under her arm. She passed one to Warner, then Jackin, who strapped theirs on as effortlessly as one might tie a shoelace. She held the last one out to Cavalon, and he took it warily in his free hand, still clutching the warp core in the other.
Emery approached the door that led into the gate and surveyed the dimmed access screen beside it. “Systems are online. O2’s reduced, but safe. Pressure’s good.”
Jackin joined Emery and pressed his thumb into the corner of the screen. “Kharon, this is the crew of the SGL via the Argus. We’re docked starboard, requesting air-lock access at S6.”