6
Spreading her hands across the shuttle’s control console, Anna checked the readout. Life-support active. Artificial gravity active. Propulsion systems to full power. They were ready to fight. A glance through the canopy window showed her the white wall of the shuttle bay. The doors would open soon, and then she would be flying this thing out into the void.
Swiveling her chair around, Anna frowned at her companion. “You ready for this, Melissa?”
The young woman sat at the port-side console, frantically checking her instruments. She looked up just long enough to make eye contact and then went right back to her pre-flight routine. “You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”
“You’ll be fine,” Anna promised. “Besides, maybe we’ll get lucky and people will actually listen to Jack when he tries
