Chapter Five
May 15, 2231, En Route to UTC Fleet Base Penglai, Aboard Argo
An oddly lazy atmosphere had descended over the team their first day out from Earth. They’d planned to have a darts tournament, but Malcolm had bowed out, depressed about his minimum amount of girlfriend time. The engineers were busy still finishing up internal work for maximum efficiency with the newly installed cannon, leaving the field team alone in the cargo bay and no one all that interested in playing darts. Anne had retreated to her cabin to brood, leaving Erik, Jia, and Kant.
Erik lounged on a crate filled with ammo boxes, staring at his exoskeleton. His thoughts kept drifting to the ring he had hidden in their cabin. Emma had agreed to keep the secret to herself, but she couldn’t do anything if Jia stumb
