The Mirror Layer

The Rusting Haven was the last station before the long dark — a corroded throat everything from the deep frontier had to pass through before it could pretend to be civilization. Cargo, gold-diggers, exotic diseases, lies stamped with government seals.

And, on one particular morning, Helen Stance — naked, furious, and fresh out of cryosleep with a survey package in hand. Valuable enough to make major corporations sweat clean through three solid layers of corporate ethics, and dangerous enough to require immediate containment.

She intended to sell it, get paid, and raise one elegant middle finger to the universe and all its contributions — from a safe orbital distance.

She thought she was running a smuggler’s con. She had no idea she was part of a greater plan.

Welcome to the Rusting Haven. The way out is a matter of negotiation.