X-Com Interceptor [antikvár]

PROLOGUEHuddled under the Number Two cooling tower, the inside of her light vacuum suit claustrophobicwith sweat and the outside covered with grease and a thick layer of pulverized asteroid, TheresaBrizzi brooded on how much she hated repair tours. The platform shuddered again, and she sawthe Number One tower slant at a very wrong angle. Torpedo, she thought silently, one more ofthose and I'll have to walk back to the outpost Brizzi normally talked to herself withoutreserve-oil the mining techs in the Frontier did. What with the distance between things in deepspace and the frequent reassignments, it was a lonely job. The only companionship you couldcount on out here was your own, and that suited her just fine. Right now, though, she keptquiet because she didn't trust her radio-not with attackers this close. No telling what they'd dowith a female captive. Being captured by Kabron pirates would be bad enough, but even thethought of aliens made her skin crawl.The Number One tilted further, then began to languidly twirl away. Brizzi could see that it hadbeen sheared off messily near the base. It exploded in utter silence, and the snow started soonafter. That's when Madison started yelling."Brizzi!" he screamed; he sounded terrified. She had no idea where Madison was, but he wasbroadcasting on every frequency their suits could manage. Not for the first time, she cursed theoutpost manager for assigning work partners at random. She'd never even met this guy beforetoday, and now he had become a threat to her life."Brizzi!" There was nothing she could do, and she wished he would just shut up."Brizzi!" No way she was leaving her hiding place to look for him. Let him get himself killed, whatdid she care? Then again, she thought, what makes me think the Number Two is any safer thanthe Number One was? She unrolled herself and scrambled out from under the towerand into atwinkling cloud of floating particles.