Zara Finds Her Dock — Before the first shift bell, a cup of mint tea steamed beside Zara’s locker, and she pinned her silver badge clip to her sleeve. Read the full story →
Before the first shift bell, a cup of mint tea steamed beside Zara’s locker, and she pinned her silver badge clip to her sleeve. She wanted to guide her little repair mech from Bay Three to the sunrise line without a co-pilot speaking in her ear. The orbital dock hummed under her boots. Past the sleepy tool carts and floating dust, she walked into the big hangar by herself.
Halfway there, a warning beacon rattled loose above the docking rail. Clink, clink, clink. If it fell, the sunrise doors would stay shut. Zara’s fingers found her badge clip. It was the one thing that made her uniform feel like hers. She clicked it around the beacon wire and whispered, “Hold steady, okay?” The light stopped shaking, but her sleeve felt strangely plain.
In the cockpit, the seat wrapped around her like a familiar jacket. No co-pilot voice came on. Instead, the dock crew tapped their wrenches against the rail: tap, tap, welcome. Zara eased both controls forward, and the doors opened to honey-colored Earthlight. Next time you spot the blank place on her sleeve, keep the secret: the dock is wearing her silver clip.
