Kirrik was sat in the pilot's seat with Marchero clinging to the bridge ladder, watching the screen. "That's where we had to land," she pointed out, indicating the platform. "AutoShuttles took the cargo."
"Anything changed since you last saw it?" Kirrik asked her.
She indicated a structure on the edge of the main complex. "That looks new." As far as could be judged from their current location the new building was a processing station of some kind, perhaps for ice extraction and hydrogen production.
"Hold on," Kirrik warned suddenly. "There's something coming this way." He nudged the Viper away from the flight path of the approaching ships. They made no move to intercept. Three Copperhead class fighters, barely recognisable in the gloom, swept quietly past.
"I'm going to put us down on the edge of the base. There's a nice, dark spot where we won't be seen." The Viper started moving again, slowly edging towards the asteroid. Kirrik manoeuvred it away from the concentration of lights on the surface. When he a mere three hundred feet above the asteroid he swung the ship around to approach low from the barren side of the rock. When the first lights appeared over a hill he slowed down even further, now moving no faster than a running man, and dropping down lower until the ship was almost touching the ground. The ship jolted several times as it moved to avoid bumps that were invisible until they were almost crashed in to.
Landing a ship like the Viper was a tricky business. Designed purely for use in space it usually docked with other ships or space stations, guided to rest by subtle manipulations of gravity generators or docking arms. Touching down in one piece on a high-G planet would be impossible. The comparatively tiny mass of an asteroid would hold it to the surface without it being damaged by its own weight.
Kirrik managed to bring the ship almost to a stop, and let the feeble hold of the asteroid's gravity do the rest. The landing, when it came, was still uncomfortable. Without any legs to absorb the shock the whole ship was jarred. Marchero lost her grip on the ladder and collapsed on top of Kirrik. Clattering from behind indicated things falling over in the communal area.
When Marchero had managed to clamber off the swearing Disian Kirrik ran a quick damage check through the ship, but everything appeared to be intact.
There were two spacesuits secured in a locker in the cabin. Over a millennium of development and the space suit was still an encumbrance. The necessity of self-contained life support, to protect the entire body against the vacuum and intense heat and cold inevitably resulted in a piece of equipment that was a little awkward to use. Emergency systems, such as the RemLok survival mask, could protect against space with an almost invisible film. Similar devices using the same technology were sometimes used by crew making emergency repairs. None of these offered the same degree of protection, and operational time, as a full suit, though.
Marchero was to leave the ship with Kirrik. Her technological expertise was unknown, and it was felt unwise to leave her alone on board where she might be able to over-ride Kirrik's lockouts. Taking her with him was perhaps an even greater risk. He watched with some concern as she struggled into the suit.
"How much low-G experience have you had?"
"A few hours in zero gravity," she replied.
"Oh." This really should have been brought up earlier. "Zero gravity is nothing like low gravity. Jump too hard and you'll put yourself in orbit here. Not that that would bother me too much, but your body floating around might attract attention."
She was about to retort when she noticed the grin on his face. "Thanks."
With the suits on and system checks completed Kirrik hoisted a bag onto his back, and they moved into the Viper's entrance area. Clad in the spacesuits there was barely room for Kirrik to find the controls. With the bridge and communal doors shut tight the air was pumped out. The iris hatch lensed open, and they climbed out of the confines of the Viper.
Confusing darkness was the initial impression. The ship's monitor had been lightening the scene as much as possible, and even then it appeared near to black. Having just emerged from the bright interior of the Viper their eyes could only make out the stars and the few base lights that were visible over the hill.
Kirrik stood still on top of their ship, where its artificial gravity still made its presence felt. It was only a few minutes before he was satisfied that he could at least guess at the terrain. Marchero still could not see anything other than the lights.