Nova, a doctoral candidate collecting plankton samples in the Cygnus Rift aboard the research vessel Kepler’s Folly, finds her thesis work abruptly interrupted when a massive, sleek ship captures her vessel via tractor beam. An efficient, blue-skinned alien bounty hunter boards and detains Nova, dismissing her pleas of innocence as the ramblings of a generic "bipedal carbon-type." Mistaking the scientist for a wanted pirate named "Red" Nyla due to a facial recognition error, the hunter ruthlessly binds and gags Nova with duct tape to silence her protests.
00:00The cosmos was, in Nova's professional opinion, quite noisy.
00:05Not in the auditory sense, space was a profound vacuum, after all, but in the data.
00:12Her little research vessel, the Kepler's Folly, was currently coasting through the Cygnus Rift,
00:17and its external sensors were drinking in a torrent of information.
00:22Stellar winds, dark matter fluctuations, the faint, exotic particle trails of long-dead comets,
00:30it was all data for her thesis, and it was beautiful.
00:34Nova, scientist's insignia patched onto the shoulder of her practical gray jumpsuit,
00:39leaned closer to the main console.
00:42Her black hair, pulled back into a loose, functional ponytail, brushed the headrest.
00:49She was tracking the migration patterns of a microscopic, silicon-based lifeform that drifted in the nebulae,
00:56and she'd just found a promising cluster.
00:58Come on, little guys, she murmured, nudging a thruster to adjust her angle.
01:05Show me where you're.
01:08A jarring klaxon ripped through the quiet cockpit.
01:12A proximity alert.
01:14A big one.
01:16Nova's heart jumped into her throat.
01:19She spun in her chair, hands flying over the console.
01:23On her main viewer, a new ship had just materialized, dropping out of hyperspace with terrifying precision.
01:32It was sleek, silver, and sharp, like a shard of obsidian, and it was at least twenty times the size of the folly.
01:40It wasn't patrol, and it wasn't commercial.
01:44It was a predator.
01:45Unidentified vessel, she broadcast, her voice betraying a tremor.
01:52This is Researcher Nova, Registry 77 Alpha, on a peaceful scientific mission for the Kepler Institute.
02:00Please identify yourself.
02:03You are in violation of...
02:05A pale yellow beam, the unmistakable signature of a high-energy tractor, lashed out and seized her ship.
02:13The folly shuddered violently, and every alarm began to scream at once.
02:19Nova was thrown against her restraints as her vessel was unceremoniously reeled in.
02:24Hey!
02:26I'm a civilian, she yelled at the uncaring void.
02:31The metallic clang of a docking clamp reverberated through her hole, loud enough to feel in her teeth.
02:37It was followed by the hiss of an airlock being forcibly breached.
02:42Nova scrambled for the fire extinguisher, the closest thing she had to a weapon.
02:47She was a biologist, not a soldier.
02:51Her mind raced.
02:52Pirates?
02:56Slavers?
02:57The cockpit door hissed open.
03:00The woman who stood there was not a pirate.
03:04Or at least, not the grubby, patch-together kind Nova was used to hearing about.
03:10She was tall, encased in a form-fitting silver jumpsuit that looked more like mercury than fabric.
03:15Her skin was a faint, bioluminescent blue, and her platinum-blonde hair was cut into a bob so sharp it looked like it could draw blood.
03:24Her eyes, large and almond-shaped, were the color of a winter sky.
03:32She held a complex, needle-like blaster at her side, holding it with the casual boredom of a professional.
03:38Target 419, the alien woman said.
03:43Her voice was a resonant, synthesized chime.
03:47You match the description.
03:50You will come with me.
03:53Nova blinked, lowering the extinguisher.
03:56Target?
03:58I...
03:59I think you have the wrong person.
04:02My name is Nova.
04:05I'm a doctoral candidate.
04:07I'm just collecting plankton samples for my thesis.
04:11You can check my credentials.
04:14They're registered with the guild.
04:16The bounty hunter sighed, a sound of profound impatience.
04:21I really don't, she began.
04:24But I'm just a humble scientist.
04:27Nova insisted, taking a step forward.
04:30Her data pad held up like a shield.
04:33This is a simple misunderstanding.
04:36If you'll just let me show you my...
04:40She didn't get to finish.
04:42The bounty hunter crossed the cockpit in a single, fluid motion.
04:48Before Nova could even flinch, a cool, blue hand clamped over her mouth.
04:54It was strong, and it silenced her mid-plea, turning her words into a startled gasp.
04:59I don't, the bounty hunter repeated, leaning in so close Nova could see the flawless, poreless texture of her skin, want to hear it.
05:09All you bipedal carbon types look the same.
05:12You're coming with me.
05:15Nova's eyes widened in protest, but the woman was already steering her out of the cockpit,
05:20one hand still clamped over her mouth, the other gripping her arm in a vice.
05:25She was dragged past her small galley and sleeping cot, into the folly's tiny cargo hull.
05:32The bounty hunter shoved her against a bulkhead, rattling a shelf of sterile sample jars.
05:38Sit.
05:40Nova sat, her mind reeling.
05:42The alien woman produced, from a patch on her silver belt, a thick roll of battered, grey duct tape.
05:51Nova's confusion briefly roared with a bizarre sense of absurdity.
05:56Duct tape?
05:58Hands behind your back, the bounty hunter commanded.
06:02Nova hesitated, and the woman impatiently tapped the blaster at her hip.
06:08Sighing in frustration, Nova complied.
06:10She put her hands behind the small of her back.
06:15The bounty hunter was ruthlessly efficient.
06:19She ripped off a long strip of tape and wrapped it around Nova's wrists, binding them tightly together.
06:26The adhesive bit at her skin, and the ankle was already making her shoulders ache.
06:32Nova opened her mouth to protest this medieval treatment, but she got quickly silenced.
06:37The bounty hunter then tore off a second, shorter strip.
06:42And this, she said, looking at Nova's mouth, is for the noise.
06:48She pressed the tape firmly across Nova's lips, stretching it from one side of her mouth to the other.
06:54The chemical smell of the adhesive filled Nova's nose.
06:58She made an indignant sound, but it was lost, a muffled hum against the gag.
07:12The bounty hunter stepped back, admired her handiwork, and nodded.
07:18Good.
07:19Good.
07:21Now, you sit here quietly.
07:24I'm towing your ship to Cygnus Prime.
07:27It's a two-day trip.
07:30Don't try anything.
07:31Well, don't try anything.
07:34She gave Nova one last, indifferent glance and left the cargo hull.
07:38The door hissed shut, plunging the room into near-darkness, lit only by the faint green status lights of the sample preservation units.
07:47A heavy, resonant thud shook the folly, followed by a long, low groan of metal.
07:54The tow was engaged.
07:57The ship was moving, but not under her control.
08:01Nova was left alone, bound and gagged.
08:04She sat there for a full minute, listening to the hum of her own ship being dragged through space.
08:11She wiggled her hands.
08:13The tape was tight.
08:16She tested the gag with her tongue, a fruitless, muffled noises escaping her lips.
08:21And then, she sighed, a long, put-upon sound that only her nasal passages could execute.
08:38She wasn't scared.
08:40This was, without a doubt, the most profound, idiotic, and time-wasting misunderstanding of her entire career.
08:47She knew exactly who the bounty hunter was probably looking for, Red Nyla, a human pirate with black hair who'd been raiding the sector.
08:57Nova had seen her bounty puck.
09:01And to a species with poor cross-human facial recognition, one female human with dark hair was, apparently, identical to another.
09:10This wasn't malice.
09:11It was clerical sloppiness.
09:14But the annoyance.
09:15Oh, the annoyance was monumental.
09:20Two days.
09:22Two days of lost research.
09:25Her plankton samples were time-sensitive.
09:29She'd missed the Auriga cloud's optimal charting window.
09:33Her entire thesis schedule was going to be thrown off.
09:36And she was going to have to spend the next 48 hours sitting on a cold metal floor, breathing through her nose, with her shoulders screaming and her mouth tasting like a factory floor.
09:48Nova tried to shift to find a more comfortable position against the crate of Spectron Bear lenses.
09:54The tape on her wrists pulled at the fine hairs on her arms, and the gag was already starting to annoy her.
10:02Strand of her hair was trapped under the tape, and every time she moved her head, it pulled uncomfortably.
10:08She let out one more, deeply frustrated sigh.
10:13This was, she decided, the absolute worst.
10:17She was going to file such a strongly worded complaint with the Guild.
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