Garret Ata found something in the darkness of the Kuiper belt that could earn him enough credit to retire and never have to deal with other people again.
It's also something that some would be willing to kill for.
A damsel in distress, gangsters, and secret government agents confront him at every turn.
Garret finds himself in a race for his life from the depths of the asteroid belt to the drowned Earth.

A sci-fi short story in the tradition of noir thrillers that will keep you on the edge of your seat

Winner of a Silver Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest.

Butterflies performed acrobatics in Garrett Ata’s stomach. He couldn’t decide if it was the zero-gee, the fact that he had not visited Ceres in three years, or because of the Thing in the cargo hold?

“Ceres Comms this is Hopper Black Bird, can you try again to patch me through to Jonas N’go? He lives in Calypso pod, berth forty-seven charlie."

Ceres Approach demanded that he park out on the ass-end of nowhere while they found a bay for him. He’d been waiting for four hours. There was absolutely nothing to do but float, read, and try, for the fifth time, to contact his broker.

Jonas knew to expect him. They had spoken three weeks ago, albeit with a two-hour delay each way, and arranged to sell the Thing. Where could he be? He might be a conniver, but it wasn’t like him to leave Garrett flapping in the wind. He had served under Garrett for a dozen years. The men were brothers-in-arms, a bond formed through combat and bloodshed that ran deeper than the bond between siblings. You don’t leave your brother hanging.

Minutes dragged by until the bored communication tech’s voice crackled from the speaker.

“There’s no response from that berth sir and his comm is not forwarding. There’s nothing I can do.”