The familiar sounds of the undocking procedure told Jerzy they were separated before the readouts told him they were clear of the docking arm. He moved the control yoke and the Spider-class tug Luck Now turned lazily toward open space as he nudged the ship away from the station using manoeuvring thrusters only. He’d performed the procedure hundreds of times before, usually with a feeling of reluctance to be leaving the comfort of a station. But this time he felt like he couldn’t get away from it fast enough.
“Take it easy, will you!” Came the familiar voice over his left shoulder. “You don’t want to get us stopped for speed violations before we even leave port, do you?”
“What’s gotten you so jumpy all of a sudden?” Jerzy said. “We haven’t even broken three hundred, and they never…”
“Just keep us under the limit until we’re free of the port STC zone.” Genovesi barked.
“Alright! Jeezus!” Jerzy conceded sarcastically. “Whatever you say, boss.” There was more tension in the captain’s voice than usual. Jerzy turned around from the helm controls to look at Genovesi directly. The glow of the main bridge readouts made the stocky captain’s face look even more bloated than usual. There was something more than tension in his expression. Jerzy couldn’t identify it immediately, but it looked like Captain Genovesi was feeling smug about something he was keeping secret.