Editing KSGU:Volume 1 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 6===

The girl moved through the ship that brought her here. She went through three compartments, and arrived at the central bay.

The docking had begun, and a variable-sized communicator that looked something like a harmonica was connected to the bridge and air lock of the <i>Garencieres</i>. As she looked through the window and saw that the workers inside the ship were busy, the girl cautiously left the room.

She closed the visor on her spacesuit’s helmet. The helmet wasn’t that important when there was air, but the girl was mainly using it to hide her face. Most of the port workers would be wearing spacesuits, and if she was lucky, she could sneak through. The girl held a mobile handle and moved through the narrow corridor, reached the hatch of the ship, and decisively opened the air lock.

The wind caused by the difference in air pressure between the outside of the ship and the inside remained unheard, thanks to the sound of metal colliding, the sound of the exhaust of an overhead crane, and an audio broadcast by the dockmaster. The center dock was a large space that was almost 500 meters across, and the floor and the ceiling—though it was meaningless to call them that when there wasn’t any gravity—had four canes each. Each of those cranes were attached to trading ships like the <i>Garencieres</i>. The girl went through the air lock, let her body float towards the floor twenty meters away. Before the magnetic boots of the spacesuit touched the ground, the girl took out a cable gun from her belt and fired at the side of a crane.

The magnet on the end of the cable stuck to the crane. The girl squeezed the trigger again, and the cable began coiling, carrying the girl to the magnet. Tools like this were really important when working in zero gravity.

After the cable finished coiling, the magnet disengaged from the crane. Aiming at another point, she fired the cable again. Like this, the girl moved towards the exit of the dock. On her way to the exit, she past the crew of the <i>Garencieres</i>, but since everyone was busy dealing with the docking, and she had her spacesuit and visor on, no one recognized her. The girl reached the exit without anyone noticing, and then used a mobile handle to move on. The mobile handle installed on the wall and handrail went faster the tighter it was gripped, and a strong squeeze sent the girl towards the industrial area.

The ships that had already cleared inspection were docked at this port. Thus, it wasn’t hard to leave, and there should be no problems if the industrial port wasn’t actively operating. The problem was how to reach the colony builder on the other side of the space colony. As the girl remembered the map of Industrial 7 she had memorized, she slipped among a group of workers and entered the main terminal.

The girl had a plan. At the center core of Industrial 7, there was an artificial sun. This installation reached out to both sides of the colony, and created the illusion of night and day. In the old century’s manner of speech, it was something like an elaborate play.

The artificial sun had a walkway for inspection that connected to both ends of the space colony. Naturally, this wasn’t a place anyone would normally go. And since the artificial sun gave off lots of heat, the pathway couldn’t be used in the day. However, if the girl used that walkway, she wouldn’t have to enter the space colony proper, and could quickly reach the other side. There was a chance that she could get near the colony builder, usually restricted to public access, and find a chance to sneak in.

4:50 AM. The girl checked her watch to make sure there was still time until daylight, and took off her spacesuit helmet. She pulled her short brown hair out of the suit, and floated into a nearby restroom.

Now that she was out of the busy part of the port, it would be too conspicuous to wear a spacesuit. She entered the restroom stall that had a toilet bowl for especially for use in zero gravity, took off her spacesuit, and put on dark blue jeans and a white blouse, then left the restroom. She ignored the whistling worker who passed by her as she put on a jacket that was as fluffy as a shawl, then grabbed a mobile handle and moving to the exit of the tower. As it was probably not time for a shift change, there weren’t many people at the exit.

<i>“I have to get to the colony builder before Zinnerman and Marida get there and meet the person I need to talk to,”</i> The girl thought as she moved out of the terminal building.