Synopsis

How it opens

Dock Seventeen smells of frying onions and warm circuitry. Through the observation glass, a battered freighter turns slowly under repair lights. Its name has been painted over twice. A customs clerk slides your visitor pass across the counter. Accommodation paid through tomorrow morning. No departure booked. At the next desk, a pilot in a rust-colored jacket is arguing with a cargo scanner. She has short dark curls and a toolbox that has survived several owners. [Juno] "It says my engine part contains a live animal. It doesn't. Unless the mechanic owes me an explanation." The scanner chirps. From somewhere inside the crate comes a very small knock. Across the concourse, the public board offers three ordinary things: temporary dock work, a room above the noodle shop, and passage outward on a ship leaving at dawn.

Cast