You’d think that being on the edge of an asteroid belt would yield any amount of excitement. I mean that’s why I became a lighthouse apprentice. But what was there to do when there wasn’t a single ship passing through. And I could barely get any practice in with the old lady hogging the controls. All she did was sleep anyway. While I tolled away up keeping the place. Those light cannons didn’t keep themselves clean, you know. And try cleaning inside an oversized space suit. It’s nearly impossible. But I do it every day. And today was no different. I was cleaning space junk out of Bertha, our biggest cannon, and cursing the faulty cap that was supposed to protect the barrel. But that’s when my communicator beeped. An odd occurrence when the old lady usually yelled at me through the com. I touched my wrist and a request came through. One ship. 2,874 passengers. 859 crew. And it was taking the most dangerous path through the belt. Just what was the cruiser thinking taking a joy ride in this area? No, I couldn’t think about that. Not when their eta was in five minutes. I scrambled into the air lock and called the old lady. I called again once I’d shimmied out of the suit. Still no answer. One more time from the elevator and I was met with silence. I found her asleep at the controls and shook her. Her snoring didn’t miss a beat. Huffing, I rolled her out of the way. I grabbed another chair and studied the board. Now what had she said was first? The cannons. All the canon lights were blinking which meant the automatic detection system was working at least. I pushed the button to activate them. Now the coordinates that the ship had sent. The engines whirled to life and we began moving. Great, now what was next? A loud snore reverberated through the control room. Right. Communication. I entered their com number and turned on the mic. “This is lighthouse 427 responding to your request. What is your current state?” Static filled the room. “This is cruiser Zulu49er. We have a confirmed hostile on our tail. And our shields are at thirty percent. We are requesting immediate assistance.” Only pirates could cause a pleasure cruise to go so far off course. And as the lighthouse came into position I saw the distressed ship as a mere spec in the distance. But these years of practice weren’t for nothing. Bringing up the targeting system, I aimed for the cruiser and said, “Follow the light and I’ll guide you through.” With the push of a button light exploded from the beacon. It pierced through twenty miles of rock, avoiding each asteroid depending on the pre-installed data of the ship’s width. Green flashed as it connected with the cruiser’s receiver. And that was my cue to start shooting at any asteroid that got in the way. A simple enough situation that I’d practice countless times in the simulation. But that had never included a pirate ship actively shooting at my charge. And it was much easier when I turned off the coms to block out the hysteria breaking through the static. The cruiser sped along my light taking heavy hits from behind. But the pirates cleverly stayed behind the much larger ship. I couldn’t get a clear shot at them. I opened up coms. “Shield status?” “Fifteen percent.” Damn it. They weren’t even halfway through. Time for the big guns. I brought up the only canon I hadn’t been using. Bertha. It was risky using her because I hadn’t finished cleaning out all the space junk. She could misfire. Or the aim could be off just enough to severely damage the cruiser. Once again I cursed that busted cap. And the suppliers that had yet to get to this supposedly dangerous part of space. I blew out a breath trying to plot out the perfect time for when the pirates would be exposed. There. An asteroid coming directly into the path at a rate just slow enough to possibly miss the cruiser. Usually I’d shoot it down for being so close. But the pirates would have to dodge out of the way. Though the cruiser’s tail might still get hit. I opened the coms. “Increase your speed by twenty three percent.” “That will put our shields down to nothing.” “Trust me. I’m a light keeper. We always get our people safely through.” As long as you forgot about the incident a few decades ago. There were shouts on the other side. Arguments I think. There wasn’t time for this. “Sir, your window is closing.” More shouts but the cruiser noticeably began to pick up speed. I lined Bertha up taking careful aim for where I knew the pirates would be. Fives seconds. Four. Three. Two. The lighthouse shook with the explosion but the stabilizers held. And Bertha’s light zig zagged through the field, avoiding any rocks that might lessen the power of the beam. As for the pirates... Well let’s just say they made lovely additions to our little asteroid belt. A few moments later the cruiser flew by and all communications ceased. I sat back in my chair with a huff. “No thank you. Not even a gift of supplies?” “Those types of cruisers never pause their schedules unless it’s something dire.” The old lady’s voice nearly had my heart jumping out of my chest. Add that’s when I realized that she’d stopped snoring quite a while ago. “You couldn’t have lent a hand?” She shrugged. “There’s only one lighthouse keeper per tower. And you took that title from me when you saved your first ship.” “So does that mean that I’m in charge?” She chuckled. “Go cover Bertha’s barrel. There’s a lot of debris coming our way.” I left the control room cursing the pirates. Cursing that oversized space suit. And most of all cursing that damn cap.