And this time I let the glowing waters sweep over my head.
And they pull me under.
3
Scarlett
This is such crap.
That’s what my baby brother is thinking. I can see it all over his face. He won’t actually say it, because Tyler Jones, Squad Leader, First Class, doesn’t curse. Tyler Jones doesn’t do drugs or drink or do anything we mere mortals do for fun. But if my eighteen years in this strange little galaxy have taught me anything, it’s this:
Just because you’re not saying it, doesn’t mean you’re not thinking it.
We’re sitting on a mezzanine above the arboretum. … Well, Cat and I are sitting, anyway. Tyler’s pacing back and forth, trying to come to grips with the thought that his last five years’ work just got flushed into the recycler. He drags one hand through his golden blond hair, and as he walks past me for the seven hundredth time, I notice a small scuff mark on his normally immaculate boots.
Yeah, he’s really taking it hard.
The dome above us is transparent, letting in the light of a billion distant suns. The garden below is a mix of flora from across the galaxy; swirls of Rigellian glassvine and orbs of Pangean duskbloom and blossoms of singing crystal from the stillsea on Artemis IV. The arboretum is probably my favorite place in the whole academy, but the splendor seems kinda lost on my dear baby brother right now.
Can’t blame him, really.
“It’s not the end of the Way, Ty,” I venture.
“Yeah, but you gotta admit it’s bloody close,” Cat replies.
I look at Cat sidelong and give her my best shut uuuuuup smile, speaking through gritted teeth. “We should look on the bright side, Cat.”
“Come on, Scar,” Cat says, ignoring my smile’s shut uuuuup-edness. “Everyone knows Ty got robbed. He’s the most decorated Alpha in our year. And now he’s stuck with the jank and chaff no other squad leader wanted to touch.”
“Not to feed that rampant ego of yours,” I sigh, “but you’re the best Ace in the academy, Cat. You may be counted as neither jank nor chaff.”
“Cheers.” She smirks. “But I was talking about you and the others.”
“Oh, stop.” I clutch my chest. “My poor heart.”
“Aw. Hug?”
“Kiss.”
“No tongue this time.”
Catherine Brannock is my bunkmate here at Aurora Academy. She’s the yin to my yang. The half-empty glass to my half-full. The mint chocolate chip to my strawberry triple ripple. She’s also Tyler’s and my oldest friend. Ty pushed Cat down on our first day of kindergarten, and she broke a chair over his head in retaliation. When the dust settled, my baby brother ended up with a nice little scar on his right eyebrow to go with his killer dimples, and a friend whose loyalty is pretty much unquestionable.
She’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering.
“That O’Malley girl was stuck in the Fold for two hundred years,” Cat continues. “The brass should be pinning a bloody medal on Ty for rescuing her, not saddling him with a squad of no-hopers.”
“No-hopers?” I say. “You know, you’re lucky I’m such a soulless shrew. Otherwise you might be at risk of quite possibly maybe hurting my feelings.”
Cat scowls. “The Aurora Legion is the best chance we have of bringing stability to the Milky Way. How’re we gonna be of any help out there with a squad of psychos, discipline cases, and gremp fondlers?”
“People fondle gremps now?”
“I mean, I’ve heard rumors. …”
“Who does that?”
“She’s right,” Tyler says.
Cat and I look up at my brother. He’s stopped with the pacing and is staring down at the garden. He reminds me of our dad for a minute. And though I’m doing my best to keep up my Queen of Bitch routine, my shriveled black heart does sort of hurt for him.
“She’s absolutely right,” Tyler sighs again.
“Damn right I am,” Cat growls. “We should go talk to de Stoy. Lodge an official complaint. You earned those points, Ty, it isn’t fair—”
“I mean Scarlett’s right,” Tyler says.
“… She is?”
“… I am?”
Tyler turns to us, leans against the railing, and folds his arms.
“I shouldn’t have been out in the Fold in the first place. It was my mistake.”
“Ty, you risked your—”
“No, Cat,” Ty says, looking at his bestie. “I know you had your pick of squads, and I won’t ever forget that you stuck with me. But the Draft is