pulls it off without offending him—she could probably slap you in the face and make you feel good about it afterward. The others set to work clearing a place to sleep—the taller among us could touch both sides of this room with our hands held out to each side. Tyler’s making room on the bunks, Kal is piling the junk around the place into perfect stacks. But Scarlett hangs back by the door with me, out of the way.
“Do you need a hand?” she asks softly.
She’s talking quiet so the others won’t hear. Gesturing at my suit. I thought I kept my movements pretty smooth since we came aboard, but truth told, my muscles are aching—they don’t love being flooded with adrenaline over and over. And though I’m usually the first to bite when people point the thing out, somehow she makes it so I don’t mind. There’s no sympathy, no gentle grimace. Just a casual offer.
Truth is I’d kill for even a few hours in low gravity—I could get my suit off, curl up to sleep properly—but making that happen would mean leaving the squad. And adding another favor to the list I’m racking up with Dariel.
I was meant to have low-gee accommodations aboard the Longbow, once my squad was assigned. I had my own room at the academy so I could reduce gravity every night and operate without the suit. I’m gonna pay a price for sleeping like this later. But I’ll worry about that tomorrow. For now, I’m really not taking a hand from anyone with my next shower.
“Thanks, I’m fine,” I say. “It’s designed to stay on for several days if needs be.”
Scarlett nods, content that I’m content.
“You think we can trust your cousin?” she whispers. “My gut was yes.”
I nod. “Your family seals your den, that’s what my clan says.”
“I haven’t heard that one before,” she admits, keeping her voice low. “What’s it mean?”
“It means yes, we can trust him.”
That was meant to be the whole of my answer, but she just looks at me, expectant. Trust a Face to want to learn something new when they should be focusing on naptime.
With a sigh, I try my best to explain. “You know we live underground on Trask because of the wind, right? It carries microscopic shards of stone. Get enough in your lungs, it’ll kill you.”
“So the seals on your den help keep it out?” she supposes.
“Right. When you build a new home, your family comes around to make the seals that go around the edges of your door out of peta mud. It’s a whole ceremony, and it’s a gesture of trust. Everybody gets their hands on it.”
“I get it,” she murmurs. “You’re showing your family that you trust them by letting them make the seals. If they didn’t do a good job …”
“Right, you’d die. So, you build strong seals, then you close the door and fight behind it, if you have to. Dariel won’t cross us because he’s family.” I smirk. “That, and my grandmas are pretty scary ladies.”
She’s quiet a moment, and her whisper is gentle. “It must be hard, being away from family.”
I snort. “For me? Not really. I got sent away from most of them early.”
She looks like she doesn’t quite buy it, but she lets it go.
“Get some rest,” she offers. “I’ll stay up and watch for a while.”
The squad is busy claiming their spots—everyone is pretty wrecked after the fight on Sagan, then Bellerophon, then the Fold here. Kal’s big frame is in the top bunk, Auri and Zila are curled up together in the middle. Ty’s on the floor—looks like our noble leader is planning to sleep sitting up against the wall, which I’m sure he won’t regret at all later on. Cat’s opposite, still looking sore she missed out on the brawl.
Scarlett and I both know I’m going to need the bottom bunk, so I wordlessly hand her the pillow and blanket, and she settles on the floor near her brother. I bed down on the mattress, staring at Aurora’s boots where they hang over the edge of the bunk above me. From the glow on the ceiling, I can tell she’s plugged into her secondhand Uniglass again, eating up info as fast as she can read.
She’s such a little thing. No bigger than Zila. Nothing about her hints at the trouble she spells for all of us. Except, you know, when her eye starts glowing.