She’s evidently not expecting a reply. I nod a fraction, willing my focus to stay with this moment.
“I’m afraid I have bad news,” she continues. “I know of no way to break this to you gently, so I’ll be frank. There was an incident while your ship was en route to Lei Gong.”
“We were going to Octavia,” I say quietly, but I know the name of my colony isn’t the point. I can tell from the careful reserve in her voice that there’s something much bigger coming. There’s a pressure in the air, like the moments before a storm breaks.
“You were removed from your cryopod improperly,” she continues, “which is why you’re feeling like you’ve been turned inside out. That will improve soon. But the Hadfield was the subject of an incident in the Fold, Aurora.”
“It’s Auri,” I whisper, stalling.
Incident in the Fold.
“Auri.”
“What kind of incident?” I ask.
“You were adrift for some time. You may have noticed I don’t look like you.”
“My mom always said it wasn’t polite to point out that sort of thing.”
She has a sad kind of a smile for that. “I’m a Betraskan. I’m one of many alien species Terrans have encountered in the time since you boarded the Hadfield.”
My mind flatlines with one long beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, all coherent thought shutting down.
Alien species?
Many?
Does not compute, please reboot.
“Um,” I say, very carefully. My brain’s trying its best to throw out possibilities, and getting nowhere good. Are these people conspiracy theorists? Have I been kidnapped by psych cases? Maybe they are military and they’ve been keeping first contact from us civilians?
“I know this must be difficult to process,” she says.
“We encountered aliens?” I manage.
“I’m afraid so.”
“But the Fold to Octavia was only supposed to take a week! If we didn’t even get there, it’s only been a few days, right?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Something’s trying to creep across the corners of my vision, like water seeping in, only this water’s phosphorescent, pricked with a thousand points of turquoise light. I shove it back and focus my attention on the woman at my bedside.
“How …” My throat closes over. I can barely whisper the question. “How long was I gone?”
“I’m sorry, Aurora. Auri.”
“How long?”
“… Two hundred and twenty years.”
“What? You’ve got to be kidding me. This is—” But I don’t even have words for what this is. “What are you talking about?”
“I know this must be difficult,” she says carefully.
Difficult?
Difficult?
I need to speak to someone who’s making sense. My heart’s thumping wildly, trying to burst out of my chest, matching the pounding in my temples. I clutch the silvery blanket to myself and sit up, setting the world whirling. But I manage to swing my legs over the edge of the bed, and haul the silver sheet around me like a toga as I stagger to my feet.
“Aurora—”
“I want to speak to someone from Ad Astra, someone from the Octavia expedition. I want to speak to my mom or dad.”
“Aurora, please—”
I stumble my first few steps, and momentum carries me to the door, which slides open as I approach. Two women in blue-gray uniforms swing around to face me, and one steps forward.
I try to dodge, but I nearly fall over sideways and she grabs me by the shoulders. My hands are busy holding up my sheet, so I just kick her in the knee. The woman yelps, her hands tightening painfully on me, fingers digging in.
“Let her through.” It’s Battle Leader White Lady’s voice behind me, and in total contrast to my panic, she sounds calm. Kind of resigned.
The woman releases me, and my legs are shaking as I totter forward, my throat tight, as if someone’s squeezing it.
And then I see the windows across the hallway. I see what’s outside them.
Stars.
My brain tries to understand what’s happening, flipping through options and discarding them at top speed. The view outside the windows isn’t a wall. It’s not a building. It’s a huge sweep of metal, studded with bright lights, stretching away from me in a long curve.
Those are spacecraft zipping around it, like a tiny school of fish darting around a shark.
This is a space station. I’m in space. This place is impossible—it makes the Cid Shipyards that the Hadfield launched from look like a gas station somewhere out in the boondocks.