ninety-nine more to go.
After a grueling day, I drag my sore and tired body back to my unit. I’ve learned two lessons. One, don’t be late. Ever. Two, don’t tease my instructor. It’s a bad combination. The fabric of my uniform is plastered to my body. Ugh. Staggering to my room, I’m focused on grabbing clean clothes and showering. The light switches on and—
I freeze, gaping at the marvel. Bright colors fill my walls. I blink and the colors form shapes…paintings. There must be twenty of them. Landscapes and cityscapes and nebula clusters and animals stalking through jungles all arranged in a pleasing manner. All inviting me to step closer and drink them in. Amazing.
When I’m able to think again, I realize these are Niall’s mother’s paintings. She died over two, maybe three A-years ago, leaving behind hundreds of them. Niall hasn’t said much about how or when she died and I’ve been reluctant to ask. His pain is obviously still raw.
Footsteps sound behind me. I turn. Radcliff stands there, staring into my room. His posture is stiff, expression flat.
“Did Niall do this?” I ask.
“Yes. He said you needed a change of scenery.”
My heart melts. So sweet. But Radcliff hasn’t relaxed. “Is it okay with you?” After all, this is Radcliff’s unit and these are his wife’s.
“Do you like it?” he asks.
“Very much!” My enthusiasm earns me a slight smile.
“Then I approve.” The tension in his shoulders disappears, but his nose crinkles. “Better shower before dinner. You stink.”
And just when I thought we were having a nice moment... I resist the urge to stick my tongue out at him. Instead, I clean up. The hot water loosens the knots in my muscles. By the time I’m finished, Radcliff is setting a steaming casserole on the kitchen table. Ravenous is too mild a word to describe my stomach’s sudden need for food.
My mother is the only person at the table.
“Where’s Dad?” I ask.
“Equipment troubles. I’m starting to miss the forests of Xinji. I’d rather roots in my pits than sand in the gears.”
I glance at the living room.
“Niall’s on duty until twenty-two hundred hours,” Radcliff says, sitting down. “Seems he switched shifts with Officer Tora so he’d have the afternoon off.”
Warmth flows through me. I’d have to return the favor…somehow. Plus Radcliff allowed it. Progress.
“He mentioned seeing you later?” Radcliff asks.
“We’re meeting in the rec room.”
He grunts. “He’ll only have a few hours to sleep before his next shift.”
And the Chief of Security is back. Funny I didn’t miss him.
My mom changes the subject and asks me about the meeting with the astrophysicists. As expected, she isn’t happy about my worming in the Q-net. And let’s just say her reaction to the possibility of me going into the pits makes an exploding star seem like a benign experience in comparison. Radcliff keeps quiet. Like Beau said, it’s up to me.
Not wanting to argue in front of Radcliff, I invite my mom to see my room after we finish eating.
“Oh my, these are wonderful! Did Niall paint them?” she asks, while moving slowly from one to another.
“No, his mother did.”
She sighs. “Such a shame about her. Oooh…look at the detail on this one.”
I join her in front of a leopard sitting on a branch. Its fur is so realistic, I’m tempted to reach out and stroke its back. Another part of me wishes to ask about Niall’s mother, but that’s not what I need to do now.
Straightening my spine, I think about what Elese said. I draw on my training and breathe in deep, exhaling stress and tension. Poise.
“Mom.”
She turns to me, probably sensing this is important. “No.”
So much for poise. “Please give me the courtesy of listening to me first.”
“All right.” Mom perches on the edge of my bed with her arms crossed.
“In one hundred and twenty-three days I will be eighteen and won’t need your permission.”
“I’m still in charge of the base,” she counters.
Poise. “But not security.” A mulish tightening of my mother’s jaw is a warning sign even though she knows I’m right. I continue, “In the time it takes to reach my birthday, anything can happen. The shadow-blobs could invade the base or looters could attack us again. You can’t put my safety above all the others who live here.”
I let that sink in for a moment. “You need to trust me. I know my life is at stake, but I refuse to let Jarren win. That’s unacceptable.”
Mom’s arms relax into her lap as she studies me. “Is