Page 27 of Into Orbit
We ran from the viewing platform and down the ramp as one. Maeve had pushed Ashton away and was easily keeping pace with his longer legs. ‘What does it mean?’ she shouted over the noise.
‘It’s the proximity alarm.’ I paused at the bottom of the ramp and turned to the left.
‘No you don’t,’ Ashton growled, and pulled me to the right.
‘I have to be in the clinic, Ash,’ I protested.
‘You’re coming with me.’
‘You’re breaking protocol, Ashton Unclaimed.’
‘Don’t start that fuckery, Will.Run, or I willcarryyou.’
I decided not to argue, and followed Ashton down the hall, panting.
The corridors were chaotic as every soul on the ship sprinted to their allocated room, or to their designated emergency point. I should have been in the clinic, and Ashton should have been on the bridge, but we were both running towards Maeve and the Hamadryad’s room, instead.
Ashton and Maeve pulled up, neither one panting like I was, and Maeve breathed on the scanner. ‘El?’ she called immediately, as soon as the door slid open.
Elswyth was nowhere to be seen. ‘She stays with the heartree during an emergency,’ I said, meaning to be comforting.
Maeve’s face creased in concern.
‘Help me with the blockers, Ashton,’ I said to him. I crossed to activate the protective shutters, dimming the light from the Forest.
Ashton stopped short, staring at Maeve. ‘Your body can’t pull water from the atmosphere like ours can,’ he said, almost to himself. ‘If the systems go down and the doors lock …’
‘The Hamadryad’s watering jugs,’ I said, spying them next to the food generator. ‘Empty them, rinse them, fill them with fresh water. She will understand.’
The alarm changed.
‘Okay, evenIknow that’s worse,’ Maeve said tightly, blinking at the high-pitched blare. ‘What does it mean?’
‘It means Roth,’ Ashton said grimly, and caught my eye. We stared at each other for a few heartbeats, then he shook his head and went to the tiny bench to refill the jugs.
I went into the bedrooms and shuttered the other windows, concentrating on breathing.
Maeve had followed me. ‘What areRoth?’ she said.
‘They’re the main reason our fleet is necessary.’ The last shutter fell, plunging us into darkness. ‘A warrior species bent on expansion by non-peaceful means.’
‘I knew there had to be baddies,’ Maeve said. ‘There always are, somehow.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t believe inbaddies. But I do believe in the intergenerational grooming of violent behaviour and the control of information to result in beliefs of planetary or species superiority.’
We heard the door to the rooms slide open. ‘Elswyth!’ Ashton said hoarsely.
‘Maeve – where’s Maeve?’ the Hamadryad called, her voice stricken.
A moment later, Elswyth appeared in the bedroom doorway. There was a moment of tense silence as she and Maeve stared at one another. The air between them went taut and heavy, and the Hamadryad’s lips parted just as Maeve’s cheeks flushed a hectic pink. Before either could speak, they were moving towards one another, a sun and her orbiting planet colliding. I couldn’t tell which one kissed the other, and neither could I tear my eyes away as their mouths moved together in the dimness, fierce and soft all at once; Maeve’s hand came up to cup Elswyth’s nape, her fingers tangling in the silver strands of the Lady’s hair. A moment – a lifetime – later, Maeve pulled away, looking surprised at herself.
‘Thank you,’ the Hamadryad said breathlessly, glancing back to fix her eyes on Ashton. ‘Thank you for getting her here safely.’
‘It’s nothing, Lady,’ Ashton said gruffly.
Elswyth smiled, a heartbreakingly full, beautiful smile that made my stomach flip and blood rush downwards.
It was the last thing I saw before the world went white.
