Page 6 of Into Orbit
She pursed her lips, her frown deepening.
Okay, then. ‘There’s so much light coming from the city that it brightens the sky and the stars seem muted. When you go into the country you can see the stars clearly.’
‘What isthe country?’
I stared at her, then rubbed my nose. ‘Um.’
She grabbed my arm, and a sudden shock ran through me at the contact, my core clenching. I’d never felt anything like it. It wasn’t lust, not exactly, though it was difficult to convince my body of that fact. It was warmer andlarger, as if my limbs had been submerged in something deliciously tingly, something that set my every nerve ending alight.
No, Maeve. Absolutely fucking not.
‘There it is,’ she said. ‘The Pod.’
My eyes followed her finger to a thing that did, indeed, look like a giant seed pod, nestled between two garbage bins on the sidewalk. ‘Um,’ I said again. ‘What the fuck is that?’
‘It’s a Pod,’ she repeated. ‘A small craft built for a maximum of two. This one is used for ship-to-surface transport, or short trips from ship to ship.’
‘It doesn’t look big enough for two people.’
She tugged me towards it. A soft thrum went through the air and the Pod split in two, the top half sliding backwards to reveal a small control panel and two simple, sleek-looking olive-green bench seats. The whole thing looked as if a modernist furniture company had started making spaceships by somehow growing them on massive trees.
‘It’s not exactly spacious,’ Elswyth said apologetically, her fingers tugging nervously on my jacket hem. ‘But the trip won’t be long, and the peacekeeping ship is … well, pretty much exactly the opposite of the Pod in every way.’
My heart started to pound in my ears. ‘Ohh-kay.’
‘You take the back seat,’ she said kindly, as if I’d been thinking anything different.
Everything in me was shoutingdon’t do this, you fool,but I was stubborn. There was no way this weird thing was getting off the ground; surely her entire ruse would fall apart the moment the Pod failed to fly.
I climbed inside.
My knees pressed against the back of the front chair and I sat slightly hunched until the bench slid back, giving me more room. The chair felt firm, but as I wriggled, it moulded itself to my body.
‘Uh,’ I said, significantly more comfortable but infinitely more freaked out.
Elswyth climbed in the front and settled in her seat. ‘Ready?’
I think I may have made a mistake.
I swallowed. ‘Yep.’
She pressed a button on the control panel and the top slid over us soundlessly, trapping me inside. I inhaled deeply, then blew out my breath in a slow, controlled exhale as fear crawled up my spine.
‘I should tell you that I’m very new to flying,’ Elswyth said, ‘but it wasn’t too hard on the way down, so surely it can’t bethatmuch different going back. Don’t panic.’
I snorted before I realised she meant it seriously, and not as a reference to one of my favourite novels. ‘I didn’t bring a towe –holy shit,’ I squeaked, asvinesgrewfrom the fucking chairand wound themselves around my chest and shoulders, pinning me in place.
I could see that the same thing was happening around Elswyth, swamping her slender frame in green. Her arms were left free from the elbows, allowing her fingers to race over the control panel, which was covered in glowing lights. A series of low, growling noises filled the Pod; I twitched when Elswyth responded, her soft voice mimicking some of the sounds and adding new ones.
The Pod began to rumble.
Fuck.
‘I found it a little unnerving the first time,’ Elswyth said over her shoulder. ‘Just remember to breathe.’
‘I –motherhugging fuck nugget!’ I shrieked as the Pod shot up in one smooth, too-fast movement, like a ride at an amusement park.
‘Breathe,’ Elswyth called over her shoulder. ‘You’re all right …’ She trailed off and paused. ‘IsMcCarthy Sixty-Nineyour full name?’
