Page 7 of Into Orbit
A hysterical giggle tore its way from my throat. ‘It’s Maeve, actually. My name is Maeve. Maeve McCarthy.’
‘Then breathe, Maeve McCarthy.’
She all but sang my name; I liked the way it sounded, so I did as she told me. I’d left my stomach on the ground and I could see the city streets receding beneath us as my fingers dug themselves into my chair. I needed to do something to remind myself I had other body parts, so I concentrated on filling my lungs with oxygen while I was still capable of conscious thought.
Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out.
This was happening.
Maybe passing out would be okay.
I made a wild grab for rational thought. If we had Pods on Earth, I sure as heck hadn’t heard of them. Surely rich people would use them instead of cars – the rate we were rising was terrifyingly fast and there was zero air traffic this far from the airport; you could use one of these to get around the city in minutes.
‘Are you breathing, Maeve?’
‘Mmph,’ I answered, as clouds began to wisp around us.
Time slowed, as it always did when adrenaline flowed through my veins. The world took on a special clarity in those moments – the times when I was afraid, or training, or fucking, or fighting – like I could suddenly see everything in high definition. I could make out the streets as they started to disappear into the cloud, see that the shine of Elswyth’s hair wasn’t coming from any external light, but rather from her hair itself, as if she was crowned in ropes of the world’s tiniest LEDs. I could see that what I’d taken to be thick green thread stitching her bark-like armour together was, in fact, vine-like shoots; one of them was curling over her shoulder and growing a row of rose-like buds, delicate and beautiful, their petals blooming the softest apricot-pink.
I may have said an internal prayer as we rose above the clouds – the words I could remember, anyway.
If I live through this, I’ll go to church,I promised whatever god might be listening.For a visit, anyway. Just to say hello.
‘The pressure will change in a moment,’ Elswyth said over the tiny garden on her shoulder. ‘The control panel says we have to pick up speed to break atmosphere, and I assume it knows what it’s doing. Remember to breathe.’
‘Breathing,’ I muttered.
I couldn’t see the stars any longer. Everything was black, and the black went forever. My body was slowly pressed back into the seat, and I guessed that our trajectory had changed and our speed had increased. The chair seemed to shift, moulding further around my body, creating a sense that I was safe – even when I could see out into motherfuckingspaceand I knew that I very much wasn’t.
Stupid chair.
‘Andout, Maeve,’ Elswyth said, and I realised I was holding my breath. I concentrated on the tiny line of blossoms on her shoulder as their petals continued to slowly unfurl, and I forced myself to breathe normally.
For a few tense minutes, the only sound was the whoosh of my breath and the beat of my heart. I watched the tiny flowers, wishing I could reach out and touch them.
When Elswyth made another low, growling sound, I started in surprise. The rumble of the Pod changed slightly, slowing.
‘We’ll dock in a minute,’ she said, her voice tense. ‘I’ve let the guards know you’re coming. There will be a decontamination process before we can board properly, and they might fit you with a translator.’
‘You sound worried,’ I said warily.
She gave an almost-silent sigh. ‘This is the freest I’ve felt in years,’ she said sadly. ‘I don’t want it to be over.’
I didn’t have time to process that comment before I realised what she meant bydock, and I saw the ship.
I tried to swear, but I couldn’t find the words.
There was one main ring, made of a sleek, flawless silver. There was a second ring beneath it, around half the size, positioned towards what I imagined was the front of the ship, if something round could have afront. Linking them was a square, box-like protrusion; it seemed as if we were heading there.
But inside the main ring was a dome of glass, or some other clear material, and inside that wasgreen. As in,organicgreen. Trees and plants and a slash of blue that looked like a stream full of running water, with one huge, sprawling central tree overlooking the rest like a protective mother.
‘What the ever-lovingfuck,’ I hissed.
Elswyth said nothing; her shoulders tightened.
You’ve finally done it, Maeve; you’re finally in over your head.
A series of growls rolled through the Pod once more, and silver swallowed the black as we flew into what I assumed was the larger ship’s dock. The Pod’s quiet rumble changed to a whir; there was a soft bump as we landed, followed by a whine as the Pod gently lurched to the side and was repositioned in a series of small, smooth movements.
