Page 88 of Colossal

“Yes, Father?” It was rare for Per Halen to get in-between Orion’s and his mother’s spats. He preferred to lurk in the shadows, having no real opinion or input on much of anything at all. His attempt at a disparaging tone with the son he hadn’t lifted a finger to raise was laughable.

“Maybe it’s a good thing…”

Two pairs of ice blue eyes swiveled to Kaia, followed by Per Halen’s delayed reaction time. Humans were slow.

“Please, Kaia with no last name. Please tell me all about your very informed opinion of the situation.” Mare Halena’s smile dripped malice, eyes cold and unblinking.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Orion hadn’t moved, maintaining his relaxed posture. Mare Halena glanced between them, calculating.

“I only mean…” Kaia looked to Orion, who nodded at her to continue. She straightened visibly in her seat at the encouragement, lifting her chin. “I mean, people are starting to talk down there. If they didn’t find out the truth now, worse rumors might spread.”

“Talk?” Mare Halena was still as a viper poised to strike, and for the first time Orion got a little worried about where this was going, because he had no idea what Kaia was talking about. Was she bluffing?

“Apparently some people think there’s something bad at X1s. Something we shouldn’t be messing with.”

Mare Halena watched Orion. “And by some people, you mean my son.”

“No,” Kaia hastened. “People down there. At least one… I heard it today.”

“Who?”

Kaia turned to Orion again. His mother would notice even the slightest shake of the head, and he had to tread carefully here. Fuck, he wished Kaia had told him this first. If she hadn’t been so stubborn about not getting a Neurosync, they could’ve just subvocalized directly and not had this problem.

But to his relief, Kaia seemed to understand. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Kaia…” Per Halen butted in again, in that same warning tone he’d tried on Orion.

“Mr. Halen, their reasons may be legitimate for all I know. It’s not my business to give out secrets.”

“Oh, but it very muchisyour business,” Mother snapped. “You are intending to become part of this family, no?”

Kaia shrugged. “Sure. But until Orion told everyone today, you seemed happy to keep me hidden away up here.”

That’s why I picked her.

It was her big mouth. Her willingness to bulldoze through whatever idiotic authority demanded things of her. Sure, that included him. But it included everyone else, too. She was a goddamn weapon, and he liked when she was on his side.

“Are you totally sure about this…” Mother wagged a finger between him and Kaia, “match, Orion?”

“I thought I made that clear enough times to you by now, Mother.”

“Then the wedding needs to be moved up. Thanks to your little stunt, we predict an influx of leavers.”

“Leavers?” Kaia asked.

It was Orion who answered: “Those who had Uploads booked. There’s usually a wave of suicides right before we make the jump, before we get cut off from the network. Of course, they get synced up when we return. But there’s always a risk we don’t, especially if people think they’re being herded to a dangerous galaxy for no good reason.” He shot his mother a pointed look.

This seemed to affect Kaia—her pulse picked up next to him, apprehension imbuing her immediate aura.

“Don’t worry, princess. It’s normal around here. They don’t die, you see,” he muttered the platitude.

“I know that,” Kaia snapped.

Mare Halena arched a brow at her. “You know, do you?”

“Yes, because I’m not an idiot. Everyone knows what Heaven is.” She looked up at Orion. “What do you meanjump?”

“Colossal’shyperdrive enables one jump per year, and we use it for expeditions to get us to the edge of the known universe with what’s essentially a one-way gate. Lets us shorten a ten-year trip to two,” Orion explained.

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