Temperature Rising

Juniper bit her tongue against the frustrated groan pulling at her chest. She swiped an oil-stained hand across her brow. It was damned hot. The bulkhead before her swam with the sweat dripping into her eyes.

“Fuck this,” she muttered, jamming her screwdriver into the seam of the panel with a thick thud.

“Language on duty!” Juniper lurched backward, twisting her hand awkwardly.

“Ow!”

Avery winced. “Oh God, I’m sorry!”

“S’okay.” She smirked, allowing the warmth that came with Avery to chase away her mood. “But only if that mug is for me.”

Avery handed it over. Juniper grinned as she took a sip. She made a good show of relief, despite the sweat pooling along the line of her spine, the heat drifting upward from the diffusion pipes, and the now scalded tongue she would be feeling for days.

It was worth it for the satisfied upturn of Avery’s mouth.

“So, what brings the honourable Ms. Woods below decks? Just like visiting lowly Scrubbers, do you?”

“Charity.” Avery answered.

Juniper chuckled. “Risking it all to get a moment’s peace from the brats?”

Avery clicked her tongue.

Juniper stretched her arms, made no further remark on the matter. Those uppity fuckers bringing their children aboard was the height of privilege. The mark of a person who never had to go without, who didn’t care for the experiences of others. Space is the last place she would bring a kid.

The cold expansive nothingness was no place to grow up.

The unfailing spite festering within her must have shown; Avery was staring, all big eyes and bit lip. “Sorry, long day.”

“Yeah?”

Juniper chuckled. “It’s stupid.” Then her chuckle died. “Scrubbers’ been blowing all morning. Third one, this is.”

Avery followed the movement of her arm.

“Here,” she moved closer, pointing through the bulkhead at the panel inside. “It’s in there. But I can’t even get to it.”

“Why not?”

“Melted in.”

“And that’s not normal.” It was a guess rather than a statement.

“No. Maybe one in a hundred might stick – if we were doing a hundred-thousand kilometres a minute. This cruiser isn’t close to capable of that.”

“So, why is it running so hot?”

Juniper sighed. “Just one of the never-ending mysteries of space travel.”

~*~

The mess-hall was some relief from the heat. A thing Juniper never thought she’d say on this Gods-forsaken ship. It was usually the opposite; she’d walk in on stiff joints, grab her utensils with bloodless extremities, and sit with her hands trying to catch the steam.

The queue for Scrubbers was smaller than the passengers’ and Respectables’. Respectables like Avery who had a place here. A position. People who taught, or managed, or tended to the guests. The air was filled with the wonderful scent of their meals, provided by a real chef.

Her lip curled at the thought.

A low throb had begun to pulse in Juniper’s head earlier in the day. The mess-hall was louder than she had the mind for. Over-excited passengers babbled continuously, unable to hold their excitement at the next spatial anomaly, or gas giant, or some other such colourful floating rock.

The Nendel was next. They would be coming up on it in a matter of days. A swirling mass of pinks and greens and purples that, honestly, she could live without.

The ship was well insulated against the radiation it pumped in every direction, but even so, each time the cruiser passed, she swore she could feel prickling on her skin.

She caught Avery’s glance at the Respectable table, a lightning quick whip of a smile. There and gone in an instant, but enough to light a fire in her belly. She grinned into her standard issue rehydrated slop and moved to sit with the other Scrubbers on their designated bench, far from anyone who could be bothered by the smell of hard labour.

A call of her name pulled her from her musings, from wondering how long she could wait tonight before squeezing herself into the shaft above her cell and slithering along the web of vents, slipping into Avery’s quarters and –

“Earth to Dixon!”

Juniper blinked, caught herself. “I wish.”

“You notice anything funny on your shift today?” Hamish asked, using the other end of his spoon to scratch the scar traversing his chin.

“Funny?”

“Dunno. Odd. Strange like.” He squinted out the window, staring at the absolute nothingness over her shoulder.

“She’s running hot today, Hamish was saying,” Michaels said, staring at Juniper.

Juniper nodded. “Bit, yeah. Stiff panels.” She sighed. “Was half expecting the Reset Your Password message, but just did it last week. Melted together they were. Had to pry them open.”

“’S strange,” said Hamish again. “Never this hot.”

Juniper shrugged. It was dinner time. Leave the shop talk until it was required of her. She chanced another glance over at Avery. The pull of her almost had Juniper smiling. Almost.

Wouldn’t do to be caught smiling at a Respectable.

Before she could look away, a hand landed on Avery’s shoulder. A concerned crease formed between her eyebrows, identical to the one she could see on Avery’s.

That was not a hand Juniper expected to be there, so far from the Elites mess.

Captain Lars.

It was the first time Juniper had seen her with her own eyes. Middle aged, severe bun of dirty blond hair, tired looking but not unattractive, if you were into that sort of thing.

It was curious. She was newly installed. She should be trying to set an example. Too green maybe; being caught talking to a Respectable was a social blunder Juniper had never witnessed from any other captain.

“Saw her yesterday, I did.” Michaels gestured with his spoon, and Juniper frowned.

“Who?”

“Her.”

“Avery?”

Michaels shook his head. “Other one.”

“Lars?” She asked, leaning forward, unable to hide her surprise.

He grunted.

“You saw Captain Lars?”

Another grunt.

“Where?”

“Sub-section eleven.”

“But why would she be there?” Didn’t make any sense for her to bother with sub-sections. She had enough to worry about on the bridge, Juniper reckoned.

“Hardly asked.”

Juniper rolled her eyes and leaned back to continue her meal. She watched slyly as Avery was led away.

~*~

The squeeze of the vent was welcome to Juniper. She pulled herself through, flat on her belly, by flexing her knees and kicking her feet lightly. Silent swimming. It was well-insulated but would ring out against the crushing emptiness of the repair spaces if an elbow was placed too quickly.

Avery’s quarters were a straight shot and directly to the left of hers. Her three taps were answered almost immediately with the click of a latch and a glowing smile.

Juniper upended herself into the room, aided by Avery, who wasted no time catching her lips and pressing her back into the wall.

She met her with a fire born of a long day, spurred by the million butterflies erupting under her skin.

Juniper pushed them to the small single bed fused to the wall. The smell of Avery’s sweet skin invaded her senses, swirling in delicious patterns of possibility she would scarcely have time to explore before needing to make her return.

“Fuck,” Avery whispered, breaking away for a second to latch onto Juniper’s neck before they tumbled down. “I missed you.”

“Hmm,” Juniper hummed. Sparks jolted from where Avery’s breath teased across her skin. “Enough to sneak to the sub-decks just for me.”

Avery grinned against her. “And I’d do it again.”

Juniper’s flame dulled. She pulled up to look her in the eye. “Best be careful; those hands aren’t meant for scrubbing.” She kissed them.

Avery pouted for a moment before registering the seriousness on her face, and then nodded. “Not too much longer, Juni. Then we can leave.”

“Could leave now if you wanted,” Juniper looked away. “Should really.”

“Never,” Avery whispered, leaning up to kiss her. “Who would get me all dirty then?” She wiggled and smiled, eyes alight with mischief, and then frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Juniper had never been one to give over to irrational anxiety - probably what had gotten her sentenced to servitude. Maybe it was growth, but a worry had crawled into her mind earlier in the day and nested. “What did the captain want?”

Avery grew solemn. “She wanted me to eat with her.”

“Dining in the captain’s quarters, eh?”

“Yeah.” She picked at an oil-stained patch on Juniper’s shoulder. “She wanted me to meet her Elite passengers and give them a tour of my school room.”

“You already know them. Teach their kids.”

“Right! And she must know that?”

Juniper sighed. It was strange enough to ask a Respectable to mix with the Elite, but Avery was already mixed directly through the education program. How much did this new captain know of the ship? “Maybe she thought she was doing you a favour?”

“How so?”

“Like maybe she thought ol’ Captain Stanryes wouldn’t let you rub shoulders? More of a traditionalist, wasn’t he?”

“Maybe, but…”

“But?”

“She didn’t seem surprised I knew them.”

Juniper shrugged despite her growing concern. “Poker face? Reckon she needs that in her position.”

“Maybe.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

Avery pulled at the skin of her lip. “The conversation… It made me nervous, Juniper. Imperial stuff. Proper places in society, rightful positions, birth order...”

“Voicing what they’re all thinking.”

“It was so wrong.”

Fear spiked in Juniper’s heart, quick and hot. “Course it is,” she said, more intense than she intended. “Of course it is, Avery. It’s all wrong. The whole Imperial Commission is wrong. But don’t let on you think that. Not even for a second.”

“I won’t, obviously I won’t.”

She sighed, rested her head on Avery’s shoulder, and felt goosebumps erupt as a hand weaved through her hair. “Good. Let’s just get through this last fuckin’ year.”

~*~

By lunch the next day Juniper had convinced herself she’d imagined it all - no blown fuses, jammed scrubbers, or melted panels had awaited her.

Until she’d caught up on Hamish’s morning.

His usually pale skin was flush, grey overalls stained dark with sweat. Five fuses blown.

“Can’t keep up.” He spoke low.. “Melted panels all morning.”

“At this rate we’re gonna run out of replacements,” Michaels said, monotone as always. As if it wasn’t a problem. As if the ship could survive without scrubbing the dirt and decay from the oxygen. As if it wouldn’t eventually lead to a slow and painful death for them all.

“Told anyone about it?” Juniper asked.

Hamish shrugged. “Told Carey. Seems to think it’s just an anomaly in Life Support. Says it happened to him years back on the Avensis. Sorted itself out with a reconfiguration.”

“He’s reconfiguring then?”

The look he gave her had her swearing into her rations.

~*~

The order came in as she got back to her post on Sub-Five. A bell from her handheld.

Carey: URGENT. New Assignment: Reconfigure life support system.

At least a reconfiguration was above decks, away from the neglect of the under-ship.

The glorious temperate warmth welcomed her as soon as she stepped out on One. A Respectable workers deck. Staff rather than prisoners. Jobs were more think and much less do.

Life Support was the only reason she would be on One. It was a dirty job for the most part. Respectables turned their faces away from her as they passed.

Kneeling, she clawed Panel A-1 from the bulkhead and set to work reconfiguring the system - except, everything was configured exactly how she had left it the previous month.

Oxygen – 20.99%

Nitrogen – 78.02%

Argon – .99%

“What?” she whispered. The system emulated Earth’s atmosphere perfectly.

She swiped over the panel, searching through updates. The system was perfect. Curious. “Maybe…”

She flicked over to the scrubbers. The map subdecks opened before her on the screen. Each fuse was lit with either green, orange, or red. “Fuck.” Five more orange, two in the red.

Her finger moved to push the glowing red scrubber, and her heart sank. She leaned back in the corridor, perplexed. CO2 was three-hundred-thousand parts-per-million. A grotesque sum. “What the fuck is going on here?”

She howled in pain as a sickening crunch sounded and tried to wrench her hand from beneath the boot trapping it.

“What,” Captain Lars said, “are you doing to my ship?”

Juniper squeezed a breath into her lungs through the pain. “Checking life support.” She refused to squeal in pain again.

“There is nothing wrong with life support.”

Juniper nodded.

“So, what are you doing here? I’ll have to have this deck cleaned now, your grubby hands have soiled it.”

“I had orde-”

Lars gave a painful twist of her boot. She knelt to speak directly into Juniper’s ear, low and steady. “Get the fuck back below decks where you belong, traitor, and don’t step foot here again.”

~*~

Back below decks Juniper iced her fingers with a med-pack. “Bitch,” she breathed lightly.

She took out her handheld, marking the order complete. The life support system was fine. The problem was in the air, or rather in whatever was propagating the air with CO2.

And Juniper was going to find it.

~*~

“Nothing wrong with it,” Juniper muttered to Hamish and Michaels at dinner. She kept her voice and her eyes low.

“Couldn’t be, Dixon, two more this afternoon.” He looked around, made sure no one was watching. She could have kicked him under the table. “I’m starting to worry.”

“What sections?”

“Sub Seven and Eight.”

“Six?”

“Changed yesterday.”

“Five, Six, Seven, and Eight. What about you Michaels, anything Eleven and up?”

Michaels shook his head. “Just warnings.”

Juniper made no further comment on it as Lars appeared in the doorway, and looked to the Scrubbers table. Juniper turned away.

The captain’s presence was a supernova, bursting with intrigue. She watched through the reflection of a metal napkin holder as Lar’s hand landed on Avery’s shoulder again and she pulled her through the mess doors..

Juniper tried to breathe evenly through the squeeze of her chest.

This time it wasn’t just mere curiosity that clenched a hold around her heart, it was the possibilities. The endless thoughts that assaulted her mind: what if she knew about them? What would she do to Avery?

They were careful as they could be to hide their relationship. Avery’s career, and likely her liberty, would be over if anyone found out.

The barrage of worry continued until she once again slipped through the vent to make sure Avery was safe.

She was.

Juniper watched her at her desk. Writing silently by a plasma-candle.

The curl of anxiety in her belly tightened looking down at Avery, still working after her lessons ended. She cared for people selflessly. Cared so much for Juniper that she stayed on board even after she had intended to depart for solid ground.

Juniper squared up the courage inside of her and kept moving. The next vent would take her to Seven, a thinly manned section responsible for inventory.

She wouldn’t cross anyone if she were lucky.

The drop was further than Avery’s quarters. More perilous with no one to catch her. She landed with a soft thump and a shock to her shins.

The corridor was deserted. She opened a panel in the wall, crawled in, and closed it behind her.

It wasn’t the best place to get information; terminals were specialised. This one would have mostly stock detail, but she’d been Resistance long enough to know the back way around most systems. It didn’t take long to crack the personnel file.

Angelina Lars – Positional Assessment Summary

Civilian Status: Ex-military.

Personal Statement: Lars advises she is looking for something simpler than an Imperial Armed Forces post.

History: Lars has been discharged honourably from the IAF after leading several successful campaigns against the Freedom Resistance on Omega-Six. IAF intel credits her with the decimation of three rebel bases via direct contact. No survivors. Psychological reports following these incidents indicate no detrimental impact on her mental standing. She was deemed fit to serve. Dismissal coincides with leadership changeover. No behavioural deficits.

Assessment: Approved. Fit to serve aboard Cruiseliner Cedar as Captain.

Dr Anna Smith

Juniper’s hands shook. She herself had been taken on Omega-Six. Ambushed and sentenced to ten years of servitude.

Lars’ ledger was soaked in blood. It seemed her discharge only came at the behest of the new High Empress – a more liberal face of government.

A military colonel turned recreational ship’s captain? Carting nobility around on a cruiser just because they wanted to experience the galaxy?

It didn’t add up.

It was forbidden, and she could be jettisoned for it, but Juniper plugged her handheld into the console and downloaded Lar’s file and the scrubbing map.

She turned the machine off with a soft beep, itching to be back in the safety of her cell.

The panel lurched open in front of her. She tumbled out, heart racing, and scrambled to put distance between herself and the pristine leather boots she’d landed on. A young deck-hand reaching for his handheld.

“Don’t!” She stretched her arms out in front. He stepped away. “Please.”

His eyes were wide, searching. Young. Impressionable. Uncomfortable. She could work with this.

“Scrubbers shouldn’t be up here.”

“I know I–”

“I need to tel-r.”

“No!”

“They’ll have me for this.”

“They won’t know!” She looked directly in his eye. “How could they unless you tell them?”

He hesitated once more and nodded toward the hatch. “What were you doing?”

Fuck. “Something’s wrong. With the ship.”

His eyes twitched between her and the blinking panel inside the bulkhead.

“Just trying to fix it mate, that’s all.”

The apple of his neck bobbed. He looked around, down the corridor and back, and then up to the vent in the roof. “Fuck.” He looked back at her. “Fuck. Fine. Come on.”

To her surprise he laced his hands together and bent down. Juniper didn’t think twice before letting herself be launched back into the vent, intent on retreating immediately.

“Hey!” he called softly after her.

She leaned back, holding the grate open just enough to see his face.

His mouth twitched. “Been awfully hot on Four lately.” And then he left.

~*~

Another of Sub-Five’s fuses was out the next morning.

Realisation dawned on her fast. Of all her sections, Sub-One through Sub-Five, these were the scrubbers that were in trouble. If she was right, and she took her handheld out to check the mapping, holding it just inside a bulkhead to hide it from any prying eyes, her Sub-Five, and Hamish’s Sub-Six, Sub-Seven and Sub-Eight all fed Classroom Four.

Avery’s classroom.

She hadn’t mentioned anything strange other than Lars wanting to visit. Vicious, military Lars. Visiting a classroom.

The map showed no more reds in her section, but two to fix for Hamish and the rest oranges. Something was pumping the CO2 directly into these scrubbers and if her calculations were right, they only had enough fuses to bring them to the end of the next day.

“Fuck.”

“What’s that?”

Juniper jumped, shoving the handheld further into the bulkhead.

“Juni?” Avery placed a hand on her arm. “What’s wrong?” Juniper just shook her head, looked helplessly into Avery’s concerned face. “Where were you last night?”

“Sorry, I– I had to go check something out.”

Avery laughed flatly. The skin around her eyes tightened.

“I’m sorry.” She walked over, folded her arms around Avery, and felt the other woman sink into her embrace.

“I was worried. What were you doing?”

Juniper shifted.

Avery stiffened. “Juniper, what’s going on?”

“When – when you showed Lars around your classroom, did she seem interested in anything in particular?”

“No, not really. Why?”

Juniper pulled back, held Avery at arm’s length. “What did she do in the classroom?”

“She looked at things. She checked that everything was clean, that we had enough space to move around. That the bulkheads were sealed in case the children were exploring. Things like that.”

“She inspected the room’s suitability?”

“Yeah? I guess?”

“Never seen a captain do that.”

Avery frowned. “I told you, she’s a bit odd. Imperialistic–”

“Fucking right she is–”

“–she wants all the first-class kids to have the bes–”

“–look at this.”

“Juniper!”

“I know, I know. Bad shit will happen, blah blah, but I think bad shit is already happening.”

Juniper flipped her handheld over to Lars’ personnel file. “Look.” She watched as Avery’s brow knit together. “Fucking animal, she is. Three bases down? That’s near three hundred people. No survivors. I know the bases on O-Six, knew those people. It was a massacre. Only the year after I was taken.” She rubbed her arm, the grey overall sleeve covering the traitor brand she knew would be beneath it forever. “Could have been me.”

Avery’s eyes flashed in horror. “But imperial advice is to capture. Why would she do this?”

Juniper clenched her fists. “There are extremists on every side.”

Avery shook her head. “On a cruise ship? There’s nothing on board worth having.”

Juniper pinched her forehead. “I have to see your classroom.”

“Juniper, no! They’ll kill you.”

“Only if I’m caught.” She winked.

“Juniper…”

“If she has what I think she has, then we’re all dead anyway.”

~*~

Their embrace that night was more than the happy reunion of a day well survived. It was fear and tension and courage. When Juniper finally pulled away, she kissed Avery’s lips swiftly and pulled back before Avery could make it anything more. Before either of them tried to hold onto a moment that could be taken away.

Avery caught her shaking hand as she swiped it over the door’s sensor, following her out into the hallway.

“I’m coming with you,” she said, and Juniper bit her tongue as her guts churned. She scanned the hallway. They would both be spaced if they were found, but it would draw too much notice to argue it in the corridor. Something Avery knew too. Instead she gripped her hand and walked.

In the end, she was thankful for Avery’s brave heart; Avery bumped her lightly in the right direction each time Juniper faltered. She had over-estimated her knowledge of the ship.

They met no one on the way, and Juniper thanked her Gods for the fortune.

The classroom was dark. The silver fluorescence bleeding through the sliding doors disappeared quickly as they shut. It made their job that much easier. Avery gripped her hand tighter, and she knew her eyes were drawn to the same spot Juniper’s were fixed on.

“Oh my God.”

“Fuck.”

An orange glow in the seams of a panel. It was faint, visible only in the darkness.

Juniper pulled out her screwdriver and got to work on wrenching the panel from the wall. Her fingers ached with the effort, the air in her lungs was thin.

“Juniper,” Avery breathed tightly in her ear. “Juniper… I can’t… breathe.”

“I know,” she rasped back. “It’s… because…” She jammed her screwdriver into the seam and pulled forcefully, knocking both her and Avery back. Glowing rocks filled the space behind the panel, enough sritrate to take the whole ship down if it were ignited. “Fuck!”

“Juniper,” Avery pulled on her arm, tried to force her away. “What… is… that?”

“That is the reason… my scrubbers are failing.” Juniper puffed out a breath. “Fuckin’ pumping nothing… but carbon dioxide into the air for days.”

“Why?”

“She’s trying to destroy the ship. Scrubbers are fucked. Fuses are dying. There’s none left. Soon as we get within a hundred parsecs of the Nendel’s radiation this is gonna blow. And that’s only if the CO2 doesn’t take us out first. Help me with this.” They shoved the panel back in place.

“We are going to be within a hundred parsecs this week!” The air was richer now, but beside her Avery still shook. “We have to tell someone. Move the ship.”

“Tell who? Who, Avery?” Blood pumped furiously in Juniper’s ears. “The Captain?” she scoffed.

“I don’t know. Somebody!”

The hydronic hiss of the classroom door opening froze Juniper where she stood.

“You won’t need to worry about that, traitor.”

Lars stepped forward. The door shut behind her.

Juniper moved in front of Avery, hands extended in front of her, but Avery pulled her back, squaring her shoulders to the captain. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? There are children on board!”

“Stupid girl! The children are the point.”

Juniper pressed gentle pressure into Avery’s palm.

“A ship full of traitors,” Lars spat, “it’s disgusting. Rebellious scum. Servitude is more than you deserve for turning your back on the Imperial Order.”

Directing this at Juniper seemed laughable. It had been so long since she had struck any kind of a blow to the Empire. So long since she had done anything but scrub away decay. She almost felt nothing at all but the fear that thundered through her.

And through the fear, something clicked.

“It will look like we did it.”

Lars’ eyes flashed, menacing and brutal. “Smart beast you are.”

“Did what? Blow the ship up? Why would it even matter it’s just a cruis– Oh Gods.”

The revelation dawning on Avery gave way to a flurry of laughter from Lars. She raised a plasma-pistol. “Not just a blown-up cruiser, but a blow to the Elites of the Empire. Entire families wiped out. Lineages destroyed. Our New Empress will have no choice but to retaliate.”

“No! Wai-”

“What for?” Lars asked, advancing on them. “It’s all the same in the end. Your purposes have been served.”

She lifted her hand and fired. A blast of glowing blue light filled the room. Juniper grabbed Avery and spun, intending to take the full brunt of the blow, but it never came. Instead, to her horror, a small hole in the sritrate panel smoked.

“Fuck!” Juniper shouted, pulling Avery sharply behind her retreating footsteps. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! You’re insane!”

“Juniper,” Avery called cautiously. “Juniper, it’s changing colour!”

Beneath the smoke the sritrate now shone an angry red, the embers glowing in intensity. Juniper watched on as Lars stared, transfixed. She launched herself forward, pummelling into Lars’ stomach with a shoulder that squeezed the breath from the older woman’s lungsl.

They fell, and rolled, Lars on top. Juniper grabbed the plasma-pistol, struggling to gain control. She strained against the power of the captain’s burly arms, and pushed back with all her strength.

It wasn’t enough.

Lars forced Juniper’s hands lower, turning the weapon toward her. The barrel skimmed her collarbone before jerking away as Avery’s shout ripped through the room. Lars lurched away howling in pain. Juniper got a shot off. A hole ripped through the captain’s chest, and she collapsed on top of her.

“Get her off me!” she shouted. “Help, Avery!”

“I’m trying!”

Juniper grunted upon release. Stood long enough to catch a single breath before her handheld began wailing. She didn’t bother checking, knew it was her fuses. All blown.

“We have to go,” she panted. “We have to go now. Before the alert.” She pulled Avery to the corridor. “Avery, we need the escape pods, we need them now.”

Avery stared at her, mute.

“Avery please, I don’t know the way! We h–”

“Oi!” A guard shouted from down the hall, his pistol already trained on Juniper, “Don't move!”

Avery wrenched her down the corridor, taking dizzying turns through the ship as the guard pursued them. The claxons and red lights of the cruiser’s failing life support system roared to life.

They had only minutes, Juniper knew. The sritrate was active now, growing hotter with every second.

They reached the shuttlepod just as the first guard burst through the flight-bay doors.

Avery froze. “Wait!”

“No time!” Juniper sealed the pod.

“The kids, Juniper!”

“Stop!” the guard ordered, firing at the window.

“Fuck!” Avery pushed Juniper into the cockpit, “go!” She took the pistol from Juniper and shot the lock, melting it. The guard pounded on the release button outside. “Tell me you know how to fly this!”

“Been a long time, alright!”

Outside the sounds of reinforcements were thudding through the door. Three more uniformed guards joined the first.

Juniper began hitting buttons.

The banging on the door increased.

Avery’s breathing grew more frantic. “Hurry!”

The anchor-lock disengaged.

“Juniper,” Avery warned. “They’re gonna smash throught.”

“Engine needs a second!”

“We don’t have a second!”

A blast from a plasma-rifle dinged their hull.

“Fuck it!” Juniper smashed the ignition button as another blast hit the back of their pod. The shuttle jolted forward violently. “Engines on!”

“Go!”

Juniper pushed forward on the navigation stick, and they tore away from the ship just as a seam of fire cascaded through the hull, pushing them on the shockwaves viciously tearing through the chasm between the shuttle and the cruiser.

The shuttle rolled through the open space before them for long moments before Juniper could fight through the inertia. She grabbed hold of the navigation stick and steadied them.

“I’m gonna be sick,” Avery moaned.

“Better sick than dead,” Juniper said, staring at the steaming ruin of the Cruiseliner Ceder.

“Oh Gods, all those people.”

Juniper just shook her head, numb.

“What are we gonna do, Juni?”

“Find a planet and stay out of imperial games.”

Avery turned to look at her. A haunted look she’d seen a thousand times before. The weight of a soul ripped apart from war. “The children,” she whispered.

“Thousands more once the Empress gets word. We need to disappear.”

“It’s never gonna end.” Tears began to slip down Avery’s face.

Juniper wrapped her arms around Avery. She knew there wasn’t enough comfort in the galaxy for this.