Fractured Era 01: Better World by Autumn Kalquist

Author:Autumn Kalquist [Kalquist, Autumn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Diapason Publishing
Published: 2015-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

Maeve and Dritan stayed up for another hour, working on the hooch, until they were drunk enough to laugh and relive old memories, like the time Fenton pissed himself in front of everyone after a night of drinking a particularly bad batch of bootleg. At some point, they drank themselves to sleep, and they didn’t wake until the first shift buzzer sounded.

They solemnly marched upstairs to change and visit the lavs, and by the time they reached singles sector, it was empty, everyone already at first mess. When they were done, they returned to the main stairwell.

“Do you want me to come with you to the hangar bay?” Dritan asked, his voice strained. She shook her head, and he wrapped her in a strong hug. “You can get through this. I know you can.”

“Sure I can. And lucky for you, I’m taking Fenton with me. Try not to celebrate too much.”

He laughed. “You stay safe. You still owe me a game of chips. I expect you to make good on that when you get back.” Dritan’s eyes were glistening, barely. This was getting dangerously close to tear-territory.

She winked at him. “A better world awaits, right?”

“A better world awaits,” he echoed.

Saying good-bye seemed too much like admitting she was about to die, so she set her shoulders and hurried down the steps, leaving Dritan behind.

The stairwell was deserted, and Maeve tried hard not think about burning up in Soren’s atmosphere… but failed miserably. As she rounded the final landing before zero deck, she came to a halt, gripping the railing tight.

Cassia stood outside zero deck’s entrance in her blue medbay suit, all alone. Her brown hair was mussed, her eyes puffy and red. Seeing her like that shattered Maeve’s calm and sent her heart rate skyrocketing.

Cass caught sight of her and jogged up the steps, meeting her on the small landing. “They were talking about a volunteer this morning at mess. And it was you. You volunteered.” An accusation, not a question.

“Yep. I did.”

Cassia grabbed Maeve by the shoulders and squeezed hard, her face crumpling. “Don’t you get it? They’re all going to die. All of them. I can get you off the mission. Let me try talking to Zephyr… ”

“You wanna use the captain’s daughter like that?” Maeve pushed Cassia away and crossed her arms over her racing heart. “If it’s not me, it’ll be someone else. Why are you here?”

Cassia didn’t answer, just stared her down with those deep blue eyes, her hands in tight fists, her breasts rising and falling with each breath.

“You made it pretty clear yesterday how you really feel.” Maeve tried to inch around her. “I’m gonna be late.”

Cassia grabbed Maeve’s arm. “I do care.”

Maeve hesitated, feeling sick. “I gotta go.”

“I care,” Cass said. “I just think… that it’s not right.”

“What’s not right?” Maeve whirled to face her and stepped closer, backing Cass into the wall. They were so close, she could feel Cassia’s warm, rapid breath on her cheek. “Say it.”

Sparks danced between them, electric in the silence, and Cass glanced up the empty stairwell nervously.

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