The Deep Sky: a Novel by Yume Kitasei

Author:Yume Kitasei
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flatiron Books

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

THE PHOENIX * 3,981 CYCLES AFTER LAUNCH, 1 CYCLE AFTER THE EXPLOSION, C SHIFT

“Thanks for coming, Susie.” The air in the Bridge was warm and sticky—too many people packed into the module for the climate controls to handle. Ying Yue and the Officers were huddled around the projection again. Ruth slumped at the Walkie, her forehead vein bulging, mouth a thin line. Yaz was there too, along with Hina and a few other members of her team. A.M. was consuming with extraordinary meticulousness what appeared to be—a cherry-flavored lollipop?

They caught Asuka’s stare. “My favorite. Been saving it for a special occasion, but after last cycle, I figured, why wait? Want a lick?”

“Um,” said Asuka, when she realized the offer was genuine. While she appreciated the generosity, she detested artificial cherry, which was one of the worst inventions of modern times, and was absolutely content never tasting that flavor again.

Ying Yue called for attention. “Our window to get back on course is closing. Some of you already know this, but we’ve only got about fifteen years’ worth of Sominol, and even with our Ag and Hydroponics Modules, the ship wasn’t built for seventy-seven adults and as many children to eternally wander. We’ll run out of power if we don’t get to another sun—power we need for our temperature regulation, air scrubbing, grow lights, and everything else. The upshot of which is that we have to get back on course in the next few hours, or we’re looking at a painful death down the road, whether we starve or bake or asphyxiate first. So as dangerous as our options are, we’re going to have to take a chance.” She aborted A.M.’s editorial with a stare. “Even if the plan we have isn’t perfect. Mission Control has sent us a set of instructions for repositioning three rear engines to enable us to correct. You’re all here because you’ve been tapped for the mission.”

“Me?” Asuka was glad no one heard what she hadn’t meant to say out loud.

A.M. pulled up a projection of their ship. The lollipop had dyed their lips and tongue crimson. The muscles around their mouth were taut, and their dark eyes were dull with sleep deprivation.

A memory came to Asuka, of A.M. crying in the school library. Back then, Becky and A.M. had had a sort of roller-coaster friendship marked by an intense rivalry that A.M. usually lost. Asuka had come upon A.M. rifling through their notes with a flurry of furious finger gestures too fast to follow. Before Asuka could ask them what was wrong, they’d bit out: “She always has to be right. Well, someday she’s going to learn she’s not, and I’d better be there when that happens.”

“Who?” asked Asuka.

“Tony,” A.M. said. Then the two had made up later, as they always did.

“As a refresher,” said A.M., twirling the projection. “Four engines at the front, shields, habitat wheel, sails, four engines at the back. Only two in the back are lit right now; those provide electric power and regulate the climate in the wheel.

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