What Happens in Orbit

Why are they here?Cora gave Autumn and Savannah the signal to move ahead. Mar should have been in Cantak. Where had he found transportation to get down here, to Loyma's colony? The rest of the team wasn't here.

They were halfway done with the western mountainous region. A flare shot up in the distance.

Cora shook her head, trying to clear it. This was no time to worry about whatever stupid shit Mar was doing. The kids would be safe no matter what.

They moved through the trees, heading for the flare. Yuma, one of Koramin's own personal guard, had volunteered to serve as bait. As Cora approached, she caught sight of the pastel pink Sheevae weaving through the trees, large bells tied to her arms.

"Alright, ladies, are we ready to kick the power back on?"

Cora had quickly come to love working with these two. Savannah and Autumn were the same age as her, their hometowns within hours of Cora's. Savannah was a dancer from Pooler, Autumn a Kendo instructor from Warner Robins.

They had the same dedication and intensity, their quirks complementary. Cora had a nagging suspicion that they, too, had overshared on Twitter.

Autumn had volunteered to carry the reactor. She let the other two charge ahead, reaching behind her head to hit the two-part switch. The development team had gotten the reactor to the size of a bookbag, surprisingly light. She'd refused to ask exactly what was in it, but Cora had been assured it wasn't actively radioactive.

Autumn shivered as it powered up with a resoundingtwang,like someone had plucked a massive rubber band.

"Okay, it's on," she spoke through the open radio. "Over."

"Thanks, Audie." Cora squeezed the handgrip on her left blade, triggering an arc between them. White-blue light washed over the trees, illuminating the fleeing Noxis. "Ready? Over."

"Ready as I'm getting, over." Savannah responded with a nervous laugh.

Cora smiled, thinking back to when she'd believed they were chosen for some breeding program. It had been cruel of Koramin to get the royal family's hopes up like that.

Savannah let out a whoop as she dispatched the first of several. She'd been particularly down for this mission, long suffering with pent-up rage.

Autumn was as well, not that she would admit it.

Cora took a breath, reminding herself of her most important mission. She refused to let either of them get hurt. Not here, not ever. Some bruises were fine, of course, but they were going to get the lives they wanted, come Hell or high water.

Mar shuddered. "That was close. I didn't think she was coming here yet. I should have checked the comms before we left."

Della didn't respond, unloading his rifle.

Mar spoke again. "We should go. They'll reach out if they decide to work with us."

He'd already begun to walk away, leaving Mar out on the path. He'd need to charge these cartridges soon.These cartridgeshad done all the work at the Capitol. It was a shame that he didn't have the guts to use them on Mar.

It never stopped crossing his mind since he'd first primed his rifle on mission day, but the urge always caught him off-guard.

The plan had him perched in the rafters of the gathering hall. The matriarch, barely mobile in her old age, had filed in and sat, followed by her brother, Ray's father, and all the department heads. By Mar's plan, Della was given no room for mercy. Within a half-mark of the doors closing, six of the fourteen council members were a fine mist. Della carefully kept a bored expression on his face as the shrieking began.

They'd give him shit for having the power level at maximum. He was having to reload now after just a few shots, but he couldn't bear to watch them split open. This was quicker, messier, but easier for him. When the full-strength beam hit, every water molecule in their body would rapidly expand, effectively vaporizing their top half with only a gentle puffing noise.

The same would happen to Mar if Della couldn't stop thinking about Cora.

What if she blamed him for not stopping Mar? What if Tai died in that desert, alone? He dropped down from the rafters, landing on the table and dispatching the matriarch and her brother in quick succession.

With a quiet groan, he turned down the power level.

The doors flew open, guards pouring in. Backup would be coming right behind them, but he probably wouldn't need it. With every shot came a nauseatingsplatas bone splintered and ribcages split open.More and more of the guards were losing their nerve, scrambling back through the doorway through puddles of viscera. Della advanced, imagining them with taupe skin and orange eyes.

Shit. Calm down.He'd almost shot Shar.

It had been that easy. It could be that easy again if Della didn't have such a heavy conscience already. Mar didn't even seem concerned about getting a name for his kid.

A camera drone hovered above the walkway as they walked out.

"Leave it," came Mar's voice over comms. Even his voice turned Della's stomach.

He'd met Della back at their landing ship, an unfamiliar overland ship waiting for them alongside it.What are we doing,he had wanted to ask, but he didn't think he could stomach a conversation with Mar.

Cora had probably been so hurt. She needed them, no matter what Mar thought. His expression darkened as he stared at the back of Mar's head. He was the only one without a real family. Of course he didn't understand how badly he'd fucked up. He'd always resisted getting close with the crew until Cora had come along. He finally had a family, and what had he done?

Della fidgeted with the inactive switches on his pistol. He hadn't used this in a while. He preferred the green-bronze Foshar rifle Cora had given him. A present, she'd called it.

He should have seen this coming, mused Della. Mar had gotten progressively more detached every time he thought he'd lost Cora, like he couldn't bear the thought of grief, or loss.

Coward,thought Della, narrowly avoiding hissing it aloud.

Mar was now doing something they hadn't discussed in the plan, flying the small overland ship westward, just under the cargo lines. The others seemed to know what was going on.

Della wondered bitterly when the captain had become okay with something like this. He'd lost his family, same as most of the other crew. He'd even had his ears forcibly cut in prison. Mar would never understand.

The closest thing to peace they'd ever get and he was throwing it away.

He wouldn't be able to do this for much longer.I need to get away from this jackass before I kill him.

"Hey."

Mar grunted in response, not looking away from the windscreen.

"When we're done, I can go back with Tor, yeah? Someone has to take care of the kids."

"Yeah, of course," said Mar like he was some type of kind, benevolent king. Della pressed his hands into his face, quickly concealing the silent snarl that had come over it.

"You won't need me anymore after that?"

Mar shook his head. "Nope."

Now that stung. Della regretted asking. He'd needed some indication that Mar still cared. About his team, about his family, about him.

Why can't I kill him?Della didn't have an answer for himself. Instead, he sighed, biting his tongue and settling further into his seat.

Cora would never. Mar had been one of his favorite crewmates for over ten journeys, but if it came down to it now, Della knew he would choose her.

All she had to do was ask. He could do it then.

After several hours of full-speed travel, Cora signaled a halt. "Let's take a break."

She'd been thinking the entire time, her mind spinning furiously. She had the feeling of dread she got the last time the sky in her hometown had turned that shade of green, the air going dead-silent.

She could practically hear that train-like roar in the distance.

After they paused to eat, Cora pinged the ship in orbit. After several minutes of waiting, her headset chimed, the connection completed.

"Hey, Dicembre!"

"Hi, Miss Cora!" Came her bright response.

"We're checking in, we just finished our break. We're doing well, equipment still in top shape, tons of energy, so the ladies and me are gonna keep with the plan, and head anti-sunwise through Jakmau. We'll be in range of the Coalescence there, so I'm not going to bother trying to check in until we're on our way back. We'll send an SOS ping if something goes wrong. All good?"

She'd lied. They'd traveled in a sweeping arc, and were now just west of Loyma's colony, near the coast. Nowhere near Jackmau.

"All good, Miss Cora! We're awaiting your return."

When the end chime rang, Cora reached into her mask to flip the comm switch off. She then disengaged the mask, wriggling her head out of it.

Autumn did the same, reaching over to flip Savannah's comm switch.

"What?"

Autumn shook her head. "She used the code word. Anti-sunwise. You used the code word. What's wrong?"

"We're being double-crossed. I know I sound crazy, but I've got that feeling. I been thinking about it. The plan was, Mar stays up at the Capitol. The Capitol is a week away from here on foot. They got there in hours from the last check-in. Means they used an overland ship. That's like a Corvette. There were no plans to requisition an overland ship. It would have taken a while, they're rare." Cora was counting on her fingers as she listed it all out. "Means they planned to have one waiting. That colony we passed through is full of gunsmiths and trap makers. It's a small colony, no reason for him to go to them for votes or something."

"Unless he needs weapons for some type of militia shit. And that wasn't the plan. Y'all were supposed to be putting in a temp government until you could do an election, right?"

"Right. We're headingdi-rectlyback to Sundak. They'll meet us there."

As soon as the call ended, Dicembre whipped around in her chair, tapping the left-hand panel to put the entire comm system inAwaymode. The other crewmembers leaned back from their stations, confused as their headsets buzzed. "Cora checked in, said she'll keep headinganti-sunwisethrough Jackmau."

Tarina stood, stretching. "Andhere we go. Well, Ray?"

Ray groaned. "Fuck! All he had to do was complete the mission! We would have let him do whatever he wanted afterward!" He slammed a fist against his desk, uncharacteristically angry. "Prime the backup descent ship ASAP! When I say ASAP, Ispecificallymean in less than ten marks. Damn the gravity inverters!"

Mary tapped into the secured second-channel comms, pinging her strike teams. "Captains and operation directors at attention, initiate Operation Solor. Disruptor ships in position, disruptor ships in position, clear the satellites. I'll repeat, initiate Operation Solor. Let's go," she spoke with a bored tone. This had come as no surprise to her.

It certainly couldn't have been a surprise to Cora, who'd come up with this plan herself.

Mary sent a message to the ship waiting outside of Sundak.

Queen checked in. She says she'll keep heading anti-sunwise through Jackmau. Command: Move pickup point to lessen her travel distance.

She wondered what had tipped Cora off. Per the team update, Mar was still in the Capitol.

Unless he wasn't. Tarina reappeared in an altered officer's uniform, a less-flashy mace strapped to her hip as well as a pistol. A team of three officers followed her, looking sharp in their own new uniforms. To Mary, they looked like latex-fringed cowboys, but she'd never criticize Miedzna's design choices.

At least, not aloud.

The landing ship took off. The gravity inverters screamed in protest as they bypassed the safety thresholds, actively pulling the ship downwards towards the surface.

"Hold! Hold! Wait...Re-engage!" Tarina directed the pilots, holding herself firmly in place as the ship practically fell out of the sky, the inverters just barely slowing their landing in time. She thanked the sun for these handpicked pilots. They skimmed along the ground, narrowly dodging trees and cargo train support beams. This wasnotwhat this ship was made for. She'd be lucky if the inverters wouldn't need replaced after this.

She watched as the spires of the prison loomed into view, matching Cora's description. "Raise the coefficient!" The ship dropped as the inverters sighed and relaxed, following the sharp downward slope of the land to glide silently below the city. They wove between stone beams, coming to a hover at the coordinates Cora had provided. "Put the ship in low-power."

Tarina climbed out of the top of the ship, using the widest emergency exit panel. Her officers followed. They leapt between the support beams, heeled boots easily sticking the landings.

The high nitrogen ratio of Roshak's atmosphere was harsher than a Sheevae could handle. They sported gas-masked impermeable uniforms, looking particularly imposing. Tarina, however, kept her mask off. She would tolerate it for now.

"Guards at the front."

"But none at the back," chuckled Tarina. Now, they would wait.

As the sun passed its highest point, they spotted figures coming down the walk.

There were three, one stooped and being supported by the others.

"Those are Cora's."

"Is the stupid one with them?" asked Sago through their mask, reaching for a sunbeam pistol.

"No." She gestured to them, astand down. "Wait for them to go inside.Now. We're going up to the back balcony."

Tarina's stature was impressive, but her easy strength was even more so. She pulled herself up with a single arm, swinging her smaller officers up to clear the railing one by one.

They landed on their toes, crouched in a ready stance.

Tarina vaulted over the railing, landing neatly in front of the back door. She straightened her uniform, then tapped.

Meri answered the door, immediately shutting it as she made eye contact with the imposing princess.

After a few seconds of muffled arguing, Tai answered the door, Della right behind him. "Tarina?"

Tarina ducked through the doorway and shouldered past him, signaling to her officers. They strode in, quickly clearing the house and nodding a confirmation.

"Alright, boys. Pack your things. Cora's orders."

Tai shifted uncomfortably. "Did she tell you about the metal poisoning?"

Tarina shook her head. "She got in contact exactly once, to tell us that whatever Mar is planning is more dangerous than taking the children back to Takka."

Tor was flopped over on the couch. "We should hurry," he groaned through a pillow. "We need to be gone before Mom comes back."

Tai grimaced. "Okay, if you're sure. Della?"

Della looked down. "Yes," he spoke, his voice cracking. "Let's go."

She slung Tor over her shoulder like a towel, or perhaps a really nauseous scarf. Kids tucked into her jacket, she stepped up onto the railing and jumped. Della dove after her. Tai sat on the railing, looking back at Meri. "You should probably get out of here. Mar is going to be furious."

She crossed her arms. "I'm not scared of Mar."

Tai shook his head, kicking his legs up and slipping off the railing. Tarina waited atop her ship, hovering in shadows several lengths below Meli's home.

Tor moaned. "This isn't right."

"It'll be okay," Tai reassured him. "Maybe he'll learn not to go behind our backs."

"No." Tor weakly pointed at the ship. "This isn't right. These ships can't get here. There're too many hills. Gravity inverters need a flat surface to start from or the coefficient gets-augh. Fucked up. You'll flip the ship."

Tarina eased him into the opening, now much more cognizant of how nauseous he was. "I earned my title in one of these ships. It's all in the timing."

Her officers followed them in, closing the hatch behind them.

Leo and Erie sat in an overland ship, arguing. Leo loved his twin brother very much but hated how they could argue while somehow agreeing the entire time.

"What are we doing? Why don't we just go inside?" Leo gestured to the cave in the distance.

"To do what? What do we say? Mar sent us here to spy!On Cora!"

"Not on Cora, and no, we don't have to! What's he gonna do, come to the ship and beat us up?"

"Maybe! We don't know what he's doing."

"Then why'd you want to lie to him?"

It had been stupid, that they agreed on. Stupid, but a good idea. Maybe a little cruel. They'd gone to the Archives. They'd said they were searching for their own parents, but they already knew their parents. No. They were searching forMar'sparents. They had the name of his group home, his birth year, and even Date of Joining Society, courtesy of Ray.

And they'd found them. They were last tracked fleeing the city illegally to cross the Coalescent Border. They would be much older, but they would be alive.

They decided not to tell him, saving the info to a portafile before wiping his data from the archive.

Erie wanted to risk the journey to find them. Leo, having already crossed the Coalescence once with his brother, had no desire to do it again. Not even to dissuade Mar from ruining his entire life.

"We could ask Cora what to do."

"We can't ask anything. He's listening to every comm."

"Then we go find Cora!"

Leo punched his brother in the arm. "We arenotwandering through this shit forest because you don't want to go back to Takka!"

"I can't do that shit anymore! The tension with everybody was too fucking much!"

There was a knock on the windscreen. It was Milo, gesturing irritably at them. Leo opened the door.

"What are you doing? We're about to move the ship. Are you coming or not?"

In the end, Leo hadn't given his brother a choice. He'd dragged the light orange Roshak out of the parked overlander, an arm wrapped around his throat. "We're coming, I'm sorry. Have you heard from Cora?"

Milo nodded curtly. "Yes. That's why we're moving the ship."

As the ship began to rise, Leo and Erie found themselves surrounded, primed rifles and pistols pointing at them from every direction.

The ship landed again after a while, and someone boarded. That was all Erie could tell while being tied, blindfolded, and gagged.

There was a lot of jangling and clattering by the airlock.

"Man, those things are heavy. I feel like I could jump over the moon now."

Steps approached. "Oh, Milo, that wasn't necessary." Someone hooked their finger under his blindfold. Erie found himself looking up at Cora. "Unless it was, Erie?"

He wriggled, fighting the rope in his mouth. She tugged it loose, a little rougher than he expected.

"Mar'splanningsomethingandhedidn'ttelluswhatbutheaskedustospyandmeandLeowerenevergonnadothatyougottabelieveus-" Cora clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Wow. Breathe, shit. One breath in. Now one breath out. Jesus, your pupils are huge. Calm down. I'll just ask Leo."

Leo wasmuchcalmer. Probably because he'd never given Mar's order the time of day. "He never told us his plan. All I know is, the captain stepped aside and they're taking orders from him now. He went somewhere with Della today and sent us here. They had two overlanders waiting at the Capitol when we arrived. Wait, why are you here? I thought you said you'd be in Jackmau."

"I lied."

The landing ships docked in the under-bay, Tai hurrying Tor to sleeping quarters. Ray and Mary met them as they disembarked, just as Leo and Erie were tossed from the airlock.

Tarina emerged, Mel on her shoulder.

"What's the status on Operation Solor?"

"Disruptor ships are in place. We successfully imitated a major solar flare. Three out of ten lunar mining operations have been converted with decontamination complete. The rest are at an average of seventy percent completion."