nothing will go wrong tomorrow.â
But somehow, the captainâs promise didnât make Chase feel any better.
Â
CHAPTER SIX
Chase sat alone in the canteen running his fork through a plate of greasy synth biryani, wracking his brain for ideas on how he could find his sister before the peace talks began. He hadnât planned on eating alone, but Parker had come with him to get lunch and then left to take his plate back to the room and keep working. Chase scooped up a forkful of rice and stuck it in his mouth just as he realized that someone was standing across from him. Analora pushed her hair behind her ears and smiled at him as she sat down.
âHey,â he said, gulping quickly. âI havenât seen you around.â
She shrugged. âIâve been catching up with my dad. He always wants to hang out together all the time when I first come back here. Takes a while before things get back to normal.â
âAh.â He stirred his rice awkwardly, and set his fork down. âWeâre supposed to arrive at Storros tomorrow. Are you excited?â
She shrugged. âI guess. I doubt weâll be allowed to go visit Storros ourselves. The Storrians have a super strict immigration policy.â
It hadnât even occurred to Chase that they might ordinarily have been able to go visit a planet they were stationed near. âHow many planets have you been to?â he asked.
âOh, gosh, a lot.â She began counting off on her fingers. âEarth, Jypras, Banafiel, Namat, so about four origin planets, plus maybe half a dozen colony planets.â
âDid you ever go to Trucon?â
She grew quiet. âYeah, my mom and I went there once for a conference in Rother City.â She looked cautiously at Chase. âIt was a nice place. Very sunny.â
Chase had only meant to find a planet in common that they had both visited, but he realized she thought he was from Trucon. Desperately he tried to change the topic. âSo, whatâs Jypras like?â
âItâs all water,â she said, shaking her head. âHow do you like living on the Kuyddestor now?â
Chase placed his napkin over his plate as he considered this. âItâs okay. I donât have much to do, besides my appointments with your dad. The blackout last week was kind of exciting.â
She grinned. âI slept through it. Time adjustment from Jypras.â She looked at the walls around them. âI guess the old girl needs to go in for a tune-up.â
Without thinking, Chase said, âParker thinks somebody hacked the power grid.â
She frowned at him. âWhoâs Parker?â
Before she even asked the question, Chase regretted saying Parkerâs name. He liked having his own secret friend, someone he could just pretend to be normal around without all the baggage of his past that Parker and everyone else knew about. âUh, heâs a friend,â he muttered.
âWhy does he think someone hacked the power grid?â She wasnât going to let this go, Chase could tell.
He sighed. âHeâs pretty good at hacking and electronics and stuff like that, so heâs been trying to figure out what caused the blackout.â
Analora leaned forward, her curiosity fully piqued. âWhy didnât you mention him before? Is he from Trucon as well? Can we go see what heâs doing?â
âUm, Parker doesnât like to interact when heâs working on something. He doesnât really like people at all, actually.â Well, at least the first part was true.
âOh.â Analoraâs face fell.
Chaseâs mind raced for a way to grab her interest again. âOh hey, I met the ambassador,â he said. âCorinthe. He was on the ship.â
âReally? Did you hear theyâre hosting the peace talks on the Kuyddestor ?â
âYeah.â After thinking it over more, Chase had decided that this did make him feel slightly
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