When I finished, I studied my team.Burn looked troubled.Finn looked just as pissed as he had before.
“Nothing needs to be decided tonight,” I told them.“We’ve got a few days until we reach Harrier.”
35
Lacy
I’d been “locked”in my room for nearly forty-eight hours and I was going stir crazy.I’d practically worn a path back and forth across the small space.I’d tried sit-ups like they did in video montages, but quickly decided that wasnotfor me.My sister’s videos had played on a near-constant loop, in case I finally caught something I had missed.And none of it was enough to keep my mind off the fact that I was trapped in a room that I technically could get out of but shouldn’t because someone had it out for me.
So much forFortunabeing my safe place.
There was a knock on my door.I sighed.Probably Dax or Burn bringing me another heat-and-eat.Better them, because I wouldn’t trust anything that Finn brought me.
But the heat-and-eats pissed me off too.I’d purchased a lot of nice, fresh supplies and apparently no one on this crew could cook.Or they weren’t feeding the prisoner the good stuff.
“Assholes,” I muttered.I paused Layla’s video and then crossed to the comms system by the door.“Yes?”At least they didn’t just barge in.
The door slid open, revealing Burn.Empty-handed Burn.Apparently it wasn’t feeding time at the zoo.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”I stepped back and gestured broadly.Not like I had a choice, right?
She stepped inside, then waited until the door had closed completely before moving again.Like always, she wore cargo pants with a long-sleeve top and boots.Her hair was up in those little knots again.Her shoulders radiated tension.And her expression, with pinched lips and tired eyes, said she was either mad or didn’t want to be here.
Probably both.
“So what brings you by?”I asked in a perky voice as I sat on the edge of the bed.That left her with the desk chair.
She didn’t say anything as she sat down, though she swiveled to study the screen.“That’s your sister?”
“Yep, that’s Layla.”
“And she’s missing?”Burn looked directly at me, her gaze never leaving my face.Like she was weighing the truth of my statement.
“Yes, I believe so.”Was she waiting for me to tell her the whole story?“I can walk you through it if you like.”
She shook her head.“Dax filled us in.”
I nodded, unsure what else to say then.Why had she come?
“You and Layla, you’re close?”She leaned forward, her forearms resting on her knees, and studied me.
I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest as I pondered my answer.“Yes and no.We’re only a year apart, so we grew up together.Obviously.And played together.Got in trouble together.But we have our own interests too.Mine was engineering.Hers was archaeology.We talk every few weeks, but I haven’t seen her in a couple of years.”My heart squeezed.I should have made time to see her more often.“Do you have any sisters?”
Burn swallowed.“Yes, one.”
“So you know what it’s like.”I missed Layla.But we could also drive each other crazy.
Something dark and painful flashed in her eyes before her expression smoothed out.“We’re not close,” she said.
There was obviously a story there.“Where did you grow up?”
“Some backwater planet you’ve never heard of.”Her tone shut down any further questions.“Why this ship?Whyourship?”
We were having a moment and I knew how easily those could shatter.I chose the bald truth.“I was scared and it reminded me of a ship I used to have.Mako.She was the same class asFortuna.I thought I would be safe here.”
“Why didn’t you hide on your ship?”
