Cody turns to me before I can rise from my seat.
"I need to report in with D'Rett," he says. "Go over the flight logs and check in about tomorrow's schedule." He pauses, and a flush creeps onto his ears despite his obvious effort to sound casual. "But after that, if you're available, I'd… I'd really love to share a meal with you."
The warmth that spreads through my chest has nothing to do with the heat of the day.
"I would like that," I say. Then, reaching for the easy humor that comes so naturally to him, I add, "After I shower, at least. I have sand in places I did not know I had."
Cody's laugh is bright and genuine, and it fills me with joy. I did that. I made him laugh the way he so often does for me.
"Same here," he admits. "Pretty sure I've got grit in places that shouldn't be anatomically possible." He shakes his head, still smiling. "We could meet in the galley in an hour and a half?"
"That should be sufficient."
"Great." His smile widens, and for a moment he looks like he wants to say something else… or do something else. His eyes flick briefly over my shoulder toward the team behind us, and he swallows whatever it was.
"I'll see you soon," he says instead.
"I will be waiting."
I rise from my seat and join the others disembarking, but I feel his gaze on my back the whole way down the ramp.
And despite the exhaustion weighing down my limbs, despite the grit still clinging to my scales, despite everything thatremains uncertain and unfinished about our mission here, I find myself smiling.
The showeraboard the main transport is small and utilitarian, but the hot water is bliss on my aching muscles. I stand beneath the spray longer than I should, letting the sand and dust sluice from my scales in rivulets of pale gold. By the time I step out, I feel almost like myself again.
I dress in something comfortable – loose pants and a fitted top in deep teal, and sit on the edge of my bunk to towel the water from my hair. I have perhaps forty minutes before Cody comes to find me. Enough time for a call I have been meaning to make since we landed.
It takes a moment for the signal to connect. The distance between Ceraste and the mothership orbiting Earth introduces a slight delay, just enough to make conversation feel like stepping carefully across stones in a river. Then the screen flickers to life, and Paige's face fills the display.
"There she is!" Paige leans forward, her dark eyes bright with excitement. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me. How is it? Tell me everything."
The sight of her loosens a tightness in my chest that I did not realize I had. She looks well. Her face is fuller, her color is good, and the swell of her belly is visible even on the small screen. Behind her, I can see the familiar walls of her quarters aboard the mothership.
"It is…" I search for the right word and find that there is no single word sufficient. "It is everything and nothing like I expected. The city is in ruins, Paige. The dust, the silence, the emptiness. It is difficult to describe what it feels like to walkthrough streets that should be full of life and hear nothing but wind."
Paige's expression crumbles. "Oh, A'Vanti."
"But the bones are good." I hear the conviction in my own voice and am grateful for it. "The infrastructure is largely intact. Dr. Petrova believes the water systems can be restored. The power plant is promising. It will take time and resources, but Ceraste can live again. I am certain of it."
"Of course it can." Paige says this with the absolute confidence of someone who has never once doubted me. I do not deserve such faith, but I am grateful for it nonetheless. "And how are you? Not the architect: you. Are you sleeping? Are you eating enough?"
"You sound like L'Awai."
"Where do you think I learned it?" Paige teases. "If he were there, you know that L'Awai would be asking if you're eating enough and then bring you food whether you wanted it or not." She tilts her head. "So?"
"I am managing. Some moments are harder than others." I pause. "Being here stirs things I thought I had put to rest. But I have good people around me. And Dr. Singh gave me tools for exactly this. It is hard. But… it is also good."
"I'm proud of you, you know? You're so damn strong." Paige studies me through the screen with the particular scrutiny of someone who has learned to read me despite my best efforts at concealment. Then her eyes narrow. "You're glowing."
"I am not glowing. I have just showered."
"Mmhmm." She leans back, folding her hands on her belly. "And where is our favorite pilot this evening?"
I keep my expression perfectly neutral. "I assume he is in his quarters. Or reporting to D'Rett. I would not know."
"You would not know." Paige's voice is flat with disbelief. "The man who has been orbiting you like a lovesick moon for the past four months, and you would not know where he is."
"He does notorbitme."
