There was a reason everyone hated this space station. A while ago, they’d realized that holidays were a break from actual work—and began implementing a multitude of them accordingly. Every day was something new, and the result was that most days were spent partying while the station fell into more and more disrepair.
When they exited the private hangar, they entered a holiday wonderland. Banners hung, rigged with electronic letters in several languages. Streamers littered the floor, food wrapperscarelessly discarded. Drones attempted to clean, but it was difficult when folks kept buying food, cheering whenever someone hugged someone else, pulling the drones close to nuzzle them.
“What is it today?” Amelia grumbled.
Torian pointed to an electronic sign that read:Happy Snuggling Day! Enjoy the celebration!
“Snuggling Day. I think.”
ExceptSnuggling Daywas flickering, cycling between a dozen holidays:Knitting Day, Keeves Aid Day, Quiet Day, Starry Sky Day, Space Appreciation Day—
Torian yanked her gaze away, feeling dizzy. This place was an introvert’s nightmare.
“If anyone tries to hug me, I’m going to shoot them,” Amelia said, and she didn’t sound like she was joking. Her murderous expression appeared to work, though, and most of the citizens here kept their distance as Amelia and Torian picked their way around trash and food stands.
“So. Other than getting stranded in space, what—ah, what have you been doing?” Amelia asked, once they delved into a quieter hallway.
Torian scrambled for something. Rhymarra was a failure, so she pivoted into the success: “Well, I met a few aliens. A draic, a tou’siil. And a nylarian! You’ve never heard of them, because the rest of his kind left the system a thousand years ago. But it’s been incredible, Ames.”
That nickname hadn’t slipped out in a while. Amelia’s lips downturned.
A step too far, clearly.
Embarrassment prickled her skin. Torian drew a quick breath and plowed ahead. “I also found aspace stationin the Kialoa Nebula. It’s orbiting a new—well, old, but new to us—terraformed planet. The nylarians used to live there—”
“Is there something leaching into your air supply?” Amelia drawled.
That reminded Torian, vividly, of Celise, whodidhavesomething leaching into her air supply, killing her slowly. There was a reason Torian had been gallivanting around space, a reason she’d left Amelia behind to pursue something else.
Amelia didn’t care about her escapades with aliens and undiscovered terraformed planets. Amelia barely cared about anything off her ship—and Torian wasn’t a crewmember anymore.
She was barely a friend.
Torian stopped walking, and Amelia got a few steps ahead before realizing she was alone now. She paused, glancing over her shoulder. Torian knew her expression must be stormy, framed with frustration, but she couldn’t find the energy to hide it.
Amelia’s brows furrowed, and she backtracked. “Sorry, Torian. That was uncalled-for. How… um, howisCelise doing?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Torian replied stiffly. “I can’t contact her.”
Even in this offshoot hallway, the Snuggling Day festivities were thriving. A loud group broke out into roaring cheers as a man dipped another man into a deep bow, nuzzling his nose into the crook of the other man’s neck. A drone zipped overhead, urging citizens to “throw trash in designated canisters.” Said canisters were overflowing, but the drone didn’t seem concerned about that.
Amelia hesitated, filling the silence. “Did you reach Rhymarra before your ship’s engine broke, at least?”
Shame filtered into Torian’s chest, constricting until it felt hard to breathe. That was the conversation Torian didn’t want to have—the one about her abject failure, about how Amelia was right, because of course she was, she was Captain Amelia Perrosk, and Torian was just a naïve colony engineer who was also, apparently,too old.
Torian inhaled shakily and started walking again.
“Hey. You okay?” Amelia reached for Torian’s arm, but pulled back just before contact was made.
Torian turned her gaze away from the festivities, wishing they were anywhere else. “I landed on Rhymarra. I asked to test.”
“Did they help?” Amelia seemed like she was fighting to keep her voice level, to keep her tone firmly in curiosity, not derision.
Torian shook her head.
And the curiosity shattered.
“Of fucking course they didn’t.” Amelia laughed loudly, anger tinging her voice again. “Assholes. Why am I not surprised?”
