A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2)(92)

Tak frowned. ‘If this is a matter of legality, you’re planning to steal something. Yes, I get that we’re talking about someone, here.’ Xe gave Sidra a small nod. ‘But to them, Owl is something, right? So that’s stealing. You’re going to steal something, and you want me to help. You want me to be an accessory.’

Pepper shrugged. ‘Yeah, pretty much.’

Blue leaned forward. ‘It’s not like that. All you’d have to do is g-get us in the door. If we wander off from there, you w – you wouldn’t be held responsible. That’d be on us.’

‘It wouldn’t have to be us,’ Pepper said to him. ‘You don’t have to go with me.’

‘Bullshit,’ Blue said.

Pepper almost smiled.

‘Tak,’ Sidra said softly. ‘I know you don’t know Owl. I don’t, either. What if it were me? What if—’

‘Don’t,’ Tak said. ‘Don’t ask me that. I don’t have an answer.’

The hanging question bothered Sidra, but she understood. Sidra reached the kit’s hand out and laid it flat on the table. ‘I know we’re asking a lot. But it’d be easy, honestly. All you’d have to do is a bit of formwork – some reactivation procedures with the university, a request form for the museum. And you’d have to take some time off work, which isn’t so bad. You’ve been saying you want a vacation.’

Tak gave her a look. ‘This is not a vacation.’

‘We’d pay you back for the time off,’ Blue said. ‘That’s not a question.’

‘That’s not my concern,’ Tak said.

The table fell silent. Sidra doubted anyone was going to eat cake by this point.

Tak exhaled. ‘I need to think about it,’ xe said. ‘That doesn’t mean yes.’

Pepper started to say something; Blue touched her shoulder. ‘That’s fine,’ he said. Pepper pressed her lips together. She was disappointed, Sidra knew, and impatient, too. Pepper didn’t like not having a plan. She didn’t like leaving things unfixed.

‘We’re planning to leave for Kaathet as soon as possible,’ Sidra said. ‘If you don’t come along, I understand, but—’

Pepper cleared her throat. ‘Sidra,’ she said, drawing out the syllables to delay what came next. ‘Blue and I are going. You can’t come with us.’

Sidra’s pathways balked. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Someone needs to watch the shop.’ It was a weak reason, and Pepper looked like she knew it. She sighed. ‘That, and . . . and the fact that yeah, there’s a chance we’ll get caught. And if you got caught with us . . .’ She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘You have to stay home.’

‘But I did the research.’ Sidra tried to hold her voice still. ‘I brought Tak here. This was my idea.’

‘And I am really, truly grateful for that,’ Pepper said. ‘I am. But this isn’t up for debate. You can’t come with us.’

‘But I can help! What if Owl’s unstable? What if her files have been corrupted? I can edit Lattice! I can—’

‘Pepper’s right,’ Blue said. ‘We can’t lose both of you.’

The kit shook its head. ‘This is ridiculous. I’m not going to just sit here.’

Tak – Tak! – went orange-brown with agreement. ‘I understand why you want to help them, but—’

Sidra was done listening. The kit stood up, took the tray of cake, and went upstairs, ignoring the repeated calls of her name. She kicked her bedroom door shut behind her, savouring the slam. Did they think she was stupid? Of course there were risks. Of course there could be trouble. That was why someone wrote monitoring systems in the first place – to prevent trouble. But no, all she ever did was cause trouble, or be made to stay out of it. She could help this time! She could help, and they wouldn’t let her. Not even Tak would let her. All they wanted from her was to stay behind doors, safe and useless.

The kit took a handful of chocolate cake and stuffed it into its mouth. Her pathways continued to rankle, despite the image that appeared. A warm fireplace, its crackling embers blending in harmony with the rain drumming on the wooden roof.

I’m not going to just sit here, she thought, as the image of fire danced and played. I’m not going to just sit here.





JANE, AGE 19


The station commander eyed Jane from across the table, cheeks swirling purple. This was not the first time Jane had been in her office. This was not the first time she’d been pissed at her.

Counsellor Lukin sat near them, as always, completing the triangle of people who did not want to be talking to each other. Her fake smiles had grown less frequent. That suited Jane just fine.

Commander Hoae stroked the skin around her talkbox, as she did when she was thinking. Jane was kind of annoyed for thinking it, but stars, her species really was pretty. ‘I am trying to understand,’ she said, ‘why you were caught trying to break into cargo hold six.’

Jane crossed her arms. ‘I got caught because I was stupid and didn’t disable the third camera.’

The purple in Commander Hoae’s cheeks grew darker. ‘I meant why you were trying to break in at all.’