Brightly Burning(82)

“You can go fast when you want to, despite those short legs.” Jon finally caught up.

And then the door opened.

“Stella?” a voice shrieked, and then I found myself tackle-hugged with surprising force. Jessa hadn’t changed one bit. “I’m so glad you found us! I have so much to tell you!” She grabbed me by the hand and practically dragged me inside. Their quarters were like those on board the Empire, where we walked straight into a living room. I could see the room branch off into two corridors, where presumably everyone’s bedrooms were. The hair at the back of my neck prickled at the thought that Hugo was in one of those rooms.

“Is Xiao here?” I asked before Jessa could launch into a story. I would likely get a more cogent telling of how they’d ended up on the Lady Liberty from one of the adults. Jessa nodded, putting a finger to her ear and hailing Xiao on comms. A moment later, Xiao appeared, eyes going wide at the sight of me.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come,” she said by way of greeting, followed by a firm handshake—?the equivalent of a warm hug, coming from Xiao. “It’s good to see you, Stella, though I have to admit I was surprised to receive the hail from your Stalwart captain on your behalf.”

“I was worried when I didn’t hear from you. From any of you.”

Xiao and I locked eyes, hers stormy, which then flicked over to Jessa. “Jessa, you should go to your room.”

“Why? Because you’re going to talk about him?” Jessa’s tone was cutting, bitter. Beyond her years. I took it back. She wasn’t exactly the girl I’d left. Jessa had changed. Now I was itching to know why.

“Uh, I’m just Stella’s chaperone,” Jon cut in like Jessa had been referring to him, making a total idiot of himself. He was trying to lighten a mood that wasn’t lifting.

“Who are you?” Jessa narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’m from the Stalwart. Name’s Jon. Karlson.”

I couldn’t believe it. He squirmed under her exacting gaze. Jon Karlson was being felled by an eleven-year-old.

“You eaten breakfast?” When Jon shook his head, Jessa inclined her head toward a door on the opposite wall. “Come on. Today there’s soy bacon.”

“Xiao, what happened?” I asked as soon as they were gone. She sat on the couch across from me and sighed.

“Things did not go well after you left.” She paused, laughed to herself. “That’s an understatement, actually.”

“It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t leaked everything to the press—”

“No, Stella, don’t feel guilty,” she interrupted. “You did the right thing. No, the spiral started before that. As soon as you left.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this. I suppose it’s best to just . . . say it straight.”

Her demeanor, her words rattled me; I braced myself for impact.

“Cassandra Fairfax is dead,” she started. “She set her room on fire. Which I suppose is essentially the same thing.”

“Did the fire damage the ship? Is that why you all moved here?”

“Not exactly,” she said.

I heard a sound in the corridor behind me; a shuffling sound, then retreat. I whipped around but found only shadows. Hugo. It had to be.

“Can I see him?” I asked with my voice low enough that I wouldn’t be overheard.

Xiao looked puzzled. She turned to look where I’d heard the noise. “Captain Fairfax isn’t here, Stella. I think it’s Lieutenant Poole who is hiding from you.”

“But he’s on the Lady Liberty, right? Sergei gave me his letter, and I came right away.”

Xiao looked distinctly uncomfortable. She avoided my gaze. “No, Stella. Captain Fairfax, Hugo, he—?well. He went down to Earth. He’s gone.”


Chapter Twenty-Eight


It was as if the ice covering Earth had hopped into the skies and gripped my heart. “Why would Hugo go down to Earth?”

“Well.” Xiao lowered her voice. “Mason made him go. It was either exile to Earth or a public trial and a death sentence. Either way, Mason didn’t want the full story getting out. The only reason the rest of us are living free is Hugo bargained for our protection in exchange for going. Jessa unfortunately is too young for the full truth, so she thinks he left her willingly.”

A million questions ran through my head; I was panicked. Hugo could be dead. I could have been existing, breathing, running around the fleet this whole time, while Hugo was down on Earth, suffering, freezing, starving. “When did he go? How long ago? Was the Rochester even built for safe reentry?”

“We parted ways a week ago.”

“And the ship?”

“Should have made it safely. She was better equipped than this vessel, at least.”

“Have you heard from her? The ship, I mean. Gotten a ping, confirming he landed safely?”

Xiao looked at me like I was asking her if the moon was made of cheese. “There’s no mechanism for that. And the captain made the decision last-minute enough that there was no time to reprogram Rori to do such a thing. To ping a system up here. She wasn’t built for that.”

“Why not?” My voice was thick, impending tears tightening my throat. “Do you at least know where he planned to land? The Stalwart is trying to find a ship, sending a party down. We can look for him.”