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January 05, 2051
It was 9:58 P.M., almost time for pilots scheduled for the second morning patrol to turn in for the night, but Alex Fletcher and Claire Price still stood in the pilots’ bay, watching the first transport carrier of the year land. On board were several new Moon Station personnel, the newest station head, the two transport carrier pilots who’d flown the mission, and five personnel returning from Christmas with their families on Earth.
Including Lew Linton.
Alex darted a grin at Claire. She’d been a great friend to suggest Lew for the trip home. Claire returned his grin.
The transport carrier’s door opened, and Alex’s stomach lurched, his mind briefly flashing back to the last time a new station head had exited the carrier. He hadn’t expected that.
The carrier’s pilots were the first off, nodding to Alex and Claire before stepping back to salute the new station head as he exited the craft.
Station Head Hall returned the salute, then waited while the rest of the passengers filed off the carrier. He said a few words to them, then told the two carrier pilots good night before he left the bay.
The carrier pilots directed the new engineers, station guards, pilots, and operators to their various destinations while the returning members of the U.S.G.F. made their way to the corridors.
All except Lew Linton, who glanced around the bay, wearing a grin Alex hadn’t seen in a long time.
Lew spotted Claire and him almost immediately, and his eyes somehow lit up even more before he strode toward them.
Alex and Claire went to meet him and the other two returning pilots. They exchanged greetings, and then the pilots who’d flown left for their quarters, leaving the other three to talk while several engineers and Dr. Henry Phillips came to unload the carrier.
Henry greeted them with a smile, then focused on moving medical supplies, waving off their offers to help.
Lew told the other two about his Christmas with his parents, and Alex found he couldn’t stop grinning.
Alex knew about the problems Lew and his family had had. Lew had told him about the last phone call he’d had with his parents on the night before departure.
Up until that last night, Lew had thought everything was fine—the phone call blindsided him. It wasn’t until he received his first letter from Earth that he realized the phone call was only the breaking point, and his family’s problems had started long before.
Lew’s eyes shone as he told Alex and Claire about the last so many letters he and his parents had exchanged, letters explaining how they really felt. During his training years, Lew got used to living away from his parents, but what became status quo for him eventually became a painful realization for them. Lew had grown up. And much of that growing up had been accomplished without them.
They regretted that lost time, regretted how his joining the program had cost them that time. Regretted encouraging him to join.
But that wasn’t how it sounded to Lew when they finally talked to him about it on the phone. He’d thought they were blaming him, not themselves. He’d regretted that lost time too, and he’d thought they considered it his fault, as if he’d somehow abandoned them.
Amazing how much damage a misunderstanding could cause.
But now they’d cleared it up.
“So thank you, guys, for what you did.” Lew looked between them. “Seriously, thank you so much.”
Alex clapped him on the shoulder. “Anytime.”
Claire shrugged and looked down, but Alex caught the smile on her face.
Then he remembered. “Ah, Lew, I hate to say it, but Claire and I have to get our CIDs back from the engineers’ section before tomorrow morning, so…”
“What if I walk with you? You can catch me up on everything that’s happened here.”
Claire looked at her watch, and then nodded. “Sounds good.”
They left the pilots’ bay, almost bumping into a new pilot. He was several inches taller than Alex, and burlier. “Hey guys! Are we all going to the same place?”
“We’re headed to engineering,” Alex answered.
“Great! That’s where I’m going. And I hear the engineers are the worst, so it’ll be good to have some company while I’m in their area.”
Claire glanced at him. “Not all the engineers are that bad.”
Just 99.99 percent, Alex thought.
They walked down the corridor together, the new pilot talking a mile a minute. “And this place is so expansive! I mean, I knew it was big, but—”
Noise erupted from the engineers’ section as they approached it. The four of them exchanged a look and then cautiously entered. Pandemonium met their eyes. Engineers scrambled in all directions as a round object ricocheted off the ceiling, the tables, the walls—just missing one of the large computer screens on one side of the room.
Alex caught a glimpse of the object—a large metal ball with a thick circle of rubber wrapped around it—before someone yanked him to the ground and Claire’s fist connected with the rubber ring, deflecting it away from where Alex’s head had been milliseconds before.
Colton Close’s hand still gripped his jacket. “I’m sorry!”
In that heartbeat, Alex became certain of two things: Claire and Colton had just saved him from a head injury, and the flying bowling ball was not Colton’s fault.
The other three pilots ducked, and Colton nudged Alex and Claire under one table and Lew and the new pilot under another.
The new pilot sputtered, “Wow, I didn’t know Claire could hit that hard.”
Colton crouched next to Alex. “You four should try to leave.”
No way were they leaving him with—that thing. “What is tha—”
The ball was still bouncing off of things. A pile of personal shields went flying as the ball collided with them.
“I got this!” The new pilot popped out from under the table as the ball came sailing toward it.
“Wait”—Colton’s cry got cut off by the loud SMACK of knuckles striking rubber.
The ball rocketed away on a new trajectory, and the pilot ducked back under the table. “Dang! I thought I’d be able to stop it.”
“Why would you think that?!” Lew jerked his head in Claire’s direction. “Her punch didn’t stop it!”
“What’s on your hands?” Claire asked Colton.
He glanced down at his streaked gloves. “Lubricant. Some spilled earlier, and somehow it must have gotten on the ball. I tried to catch it, and it slipped right out of my hands and then bounced off the floor.” He glanced at Alex. “I’m sorry, but I think I got lubricant on the back of your jacket, too.”
“I’ll live.”
“Well, that explains why no one’s just caught the stupid thing,” Claire muttered.
“There’s got to be some way to stop it, though.” Alex watched more items fall. “Before it smashes everything.”
Colton’s gaze followed the ball. “I have an idea.” Keeping low to the ground, he took off for another table, slipping beneath it as the ball knocked over a nearby stack of tools.
Alex watched as he darted out again and sprinted through an open area without any cover. He veered to the left, then dove into a shoulder roll that landed him beneath a smaller table. The ball deflected off the floor a few inches away from his hand, and Colton pulled his arms closer to his body.
The situation was so absurd Alex would have found it funny if it hadn’t been real.
Colton’s eyes tracked the ball as it passed through again—its most recent collision driving it toward the ceiling—and then he broke cover. Standing, he yanked an object off the table he’d been sheltering under, whirled, and sprinted back to Alex and Claire’s table, dropping to the floor beside it.
He looked at Alex. “It’s not quite going in a pattern, but it’s close enough. It keeps climbing higher and hitting more of the walls. In a few seconds, it’s probably going to head for the computer screens. We have to stop it before it destroys any.” He held up the object. “I can catch it with this magnet, but I need to get higher for that. If I jump, can you toss me into the air?”
Alex nodded. “I can do that.”
“Great.” Colton swallowed. “Take cover as soon as you do, okay?”
“I’ll try.”
Colton backed up so Alex could slip out from under the table, and then Colton tracked the ball again. He gestured at Alex to stand. “Get ready…”
Alex cupped his hands.
“Now!” Colton turned and jumped toward the pilot, and Alex caught his feet and pushed upward.
Colton shot up into the air, holding the magnet out. The passing ball anchored onto it, and Colton started to drop.
But something was wrong.
Colton had gone up vertical, but he was coming down almost horizontal.
Apparently, he hadn’t accounted for the ball’s weight throwing off his equilibrium. Or for the metal fragments strewn all over the floor.
Alex leaped forward, trying to catch him.
The impact took all the air out of his lungs.
Apparently, he was better at performing wing-locks than he was at catching people. Colton had crash-landed on Alex’s torso.
The engineer wheezed. “I’m sorry! How badly did I hurt you—”
“Close!” Major Barr barked from just outside his office door. “What are you doing on the floor?! Get back to work!”
Alex knew the major thought other people were beneath him, but since when were pilots part of the floor? Snooty engineer.
“Yes sir.” Colton got to his feet, then reached down to help Alex up. “Are you—”
“I’m fine.”
Claire joined them, followed by Lew and the other pilot. “You both better see Henry.”
“I will when I’m done here.” Colton nodded to the mess surrounding them.
Alex rolled his eyes. “How did this even happen?”
Colton shook his head. “I really don’t know.”
“Well, I hate to say it with everything else you have to do, but Claire and I need our CIDs…”
“Right. Hold on.” Colton fast-walked to a table a couple of yards away.
Alex surveyed the engineers’ section. It would take forever to clean the place up. He turned to the other three and found them eyeing the screens on the other side of the room.
“Well, the two of you did it.” Claire turned to look at him. “None of them are cracked.”
“I hope we’ll be able to say the same thing for our ribs.”
A crash sent Alex’s gaze flicking back toward Colton. He was crouched on the floor, trying to lift a bin that now had shiny streaks on its handles.
He forgot about the lubricant on his gloves...
Something must be going on with Colton for him to forget something like that—aside from having his ribs pile-drive into a floor previously referred to as a “pilot.”
Alex started to move toward him, then stopped as another engineer—Alex recognized him as Engineer Taylor, the one who’d just gotten back from visiting Earth—bent, exchanged words with Colton, then snatched two items out of the bin and marched toward Alex with them while Colton shuffle-walked behind him.
The engineer plopped Alex’s CID into his gloved hands and Claire’s CID into hers. “Here.” He marched off.
Claire looked at her CID. “Ugh. There’s lubricant on this too.”
Colton sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think I got any in the bin.”
“It’s fine.”
Alex squinted at Colton. He had his arms a little away from his sides. “Colton, are you okay?”
“Yeah. But Claire’s right. Don’t forget to see Henry.”
Alex frowned. “What about you?”
“I’ll see him later.” Colton started to leave, then turned back. “Just so you know, we got a report of an electrical short in the pilots’ quarters before—all this—so there might still be engineers looking into it when you go to bed.” At a noise from another engineer, he darted away before either of them could thank him.
Claire sighed. “All right, it’s the medical bay for you.”
One time he’d ducked out on his supplements, and now whenever he needed to go to the medical bay, his friends felt the need to remind him constantly or even drag him there personally.
Not that he had a problem with that.
Alex took one last look around the engineers’ section before he followed Claire and the other two into the corridor. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night in there.
____________________________________________________________________________
January 06, 2051
“What the heck?!” A pilot yelled.
Alex’s eyes snapped open. He drew his electrical pistol from his belt and rolled off his bunk bed into a low crouch, immediately regretting the quick movement as pain shocked his ribs. Henry had said they weren’t bruised or cracked, but Alex wasn’t so sure.
Gritting his teeth, he darted toward the closed hatch door of his room. In less than a second, his five roommates were beside him, their own weapons drawn.
The guy closest to Alex nodded to him, and Alex started to reach for the door handle.
A knock sounded on the other side.
The six pilots exchanged a glance, and then Alex opened the door.
Two station guards stood outside, a group of pilots behind them. The pilot who’d yelled moved closer to the guards and spoke before they could. “They want to search your place.”
Alex blinked. “For what?”
“Never mind.” The two guards stepped into the room and started checking beneath the group’s table and chairs. One guard checked the bathroom area.
Then they moved on to the pilots’ bunkbeds.
They began on the lower beds, looking beneath them first, and then shoving their bedding around. Alex clenched his jaw as they threw aside another pilot’s pillow, exposing a bundle of letters he kept underneath. One guard thumbed through it, then returned it to its place.
They finally reached Alex’s bed, shoved the pillow back, and almost dragged the covers off the mattress as they lifted it up and felt underneath it, then stopped.
They looked at him.
Then one of them drew out a very thin object and held it up for him to see. Alex stared at it, puzzled. It resembled a black envelope, only it appeared to be made out of plastic, not paper.
“Care to explain why this was under your mattress?” The guard’s tone was hostile.
“I didn’t know anything was under my mattress. What is it?”
“Mm-hmm.” The guard’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to have to come with us…”
____________________________________________________________________________
Alex stood in front of Station Head Hall’s desk, the two guards that had brought him to Hall’s office standing behind him. He could feel their eyes on his back. Across the desk sat Station Head Hall, flanked by two more guards. He tilted his head back, studying Alex.
No one had said a word for the last five minutes.
Alex’s mind was a blank. He couldn’t believe any of it. Theft of government property from the engineers’ section? Treason?
The one guard’s voice still stuck in his head, advising him of his rights.
Alex had told the station head everything he remembered from his time in the engineers’ section, including what time he thought he and the others had arrived there.
Hall typed on his CID while Alex talked. Once he finished, Hall announced he’d contacted Major Barr, Brigadier General Gonzalez, and the five witnesses to Alex’s arrival to and departure from the engineers’ area—Pilots Linton, Price, and Lewis, and Engineers Taylor and Close.
Why Taylor? Taylor had passed Claire and him their CIDs, but other than that, what made him a witness?
An impatient knock sounded at the door, and one of the guards opened it to admit Major Barr and the other engineers.
The major marched in and stood at the right side of the room, Taylor beside him. Colton quietly followed them, stopping next to Taylor.
Major Barr and Taylor both stared at Alex, and he returned their gaze, refusing to look away. Colton stared straight ahead at Hall. He wouldn’t meet Alex’s eyes.
The guard still lingered beside the open hatch door. He was about to shut it when Brigadier General Gonzalez walked in, followed by Claire, Lew, and the new pilot, Lewis. Last night, on their way to see Henry, they’d finally introduced themselves, and Alex had kept it to himself that he thought it was funny the new pilot was named Lewis.
He didn’t find it funny today.
The general strode to Alex’s side. “What’s the evidence against my pilot?”
Hall looked taken aback. “I’m sorry, General, but he isn’t your pilot. He is a member of the U.S.G.F.—if he isn’t guilty.”
“I am also his commanding officer, last I checked. You told me the charges. I want to see the evidence against my pilot.”
Alex fought to suppress a smile. He didn’t have to once the station head started speaking. “The stolen item was found in his possession. Under his mattress.” Hall placed the strange black envelope thing on his desk. “Perhaps, Major Barr, you’d like to explain what this is.”
Major Barr opened his mouth, then closed it. He turned to Colton. “Perhaps, Engineer Close, you’d like to explain it? You are excellent in group situations.”
What the heck is that supposed to mean? Alex managed to keep his face neutral. Glaring at Major Barr wouldn’t help anything.
Colton kept his gaze on the station head. “It’s a new kind of material developed by NASA. It might—”
“—will,” Taylor interrupted.
“—make it possible for the Moon Station to have a magnetic field similar to Earth’s. One that would protect the station from space radiation—possibly extending the time humans can spend in space while still remaining relatively healthy—”
“You see how vital that material is.” Major Barr cut him off. “If the rebels got their hands on this technology, they could establish their own base on the moon before we did—maybe even be able to stay in space indefinitely.”
“He didn’t steal it,” Claire blurted out. She now stood beside the general, Lew and Lewis on her other side.
The major glared at her. She held his gaze. After a heartbeat, he turned to the station head.
Alex tried to smile at Claire, but she’d joined Colton in looking at Hall.
Lew offered him a weak smile.
Lewis cleared his throat.
Station Head Hall leaned back in his chair. “Major Barr, your division reported the material missing sometime after 10:15 P.M.—I ask you, Pilots Linton, Price, and Lewis, when the four of you arrived in the engineers’ section.”
Lew blinked. “I don’t know—the carrier was scheduled to land sometime around 10:00—but when we landed exactly, I don’t know. I think I may have talked with Pilots Fletcher and Price for maybe fifteen minutes after we landed.”
Claire answered, “It was 10:09 when we headed to the engineers’ section.”
“How can you be sure?” Hall asked.
“Pilot Fletcher and I were scheduled for the second morning patrol. We were planning to catch up with Pilot Linton, but I knew depending on how late it was, that might have to wait. So, before we left the pilots’ bay, I checked my watch.”
Hall nodded, then glanced at Pilot Lewis.
He shrugged. “I don’t know what time we got to the engineers’ section.”
Hall looked at all of them in turn. “When you entered that section, did any of you take your eyes off of Pilot Fletcher?”
Of course they did! They were trying not to have their heads smacked! Alex managed to hold back the words.
Pilot Lewis answered first. “Well, I did…I was trying to stop the flying—whatever it was.”
Claire answered next. “Pilot Fletcher and I had to take cover beneath the same table. After that, he worked with Engineer Close to catch the ball before it could damage the engineers’ computer screens. He was never alone long enough to steal anything.”
“She’s right,” Lew agreed.
Hall was quiet. “What about after Engineer Close caught the ball? What about when Engineer Close left to get your CIDs?”
Lewis shrugged. “Uh, I don’t remember.”
Lew said softly, “I wasn’t looking at him the entire time.”
“We were all distracted by the chaos surrounding us.” Claire nodded at Alex but kept her gaze on the station head. “He was too.”
Hall exhaled. “But unfortunately, he was standing near the table where the item was last seen, at 10:15.”
“How”—Alex’s words were cut off by Engineer Taylor’s—“Yes, he was.”
“He was, but he didn’t take anything from that table.”
Everyone looked at Colton.
Hall tapped his fingers on the desk. “Were you watching him? I was told you left him to collect his and Pilot Price’s CIDs.”
“I did, but I was standing across from Pilot Fletcher at another table. Even not looking directly at him, if he had removed something from any of the tables, I would have been able to see it.”
“Ha! No, you wouldn’t have.” Taylor moved to stand directly in front of Colton. “You wouldn’t have been able to see him in front of you because you were too busy dropping a bin load of fragile equipment on the floor!”
Major Barr’s eyes flashed. “Why did I not hear of this?”
“I reported my dropping the CIDs to you,” Colton answered. “That doesn’t change the fact I still had line of sight.”
“Sure it does.” Taylor leaned closer, almost in Colton’s face. “How would you have seen him when you were looking at the ground?” He turned to grin at the station head. “That’s how he screwed up with the VCS, too. He doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on around him because he’s constantly losing or dropping things.”
Colton, deck him. Alex felt his jaw clench as Taylor faced Colton again.
Somehow, Colton’s expression didn’t change, and Alex felt a surge of pride for him. The other engineer hesitated, then backed up to his original position, all trace of his grin gone. He darted a sideways glance at Colton, but stayed where he was.
“Station Head Hall.” The general spoke again. “You have not had time to read all of my reports, but when you do, you will know how instrumental—vital—Pilot Fletcher has been in protecting this station from rebels.
“The material could have been stolen by someone else and placed under his mattress to discredit him—and to damage the U.S.G.F. by casting this kind of suspicion on one of its members. We have no proof that he made contact with the rebels to give the stolen material to them. It is my belief we should further investigate”—he stopped as his CID pinged. He looked at its screen, then asked, “Why wasn’t I made aware of this earlier?”
“Because I am making you aware of it now.” The station head set his CID down and turned to Alex. “Funds in the amount of $50,000 were transferred to your personal checking account from an account number confirmed to be connected with the rebels. At first, I did hope that this was an attempt to frame someone in the U.S.G.F., but now…” He cleared his throat. “It seems I don’t have much choice. You’ll remain in a holding cell until we can transfer you to Earth for your trial.”
Alex’s stomach dropped. This can’t be happening.
“Please put your hands behind your back.”
What?
He complied, holding still as the guards approached him. He heard the click of the bracelets locking around his wrists. Felt the cold metal chafing his skin.
The guards turned him around to walk to the door, and he caught a glimpse of the others. None of them looked at him. He tried to catch Colton’s eye, then Claire’s, but both were still staring at Hall.
Darn it! Look at me! You know I didn’t do this!
Once they were out of the station head’s office, the guards directed him toward the holding cells, where they passed him off to two more guards.
Alex was grateful no one else was in the corridor with them—but then, it wouldn’t matter, right? No one at the Moon Station could suspect him of doing something like this. Of working with the rebels. Of betraying everyone here, betraying the country. No one would believe that…right?
Brutal fear locked itself around Alex, as immobilizing as the cuffs on his wrists and every bit as chilling.
____________________________________________________________________________
Alex sat on the bed, staring at the floor, refusing to let himself look at the locked door. At the bars. At the wall in front of him, about 12 feet away.
Refusing to let himself think about what would happen next. Of course, his family wouldn’t believe he was guilty for a second. But they’d still have to live with the trial. Hear people talk about Alex Fletcher, former U.S.G.F. pilot—confirmed traitor. And of course, they’d have to live with his execution.
He shuddered. If another person’s life mattered so little to you you’d sell it out, you shouldn’t expect anyone else to want your life preserved. But if you didn’t actually do it…What am I going to do? Even my friends think I’m guilty. How would anyone else think otherwise?
Great. Now he was letting himself think about what would happen next.
Is this how Claire felt when she was in here? He wished he’d asked her about it. Maybe he couldn’t have erased the memory for her, but maybe it would have helped her to talk about it. Maybe—a door opened, and then rapid footsteps approached.
A split second later, Topaz Bailey appeared in front of his cell. “Alex!”
“Topaz!” He jumped up. “What are you—”
Henry joined her, followed by Claire and Colton.
Alex’s heart leaped, then came crashing down into his stomach. “Wait a minute, you guys shouldn’t be here. You could get into serious trouble. Am I even allowed visitors?”
Topaz smirked. “The station head never said you weren’t allowed visitors.”
“What about Colton? Major Barr—”
“Major Barr will have to do without him,” Henry answered. “Dr. Hampton’s personal computer is having…problems, and she specifically requested Colton’s assistance.”
Alex let out a laugh. “She—she actually—”
“And she said if we need anything else, let her know. She is very angry.”
“How’d you get past the guards?” Station Guards Stewart and Hernandez were the ones who’d killed the fake station guards pursuing Claire and him on the night of her arrival, but he doubted they’d want to help him now.
“They know you didn’t do it,” Claire answered. “And even if they didn’t, the general does. He knows you were set up. He’s ordered Topaz and me to investigate, and Autumn did the same with Henry. Of course, nobody said anything to Major Barr.”
Topaz moved closer to the cell door. “We’re going to find a way to get you out. Just try to hang in there, okay?”
“I”—Alex found his eyes were wet. He blinked hard, trying to banish the tears. “You guys believe I’m innocent?” He’d hoped that’s what their visiting him meant, but after the way everyone had been in the station head’s office, he couldn’t be sure.
“Of course we do!” Claire stared at him. “Why would you think we didn’t?”
“None of you would look at me in there.” Alex dropped his eyes.
“Oh.” Colton exhaled. “That—I think the general was thinking about what to do next, and the pilots were feeling miserable over being used against you. And I was afraid to make eye contact with you. I didn’t want to make things worse than they already were. Major Barr kept looking at me, and I was worried if I looked at you, he’d notice, and”—he looked down. “I’m sorry. That probably sounds stupid.”
“I was doing the same thing,” Claire muttered. “I didn’t realize you’d think that meant—I’m sorry too.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid.” Now Alex felt silly for doubting. Of course Colton would think that way. He was surprised Claire would too, but then again, considering how many people still didn’t like her…He looked at them. “You don’t need to apologize, either. I’m—I’m grateful you’re all here. But I don’t see how there’s anything you can do. Their case against me—I don’t know what to do with that. There was money in my account.”
Topaz set her jaw. “Anybody can send someone money. All the rebels would have to do is get your account info to know where to send it to. It wouldn’t be hard to frame someone that way.”
“We should go over everything that happened,” Henry suggested. “Maybe one of you saw something or heard something that you didn’t remember in the station head’s office.”
Alex sighed. “I doubt it.”
Claire’s brow furrowed. “Wait a minute. That new pilot—we introduced ourselves to him after we left the engineers’ area, didn’t we?”
Alex blinked. “Yes. Why?”
“He knew my name. When we were in the engineers’ section, he said it.”
Alex thought for a moment. “Colton and I both said your name.”
“Yeah, but after he said it, not before.”
Henry looked at her. “Is it possible another pilot told him?”
“You are pretty well-liked in the Pilots Division,” Alex pointed out.
Claire shook her head. “I don’t think so. Whenever I meet new pilots, we all introduce ourselves, or someone else introduces us. I’ve never met a new pilot who already knew my name.”
“You think he’s a rebel plant?” Topaz asked.
“He could be.”
“We know where to start, then.” Topaz’s mouth was set. “I’ll question him.”
“Wait, what?” Alex gripped the bars of his cell. “If he’s a rebel plant—”
Claire smiled. “Don’t worry. If she does do the questioning, she’ll have backup.”
“We better come up with a plan before anyone does any questioning,” Colton said.
Henry looked at him. “How much time do you think you have left before you have to return to the engineers’ section?”
“Enough.”
They discussed it for several minutes and came up with a plan that 80% of them were satisfied with.
Alex was the only holdout. “I hope none of you gets hurt,” he muttered. “I just know you’re going to be in trouble for helping me.”
“We could get into trouble even if we weren’t trying to help you,” Claire said gently. “None of us is going to just sit by and let some traitor do whatever he wants to this station—or its people.”
“We’ll be okay.” Colton stepped forward and reached through the bars to place a hand over one of Alex’s. “Just hold on.” The engineer turned to leave, nodding to the others. “Please let me know when it’s time to meet again.”
“We will,” Topaz answered. “See you!”
Alex blinked. “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry about us.” Claire’s eyes locked with his. “We’ve got this.”
Topaz came over to squeeze his hand. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
The two of them said goodbye to Henry, then made their way back up the cell block.
Henry moved closer to the cell. “I’ll stay here with you.”
Alex swallowed hard. “Thanks.”
Thank you for reading “The Setup Pt. I.” What are your thoughts on this episode?
The next episode in this series is “The Setup Pt. II.” Read it here.
The previous episode in this series is “The Moon Station’s Christmas Pt. II.” Read it here.
Copyright © 2025 Li Mitchell All Rights Reserved
Note: Everything I write is written without AI—even if I do use a lot of em dashes.