I duck into the stairwell, which smells closed-up and echoes loudly, so I can climb up to another deck. Here I pass a pool, a gym, a professional looking kitchen.
Those doors further down the passageway could be guest suites. If there is an arcade on theMidas, it may be here. Despite how accessible space travel is, I’ve never done it; as a single mum, I just don’t have the time. I’ve never even been on a ship, but the layout so far seems practical.
I tell myself I’m close to finding Vee. Does he know what’s going on? I would never let him go toMars,for fucks sake. Not without me, not alone. He knows that... right?
Halfway down the deck the humming beneath my feet, in the air around me, changes. A low, deep rumble reverberates through the ship. I freeze, followed by the blood in my veins. Seconds later, a mechanical whirring fires up, droning on in the background.
It takes all I have to keep it together. Already, my vision is blurry from the exhaustion, limbs shaky and body aching. Every step is agony. I’m walking on needles. I never push myself this far, and I’m definitely borrowing spoons from the whole damn week. But everything will be okay. I tell myself once, twice, as I hurry towards the unexplored cabins.
What was it Vee had told me the first time he’d hyperfixated on starships?Even with the engines on, it can take like twohours for the ship to leave the ground.The memory of hisvoice is the kick I need. Balanced on a knife-edge, the only thing keeping me from really losing it is the thought of Dominik taking my baby away.
I thought we were done with this. Granted partial custody a few years ago, he got what he wanted. I thought I was done with this shit.
As I pass one of the expansive windows, I stumble to a halt. The hangar now looks empty. From where I stand, the angle of the glass allows me to see both down to the floor and up at the ceiling. A ceiling that is currently moving. I watch as a seam splits right down the middle, stopping midway and then branches to either side in a cross. The two walls that had acted as doors are now closed. As the four panels start to pull away from each other at the nexus, they gradually reveal a grey sky. I watch, stunned, as the walls of the hangar slowly slide backwards and then into the ground. They move as though they’re guided along runners, and if they’re making any noise at all, I certainly can’t hear it through the ship’s hull.
Now theMidasstands in an open space, and there are slots in the ground where the panels are housed. There are faint, spherical outlines in the ground where columns, like the one I hid behind, were. What little of the catwalks I can see in the corner of the window start to move out of view. The hangar is now a launch site. I thought I had more time.
Spinning away from the window, my loafers almost slip on the impossibly smooth floor. I start ripping open doors, no longer caring about stealth. I might still have those two hours, I might not. I’m learning all sorts of things about myself today. I stumble into guest cabins, turn on my heel and head further down the passageway. With the thickness of these bulkheads, there’s probably some serious soundproofing going on. Evenif Vee is in the arcade with the sound at his usual eardrum-piercing level, I might not hear it. He—
I suck in a sharp lungful of air.
I’m standing in the doorway of a small arcade. It’s gently curved, and a couple of Dreamframes—which cost an arm and a leg—perch around the room. It’s packed with a variety of games, and it’s all bright, neat and expensive.
There’s no one in here.
Disappointment rises in me, and I have to grit my teeth to hold back something that feels animalistic. I love Vee to pieces, but he is the messiest person I’ve ever known. If he’d been here at all, it’d show. The empty cabin raises more questions. If he isn’t here, then where is he? And is he there willingly? My son doesn’t sit still unless he has to. TheMidasis grounded, and crew members are still walking around, so what ishedoing?
There are at least two more decks to explore. I hurry along to the stairwell, hoping that I might have better luck somewhere else.
Halfway up, I miss a step as a deep roar suddenly fills the air. I slam onto my knee, and just about avoid shearing through my tongue. Nothing can stop the scream of pain that rips from me, and only a few fingers hooked onto the grab rail prevent me from plummeting down the hard stairs. A pressure on my body forces me forward, suffocating me as I’m pressed closer and closer into the cold metal.
Is the fucking ship—
Suddenly, it all stops. The roar falls back into a rumble. The pressure eases up. And I was pushing so hard against it that the lack of force nearly flips me down the stairs a second time. I bite back vomit, barely, as nausea rises. Several areas of my body throb, and the pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Having never broken a bone, I’m suddenly scared that might be what the bolts of lightning shooting through me are.
Can I even walk?
Blood splashes onto the toe of my shoe, and I don’t know from where.
I feel woozy, and a heavy burden falls on my shoulders like curtains down.
Vee.
I repeat his name. I drag myself up.
Somehow, I limp my way to the top of the stairs. Even emerging onto the next floor at a much slower pace takes everything I have left. Briefly, just briefly, I allow myself to stop. Bending at the waist, I try to catch my breath. I’m not okay.
A pair of boots appears in my line of sight. My body tenses, and I snap up, only to be overcome by a wave of light-headedness I just can’t escape this time.
My gorge rises. My vision blurs. The deck swoops up to catch me.
No Questions Asked
I jolt awake sometime later.
To tame my roiling stomach, I have to take a few deep breaths before I can fully open my eyes. It only helps a little. Observing my surroundings, I’m convinced I’m hallucinating. Maybe I even have a nasty concussion. Then a full body ache kicks in, and I know that this is very, very real. Whimpering, I acknowledge I’m fucked. For one, this is far beyond the kind of pain I’m used to. And two, I’m floating in—
Oh.
