By the time I’m popping open the first aid kit, I’m shiny and minty fresh. Wet curls tucked behind my ears, I pop the lid off a single-use tube of quick aid gel and smear it all over my knee and my wrist. Immediately, a cold tingling sensation spreads over both areas, bringing relief along with it. The gel won’t knit my injuries together, but it does encourage rapid blood flow whilst simultaneously numbing the site. With the space away from the pain, I can now investigate the damage. I probe oh so gently with the pads of my fingers and though I’m tender, I don’t think either is broken. I splint my wrist, gargle some saline and wrap my knee. It will do for now. To round it up, I dry-swallow the only two painkillers in the box.
I think about the boots at the top of the stairwell. Could that have been Dominik? It’s hard to imagine him lifting me, carrying me to this cabin, locking me in.
Maybe I never knew him.
I make another round of the cabin, pulling on drawers, tugging on handles, prying at seams. The door taunts me, sitting flush and secure. Then I just give up and start bangingon the fucking thing, screaming at the top of my lungs and punctuating every sentence with a full-soled kick. Even using my uninjured limbs, the blows send jolts through my left side. Every single one makes me wince, but I keep going. I’ve rested enough.
“LET ME OUT!”
Over and over again.
I don’t know how long I do this. When the door slides open, I’m so out of breath and my throat is so raw that all I manage to do is stumble backwards. My knee pulls, and only sheer exhaustion stops me from screaming.
A woman stands in the doorway, tall enough to look down at me. I don’t recognise her, which strikes me as the stupidest thing to focus on. I can’t read her face, don’t know what kind of danger she represents. I draw myself up as best I can but before I speak, she beats me to it. As she does, she steps into the cabin, forcing me further backwards as the door slides shut behind her.
“Who are you?”
For some reason, that floors me. Who amI? “I want to see my son.”
Her carefully schooled expression doesn’t budge. “Why were you sneaking around my ship?”
“Your ship?”
I look down at her outfit, but it doesn’t indicate her status. It’s a reflection of what I’m wearing, down to the straight-laced boots. As if she knows what I’m thinking, she takes in the rolled cuffs at my ankles, the slightly overlarge boots, but she doesn’t comment. I step forward without even thinking, simply meaning to appeal to her good nature—if she has one. She literally moves onto the back foot, sinking into a subtle, defensive stance. I don’t doubt that if she’d had a weapon, she’d have pulled it. I freeze. I never learned to fight, much to thedisappointment of my father, who always wanted to teach me. But I recognise the way her body loosens instead of locking up, her strategic positioning.
Her eyes narrow. A frown, as dark as the ship’s exterior, tightens her face; it’s the first sign of emotion she’s shown.
“Listen to me,” I say evenly. “There’s a little boy on this ship. His name is Harvey. He was brought herewithoutmy permission, and I want to see him.”
“How did you get onboard?”
I don’t hold back my grunt of frustration. “I’m hismother. Dominik has no right to take him. This is kidnapping.”
She doesn’t so much as twitch. “Were you attempting to get a free ride to Suryavana?”
“I don’t care where this ship goes, I just want my son. Take me to him, let us off and we’ll be out of your hair.”
Something like bemusement ripples across her broad face for just a moment. “Let you off?”
I don’t have the energy to be surprised or disappointed. Although everything I understand about space travel could fit into a thimble, a part of me had already known that my hopes were fanciful.
“We can’t be that far out,” I plead.
She doesn’t react and it’s all the answer I need. It doesn’t even matter at this point. I just...
I release a heavy breath. “I just want to see Vee. Please.”
She leans back against the door, arms folded, that indecipherable expression back in place. Cradled in the nook of her crossed arms, a tattoo flashes dark and intricate against the skin of her right arm. It looks big and expensive, although I can’t make out any details. I can see that a ChronoSkin patch shimmers on her opposite wrist, where mine had sat too before she took it. They have many features, but I always found the bio-syncing the most important; without that, I’m largely in thedark about my health. Now that it’s been removed, it will have to be reapplied with specialised tech.
“I don’t give out confidential information about passengers to stowaways.”
“Under different circumstances, I would agree with you.” I get in her face. “But that’s my son and Dominik has been trying to get custody of him for years. Now he’s resorted to kidnapping. Is that what you want to do with your life? Human smuggling?”
I’m so close I catch the minute flinch, the flare of her nostrils, the tightening of her lips. When she stands up straight again, it’s with a lot more tension wound into her body. I’m suddenly aware that she holds herself like a soldier. Combined with her height, the slight flex of muscles in her arms and the clear competence about her, it’s obvious she would win in a physical altercation. I’m not a brawler, have never even been in a tussle. But if it comes to it, if it will get me back to Harvey, I’ll try.
She dismisses me. I watch, dismayed, as she presses her hand to the pad behind her. Ice floods my veins as she starts to pivot.
“Wait,” I plead.
