“You went into my dad’s room, even though Iclearly saidthat wasoff-limits—”
“You shouldn’t invite half the station over to parties if you don’t want people all up in your place.”
“I wasn’t the one who invited you, and you know it.”
“It isn’t like you kicked me out when I showed up, though, is it?”
“Are you saying this ismyfault? You steal my dad’s razor blades and—”
“Just be happy I didn’t use them on your face,” Cameron spits.
“Enough!Enough with this.” Blood crashes through my veins, and it’s a struggle to not be ruled by it, caught up in the same wild fury. “Hand them overnow,” I order Cameron.
She glares at me, unflinching.
I step closer. Cameron has a few inches on me and is clearly relishing the fact that it makes her look like the dominant one between us. Eye to eye, voice low and even, I start again. “Hand. Them. Over.”
“Yeah,” she says with a half laugh. “Andyou’regoing to make me... how?”
It’s a good question, one I hope she can’t tell I don’t know the answer to just yet.
“Don’t push me, Cameron.” I hold firm, stay steady, try not to let the panic I’m starting to feel show. I honestlydon’tknow how I’ll make her cooperate. Even if it works out this time, what will I do next time, for a future incident? What if it were Akello towering over me? What then? He could crush me. This could all spiral, and quickly.
Her glare finally falters, just for a second. She reaches inside her shirt and pulls out two thin silver blades, their sharp edges tucked into thin, protective sleeves.
“Thankyou,” Mikko says, shooting a pointed glare at Cameron. He reaches for the blades, but I push his hand away.
“Don’t thank me,” I say. “These aren’t going back to you, either.”
“But they were my father’s—they were one of his personal items—”
That explains why they were in his cabin in the first place, I guess, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s against policy to keep blades outside of Medical and the labs. “I’m sorry,” I say. And I am. I wouldn’t want anyone else confiscating my mother’sthings. I get it. “I wish I could turn them back over to you, but even under normal circumstances, these really shouldn’t have been in your cabin in the first place.”
Like when Heath and I discovered Yuki and Grace inside SSL—that they had access to top-secret entry codes—a wave of unsettledness washes over me. If these blades were in Mikko’s cabin, what else is hiding out where it shouldn’t be?
No one’s ever used a blade against anyone else in the history of our station, as far as I know.
Then again, we’re living in a season of firsts these days.
“So that’s it?” Mikko says, pressing his forearm against his still-bleeding nose. “She steals my father’s things, rams her fist into my face, and on top of that, you’re not going to give the blades back? Real fair, Lindley.”
Leo steps in, grabs the neck of Mikko’s shirt. “It’sCommander, Mikko, and don’t forget it. You’re on probation, both of you.” Cameron rolls her eyes, but Leo doesn’t let it faze him. “Any more incidents like this—fromanyone—there will be privileges lost for everyone on board. Got it?”
“Fine, whatever.” Mikko shakes Leo off.
“Yeah,” Cameron says, no longer meeting any of our eyes. “Whatever.”
No one moves after that, and no one says a word. The silence is so thick it could explode at any second. Leo and I wind through the crowd, make our exit. One foot after the other after the other after the other.
As soon as we’re out of the lions’ den, I split off from Leo,turning down an empty corridor.
“Lindley!” Leo calls after me. It’s just us now. “Lindley, slow down!”
But I can’t, I can’t, the blood is crashing around inside me again, carrying me faster than I want to go. I’m not sure where I’m headed, I just want to getaway. Even from Leo.
He picks up his pace, catches up with me. I walk faster.
Eventually, when I don’t slow down and don’t say a word, he gives up.
