My datapad slid from my hands and clattered to the deck. “It’s you.”
He grinned, lowering the duffel bag slung over his shoulder to the floor of the ship. “Surprise!”
I—I’d imagined what I would do if I saw him again. In some of my dreams I ran up to him and hugged him tightly, and he smelled exactly the way he always had—like transistor oil and slightly burnt exhaust.
In those dreams, I cried into his jacket, big gulping sobs I didn’t even know I’d had in me, trapped down in my belly like a dormant scream. And it just made him hold on tighter. Like Mom used to.
“Hey, hey,” he whispered soothingly in those dreams, rubbing circles on my back, “no need for the moisture farm. I’ve come back.”
In other dreams, I punched him so hard he went back in time to the day he’d left, and decided never to leave at all.
But as it stood, I didn’t do either.
I just…stared.
I didn’t even hear the lift ding until Dad called, “Daughter? The sensor says the ramp’s still open. Is everything…?” His voice trailed off as he recognized the man opposite me. He blinked in the bright orange light of the setting sun, as if he didn’t quite believe his eyes.
Valor turned to him with that same smile. I wondered how long he’d had to practice it in the mirror. “Hey, old man.”
Unlike me, Dad didn’t just stare. “Valor?” he whispered, and lurched past me to grab my brother by the shoulders.“Val?”he kept repeating as if he couldn’t believe it. Hansifred Quay was an emotional man. He put his heart on his sleeve, and it was one of the many things I loved about him. Another was his hugs—like the one he drew Valor into. Encompassing and warm and tight. It was the kind of hug that made you feel grounded and loved. The kind of hug that made wampas melt—made everything melt, really.
Even Valor.
“You’re home!” Dad cried, releasing him, tears running freely down his cheeks. “You’rehome!”
“Yeah,” Val replied, his eyes bright with tears. “Sorry it took so long.”
CHAPTER NINE
The Soiree
There was always a shudder as theStarfarerleft the atmosphere—a deep groan like a beast shaking off a winter chill—before the ship quieted and the ride smoothed.
With that, theStarfarerleft Coruscant, bound for Alderaan. Because the planet itself had been destroyed by the Empire during the war, the wreckage the attack left behind was always shifting. The debris field was called the Graveyard of Alderaan. It was a quiet place—not sacred, but sad nonetheless. The graveyard made the approach through hyperspace unpredictable and dangerous, so both Dad and Telly were needed on deck to navigate to it.
It would take about twelve hours to reach a jump point where we could enter a hyperspace lane to Alderaan and avoid, you know, colliding with the debris field that remained of the planet. There was a small space station nestled in the graveyard where we’d stop andtake a tour of how different sectors were reviving aspects of Alderaan—agriculture, music, art—for future generations. Though most guests just went onto the space station to get a better view of the graveyard.
In the meantime, I took Val to the crew quarters on the bottom deck and showed him to the room we’d kept for him. The main crew quarters were compact, practical rooms with comfortable beds and personal storage, and shared access to the refreshers and galley with the dorsal side of the ship, where the seasonal crew bunked two to a room. While we could never really afford to keep Val’s room unoccupied, Dad did anyway. Val looked around at all the things he’d left behind, perfectly preserved from three years ago. No one ever came into this room, except for Maeve to dust every few months.
“Everything should be where you left it,” I said as he opened his standing wardrobe and sifted through his old clothes.
“You all really justkeptthis stuff?” he replied, frowning at his old uniform, probably too small to fit now.
I shrugged. “We didn’t have the energy to go through all your junk.”
He snorted. “Thanks—and, hey,” he added quietly, drawing my attention. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. It was so very strange to see him afterthree years, how much he’d changed, what parts of him had grown up and what parts of him were the same. He pulled his hand through his hair nervously, curls catching on his fingers. “It’s nice to see you again, sis.”
“You too,” I replied, and shifted a little in hesitation. “But…whyareyou home, Val? Are you just going to disappear again? Dad won’t be able to deal with that a second time.”
He looked away. “I mean, I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“That’s not an answer.”
He closed the wardrobe and slung his arm around my shoulder. “Since when did you get so pessimistic, sis? I’m back, so let’s not get weird about it, yeah?”
As he hung on my shoulder, I wondered if maybe Iwasbeing too pessimistic. So I shoved those feelings away and put my arm around his shoulder, too. “You’re right. And if you leave this time, I’m going to hunt you down and nail you to the deck of this ship.”
He barked a laugh. “Nowthere’smy sister!”
