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"Yeah," Charlie remarked quizzically. "But it's illegal and most people who do it don't have a great time after a while."

"Yes! That. That is what Tartonia Acid does for Tessarae," Tavi replied. "Hell of a drug." Charlie laughed heartily.

"Have you used it, Tavi?" Maren asked, alarm written across her face.

"I may have partaken it here and there," Tavi confirmed, his voice flighty. "But I know the limits, and I abide by them."

"You're so rock and roll, Tavi," Charlie remarked.

"I don't know what the hell that means, but it sounds awesome, especially if the designation comes from you." Charlie laughed again, following Tavi up the gangway and back onto the shuttle to begin the journey back to the Emberkind.

On the shuttle back,Charlie sat next to Tavi and they immediately plugged in the headphones of the Walkman before the launch had even commenced. This time, Charlie felt the whole process with the knowledge of having been through it once, so she could listen and feel the sequences more effectively underneath her chair, lining up with the calls from Torvax and the crew.

Reyna hadn't offered to sit by her again, but Charlie chided herself for even noticing that. Yet, somehow, she thought she had wronged Reyna in some way, but she wasn't even sure how. Reyna had been gracious with ensuring Charlie was calm duringthe launch, and, because of that, Charlie felt calm during the landing. But somehow, she thought she had refused the Captain. Which, in technicality, she obviously had, but for the right reasons.

So why did it feel worse?

"What's got your gears in a vice?" Tavi asked beside her. His voice startled her as she had unknowingly cascaded deep into her thoughts, not even hearing the impressive entrance of Pete Townshend's guitar and Keith Moon's drums in The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" pulling her from her speculation about the Captain.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked innocently.

"Are you okay?" Tavi said simply.

"Yeah? Why?"

"You look like you're trying to solve the universe's toughest math problem," Tavi said with a chuckle. Charlie smirked while sighing.

"Yeah, maybe I am."

"Want to talk about it?"

Charlie looked him right in the eyes, knowing deep down she probablycouldtalk to Tavi. He was quickly becoming a good friend aboard the ship. But it wasn't that she didn't want to talk, she just didn't know what to talkabout.

"How about, I'll come find you to talk about it when I know what it is?" Charlie asked. Tavi chuckled again.

"Okay, tiger. I'm here if you ever need, you know, once you get your shit figured out."

This time, Charlie chuckled softly next to him, before they both turned their attention back to the music emanating from the Walkman.

Back at the Emberkind,the gradient was waiting.

Six zones, stepping down from full gravity in the shuttle bay to zero in the sphere. Charlie's architecture, Tavi's software, and Maren's hardware. Everything tested and ready.

Charlie was at the main console, standing in position beside Tavi and Maren, when Cael walked up beside her.

"I'll take it from here," he said.

Charlie looked over at him, startled by his words. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I've got this, you don't need to worry your pretty little head." Charlie bristled at the comment. When she didn't move from her spot, he continued. "I'll be operating the system for the gradient transfer." He didn't look at her any longer, he just looked at the console and watched the data readings as they came up.

"Cael, I built this system," Charlie said. "If anything goes wrong during the transfer, I'm the one who knows how to?—"

"You've done good work, Wickett," Cael said, and the dismissal in the compliment was so practiced it almost sounded genuine. "But this is a leadership engineering operation on the Emberkind. That's my department."

"Charlie should be running this." Tavi's voice came from the software station. He hadn't raised it, but it carried. "She designed the gradient architecture. She built the calibration model. She understands the real-time variables better than anyone in this room, including you."

Cael turned to Tavi. "I appreciate your input, Tavi. But this is my decision as Chief Engineer." At that, he turned back to the console, and stepped into Charlie's space, effectively moving her away.