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An attendant’s voice came over the public com system, saying we’d be docking in less than twenty minutes. I forced my shoulders to relax. I cleaned up my area, shoved my tablet into my bag, and tossed my trash into the receptacle.
“Did something happen?” Jordan asked softly.
Thank goodness he was the only one seated next to me. I glared at him. “What do you think?”
His eyebrows lifted. “What happened after I left last night?”
It’s not his fault, Julia. Chill out. Biting his head off won’t make you feel better.
I took a deep breath and counted to ten. “Mom called.”
That was all I had to say. Understanding crept into his eyes, and I looked away. Jordan knew everything about me, about my past, and about my family. I didn’t keep secrets from him. Only Dennis, Mariah, and Jordan knew how bad my past was. I hadn’t even told my recruiters. Everything from my juvenile years had been sealed away.
“I’m sorry, Jules. Are you okay?” He reached over and took my hand.
I flinched and pulled away. His eyes narrowed and he snatched my hand back. I started to pull it away again, but I knew if I fought too much Jordan would make a scene and the others would start to notice.
Though I didn’t want to, I let him peel away my glove to look at my ruined knuckles. He cursed under his breath and ran his fingers gently across a bruise. “What were you thinking?”
When I pulled my hand away this time, he let me. I pulled my glove back on. “It was a bag.”
The disbelief in his eyes was palpable. “You did that just from a punching bag?” He started to curse again, but the word morphed into a strangled noise in his throat. It took a lot to make Jordan lose his cool. “Seriously, Julia? You look like you broke your hand.”
“It isn’t broken.” It hurt like crazy, but the damage wasn’t severe. “It’s just some bruises.”
“And swelling. What happens if you have to fight while you’re here? How are you going to fight with hands like that?”
“Like I normally would.” I struggled to keep my voice low and even. “It can hurt all day long. I don’t care. I’ll be fine. I needed to let off a little steam.”
His lips thinned. “A little steam? Are you even in a decent frame of mind to be here right now? You’re in charge of the case, Julia. Lives are dependent on you. If you’re having a meltdown, you need to sit this out.”
“Don’t tell me how to do my job,” I hissed at him. “I’ve put it out of my mind. I’m fine. I beat the bag until I couldn’t lift my arm anymore. That helped. Everything is under control.”
He looked away. “Fine. Just don’t do anything stupid. If you’re out of control, don’t put the rest of us in danger.”
We didn’t say anything else while the ship touched down. He was right; I shouldn’t do anything to put the team in jeopardy. But I knew myself. I was okay now. I had processed the anger, gotten it out of my system, and now I could move on. There were other things I needed to think about and focus my attention on. I wouldn’t think about my mother. Right now, I needed to focus on finding Santiago’s hideout and secret file. That was the most important thing.
The attendant announced that it was time to disembark, and I stood up, slinging my pack over my shoulder. Jordan followed suit slowly. I didn’t look at him and I followed the others out the exit door. Alexi appeared behind me and stuck close to me. I was glad. I wanted to get her over to her shuttle and off to Luna Abra as soon as possible.
We stepped down onto the landing pad, and heat waves swirled in the air around us, stifling and heavy. I took a deep breath, drawing the wet heat into my lungs and trying to get used to it. It was the middle of summer here, and Viridis was a unique planet. It was closer to Xolara, the sun in this solar system, so it took on a lot more heat. The atmosphere was thicker than the average planet and blocked most of the harmful radiation and heat, creating an almost greenhouse effect. Some of the northernmost parts were cooler, but most of the planet was hot and humid all the time.
A bus was waiting to relay us to the main building. Once we reached the terminal, I put my hand on Alexi’s shoulder and steered her towards the Luna Abra shuttle. Jordan waved for the rest of our team to head for the front door.
Alexi and I came to a stop in front of the security station for the shuttle. I looked her over to be sure she had everything. “You’ve got your bag? Good. You have money. And you know what to do and what not to do. Don’t talk to strangers and don’t offer to watch anyone else’s bags. Stay in populated areas only, and don’t aggravate any of the security officers.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, Jules.”
I tried to hold in my anxiety. “When you get there, go straight to a cab, and then go straight to the house. Once you get home, I want you to message me. Okay?”
“Yes.” She gave me a one-armed hug before hefting her bag onto her shoulder. “Now get to work. Let me know if you’ll make it home tonight.”
“I will. Be safe.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She offered a weak smirk and stepped into the security line. I watched to make sure she made it through without issue before I left.
I looked out the window while the hovercab made the quick trip to the IPF office. Exotic trees were everywhere, even in the city, making for a gorgeous view. I knew it was normal for city workers to have trouble keeping them from cropping up even in the smallest cracks in the pavement. It was almost like the planet wanted to take back civilization and turn it wild again.
They weren’t new sights for me because I’d been to Viridis plenty of times before. It was close enough to Luna Abra to make a day trip. I hadn’t explored the planet outside the major cities, since wild rainforests covered most of the surface, but I went to the populated areas a lot. It made for a good day at the beach when I was in the mood.
