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Lydia cleared her throat, snapping Lenore’s attention back to the task at hand.
She was the last person at the end of the line, shuffling her way forward until she reached the table. She had circles under her eyes but wore a huge smile. “Will this help with my hangover?”
“Good time last night?” Lenore couldn’t help but ask.
“You know it. I wasn’t the only one. I saw you talking up your own piece of?—”
“I stole a mug,” Lenore said quickly, speaking loudly over Lydia. She wasn’t embarrassed about what happened with Baris, but she didn’t kiss and tell. Petty theft seemed like a viable distraction. “The one with the station logo that came with our rooms. As a souvenir.”
“That’s what she said.” Lydia winked. Winked. Like they shared a secret.
“You’re impossible. Now take your pill so we can go home.”
For once, she followed directions.
Of the eighty-seven humans located, forty-two were returning to Earth. The rest chose to remain for one reason or another. Lenore got it. What was waiting back on Earth but bills and endless grocery shopping? The forty-two had families they were desperate to get back to. Lenore felt the same. As much as her parents worked her nerves, she missed them. She missed Sunday brunch with her father’s nose in the paper and her mother cutting coupons.
Some days, she even missed Brad. Not often and not for long.
Thankfully, she wasn’t going home to a partner. Anxiety about her job and student loans was bad enough. She couldn’t imagine the stress of worrying if her partner waited for her return. And if she were still married to Brad? Mr. Impatient wouldn’t have waited a week before finding solace with someone new, and a week was Lenore being generous. Thank heaven she ditched him years ago, but she’d love to give him a piece of her mind for shoving his phone in her face, forcing her to hold it when the portal went off.
Plus, he let her go. In that horrible zero-gravity moment when the pull of the portal lifted her off her feet, he let her go. Yeah. He deserved a lot worse than being yelled at. A key scratching along the side of his car. A tire iron to the knee. Okay, assault was a bit too much, but she craved petty revenge; the pettier, the better. Was this healthy? No, but she’d focus on being a better person once she made Brad suffer.
And hug her parents. Maybe hugging first. Petty vandalism second.
Fuck. It felt good to have a plan.
Lenore packed away the remaining anti-nausea meds in a backpack. She carried the supplies for basic first aid in addition to her own personal pack. They had no idea where the portal back home would dump them, and help might be days away. People carried their own medication in their packs in case the group was separated, but Lenore didn’t mind the extra weight if it meant having more bandages and antibiotics.
Shouldering both packs, she joined the other forty-one humans.
A docking bay had been repurposed for the construction of the portal. The machine was huge, spanning the entire bay. She felt like they were inside a massive astrolabe, surrounded by gears and cogs working with celestial precision. At the center was a gyroscope on a platform. The scope’s hoops spun lazily within the frame. Lenore had no idea how the portal was meant to work, but it appeared impressive.
“All this for us,” Lydia said.
Technicians moved from control panel to control panel. No one seemed particularly distressed or worried that the massively expensive project would fail.
Lenore scanned the crowd, her eyes roaming over all the aristocrats and dignitaries doing their best to look important, the restless humans, and once again, her gaze settled on Baris, but this time she wasn’t so fluttery and enamored. She looked critically at him.
Objectively, he looked better today. Rested. Or as rested as he could be, considering he only slept briefly before leaving her room. The circles under his eyes were less noticeable but there. She wanted to drag him back to bed. To sleep. He clearly needed it.
The murmur went through the crowd, parting to make way for a large black voidbeast, a particularly vicious creature. Ghost headed right for Lenore, his tongue lolling out the side of his snout.
Lydia gasped, backing away. Despite her time on the ship, Ghost made her nervous. Ghost made a lot of humans uneasy. “He’s here to steal our souls.”
Lenore ignored the woman’s outburst and gave Ghost a pat because he was a good boy, if slightly terrifying. “He’s a sweetheart.”
Sarah followed Ghost. “They’re ready.” She paused, unsure about what she wanted to say. “I know you’re not big on emotional displays?—”
“Oh, give me a hug,” Lenore said, breaking the tension.
“I’ll miss you,” she said, wrapping her arms around Lenore in a fierce hug.
“Same.” The princess hadn’t been her closest friend, but she had been a friend.
A ripple of excitement went through the crowd. It had started.
The cogs and gears around them moved, slowly gaining speed. The gyroscope on the platform spun faster, the metal hoops blurring until they were invisible, only a dark smudge on reality.
