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But they’re large enough that the ecosysteer than any pole trees I’ve ever seen They stretch up skyward at least half as tall again as usual, their spindly tops bending under the weight of the branches How did they get so big? By this point, the terraformers should have introduced all ed the pole trees out of the ecosystem

Any hopes I had for the colance It’s been ripped off, and if it wasn’t fried by the surge or burned up e entered the at our swath of destruction, reduced to its coht, and her fatherto look like one of ten thousand pieces of debris scattered across the planet We need to find a bigger crash site, a more prominent place, so we’ll be somewhere the rescue party will definitely land

I study the trees around et narroard the top, so there’s no way I’hter andabout it Cooill e in Corinth, trust me I wonder if she’s ever even seen real leaves

That’s when I realize, standing there in thejerked back and forth againstlike an idiot--I kind of like this After weeks trussed up on board the ship, chest covered in medals and days taken up by people who don’t like their war too real, I feel like I’m home

There’s a hill some way off to what I arbitrarily call the west, because the sun’s setting in that direction The land rises, and with any luck it’ll offer the viee need It’ll be a long walk, and as I cliood irl inside I ht be back in h how it feels

"Our coone," I tell her

I half expected tears--instead she just nods as if she already knew "They would’ve been useless anyway Most of the circuits got shorted during that electrical surge"

I want to ask her how she knohere she learned to do what she did, but instead the question that ee?"

She hesitates, her eyes on the trees visible outside the viewport "The Icarus ca happened, I don’t knohat Didn’t you learn about hyperspace jumps in school?" There’s disdain in her voice, but she doesn’t stop long enough for me to reply Just as well, because all I know about hyperspace is that it gets you fro two hundred years

"The way ships skip through diy involved" She glances at"Usually when a ship leaves hyperspace there’s a long series of steps that prevent that energy froot pulled out of hyperspace early"

I shouldn’t be surprised that the daughter of Roderick LaRoux, engineer of the largest, finest hyperspace fleet in the galaxy, knows any of this But it’s hard to reconcile her vapid laughter and scathing insults with someone who’d pay two seconds of her attention to physics lessons

I certainly never knew there was this level of danger involved with traveling via hyperspace But then, I’ve never heard of this happening before Ever

I’ over her explanation in my mind "Since we caalaxy, then?" No co better and better

"The Icarus got eency power back," Miss LaRoux says coolly "They would’ve gotten distress calls out"

Assue But I don’t say it aloud Let her think this will all be over sooner rather than later I know she has to be struggling "There’s a rise to the west I’ure out where we should head I can get sory while you wait"

"No need, Major," she says, cli as one of her heels falls through the grating in the floor "I’ll be co you the opportunity to abandon me here, you’re sorelysorry for her anymore

Abandon her? If only alaxy would be better off, if you ask me Who’d even knoere in the sah

"I’m not sure your shoes--" I try, before she cutsacross the floor and ain, then descends the steps Her head is up, shoulders back,a staircase to a ballroodoh the contents This is the erateful for all the ti it places over the last two years