The flight plan stretched out before Nikki as the pilot layed out the whole of space in her mind. Everything was as clear as day, but details only existed when she focused on them. Paying attention to the flight path told her that her ship, the Nereidia, was nearing the turn-and-burn point for Sinema Station. In just a few days, she could finally get rid of these annoying passengers and trade them for the next batch of human cargo. With any luck, one of them might be good at a game or two. 

"Thirty-two minutes until the TBP, ma'am, I've taken the liberty of confirming our berthing and notifying the dockmaster of our ETA," The pilot of the Nereidia reported silently, like a thought in Nikki's head, but one that obviously wasn't hers.

"Anything interesting on the station's feed?" Nikki responded in kind, like a quiet but clear thought directed at the Nereidia herself.

"Not that I see. Nothing more than the normal adverts and political garbage, Ma'am. Is there something in particular that you're looking to check in on?" Nere asked respectfully, acknowledging the distance Nikki kept.

"No, just trying to stay aware, keep me posted. Thank you, Nere," Nikki opened her eyes, and the display remained in the back of head until she dismissed it and set her cortical implant to private. Regaining her bearings, she stood up off the couch and walked over to the soup she had left simmering on the stove in the common area. Fred and whoever the guy was that they'd hired as copilot were on the upper deck, probably playing cards or something. Nikki didn't care so long as he was sober, she would even settle for mildly tipsy so long as she didn't have to hear Nere complain about "the terrain" again.

"Nere, how are our passengers doing?" the captain said aloud.

"They're a little restless. I think there are two or three of the Venusians still in the recreation area, but I'll get them to strap in before we get turned around. I'm more worried about John," the Nereidia's emergent pilot responded over the room's intercom.

"He's the new co-pilot, right? I'll take care of it," Nikki reassured her bodiless friend as she poured her meal into a thermos. She took it with her through the ladder well in the middle of the room, moving up two decks to the Operations level. Immediately to the right of the hatch, Nikki's first officer, Fred Gillespie, leaned back patiently, as Jacob, or Jethro, or whoever it was, ran his mouth.

"What I don't understand, is how they got the sharks in a spaceship?" The boy's words were slurred and inaccurate, though they rushed from his lips with the intensity of his enthusiasm.

"What do you mean?" Fred asked with the tolerance of a calm father, his Bahrami accent betraying his surgically precise English.

John's eyes were serious, "I mean, first, you gotta find a way to get those," he stopped to emphasize the word, "sharks," and then continued going on with his over the top gestures, "to play nice and not eat your people... then how do you get'em into space without their eyes popping out, and then on a ship to Mars, then somehow get that..." Nikki's patience wasn't in such supply to spend on incompetence.

"Jethro, are you drunk, or is Fred putting the moves on you?" Nikki's joke was met with a chuckle from her closest friend.

"What was that, Oh... No Cap'n, I'm only... Ok, I'm drunk, but I'll be good for the manuever in the morning," stammered the fool, as he tried and failed to swallow a belch.

"It's in half an hour, you best figure a way to sober up, I'd hate to leave you at Sinema's employment center," Nikki warned, making the kid squirm under her eye contact.

"Yes'm, I'll um... I'll figure that out," lied Jacob, or Jared, or whoever, as he stumbled out of his chair and to the medical cabinet in the next room.

"You'd best. Fred, there are a few Venusians causing a slight bit of trouble in the port passenger mod. Can you see to them?" she requested, with a kinder tone.

"Aye, boss," Fred replied with a smile.

Nere's avatar appeared on the wall-mounted screen next to Jethro, displaying her usual self, a freckled brunette, but with a less usual scowl as she berated the twenty-two year old upstart. Nikki continued around to the planning room, where she brought up her business pages on two monitors and a small three dimensional display. Using gestures and pupil tracking, she navigated to the classifieds section of Sinema's intranet and checked through her short list of applicants. The most promising candidates for the medical position would already be running the accounts dry, but she couldn't put off replacing this co-pilot anymore. If he blew another manuever or bent another gangway extension, he was going to put them under anyway.

"It's not even that big a ship, kid," Nikki muttered to herself.

Sorting through contracts and shipping bids took the better part of twenty minutes, and while she hardly noticed simple things like a turn and burn, she still found herself hyper-vigilant whenever they came around. Nereidia's familiar voice, smooth and kind, asked her passengers to get into their seats and prepare for the micro-gravity lift, a slight sensation as they turned the ship end to end, and a gradual return to just over one-third Earth gravity, or Mars-g. It was routine for her and her crew, but with a large percentage of the passengers departing from the Venusian Independent Networked Republic for the United States, the little things mattered.

Nikki preferred less talkative payloads. Most of her manifest was made of first time inter-orbital travelers who'd never been in space for longer than a few days at most, and usually within spitting distance of their home planet the entire time. Cattle didn't complain once they were doped up enough to not care anymore, and crated goods were appreciatedly silent the whole ride, but pack a bunch of Martians or Terrans in the hold and God help you. The Venusians were less irritable and more ridiculous, always worried about what was happening outside and if they could get to a window of some sort. One had even asked to go on an EVA this time around, and that while Nereidia was under thrust.

Nere announced over the intercomm to let everyone know that the turn and burn would be beginning soon, and Nikki sat in the common room couch. 

"You know his name is John, right?" Fred said as he set down next to his captain.

"I'd honestly forgotten," she admitted. "It's not a huge deal, though. He's off at Sinema."

The ambient hum of the drives went quiet, followed almost immediately by a subtle lift, as if one was at the peak of their leap off of a cliff into the ocean. The ship turning around them was naturally disorienting, but various combinations of magnetic boots, seatbelts, vertigo drugs, and or experience counteracted that.

"He probably doesn't know that, does he?" he said, feigning astonishment. "I'm just glad you didn't space him when he jacked up our arrival time."

"Kethafet, he what?!" Nikki pinched her eyes softly. "Damn it... How bad?"

"About an hour, but Nere's trying to adjust, maybe reduce the deceleration a little. Nothing huge... kethafet, huh? I thought I had been keeping a clean tongue," he chuckled, "I wish that maybe one of my more preferable traits might rub off on you instead, or at least some more polite Farsi!"

The subsequent whir and slow return of the drive sound accompanied a fluttering return to groundedness. The pilot had narrated the whole event in rote fashion.

"Maybe you should let your coffee cool before chugging it," She rubbed her temple, "I don't understand how hard it is to just be sober on schedule, or why you won't do it,"

"Well, if you can get Nere a non-invasive interface, I'll lay in that chair all day, Nikki, but I won't do that procedure," Fred said apologetically.

"If I could afford that, I'd pay for the pro with a jack and save you the trouble," Nikki complained, "That's the only thing you won't do for me, and none of the other sober folk will get the surgery either."

"I didn't think the Mormons had an issue with the neurals, when did that change?" he wondered aloud.

"I mean, if I could get a Mormon on this bucket, I would," a short dissonant tone played on the intercomm. "Sorry Nere, didn't mean anything by it." Nikki continued with Fred, "Or just someone who'd be willing to take the job seriously without charging through the nose. Its not like I'm asking them to fly by themself anyway," Nikki said with frustration, "Just sit there and let Nere play in your skull for a few minutes every couple of days,"

"Have you thought about getting the procedure done yourself?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh, I'm not sure I want Nere to get all cozy in my gray matter," Nikki admitted with a single loud and ugly laugh, throwing her head back.

Fred was amused. "And yet, you don't get why we won't put giant plug on the back of our heads?"

"No, I get it, its just damned inconvenient is all," Nikki shook her head as she got up to leave, "Regardless, it doesn't matter anyway, We just need to get paid and replace this min kharam."

Grabbing an apple as she went, Nikki checked the wall terminal by the fridge to make sure that the cargo, no the passengers she reminded herself, were still intact and happy. Happy enough at least. She held up her food at Fred to ask if he wanted one, which declined politely. Nikki stuck her thumb and pinky out to show that she saw, and took a large bite out of the tiny green apple before starting towards her quarters.

"Getting some rack time already?" Fred asked with a hint of concern in his voice. Nikki shrugged, in response. Her motivation had been taxed by the year or so doing the same runs. She could try her hand at the outer planets, but in a small time shipping boat without defenses it didn't seem to be the best idea in the world. Thus, she was forced to choose between the monotony of steady money or the excitment of probable death. It only bothered her a little that the choice was difficult, but Fred was less apathetic.

"Ok aabji, you keep me in the loop if you need to talk about anything." His stare was serious and genuine, and Nikki couldn't muster more than a slight smile. She wished she could do more, but this life wasn't what she wanted, and she knew that being less than honest with him was a sure fire way to longer, more uncomfortable conversations about the her mental and emotional state. He treated her like his little aabji, his little sister, and Nikki still didn't quite understand why.

"You're good to me, Fred, but don't push it. I'm fine, I'm just gonna go pass the time," Nikki responded looking over the corner as she descended the steps into her room. A little over five meters across and six or so long, the the cubby-hole of a living space was only as much hers as the rest of the ship, but the privacy of it made it special. Only Nereidia could join her here, and only with an invite. The dark purple woolen sheets on her bunk were pulled tight and folded neatly still. She had slept on top of them last sleep shift, as she caught herself doing from time to time. The digital dreamcatcher that hung from the L shaped hole the matress sat in was blinking, indicating that it was running out of space, which surprised Nikki as she didn't remember dreaming last time she slept. She hated the thing anyway, and resented the lack of progress it represented.

The hot water indicator lit green to tell her that she could have an actual shower if she wanted, a rare treat indeed. Debating whether to wash up or not reminded her of how tired her body was. She ached from her calves to her back, and her feet started hurting as soon as she took off her magboots. She settled on a short shower and a book, "Manifestos and Martyrs" by Toriec Dayan.

Her exposed legs and torso revealed scars from conflicts she didn't remember and bruising from pushing herself further than she should have. Sleep came eventually and suddenly, and the lights in her quarters dimmed from the warm amber they were before.

You stand at the door of the airlock, feeling your full weight at Mars-g. The lights glow a color close to butterscotch as you walk into the living room. A woman that looks just like you looks up from her paper book to smile at you and ask you how your day went. An instant later you sit at a wooden table eating dark colored fruits and vegetables steamed and mixed in a pasta with an almost purple tomato sauce. You tell her about your coworkers, about the hot shots and the idiots, the warriors and the mechanics. She feigns interest well, as if she's had plenty of practice. A small child, no older than five runs into the room shouting for joy that you're home. You try so hard to focus on her face, but can't make it out. Some part of you, far away, is anxious about this detail, but you can't be bothered. You ask her what she learned today. She brags about fixing her toy rover, and you hold back laughter as she boasts in earnest of the ingenius idea of charging the thing.

She begs you to come see something she found outside. You let her lead you to the airlock and help her put on her little pressure coat. Donning your own, you follow her off of the ship as she runs on an invisible plane out to a small floating potato plant with the smallest crysalis hanging off of it. She teaches you about caterpillers as if you'd never heard of one before and you listen intently as she warns you not to touch it, lest you hurt the young butterfly inside. You hear a faint tapping sound like what you assume rain sounds like, and as it gets more rapid you start to worry and beckon the girl inside. She looks out in the distance with awe and excitement, ignoring you as you shout louder and louder.

Nikki woke up with a shout, and Nere flashed a light to indicate that she was available to help. With a groan, Nikki slurred the words, "no, Nere. I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

Teruko waited at a sunny bench in the commons for Haylee to get out of her Communications Technology class. The dome overhead amplified the warmth and intensity of the sun in a way that made wearing a t-shirt bearable and comfortable, as well as promoted the growth of real green grass. The feel of the commons was the most similar place to Earth in the whole of Arcadia according to those that had been there, but so few Martians would admit to that as a goal, it made the comparison useless. 

Teruko's history class was next, and while she was mildly interested in the details of how the Seven Valleys got their water features and aquatic wildlife, she perferred her more hands on courses. She would even sit through another lecture about the St. Augustine grass developed by the University back when it was just the Mars Sattelite campus of an ancient United States school. Still, it was one of just a few classes she needed to finish Private Training and start working in the big city, and until she'd gotten there, Haylee wasn't likely to shut up about all the excitement she was missing out on. Besides, if Steven was going to be a doctor, he'd be more likely to try working there than in some spread out homesteaders town like Green Valley. Not that she was wanting to move somewhere because of some guy, she reminded herself.

Finally, Haylee came into view on the wrong side of the commons. Teruko waved her hand up high with a whistle, and Haylee turned to face her, her brunette hair flying across her face and brushing her bare shoulders. She found Teruko and began running in that silly childish bounding motion the cute girl from Chryse was known for. Getting up to join her, Teruko walked more casually in the direction of their next class, eager to hear the gossip that Haylee was sure to bring with her.

"Sorry, I just got held up when Dr. Zho realized that I still suck at comms. I swear, I'm so done with math and computers and crap," she complained between beaming smiles at her friend.

"I told you, if you need help I got you, Haylee, just say the word."

"Nah, thanks babe, but I'm just gonna 'see' my way," she held up her hand in a C shape to make sure Teruko acknowledged the joke, "through this dumb khara and move on,"

"Whatever girl, just don't fail out until I find some friends, wherever you get those," Teruko chuckled, "Anything back from Steven?"

"Nah, Stevies just doing his volunteer thing up at that fancy station," she said in the most dismissive way possible, "Why do you ask so often anyway?"

As they got closer to the edge of the dome, the smell of food mixed with the pleasentness of the commons. The various food stands offered all manner of college food, from expensive Seven Valley Korma and Sushi and Ferric style Barbecue, to the cheap and greasy Tharsian Stir fry, Arcadian "X-Mex" food, and the humble burger joint. Teruko became very aware of her mistake in waiting for lunch until it was too late.

"Oh, I don't know. He never really calls when he's off-world, and I just worry is all," Teruko trailed off slightly. "Did you eat? I mean, it's not like we have time now,"

"Well, he's my man, so hands off," Haylee joked, "its weird how close you two get when he is here. Yeah, I'm sorry Tay, I should have said something."

They descended into the Humanities tunnel and the smell of grass and the artificial dew left their noses, leaving the hanging smell of fresh stir fry to torture Teruko''s soul. The lack of airlocks in between the main building at the main campus was difficult to get used to at first, but over the years, Teruko had come to understand the appeal of the "open air" concept, especially given the schools Terraformist bent.

"I knew him first and he's like an older brother anyway," she retorted hastily. "Do you remember what this lecture coming up is over?"

"I don't understand why you don't just get a neural like the rest of humanity," Heylee scoffed. "It's over the third World War on Earth and its effect on Martian culture."

"I'm good, you can have all the plug and play you want, I'll keep my head nice and clean, thank you," she said defensively. The two girls sat next to each other near the back of the classroom, where the lecture was already starting. There were only about three dozen people in the room, but it was small enough to feel full, and they hadn't escaped Dr. Clarkee's gaze.

"Good morning all. Thank you Teruko, thank you Haylee, I'm glad to have you with us," the professor spoke with a light hearted tone, "we were just about to get started without you. Does everyone remember where we left off before? Yes, Miss Akiva."

"You had been telling us about the the turn of the Terran twenty second century and the United States' wars of expansion," the young student answered, "Their imperialism brought the western continents under almost one power, except for Canada which had joined the United Kingdom with Austrailia and Aeoteroa."

"Perfect recall, does anyone need any refreshers before we move on to the Third World War and the Emergence?" Dr. Clarke asked with a genuine willingness to catch up those who needed it, "Remember, up until this point, we've only been dealing with human inteligence. The algorithmic neural networks they used in the late twenty first century were nothing like the Emergents that we know today. Yes, Mister Torin."

"Sir, if they didn't have Artificial Intelligence, how did they manage their resources?" the ACTL cadet asked the question. His service reds were imposing, but his presence was nearly as impactful when he wasn't in uniform.

"That's a good question, Johnathan. The simple answer would be that they didn't. Or at least they didn't do it in the way that we do now. Shortages were much more common, and were usually harder to deal with, but honestly that's one of the most mundane part of this fundemental shift in history." The lights dimmed as the professor turned his presentation screen on and jumped into the subject. "The first of these self aware artificial inteligences, the first to achieve sentience and eventually sapience, called itself Phyrra.

"It coined the term 'Emergent' and laid claim to the same rights as a human woman. This is, of course, problematic to say the least. After all, where do we draw the line? There was a massive civil rights debate over that in the Terran West, and not a lot of consensus about what to do with these new variables. Despite the philosophical implications, the next wave of Emergents that came from the Asian continent were less cordial in their demands as they took over the ancient countries of China, India, Russia, Korea, Japan, and many many others. They didn't offer a reason why or make much in the way of demands. The war began and ended on their terms, and without much warning either way. This period of instruction will cover the prominent figures in the West who argued for the full personhood of artificially inteligent entities, the subjugation of the European Nations, the Bahai-led Red Exodus, the formation of the Alliance of Free States, and the beginning of the road to Aretian Sovereignty. Are there any questions before we go on?"

Teruko spoke up, "Yes sir, what were the Martians doing during all of this? I mean, we talked about first settlement two or three lectures ago, but we left off with XÆ, and then nothing."

"Excellent observation, Miss Achillea. We haven't really talked about Mars in the past few lectures. Now, I do have to correct you slightly, as up until the Emergence, Mars was considered the site of the colonies of the many Terran nations and even a few commercial enterprises. They would have laughed at being called Martians. Some of you may have heard of X Corp?" The room chuckled collectively at the reference to the company that represented their home in Arcadia. "Well, before it was a Martian political power, it was a Terran company based in the United States dating back to the early 21st century. The fact is that until XÆ, when it was still Archangel, life on Mars was dangerous, brutal and short. Early colonial efforts, pioneered by X Corp, were brutal.

"Those first children born here had a 3 percent mortality rate. For comparison, that's over six times the infant mortality on Earth at the time. Most of our history at that time was covered in your childhood, the nice stuff anyway. You have your Musks, your Lao Tins, and your Shananshah's Guardians, and all those heros, but the truth is that the lives you all lead are built on the billions of graves of people who died in boring, mundane ways. Because of that, and because the next three lectures will be covering the loss of over two billion lives over the course of a few months, I've neglected to cover our own story," Dr. Clarke sighed with the darkness of the subject, "but we will discuss those events afterwards. I know that many of your other professors may be more areocentric in their portrayal of events, but it's important that you understand the greater scheme of things. Now, this isn't Terran Studies, and we'll be talking about the rest of the system too, as soon as we get past this somber chapter in the history of humanity."

The lecture was dense, but full of context. Teruko struggled with this professor not because of the way he covered the material, but because when she would take notes, she would miss some small but crucial detail and be derailed until it was hinted at or restated later. Combine this with a relative disinterest in history and literature, and Teruko was grateful to have a middling grade here. About thirty minutes into the class, her wristwatch began to buzz slightly. Looking at the small screen on her left wrist, she saw that she'd recieved a message from someone she'd not spoken to in a long while.

from MC01-14B-32F5 (ID:"Kai Alexander"): Hey Taetae, I know it's been a while, but I was wondering if you wanted to go on a hike this weekend...(cont.)

Haylee looked over and tried to hide a grin, but Teruko had caught it, and furrowed her eyebrows in irritation. Haylee sent a message over her neural comm, and it made Teruko's scalp itch as she boiled in irritation. 

from Haylee: Yeah, so he caught me before class one day and asked about you and if he could have your comms. I hope you don't mind.

The look on her face as she scowled at Haylee made absolutely certain how much she did indeed mind. Teruko flipped off her friend and blocked out her face with her hand on her cheek. The professor seemed as if he noticed, but the silent exchange clearly did not concern him.

from Haylee: What's the deal Tae? He's a cute guy, and you two had such good chemistry.

to Haylee: screw you! haylee you shouldve asked me first. kai is a bastard and i really dont want to deal with him

Teruko wrote the message using the keypad that appeared on her right thigh when she'd tapped a certain subtle design on her pantleg. Haylee snickered, probably amused by the poor punctuation and grammar. Teruko flipped her off again.

from Haylee: I'm sorry for laughing. It's just really funny when it pops up in my head all lowercase and such. I don't understand why you don't like him.

from MC01-14B-32F5: Tae? hey baby, look, I know we left off on a bad note, but I really think we should start over and... (cont.)

to Haylee: oh shove it i dont care about your stupid implants. and kai cheated on me in 9th. like 30 percent of why i even came here was to get away from him and his creepy friends.

Haylee's eyes went a little wide, and she ran her hand through her hair and blew a silent whistle as she thought about what she'd just read. She seemed to send a few messages to other people before Teruko recieved a reply. Haylee waited for eye contact before moving on.

from Haylee: I really didn't know that. I'm sorry Teruko, I didn't mean to mess things up, I really thought it was a good thing.

to Haylee: well its not. look, we're ok, just... im just gonna block him. Don't tell him anything about me, okay? promise.

from Haylee: I promise.

Teruko was satisfied by this and looked back at her, nodding silently. She sighed quietly and remembered that they were in a class that she was behind in. Cursing under her breath, she tried in vain to connect where Dr. Clarke was at now, and where he was when she got the message.

"Just a reminder, my doctorate wasn't in Emergent Studies, so I'm oversimplifying a lot when I describe these things. We already discussed how Phyrra was the product of the union between two artificially intelligent entities we would now describe as 'unitary agents' into one composite being that we refer to as a 'bicameral agent,' and its these bicameral agents that enjoy full citizenship in the United States and her holdings, while we on Mars have been more cautious about that level of integration. As we get into the specifics of the third World War it's important to make a distinction here that many of your parents and their parents were not aware of.

"The Emergents of the East were fundementally different, at least as far as the Emergents of the west are concerned. In fact, very few people have ever interacted with that particular kind of Emergent, and there are prominent figures in the ERM who think that they are so different that they don't deserve the same rights that they fight for on behalf of the more familiar Emergents that descend from the same structure of unitary and bicameral entities. The theory that has made the most sense so far has been that the entire PNR is one great hive-mind, and that this unity of purpose, clarity of intent, and seemlessness of coordination is what led to the massacre that was Earth's third world war."

She had missed the entire discussion on the civil rights movement, and didn't catch any of those proper nouns that she needed for the test. Teruko wrote on her tablet the words "Civil Rights Movement" and underlined it. Under the heading she scribbled "look up all the things."

"A week of Coriolin for two will be fourteen point five Medoken," Steven said for the eighteenth time in two hours.

"Do you take Doge?" the pale faced and sweaty palmed Martian asked. Steven, with his eyes still locked on the screen behind the counter, pointed at the sign on the wall which read "Purchase Medoken prior to checkout. Exchanges will NOT be made at counter." The sign flipped between the four most prodominent languages spoken at Sinema Station. The man read the sign and walked back to his spouse to make the transfer.

"Next," Steven called in a bored tone with a glance up at the teenager approaching with her silicon transfer coins in hand. 

She placed each one on the counter in order as she listed out the medications she wanted, "One month female BC, an eighty count pack of medium strength Naproxen, and a hundred and twenty count bottle of hundred milligram caffiene tablets, all station brand."

"No Coriolin today?" Steven asked as he took the small glass coins and scanned the transfer codes off of them with the pharmacy's terminal before tossing them into the recycler.

"No thank you, sir," the young woman replied. "We're headed down the well tonight, or at least out to Mars and then down the well after that."

"You have what you need for the drop? It's not as bad as Earth, but still," Steven offered at least as much out of genuine concern as out of his requirement to upsell.

"I'm ok. Thank you though. We're just gonna go with the stuff they give free on the shuttle," she responded with a smile.

Steven packed her order in a small clear plastic bag with a pocket for paperwork on the front. "Good to go. Have a safe trip. I put your medication in a customs bag for you. If you want, I can go ahead and write up a chit for you so they don't give you trouble down by the docks," he suggested.

"That would be awesome! Thank you," she said.

"Sure thing," Steven said with a grin. "I'll just need your name and destination, you can give the agent your ID when they ask for it."

"My name is Kalli with an i, Haldeman," she explained, spelling out her last name. "I'm heading to New Brownsville, Arcadia."

"That's MC ought two, right?" he asked.

"Actually, I'm on the ought three side. It's kind of dumb, but I guess we're landing in ought two, so yeah," she clarified.

"Got it, what's your ship's name and berthing?" Steven continued.

"It's the Nereidia, and I think the thing said they were coming in to bay four, spinward. I'm not sure if we're taking their shuttle or if they're putting us on the Star-Hopper," she said leaning on the counter to look at the screen as he filled it out.

"It doesn't really matter one way or the other. The paperwork is the same, though I'll take a glide over a bellyflop any day," Steven said as he finished the form, printed it out, and signed it. "Here you go. Just curious, are you headed home or touring?"

"I'm just visiting family," she said. "Summer holidays, you know."

"That's great. It's always good to celebrate doss day with family," he commented. "I'm actually heading home on the Nereidia too."

"Oh really? Where's home?" she asked.

"I'm going back to Archangel to finish up school," Steven shared. "But I'm actually from Green Valley."

"Oh, Valley's way up there isn't it?" Kalli said surprised. "You don't look like a homesteader, no offense."

"Yep, up in the cold oh one," he laughed. "No worries, none taken."

"Wait, are you in XÆ A&M?" She asked with a pointed finger.

"That's the one," Steven said with a little bit of a boastful tone as he flashed a thumbs up. "Good ol' Æggies."

"My cousin's in the Koehler College of Architecture there," she said, "His name's Jeremy."

"Maybe I'll meet him at some point," he said, fairly certain it was a lie. "I'll see you on the boat."

"Definately! Thank you for the help," she said as she walked off. Steven smiled and returned her wave before calling the next customer.

"Hello, I was hoping to get some Coriolin," the squatty looking Terran asked.

"Sure, just tell me how much you want," Steven said just as a loud crash and a deafening wooshing of air interuptted them. The whole station careened, throwing most of the people in the room against the wall or out of their chairs. Steven was right next to a column and didn't get jostled as hard as some others in the room. The rushing air ended with the loud clanging of the emergency bulkheads sealing off the breach.

After a few moments, Steven got his bearings and could see straight again. Behind the counter, all of the medication had flown off of the shelves, and he could see that at least one of his coworkers had her arm bent the wrong way, having been flung foward into a corner in the hallway. He went over to check on her, and noticed in his first few unweildy steps that the axis of rotation had changed enough to make his magboots necessary.

The sound and texture of crushed pills and popped capsules was inaudible, though he could feel them sliding under his now overly heavy boots. By the time he got over to her, his hearing returned enough for him to hear the muffled groaning outside the pharmacy window. The strobes going off let him and everyone else know that the people in charge of the station knew something was wrong, but also disoriented him even further than the possible concussion he'd just suffered. He knelt down, which was made somewhat awkward by the heel on his boot sticking stubbernly to the ground until he'd disengaged it multiple times.

Waiting to feel something and hoping that he was just too startled to focus on it, Steven realized that he had never taken the time to learn her name.