CHAPTER 5

Artemis

T his time I knew it wasn’t me that was responsible for the weirdness. I was woman enough to take accountability for my own reactions in the previous elevator awkwardness, even if I didn’t fully comprehend it, but the strange man with the humour in his eyes was definitely the source of this one. There was no levity to him right now, and I felt strangely bereft as the elevator rose back up to the fourteenth deck.

He was the second person to have their light dimmed since our arrival onto the ship, and I had endured enough of that for multiple lifetimes. I tried my best to ignore it, because at the end of the day it wasn’t my problem and I didn’t need to fix it. But watching him now, the way he scowled and the jerky movements of his tense muscles, I didn’t like seeing him like that. And not just because he had practically mowed down one of my team in his angry rush to leave his own behind, but because I didn’t like seeing him so down and out. It reminded me of when Libby would come back from her turn in The Program. Her usual bubbly personality would be wiped clean of all that made it good. She would still find it within herself to smile and joke around, but it would either be an act or full of sarcasm. Witnessing her like that felt like she was cutting through my flesh down to my very core to poke and prod at my soul.

I learned a long time ago that watching someone I cared about suffer in any capacity made me suffer too, but I didn’t know this man. He wasn’t someone who held any value to me or my life, but neither did Bromm when the piece of shit we’d been rooming with before had talked down to him.

I wasn’t used to being around people. Was that why I was suddenly so perceptive to other people’s emotions that I struggled when complete strangers were struggling? I would have to keep track of how I reacted to those around me. I wouldn’t be useful to anyone if I were constantly focusing on everyone else rather than my mission. I had important goals that I had to achieve. Life or death goals.

Purging the deepening feeling that everything was spiralling out of my control, I focused on the task at hand. Eat, get my orders, and follow through. There was not much else of value that I could do until we reached Nova Academy and I was able to conduct a more thorough investigation. I would still snoop around during the journey to Nova Station, but I doubted I would find anything here. The likelihood of the people I needed to locate and dig into being on this ship was low, since it was just Captain Hironimus, his crew, and the cadets, but not impossible. Captain Hironimus or his officers could be involved somehow, but I doubted it. Yet it would be neglectful of me to assume, so I needed to remain vigilant even now.

After receiving the holo-tab in my bunk this morning, I now had unfiltered access to everything stored in the ship’s databases. While I only had access to The Carina’s files for now, it was more than enough for an in-depth peep into the captain. Once I was on academy grounds I would have access to more files from there, but there was too much of a disconnect between the captain’s clearance for classified information and those closer to the top of the food chain that worked at the academy.

I would have to start my investigation tonight while my roommates were asleep. It wouldn’t do for anyone to notice how much time I was spending on the holo-tab, or how I was using it.

The research I had managed to complete so far brought up some interest facts about Captain Hironimus and his past in the military, but I skimmed through those details, largely because they didn’t pertain to my mission. It seemed he and his crew had gotten into some trouble. Though the details remained unclear, his position as an instructor at Nova Academy was relatively new. For lack of better terminology, he’d been grounded and put on babysitting duty.

Despite the lack of information regarding his current plight, he didn’t seem to be in the sort of trouble that ruined lives. The file I read referred to it as a ‘temporary reassignment’. Considering his previous missions consisted of a significant amount of action, his current surly disposition made a lot more sense.

Whatever he’d done to earn the punishment, it wasn’t bad enough for a demotion or even a dismissal, but it clearly wasn’t great, either. What that meant could range from a conflict between the captain and a higher-ranking officer to a blatant rule break. The latter seemed like it would be a little out of character for him, from what I’d gleaned. My research alongside what I’d witnessed of him so far suggested he was a stickler for the rules.

Regardless, he did not strike me as suspect, so I let it go for now.

The rest of the officers, however, still needed some deeper digging. On the surface, they were spic and span. But that was just it. A couple of them were a little too clean, and it raised some red flags. I had already decided that was the task I needed to complete tonight.

Sounds of disgust brought me out of my reverie and into the present moment. I was seated in the mess hall, my tray of food untouched in front of me. Today’s lunch consisted of a mystery meat that, while it tasted okay, the texture was so unusual that I was glad for my ignorance regarding its composition.

The noise came from Bromm. He had attempted to grab a cup of coffee, but Foryk had persuaded him to stick with water, which he was currently using to wash down the meat and swill around his mouth.

Our newest team member and roommate was sitting beside him and opposite me. He had introduced himself earlier as Reece Hastings, a mutt from a prominent family line, but that was all the information we (and by ‘ we’ I meant Bromm) had managed to squeeze from him. He eyed the coffee machine from his seat as if he would jump out of the ship without a suit and get sucked into the vacuum of space if it meant he could have some. Bromm shot him an empathetic look before he, too, gazed longingly at the machine.

I wasn’t about to let them put that crap in their bodies, though. Not unless they wanted issues with their guts for the rest of the day. A few days of withdrawal wouldn’t hurt them. Much.

The hall was filled with the sounds of eating and drinking and the occasional whispered conversation, but after yesterday’s debacle no one was willing to rock the boat. They mostly sat and ate in silence. Particularly considering we were joined by the captain himself. Captain Hironimus sitting almost sulkily at his table of officers that chattered quietly around him. There was an empty bubble that surrounded him, as if the others didn’t want to poke the bear so they were keeping their distance. His eyes were glued to his tray as he stabbed at the mystery meat with a fork, and I wondered if he was as repulsed by it as I was.

I finished quickly and placed my tray in an empty slot. Immediately, my holo-tab dinged with an incoming alert. Fishing it out of my pocket, I clicked on the flashing red light and the hologram lifted above the glass surface. It was simple, just three small sentences:

Cadet Corporal 001, your team is due to report to Deck 2.

Your shift is for FOUR TURNS in MAINTENANCE .

Further instructions upon arrival.

The rest of my team must have noticed the alert, because they each rushed to place their empty trays in the rack and wait for my instructions. It was surprisingly pleasant to have them look to me for direction, but I wasn’t sure what to do with that discovery. It wasn’t something I had experienced before, beyond keeping Libby in line. The difference was that Libby didn’t want to listen and I would have to force her hand, whereas my team of cadets were eager and ready to follow my lead. And they were seemingly the only ones if the sloth-like energy the other teams exuded were any indication.

It gave me a rush of power that I knew, if not handled correctly, could become intoxicating.

Was this how the scientists felt as they strapped us down and tore into our flesh?

The thought chilled me to my very core, and I decided then that I didn’t want to hold that much power over someone else. Leading a team was one thing, but I couldn’t let it go much further beyond that.

I didn’t want to become just like the very monsters I had run from.

When we reached the elevator, apprehension gripped me hard. Each and every time I had been inside one since stepping on this ship had been torturous in some way or another, and I wasn’t eager to go through it again. Except it wasn’t uncomfortable this time around, and I exhaled a discreet puff of air from the relief.

‘So, Arty, what’s the assignment?’ asked Bromm when we were scanned to determine our exit floor.

‘Deck 2. Maintenance shift. Four turns,’ I stated simply. I didn’t see the need for embellishments when we were on duty. Or off duty, to be frank. Straight and to the point ensured less room for error or misunderstandings. And saved time.

But Bromm didn’t like that answer. When he groaned and slouched back against the wall, I arched a brow at him in a silent question.

‘Maintenance shifts are the literal worst. We’re going to be scrubbing. Scrubbing toilets, scrubbing floors, scrubbing tables… just a whole lot of scrubbing ,’ he whined.

Foryk scoffed. ‘Don’t want to get your hands dirty, Princess?’ he teased .

Bromm stiffened at the moniker, and I almost asked what about it triggered him, but then decided against it. It was none of my business. He soon relaxed, anyway.

‘I do plenty of work with my hands, thank you very much,’ he replied, jokingly lifting his chin and sniffing haughtily.

Foryk chuckled derisively. ‘Sure, Princess. Not the kind of work I was referring to, though.’

Bromm gasped exaggeratedly. ‘I can assure you, good sir, that I was referring to manual labour. There is no need to be so crude.’

Foryk shook his head with a knowing smirk. ‘Whatever you say. Princess .’

It didn’t escape my notice how our last member didn’t join in with the ribbing. Instead, he stood watching with a pensive expression I wasn’t sure how to decipher. It could have been he felt uncomfortable trying to insert himself into an already established friendship, or that said friendship was giving off vibes that indicated something more.

The door slid up then and let us out. Deck two welcomed us into a dull corridor. Doors lined each wall, the metal smudged and cloudy, a far cry from the sparkling, glaringly clean decks up above.

Bromm and Foryk exchanged uncertain glances, and even Reece looked slightly taken aback if his wrinkled nose was anything to go by. Personally, I wanted to know why the maintenance deck wasn’t considered as important as the other decks in terms of cleanliness. Shouldn’t the place where cleaning items and tools were kept be clean, too?

‘Ah, there you are,’ came a high-pitched, feminine voice. ‘I was beginning to think no one was coming.’

I stepped forward as a short Griknot woman in grease-stained overalls stumbled out of a door on clumsy legs, banging her arm into the doorframe as she left. She shot it a dirty look as if it had been the one to run into her, and I considered the security of her mental state .

She shook it off, turning a beaming smile on us, though her footsteps stuttered when she noticed Bromm right behind me. Ignoring my outstretched hand, she dropped the belt full of tools she had been holding, wiped her oily hands on her overalls which did absolutely nothing to remove the offending grime, and dipped into a low and awkward looking curtsey.

‘Y-Your Highness,’ she stuttered.

Bromm paled. ‘Get up,’ he hissed. I turned my bewildered gaze onto him, only to find his skin had turned the most vibrant shade of purple I had ever seen on a person. His eyes looked everywhere but at us, and he shifted nervously from foot to foot.

‘I’m just a cadet. There’s no need for that,’ he continued, a harsh bite to his tone that was a shock to my system. It felt wrong coming from him when I had him pegged for bright, happy and fun.

The woman stood, her own cheeks turning a deeper magenta on her already pink skin. ‘Right, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here, Your… uh, I mean, Brommyt. Wait, no. Um, Cadet .’ She gave a decisive dip of her head as she came the conclusion that was how to properly address him.

‘You’re a prince?’ I asked. Foryk’s teasing princess moniker suddenly made a lot more sense.

He huffed out a breath, completely deflating with it as if holding that information in had been incredibly taxing, but exposing the secret was even more so. ‘Yes, I’m a Prince. I would prefer it if you just considered me another cadet, though. I don’t want that information to get out. Too much fanfare, you know?’

I didn’t know. But I recognised his desperation to remain invisible, at least to some degree. A small part of me felt a little bit more connected to him, an understanding passing between us that only the two of us could comprehend. I was aware that my personal circumstances were considerably more traumatic and horrifying than his, but it was like something clicked into place between us that hadn’t been there before .

Giving into his wishes, I turned back to the short, pink, bumbling woman without another word and moved on. I heard Bromm’s sigh of relief behind me but ignored him.

I extended my hand towards her again, and this time she shook it. ‘Cadet Corporal Mercer,’ I introduced myself. ‘And these are Cadet Lance Corporals Min’Tuk, Turrl, and Hastings.’

‘Chief Warrant Officer Brin. Good to meet ya. Follow me and I’ll get ya kitted up,’ she said, turning on her heel and scurrying down the corridor at a speed I was not only surprised to see from someone so clumsy, but I expected would lead to disastrous consequences.

I was proved correct a moment later when she barged through the same doorway she’d popped out of and immediately crashed into something and caused a clutter and a bang that didn’t stop for some time. Concerned, I ran through the door to find her sprawled in a heap of limbs, tools, and spare parts.

Reaching down, I offered her my hand which she took with a grateful, thin-lipped smile. I helped haul her back up onto her feet, ensuring her feet were positioned securely on the floor and away from the mess.

‘Well,’ she said breathlessly as she dusted herself off. ‘Looks like you’ll be helping me organise all this today instead.’

Bromm whistled as we took in the state of the room. Piles of disorganised clutter were scattered around, and there was barely any room left to stand. Tools hung from the ceiling, making us duck our heads as CWO Brin led us deeper into the chaos. More tools and equipment were haphazardly hung from the walls but stuck out at off angles as they dangled precariously on their hooks.

Brin stopped with her hands on her hips, gazing around the wreckage of a room with a lost look on her face, and I knew I would have to step in or we’d be here all day.

‘Let’s get started over here,’ I pointed to the pile closest to us. I didn’t think it mattered where we started, so long as we did .

‘Right, yes. Good idea. Here,’ she mumbled. Her mind seemed to be as scattered as her things.

Kneeling down, I reached out to start untangling a collection of multicoloured wires when another pile collapsed with a clash and a clang, poor Brin’s limbs sticking out from under a mound of metal.

‘I’m okay!’ she called, her voice muffled beneath the heap.

I huffed out a laugh, both from complete stupefaction and the utter absurdity of the situation.

This was going to be a long shift.