Page 20 of Bound by Stars

Weslie

Twenty-five days to Mars

There’s a knock at my bedroom door, and I leap to my feet.

With my hand hovering over the door release, I pause and count out five seconds in my head.

Enough time to seem like I wasn’t perched on the edge of my bed waiting.

I’m not a fan of surprises, but Jupiter isn’t as terrible to spend time with as I expected.

Plus, the everyday routine of ship life is getting old. Fast. On five, I press the button.

The door slides open to Jupiter bracing himself on the edge of the doorway, panting like he sprinted here from the farthest end of the ship.

He unfastens the second button of his shirt, checking over his shoulder.

The neck of his compression suit peeks out from underneath.

Even with a sheen of sweat on his forehead and dressed up like an elitist penguin, he looks good.

I drop my gaze to his polished black shoes. “Is there a ball or something because if that’s the surprise, I think I’m coming down with something.”

“My readings indicate you are in perfect health, Weslie,” ILSA says from behind me.

Does she realize that she’s my bot? That I built her? She could have my back once in a while. At least she didn’t announce my increased heart rate when I opened the door.

He slips off the bow tie hanging around his collar, balls it up, and slides it into his pocket. “Nothing…like that…promise…couldn’t risk”—he takes a deep breath—“going back to my room to change. Do you have a coat?”

I grab my jacket off the bed.

He slides back his sleeve to check his comm. “We have to hurry.”

We take a stairwell at the back of the ship and pass through plain gray halls past engine rooms and cargo bays. He seems unsure of every other turn but makes up his mind quickly like he’s following loosely memorized directions.

Ahead, Asha, Tar, Curran, and Skye are gathered around an open hatch, every one of them zipped into insulated jackets.

“You made it!” Asha wraps her arms around me.

I pat her shoulder and eye the hatch.

Tar takes in Jupiter’s evening attire, wincing. “You’re going to freeze.”

“No time to change. It’ll be worth it.”

I step away from the opening in the floor. “Be honest, is this a trap? Are you all evacuating me into space?”

“There’s an idea.” The familiar voice sends an icy chill up my back before I even meet Meridian’s cold stare.

I knew there was a good reason I should have stayed in my unit.

She strolls toward us dressed in a puffy maroon jacket with Hale at her side.

Asha crosses her arms. “You weren’t invited.”

“We were last time. Figured it was open-ended.” Hale zips his jacket to his throat.

Meridian stops and points her thumbs back toward the way they came, her eyes burrowing into Asha. “We could always go back up and tell your dad that you’re all floating around the docking bay playing a game.”

“It’s fine. More players.” Tar waves them over, climbing down the hatch. “Stay.”

Asha rolls her eyes and follows him into the tunnel. Skye goes next, Curran after her.

Jupiter waves me in.

I take a deep breath, tap my fingers to my thumb, and step down onto the ladder.

Below, Skye pushes off the bottom rung, suspended in air.

“No way.” My words echo through the tunnel.

I climb down faster. Near the bottom, the pull of artificial gravity releases me.

My weight shifts, evenly distributed. My curls lift off my shoulders.

I push myself down into a long, gray room covered in a grid of bars along the walls.

Keeping hold of the ladder with one white-knuckled hand, I feel off balance, like I’m about to fall, even though there’s no gravity to force me in any particular direction.

Jupiter follows, lowering down beside me. His gold eyes are bright.

I test letting go, but my limbs flail like I’m in free fall. I reach out for an anchor point.

He takes my hand. “You’re not falling. Try to relax.”

Meridian calls down from above Hale, “Will you two get out of the way?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to miss out because of the newbie.” Hale frowns down from the tunnel.

Jupiter stares up at him. “You slammed full-on into a wall your first time, knocked yourself out, and we had to drag your ass all the way to the med bay. Be patient.”

My free arm windmills like I’m trying to catch myself again.

Jupiter’s expression and tone soften again. “Take it slow. You can hold onto me if—”

“I got it.” I shake my head and let go, drifting sideways and spinning in a slow circle. I might as well be crashing to the floor the way my stomach flips. Oh god, how do I stop?

I grab hold of the only thing still in reach.

Jupiter tugs my forearm away from his throat. “The floor isn’t going to hurt you unless you launch yourself at it.”

I suddenly realize I’m clinging to him like he’s the only thing keeping me from plummeting to my death. I untangle myself. “Don’t read into this. When we’re back in the lab, I’ll continue barely tolerating you.”

“Of course.” A smile tugs at the edge of his mouth.

My heart races and my stomach twists. My feet are only six feet from the floor, but it feels like a thousand. I stay completely still, afraid if I try to move, I’ll spin until I puke or smack into the wall.

Skye grabs a pipe and pushes herself along the ceiling above me. “First rule of weightlessness: slow, easy movements.”

Meridian does a somersault off the ladder, spinning past Hale.

In the center of the room, Tar floats with his hands behind his head and ankles crossed, framed by a view of space that’s the width and height of the entire end of the docking bay.

I bump into the wall and feel my momentum shift. It’s kind of like swimming, but with less resistance. Actually, no resistance. I push off, passing under Tar, and glide toward the window at the end of the long room.

Jupiter drifts along beside me. “You’re doing great.”

“How did you all even find this place?”

“Pilotless space barges deliver supplies during crossings. They were sent out ahead of us with extra food and stuff. The artificial gravity gets shut off for resupply, and since Asha and Tarak’s dad is the captain, they can figure out when we’re going to pass one.

” Jupiter runs a hand along the wall to stop.

I catch myself, palms to the window. Outside, the giant disk-shaped vessel is docked.

Tar bumps the glass beside me. “This one arrived yesterday, and they finished unloading around lunch, so we have plenty of time.” He launches himself backward.

I push off into a slow roll. “I think I’m getting the hang of this.”

On my fifth rotation, I realize my mistake.

I’m barreling longways through the room.

Nothing to grab hold of until I hit the roll-up door at least fifty feet away.

Trying to spot, I pick a point on the wall and crane my neck.

All I can do is wait it out, while Meridian and Hale snicker behind me. Rule two: know where you’re going.

Darting past, Jupiter anchors himself and reaches out to catch my hand. “Careful.”

I crash into him, knocking him into the wall so we’re face to face. Puffs of white breath mingle in the air between us. “Sorry.”

Jupiter’s expression is patient and sweet and close. Too close.

I push off his chest, drifting across the much shorter width of the room.

He shoves off the wall to follow. “It’s okay. There’s a learning curve, but you’re getting it.” He’s so much nicer than me. There’s no way I wouldn’t tease him mercilessly if the roles were reversed.

“If everyone’s got their space legs, can we start the game?” Curran calls from the end of the hall, tucking a silver medallion floating from the chain around his neck into his jacket.

“Game?” I grab a bar and launch myself toward the group gathered in front of the window.

Skye sails past the giant number 14 painted across the long wall. “It’s like a soccer and handball hybrid. Soccer rules, except you can only pass with your hands and you have to hit the wall instead of the inside of a goal.”

Asha pulls out a multicolored ball the size of an egg, squishing the soft toy between her index finger and thumb. She leaves the ball hovering in the center of the hall and pushes herself back. “Alphabetical teams!”

Last or first? I don’t know any of their last names.

Shit. I’m drifting away, slowly, but I can’t stop it.

Anchored to the roof, Jupiter catches me with his injured hand, wincing as he pulls me back to the group.

“It’s easy. The roll-up door and the window on either end are the goals.

The space between one and four is midfield.

” He nods for me to grab hold of the bar above my head and points at the giant characters on the opposite wall.

“Just catch, pass, and try not to run into anyone. Got it?”

Sounds simple enough. “Careful with your drawing hand. ILSA will be annoyed if you mess up her work.”

The edge of his mouth twitches upward. The gold around his pupils is more brilliant than I remembered, like burning stars.

“My team will take the hatch side.” Asha launches herself to the other end of the room where Hale is holding onto the bottom of the ladder.

“Wouldn’t want to annoy ILSA.” Jupiter follows Curran after them.

A , C , H , and J . First names. Which means…

Meridian glides along the ceiling to join Skye, Tar, and me.

I deflate. Maybe this isn’t going to be all that simple after all.

“Skye, you take point,” Tar instructs, sending her to the center of the hall. “Wes, you’re left. Meridian, right. I’ll hang back and play defense.” He keeps his hand flat on the window, holding himself in place, and the rest of us push off.

“It has to be passed at least three times before hitting the wall for a point. No collisions. I don’t want to drag anyone to the med bay this time,” Asha calls from the other end.

Skye positions herself across from Curran, the ball floating midway between them.

“Everyone ready?” Tar yells.

Jupiter moves into position ahead of me on the other side of the hall. Did he choose to pair up against me or was that Asha’s call?

“Let’s play!” Asha shouts.

On her word, Curran and Skye shove away from the ceiling. Curran moves comically slow, while Skye is moving too fast, but she manages to grab the ball and grab his ankle to both slow herself and spin him off course.

She tosses the ball back to Meridian, who’s drifting in the middle of the hall with Tar behind her, ready to catch it if she misses. She lets go of the bar above her, snatches the blur of rainbow colors out of the air, and twirls in slow motion, releasing it, shockingly—in my direction.

I climb along the wall, spinning, ready to catch the ball.

Before it reaches me, Hale crosses the room, cutting off Meridian’s pass and rotating to throw to Jupiter.

When he twists to make the catch, I push off and glide past, snagging the ball just out of his reach. I grip the bar along the ceiling and throw to Meridian, who’s waiting on the left.

Hale is halfway across the room when Skye zooms down the center, grabbing the ball as Meridian releases it. She fakes the throw left and then chucks it at the upper right corner of the wall behind Asha, whose momentum carries her in the wrong direction.

“Goal!” Skye catches the edge of the roll-up door and launches herself past me, slapping my outstretched hand.

I drift past Jupiter as he moves back into position.

“You’re a natural,” he says.

“Beginner’s luck!” Hale calls from the opposite wall.

Tar and Asha count down from three when we’re all back in position. Curran, Hale, and Jupiter use a handoff approach, twirling around each other and clenching their hands to hide who has the ball.

Tar zeroes in on Hale, launching at him.

There’s a flash of colors as Jupiter slips the ball to Curran with their backs to Meridian.

“Curran has it!” I call out to her as he slams the rainbow sphere into the wall for their first point.

Next round, Skye zooms through the space until she launches herself a little too hard at the back wall and collides with Asha.

“You two okay?” Tar asks from his position in front of the window.

“Yeah, give us a minute,” Asha calls back, checking Skye for injuries as they both laugh.

The rest of us move slowly back into our starting positions.

Jupiter doesn’t stop on his side, crossing the center line and slowing in front of me. “Enjoying zero gravity?”

“Technically there’s no such thing as zero gravity. Everything has a gravitational pull. Even you and me.” Did I really just say that out loud? Being a know-it-all never sounded so much like flirting.

“Yeah?” He grins like he’s asking a completely different question that has nothing to do with space or gravity.

That is not happening. He’s sweet for a privileged Elysian, but he’s still a privileged Elysian. Who cares if his smile makes my throat close up or that my breath hitches every time he looks at me through those thick lashes? That all sounds like an allergic reaction.

Tar calls from the window, “Timeout over. We need to finish this game before launch.”

“What happens at launch?” I frown at Jupiter.

“This is kind of like a big airlock.”

My eyes go wide. I’ve always wanted to experience weightlessness, but this isn’t worth the risk of being sucked out into space. I stare at the docking door. “So why the hell are we playing a game in it?”

“It’s fine. There’s a warning before it takes off. Plus, Tar always gets us out of here well before it gets close to time.”

The next round, I’m too busy watching the docking door to notice Skye’s pass. Hale snags it and his team collectively earn their second point.

“Wake up, Earther!” Meridian calls from the opposite side of the room.

I shake it off. None of these people seem reckless. Especially not Asha. She’s too protective of Tarak. If this was seriously dangerous, she wouldn’t let her brother down here at all.

They manage to get a couple more past Tar, but more rounds than not, Meridian and I manage to work together to keep control of the ball, despite the glares and cloaked insults she’s busy tossing my way between passes.

And Skye keeps the other team guessing, zooming through the long room like she’s not afraid of crashing again.

By the last round, we’re three points ahead when we reset.

“Did someone tell you the game started, Big Six?” I lock eyes with Jupiter on the other side.

Curran snags the ball and throws it back to him.

Jupiter catches it in his palm. “Game? What game?”

I narrow my eyes and push off toward him as he passes to Hale.

The lights flash off and then on again.

“ Auto-departure, dock fourteen, proceeding in sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight …”

Tar zooms past me as the lights flash on. “Everyone out!”