“Since then, most of you probably know the story. You will if you’ve read the biography that we put out,” Cas continued. “I joined the Space Corps to get away from him and you all know the rest.”

He glanced towards the divider that separated us uncertainly but I was too distracted by the photos that appeared on the big screen.

I didn’t even know they had them. I thought they’d been lost somewhere on the base. It was a picture of us. Back from before it all happened. Some official ones, our official crew photos, photos from us going on our first mission and more, but some were ones we’d taken ourselves. Photos of us on leisure trips appeared on the screen and I felt my jaw drop.

They must have found them on our personal devices but they’d been left back on Nova. Photos of the five of us relaxing on pleasure ships, of Cas and Gem climbing one of the obstacle courses, their faces barely visible but still full of happiness. The next photo appeared on the screen and I heard a gasp slip out of Peggy.

I immediately understood why.

It was a photo of us on Gusiun and that was very obvious. Peggy was asleep in the chair on the right, Cory asleep in the chair next to her, his hand clutching Gem’s. She was still awake and that was part of the issue.

Even in the picture, it was clear how drunk we were. Our eyes were wide and unfocused and we were obviously locked in a heated discussion. Gem was gesturing wildly, a mostly empty and vibrantly coloured cocktail clutched in her hand.

I ripped my eyes away from her and, with a wince they landed on my face. I had thrown my head back and my mouth was open as I laughed hysterically. My tongue was stained blue from the cocktail I’d been drinking all day. Cas was sat between us, his arm thrown around my shoulders and he was looking at me, with what I could only describe as adoration.

I had to look away, my cheeks burning, but unfortunately, that was when I noticed the table in front of us in the picture. It was littered with shot glasses and empty bottles.

Well… Cas thought slowly. We could say it was all non-alcoholic?

The glowing neon light that proudly announced we were in the ‘Number One Bar on Gusiun’ made it pretty clear that the drinks were non-alcoholic.

“Umm…” Peggy started, her wide eyes darting to Andy.

It is very clear that we’re drunk there, isn’t it? I asked with a wince.

“Maybe we won’t use that photo,” Elliot said, his voice shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

“So,” Andy started.

I turned away from the screen, anxiety building in my chest.

What do we do? Cas asked.

I don’t know! I thought that after we told that Gusiun photographer we didn’t want the photo it would be deleted! I thought back.

“I see you lot did have fake IDs,” Andy continued. “Leo is going to be furious.”

“Why?” Peggy asked, a hint of a tremble in her voice.

“She was certain you didn’t have them. Now she owes me two weeks of overtime. Or, well, I’m not sure what the alternative here would be,” he said with a smile.

I let out the breath that I’d been holding.

“You knew? How? We hacked Frida every time,” I said slowly.

He shook his head sympathetically.

“It’s surprisingly obvious when a crew comes back from a few days off with a mysterious illness consisting of light sensitivity, headaches and nausea.”

Elliot sniggered quietly and my mouth dropped open and it took me a few seconds before I could close it.

“But then… why didn’t you stop us?” I spluttered.

Andy shrugged lightly.

“It wasn’t happening frequently and you were making sure to stay overnight when it wasn’t safe for you to fly. I believe you were being safe enough and trying to ban that kind of behaviour normally leads to excessive consumption as well as other unsafe behaviours,” he explained.

I couldn’t speak. My brain couldn’t form any words.

“Plus, who hasn’t passed out drunk in one of those cold, sticky chairs,” Elliot added with a smirk and a pointed look at Andy.

I looked between the two, still unable to speak.

“Orion, are there any photos of the crew where they’re sober?” Aquila asked.

I winced at the question and looked at Orion hopefully.

“Oh, yeah! I can find some!”

“Good. Cas, do you want to talk about your decision to go on the Irision mission?”

The room fell silent in response to Aquila’s question.

Cas shuffled on the screen, his eyebrows creasing together.

“I mean… It was never really an option not to go. Not for me, at least. We reached out to the Guardians and I even called my dad and spoke to him for the first time in years. He said he was handling it so I knew he wasn’t going to do anything. Even if we just got there and found out that he hadn’t lied and was actually handling everything, at least we’d have known, you know? I just wanted to help. I thought as long as we helped people, it wouldn’t matter.” Cas stopped and shook his head. “I was dumb. Maybe I haven’t changed that much since I was that dumb idealistic kid you saw in the interview.”

“What happened when you got to Irision? Did you ever have any doubt or change your mind?” Aquila asked softly.

“No, not for a second. I was a little disappointed that he wasn’t there and that he didn’t send anyone but it didn’t really matter anymore. We just needed to help the people of Irision get off the planet and get somewhere safe.”

“Do you regret your decision to take them back to Nova?”

I swallowed.

Yes.

“I mean… That wasn’t exactly my decision. We gave everyone the choice of whether they wanted to stay on Freo or if they wanted to come to Nova,” he explained, looking uncomfortable.

“Do you think they would have decided differently if they knew what awaited them on Nova?”

I looked away from the screen slowly, fear starting to build within me.

“What awaited them on Nova?” Cas asked before I could, his voice echoing the worry I was feeling.

“The same thing that awaited you. Every single Irisian that you brought back with you has been in prison since they arrived,” Aquila said.

I started to shake my head, wanting to disagree with what she had said but I couldn’t put my thoughts into words.

“But, why?” Peggy breathed.

“Harvey is saying they entered the planet illegally. Technically they were not on any flight plans,” Andy explained gently.

“They were seeking emergency asylum, we didn’t have time to fill anything in!”

Andy shook his head.

“I understand that but the Council do not.”

My stomach started to churn as guilt speared me.

This was my fault. I just abandoned them on Nova and forgot about them. I hadn't even thought about them since that day.

“What can we do? Can we get them out?” I asked.

Aquila nodded, a look of almost approval on her face.

“We’ll start with finishing this interview and then we can discuss some options,” she said before glancing back at her screen. “What happened once you were back on Nova?”

Cas blinked a few times, coming out of his thoughts.

“Oh… We were arrested. Immediately.”

“And how did they treat you whilst you were in prison?” Aquila asked.

A muscle in Cas’ jaw twitched.

“I assume you’ve read the document we put out,” he said tightly. “I’d rather not talk about it too much.”

You okay? I asked as the memory of his screams of pain whilst the Guardians beat him echoed in my head.

Yeah, just don’t want to go back over it too much, you know? he sent back.

Yeah. I get it.

“That’s okay. I won’t ask you to go over it in too much detail. Did they treat you appropriately according to Council laws?” she asked.

Cas laughed, a bitter noise.

“Of course they didn’t. They tortured all of us. They beat us bloody and broke limbs without ever even caring or sending a medBot to us. My dad loved to parade us back to our cells in front of the others and relished seeing our pain. He told us that Gem was dead, he said that he would kill Aries and the rest of my crew. He did cruel, unspeakable things to every one of us and physically and psychologically tortured us so no. He did not act in accordance with Council laws.”

The room was silent.

I stared at the screen in my hands, watching Cas’ shoulders rise and fall rapidly as he fought to get himself back under control, but I couldn’t look away. I didn’t want to see the pity, fury or understanding in all of their faces. It would be too much.

My heart was racing so furiously that I could feel it pounding in my throat. We didn’t talk about what happened there. It was too much, too scary.

Part of it was selfishness as well. I didn’t want to hear what the others had gone through, how he’d tortured them. It would break something in me and I didn’t have the strength even though I knew I should have at least tried.

“Do you need to take a break?” Andy asked gently after a time.

Cas shook his head.

“Let’s just get it over. What next?”

“Why did you come to Freo?” Aquila asked, her tone strangely kind.

Cas swallowed loudly and stretched out his clenched fists.

“I didn’t really have a choice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I came but I’m only here because my dad and the other Council members were trying to pick my crew off one by one. Freo sent some of the fighters to come down and rescue us before we were kidnapped and inevitably tortured again.”

There was another pause and I tightened my grip on the screen in my hands. My palms were sweaty and there was a slight tremble to my fingers.

“How have you found things on Freo?” Aquila asked.

Her tone was gentle and probing but also genuine. She wanted his actual thoughts.

“I’ve enjoyed it. Mostly. I mean, it’s nice to be more involved in things here and to know that I’m actually helping people. Before everything went wrong, I was doing supply drops and food drops every few days. I really enjoyed that,” he said softly, a small smile gracing his lips.

“I’m glad,” Aquila said. “You were good at it too.”

Cas looked down, embarrassed by her compliment.

I forced a deep breath out and glanced around the room. Everyone was looking at their screens but I found myself unable to look at Andy properly. The expression on his face was too… raw. It felt like I was looking at something private, something I shouldn’t be looking at.

He looked angry.

No, angry was too mild a term to use. He was livid. Furious maybe.

“And what would you say to anyone still on Nova right now?” Aquila asked.

“Leave,” Cas replied immediately. “The Council don’t care about you, they don’t care about anyone. Staying on Nova is a risk so if you can get out safely, do it now. Otherwise, it’ll be too late and you’ll be at risk.”

Aquila nodded, a smile crossing her face.

“And what about the people still working for the Council? The Guardians or members of the IA and Space Corps?”

Cas paused, clearly not expecting the question.

He thought hard, his eyebrows drawing together.

“Look into what the Council are doing, if it is safe to do so. Find out if they’re actually doing what you think is right and how they’re treating people. Ask questions and see if their actions align with your morals. I think a lot of people will find that they don’t.” He paused and his eyes darted towards the picture of Harvey that now appeared on the screen. “But I think, most importantly, stay safe and get out if you can."