“Crew Seven Six One, stay behind, please,” Aquila requested gently.

I sighed and dropped back into my seat as everyone else streamed out around us.

“May we stay as well?” Andy asked.

It was obvious he wasn’t willing to leave just in case we discussed the plan some more. He didn’t want to be out of the loop again.

I could tell he was still annoyed. He hadn’t been happy with Aquila and my plan and I knew he was going to have a conversation with her about it. Their dynamic was weird. I kept meaning to ask Andy or Chal about it but I always forgot.

I know that Aquila is the Captain on Freo, not Andy but he was still somewhat in charge. Andy had been working with Freo since before Aquila but he was always on Nova so he wasn’t able to command much from there. Even so, I think he sent quite a few people and information in their direction so he’s well respected and well-liked.

“Of course,” Aquila said in a somewhat clipped tone.

She knew their argument was coming too.

I glanced around at my crew, checking they’d remained without meeting their eyes. I couldn’t. Not yet, I still felt unprepared to deal with their questions.

“I’ve dismissed you from lessons for the rest of the day,” Aquila started.

“Thank you but that isn’t necessary,” I cut in quickly.

At least if we were in class the rest of my crew wouldn’t be able to constantly ask me questions. Well, they would. Our mods made that easier but they’d be more distracted.

Aquila shot me a sympathetic look.

“I think it’s for the best that you take today to relax together as a crew. Maybe, go to the Pleasure Deck? We’ll have another meeting later today after I have spoken to the Council. Keep a screen on you until then, I’ll send you a message if I need anything before then.” Her tone was firm and final.

I couldn’t have disagreed no matter how much I wanted to.

“Thanks,” I said flatly as I began to rise.

The rest of my crew followed and we filed from the room silently.

As we left the room and started down the almost empty corridor, I could tell my crew were bristling with questions but worry keep them silent.

“Pleasure deck or canteen?” I asked finally.

We hadn’t had time for breakfast before the meeting and now it was edging towards lunchtime.

“We can get food on the Pleasure Deck,” Gem said in a distracted tone.

I nodded and stepped into the elevator, hitting the button and looking carefully at the floor to avoid Cas’ burning gaze.

The lift climbed at a crawling pace that made me want to get out and run up the stairs. My foot longed to bounce with anxiety but I forced myself to stay still.

The tension in the elevator was painful. I could feel it build and swell with every floor we passed. I almost wanted to say something, anything, just to break it but I couldn’t think of anything to say.

The elevator doors opened and we exited, still without talking. The bustling corridor was jarring. Kids ran past us screaming with excitement and happiness, their mood a stark contrast to ours. A few people stopped talking and started whispering as we took our boots off, my mods making it far too clear that they were talking about us.

“Shall we get changed first or get food first?” I asked, nodding towards the changing cubicles as we went through the door.

Humidity and warmth crashed into me and my nose filled with the smell of the swimming pool.

“I don’t mind,” Cas said quietly, his eyes distant.

I glanced quickly at the others. Gem shrugged without meeting my eyes whilst Cory just smiled slightly at me.

“Why don’t we get changed first then we can always get food whenever?” I suggested.

I knew my crew were probably hungry, they always were, but I could tell they needed more time to process everything.

“Okay,” Gem said flatly.

“We’ll have to order swimsuits again. Or we could always just go down to our rooms and pick up our other ones?” I offered.

Silence surrounded my crew like a bubble, unfazed by activity around it. It was starting to bother me though. I knew it was somewhat my fault, maybe I should have told them about it but I just wanted them to talk to me or shout at me. Do something other than just standing silently.

“Why don’t we just order new ones? No point in going all the way down there just to come back up,” Cory said.

I shot him a grateful smile as Gem shrugged.

“Good idea,” I said, walking over to the vending machine.

The rest of my crew trailed behind me without complaining.

“What kind of suit do you want?” I asked Gem.

“I don’t mind,” she said with a shrug.

“Really? What about this ugly brown one?” I teased, hoping to get some kind of response from her.

Her lips quirked up in the ghost of a smile but she was silent.

“Okay, good. Not that one. How bout this one? It’s cute?” I suggested, pointing at a pretty blue bikini that I knew she’d love.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she said, barely glancing at it.

I selected her sizes quickly before choosing a nice black bikini for myself, scanning my chip and waiting for them to vend. The whooshing noise came quickly and I picked them out, holding Gem’s packet out to her. She took it without even looking at it properly.

“Shall we wait for you two or go get changed now?” I asked, glancing at Cas and Cory.

Cory’s eyes settled on Gem for a moment before looking back at me.

“Go ahead. We’ll meet you back out here,” he said.

I looked at Cas, waiting to see if he’d say anything but he didn’t.

“Okay, see you in a second,” I said finally before turning.

I could hear Gem’s muffled footsteps behind me as I walked towards the changing cubicles. I kept expecting her to say something but, uncharacteristically, she was silent. I bit my lip, wanting to break the ice but unsure what to say.

“Want to share a cubicle?” I asked.

We always did but I just wanted to hear her say something. She nodded, clutching her clothing pack to her chest.

“This one okay?” I said, gesturing towards the one in front of us with my head.

She nodded again and entered it.

Worry rattled in my chest as I followed her into it, glancing behind as I swung the door shut. Cory was leading Cas towards a cubicle on the other side of the area. Love for Cory warmed my heart. I knew he was doing it so Gem and I could talk and so that he and Cas could talk without us overhearing each other.

I locked the door and turned, expecting to see Gem ripping into her packet but she was standing motionless, her eyes fixed on the ground and her lip caught in her teeth.

“You okay? I asked carefully.

She shook her head silently as tears gathered in her eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She started to shake her head then stopped. She glanced at me for a second before looking back at the ground.

“I just…” she whispered in a broken voice. “I can’t lose you too.”

I felt heat rise behind my eyes.

“You won’t lose me. We’re going to get Peggy back. This is the only way,” I whispered thickly.

“But what if it doesn’t work? Then we lose you both. Harvey won’t fall for it again. What if we can’t get you back?”

Tears were streaming down her face now and I could feel wetness on my own cheeks.

“It will work. We need it to,” I said quietly.

“But what if it doesn’t?” she pressed.

I sucked in a deep, difficult breath. I didn’t really want to think about what would happen if it didn’t work, I’d already ruminated on it enough but Gem’s desperate facial expression made me hesitate.

The answer was we’d both survive and get rescued, one of us would get captured (hopefully me) or maybe even worse. It was possible that Harvey would give the instruction to kill us both. He didn’t need us alive, not really. He’d enjoy it if we were alive, then he could hold it over Cas’ head and gloat to the rest of the universe about how he managed to capture the dangerous, traitorous Captain/mastermind but he could do that if we died too. I liked to think that his ego outweighed his logical mind, that way he’d be more likely to capture us alive.

I couldn’t bring myself to say that to Gem though. She needed to have hope. I needed her to be hopeful.

“It’ll work,” I repeated firmly. “We will get Peggy back.”

Gem swallowed audibly before nodding to herself.

“No retreat,” she said, resolve building in her voice.

“No surrender.”