Chapter 4

  Waking Up

  Slowly, awareness encroached on her resting mind. Zara stirred, then woke with a jolt. She tried to sit up but only got halfway—her back and legs wouldn’t respond. Fighting off panic, she looked around.

  The familiar sights of sickbay surrounded her. The soft off-white walls, the grey consoles, even the low light gave her comfort. Breathing deeply, she worked to calm herself.

  Her gaze darted around. The control bracelets were nowhere to be seen. Without them, she was paralyzed—her implants regulated through them. Sarsha wouldn’t have removed them unless it was necessary.

  The last thing she remembered was the engines running hot: she and Zev had tried to pump extra coolant through them. Not great for engine durability, but a lot better than falling out of the sky—or worse, the engines blowing.

  Lying back, she noticed she wasn’t in her work clothes anymore. She wore night clothes: sweatpants and a T-shirt. If Zev had ruined another set of her things, he would pay.

  She smiled faintly at the thought. She could tweak the power on his mag-boots—make one stronger and one weaker. It wouldn’t put him in danger, but it would drive him crazy. Yes, that would do. Maybe even better, she could alter the gravity plate in his room—then he’d have to explain himself to Sarsha. That would sort him out. The trick would be getting at his gear without Sarsha noticing.

  Sarsha would hover over her all day, just making sure she was “alright.” Zara could hear it already. She wasn’t a child. She didn’t need Sarsha constantly checking in on her. She could handle herself. Without her, the ship would have fallen out of the sky a long time ago. She was a needed member of the crew, not just some tag-along little sister.

  Her musings were interrupted by the sickbay door sliding open. Instead of Sarsha’s warm face, the hulking frame of her brother filled the doorway.

  “Morning, Sparky,” Zev said with a wave. He entered the room and moved to the counter.

  Zara glared at him. They both knew she hated being called that. She was going to get him for that. Just wait—his boots were already hers.

  “If I didn’t pick on my baby sister, how would you know I care?” Zev asked. The one thing she hated more than Sparky was baby sister. Now he was really going to pay.

  “Why are you here?” Zara’s tone was sharp. She really didn’t need this right now.

  “Sarsha said you were awake but she needed to finish something, so here I am.” He struck a heroic pose, hands on hips, chest forward. “She was worried you might try and get up. We all took a lot of g’s yesterday, your implants overloaded.”

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  Pushing herself up on her elbows, she said, “I don’t feel any pain. If my implants overloaded, I should be screaming right now.” Her breathing started to stutter.

  With one massive step Zev was at her side. He grabbed her shoulders and helped her sit up. With great care belying his size, he picked her up and carried her to an armchair. The chair had been made just for her; it fit her perfectly. It had a powered back and legs to help her be comfortable when her implants were offline.

  “Sarsha set up a controlled pain block for when you woke up. You probably woke with a jolt.” He stepped back to the counter. After a moment, he brought Zara her bracelets.

  “Don’t put these on just yet. Sarsha wants to be here.” He handed them to her.

  She busied herself fiddling with the adjustments on her chair. She hated not having her implants active; she just felt so helpless. No matter how much she worked her arms, she just didn’t have the strength to move herself for long. Unlike Zev, who was all muscle, she was smaller—more like a gymnast.

  “How is the ship?” Zara asked, trying to fill the silence. Zev was great, but he liked quiet.

  “Mostly alright. The engines are fine, the heat shielding will hold for a few more re-entries. The atmo drive planes won’t respond. Annalynn was hoping you could figure it out. The mechanics are fine.”

  “The hull didn’t take any damage?” From what she remembered, they had been screaming through the air. That kind of speed caused all sorts of issues with the hull.

  “Nothing major, nothing that needs to be fixed right now. Plus it is hard to fix stuff without replacement parts or a way to fabricate them.” He shrugged. They didn’t carry a lot of extra parts. Things like that took up space and money. Most ships like theirs carried only what was absolutely necessary to patch the hull to keep from dying.

  Zev was spared further questions when Sarsha walked in. “Glad to see you are sitting up. Now tell me”—she leaned in close to Zara, blocking out Zev—“did he call you Sparky?” Her voice fell to a whisper.

  “You know what, no need to tell me. I am sure your brother would never do something like that,” Sarsha said, pulling back. Zev tried to look innocent, but they all knew he would pay for it later.

  “When can we turn the implants back on?” Zara asked, fighting to keep her voice from breaking.

  “Zev, go find something to shoot,” Sarsha said, waving a hand at the door. Without a word, Zev skulked out of the room. “Did he tell you what happened?”

  “Some. He said my implants overloaded and you put me on a pain block.” With Zev gone, her voice broke—the pain she was holding back leaked out.

  Sarsha laid a hand on her shoulder, bending over to look her in the eye. “What you did was brave and foolish. We need to run some more scans, see if there is any damage. Once we know, then we can decide what to do next.”

  That was Sarsha—tender and tough in the same moment, always planning her next move. Sometimes Zara just wanted to move on, but Sarsha would slow her down. If not for Sarsha, Zara knew her implants would have failed already. They needed maintenance she couldn’t afford.

  The scans were quick, the data flowed easily. There was no more damage done, but her nerves were inflamed. They would need some time to heal before Zara turned her implants back on.

  “So I have to sit here for the whole day?” She was frustrated and angry. There was work to be done. The crew needed her.

  “You don’t have to stay in sickbay, but you are not walking today. We can get your hover chair so you can help with repairs.” Sarsha’s tone was final. Zara was her patient, and in a normal practice she would get final say. On the Wrath, Sarsha tried to protect the crew from themselves.

  “If we turn on your implants now, I will have to drug you. You will be out for the rest of the day. It is your choice. Drugs and bed, or chair and help.”

  “Not much of a choice.” Zara pouted. “Chair—please bring me my chair.” Zev’s boots were already hers!