Amery is not supposed to be on the dropship.
She isn't one of the hundred delinquents being sent down to a radiation-soaked planet. She's just a Zero-G mechanic making some last-minute adjustments to a project nobody will tell her anything about.
I...
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✧】v. angry earth people【✧
[ earth kills ]
four years ago
AMERY'S BREATH CAME out short and shallow, shadows of tangible paranoia flickering in her peripherals as she pressed the device firmly into the bottom of the table. A small, blinking green light indicated its activation. On. Off. On. Off. The flicker seemed to match the pounding of her heart. Gripping the edge of the table from underneath, Amery slid herself off the floor and darted to the door. She pressed an ear against the metal, met only with silence and the cool sensation of steel against skin, and casually walked into the hall.
The air of false confidence she forced herself to emanate upon her departure became useful only moments later, when only five feet from the Council Chamber's doors she was met with the hard, calculating gaze of Marcus Kane.
"Hello," he said casually, almost amused at the sight of the scrawny mechanic in the halls of Alpha Station. "I don't believe we've met."
Amery shook her head, fighting to keep the nerves out of Kane's sight. You're not nervous, she told herself silently, willing her hands to stay still. You're supposed to be here.
"Mr. Kane," she greeted, keeping her voice level, though she felt like crying. Kane looked at her expectantly, and she realized she was supposed to introduce herself.
The truth? A lie?
"Amery," she stuck out a hand and gave Kane's a firm shake. "I'm from Mecha. Faulty waterline over here- today's mission," she cracked a grin. Kane nodded distractedly, eyes drifting past the shorter girl and to the source of the heavy footsteps behind her.
"Chancellor," Kane said, and Amery spun around with wide eyes.
"Uh, Chancellor Jaha, sir," she stammered, nervously eyeing the tall, stoic man with a guarded expression. She cursed herself for allowing her façade to crumble, but tried to play it off as a measly Mecha resident astounded to come face-to-face with the head of the Ark.
"Miss Ekker," Jaha greeted without enthusiasm.
Jaha knew her dad. They could even be considered friends, really. Could have been. But Jaha didn't seem to care that Lewis Ekker was scheduled for execution.
Just because Amery had been hungry.
"Well, if you'll excuse us, Amery, we have a meeting to attend to," Kane announced, patting the girl on the shoulder and strolling down the hall. His broad frame disappeared into the same doors Amery had emerged from only minutes before, and she sagged in relief, turning to make her way back to Mecha Station.
It was time to eavesdrop on the Council.
✧✧✧
Amery isn't sure if it's another one of Jasper's agonized screams or the nervous and impatient buzz of energy around the dropship's first floor that wakes her, but as she sits up and rubs her eyes, processing the noise, she's shocked she was able to fall asleep at all. The disruption comes as a blessing, ending another of her repeating nightmarish recollections of the day it all went wrong.
