The Seven Revels

And Then There Were Six

Indigo was tired. Panting heavily, she listened to the sound of her feet pounding on the moving belt, the whir of the treadmill underneath her. She felt each step rattle through her entire body and through the machine. Sweat dripped down her forehead no matter how many times she swiped it away. The numbers on the treadmill's screen told her she'd run six miles. She'd been on it for a while. She brushed more sweat off her chin, trying to pretend that's all it was. Sweat. And yet, she could feel her eyes burning and her vision was blurring, making the numbers on the treadmill shimmer together. She growled to herself and pressed the button to increase the speed. The number read 8.0. The thumps on the belt came faster and louder, she gritted her teeth and pressed on. She imagined that Milo was just ahead of her, if she could only run fast enough, long enough, she could catch him. Return him. She wanted him back so much it hurt. She increased the speed again. 8.5. She would reach him. She just had to run fast enough.

It had been nearly nine months since they had escaped from Earth, nine months since the end of the world. Since then, the six occupants of the Nightjar has spent their time rationing food, swapping stories and napping. There was a lot of napping, since there wasn't much more to do on the long journey through space. Indigo spent each morning running on the treadmill until her legs felt as though they were going to collapse. She wanted, more than anything, to take her mind off of Milo, if only for a moment. So far, nothing had worked.

9.0. 9.5. 10.0. She was sprinting, the loud pounding of her feet thrumming through the entire room. Her breaths came even shorter and more rapidly than she thought they ever had in her entire life.

The sound of the door behind her startled her and she lost her footing. With a yelp, she lost her balance and fell onto the belt. In one swift whip, the belt threw her backward and onto the floor with a loud thump.

"Oh shit," Quill said from the doorway. She felt him put a hand on her back. She gritted her teeth and pulled herself to a seated position. "I didn't mean to scare you. You alright?"

"I'm fine, thanks," she replied, hoping tears were not still evident in her voice. If anything, the pain of hitting the floor had cleared her mind more than the running had.

"How long have you been up here doing that?" Quill asked.

"A couple hours, I think."

"Damn, almost seven miles? That's kind of impressive." Indigo took the opportunity, while Quill was looking at the numbers on the treadmill, to wipe at her eyes. Quill turned his blue eyes back to her. "You sure you're okay? That looked like it kinda hurt."

"It definitely hurt," she said, flashing him a half-baked grin.

"Sorry. I really didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine, I'll survive," Indigo replied. She took his outstretched hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "What's up?"

"We're about a week out from Addiphate," Quill began.

Addiphate. They'd discussed the planet many times over the past several months, developing their plan. They needed to get in, get supplies and get out as fast as they could, without being spotted. That meant getting past ISA checkpoints, finding somewhere to land where their ship wouldn't be spotted and relying on the idea that people wouldn't know their faces. They all knew it was going to be difficult, if not entirely impossible.

"We're all in the cockpit for another meeting."

"Another one?" Indigo groaned. "Quill, we've had like.... forty meetings in the last month. I know the plan so well I could probably explain it to you in nineteen different languages."