Chase awoke with a lurch. He opened his eyes, taking a moment to orient himself in the unfamiliar surroundings. He was still in the carina, still under the view of the nebula. Avery's soft body lay curled on top of him underneath a blanket, asleep and unmoving, still wearing her blue dress.
The scent of vanilla brought everything back to him. It was a subtle aroma that she always had, though last night it was much less subtle. If fact, everything had become much less subtle between them. Whatever doubts Chase had about her feelings were now gone.
He tried to focus. He tried to make sense of what happened, what it meant, and where they would go from here. But he couldn't. His mind wandered as focus eluded him. He began hyperfocusing the probabilities of vanilla scented lotion, soap, or perfume.
He swore, wishing he had thought to bring his medication.
What time is it?
He noticed his jeans nearby and tried to reach toward them without waking Avery. He took the phone from his pocket and clicked it on.
3:17 AM
He smiled wryly at the zero signal strength indication and rolled back onto the pillow, gazing through the ceiling at the celestial view. Avery stirred slightly, shifting her weight and consciously kissing his chest once before settling her head comfortably on him. He pulled up the blanket around her and gently ran his hands through her feather-soft hair in an effort to ease her back to sleep.
Normally Chase would have no chance of falling back asleep, but the sense of contentment and comfort caused his own eyes to flutter before eventually drifting off.
He woke to an annoying series of beeps and tones, like the worst alarm clock he had ever heard. It woke Avery as well, though she seemed to understand what it was. She pushed herself off of him and stretched toward the tablet.
"Oh soloecismus," she said after looking at it. "We have to go. Ilian, ubi es?"
Chase no longer saw the nebula outside. It had been replaced with a brilliant field of stars, though they became more difficult to see as Avery increased the light level in the room.
"Where are we?" he muttered.
Ilian's voice crackled through the tablet in response to Avery. "There you are. I wasn't sure if you were ready or not. We have a few minutes before the first window, but we don't have much time before sunrise so we have to make this work if we can."
She rose to her feet and faced one of the glass walls, using it as a makeshift mirror while running a hand through her hair repeatedly in an effort to straighten it out. She projected her voice toward the tablet, "We will be at the swaproom before the first window."
"Thank you."
"Ilian, is there enough time for me to talk to my father before we descend?"
"There is, but I was unable to fix the entanglement array," he said. "It's completely destroyed. I'm sorry, Avery."
She sighed in disappointment.
"We need to have it repaired on Caelus," he added.
"Alright. Thanks anyway."
Chase had begun pulling his clothes back on, not completely understanding the rush but knowing there was a reason for it.
"Are we already above Earth?" he asked, popping his head through his shirt.
She turned away from her reflection and walked toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck with a smile and kissing him soundly.
"Yes," she said. "Ilian must have brought us back while we were asleep."
He smiled deprecatingly. "I don't suppose I dreamt any of that?"
She smiled at his joke, kissing him one last time before leading him out of the observation dome. She explained that they had only one chance to bring the carina close enough to the ground before daylight broke.
Once in the swaproom, she notified Ilian, and he brought the carina close in to the Agency. It was still dark, but the sky to the east began to take on a lighter shade with the coming sunrise.
"I'm sorry this is so rushed," Avery said to Chase, straightening his hair. She looked at him critically and joked, "You look like you fell asleep."
"Is it bad?" he asked. "That we fell asleep? I mean, will they think that's weird?"
"Falling asleep, no. The rest, yes, it's bad," she took a couple steps backward and asked, "How do I look?"
Chase looked at her carefully, noting the only thing she had done was to put on some pale lipstick, but she looked great.
"Your dress is a little wrinkled, but you look amazing, as usual," he said, and then winced. "Exactly how bad is this going to be?"
"It's going to shake everybody up, Chase," she admitted. "But this is nothing I can't handle."
She saw his expression of worry and stepped toward him, her forehead furrowed thoughtfully. She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him. "Don't worry, it will be alright."
"Okay, Ocean Eyes."
"I have to talk to Nathan first," she added. "After that we should be off the ice. Please just act normally until then."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No," she said. "I need to talk to him alone."
"Alright, I'll follow your lead."
"Everyone is probably still asleep," she said. "After we descend, we can go back to my house, shower and change. Everyone should be back at the Agency by then."
Chase's eyes widened a bitat the word 'descend.' He swallowedhard, and said, "Uh, can you explain how we descend again?"
