Daughter of Nox

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Quite a hallucination," Etta said, then gestured to the yellow square trail. "And now this."

"I hate this," Freya said with a shiver. "All of it."

"I'm not much of a fan either," Etta said. "If this is what passes for welcoming us to Academy, I really don't want to see what it looks like when things get difficult."

"We could just leave," Freya said. "Both of us. Leave this topsy-turvy life behind and become intergalactic outlaws."

"Hmm," Etta tapped her chin with one finger, "I won't deny that intergalactic outlawing does have a certain appeal."

"There'll be capers," Freya said with mock hopefulness.

"I do love capers," Etta said. "But considering that the Ministry was willing to stage a Separatist invasion of the entire colony just to teach us a lesson," Etta said, "I'm going to have to pass."

"Ugh," Freya groaned. "And just when I need you to be recklessly unpredictable."

"Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to be recklessly unpredictable?"

"I don't know," Freya said. "Very?"

"Yes, very," Etta said. "And after running like an idiot toward hallucinated enemy guns, I have even less energy than normal." She ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "I'm only one woman, Fray."

"Speaking of running like an idiot," Freya said as she started down the path, "how many of your team made it to the armory?"

Etta's face fell. "None."

"Same with me," Freya said, then added, "well, except for Deirdre and Nero. They might have made it."

"Might have?" Etta said. "Wasn't the plan for you to all go in together?"

Freya explained what had happened. By the end, Freya was willing to bet that Etta had used up every nasty word she knew.

"I knew I hated that guy." The anger in Etta's words was so intense that her voice shook. "But that Deirdre girl–she seemed alright."

"I thought the same thing," Freya said, but felt her heart lift as a new thought rushed to the forefront of her brain.

Father. Amidst everything that had happened after her rescue by the Ministry soldiers, she'd forgotten how she'd ended up ejecting in the first place. If Commandant Reynard had been telling the truth about this being a sim, then the chances of Father surviving the wounded cruiser seemed awfully good.

At least she hoped that was how it worked.

Freya and Etta met stragglers along the way–some from Etta's team, and some other groups of Novices as well. Everyone looked as frazzled as Freya felt inside, and she saw more than one of them eyeing the buildings around them as though unsure about whether or not what they were seeing was real.

After a few minutes as a group, Freya noticed the path bend into a building up ahead.

"You don't think it's some kind of trap, do you?" Freya asked as they neared the place.

"I'd like to imagine they wouldn't be that cruel," Etta said, "but given that they pretend-murdered your dad before pretend-murdering all of us, I'd say its entirely possible."

Freya chewed her bottom lip. She knew Etta was right, but after everything they'd just gone through, the prospect of following orders blindly filled her with a strong desire to do the exact opposite.

"If anything goes down in there," Freya said, "as in anything, we just start throwing things. Agreed?"

Etta smiled. "You've been friends with me your whole life and you think you need to ask questions like that?"