The noise of the main level shook Ari to the reality of what was going to happen. She'd never been apart from her brother before, and now here she was walking him to the shuttle that was supposed to take him one way while she went the other. A slight tightness in her chest caused her to rotate her shoulders. Trying to physically stretch the feeling away.
There were enough people scurrying around that Ari needed to stay focused to not lose her brother in the crowd. Together they carefully weaved their way through the passages.
Trevon glanced down at his tag, calculating the direction he was supposed to go, "My shuttles up the next level..." He stopped short when someone's hand reached out of the crowd and grasped onto his arm.
"Trevooon!" A girls high pitched voice followed.
Trevon's wince was clearly involuntary and Ari openly laughed at his failure to hide it.
"Melanie, hi." Trevon coughed.
"Hi!" The petite redhead beamed up at him. She was a nice girl, gaged only by the fact she never ran away whenever Ari was around. However, Melanie had a habit of talking too loud, too fast, and too much, that Ari usually ran away at the sound of her.
"Are you looking forward to leaving?" he asked politely.
"Oh, so much! I mean, I'll miss my parents--" Melanie's father managed the maintenance crews "--but it'll be so good to finally get off this station, you know?" She had grown up on Meckam as well, though her father's position had put her in higher social circles, she liked to slum around with the orphanage kids. "I'm so excited to attend school at Cairpre, it's a dream come true!"
Trevon nodded. "You are the only one that managed to land such a large C.E university acceptance, Mel. I'm really excited for you."
"It's going to be incredibly difficult..." Melanie gabbed on and on about her plans to get into humanitarian projects and programs, and though Trevon was the kind of person who allowed the girl to go on, Ari didn't have the patience.
She grabbed her brother by the shoulders, "We're late! Bye Melanie good luck and don't die from some violent planet disease."
"Write me sometime!" she called out, waving furiously. "And let me know if you're ever on Cairpre!"
Trevon waved back as Ari pushed him through the crowd, straight into a few unsuspecting pedestrians, and up through the transport level. She wouldn't stop until she was sure she could no longer hear Melanie's voice... and then a little farther after that, just in case.
The transport level was by far the busiest point of the station. Streamers and banners were draped over walls for the big send-off. A small sound mixer played recordings of jaunty music over the main system. A the weak attempt to be festive.
"Smooth." Said Trevon when Ari stopped pushing him.
"You're welcome." She flashed a sarcastic smile but didn't make eye contact.
He sighed that big brother sigh, "If you acted like you do with me with other people, there wouldn't be so much friction in your life."
"Sorry, but you're special."
He chuckled again as the next seven shuttles were announce over the internal comm.
"That's you, isn't it." Her words worked their way through another lump forming in her throat.
"I'll catch a later shuttle,"
"No, you gotta catch this one." She caught the flash of surprise cross his face, but she couldn't let him think on it too much. "I'm starting to get really mad you're leaving me behind. Do you care about me at all? How DARE you abandon me here!" she yelped, accenting her last outburst with a punch to his shoulder.
He winced, "That was ... weird."
Mortified, she buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to do this goodbye thing."
"Ari," He turned, the sounds of people everywhere attempted to drowned out his words but he managed to pull her out of hiding. His green eyes shook gently as he looked into her own. "Is there anything you need to tell me? Anything?"
Heat rose in her face, she could feel the pace of her heart quicken. "There's always something I need to tell you." Surprisingly tears brimmed in her eyes. The fear was seeping through and even with her overconfidence in herself, she couldn't stop it from showing at this moment.
She was actually feeling abandoned, and he hadn't even left yet. "You're going to see me again soon," she said stubbornly. "And you're going to regret leaving me behind."
Trevon smiled again as he gently pulled Ari into his arms. He held her in silence for a long time. The resulting peace filled her so completely that it drowned out the noise around them.
She had never let him do this before. Rarely even in private; in public, showing affection consisted of a punch on the shoulder, if he was lucky.
"This will be a great opportunity to make some friends." He said.
"You're going to miss your shuttle," she sniffed into his shirt. He pulled away and looked down at her again. There must have been something else in her expression because he decided to give one final plug to his cause.
"As long as you keep honest and clear of trouble, you'll be accepted into the Academy. And you'll be the best fighter pilot they'll ever have."
"Go," she smirked, nudging him away.
She watched as he fell into line, and squeezed into the crowded shuttle. From inside he managed to turn for one last look. The tears to rolled down her face as Trevon gave her one final, encouraging smile. The shuttle doors closed, and the airlocks whooshed into place.
Ari very nearly bit her lip to keep it from quivering. What began as over acting for her brother's benefit, actually forced her faced real feelings of abandonment. Briefly, she wondered if this was how Trevon felt when they had been dropped off on this space station years ago. If so, she was happy she'd been too young to remember.
A ridged manicured hand rested on Ari's shoulder. Ari quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks, "I'm done. I'm fine."
"We'll be back in range in a few years," said the headmistress standing beside her. Her full height, which, despite being just below Ari's nose, was still plenty imposing. So much that any physical contact with the woman sent uncomfortable tremors all the way down Ari's limbs. "You'll be a woman and he'll be a proud soldier."
Eyes still on the shuttle as it was released from the airlocks, "They're going to eat him alive."
"No I don't think ..."
"He'll have to change everything about himself to become a soldier." She shook off the thought of how much would be lost in her brother.
"I thought you wanted him to go to the Academy."
"I want to attend the Academy." Ari snapped her head around and made eye contact with the headmistress. Her usually stern brown eyes were unusually soft. Her black hair pulled so tight behind her head that it smoothed the wrinkles on her olive complexion.
Headmistress Hobsen, seeing Ari was in fact fine, pealed her hand from her shoulder. "You, have make up exams," She lifted her hand to silence Ari's attempts of protest. "You may have one hour to get yourself together, and meet me in my office."
"One hour?" Ari pointlessly questioned. Hobsen raised an eyebrow before she turned and weaved her way back through the crowd.
Ari watched carefully until the woman was out of sight. "One hour," she muttered, turned and headed for the far corridor.
She wound through the dim halls until she was far enough away from the transports. Then in a secluded passage, she stopped. Using a small flat electric screwdriver she'd stolen from the maintenance shafts, and easily hidden in her sock, she jimmied open one of the access hatches. Slipping inside she closed the hatch securely behind her and was safely hidden inside the tunnel. Above her head, she reached behind several pipes to retrieve her pack. She shook off the light layer of metal dust, then followed the tunnel toward the transport bay.
Meckam had an enormous system of access tunnels, used primarily by the maintenance workers and off-limits to anyone else. Yet, every child who grew up on Meckam eventually found their way into at least one tunnel. Ari used them frequently to hide from punishment, chores, and the orphanage workers. This is how she discovered they were connected to many interesting places.
Particularly this tunnel, it connected with the cargo shafts of several shuttles, giving direct access to load various supplies. Once the shuttles' cargo was loaded, Ari suspected the shaft would be empty.
Calculating the location of the precise shuttle she needed had been as easy as checking the day's work schedule. The last two shuttles had the least amount of outgoing cargo, leaving enough space for her to fit but enough shelter to remain hidden. They also had high priority incoming cargo, keeping the station personnel otherwise occupied.
Calculating her timing was a bit more difficult.
She pressed her shoulder to the side of the access tunnel and watched the traffic of workers through the vented cover. The shuttles departure was scheduled thirty minutes from now. Before departure and after the cargo was loaded there was a five to ten minute systems check. This meant once the cargo was loaded she would have that short window of time to leave her current location run down the shaft to the security gate, bypass the connecting airlock, correctly secure it behind her and find a place to hide.
'Twenty minutes, no problem.' She thought in her usual overconfident manner.
By the time the outgoing cargo was loaded sharp tingling had taken over half her right leg. It only affected her speed for the first few feet as she ran for the security gate. Voices echoed behind as Ari used the screwdriver to pop open the security controls. Unable to tell if these voices were coming or going, Ari unexpectedly noticed a shift in her nerves when the panel's cover slipped through her fingers, clanging loudly to the floor.
Sure someone had heard she glanced over her shoulder. Whether or not they cared to investigate she didn't want to stick around to find out. Using a very basic decoder the lock decompressed opening just enough for her to slip inside and forced the airlock to secure. As the door vacuum sealed Ari released the chest full of air she'd subconsciously been holding in.
Now, facing a pitch black room, Ari blindly felt around the space. Squeezing between unknown objects, bumping into metal crates, and tripping over bags she realized her 'less cargo' assumption was extremely inaccurate. Eventually, she felt out a clear spot where she could sit. With her bag tucked tightly under her arms, she waited.
'Just say someone does catch you,' the thought came to her. 'What would happen then?'
Well, it was a good question. They'd drag her off the shuttle. Hobsen would lock her up in the orphanage wing. Magistrate Evans would put her on dish duty for eternity.
And Trevon wouldn't save her
Because he would be gone.
Ari's jaw set. 'I won't get caught,' she argued back as she slid deeper into the dark space between the crates.
The passengers heavy footsteps echoed above her head - She held her breath.
Listening to the buzzing and pulsing noises as the flight crew did their final system checks - Ari sank lower.
She felt the thrum of engines in the floor - She closed her eyes.
Time to go. She tried to remember the flight sequence steps from the flight manuals she studied over the years. But with the engine vibrations creating a perfect lullaby, she slipped into sleep.CHAPTER END