Page 80 of Blightfall

“Right,” I said. “Friend code. That’s better.”

Alanik seemed more puzzled by the idea that the three of us might be friends than she did about the cultural meaning of hand-holding, and for some reason, I found that hilarious.

Twenty-Three

Arturo

I twisted in my seat, watching Alanik’s boat drifting behind us. “They need to hurry up,” I said. “The sooner we get to the ships, the sooner we can call Ivy and hopefully leave this planet.”

“I think we should let them be,” Nedd said. “Suki was still working on her report, and we don’t want to rush her.” He hadn’t been able to use his prosthetic well to paddle, so he used his knee as a fulcrum for the shaft of his paddle and rowed on only one side. He was sweating from the effort, but was contributing as much as I was.

“What were you and Sadie talking about as we left the city?” Nedd asked.

“I told Sadie I want her to be the one to call Ivy,” I said. “You were with her on that last mission. You think that’s the right call?”

“I think she can handle it,” Nedd said. “But does she? She looked like a puppy who’s afraid of being kicked. Back me up, Gilaf.”

“She did look like a scared monkey,” Gilaf said. “I’m still not clear on the difference between that and a puppy.”

“Puppies are rounder,” Nedd said. “Less likely to climb trees. I think. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a puppy and a tree in the same place before. Detritus didn’t have a lot of trees.”

Detritus didn’t have an overabundance of puppies either, just a small population of pets for the wealthy.

“Anyway, I think you should be careful that you’re not putting too much on her,” Nedd said.

“Why are you so worked up about what Sadie feels?” I twisted around to look at him. “Are you into her?”

Nedd looked over his shoulder, as if worried about the others hearing, but their canoe was falling even farther behind. “No!” he said. “I’m just looking out for my flightmate. That’s all.”

He was oddly quick to protest. I wasn’t entirely sure I believed him, but Nedd had never been one to deny when he was interested in a girl, so I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Nedd must have realized I wasn’t entirely buying what he was selling, because he abruptly changed the subject. “What about you and Alanik?” he asked.

Stars. I didn’t have to tell Nedd I liked Alanik. He just knew. And most of the time he respected his solemn, unspoken duty not to ever bring it up, especially in front of her brother, who was watching us both like he was trying to find a your-mom joke in all this but couldn’t quite keep up. “What about us?”

“You guys went on that mission alone,” he said.

“We weren’t alone. Gilaf and Suki were with us.”

“Part of the time,” Gilaf supplied helpfully.

“Alone,” Nedd said again. “In a dark, empty coliseum. You totally could have made a move.”

I looked back at Gilaf. This was his sister we were talking about, but he seemed unperturbed. “What?” he asked. “I’m not going to stop you. Though if Alanik doesn’t like your move, she sure will.”

Stars, that was what I was afraid of. “I was there as a flightleader on official flight business, not to make a move.”

“Never stopped Jorgen,” Nedd said.

I was pretty sure it had stopped Jorgen, which was why it had taken him a long time to actually get together with his girlfriend, Spensa, who was even now off on some adventure with the DDF’s exploration program. “I’m not Jorgen!” I said.

“Right,” Nedd said. “So nothing happened.”

We’d held hands. So maybe something had happened. But I wasn’t sure if that meant anything to Alanik, and I didn’t want to dissect it.

“Nedd,” I said, “we’re going back to our ships so we can get off this planet. We’re not here to talk about my love life, or lack thereof.” My one and only girlfriend had been a friend of my family, basically arranged by my parents and hers. We were serious. I was supposed to marry her. Then she sent me a letter telling me I’d changed, saying we didn’t fit together anymore.

She was probably right.