Page 12 of Alien Burn

Across the bay, Adryel was still grinning.

Sereya started toward her before she could change her mind.

Adryel saw her coming. The grin vanished.

“I don't want to hear it.”

Sereya stopped. “Not even an apology?”

“Now you apologize? When your queen isn't picked?”

She deserved that. She had expected it, and it still stung.

“I came on this mission so I could be a part of something important. I am here because I wanted to be a part of history. What we're doing? This is the beginning for many humanoids, a life that will change their worlds forever. I wanted to be a part of that.”

The explanation sounded rehearsed. It was rehearsed. She had offered versions of it whenever anyone asked why she had joined.

But she wanted it to be true. She wanted something good to come of being here.

“You sure didn't act like you were here for history.”

“I know.”

“You should apologize to her. And to Graecey. And every other female here that you and Roemary made feel bad about themselves.”

Sereya nodded. She glanced toward the ramp and back.

“Did you ever want to be a part of something so much, that you would do anything to stay in it?”

Adryel's face changed, though Sereya couldn't tell whether the question had reached her or merely annoyed her more.

“Nothing is ever worth that much desire. That kind of desire will get you killed.”

“If I die, then I die being a part of something I loved. I don't see a fault in that.”

She wished she could take the words back. They were too large for this conversation, and Adryel was looking at her as though she had just made herself even harder to understand.

“Ladies,” Graecey's voice carried through the bay. “Group two, I'm ready for you to come down. Group one is remaining on the platform. Groups three and four? Get yourselves together, and get down on the ramp, ready to go.”

Sereya reached into her pocket. The spare hair clip was warm against her palm. Plain, sturdy, one of the few useful things she had thought to keep with her.

She held it out.

“For your hair. It's windy down there. Even Roemary's hair was blowing around, I noticed. Yours might need some restraint.”

Adryel looked at the clip.

“A peace offering?”

“Whether you believe me or not, I am sorry.”

Raised voices approached from the ramp. Roemary's, clear above the others, saying they had no right to treat her this way.

Sereya's hand tightened around the clip before she remembered she was giving it away.

She put it in Adryel's hand.

“Do yourself a favor, though,” Sereya said quietly. “Stay away from her.”