Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue

She nodded.

Then she felt that hardened thing inside her twist into a new shape. Another layer of the film that kept her from seeing the world pulled back and the sky and the courtyard came into a tighter level of focus and detail. She looked at Lucin, and she could see the valleys in his wrinkles and the individual pores in his face. Her mind was so keen she expected to see mitochondria swimming around in his skin cells.

“I’m going to go get Parsona and bring her back.”

It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t even a decision. It was a statement of fact, like she was reading about something she did in a history book. It was as real as if it had already happened.

“We have spring break next week,” she continued. “I’ll go to Palan—it’s only, what, three jumps from here? I can be there by Monday, grab the ship, and I’ll be home before the weekend.”

“Molly—”

“As long as the hyperspace drive is working, and even if it isn’t, we can install a new one, maybe your guy can check that ahead of time. See if the astral charts are updated, clear the paperwork.”

“Molly—”

“I can do it myself. This is basic stuff, Lucin. You know I can do this. I’m almost 17, and I’ve already tested out for my private captain’s license.”

“Listen, Molly—”

But she couldn’t stop talking. Thinking. “I’ve flown that ship with my father from one side of the galaxy to the other. I know it like I know my old simulator. C’mon, didn’t you say the ship was mine? I have my license. It’s totally legal.”

“It’s suicidal, Molly. Stop it. Settle down for a second.” He didn’t seem angry. A smile snuck ’round his mouth, Molly’s excitement rubbing off on him. “Palan’s a bad place. The Navy has almost no presence there. Also, you are not traveling alone. What am I saying? You aren’t traveling at all.”

“You know I am. You can help me or you can see if I can do it on my own.”

Lucin leaned away from her, blinking, as if he couldn’t take all of her in. His brows eventually came down, throwing shadows over his eyes. “I haven’t seen you like this since the day you talked yourself into the Academy.”

“Except this will work,” she insisted.

They were both silent for a while. Molly couldn’t tell if Lucin was thinking back or planning forward. “There will be strict conditions, young lady.”

She nodded vigorously. She would agree to all of them up front.

“First, my agent is going to accompany you back. I don’t want any evidence on Parsona lost just because you didn’t know what to look for.”

Molly kept nodding.

“Second, you bring the ship straight back with minimal jumps and she goes into my hangar for a few weeks. We need to make sure we haven’t missed anything and perform a deeper safety inspection than you’ll be able to do on Palan.”

Her neck started to hurt.

“Finally, I want you to have someone you trust accompany you to Palan—I don’t want anything to happen to you on the way there.”

Molly froze. “Who?”

“Someone who can navigate, even help pilot if you end up needing to do shifts.” He ticked requirements off his fingers, but Molly felt like he was describing someone in particular. “Someone you know and trust who will stick his neck out for you if you get in a jam.”

“Cole?” It escaped as a whisper.

Lucin nodded. “He graduated at the end of last year. Several of your classmates did. The war with the Drenards has gotten nasty. I’m sure you’ve been following it. Saunders felt another semester would be wasted on some of them. Cole, Dinks, Riggs, Jakobs, some of the others you knew.”

“Jakobs? Jakobs is out there flying an actual ship with loaded weapons?” Molly was horrified. She knew that’s what the Academy was for, but it never seemed real until right then. They were all still kids in her mind.

“Most of them aren’t doing front-line stuff. Support. Recon. Patrols. It’s the final stage in the learning process. Hell, if things… if things had been a little different, you’d be out there right now.”

“No, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking about ability. I was thinking about—never mind.” Her thoughts returned to Cole. “Do you think he’d want to go? What about his duties?”

“We have one of our best agents dedicated to this mission. I think it’d be a good training exercise for Cole if he went and worked with the guy. A bit of escort duty—”

Molly bristled.

“Not that you need it, of course, just that Cole could use the experience.”

“Better,” she said, nodding once.

“If you’re serious about this, I can make it work. It’ll actually make the paperwork easier on both ends since you’re the legal owner of the ship. And nobody’s going to suspect you and Cole are working for the Navy’s interests. That could help with the pirates on Palan.”

Lucin scratched his chin. “I’ll get detailed instructions to our agent, make sure he understands who you are and what needs to be done before you arrive. The Navy will pick up the tab for the flight out and the jumps back, all you’ll have to worry about is being safe.”

“No problem.” Her head felt light. The idea of going on a trip with Cole made her stomach flutter. Even with a Navy chaperone.

“All right, then.” Lucin placed his hand on Molly’s knee and used it to press himself up. “Pack some clothes and your book reader and get ready for the longest week of school in your entire life.”

Hyperspace! She’d forgotten about that. She didn’t even want the weekend to get in the way. For once Molly wished Monday would hurry up and come.

6

From her meeting with Lucin to her arrival on Earth’s Orbital Station, it felt more like a month than a week. Especially with all the lazy scheduling teachers do prior to spring break at Avalon. She tried to concoct busywork for herself, doing all the problems her teachers said to skip, but it barely dented her anticipation.

There was so much to look forward to, she couldn’t decide which part of the trip tortured her the most. Was it seeing her father’s old ship? She wondered if any of his stuff would still be aboard, the old tools scented with oil and the clothes smelling of his hard work.

Or was she giddy at the prospect of owning her own ship? Gods, that thing, even as old as it was, it must be worth a fortune. Molly could start a shuttle agency right out of school. Or be a freelance courier. The opportunities were endless.

To a small degree, it was both those things. But mainly, and it made her feel silly to admit it, she was ecstatic about seeing Cole. She would be sitting beside him on a twenty-hour pan-galactic flight to Palan. Hearing what he’d been up to. Joking with him without the other boys around.

Part of Molly’s preparation for the trip had been to go through her reader and delete a lot of required reading material. Now it was loaded with more adventurous fare, most of it meant for boys. These books were typified by their shallow, male protagonists and the author’s poor grasp of space tactics, but she’d also found a little gem. A series of books about a woman on a frontier planet forging a life for herself. It was the closest thing to a female’s adventures away from Earth that Molly could find, and the setting sounded a lot like her birth planet: Lok.

She was tempted to pull her reader out and start one of the action books, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to take her eyes off the arrival gate. She’d chosen a seat in the Orbital Station, facing the security entrance. Cole’s shuttle should be docking at any minute. Once he arrived and they boarded the passenger ship, their adventure would officially begin.