Avalon

She must think Avalon’s a dump. Jeth resisted an insane urge to start defending his ship to this stranger. It wasn’t like him to give a damn about what other people thought, but something about Sierra seemed to challenge this attitude. He decided it was the regal way she carried herself: not stuckup, exactly, but as if she were a princess who’d recently been forced into poverty.

Lizzie punched him in the arm, drawing his attention away from Sierra. “Aren’t you going to introduce everybody?”

“Oh, right.” Jeth motioned toward the crew and rattled off their names. Sierra then did the same for her group.

“So what are you guys still doing alive over there?” Flynn said.

Jeth winced. There had to be a better way to phrase it.

“I believe those questions can wait for now,” said Milton. “I’d like to get our guests up to sick bay for an examination, make sure everything’s all right.” For the first time in forever, he sounded like a real doctor, someone responsible and trustworthy. Like the man Jeth had known as a kid. Jeth might have introduced Milton as a doctor, but he’d done it only out of habit.

Sierra put a protective arm around Cora, who was leaning into her, hiding her face once again. “That won’t be necessary for Cora and me. We’re fine, but Vince has a wound that might be infected.”

Vince shot her an annoyed look that she ignored.

Milton smiled, the gesture making the dark bags beneath his eyes bulge. “I’ll look at him first, but I need to check all of you, regardless.”

“Cora is afraid of needles,” Sierra said, her voice insistent.

“No needles, I promise.”

Sierra opened her mouth to respond, but Lizzie squatted down, putting herself at eye level with the little girl. “Hey there, Cora.” Her voice was warm and friendly, almost childlike. Unlike Jeth, she knew how to talk to little kids. It was another talent she’d inherited from their mother. “Do you happen to like kitties?”

Cora peered around Sierra’s side and bobbed her head.

“I thought that might be the case. Well, it just so happens I have a kitty. His name is Viggo. Would you like to meet him?”

Delight lit Cora’s face. “Yes, please.”

“Okay, then.” Lizzie stood and grinned at Sierra. “I’ll bring Viggo in while Milton examines her.” She winked down at Cora. “Kitties make everything less scary.”

Cora giggled and for the first time stepped away from Sierra, who looked ready to haul her back again any second. Jeth supposed he couldn’t blame her for being protective, considering what they’d just lived through.

“See?” Lizzie said to Jeth. “Bringing a cat on board was a great idea.”

Before Jeth could finish rolling his eyes at her, she turned and dashed out of the cargo bay, eager to fetch Viggo.

“Follow me,” Milton said, his tone suggesting how less than thrilled he was about having a four-legged visitor to his sick bay.

Sierra, Cora, and Vince fell in behind Milton.

The rest of the crew made to do the same, but Jeth waved them off. “They don’t need an audience. Flynn, why don’t you see about some food? Celeste and Shady, get the spare cabins ready.”

Jeth didn’t wait for confirmation of the tasks, but turned and hurried after Milton before the others could protest.

When they reached the common room on the deck above, Jeth invited Sierra and Cora inside while Milton led Vince up the stairs to sick bay.

As she had in the cargo bay, Sierra surveyed the room with a penetrating gaze, taking in the mismatching sofas and armchairs scattered haphazardly around the large circular gaming table in the center of the room.

The decorations on the walls were a conglomeration of all the crew’s tastes. A man dressed like an old-timey cowboy and carrying an ancient pistol glared at them from a poster with the title of Shady’s favorite movie across the bottom—Harry Rides Again. The cheaply framed photos of a panda, koala, and a pack of wolves had come from Lizzie, while Celeste had contributed the row of tribal masks. Flynn was responsible for the still-life prints that were mostly of food.

Sierra’s gaze fell on the only quality painting in the room, one that had been hanging there as long as Jeth could remember. It had been his mother’s favorite—a fantastical landscape, full of massive trees shrouded in mist and punctuated by plants so colorful no one would mistake them for real, no matter how many planets there were in the universe.

“Do you like it?” Jeth said, unable to resist the question. Sierra seemed transfixed by the painting.

She nodded. “It’s Empyria, right? The lost planet?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Jeth tried to keep the surprise from his voice. The legend of Empyria wasn’t exactly obscure, but he didn’t know many people their age who knew it well enough to recognize a painting of it. The only reason he knew about Empyria was because his mother had been obsessed with the myth. She once confessed to Jeth that the legend was one of the reasons she joined the ITA and became a space explorer. She’d been enchanted by the idea of an ancient, lost planet, one just waiting to be rediscovered.

“It’s also supposed to be the first planet,” Jeth added, “the so-called origin of all life in the universe. Not that I believe that or anything.”

“It’s so pretty,” Cora said, staring up at it.

Sierra smiled down at the girl and then turned and sat on one of the sofas. She patted the seat beside her, and Cora joined her a moment later. Jeth took the armchair opposite them. It was his favorite, the lumps perfectly formed for his body.