Two hours before launch, Odessa sat on Jade’s desk watching Carmen ripping colourful post-it-note after colourful post-it-note off nearly every surface of her own nearby cubicle. She was putting them in different piles and every now and again she’d pause to write something in her notebook.

  Down in ‘the pit’ the engineers were conducting final checks before boarding. It was almost time to suit up.

  “What’s your item?” Jade asked from behind her.

  “Huh?” Odessa turned around to look at her.

  “You know, your one personal item that you’re taking with you?”

  “Oh right. A violin.”

  “Hmm, maybe I should have brought my lyre. We could have had a space jam.”

  “You play the lyre?” Odessa asked.

  “Sort of,” Jade replied. “I’m not very good.”

  “That’s okay. I only sort of play the violin.” Odessa grinned.

  Jade narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t the violin one of those instruments you have to be really good at before it sounds even halfway nice?”

  “Don’t worry,” Amanda said, as she joined them. “Odessa’s just being modest.”

  “I suppose you would know,” Odessa replied with a grin. Then to Jade she said, “Amanda’s great at music, mainly the drums and the guitar. We even play in a band together, sort of. It’s a very casual band.” Her eyes widened as a missed idea hit her and she hit her face with two hands. “Oh man, we totally could have had a space band. Is it too late to change the selection criteria for astronauts?”

  “Yes,” replied Jade and Amanda in unison.

  “Dash actually does play an instrument,” Jade added. “I don’t know about the others.”

  “Which one?” Odessa asked, looking at Jade with great interest.

  Amanda cracked a beer. “Athena can play a few things too.”

  Before Jade could answer her question, Odessa reached past her with rapid speed and grabbed the beer out of Amanda’s hands. “What are you doing?” she demanded. “You’re about to help launch an incredibly explosive rocket. You need to be sober.”

  “We’ve still got two hours,” Amanda pointed out. “And it’s just the one beer.”

  Odessa gave Amanda her most stern look. “It’s never just the one beer with you.”

  “A little alcohol’s considered a performance enhancing drug in the sport of shooting you know?”

  Odessa scoffed. “This ain’t shooting and I don’t want you even slightly tipsy when I’m the one sitting on hundreds of tonnes of rocket fuel.”

  “Well, it’s kinda like shooting,” remarked Jade jovially. “We’re shooting ourselves at the moon.”

  They all laughed with a hint of nervousness layered on top.

  “Alright,” Amanda finally agreed, giving an apologetic look to Odessa.

  Odessa returned her a grateful smile and then replied to Jade, “Well, I hope we’re not shooting ourselves at the moon. The intent is to go around it... anyway, what’s your one thing?”

  Jade reached into her pant leg pocket and pulled out a pack of cards. “I figure there’s going to be a lot of sitting around.”

  Odessa nodded. That was a smart idea. Very practical. She turned to Amanda. “What would you take?”

  “A box of beer,” Amanda replied without hesitation and a massive grin.

  Odessa rolled her eyes. “You can’t even drink a can of beer in space. The liquid would be a nightmare in low gravity.”

  “We’ve got that cute bartender though and she’s going to be drinking wine,” Jade pointed out.

  Amanda sniggered and Odessa found herself wishing she’d been the one to cause it.

  “She’s not going to be drinking it, she’s going to be tasting it,” Odessa replied. Then she registered the other thing Jade had said. “What do you mean cute?”

  “Well, she is isn’t she?” Jade asked unabashedly.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Odessa could see Amanda trying not to laugh. She could feel her own cheeks going red. She didn’t want to call someone cute in front of Amanda, even if the woman wasn’t interested in her like that, but nor did she want to lie and say Athena wasn’t cute.

  “Sure, I guess,” Odessa bumbled, feeling her face get as hot as rocket.

  Amanda gave a snigger, while Jade’s smug gaze was jumping from Odessa to Amanda and back again. Odessa was glad when not two seconds later, Dash appeared and remarked, “Okay, time to get suited up.”

  A nervous swell of excitement swept through Odessa. It was almost time to launch themselves into space by basically riding on the back of a giant fireball. It was insanity, and insanity was so much fun.

  “What are you bringing as your one thing?” Odessa asked Dash as they all started in the direction of the changing rooms.

  Dash spun with a grin but didn’t stop walking. He pulled the neck of his shirt down to reveal a necklace made from jade. Then he undid the clasp and held it out.

  “A necklace?” At first Odessa wondered if it was a sweet symbol meant to remind him of his girlfriend, Jade. Of course, the name Jade was a very common name since it also happened to be quite a valuable form of currency. This whole area had even been named The Greenstone Valley, due to the mining of the gem, even though it wasn’t really a valley but more like a coastal plain.

  “An infusement,” Dash corrected.

  “No no no.” Odessa snatched it from his outstretched hand. “We talked about this. No infusements. Natural powers only. Pick something else.”

  Dash held out his hands in protest. “We’re taking a whole container load of infusements up though.”

  “They’re not on the main ship.” Odessa replied. She looked about for Amanda, who they hadn’t gone far from, and waved her over. Odessa handed Amanda the necklace. “Can you please take this and put it somewhere safe until after we get back?”

  “Sure thing,” Amanda replied but she waited awhile as Odessa watched Dash walk off grumbling to himself.

  Odessa sighed. “I hate being the bad guy.”

  “Nah, if you set the rules then it’s important you enforce them,” Amanda told her.

  “Even when it’s me taking your beer off you?”

  “It was the right call,” Amanda replied. “And that sort of conviction is what I like about you.”

  She said it matter-of-factly but it took the air right out of Odessa’s lungs and made her feel like her intestines had been replaced with lovely pink butterflies. Why in gods names did Amanda have to go saying things like that?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Odessa had no words so Amanda gave her a reassuring smile and walked off. Did she realise the effect her words had on Odessa?

  Odessa sighed again and went to go and get changed. She didn’t get very far.

  Carmen had been waiting for her. “I have a question.”

  “Yes?” Odessa half-expected it to be about Amanda and Odessa but Carmen was either too tactful or too oblivious for that.

  “You said you’re taking a violin?”

  “Yes.”

  “Right, well, a couple things. Firstly, won’t the rosin dust be a problem?”

  Odessa nodded. It was a fair point. But that violin had been with her nearly everywhere. She had played it all over the world, from half way up a snow-covered cliff to deep underground. It was her thing. Online, she was that idiot violinist who had played in all the stupid places. To get to play it in outer space was an immensely alluring prospect. But a violin would not work if it hadn’t had rosin applied to the bow. She’d learnt that the hard way when she’d bought her first ‘violin’ and subsequently spent the next several minutes searching the internet for why her violin wasn’t working. Unfortunately, dust was absolutely a problem in space.

  At first Odessa had thought that meant she wouldn’t be able to play it. Taking it was still on the table. But then she’d remembered rosin wasn’t the only thing that made dust.

  “People shed dust all the time you know, skin cells and the like,” she explained.

  “Riiight,” Carmen replied, stretching out the word to show she wasn’t completely following.

  “Well, that’s what we have the filters for. If I play it, and I might not, it will be in front of the vents. Also, rosin doesn’t need to be applied every session and most rosin dust is from over-applying it. So the rosin stays here, preapplied, and I’ve banged the shit out of the bow to get rid of the excess dust.”

  Carmen considered it and after a few seconds of thought she replied, “Okay. So my next question is do you think a cello would be too big?”

  Odessa double blinked. “Do you play?”

  Carmen nodded.

  Odessa was torn. One the one hand, a cello was a lot bigger than a violin. They might have more space than some of the early old world human missions but not that much space. Not to mention, the dust was going to be a lot worse too. On the other hand. Half a string quartet in space? How cool was that?! Maybe even cool enough to help with future funding.

  Carmen read her silence as a no. “It’s fine. It’s too big. I’ll go with my original thing.”

  “Well...” Odessa was about to say maybe it would be fine but she stopped herself. It was too close to launch. Still.. a cello in space... She grinned and then she registered the rest of Carmen’s sentence. “What was your original thing?”

  Carmen held up a fountain pen and a fancy looking leather bound purple notebook.

  “Uhh...” Suddenly the cello wasn’t looking so bad.

  Carmen picked up on her concern immediately. She waved a hand. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s a special ink. It sticks to itself quite strongly unless it’s used on a certain type of paper. Actually, you can use it on regular paper too but then you get horrific looking blotches because it has a preference for a higher cellulose crystallinity.”

  Odessa was about to comment on the ink itself having a preference as if it were alive when she spotted Dash and Jade returning, neither one in their launch suit, and Jade carrying a rather heavy but short looking barbell.

  “Absolutely not,” she said, guessing that the barbell was Dash’s replacement for the infusement.

  “Oh come on. This is my opportunity to lift the most massive thing I ever have without the help of an infusement,” Dash protested. He gestured at the weight Jade was holding. His grin threatened to take over his whole face.

  Odessa shook her head. “That thing looks like it weighs a ton.”

  “1.5 tons actually,” replied Dash, his grin never leaving his face.

  Odessa looked from him to the weight Jade was holding. For a moment she’d forgotten Jade was a strongarm. “You know it won’t count as actually lifting it. It won’t be as heavy in microgravity.”

  “That’s the point,” Dash pressed. “It’ll be lighter and I’ll be able to lift it, but I’ll still have lifted the same mass. Plus, it’s not actually that easy. There’s still the momentum which”—he held up one finger—“I’ve taken into account and picked something right on my limits.”

  “That’s even worse. If you fail, you’re not just dropping a weight on your toe, you’re throwing it across a spaceship. Plus, we’re not adding 1.5 tons to the ship just so you can lift the heaviest thing you’ve ever lifted.”

  “Most massive thing,” Dash corrected.

  Odessa rolled her eyes. “Most...” she trailed off with a sigh. He was technically correct but it was irrelevant.

  “And Jade’s there as back up if I mess it up,” Dash insisted as he gestured to Jade.

  Jade gave a nod. “Exactly.” Then she looked at Dash. “Can I put this down now? It’s getting kinda heavy.”

  “It won’t be heavy in space, darlin’,” he quipped with that world-winning smile. More seriously he added, “Yes you can put it down.”

  “Don’t drop it on the floor,” Odessa warned, worried that it was starting to look like two against one. Maybe bringing a couple into space was a bad idea. She turned back to Dash. “We can’t rely on magic in space, not even natural magic. Remember that teleportor that tried to jump up, in a space suit, and then never came back?”

  Jade breathed out a soft sigh as she released the weight onto the ground. Then she straightened up. “Teleporters make bad jumps all the time. Nobody even knows if he actually made it to space. And it’s only the one guy. If we get to space and magic doesn’t work then we don’t do the weightlifting.”

  As if she was able to predict the absolute worst moments to appear, Cat’s voice called from nearby, “It’s a little late to be weight training isn’t it?”

  “I’m going to set a new personal best,” Dash explained.

  “Not in space you’re not,” Odessa insisted.

  “What’s your current PB?” asked Cat.

  “248,” replied Dash, ignoring Odessa.

  Cat pretended to think about it. Odessa knew she was pretending because Cat rarely ever didn’t have an immediate reply.

  “Mmm, I suppose that’s not a bad bench,” Cat replied in a bored voice.

  ‘Brutal’ thought Odessa as she watched Dash deflate a little.

  “It’s for a deadlift,” he replied.

  “Oh, pfft.” Cat made a sound like she didn’t think much of that.

  “How much can you lift?” he asked Cat.

  “220.”

  “No you can’t.”

  “Can.”

  “Can’t.”

  Jade threw her hands in the air with an exaggerated sigh. “I’m going to go suit up,” she declared.

  “Wait, what about the weight?” Dash called after her.

  “I believe Odessa said no, darlin’,” she called over her shoulder.

  Dash gave a look that reminded Odessa of a golden retriever and she almost started to reconsider it. She knew she had to be decisive though. Amanda liked her when she was decisive.

  “Hah!” Cat remarked. “You can’t even lift it without your girlfriend’s help.”

  Dash scowled but then he got a new look on his face, a devious look. “Let’s see you lift it then.”

  “Fine,” Cat replied with a cocky smirk as she sauntered toward the weight.

  Odessa suddenly realised what Dash had a moment before. Cat didn’t know how much that weight was. She likely assumed it was closer to 250kg. Odessa wasn’t sure it made much of a difference. Cat wouldn’t be able to lift that much either way, although it might confuse Cat if she tried to roll it.

  Dash crossed his arms and watched as Cat made an attempt to lift the 1.5 ton weight.

  Cat didn’t even bother removing her leather-like jacket. She just rolled up the sleeves a little and set her feet shoulder width apart. Cat did lift regularly so her posture and form were pretty on point, but it wasn’t going to help much in this case.

  Odessa figured Cat’s intent was to try move it an inch off the ground just so she could declare she’d lifted it. Maybe she could have done that if it had been 250 kg. Odessa couldn’t remember what Cat’s PB actually was, but she was damn strong. Other than Jade, whose strength was magic, Cat was the strongest woman Odessa knew. 1.5 tons was way too big even for her though.

  Dash was watching Cat struggle with a satisfied smile on his face.

  Cat glared at him. Then she did indeed try rolling it.

  What surprised Odessa was that Cat actually managed to get it moving, not off the ground but rolling.

  Dash seemed impressed too because his grin fell away and he cocked an eyebrow.

  Unfortunately, once Cat had gotten it rolling, it wasn’t quite so easy to stop. “Oops,” she remarked as the weight kept on going and going and going until it crashed into a table causing the whole thing to slide a few feet right as Stella walked out of the nearby hallway.

  “And that’s why we’re not taking heavy weights into space,” Odessa told Dash.

  “That wasn’t 250kg,” Cat remarked as she put her hands on her hips.

  “Never said it was,” replied Dash, his grin returning again.

  “That’s not going into space,” said Stella as she reached them. She was dressed in her usual clothes today. A little black chiffon dress that wouldn’t have been out of place at a cocktail party. But in place of her own suit she’d acquired two new suits following her. A man and a woman, both whom Odessa recognised.

  There was Bambi, who was brown haired and not much taller than Amanda. She was Stella’s closest friend and mentor, and probably the one whose style Stella had been emulating yesterday. Bambi was a mindwalker and professional negotiator. Intimidating but nice.

  The man was Coal, always well put together, dashingly dark-haired with piercing blue eyes. Where Bambi looked like a CEO, Coal’s suit was an eclectic mix of old and new cocktail attire and a closer match in style to Stella’s outfit. He also carried a sword on his hip that was apparently for more than just show.

  Coal was an aristocrat, even more intimidating than Bambi, and had probably funded at least some of this endeavour. It was possible Bambi had as well. Rumour was she made good money, she just didn’t flash it around like Coal did. Bambi was also another reminder of Chaser since she’d been the one to fix what he’d done, at least what could be fixed back then. Seeing her caused Odessa some pause and a flashback to yesterday when Chaser had shown up.

  “Fine, I’ll pick something else,” Dash replied.

  “No,” Stella said. “No more changes. And you need to get suited up now. There’s a dragon been spotted circling by the mountains. Two of our shielders called in sick this morning, and we’ve got more cars in the parking lot on account of all the extra pit crew today, so we’re probably starting to look a lot more like a meal.”

  “Indi can shield if you’re short,” Odessa reminded her.

  “Indi needs to work on the software.”

  “I thought the software was done?” Dash asked, looking worried for the first time.

  “It is. She’s just fixing a small bug,” Stella explained.

  But Stella looked worried too, which worried Odessa.

  Odessa waited as the others dispersed. Cat walked Bambi and Coal off to see the rocket.

  “Something wrong?” Odessa asked.

  Stella smiled a cold and unreadable smile. “No,” she said. “Get suited up. We’re launching as soon as you’re ready.”