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door hissed open. The only hatch in this section led to the bridge. She reminded herself that she had the authorization to be here. Or at least access, which was almost the same thing.
    Straightening to her full hundred and sixty two centimeter height, she triggered the door controls. It opened smoothly. The blood pounded in her ears. Ro's mouth fell open. Where the rest of the ship was mostly clean and well organized, the bridge looked like someone had dismantled it with lasers, crowbars, and hammers. The pilot and bridge crew consoles had been crumpled.
    The large forward display had a jagged crack diagonally across the entire screen. She stepped carefully across the threshold, avoiding the sharp metal twisted and tortured all along the floor. What the hell happened here?
    A blur of motion in the corner of her eye made Ro turn, her hands up and ready to defend herself.
    "Ro! Isn't it amazing?"
    Jem came up beside her, vibrating with excitement.
    Tension spilled out of her body. She clenched her fists at her sides. "What the hell are you doing here?"
    "I knew it. You really want to do this. I mean, it's not theoretical, right? The code you gave me matched the AIs used in the Bumblebee-class ships. And this is a Bumblebee." He stepped in front of her, his smile wide, his shining brown eyes large and bright.
    "Why can't you just do what you're supposed to?" Now she was going to have to mask his tracks as well as her own, and she needed to figure out a way to keep him and Micah apart.
    "Why? Do you?" He laughed and twirled around the bridge. "This! This is amazing. Do you really think you can wake the AI? I've been working with the interface for hours. Oh, wow, Ro, do you think can we make it fly again?"
    Ro laughed, helpless to stay angry at his ridiculous enthusiasm. "I don't know, Jem. Someone did this place in pretty good." It didn't make a whole lot of sense, given the condition of the rest of the ship.
    "But we're going to try, aren't we?"
    She trailed a finger along the silent control panels and walked in a circle around the command chair. "Oh, yeah. Hell, yeah."

Chapter 6
    Jem ran back toward the habitation ring, images of the ship bursting through his mind . The ship he saw gleamed under starlight, its engine roaring, its wings trembling with an eagerness to fly again. If he could help Ro do this, his parents would have to understand. They'd have to.
    But between now and his dream, more work waited than he could barely believe. A fierce grin stretched across his face. He could do this. He knew he could. Ro needed his help. Jem wove his way through the crowded corridors of the station, but no one really noticed him. At least there was some advantage to being small for his age. People who didn't know better always underestimated him.
    He waited until Daedalus recognized him and opened the door to their quarters. Pounding music reverberated off the walls and vibrated through his chest. Well, that answered the question of whether his parents had gotten home. It also meant Barre was still pissed. Jem winced at the sound roaring through the place. This was his home, too, and he had to be able to work.
    Smirking, he ran an environmental control subroutine he'd been wanting to try out for a long time. It wouldn't make Barre any happier with him, but then again, he wasn't all that happy with Barre right now. The cacophony damped down in tiny steps until Jem could hear himself think. He started a silent countdown, figuring Barre would storm out of his room in ten seconds or less.
    The program worked perfectly. Jem's ears rang in the blissful silence, but as ten seconds turned into several minutes, he frowned. Something didn't feel right. He hesitated at the sealed door. He frowned again, raised his fist, and pounded on the door. "I know you're in there. You want to sulk? Fine, but you're the one who owes me an apology."
    Nothing.
    The quiet unnerved Jem, and he wished Barre's music still blared through their