Space Cadets
eleven
“You want to go to a different planet? For five days? With a potential assassin running around?”
“Daddy, please?” Eliza got her best pouty voice going as her father gave her a dubious look. “I’ll be with my guard the entire time, he’s the reason I’m going. And you know I’ve always wanted to come here and actually explore things and Bianca and Jocelyn just want to go shopping, please don’t make me spend five days shopping, Daddy, I can’t do it. And we’ll be back in time for the first fittings for the dresses for the queen’s ball and we were attacked here so it’s probably safer on another planet anyway and I will reiterate that I’ll be with my guard the whole entire time so I’ll still be protected please let me go please please-“
“All right!” Marcellus held up his hands in surrender. “But I expect you to check in with me every day, and stay alert. We still don’t know who was behind the attack or why. And you be back here in no later than five days.”
“Thanks Daddy!” Eliza bounced up to kiss his cheek before bounding away. She heard her father sigh behind her.
“Gabriella is going to have my hide,” he muttered. Eliza was so intent on getting to her room to pack a bag that she didn’t even see Colin standing in front of her door, and she slammed into him with incredible force. She bounced back and landed on the floor.
“Ow!” she complained. To her annoyance, Colin has still standing, staring down at her with a mix of amusement and surprise.
“You okay?” he asked, offering her a hand to pull her up. Eliza hesitated, then pushed herself up without his help.
“You mean other than the fact that I might have actually shrunk a vertebrae? Dandy. What are you, made of granite?”
“You just had a shocking amount of momentum going.”
“That’s because Daddy is letting me go.” Eliza brightened, forgetting about her poor bruised butt as she started cramming clothes into a bag.
“How did you pull that off?”
“I can be very persuasive when it suits me. And by that I mean I pulled the ‘please please pleeeease’ routine until he gave in to make it stop.”
“Did you happen to tell him we’re going to possibly the most dangerous planet in the galaxy?”
“My father is a busy man, Colin. He has more important details to worry about.”
“More important details than where his youngest daughter is staying for five days?”
“Oh, please. My family will be better off with me gone anyway. I’m not here to embarrass them, I’m not stuck here having to shop for clothes. It’s a win-win for everybody. So what time do we leave? Are you picking me up here, should I meet you somewhere? You better not try to duck out on me because I swear if you abandon me and I have to shop and drink tea for five whole days I will end you.”
“Relax, I’m not ditching you. Even though I really don’t understand why you want to come in the first place. Shopping can’t be that bad.”
“Yes it can.”
“I’ll come get you first thing in the morning, then, if you’re really so set on coming with me.”
“I am.”
“I thought you didn’t like me.”
“I don’t.”
“Right. You do realize we’re going to be together for five days and you’re meeting my family?”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t like me.”
“Not even a little bit.”
“All right well, good talk. Be up early.”
When Colin knocked on her door at the crack of dawn, Eliza was already up and ready to go. He seemed surprised, like he had thought she’d change her mind about going.
“Last chance to bow out and stay here,” he said as they walked to the transporter. In reply, Eliza stuffed her bag in the overhead and strapped herself into the seat to prepare for take-off. Shrugging, Colin took the seat next to her.
“Corron is kind of a rough place, you know,” he said after a while.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
His lips twitched but he shook his head. “Look, I’m serious. Please don’t wander off. I know you want to explore literally everything but it really can be a seedy place.”
Eliza frowned at him. “Okay, first of all. I’m not out here looking to get roughed up by some space hooligans. I tend to go unnoticed and I’m fine with keeping it that way and not pissing off a mob boss or something. So relax, I’m not going to put your job in jeopardy.”
“That’s not what I-“
“Second of all, you’re here to visit your family and if I snuck off you’d have to come looking for me and that would take you away from them. I’m difficult but I’m not heartless, you know.”
“I wasn’t trying to say-“
“And speaking of your family, what are they like? You said you had a sister, right?”
Colin sighed. “Yeah. Becca. I have a little brother too. He’s...energetic. And my parents.”
“And your dad got hurt, in the factory?”
“Yeah.”
“I...uh, hope he’s okay. Your dad. I hope he gets better.”
Colin glanced at her. “Thanks.”
They sat in silence for a while, Colin looking lost in thought and Eliza not knowing how to strike up a normal conversation. She hadn’t spent much time around anyone who wasn’t just trying to get in good with her father or sisters since she was a kid. Trying to distract someone from worrying about a sick parent wasn’t something she was suited for. What did people usually talk about?
“So what’s your favorite color?” she blurted out. Colin looked at her in surprise.
“What?”
“That’s...that’s something people talk about sometimes, isn’t it? Favorite colors and stuff?”
“Sure. And it’s green. Yours?”
“Purple.”
“Daddy, please?” Eliza got her best pouty voice going as her father gave her a dubious look. “I’ll be with my guard the entire time, he’s the reason I’m going. And you know I’ve always wanted to come here and actually explore things and Bianca and Jocelyn just want to go shopping, please don’t make me spend five days shopping, Daddy, I can’t do it. And we’ll be back in time for the first fittings for the dresses for the queen’s ball and we were attacked here so it’s probably safer on another planet anyway and I will reiterate that I’ll be with my guard the whole entire time so I’ll still be protected please let me go please please-“
“All right!” Marcellus held up his hands in surrender. “But I expect you to check in with me every day, and stay alert. We still don’t know who was behind the attack or why. And you be back here in no later than five days.”
“Thanks Daddy!” Eliza bounced up to kiss his cheek before bounding away. She heard her father sigh behind her.
“Gabriella is going to have my hide,” he muttered. Eliza was so intent on getting to her room to pack a bag that she didn’t even see Colin standing in front of her door, and she slammed into him with incredible force. She bounced back and landed on the floor.
“Ow!” she complained. To her annoyance, Colin has still standing, staring down at her with a mix of amusement and surprise.
“You okay?” he asked, offering her a hand to pull her up. Eliza hesitated, then pushed herself up without his help.
“You mean other than the fact that I might have actually shrunk a vertebrae? Dandy. What are you, made of granite?”
“You just had a shocking amount of momentum going.”
“That’s because Daddy is letting me go.” Eliza brightened, forgetting about her poor bruised butt as she started cramming clothes into a bag.
“How did you pull that off?”
“I can be very persuasive when it suits me. And by that I mean I pulled the ‘please please pleeeease’ routine until he gave in to make it stop.”
“Did you happen to tell him we’re going to possibly the most dangerous planet in the galaxy?”
“My father is a busy man, Colin. He has more important details to worry about.”
“More important details than where his youngest daughter is staying for five days?”
“Oh, please. My family will be better off with me gone anyway. I’m not here to embarrass them, I’m not stuck here having to shop for clothes. It’s a win-win for everybody. So what time do we leave? Are you picking me up here, should I meet you somewhere? You better not try to duck out on me because I swear if you abandon me and I have to shop and drink tea for five whole days I will end you.”
“Relax, I’m not ditching you. Even though I really don’t understand why you want to come in the first place. Shopping can’t be that bad.”
“Yes it can.”
“I’ll come get you first thing in the morning, then, if you’re really so set on coming with me.”
“I am.”
“I thought you didn’t like me.”
“I don’t.”
“Right. You do realize we’re going to be together for five days and you’re meeting my family?”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t like me.”
“Not even a little bit.”
“All right well, good talk. Be up early.”
When Colin knocked on her door at the crack of dawn, Eliza was already up and ready to go. He seemed surprised, like he had thought she’d change her mind about going.
“Last chance to bow out and stay here,” he said as they walked to the transporter. In reply, Eliza stuffed her bag in the overhead and strapped herself into the seat to prepare for take-off. Shrugging, Colin took the seat next to her.
“Corron is kind of a rough place, you know,” he said after a while.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
His lips twitched but he shook his head. “Look, I’m serious. Please don’t wander off. I know you want to explore literally everything but it really can be a seedy place.”
Eliza frowned at him. “Okay, first of all. I’m not out here looking to get roughed up by some space hooligans. I tend to go unnoticed and I’m fine with keeping it that way and not pissing off a mob boss or something. So relax, I’m not going to put your job in jeopardy.”
“That’s not what I-“
“Second of all, you’re here to visit your family and if I snuck off you’d have to come looking for me and that would take you away from them. I’m difficult but I’m not heartless, you know.”
“I wasn’t trying to say-“
“And speaking of your family, what are they like? You said you had a sister, right?”
Colin sighed. “Yeah. Becca. I have a little brother too. He’s...energetic. And my parents.”
“And your dad got hurt, in the factory?”
“Yeah.”
“I...uh, hope he’s okay. Your dad. I hope he gets better.”
Colin glanced at her. “Thanks.”
They sat in silence for a while, Colin looking lost in thought and Eliza not knowing how to strike up a normal conversation. She hadn’t spent much time around anyone who wasn’t just trying to get in good with her father or sisters since she was a kid. Trying to distract someone from worrying about a sick parent wasn’t something she was suited for. What did people usually talk about?
“So what’s your favorite color?” she blurted out. Colin looked at her in surprise.
“What?”
“That’s...that’s something people talk about sometimes, isn’t it? Favorite colors and stuff?”
“Sure. And it’s green. Yours?”
“Purple.”