Space Cadets
five
Eliza sent a message to her father, saying that she didn’t feel well and couldn’t make breakfast today. She didn’t want to be sick during the orchard stroll either so if he could please give the queen her sincerest apologies. She muted her comm-screen and didn’t wait for a reply, hefting her bag onto her shoulder and leaving the palace again.
“Don’t you want to see the orchards?” Colin asked, looking almost wistfully back at the palace grounds as they headed into the city.
“I’m sure I’ll see them eventually. But I didn’t come all the way here just to have high tea and look at fruit trees.”
“Won’t your parents be upset?”
“They’ll be fine.”
“I’m not sure they’ll be happy about you leaving the palace so much.”
“What do I need to hang around for, when I have you to protect me from non-existent threats?”
“You know, someone did try to blow you up two days ago. Most people would be a little worried about that.”
“No one is going to know who I am if I’m not with my family. My sisters are much more recognizable. They’re the ones who need to worry, and they’ll stay close to the palace. If you can’t handle a little exploration then you can just admit it.”
“I told you, I’m good at my job. You’re not beating me with your granola or your antics.”
Eliza stopped and gave him a long stare. “You really want to do this the hard way, don’t you? Fine then.”
“Where are we going?” he asked warily as Eliza turned and headed toward the public transport bay, where they had space cruisers to ferry people between the planets of the Zenix Galaxy. Eliza booked passage to Eto, one of the outer-lying planets and the only desert landscape in the galaxy. It was covered in canyons and people traveled there to fly hover cars without speed limits.
Colin was giving her the side eye as they settled into the first class seats she’d booked on the cruiser and she gave him a smug smile in return. The cruiser deposited them at the Eto landing station an hour later, and Eliza set out to get a day rental on a hover car. Colin had been silent for most of the trip so far and was now watching her with a very wary expression.
“I want that one,” Eliza told the rental agent, pointing at a holographic image of a craft that vaguely looked like a sting ray. The rental agent gave her a doubtful look.
“Are you sure?”
“Do I look unsure?” Eliza snapped. She stared him down for a moment and he relented.
“Okay, suit yourself. You might want to have your boyfriend drive though.”
“Did this rental package come with advice no one asked you for, or is that complementary?” Eliza snatched the key off the counter and stalked away. Colin looked apprehensive as they approached the car.
“So you’re going to kill us both, then? That’s the plan?” he asked.
“Don’t be a baby.” Eliza slipped into the driver seat and Colin settled into his seat with a heavy sigh.
“I’m not sure what you’re hoping to prove here.”
“I don’t want a bodyguard, but you are annoyingly dedicated to doing your job. So that means you have to endure everything I want to do while I’m here. Unless you’d like to back out and go home?” She arched an eyebrow. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Colin slowly and deliberately buckled his seatbelt. Eliza shrugged and started the hover car. She guided it gently into the air, then took off at full throttle. They zoomed high above the open expanse of red and white desert rock before Eliza dipped into a canyon at a steep angle. She glanced over at Colin to see him scrunched in his seat, looking pale. She went zipping and bobbing in and out of canyons all afternoon and when she finally slowed down to make the journey back, Colin looked like his bones had turned to noodles.
“Where did you learn to drive like that?” he asked, color starting to return to his face.
“I bribed Kameron Toolsin to teach me.”
She felt a glimmer of satisfaction when Colin actually stopped short and gaped.
“Wait, you bribed a famous hover car racer to teach you how to drive?”
“Sure did, Pretty Boy. My dad loves to watch the races so we went to one a couple years ago, and I caught Kameron staring longingly across the track at Jocelyn. What else is new, everyone looks at her and Bianca like that. But anywho, I told him if he could teach me how to drive, I’d introduce him to Jocelyn and talk him up. So I learned some driving moves, and he got a date with Jocelyn. He went back on the racing circuit but I think she still keeps in touch with him.” Eliza shrugged. “Flying up the Eto Canyons is the stuff bucket lists are made of, you know. I wasn’t going to skip it to admire some plum trees.”
They got back on the cruiser to return to Zenia and Eliza curled up in her seat, letting her head rest on the window. She didn’t realize she’d dozed off until the landing jarred her awake. She checked her comm-screen and found that she’d been summoned to dinner. She grimaced, then cursed when she realized she barely had any time to get back to the palace and change her clothes. Colin lightly jogged to keep up with her as she sprinted through the streets of the city.
“Wait here,” she ordered and slammed her bedroom shut so she could rapidly change into something more dinner-with-royalty worthy and then burst back into the hall, almost smacking Colin in the face with the door as she ran by. He scrambled to follow her most undignified dash through the halls and she skidded to a halt in front of the dining hall doors to catch her breath. Colin looked unfazed by all the running and she glared at him but didn’t have time to say anything snarky. She smoothed her dress and took a couple of deep breaths.
“God, I hope he’s not going to talk about carrot irrigation again,” she muttered and Colin threw her a bewildered look as they stepped into the dining hall just in time.
“Don’t you want to see the orchards?” Colin asked, looking almost wistfully back at the palace grounds as they headed into the city.
“I’m sure I’ll see them eventually. But I didn’t come all the way here just to have high tea and look at fruit trees.”
“Won’t your parents be upset?”
“They’ll be fine.”
“I’m not sure they’ll be happy about you leaving the palace so much.”
“What do I need to hang around for, when I have you to protect me from non-existent threats?”
“You know, someone did try to blow you up two days ago. Most people would be a little worried about that.”
“No one is going to know who I am if I’m not with my family. My sisters are much more recognizable. They’re the ones who need to worry, and they’ll stay close to the palace. If you can’t handle a little exploration then you can just admit it.”
“I told you, I’m good at my job. You’re not beating me with your granola or your antics.”
Eliza stopped and gave him a long stare. “You really want to do this the hard way, don’t you? Fine then.”
“Where are we going?” he asked warily as Eliza turned and headed toward the public transport bay, where they had space cruisers to ferry people between the planets of the Zenix Galaxy. Eliza booked passage to Eto, one of the outer-lying planets and the only desert landscape in the galaxy. It was covered in canyons and people traveled there to fly hover cars without speed limits.
Colin was giving her the side eye as they settled into the first class seats she’d booked on the cruiser and she gave him a smug smile in return. The cruiser deposited them at the Eto landing station an hour later, and Eliza set out to get a day rental on a hover car. Colin had been silent for most of the trip so far and was now watching her with a very wary expression.
“I want that one,” Eliza told the rental agent, pointing at a holographic image of a craft that vaguely looked like a sting ray. The rental agent gave her a doubtful look.
“Are you sure?”
“Do I look unsure?” Eliza snapped. She stared him down for a moment and he relented.
“Okay, suit yourself. You might want to have your boyfriend drive though.”
“Did this rental package come with advice no one asked you for, or is that complementary?” Eliza snatched the key off the counter and stalked away. Colin looked apprehensive as they approached the car.
“So you’re going to kill us both, then? That’s the plan?” he asked.
“Don’t be a baby.” Eliza slipped into the driver seat and Colin settled into his seat with a heavy sigh.
“I’m not sure what you’re hoping to prove here.”
“I don’t want a bodyguard, but you are annoyingly dedicated to doing your job. So that means you have to endure everything I want to do while I’m here. Unless you’d like to back out and go home?” She arched an eyebrow. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Colin slowly and deliberately buckled his seatbelt. Eliza shrugged and started the hover car. She guided it gently into the air, then took off at full throttle. They zoomed high above the open expanse of red and white desert rock before Eliza dipped into a canyon at a steep angle. She glanced over at Colin to see him scrunched in his seat, looking pale. She went zipping and bobbing in and out of canyons all afternoon and when she finally slowed down to make the journey back, Colin looked like his bones had turned to noodles.
“Where did you learn to drive like that?” he asked, color starting to return to his face.
“I bribed Kameron Toolsin to teach me.”
She felt a glimmer of satisfaction when Colin actually stopped short and gaped.
“Wait, you bribed a famous hover car racer to teach you how to drive?”
“Sure did, Pretty Boy. My dad loves to watch the races so we went to one a couple years ago, and I caught Kameron staring longingly across the track at Jocelyn. What else is new, everyone looks at her and Bianca like that. But anywho, I told him if he could teach me how to drive, I’d introduce him to Jocelyn and talk him up. So I learned some driving moves, and he got a date with Jocelyn. He went back on the racing circuit but I think she still keeps in touch with him.” Eliza shrugged. “Flying up the Eto Canyons is the stuff bucket lists are made of, you know. I wasn’t going to skip it to admire some plum trees.”
They got back on the cruiser to return to Zenia and Eliza curled up in her seat, letting her head rest on the window. She didn’t realize she’d dozed off until the landing jarred her awake. She checked her comm-screen and found that she’d been summoned to dinner. She grimaced, then cursed when she realized she barely had any time to get back to the palace and change her clothes. Colin lightly jogged to keep up with her as she sprinted through the streets of the city.
“Wait here,” she ordered and slammed her bedroom shut so she could rapidly change into something more dinner-with-royalty worthy and then burst back into the hall, almost smacking Colin in the face with the door as she ran by. He scrambled to follow her most undignified dash through the halls and she skidded to a halt in front of the dining hall doors to catch her breath. Colin looked unfazed by all the running and she glared at him but didn’t have time to say anything snarky. She smoothed her dress and took a couple of deep breaths.
“God, I hope he’s not going to talk about carrot irrigation again,” she muttered and Colin threw her a bewildered look as they stepped into the dining hall just in time.