KYLEIGH TRISTRAM
PALLAS STATION
YEAR 475, FOURTH QUARTER
TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO
The weight of a hand touching Kyleigh’s shoulder yanked her straight out of the stubborn differential equation. Kyleigh’s stylus went flying, and any semblance of a solution fled her mind. Heart racing, she spun her chair to face her interrupter. Elliott’s blue eyes dropped apologetically.
“Sorry, Kye,” he mumbled as he picked up the stylus from under his desk and handed it back. “Escort’s arrived. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
She faked a smile and slid the thin, black piece of conductive foam into its slot. “Gideon’s here?”
“Brisbane,” Freddie put in from across the room, where he was stuffing his watercolor pencil case into his pack. “And he’s early.”
Sure enough, Peter Brisbane’s broad back almost filled the doorway. Kyleigh gathered her bag and tucked her chair under the desk.
“Gideon Lorde’s not feeling too good this afternoon, so you get me,” Brisbane said over his shoulder. “You kids ready to go any time soon?”
She held up her bag in response. “Is Gideon all right?”
“Hope so,” the security guard answered without taking his eyes from the hallway. “Probably just that cold or whatever went through the station a few days back.”
Freddie grunted as he picked up his pack and his portfolio bag. “I don’t get how anyone here got sick. It’s not like anything new arrived. Next supply ship shouldn’t get here for maybe what, half a quarter?”
Brisbane shrugged. “Not a doctor, kid. Got no idea.”
They filed out and waited while the guard sealed the classroom door.
“Alicia wasn’t feeling good, either,” Kyleigh said. “How’s she doing?”
“Better. She’s back to work today. Alison never even ran a fever.” The pride in the guard’s voice was palpable, like somehow his little niece’s temperature was verifiable proof she was smarter than anyone else. “Whatever it is, it’s hitting Gideon harder than it hit Alicia, but he’ll be better soon enough. You kids stay clear of Dr. Allen’s infirmary, just in case.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Freddie said. “I’ve had enough of infirmaries and hospitals to last the rest of my life.”
They started down the hall, Elliott and Freddie on either side of Kyleigh, like additional guards. Somehow, that made her feel a little better.
Elliott exhaled heavily. “Kind of a moot point, isn’t it? We’re steering clear of everything lately unless someone takes us.”
Brisbane nodded. “Until we catch whoever killed your father, Kye, everyone is on alert.”
“Are we still heading to my”—Kyleigh caught her lip between her teeth—“to my old quarters?”
“That’s the plan.” The man glanced back at her. “You holding up?”
Her shoulders hunched. “I guess.”
“The Lost-a-Parent Club is a rotten one to join,” the security guard said.
Elliott stuffed his hands in his pockets, like a younger version of his brother. “It is.”
These three, at least, understood. Peter and Alicia Brisbane had accepted positions on Pallas after their mother died. And Freddie had lost his mum, and Elliott . . . well, at least he had Julian.
Freddie shifted his portfolio to his other hand so he could hold hers. “Has Gideon found anything out?”
“Not yet.”
They followed the meandering hall toward the quarters Kyleigh used to share with Dad. Her eyes burned, and she blinked hard.
“We’ll move your trunks to Georgette’s quarters until you decide what to do,” the muscled guard stated.
“Are you really thinking of leaving?” The question burst from Elliott.
Freddie gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Do you blame her for wanting to be done with this place?”
Elliott flushed. “No.”
She squeezed Freddie’s hand. “I’m not sure. Mom hasn’t responded.”
“Comms are dodgy lately.” Brisbane shrugged. “Ross gave me some science reason about a comet, Krios, and relay stations.”
Kyleigh managed a slight smile for Elliott. “Your brother’s right. I might not say it often, but he’s almost as smart as he is overloaded with muscles.”
Brisbane chuckled.
Her thoughts wandered. Ross and her dad had worked together, but they must’ve been friends, because Julian was really upset over Dad’s death. Of course, Christine broke up with Ross a few days later, which was a rotten thing to do, kicking someone when they were already low. No wonder he seemed off lately.
“You all right, Kye?” Freddie asked.
She jerked her thoughts back. “Just scattered. Anyway, your dad told me to take my time deciding. Georgette volunteered to sponsor me, though I’d have to go to Krios Forty-Seven for half a year for testing and presenting my thesis. Or I could head out to university, like we’ve talked about. Or join Mom, if she wants me—”
“Of course she does,” they all chorused.
A smile tried to flutter into existence, but a sigh pushed it away.
Down the hall, a door flew open. Peter Brisbane stopped abruptly as Christine Johnson practically floated out of her excessive yellow office. She startled when she saw the four of them, and then flashed an unusually mechanical smile. Brisbane relaxed slightly, Elliott seemed to shrink, but Freddie stiffened.
Great. Exactly what they all needed. As if it wasn’t awkward enough that the geneticist had broken up with Julian, she’d been hovering around the three of them. If Kyleigh hadn’t known better, she’d have thought the woman was after Elliott.
“Peter! I’m sorry. I’m so jumpy lately.” She tossed her long, thick waves of blonde hair over her shoulder. If jumpy had an opposite, it was Christine Johnson. “I was heading to a meeting with Gideon.”
“Didn’t you get my message?” Brisbane narrowed his eyes. “Gideon has a fever this morning. Meeting’s canceled.”
“I didn’t.” Christine’s sculpted brows drew down. She retreated into her office, the plush carpet softening the click of her heels, and returned moments later, an initializing datapad held high as proof. “No wonder my morning was so quiet: I forgot to turn this on. My commlink isn’t working. Marsden said he’d get it back to me, but he hasn’t yet.”
“It’s not safe without one.” Elliott glanced at Kyleigh. “Not now.”
Instead of rudely dismissing the comment, Christine turned the full force of her smile onto Elliott. “You’re right. I don’t know how I’d forgotten.”
“Leave your datapad on until Marsden fixes your commlink,” Brisbane ordered.
“I will. Do you want my help, Kye?” Christine asked gently. “I’m quite good at packing.”
Kyleigh shook her head, but a cloud seemed to gather over Brisbane’s face. “How’d you know where she’s going?”
The woman waved her delicate hand. “Everyone knows Charles Tristram was a slob.”
Brisbane cleared his throat.
“A disorganized man. It will take ages to bring his chaos under control.”
“Dad wasn’t really disorganized,” Kyleigh countered. “He always knew where everything was, down to the smallest slip of paper.”
Christine pulled the lacy, butter-yellow sweater tighter around her arms. “I didn’t mean to offend you, dear. I’m feeling a little under the weather myself. I was headed to the kitchen for a cup of soup, if you don’t mind company.”
“If you want,” Brisbane said.
She sidled up to Elliott, which made Kyleigh’s skin crawl. When they reached the hall leading to the cafeteria, Christine said, “Comm me, Kyleigh, if you want my help.”
The echoes of her heels on concrete receded, and they resumed their silent walk. When they reached her old quarters, Kyleigh unlocked the door, and her throat constricted. Dad’s stacks of papers waited for him as if he had merely stepped away. His faded cardigan hung by the bare hook where his lab coat used to hang.
They’d burned that lab coat. Couldn’t get the blood out.
The room’s emptiness swelled, and the weight of loss hit Kyleigh hard. She forced down the ache, compacting it into a smaller mass and ignoring its gravitational pull.
Christine was right. There was so much to do. The bots had kept it clean enough, and it wasn’t like there were bugs roaming Pallas, so she didn’t have to worry about something moving in the clutter, not like back on Ceres.
Brisbane’s commlink chimed. He stepped into the hall to answer.
Kyleigh hugged her arms around herself. “Where do I even start?”
Freddie set his portfolio and pack on a side table. “Go pack your clothes first. El and I will get the books and the artwork.”
If anyone could be trusted to take care of art, it’d be Freddie. “Right.”
“Kyleigh?” Brisbane called.
She stopped halfway to her room.
“Going to have to leave you kids here for a bit,” the security guard said. “Stay put until I get back or I send someone else.”
Panic speared Kyleigh. “What is it? No one is hurt, right?”
Freddie put a hand on her arm. “No alarm, Kye. Not a security issue.”
“No,” Brisbane said, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Just a bit of a . . . situation in the infirmary.”
Her heart dropped to her feet. “Gideon?”
Brisbane didn’t answer. The door clicked shut, and they stood for a moment, then wordlessly set to packing up the remains of Kyleigh’s old life. As she emptied her closet and bookshelf, the noises in the front room slowed.
Freddie’s voice came down the hall: “We’re done with the art and the books.”
“I’m almost finished here.” Kyleigh folded her last sweater and stuffed it into her trunk to cushion the glass dolphin Mom had given her before she and Dad had left Ceres to come to a moon on the tail end of the system. A moon where he was murdered.
“Don’t think about it,” she told herself. “Think about dolphins.”
“Dolphins?” Elliott asked.
She jumped. “You guys need to stop sneaking up out of nowhere. But nothing. I mean, I don’t really like dolphins. Cats are better.”
“True,” Elliott said. “You can hold a cat, if Dr. SahnVeer isn’t around.”
Kyleigh didn’t add that she could cry into a cat’s fur. “Mom and Dad took me on an ocean tour before we left her behind on Ceres. They tried to explain why she wasn’t joining us here, but they just talked in circles. I was so mad that I didn’t listen. Mom pointed out the dolphins, saying something about families being like pods that support and protect each other.”
The trunk clicked shut, and she pressed her thumb on the screen to seal it.
“That’s also true,” Elliott said. “You want me and Freddie to carry that?”
“If you don’t mind. I bet it’s heavy.” She followed them down the hall. “Set it by the door. I’ll borrow a platform or something.”
Elliott’s commlink chimed.
“Where are you?” Julian Ross demanded.
“Freddie and I are helping Kyleigh pack things up.”
“Kyleigh . . . Right. Look, Elliott, I need you all to stay there until I come and get you.”
Kyleigh rolled her eyes. “Brisbane said—”
“Brisbane is busy.”
“No.” She tried stifle the irritation in her voice. “He’s just checking on things in the infirmary.”
After a pause, Ross said, “Gideon will be out of commission for a while.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s sick, Elliott. Really sick, and I don’t—” Ross stopped abruptly, then said with a degree of caution, “I stopped by the infirmary to ask Dr. Allen for something, and . . . Stars, but it looks bad. You all need to stay away.”
Kyleigh exchanged glances with the others.
“Kyleigh, Elliott told me that your father had told you and Freddie to be very careful about what you eat and drink.” Ross paused, then added quickly in an undertone, “I think he was right. Keep with packaged food and water until this blows over.”
Elliott’s eyes went round. “But, Julian—”
“I’m not kidding.” His voice was so tight that his words emerged as a growl. “I’m doing what I can. I’ll fix it somehow, but stay away from . . .”
“From?” Elliott prompted.
“Just stick together. I’ll be there in five minutes. I’ll make sure you all have something safe to eat.”
“You think it’s food poisoning?” Kyleigh’s stomach knotted at the thought.
“No,” he said, then the link went quiet.
Freddie glanced at them. “That was odd.”
“Not really,” Elliott said. “Julian has always had a hard time sleeping, since I was small, so he probably was at the infirmary about more meds for that. Plus, he’s done a lot of work with medical treatments for the miners. He’s plenty smart. He’ll figure it out. Got the best minds here anyway.” His voice trailed off.
“That’s not what I meant.” Freddie leaned back against the wall beside Dad’s cardigan. “Avoid food and stay away from what?”
“Or whom?” Kyleigh added.
“Exactly.”
She shivered. “I don’t like any of this.”
Her two best friends guided her to the sofa and sat on either side. Freddie kissed the tip of her nose, and Elliott tugged the blanket off the back and tossed it around her.
“It’ll be all right, Kye,” Elliott mumbled. “Don’t worry. They’ll figure out why Gideon’s sick, and he’ll be better and find whoever it was.”
“They will.” Freddie gave her a light squeeze. “Dad always says things work together for good. I’ve got a feeling things will turn out. It just doesn’t seem like it at the moment.”
“No,” she whispered. “It really doesn’t.”