Chapter 3

"Cadets, welcome, my name is Kiara Stone, I'm the lead pilot of the Nebulus 5. If you follow me, I'll show you around."

Kaid smiles over at me and looks to Stone and back again. I smirk at his newfound crush and scratch at my freckled arm. The sound of footfalls on metal grates echoes throughout the ship. The outside was ginormous, a huge stark white ship equipped with highly advanced weaponry and navigation systems. A costly project for what? What were they equipping ships with weapons for?

"...and if you look over here, we've got the rooms, you'll each get your own and," she turns to walk backwards, pointing at her eyes then us, "the rules are clear, no others in your room at bedtime."

"Hope she's ready to break her own rules" Kaid mutters, earning a sharp jab in the ribs from me. "oww," he whines and steps away from me when Stone glares at us both.

"And of course, the pilot's den" She stops at a heavy door and turns. "little kittens don't belong in there, and I don't want to see you in there. Ever. You hear me kittens?" She accepts our meek nods and continues to show us around. The whole tour takes a couple hours before we are allowed to go to our rooms and sleep. Xero's nights are far longer than the days, but we're still given six hours to sleep. None of which I do in fact sleep. Eventually a buzzer sounds and I sit up in a daze, I've got things to do today. Lift off is later today and the worst I can do is fuck it up.

"Cadets, get dressed in ten and get out here to the mess hall before we eat your breakfast" The PA on the ceiling crackles to life before sputtering into silence.

With a sigh I stand and shuffle over to the mirror, one look is all I need before I'm awake, attacking the short blonde-brown ombre hair I cut on my last 'rebel episode'. Thought it would make me feel better but I'm still here, thinking about what would've happened if I hadn't passed the program. Once dressed I find Kaid outside playing with the lapel of his jacket, he looks up and smiles.

"Must be heavy with all that baggage under your eyes." He follows me down to the mess hall. When I don't answer he sighs, "I'm sorrryyy Ceceilia, how'd you sleeeep?"

"Fine." I grunt, looking at the food and losing my appetite. "I'm going to sit down."

I find a spot at one of the three long cafeteria tables and rest my chin in my palm, looking down at the etchings of names in the table. I'm tracing a heart with names in it when Kaid drops down across from me, then Stone next to him. Lucky bastard.

"You'll regret not eating honey," Stone points her fork at me and raises her eyebrows.

Kaid looks over at her and smiles, "you call everyone honey?"

Stone looks at him blankly before laughing, "nah kiddo, just the cute ones."

A laugh escapes me and I clamp my jaw shut while Kaid looks mildly wounded.

Once finished, Stone takes the cadets to the rear control room. "Here's where we're controlling the weaponry. Where you all will be, I trust you will follow your training and not screw up our first launch of the month, am I correct?"

"Why all the guns?" I lean on the panel before me and stare down at the glowing blue buttons.

"Well there have been radio signals from the depths of space that we're working on pinpointing." Stone's gaze hardens, "you never know what you'll find."

"My brother went missing on on of those expeditions." Yue Hiro, one of the cadets looks towards me with a dark look. "There's definitely something out there."

"But with all this technology you've found nothing."

Stone stares at me now. "You're ignorance could cost you your life. Try to keep it off the field."

With that the PA warns us to ready for preparations to lift off. We watch Stone leave us, after she tells us another will come to assist.

"I think she might not like you anymore," Kaid whispers.

"Yeah maybe."