the inspection (jay)

watching them leave, I could only stare in envy and annoyance. I could run after them, I thought. I'm faster than they are, I could go anyway, even if they tell me not to. But a nagging feeling in the back of my head still told me no. If I messed this up, it would look bad on all of us. So instead, I ran up to the control centre and was surprised to see the commander there. Though he didn't join every battle, it was getting more and more uncommon to see him watching a fight rather than participating in one.

I figured it must be something to do with the Falcon, who was currently standing by his shoulder. Wander if that's intimidating for him. Wander if that's how the Falcon wants it. I didn't dare go in. Me and Thia had been allowed in there at times but I had a feeling he would find something wrong with it. I couldn't quite see the screen from here so I couldn't tell what was happening on the battlefield, so I just stayed there and listened. They did some talk about strategy but my ears really peaked up when the Falcon brought up Serious. I gasped, eyes widened, then quickly spun around to hide just beyond the door in case they'd heard me. I'd only heard stories about our old planet from Thias dad but I knew that he'd been part of the resistance war when the tru-beins invaded. And that he was the only survivor. Low blow, man. Real low. I didn't often find myself relating with the commander. It was no small secret the two of us didn't exactly get on. Yet all of a sudden, I found myself feeling bad for him.

I listened for a little longer. When it was done, I heard some chastising about letting them into the city. It was easy to tell which voice was the Falcons and which was the commanders. Wow, he really seems to have a grudge against him for some reason. I thought I'd better skedaddle before they came out and saw me there.

Who did he think he was? I thought about walking back to the entrance. Thinking he could walk over all of us, control everything we did here! I didn't care who anyone was. I never liked being told what I could and couldn't do. It made me feel…like I wasn't in control of my own life.

Just before getting there, I kicked the wall in frustration.

"Bad impression?"

I looked to see Noaba already standing, looking over the entrance. I wasn't really in the mood for a mind-sharing talk. "Just leave it alone."

She cocked her head to one side. "Alright, but the more you keep it in, the worse it'll be."

We looked at the entrance for a while but nothing seemed to happen. Guess we'd already missed them coming back.

"Doesn't it ever…" I started, then stopped, looking for the right words. "Don't you ever wonder about…all the people above us…higher than us?"

She looked at me "You mean like…superiors?"

"I mean…like adults in general. Teachers…parents…the ones that think they know better than you and they should be the ones in charge of your life."

She paused for a while. I guess it was kind of cruel for me to bring up 'parents'. We all knew Sam and Noaba didn't have any of those.

"What about them?"

"Well…doesn't it make you kinda mad? To think that…someone else has control of your life."

Then unexpectedly, she laughed softly. "Most kids have people like that because they can't control their own life. They don't know how yet. They gotta be taught that stuff." She spread out her hands, leaning on the rail in front of us. "The four of us were a special case."

I guess what she said made sense but something still didn't quite sit right with me.

"And yet…" I thought out loud. "They still think they can control us."

(Thia)

I stayed in the lounge, looking out the window, watching them leave and waiting for them to come back. The hollow-screen was still on but I wasn't paying attention anymore. A part of me wished I was out there with them, at least able to see what was going on. Stuck here I just felt a little…out of the loop. But hay, I wasn't the only one. What was I complaining about? I shook my head and smiled slightly. I don't need to know what's going on to know that they've got this.

I figured things would be alright after that. I guess I was wrong.

There was an attack every day after that. During the second one, instead of just waiting for them, the four of us decided to gather in the lounge and play strategy arena together. One match, jay made a really stupid move, realising it just a second too late. When I pointed it out to him after he said "If you can do any better." So, I took his phone right out of his hand and started playing. The higher-level player I was up against baulked me for only a moment. I just had to make sure I put the right cards in at the right time. First it seemed like he was winning and that was enough for the others to think I didn't stand a chance.

"There's no way." I heard Noaba say, but after a minute I started to make it look like it might be a draw. At the very last minute I waited for them to put out a level card on one side before placing my heaviest hitter on the other. They won't be able to put out another card to oppose that for a while. Then it was more just a race to see who could get the other towers to go down first. "You gonna run out of time!" Sam said, and he was half right. It was so close I wasn't sure which happened first, the timer running out or the other guy's tower going down.

I handed Jay back his phone. "You're welcome." He looked at me, slightly stunned and Noaba laughed as I walked towards the window. "You're so good."

"And try'na put me off ain't ganna work either." I said, directed at Sam.

"No." he said, grinning at me "I genuinely thought you weren't ganna beat them."

"But I did." I spun on the spot. That was when I saw at the doorway, the falcon had been watching the whole time. The others hadn't noticed. "You should join a tournament. Does this game have tournaments?"

"No" I pointed at Jay "but that's a good idea.

During the third one I actually got the chance to talk to him. Right after they left, I stood on the balcony overlooking the entrance, wondering how long this was going to go on for.

"When I first heard Crugger had found his lost daughter" Said a voice behind me "I was half expecting a wild little brat who just went around doing whatever they liked and had no regard for rules."

I turned to see the falcon coming towards me. "You can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I came to know what you were really like."

I looked away. "How long have you been watching me?"

"Long enough. I know that your clever, respectful, a little cheeky perhaps but, you know when to be serious."

I made a face. "You know that's…kinda creepy."

He shrugged. "I wanted to get the measure of you. And I think I have."

I didn't quite know what to say. "…Right." I just looked at the floor.

"Apologies if that makes you uncomfortable."

"Well, why didn't you…" I shrugged "…just ask?"

He did that face again where it almost looked like he was smiling. "How would I have known if you weren't a liar? Or an actor putting on a show? No, you had to feel like you could be yourself. Only then could I have known what you were really like."

I guess he made valid points but something still didn't feel right.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I guess that would depend."

"What do you have against my father?"

His whole expression changed, first to shock, then anger, then a little bit of regret. "That's a bit of a long story."

(jay)

On the evening of the third day, we were lined up just as we were when the falcon first came here with him and the commander stood side by side in front of us. I think a lot of us expected this was the last we would see of him but…

"Now I do believe your commander has something to say."

I hadn't really been paying attention to what he was saying until he said that.

This can't be good. If it were, he wouldn't be looking ashamed like that.

"Everyone here has risen to face different threats," he started "both together and on their own, and I want all of you to know I am proud of every single one of you."

Why did he seem to focus on me there for a sec. That caught me so off guard I didn't hear what he said next.

"I am relieved of duty."

Wait, what?

"Commander Fauler here will be taking my place."

"But what about us?"

The Falcon took over, looking at me like he noticed me.

"You have a family you can go back to, do you not. And young Cynthia is free to stay with her father for as long as she wishes. As for the other two…"

"No way." I didn't let him finish. "You can't split us up! We belong together, here."

At first, he looked annoyed, then slowly he seemed to smirk. That's the first time I've seen him smile. "I was going to say the other two can choose whether they want to join you and your family or go with the girl."

"I didn't mean just the four of us. I meant all of us."

That seemed to be enough to at least wipe that smirk off his face. Now he was looking at me with unavoidable anger. "That is not for you to decide."

I shrugged. "So, we don't get a say? Not at all, is that it? bullshit. Why should anyone else get to make our choices for us? Because we're kids? Because we're not capable of caring for ourselves? Well, guess what mister, we've taking care of ourselves pretty much since the lot of us were toddlers, I think we're pretty capable by now…"

"Enough!"

The shout put me off a little. I tried to look away but, now that I'd started, I had to force myself to keep going "No, you will listen!" It was like all that built up frustration was suddenly bursting out all at once. "I'm not afraid of you! I'm not afraid of any of this! I chose to come here to be with my friends. I chose to stay here, even after the war started. Even though it meant being away from my family. Even though it meant being in the middle of a danger zone. And even with the fact that I still haven't met my nieces!" I took a few deep breaths "I'm staying right here, and nothing anyone says or does is going to change that."

I continued to look him in the eye, breathing heavily.

"You've got spirit, boy." He said, after a while. "I actually quite admire that."