Ellie and Jayce were early to the shuttle bay the next morning.

"We'll have to wait ages," said Jayce on the elevator ride down. He yawned, deliberately, to underscore the point that Ellie had made him get up too early.

"I don't want to be late. I have to make a good impression on the rest of the class," Ellie told him. She had no regrets about knocking on his door so early.

"I don't need to make a good impression, you know? I'm not going anywhere."

"I didn't want to wait on my own."

Ellie caught her reflection in the bay window and tugged at her clothes and fussed with her hair again.

"You're going to be wearing a helmet most of the time, right?" said Jayce.

"I suppose so."

"And you'll be in a ship?"

"Yes."

"On your own?"

"Yes."

"Alone, in space, with a helmet on?"

"Yes. Why?"

"So who's going to see your hair?"

"Everyone!"

"Umm, how?"

"I'll be the first one back from every lesson."

"Gotcha. And they will evaluate your performance and your hair?" He grinned at her.

Ellie stopped, mid-rake. He was right. She didn't have anything to worry about. Not really. Flying ships was what she did. It was who she was. And there was no one better at that than her.

She liked to reminded the others of this fact frequently so why had she forgotten it now?

"You're right," she said. "I think I'm just nervous."

"You're not usually nervous about meeting new people."

"Not the people, the ships. I've only flown my racer and my Valkyrie."

"My Valkyrie," Jayce murmured gently.

"Mmm Hmmm," said Ellie, non-committally. "But everyone else in the class must have more experience, that's all. I don't want to look like I don't know what I'm doing."

"In a space ship? I'm not sure that's possible, Ellie." He pivoted her by the shoulders until she faced him and not her reflection. "You're going to do great. You're going to win everything and be the best, because that's what you always do."

"Yes I am," said Ellie.

They hugged, Jayce squeezing her close to underline his support. They parted as they elevator doors slid open. Tila loomed in the space between them.

"Every single time," Jayce muttered. Ellie silenced him with an elbow.

"You're late," said Tila.

"You're early!" said Ellie. "I thought I was going to have to wait for you. Are the others here yet?"

"That depends which others you mean," said Tila. She stepped aside and Ellie and and Jayce stepped out of the elevator.

Behind Tila, and the far side of the glass wall separating the elevators from the airlock entrance, the white waiting area thronged with people in white uniforms. The crowd was at least three deep, sometimes four, and they spread from one end of the bay to the other.

Almost all of them, as far as Ellie could tell, were in uniform.

"Who are they?" she wondered.

"More cadets for your class?" guessed Jayce. "Or more apprentices for Mal and Nina?"

"Neither, look at them," said Tila. "They are all soldiers."

A second look at the crowd revealed more details which were easily overlooked at first glance in the sea of white on white. Many wore caps, but those with bare heads sported freshly cropped hair. This was a common hairstyle on the Juggernaut, but here the haircuts were uniformly precise, rather than utilitarian and merely good enough.

The uniforms were filled with broad shoulders and strong backs, and the disciplined posture that comes with military training. Looking closer, Ellie saw colours and badges and chevrons on shoulders and, when someone turned, on chests. She had no idea what they meant, but it looked impressive.

"Well, well!" said Nina upon seeing the uniformed ranks. "Now there's a feast for the eyes."

"Don't get on the wrong shuttle by mistake," said Malachi.

"You would look good in one of those uniforms," Nina said.

Malachi laughed. "I'm no fighter. That's Tila's department."

"I'm not a solider," said Tila.

"You love a good fight though, admit it," said Nina.

"I don't love them, they just... happen sometimes."

"Somehow," added Ellie.

"It's a real mystery," said Malachi, shaking his head.

"You know,—"

"Shut up, Jayce," said Tila.

"Why so many soldiers for a rescue mission?" said Ellie.

"It's because we don't know what we are rescuing the colonists from," said Tila. "The beacon at Praxis has been under guard as soon as the Commonwealth could get ships there, but that took weeks. They don't know who came and went, or who is already there waiting."

"How do you know that?" said Nina.

Tila shrugged. "I suppose that information isn't classified."

"I didn't realise it could be so dangerous," said Malachi.

"It won't be dangerous really," said Ellie. "Tila will be perfectly safe. It might be a rescue mission but Tila's going to be with her mother the entire time."

"You almost sound like you believe that, Ellie," said Nina.

"I do, though," Ellie said. "You and Malachi are going to be in the most danger. You're going to a warship."

"A decommissioned warship," said Malachi. "You're the one going to an active duty carrier, remember."

"It's only a training ship," said Ellie. "It's educational!"

Tila chuckled to herself. "Ellie, when you show up it's always an education. Just remember to go easy on the other cadets."

"If they can keep up I will."

While they had been talking shuttles had arrived and left on the other side of the glass wall, and the uniformed ranks were thinning as assigned groups were dispatched to their ships.

Their shuttles would soon arrive to carry them away on four new journeys. Tila to Praxis eventually, and then on to Baru. Malachi and Nina to the Colden system, Ellie to Mure, and Jayce back home to Parador, to the safety of a classroom.

The conversation faltered as they waited and the docks emptied. Jayce's shuttle was scheduled first, and he and Ellie said their goodbye's in public, either because Ellie privately didn't care what Tila thought, or simply to make that point public.

As Jayce's shuttle glided through the bay door, another landed and began to fill.

"That's us!" said Nina. She took Malachi's hand in hers, picked up their bags and pulled him toward the door. Malachi gave Tila and Ellie a mock salute as his farewell gesture. Tila smiled and waved. Ellie, having none of this, chased after him for a hug. She gave Nina one too. Nina returned the hug, waved at Tila one last time, and then they were gone too.

More passengers trickled into the bay in groups of two and three, and waited nearby.

Tila sat down to wait for the next shuttle. She had been standing for over an hour, held up by nervous energy and the fears of what was to come. But now her friends were leaving, and the unknown, now known, had no more power. They were saying goodbye. Who knew for how long?

Ellie sat down next to her.

"Are you scared?" Ellie said, after a moment's silence.

Tila said nothing, but with her eyes still on the information boards, nodded slowly.

"He'll be okay," said Ellie. "You'll find him."

"You don't know that," said Tila.

"You found you mother and you weren't even looking," said Ellie.

"That was luck."

"Was it?"

Tila looked down. "I don't know. Was it? Can that happen twice?"

"You can make it happen," said Ellie. She said it simply, but so full of confidence in what Tila could do, Tila almost believed it herself.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Ellie," Tila admitted. "I don't want to see you go, but we have different journeys ahead of us."

"Only for now. We'll all be back together soon. I can let you go for a little while."

"Only for a little while," said Tila. "I'm not letting you go far. Not really. Even if you end up moving to Parador and marrying an idiot, I'm holding on to you forever."

"Promise?"

Tila squeezed Ellie so hard she squeaked.

"Promise."

Another shuttle arrived, and the information board called Ellie away.

"Don't get into any trouble!" said Tila.

"You're joking! Me? You're the only one who finds trouble."

"I'll be safe. I'll be surrounded by soldiers."

"Just don't make me have to come and rescue you, okay?"

Tila grinned. "That's not how our relationship works, Ellie."

Ellie grinned back, blew Tila a kiss, and vanished behind sliding doors.

Then Tila was alone. The departure area was quiet now. Her friends had left her. Ellie was gone. What else was there to hear?

The signs announced the next shuttle departure in five minutes. Tila's shuttle.

She stood, now bored of sitting still, picked up her bag and moved toward the gate. One other figure was already waiting there, smart and upright in his uniform.

"Marcus?"

"Miss Vasquez." He nodded a greeting but said nothing more.

"I thought you would already be on board."

"I had some last-minute details to discuss."

"With who?"

"I can't discuss that with you, sorry."

"Oh."

Tila waited a moment then asked, "Are you really going to need all those soldiers?"

"I can't comment on any operational matters, Miss Vasquez."

"Hmm."

More people queued nearby in an even mix of military and civilian outfits. Tila noticed that while Marcus wore a sidearm, none of the other uniformed figures carried visible weapons. Who knew what was in those large bags they carried though?

"How come you're the only one here with a weapon?"

"I'm authorised to carry this."

"What about the others?"

"I can't discuss this."

"What if—"

"They can't discuss it either."

"Of course not."

The inner bay doors opened and the shuttle glided to a stop, its momentum gently slowed by magnetic fields. The shuttle doors opened and passengers spilled out onto the arrivals area.

When the arrivals had cleared the platform, the departure doors opened. Tila lifted her bag and tried one more time "How many ships are we meeting at Praxis?"

"That's classified."

Marcus shouldered his much larger bag without effort and stood back to allow Tila to board first.

"Right. Good talk," she said as she passed him.

Inside the shuttle she found a seat and, once she had adjusted the staff inside it, stowed her bag in an overhead rack.

Marcus sat down in the row in front. Tila tapped him on the shoulder.

"At least tell me if my mother is on board already."

Marcus turned in his seat, and this time at least had the grace to look embarrassed at his inability to provide a simple answer.

"I'm not permitted to discuss the movements of any personnel who may or may not be taking part in this mission."

"You just admitted there is a mission though," she pointed out.

Marcus frowned, although Tila could not tell if it was at her incessant questions or his own momentary lapse.

The shuttle doors closed, and the artificial lights and walls of the station slid away behind them. The stars beckoned.

"That's classified," he said, and turned away.

"Oh this is going to be lots of fun," said Tila.