Ellie turned around as soon as the shuttle doors closed.

She picked up her bag with a grunt. Leaning to one side as a counterbalance she moved forward with uneven footsteps. One leg moved free and easy. The other took the weight of the bag against her calf. One easy step. One awkward pivot to guide the bag along. Repeat.

"You need a hand with that?"

Ellie looked up from her careful walk into a face framed with brown curls. The face raised his eyebrows toward the bag she sort of carried. The gesture echoing the words.

If it was Mal asking, she would have said yes. If it was Tila - well, Tila wouldn't have offered but instead blamed her for bringing too much. But this was a new day, a new world, and a new adventure. It was a chance to be a new Ellie.

"No thank you," she said.

"It looks heavy, that's all, and you look—"

"I'm fine, thank you."

Ellie took one more step past him, just enough, she thought, to make the point, and dropped the bag. Her fingers ached.

"It is quite heavy," she admitted.

"I'm Aiden," said the boy. He lifted the bag easily and stowed it in a locker above the seats. "Senior or new cadet?"

"Um, new cadet I think."

"You don't know?"

"It's a transfer, sort of."

"Oh? Where from? The Icarus? You weren't on board the Texas."

"Yes."

"Sorry?" Aiden looked her over again. She didn't fit the mould of any pilot or cadet he had met before. She lacked the arrogance he was used to. This little blonde thing in front of him with the nice smile seemed far too timid to be joining their class. But maybe her reticence had a purpose.

"Oh, so you're the one?"

"Which one?"

"The late arrival."

"I'm not late."

"I mean you're not transferring from the Texas to the Paris, like the rest of us. You completed basic training somewhere else, or... you know?"

"Or what?"

"It's okay, your secret is safe with me. We all heard the rumours. You're the patron."

Ellie hesitated. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Is this what Conway meant? New Ellie tried to play it cool.

"I really can't say."

"I knew it! Look, it doesn't matter to me, honestly. I don't care who paid to get you in here. Not everyone can pass the entry exams. Don't feel bad, but don't rub it in anyone's face either. You're in now, that's all that matters. Enjoy yourself, don't hurt anyone, and you'll have a great time and be back to your old life before you know it."

"I could have passed the assessment."

"Could have?"

"Did. I mean did pass."

"Oh you did? I'm sorry, I rush to conclusions sometimes. Bad habit. What was your score?"

"My score?"

"Your assessment score? Was is more than eighty per cent?"

"Um."

"Eighty five? You're on your way to elite status already if you scored that high. So what was it."

New Ellie, it turned out, was no more comfortable with lying as old Ellie was. So she said nothing.

"Ah, I see," said Aiden. "So maybe I didn't rush to a conclusion after all. There's no shame in it you know. The entrance exams are tough. If you needed a little money to, you know, help things along, that's fine with me. I'm a realist."

"You're a what?" said another voice. Aiden turned. Behind him stood another girl crowned with frizzy curls and decorated with freckles. She hefted her bag up and into the locker next to Ellie's before sitting down across the aisle from Aiden.

"A realist."

"What are you being real about?"

"How money makes the world go round." He gestured to Ellie with an awkward nod and mouthed the word patron.

"Oh. Ohhh," said the girl. "That's you?" She looked over both shoulders then leaned in close and whispered "Don't feel bad, not everyone can pass those entrance exams. You have to be a really good pilot."

"But I am a really good pilot," whined Ellie.

"That's the spirit. You don't have anything to prove here, just do your best to keep up. You're in now, so as long as you don't screw up no one will ever need to know."

"Yeah, your secret is safe with us," Aiden repeated.

"I'm Dominique, by the way."

"Ellie," said Ellie glumly. As the other cadets seated themselves she looked around the shuttle to see what the other cadets were like. Two of them were very much alike. They stood near the door, arms folded and watched her.

Ellie let her gaze slide over them, then glanced back. They were still watching. She leaned over the back of the seat and tugged Dominique's sleeve. "Who are they, and why are they staring at me?"

Dominique lifted herself from her chair just enough to see over Ellie's shoulder.

"Oh them? They're the twins."

"I can tell they are twins. They are sharing a face. Why are they staring at me?"

"I don't know."

Aiden leaned into the aisle to see for himself. The synthetic leather of the armrest creaked under his weight. "You could ask them. They're lovely. Really."

Dominique snickered.

Ellie, no stranger to years of Tila's sarcasm, always believed that the best way to make friends was to be friendly, so she straightened up and turned around, determined to put this belief into practice.

The twins were right behind her.

"Oh, hello," she said. "I'm Ellie."

"Aurora," said one.

"Celeste," said the other.

"You're new," said Aurora.

"Um," said Ellie.

"Transfer," said Aiden, helpfully.

"I transferred!" said Ellie.

"Where from?" said the other girl.

"The Texas," said Ellie.

"Icarus," hissed Aiden.

"Icarus!" said Ellie.

The twins shared a look.

"Oh, so you know the captain of the Icarus? What was his name again?" said Celeste.

"Captain...captain..." said Ellie, doing her best impression of someone trying to remember a name she had never heard.

"Tam," whispered Aiden.

"Captain Tam," said Ellie with confidence.

"Oh wait!" said Aiden.

"That's a coincidence, don't you agree?" Aurora said to Celeste.

"I agree, it is," said Celeste.

Ellie held on to her smile but her jaw was beginning to ache.

"Is it?" she said.

"Only because Captain Tam is our uncle, and he never mentioned any transfers to us, did he?" said Aurora.

"No. He did not," said Celeste.

Ellie glanced down at the name badges embroidered onto the girls uniforms. They each said 'Cadet Tam'.

Dominique leaned into the conversation by pushing Ellie aside.

"Would he, though? Would the captain of a Commonwealth Carrier really take the time to make sure his nieces knew all about personnel transfers?"

"Fine, we can find out though," said Aurora. "We can find out if someone is lying."

"So find out," said Aiden. "Let us know. I, for one, can't wait to hear all about it."

"Are you sure you're from the Icarus, Cadet...?" said Celeste. She looked for Ellie's name badge, but she had not been issued a uniform yet.

"Cadet Young," said Ellie.

"Where are you from, Cadet?" said Aurora. "You don't have a uniform. You don't act like you went to one of the academies either."

"That's none of your business," said New Ellie. "I'm here to fly. I don't need to make friends with you as well."

The twins smirked at each other.

"Fine with us," said Celeste. "Just stay out of our way when we fly. We don't make way for anyone."

When the twins had walked away and found their own seats, Ellie sat down next to Dominique and massaged her aching jaw in both hands.

"Why were you grinning the whole time?" said Dominique. "You don't have to pretend to like everyone."

"I was trying to be nice," said Ellie.

"Why? Don't pretend, just be yourself."

"I wanted to make friends."

"How do you think it went?"

Ellie rubbed her jaw in silence. She felt like she had made two friends already in Aiden and Dominique, but something had gone seriously wrong with the twins. She didn't know quite what or how yet, but she was sure of one thing; when she got behind the controls of a ship again she would show all of them what she could do.

'Be memorable', Tila had told her once back on Parador. Ellie had taken that advice to heart back then. She was determined to do it again.

No one in this class was going to forget the name Eleanor Young.