They spent the next two hours familiarising themselves with the Valkyries.

The cockpits were more compact than they were used to, and the spartan military design meant that comfort was some way down the list of priorities.

Tila noticed that the designer's highest priority appeared to be fitting in as many displays and controls as possible.

Surprisingly, it was Ellie who had the most to complain about this time.

'Why are there so many buttons?' Ellie said when she sat down. She looked over at Malachi who was busy adjusting his seat so he could fit in the cockpit. He saw her and tapped his ear.

'What? Oh—,' Ellie held the helmet in front of her so she could speak to the microphone. 'There's too many buttons. I thought this was supposed to be more advanced than my ship.'

'Everything's more advanced than your ship, Ellie. It's held together with tape and wishes, remember? Anyway, a more advanced ship doesn't mean simpler controls, but it does mean you need a more advanced pilot. If you really want to go nuts with manual control you can even turn the flight assist off in these things.'

'Why would I do that? That will just make it harder to fly.'

'I know, that's why they invented it. Combat pilots fly without it, I heard, and I heard they do all sorts of crazy things.'

'I'm not a combat pilot, Malachi.'

'No but racing against you is almost as dangerous.'

Jayce passed between their ships and distracted Ellie before she could snap off a reply. He dropped three bulky packages to the smooth blue-grey floor.

'Your flight suits are in here. I found some I think will fit.'

Tila hopped out of her cockpit and lightly dropped to the ground.

'Why do we need flight suits?'

'Because these are fast ships. These suits are specially made for them.' He handed them each a package.

'Do you want to wait outside while we change, Jayce,' said Tila.

'I'm not watching you.'

'It wasn't a question.'

Ellie and Tila had to help each other into the flight suits. Every fastening seemed to be in the least practical place. Once Tila had helped Ellie into her flight suit Ellie returned the favour by sealing the back of Tila's.

'Ellie, you know we're leaving, don't you?'

'Um, yes, obviously. Why?'

'Jayce is probably expecting a goodbye from you but remember we're not coming back here anytime soon.'

'We might.'

'Ellie, I don't know what happens now. I don't want you to count on it.'

'What do you mean?'

Tila took a breath. This wasn't going to be an easy thing to say, especially about him.

'I... might be wrong about him. Look, I know you like him and I know he likes you too. But we are a long way from home. You're not the first girl he's met, and you won't be the last....'

'I knew it. You want me to forget about him?'

Tila shook her head. 'That's not what I mean. Besides, I don't think you should be forgotten.' She smiled. 'I'm not entirely sure you can be. Just, when you do say goodbye to him, be... be memorable.'

'Memorable?'

'If there's a chance for a life away from the Juggernaut you should take it. You should grab it with both hands. I'm not saying he's your way out or anything, but this is the best chance you have, assuming he can be trusted.'

'Do you trust him now?'

'I don't know. Not completely, but I can't deny he's helped us.'

'But you still won't trust him?'

'Ellie, it's not so much him as it is everything he's connected to. I know he had nothing to do with the colony mission but he works with people who did. Everything around us is connected to people who did. It's just difficult, that's all.'

'I'm finished, turn around,' said Ellie. She examined the fit on Tila's suit. 'And thank you,' she added. 'But how do I make myself memorable?'

Tila smiled a rare, wry smile. 'I have one idea,' she said, and whispered into Ellie's ear.

'You've done that before?' said Ellie. 'What did you do after?'

'Nothing. I haven't seen him since.' Before she could say any more they heard Jayce calling.

'Are you guys all done in there? Here we come, ready or not!' When he opened the door he was greeted, once again, by Tila standing in his way.

'We're ready. And just in time I think.'

'Shame.'

'Jayce, don't make me regret my good advice.'

'What advice?'

'This,' said Malachi joining them, 'Is not fun.'

If Tila didn't know better she would have assumed Malachi was still in pain by the way he walked.

'Are you okay?' she said.

'It keeps riding up places it shouldn't go. No one should be this intimate with their clothes. I don't know it well enough. And it pinches.' He tugged at the fabric around his legs. 'It's a little snug down there.'

Tila refused to look down. 'I wouldn't know. They are tight though. Did Jayce get us the wrong sizes?'

Malachi winced and shook his head. 'These are G-suits. They're supposed to be tight. There's a gel in the fabric that helps with high G-forces during combat.'

'But we're not going into combat. We're not making any high-G turns, and we're not going racing. We're going home.'

'Not just racing, it's acceleration too.'

'If you say so. You're the uncomfortable one.' She winked at him.

'Alright. Let's get these ships outside,' said Jayce.

Techs assisted them in getting the three Valkyries out of the hangar. Malachi took the leftmost ship and settled himself in after tugging at his flight suit for several more minutes. As Tila pulled herself up to the cockpit of her ship she noticed Jayce and Ellie standing by the ladder of the last Valkyrie.

She called down to them. 'Ellie, remember what we talked about?'

Jayce looked up to see where the voice had come from. Ellie frantically waved Tila away while Jayce looked up at her and shielded his eyes from the morning sun, and she stopped just as quickly when Jayce turned back to her.

'What's she talking about?'

'Nothing! You know Tila. She's always joking about something!'

'I'll be honest, Ellie, that doesn't sound like her at all.' He looked up at Tila again who by now was lowering herself into her cockpit.

'Come on, Ellie,' Tila shouted. 'We don't have all day.'

Jayce returned his attention to Ellie. She thought he was about to say something to her, but then he looked down and focused his attention on a tiny stone on the runway.

'Jayce...' she began.

'She's right. You should go.'

Ellie held the helmet to her chest like a shield. The faint hissing from the headset mic faded into the background.

'You've done so much to help us...'

'Oh, it's nothing really,' said Jayce. He kicked the pebble to one side.

'Did we... um, did I thank you?'

'No,' said Jayce, the thought only just occurring to him. He looked into Ellie's eyes for the first time.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie saw Tila giving her a thumbs-up. It was distracting. Ellie took a step sideways so Jayce was all she could see. She pushed herself up on her toes and leaned closer to Jayce's ear.

'I will,' she whispered.

And then she was gone. She scrambled up the side of the ship while trying to put her helmet on to hide her hot face. She dropped into her seat and absolutely did not look at Tila.

'Wow, Ellie. Where did you learn a line like that?'

'Malachi?!'

'He's not going to forget that in a hurry.'

'You heard that?!'

'I think you left your mic on.'

Ellie's face glowed in the privacy of her cockpit. Mortified, she looked at Tila, who now had both thumbs on display. Malachi was shaking in silent laughter.

Ellie wanted to die. She hit the intercom.

'I am never listening to you again! We are not the same!'

'I promise you he's going to remember that,' said Tila.

'You said I was memorable anyway!'

Tila pulled her helmet off and leaned over the side of the cockpit.

'Don't worry Jayce. We'll be back.'

'Are you sure? I kinda need these ships back one day. Sooner rather than later, you know.'

Tila and Malachi looked at Ellie and exchanged a glance.

'Pretty sure,' said Tila. She pulled her helmet back on, sealed it to her flight suit and closed the canopy. Small panels slid over the handholds on the side of the ship leaving no breaks in the perfect aerodynamic skin of the craft.

Malachi's ship launched first. It lifted smoothly and cleanly from the surface of the world. The landing gear vanished silently into the ship's belly.

Ellie and Tila followed. The three ships rose, aiming for the heavens. In only a moment they were no bigger than the birds in the sky and then they were gone.

When the sonic boom reached Jayce, it echoed around the hangars. After the thunder had faded, he bent and picked up the last of their launch gear and wondered if he would ever see Ellie again.

Jayce sat in his cruiser and watched the empty sky. Less than a day before he had no idea any of them existed, and already he was missing them. One of them, anyway.

They would be breaking orbit by now and heading for the Celato beacon. With so much traffic between Jenova and Celato the jump drives they had would almost be redundant. At least they wouldn't have to wait to leave the system, or pay for the privilege. Things had become very interesting and very dangerous since they arrived. It was good they had gone.

The cruiser communicator chirped for his attention. Jayce sighed. It was bound to be one of the house staff needing his authorisation for something. There would be a lot of clearing up and explaining to do. Jayce closed his eyes and accepted the call.

'Yeah, hello?'

'Jayce, it's your uncle.'

Jayce's blood froze. The Valkyries belonged to his uncle's corporation. The house was in his father's name, but all the aerospace tech was a different business.

'I've just been notified that three ships I own have broken orbit. Do you know anything about this? They are the ships I had stored at your father's hangar.'

Think fast!

'Oh, those ships? I loaned them to some friends. They didn't believe how fast they could go, so I made them a bet.'

'Jayce, they are not yours to give away whenever your friends feel like a joyride.'

'I'm sure they'll be back soon.'

* * * * *

In a conference room in a tall building at the centre of the financial district three men and one woman sat around a table of polished cedarwood.

'They had better be, Jayce. I don't want you treating my ships as toys so you can impress your friends.'

'Yes, uncle,' said Jayce.

The man leaned across the table and disconnected the call. 'Forgive me, Mr Harrington, Ms Suleman. The foolishness of youth will outlive us all.'

Simon Harrington stood up from the table and tugged the wrinkles from his suit jacket.

'Will they come back do you think? We know the girl doesn't have the answers she wants.'

Jayce's uncle dismissed his concerns with a wave.

'It doesn't matter. Each of those ships is fitted with a tracker. We can follow them wherever they go. What's the point of all this technology if you don't use it? Eh?'

Cho moved her hands from the table to her lap.

'Do we know where they are going?'

The third man spoke for the first time.

'Celato. They will return home. They are lost and afraid and know nothing. Where else will they go?'

Cho looked at him through narrowed eyes. 'What about the information they took from Conway?'

'If they had anything from Conway we would know that by now,' said Harrington.

'Of course,' smiled the man. 'May I offer you some tea?'