Nura folded her flight suit and placed it carefully within her locker. She then began the difficult process of slipping into her undergarments while floating in null-gravity.

The room was a hollow sphere, ten meters in diameter. The lockers were built into the walls all along the circumference. Nura's locker was above the entryway. At least, Nura considered it as being above. Once all outside points of reference were removed, a direction being up or down in null-gravity became a matter of personal preference.

Instructor jhot'Rin had given Nura her liberty for the rest of the day, and it was only an hour after midday. After her solo flight, Nura didn't have much of an appetite.

Vegetable paste and protein supplements weren't something she longed for. Nura often dreamed of finally trying the food of other species, people who took the preparation of sustenance and elevated it to an art form. It was a foreign concept, but Vanta assured her it was as glorious as it sounded.

She decided against getting something to eat at the commissary and to instead return to her cabin. There was a lot of studying to get through.

The astrogation exercise may have been over, but she was enrolled in other courses aboard the Tovre as well. She didn't find any nearly as demanding as her primary course. In fact, she thought them to be almost relaxing.

Vanta had been hesitant to allow her to continue those classes; botany, exobiology, and chemistry would be of minimal use to an astrogator. Nura and a number of jhot had all but begged him to let her remain in those courses. If nothing else, they were something she excelled at, and Nura needed the boost they gave to her morale.

A metal bar extended from beneath Nura's locker. She hooked a leg around it while she wrestled with her fastenings. Otherwise, she'd have to do this while tumbling head over heels through the locker room. That wasn't an experience she cared to revisit.

It was a relief to be out of her flight suit. The garment was designed to protect the wearer from g-forces and extreme temperature, not from rumpled fur and sore muscles. It was also excessively tight, clinging to every centimeter of her body.

Gods of Fire! Was that why the boys of the deck crew were staring like she had a grekkin sitting on her head? Nura felt her ears twitch wildly in mortification, and they didn't settle until she gave them each a firm pinch.

"Burning hell," she muttered. It didn't matter if Jano's team was ranked as the best, Nura was going to request a female deck crew the next time she flew out. Cousin Vistel was on the Tovre now, studying to earn the nim. Maybe her team?

Nura was pulling her skirt around her waist when she heard the pressure door to the locker room open. She looked below her and saw someone dart through the entry. The other girl dove towards the far end of the sphere headfirst.

At the last moment, she reoriented and landed on the balls of her feet. Before the impact sent her careening away, the girl deftly unlocked her latch, opened the door, and reached inside to steady herself.

It was Meras shi'Tomi, and she seemed upset.

Nura's ears pressed flat against her head. No, upset didn't come at all close to it.

Meras sniffed while she angrily tore her flight suit off, and grunts of frustration emanated from deep in her throat as she undressed. In her rush to get to her locker, she'd apparently missed that she wasn't alone.

Her frame could've been described as slim if she were less muscular. Meras' arms were thicker than Nura's, probably even more than Canas'. She was strong and solid, though shorter than Nura by at least a hand's breadth. Meras had a white coat, freckled with black and brown. The longer hair on her head was tied back at the nape of her neck, and bangs framed her face. She never colored the imperfections in her fur, either preferring a natural look or simply couldn't be bothered with her appearance. Regardless, Nura didn't share the opinions of others aboard the Tovre. Meras was hardly the ogre that some students had taken to calling her.

Her muscles and lack of superficial affectations didn't detract from her femininity. Quite the opposite. Adding in her talent at the nav comp, Nura couldn't help but feel self-conscious around her.

The sound of a quiet sob made Nura jump. She looked across the locker room and saw Meras bowing her head over her locker and covering her eyes with a hand. She was baring her fangs as she failed to keep a lid on her anger and frustration.

Nura tried to be as silent as she could while pulling her school uniform's tunic over her shoulders. If she was quiet, she could leave before the other girl realized Nura was there. Nura didn't want to add to Meras' humiliation.

By the looks of it, Instructor jhot'Rin was doing enough of that as it was.

Nura slowly closed the door of her locker, lifting the latch so it wouldn't make much noise. She winced as the latch clicked into place.

On the other side of the room, Meras went silent. Nura glanced in her direction and met her eyes. For a long moment, they stared at each other, then Meras averted her gaze and got back to changing into her uniform.

Nura wanted to apologize, but couldn't fathom how she could do so without making things worse.

Apologize for what? she thought. I was minding my own business when she came in.

Objectively, Nura knew she hadn't done anything wrong, but that didn't stop her from feeling like she had. Jhot'Rin actively stood in the way of a brilliant astrogator with more talent in her ear tips than Nura would have if she studied for another fifty years. Meanwhile, he made excuses for and gave ill-deserved praise to an incompetent student because he wished to please her saj.

This isn't right.

Nura pushed off from her locker. She and null-gravity didn't have the most amiable of relationships, but she managed to make it to the other side of the room without making a complete fool of herself.

"Jhot'Rin is an idiot," Nura said when she reached Meras' side. "You did a microjump on your first exercise with a bad slip engine. That's amazing, and if he can't see that, he's not worth your time."

Meras gave her a sidelong look while fastening her tunic. The fur beneath her eyes was damp. "No, he isn't," she said, her tone carrying a touch of indignation.

Nura managed to put together a friendly smile. "Isn't worth your time, or isn't an idiot?"

"What do you want, Daj?" The way Meras said Nura's honorific made it sound like a slur.

Perhaps Nura didn't need null-gravity to make a fool of herself. She could manage it well enough just by sticking her nose where it wasn't wanted and opening her mouth. A tactical withdrawal was in order. Nura drifted away from Meras and made to push off towards the door.

"How'd you know my Sparrowcraft's slip engine was bad?" Meras asked.

Nura lowered her eyes. Why did she feel like she had been caught doing something wrong? "Jano told me AL-21's been giving the deck crew problems. He wasn't surprised it failed to drop from the corridor at the target point."

Meras glowered as she listened to Nura's explanation. Her outrage was obvious. "He knew," Meras whispered. "That voiding, grekkin-humping bastard assigned me that boat on purpose."

"I... believe so," Nura said. She pulled herself a few centimeters closer. Not too close, of course. Meras was a tad too intimidating to get within arm's reach of. "If it's a consolation, I think you really pissed him off when you corrected like it was easy."

Meras scoffed. "Not much of one." She glanced towards Nura again. "He looked surprised?"

"He looked like his twin was given the var and made outcast," Nura said.

"Well," Meras said as she closed her locker, "then the day wasn't a complete wash. My eval still reads like a sewage report, but at least jhot'Rin will get another bald spot because of it."

She pushed off from the wall towards the locker room entry. Nura followed, if not quite as gracefully.

Outside of the locker room, the corridors were equipped with grav-panels. Nura stumbled as her mass regained weight.

Meras hardly broke stride as her feet touched the deck. "What's wrong with your space legs, Daj?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I never quite developed the inner ear for it."

"Kind of a handicap for an astrogator, isn't it?"

Nura frowned. "I think my complete lack of ability is more of one."

Meras raised an eyebrow at her. "Humility doesn't suit a daj, Daj. After this eval tanks my score, you're leading the placements."

Nura kept her eyes on the deck as they walked. The corridors were narrow, and if anyone came from the other direction, there'd be an awkward bout of shuffling to pass through.

The datacard containing Nura's evaluation was gripped in her fist. It felt as if it burned like a smoldering piece of coal. She'd read it before changing. It was filled with undeserved praise. Every mistake was excused. Every indication of a substandard student was ignored.

That someone like her could have her future handed over as if it was a birthright and someone like Meras had hers stolen from her made Nura's stomach turn. It was petty and unfair.

"Hey," Meras said. "Fleet to daj'Lera."

Nura blinked as she came out of her brooding. "I am constantly being told how my mother was one of the best astrogators the Fleet ever had. Whatever she could do, I can't." Her voice dropped an octave. "But, I have to. It's what's planned."

Meras opened her mouth to respond, probably with another jibe, but Nura spoke over her.

"I barely scrape by on the written exams. I hardly understand anything jhot'Rin teaches. You can chart a course across Alsavon from memory while I need to check my notes to name the nearest jump gate."

Nura looked away, embarrassed. No one asked for her life story, and she sincerely doubted Meras cared. It just burst out.

"Lennio," Meras said.

"What?"

"Lennio Gate. Primary Network hub. Point three aumeters at forty by ten degrees."

Nura laughed. "Proving my point," she said.

Meras smirked. "Twenty-six charted nodes. Range of two thousand and five hundred light years. Priority access to Di Valos Gate."

Nura snorted through her nose. "I get it. Now, you're just showing off."

"True. But, I get what you're saying. Obviously, my mother's an astrogator, too. This might not've been what I'd choose for myself, but you take to it. After a while, I liked looking at star charts more than anything else."

Nura drew her brow together. Did Meras once consider something other than her mother's profession? Weird. The thought never occurred to Nura before. Then again, the Zhartomi family had a reputation for going against the particle stream, often to scandalous results.

They turned a bend in the corridor. Ahead, Nura saw two young men loitering at an intersection. One was Velos shi'Zhar, the black-furred student who was part of Jano's team on the deck crew and Meras' twin brother.

The other was Canas daj'Gan, as similar in appearance to Nura as Velos differed from Meras. Nura's twin had grown tall since the day Vanta had given them both the daj and took them into his custody. He kept his hair trimmed even with his sandy coat, leaving an auburn streak of fur that ran down his neck.

The two were pointedly ignoring each other. Canas stood straight and stared down an adjoining passage with his arms crossed over his chest while Velos slouched sullenly against a bulkhead.

At Nura's side, Meras' steps hesitated for a brief heartbeat, but she then resumed her pace as if nothing had happened. "Hey, Daj," she said quietly so that their brothers ahead wouldn't be able to overhear. "Thanks. For telling me about what jhot'Rin did. You didn't have to."

Nura smiled. She then reached to her side and pressed her fingers above Meras' wrist. "Yes, I did."

Their culture was exceedingly particular about touching hands. Every aspect of even such a simple gesture was steeped in meaning. Fingers to another's wrist was an offer of friendship. Meras looked down at Nura's fingers then up to her face. She returned the smile, if a bit uncertainly.

Ahead, Canas' ears twitched as he heard the two girls approaching. He turned to look at Nura, but his eyes were drawn to Meras.

Canas suddenly grimaced and put a hand to his brow. He drew in a sharp breath through his teeth. Nura picked up her pace to get to his side.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she reached for him.

Canas held up a palm to forestall her. "Yeah. Headache just came out of nowhere. It's been a long day."

"You're sure?"

"I'm fine. We did four docking approaches this morning. I'm just a little burned out."

Nura frowned as she tried to get a look into his eyes. Canas' pupils were slightly dilated. That could be a symptom of migraines if she remembered her health course correctly, but she wasn't a doctor. "Let's go to our cabin. You should drink something and go to your bunk."

"Not yet," he said, waving her off. "I just came to meet you and find out how the flight went. I'm going with Jano to the lounge tonight."

Nura shook her head at him in disapproval.

Canas saw the look. "It's already gone away. I don't need you hovering."

"Fine, but if it happens again, I'm taking you to the infirmary." Nura waited until she had his agreement. Once he reluctantly told her what she wanted to hear, she looked to where Meras was having her own sibling discussion.

Nura took a step towards them. "How did the guidance assist look, Velos?" she asked.

The boy looked at her, his expression surprised, then he averted his gaze. "Needed recalibrating," he muttered soft enough that Nura had to strain to hear him.

Meras wrinkled her nose at her brother. She took him by the shoulder and pushed him to start walking, then gave Nura a nod before retreating. "See you tomorrow, daj'Lera."

"Tomorrow," Nura agreed. She watched the pair as they walked away.

"Oily little freak, isn't he?" Canas sneered. He came to stand next to her and glared after the two Zhartomi.

Nura glanced sidelong at him and started off in the direction of their shared cabin. Canas fell into step beside her.

"That sister of his isn't much better," he went on. "The gremlin and the ogre." Canas started when he became aware of the scowl Nura leveled in his direction. He looked away. "You're right. That was uncalled for."

"It was," Nura said. "Anyone who calls Meras ugly is either blind or jealous."

Canas narrowed his eyes at Nura. "Who called her ugly?"

"You did. Just now. You called her an ogre."

He rolled his eyes. "Her personality is like an ogre. When it comes to looks..." Canas rubbed his chin as he looked back towards Meras in the distance, his eyes dropping to her backside. "Well, nothing wrong with those at all."

"Don't be disgusting," Nura scolded. "I think you're jealous an astrogation student is a better pilot than you?"

"Hell of the Void, she is," Canas snapped. "She's only taking the pilot course as an elective. She's a whole semester behind where I am."

"Oh? Meras executed a microjump a little while ago with a bad slip engine. Can you do that?"

"If need be." Canas looked over his shoulder again. By the set of his jaw, he was trying not to be impressed. "Okay, no. Not on my best day. You say she flew AL-21 during your exercise?"

"Oh, good. You already know about it. Yes, jhot'Rin tried sabotaging her again, but it backfired. He shouldn't be able to get away with this."

Canas was quiet as he considered what she said. After a moment, he spoke in a low tone. "Uncle warned us not to associate with them."

"That doesn't make what jhot'Rin did okay."

Canas took a breath. "Don't get involved. The Zhartomi are poison to anyone who gets too close to them. Their patriarch's being tried for voting fraud, and the other families are cutting ties. Ganlera as well. The Zhartomi will probably be forced to dissolve by the end of the year."

Nura wanted to know why that should be a factor in Meras' education but held her tongue. It would only start another argument with her brother. "I have comm time reserved for me. I'll speak to Uncle about it."

Canas groaned. "He'll tell you the same thing."

"I love our saj, but he is wrong in this regard. I'll have to change his mind."

Canas put his hand to his brow again. "Yeah. I'm definitely feeling that headache coming back."

"Hush," Nura admonished, but she refrained from speaking any more of it out of consideration for his mental well-being.

Her brother was so high-strung as of late. Nura supposed she could forgive his irritability. Canas had his own host of worries.

Pilot courses aboard the Tovre were notorious. Nura's latest exam— consisting of a planetary launch, orbital insertion, and exit burn— was something Canas had been expected to master two semesters earlier. At fourteen, prospective pilots in the Nomadic Fleet often had at least nine hundred hours already logged at the controls.

The pilots were the royalty of the school, given every consideration. Many in other courses resented students like Canas for that, but Nura understood it was only because their curriculums were so much more demanding. After all, without the best pilots in Alsavon, the Fleet would be unable to function.

"Just be back before twenty-one hundred," Nura said with a sigh. "Don't let Jano keep you up so late this time."

Canas gave her one of his lopsided grins. "You make it sound like we're going carousing."

"I just saw you ogling Meras' butt."

"It's not like that. Jano and I are just going to the lounge to watch the boats coming in to the Fleet."

Nura wasn't surprised. Her brother was something of a starship junkie. If there was one constant in Alsavon, it was that Canas loved staring at spacecraft. They didn't hold the same allure for Nura.

They should, she thought. Mother was an astrogator, so it should be in my blood. It just... isn't.

Canas poked her in the ribs. "I just told you I'm going boat watching and didn't hear a single snide comment about it. You alright?"

"Just wondering if Meras and I were switched at birth," she sighed.

Canas stuck out his tongue and made a disgusted face. "Bleh, I hope not. That would put a few recent dreams in a disturbing light."

He absolutely deserved the punch Nura landed on his shoulder. "You fancy her!" she exclaimed in shock.

"Course I do. I'll stay away like Uncle says, but I'm not blind. I like when a girl's got protein on her, and shi'Tomi has some cannons strapped to her shoulders." He flexed his arms to illustrate his point.

"You're so crass," Nura said.

They reached the student cabins. Several young Threshpanians loitered in the corridors or called out to one another. Nura scanned the faces but didn't spot anyone she was particularly friendly with.

"I'm off to meet Jano and the others," Canas said. "You should come, too. Have any plans?"

Nura shook her head. "Studying. I don't suppose you've picked up any astrogation tips you could share?"

He shrugged. "I can align any vector you give me, but if I tried charting one, I'd just smack into a comet or something."

"You'd think there'd be more overlap," Nura grumbled. "I also have a heuristics essay to finish and we have a biology test tomorrow afternoon. I should stay in."

Canas' fur bristled. "Burning hell. I forgot about biology."

Nura pulled out her datapad and ejected one of the datacards loaded into it. "Here. Read up on my notes between starships. I'll manage."

Canas took the datacard gratefully. "I'll have to fight off some of the others if they find out what this is. Your bio notes are worth a Pexu's weight in diamonds."

Nura tried and failed to hold back a pleased grin. It was nice to know she was able to excel in some subjects, even if they weren't part of the family's plan for her. Enter the Confed military, serve with distinction, then return home to raise the next astrogator for the family. Very little of that seemed appealing.

"Good luck for when you speak with Uncle," Canas said as he started backing away. "Don't get yourself into trouble. If he tells you to drop it, just drop it. Please?"

Nura told him what he wanted to hear, but she could tell by his dubious expression that he didn't believe her. Canas was a real bother to lie to.

The truth was that Nura had no intention whatsoever of dropping the mistreatment of Meras. If no one stood by her, who would be next to suffer the same thing? What if it was a Lera or a Gan who earned the scorn of the Fleet? Would her name and honorific shield her then?

Upon returning to the snug cabin she shared with Canas, Nura first loaded the datacards remaining from her pad into her terminal. They included texts from her classes, her personal notes, and astrogation charts for the sector.

Her datacards also included the first series of a rather salacious vid drama from Fey the girls aboard the Tovre spent their free time gushing about. Nura wanted to say that she didn't enjoy it, but it had developed into a guilty pleasure she'd never admit to.

Nura accessed the Tovre's omninet connection and brought up the comm access site. She found her authorization already listed— jhot'Rin was as good as his word— and sent an initiating ping towards the comm account of Vanta saj'Gan.

Her uncle had been away this last month, serving as a temporary consultant to Confed. He was now back aboard the Fanthara. Nura's old home shouldn't be far, likely no more than fifty kilometers away. The Fleet was vast, but Vanta had lobbied for the Fanthara's position in the formation to be placed near to the Tovre once Nura and Canas enrolled at the school. It was close enough for real-time communication.

It'd been a long time since the Fanthara left the Fleet to make a shipping run. Ganlera Materiel was currently making money hand over fist through its production contract with a Human company— AutoMine or something like that. Nonetheless, Vanta was petitioning the family elders to press the Fanthara back into active use. Nura's uncle had ambitions for the company, and the longtooth needed something to occupy him since withdrawing from the Service.

Nura didn't have to wait long for Vanta to come to his comm board. His aging face appeared on the viewscreen of her terminal. Vanta smiled at her as he settled into the desk chair in his office.

Her uncle's fur had long since completed its silvering, but his amber eyes remained bright and clear. Ever since retirement, he kept up with many of his military habits, including keeping his head hair trimmed level with his coat. Vanta was still tall and strong, a lifetime of hardship and service having honed his body to physical peak. Nura imagined he would live forever.

"It's good to hear from you, girl," he said. Vanta coughed into his fist and continued. "Are you well?"

"I'm well, Uncle." She raised her brow in concern. "And you?"

"Well enough," he said, then gave another rattling cough into his fist. "A pesky, little bug's been circulating around the Fanthara, and everybody's leaking from the nose. Nothing serious. Is your brother about?"

"Boat watching with friends," Nura said. She tried to keep her disdain for time-wasting hobbies out of her voice. "I'm sending along a data packet. It's the evaluation from the solo exercise today."

She felt a twist in her stomach at the way Vanta's eyes lit up. He had such high aspirations for his daj.

"I look forward to it. Did everything go well?"

"One thing of note," Nura said. "One of my classmates did something spectacular I thought might interest you."

She explained the incident of Meras' microjump in broad terms, highlighting her grace under pressure and the added difficulty of a malfunctioning slip engine. On Nura's screen, Vanta listened with a satisfactory amount of interest. The feat impressed him. That was good. It made the next part easier.

"This classmate sounds like a rival for top placement," Vanta said with a smirk. "I see your instructor has nothing but the highest praise for you on the evaluation. The two of you must be near to each other on the board. Who is this student? I might try to get a young astrogator with such talent working on one of my ships."

Nura took a breath through her nose and put an unconcerned smile on her face. "Her name's Meras shi'Tomi."

The blank stare Vanta returned her might have been comical under other circumstances. "Of the Zhartomi?" he asked. The darkening of his tone was subtle, but Nura caught it.

"Uncle, I am afraid her family's... troubles... have had an unfortunate impact on the manner in which she is being..."

Vanta spoke over her. "Girl, please don't try to handle me. You start speaking like a press release when you want to prove how smart you are."

That stung more than it should have. Nura pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Then I'll speak plain. I have no doubt Meras is the best astrogation student aboard the Tovre and possibly in any school in the Fleet."

"If that's true," Vanta said, "then her merits will stand on their own."

"No, Uncle, they won't. She gets bias and harassment when she should be commended. Not just from the students but from the faculty. I'm certain she was given a bad slip engine on purpose. Our instructor is actively sabotaging her."

Vanta shook his head. "Nura, I'm having a difficult time believing that. What reason could there be for it?"

"You know as well as I the way families use the placements as a trophy. It's less a grading scale than a cheap method of getting bragging rights. Our instructor's probably trying to hold Meras back to get the gratitude of whomever takes her place?"

"Oh?" Vanta sounded unconvinced. "Who, might I ask, would be grateful to see their child placed in such a manner?"

Nura frowned. "You, for one, Uncle. After this exercise, I will be the top-ranked astrogator. You would speak quite highly of my instructor if that were to happen, wouldn't you?"

Vanta opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped himself. He looked off to the side, considering.

She clasped her hands on her lap to keep them from trembling. The grekkin was about to be let out of the storage container. "I've already sent you the proof, Saj.

Vanta gave her a skeptical look.

"You have my evaluation," Nura explained. "I'd like you to read it. Not the instructor's scoring but the actual flight data. I want you to see how a daj from Ganlera is judged. Then, ask yourself how a shi from Zhartomi might fare."

Vanta removed a datacard from his terminal. He held it in his hand, looking from it to Nura with a pensive look on his face. Vanta licked one of his long fangs, then gave her a slow nod.

"As you wish, Daj," he said quietly. "I'll think on what you're saying. I'll be in touch." Without another word, Vanta disconnected from the comm.

Nura leaned back and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and blew it out in a long exhale. No matter how many times she tried to calm herself, she couldn't stop the twisting, nauseas feeling deep inside her.

Why did I do that? she wondered. When he looks closely at the eval, he'll know how hopeless I really am.

There were many things Nura thought she was equipped to handle— the pressures of an examination, the deck crew leering at her flight suit, or even touching the wrist of a girl who probably saw her as just another enemy.

One thing she knew she wasn't equipped to handle was her uncle thinking less of her.

Nura didn't open her eyes again until her terminal began chirping an alert for an incoming comm. How long had she been sitting there feeling sorry for herself? Her timepiece told her that it'd been almost an hour. Far too long a time to spend moping.

And I think Canas is wasting his time, she thought with a grimace.

The twisting in her gut returned in full force, and she felt her hand trembling as she pressed the control to connect. Vanta's face reappeared on her viewscreen.

"Uncle," she said through a knot in her throat.

"I read the flight report, Nura," he said. His voice was weary. "I'm afraid I'm not well-versed in these matters, so I asked the astrogator from the Fanthara to indulge me by looking it over."

Nura nodded and felt a fresh wave of embarrassment. She hoped Vanta refrained from giving any names if he asked for an outside opinion.

"He said it was... mediocre at best," Vanta sighed. He couldn't even look at her.

"I'm sorry, Saj," Nura said, her head bowed. It took everything she had to keep herself from bursting out into tears. "I know you must be disappointed."

Vanta's ears shot upright, and he raised his head to look at her. "Disappointed?" he asked softly. "Daj of my blood, I could not be more proud."

Nura's eyes narrowed, and she looked at her viewscreen in confusion.

Vanta smiled for her. "Integrity is becoming a rare thing, and I'm pleased beyond words that it's something you value. I'll send some comms, Nura. You're right. A school like the Tovre should judge students fairly."

Her voice seemed to have left without telling her. Nura didn't know what to say.

"Thank you, for trusting me enough to bring this to my attention. I promise I won't let you down."

Before Nura could manage a reply, Vanta cut off the comm.