Started? Zoe. Zoe! What are you doing?
"Look, Zoe wants to play with Claire!" Nikki cried.
I snuck a glance to see Zoe walking up to a still naked and wet Claire.
Zoe! Stop that!
There was a surprised gasp.
"Aw, Zoe, you naughty girl," Claire giggled.
Nikki laughed. "Did she just—"
"Zoe!" I roared. "Get over here."
A few seconds later, Zoe joined me on the footlocker, snuggling against me.
Claire's putting her uniform on now. You sure you don't want a better look? She's bending—
Stop it, Zoe.
I leaned backwards on the footlocker, realized my mistake, and turned over, acting like I was trying to sleep.
Sometime later, the bathroom door swung open. I didn't budge.
"Looking good, Kayla," someone said.
Dustin, you don't want to miss this. Kayla's wearing her snake and—
It took all of my willpower not to ask Zoe to share her view.
Oh god. It was going to be a long night.
***
By the time I finished washing up, it was past three in the morning. Someone had pounded on the bathroom door while I was in the middle of my shower. When I had cracked the door open, a towel wrapped around my waist, it had turned out to be Nikki. She had snatched my towel, the only remaining one, and raced away, cackling. A few minutes later, someone returned it. I had only seen the hand stick past the crack in the doorway, but I had known it belonged to Stella.
After that, the rest of the night had been relatively uneventful. I woke up to the sound of someone banging on the walls of the cargo bay.
"Rise and shine!" Drake said. "Time for your morning workout!" He pointed at me. "Hunter? Really?"
I rubbed my groggy eyes with my hands. "What?" I looked down and realized that I wasn't snuggled against Zoe. Nikki and Claire were sleeping next to me on the cargo bay's floor. Zoe peeped her head down at me from the footlocker next to us.
You could have woken me! Done something!
But you looked so cute together.
I scrambled away from the girls. Nikki sleepily raised her hands and stretched, jutting her pert chest forward. Claire buried her face, still half-asleep, in the crook of Nikki's neck.
"Nothing happened. I swear, I didn't know they were there." I glanced around at the others. They were staring at me. Stella turned away. Mia blushed and did the same.
"Nice salute," Julie said a little too casually, nodding towards my lower half.
I glanced downward, then raised my one leg and hopped over to the side of the footlocker. God damn it.
Zoe! Get in front of me!
Zoe didn't move.
Zoe! Zoe!
"It's the morning," I said.
Drake glared at me.
"Come on, man. I mean, sir. You know how it is in the morning." I smiled weakly.
Drake's glare intensified. "Hunter! I want a hundred pushups from you. Now!"
***
After Drake put us through a brief workout, he gave us an update.
"Last night's attack proved we're too vulnerable," Drake said. "I can't trust that the Mekanics haven't penetrated the other major bases. But there are a few people I do trust. We'll be linking up with another Beastmaster squad."
There were excited whispers among the girls. Other than Drake and Staccato, if you counted him, we hadn't really interacted with other full-fledged Beastmasters.
"Can you tell us anything about who we'll be meeting?" Mia asked.
"We went through the Academy together. I'm sure they'd be happy to answer all your questions when we arrive." Drake narrowed his eyes. "Try not to embarrass me."
He looked at me when said that, didn't he?
Do you want me to play it back for you? Or play back something else? Zoe wiggled her tail provocatively.
No, nevermind. Nevermind.
"Any news on the Academy?" Julie asked.
Drake shook his head. "I'm afraid not. There's some word that there may be survivors, but I don't have much more." He checked his wrist. "We'll land in half an hour. Pack your bags, if you have any, and be ready to roll." Drake left.
Some of the others started chattering. I walked over to Stella, who was packing her large bag.
"Stella. About this morning…" I began.
Stella stopped packing to look up at me. "You don't have to apologize for Nikki and Claire. I know what they're like."
"Right," I said awkwardly. I nodded toward her bag. "You sure brought a lot, didn't you? I bet the other girls are jealous. Claire was complaining that she couldn't do her hair properly without—"
Stella gave me a flat look. She beckoned to me with a finger, then unzipped her bag. Inside were…suitcases. The kind that Dr. Hill had used. Stella tapped a gray case. "Boosters. Two of them."
"Boosters? You got those from Dr. Hill?" I immediately regretted mentioning Dr. Hill. "Sorry," I mumbled. Damn it. "Um, do you want to talk about it?"
Stella shrugged and stopped packing. She leaned against the wall. I sat down next to her and waited.
"I never knew my real parents," Stella said. "She's the only one I remember."
"Same here," I said. "But who cares about a bunch of people who didn't stick around. How was she? As a mom?"
Stella smiled faintly. "The same as she usually is."
"So a hardass, stone-cold bitch?"
Stella's eyes widened in surprise. For a second, I was worried whether I had gone too far, but then, she chuckled. "Yeah, that's about it."
"Makes sense, with how you turned out."
"Oh?" Stella raised an eyebrow. "Are you calling me a—"
"Nah," I said with a grin. "You're, like, all there. Focused, smart. It seems like you always know what you're doing. I wish I was like that."
Stella moved an inch closer to me, her arm and leg were pressing into mine, her brown hair brushing my cheek. "Go on," she said.
"I mean, like none of the other girls have it all together. Except maybe Mia. She is on top of things, too."
Stella twisted her head, shifting slightly away from. "You definitely don't know what you're doing."
Zoe groaned in my head. Dustin…
"I know. I'm not like you guys. I just…make it up as I go. Stumble forward." I could salvage it. I put my left arm around Stella, pulling her closer. She didn't resist.
Stella smiled. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You've made it this far."
Yeah, see Zoe? Zoe yawned in response. I laughed. "Even Zoe thinks she can do better than me."
Miney crawled from Stella's shoulder to mine, then ran down my belly, settling in my lap. "Miney's the same," Stella said with a sigh. "Miney, don't bother him."
Miney squeaked while running in circles around my lap. Stella reached for the ferret, but Miney burrowed its claws in the inner thighs of my suit as Stella pulled the ferret away.
I winced at the sudden sharp pain and withdrew my arm from Stella.
"Miney!" Stella scolded, giving the ferret a light tap on the back of its head. The ferret squeaked once more, then let go and ran back onto Stella's shoulder.
Stella shook a finger at the ferret. "No, I am not!"
I stared. Stella glanced at me. "Sorry, Miney's—"
"Was Miney talking with you?" I asked.
Miney squeaked. Stella looked flustered. "We all talk to our Avatars, don't we?"
"But—"
Stella reached out and held my hand. "Dustin. I…I'm not ready for some things." She let go of my hand, then leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for cheering me up."
She abruptly stood and raised her voice so that the others could hear. "I have an extra round of recovery charges for everyone. Our bodies should be ready for them by tomorrow."
Zoe, did you see that?
Zoe was upright, no longer lazing around. Her ears were pointing forward. Interesting.