I stared at my reflection in the observation port. My disgruntled reflection stared back. “I hate this,” I told him. “This absolutely, totally, utterly sucks.” In the launch bay below me, Mo waited, the welds barely cool on her various renovations. Yard personnel scrambled around the floor below, grabbing up their tools and equipment, readying the bay for launch. She …

I thought ‘Over lunch’ would mean the on-base cafeteria where we eat on duty, but it turned out the ‘Road Kings’ had touched ground only an hour before the briefing. They craved fresh air after breathing recycled oxygen for three weeks, and they wouldn’t get that at Gulf Base Three. So once we finished, we changed into civilian clothes and …

“Cutthroat,” snapped Xia. “Sharktooth,” quoth Viescas. “Rabbit,” declared the pretty Delaney. “Tapper,” finished Martins as she leaned forward with her hand out. “You’re the Higgins?” That’s fighter jocks for you. They get cool call signs, but I am my ship. Over the comm, you call bigger vessels by ship name, not some edgy code name for the pilot. And unlike …

. Red could have pulled her arm from my grip without any trouble, and I was becoming surprised she still hadn’t done it. Instead, to my relief, she finally relaxed. Since she’d backed down a bit, I met her half-way. “I’ll ask him. As captain to yard officer. Okay?” That might have sounded pretty arrogant coming from a high school …

My plugger’s legs and torso protruded from an open access panel three meters to the left of my Goblin’s port landing gear. The ship had already swallowed her shoulders, arms and head, but she still struggled within. A thick puddle of on the floor beneath her spread out like a pool of blood. I crossed the launch bay while fighting …

Mrs. West kept staring at me like that until some other lady came running in. As the new lady stammered all about how worried she’d been and stuff, I figured out this was her friend Annie. The soldier and the guardian left after that, leaving the specter bodies laying on the floor. I didn’t listen to the conversation much, but …

I guess I went to sleep while pondering all this, because another fearsome image of a specter jolted me awake. Sam was dreaming the same terrifying image of a specter swooping in on her, homing in like a falcon. She didn’t shriek this time, but she would do so very soon. A thought-mantra of soothing floated up out of old …

In the middle of the night, I came awake with a fright. I had the image in my mind of specter, and I was sure I had just seen one… except I sensed nothing but Sam’s screaming fear. A second later, my friend let out a howling shriek. I threw my mind around the room, desperate to find the attacker, …

Mom left right after that. She gave me a tight smile, saluted the Major, and briskly went outside, back to doing her job. I still huddled inside Daddy’s arms, and I felt his chest move as he expelled a sigh. He turned to the Wests. “Joss did not ask if it was alright. To have Tawny stay, is it alright?” …

. It was completely unfair. This horrible universe had stolen Mom’s face and Daddy’s warm arms from me. Then, it replaced them with robots, and for an encore, it took away my voice and my tears and left me helpless. I buried my face in tiny furry arms and began shaking with frustration. I heard my mother asking, “Mrs. West, …