Adrift by Lyn Lowe

Tron really seemed to think they could fight. She still hadn’t thought of any place they could hide him, so she wasn’t going to argue. “I might have some things that could work.”
    Tron gave her a sideways look. “Things that can work for what?”
    “Traps,” she explained. “I think I can make some.
    His eyes got wide. That usually meant someone was surprised, but sometimes it meant they were scared. Kivi didn’t know which one he was. She needed to start her list of his expressions soon. If they didn’t die. It didn’t make any sense to start her list when it was so likely they were going to die.
    “Show me.”
    They helped each other out of their suits, both of them drifting up toward the ceiling the instant they were out of their boots. It took her a minute to figure out how to move right in zero g, but it wasn’t so bad. Tron looked like he was going to get sick at first, but once he figured it out he started smiling a little. They shot through the corridor without the need to run, and that was really nice since her ankle still hurt. She knew his feet did too, even though he never said anything about them, and that meant that he probably liked not running too. And without her short legs holding her back, Kivi discovered that she wasn’t just able to keep up with the bigger boy, she could go faster if she wanted to. That was neat. She’d never been faster before.
    They made it through the ship so fast that they both almost shot past the stairs. They were the same ones she’d fallen down earlier. She wasn’t going to fall this time, with no gravity to pull her down, but Kivi was anxious anyway. She kept thinking about what it felt like when she was running right before she fell. Kivi didn’t like that, and didn’t want to feel like that again, but the tight feeling was coming and even though she couldn’t run anywhere, she felt like maybe she needed to anyway.
    “Hey kid.” Tron’s voice cut through the bad thoughts like a knife. “We’re going to your place, right?”
    She nodded, wishing her heart would slow down. She was more afraid of what was down the stairs than she was about the bad guys who were coming back to kill her. That didn’t make any sense. She grabbed the metal of the hand-hold, but she couldn’t seem to make her arm work to pull herself down. That didn’t make sense either.
    She felt his hand on her shoulder. She hated being touched. Only momma and papa could ever do it the right way. Even Heath was bad at it. But Tron wasn’t. It didn’t bother her, and she didn’t think he was about to make her hug him. Most people did. Most people also said ‘oh you poor dear’ right before they hugged her, but Kivi didn’t think he was going to say that either.
    “Look, no matter what, they’re not going to be in there. That’s ok. It doesn’t mean they’re dead. They wouldn’t stay there, would they? We didn’t stay where we were. So even if it’s empty, that doesn’t mean they’re dead.”
    Deep breath. She was getting good at those. Then she pushed herself down.
    There weren’t nearly as many blue strips on the habitat floor. Her eyes had gotten used to the darkness above, until it wasn’t darkness at all. But this was different. The soft glow was only enough to see a little bit of the wall. That was okay. Kivi didn’t need light to find her bed. She’d snuck out after lights out plenty of times. She knew the way. She closed her eyes. It was easier that way. It would be better if she was walking. She knew exactly how many steps it was from the stairs to her door. But she knew how many other doors were between there and here too. She counted quietly, feeling Tron’s fingers wrap around her good ankle. It was easy to pull him along without gravity making his weight impossible. Kivi almost smiled. It was her turn to carry him.
    Her door was wide open. That wasn’t because someone had come and gone. Their door was always that way. Heath had broken it years ago, when