Laughter shakes me back to my senses. I turn my head over my shoulder and see two officers striding across the food court. More voices echo through the entrance as other people make their way here for breakfast. The voices break through the station’s hum, and it loses hold over my thoughts.

I leave as the crowd pushes its way in. It’s only six-thirty, more than an hour until my work begins. I make my way to the Bridge, the halls noisier than usual as the crew wakes up. Too noisy. I’m so used to the silence that I forgot how many people occupy the Ember. Three thousand, give or take. Most work in the lower levels or the labs, all those closed doors I walk past every day on my way to Captain Crowe’s lab and Life Support.

The Bridge is empty except for Station Control, where Captain Fallsten—as usual—is perched on her seat, closely inspecting the fresh shift of station pilots. I’m surprised she’s still here, because Glacia’s training ended a half-hour ago.

Glacia’s shift.

I could’ve seen her when she left, or met her at her room. The first opportunity to see her I’ve had in four days, and I missed it. That’s what I get for waking up early. How long was I in the food court? I wish I could talk to her now. She’d tell me to smile, and when I don’t smile big enough for her standards, she’d doing something weird to cheer me up, like jab my cheeks together or scrunch her face up, or stand on her tiptoes and try to be as tall as me. She wouldn’t care what she took, as long as it got me to smile, and that by itself is a feat.

I take my seat beside Orcher’s desk, lean my head back, and stare up at the belly of the Drake. Blinking lights outline the station, a narrow shape in the blackness. Blink. One, two, blink. One, two, blink. Never quicker, never slower. I roll my eyes back as far as they’ll go and see the Drake’s engines. The very ends glow blue and purple and white. A quick burst of green flares under the station’s belly. The aurora, a sign that even this so-called void is not as empty as it seems. There is energy out here, and it takes a beautiful form to the lucky few who happen to be looking when it shows itself.

All around the Drake, scattered stars blanket the remaining blackness. Centuries ago, humanity wondered if it would ever visit the stars. Now here I am, wondering which one I’ll visit next.

“Coffee?”

Orcher pats my shoulder as he rounds the desk and checks that he received the overnight reports.

“Please.”