It had been bad enough to wake Leo up, at least, his bed shaking, the shells on top of his dresser—the ones he’d just started collecting—dancing in time with the vibrations. His father had come into the room to check on him, told him it was just a “minor geological disturbance” likely caused by the drilling at the new ventasium mining operation just outside town. Sometimes the Aykari excavators probed a little too aggressively in their quest for precious V, triggering seismic disruptions. An annoyance, to be sure, but it seldom resulted in more than a broken plate or a crack in the sidewalk. A small price to pay for progress, according to the scientists who knew best, Dr. Calvin Fender included.

Except this time the fissure seemed to work its way to Main Street, as if marching toward Fudgy’s with the sole intent of razing it to the ground. The ice cream parlor was old and built on a weak foundation, barely up to code, its brittle bones snapping under its own shifting weight. Thankfully the store hadn’t yet opened for the day and nobody had been inside, so nobody was hurt.

Leo took it all in. The busted pipes. The gaping hole where the accessible parking spot used to be. It reminded him of when Gareth would finish a Lego project and then grant Leo permission to destroy it.

“What now?” he asked. “Will it ever come back?”

“I’m sure it will,” his mother said. “They must have been insured. The owners will probably rebuild, and it will be good as new. Better, even. These things happen. You get knocked down. You pull yourself up, dust off your pants, and start again.”

That sounded like something his father would say.

“But you promised we could get ice cream,” Gareth whined, bringing up the more immediate concern.

“Well, today we get cupcakes instead,” Grace Fender declared, and led her two sons to the bakery three blocks away.

She was right. The owners of Fudgy’s did have insurance, protecting them against acts of God, and it was determined that anything the Aykari did qualified as such. Two months later a new Fudgy’s opened up as part of a strip mall on the east side of town. The Fenders still went several times, but the ice cream tasted different. At least to Leo. Good—but not out of this world. Not like before. Nothing’s ever quite the same after it’s been broken, he decided. Even if you find a way to fix it, it won’t be exactly like you remembered.

They still put the gumballs in the bottoms of the cones, though. That was something.

It was a reason to keep coming back.

Leo was slumped over the metal table, chin digging into his arm, when Kat entered. She looked like she was on a mission.

“Do you see a canister of powdered milk sitting around here?”

Leo scanned the mess area, appropriately named. This part of the ship, like every other part of the ship, really, was a disaster. Compartments hung open, their contents barely held in place by the grav generator. Bowls and cups loitered along the only counter, most of them crusted with old food, waiting for one of the crew to break down and wash them. Strange stains splattered the walls. Some of it was probably gyurt. The big red splotch on the floor could very well be blood. It matched the spot on the jacket Kat had loaned him.