“Wait. Wait. I got it. That time when you did that bounce-off-the-wall kick thing makes six.” He slammed a hand on the table, and the water in my glass sloshed over the rim. “Oh shit. How did I forget the time you flipped me so hard I flew across the room? TKO.” He smirked at me. “That’s embarrassing. Seven. She beat my ass seven times, and she was just a kid. How old were you then? Fifteen? Sixteen?”

“Twelve. I was thirteen when Jorge switched me to teaching.”

“Sounds like you’re a girl full of surprises,” Ahiga said.

“You already met Ahiga?” Santiago asked.

I glanced up and froze, waiting for Ahiga to say something. I’d already given away that I knew him by my reaction when I sat down. But Ahiga didn’t say anything.

This was getting awkward. “We were on the same ship here. It was only us in the cryo room. So not really. Just to say hi, I guess. How’d you end up here, Santiago?” I asked, hoping to change the subject off to something—anything—other than me.

“Eh. You know I got caught takin’ down that Rojo a while back. Been here ever since. I was going to get ten on Earth, but it’s only four here. Almost done.”

“Seriously?” If he’d lasted nearly four years, it gave me hope that maybe I could last out my one year. Or at least until Declan came. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? Sure, my job was the pits, but maybe life in general on the base wasn’t as terrible as SpaceTech made it out to be.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t think people lasted that long here.”

Santiago leaned back in his chair and gave me one of his easy smiles. “It’s not as bad as people make it sound. I’m a mechanic for the mining ships. It’s what I did before, so it ain’t all bad. Man. That’s the crazy part of it. Those assholes who sign up for runs.” He shook his head. “Those mofos drop like flies. Anyone with half a brain would stay away. Hell, anyone with a few working brain cells should know better.”

The men nearby nodded their agreement.

I wanted to scream and shout and curse the fact that everything I came up with turned out to be a dead end. “Ah. Well. That’s interesting.” Once again, the little bit of a plan I’d thought up disappeared. I’d been hoping to somehow transfer to the mining runs. On Earth, Roan said that he thought we could make it, but I’d told him then that it was suicidal. Apparently, I was right the first time.

Damn it. I hated being right all the time. Just this one time I wanted Roan to be right. I needed him to be right.