“With the gala and everything that was going on, most ships left a few days ago. It’ll be a week or so before travel resumes to normal. This flight was specifically booked to be the only one leaving from this cryo processing terminal.”

“Okay, but where are the people going on this flight? It can’t be just us.” That would be a crazy waste of fuel and definitely not something that SpaceTech would ever consider doing.

“It’s only us and the ship’s crew. We’re catching a ride on a supply run.”

“Supply run?” I don’t know why I didn’t think of that, but I just assumed that every flight out had passengers.

“Not a lot of people choose to go to Abaddon,” he said as if reading my mind. “And everything has to be shipped to the base, so this one’s probably loaded down with food and meds and whatever else they need up on the base right now. Takes two weeks in cryo to get there, so they have to send a lot in one go. Someone else was supposed to join us—a sign-up for mining runs—but he bailed at the last minute.”

“That happen a lot?” I didn’t even realize you could back out after signing up.

He shrugged. “It happens. Especially after a few people bite it in a row.”

The news didn’t really talk about how many people made it or didn’t. The ads SpaceTech ran were all about the benefits if you finished all five runs. I’d figured if someone did that, then it’d be newsworthy, but maybe I was wrong. “How many miners actually complete their mining runs?” Since he was being so forthcoming, I figured I’d ask him questions until he stopped answering.

“Not many. Come on.” He shoved himself out of his chair. “We have a bit of a walk ahead of us, and the entrance to the ship will be a little… Well, it’s not for civilians.”

That was incredibly vague, and I wanted to ask more questions—not just about the entrance to the ship, but about the mining runs and the base in general—but Ahiga strode away, effectively ending our conversation.

I guessed I’d asked one too many questions.

After taking some turns, we entered an elevator. Ahiga hit the button to go up to the fourth floor, but it was the longest elevator ride ever. I could feel the upward motion, but there were minutes between floors.

The elevator dinged as we finally reached the fourth floor. My toes were almost brushing the door as I waited for them to open.

“Claustrophobic?” Ahiga asked.

“No.” I let out a breath, trying to ease my anxiety. “I didn’t think so, but…” Maybe I was.