“You’re kidding me.” Suriya was marching up the hallway, her nostrils flaring even as she maintained a calm, quiet voice. “She knows how I feel about this.”

“What do you reckon her excuse is this time?” Maren asked, grinning. “I bet she’s here to check we got the information package. You know, because she’s just so dedicated to station safety.”

Suriya shot Maren a furious glare but didn’t reply.

“I bet she wants to share some of the news that’s come through her station,” a bright voice behind Maren said, making her turn. “That’s her favourite reason.”

Gin and Mark had come out of one of the hallways. Gin had the look of delight she wore any time drama visited the station, and Mark was clearly trying to hide a smile as he avoided Suriya’s glare.

“Oh, good, we’re all here,” Suriya said, cold anger dripping from her voice. “Because mercy forbid any work gets done in this place.”

“I’m on my break,” Gin said.

“Looking for Saul,” Maren supplied.

“Got to, uh, check the… kitchen… has enough food…” The guarded grin broke free across Mark’s face as Gin laughed at him.

The doors slid open as Saul led Holly into the station. The young woman’s eyes flicked towards Mark for a second before she diverted her attention to Suriya. “Great, you’re here. There was a high-priority info packet earlier today, and I know communications can sometimes be dodgy in this place, so I wanted to check you got it.”

Maren and Gin managed to keep their faces serious as they bumped their fists behind Suriya’s back.

“If you need to check anything, send us a signal.” Their leader’s voice was barely above a whisper. Maren had learnt early in her job that Suriya’s volume was an indicator of how much trouble you were in: if she was talking normally, you were fine, but a quiet murmur meant you were seconds away from earning a month’s cleaning duties. “There is literally no reason why you would need to drive over here.”

Holly brushed her long hair out of her face, nodding and looking as serious as she could. “I understand, commander. But all of the communication units were busy, and well, it’s not that far to drive.” She flashed a smile. “Sorry to bother you. I’ll head back now.”

“You very well know you can’t.” Suriya pinched the bridge of her nose. “Flare’s coming.”

“There’s a flare? Oh, I didn’t know! That’s terrible timing. I’m sorry!”

Gin leaned close to Maren and whispered in her ear, “She’s doing very well, isn’t she? Girl should’ve been an actress.”

“Do this again, and I swear I’ll invent a reason to fire you both,” Suriya snapped. “Now get out of my sight.”

“I’ll take her to a quiet part of the station, boss,” Mark said, a little too eagerly.

Suriya’s voice was so saturated with scorn that it was almost visible. “Of course you will. How very helpful of you.” She turned on her heel and marched towards her office, leaving Mark to lead Holly in the opposite direction. They made it nearly to the end of the hallway before their hands found each other’s and their fingers intertwined.