Growing up in Igneous, I’d known that the fight against the Krell was a valiant, dangerous endeavor. But before coming to Alta, I’d never realized quite how close to the edge we were.

I kept my mouth shut though, because I didn’t want to depress everyone. The conversation turned to some big game yesterday—Hurl’s old team had won. Nedd raised his glass, and the others did as well, so I joined in. I took a sip of my purple drink and almost spat it out. It was so sweet.

I covered it up by trying one of the fries. My mouth exploded with flavor, and I froze, eyes wide. I practically melted into a puddle. I’d had fried algae before, but it had been nowhere near as good as this. What were those spices?

“Spin?” Arturo asked. “You look like someone just stepped on your toe.”

I held up a fry, fingers trembling. “So. GOOD.”

“She’s been living on rats for the last few months,” FM pointed out. “Her taste buds are undergoing serious atrophy.”

“You have such a unique way with words, FM,” Kimmalyn noted. “Not like anything I’ve heard!”

“How many of these can I have?” I asked.

“I got the whole basket for you,” FM said. “Arturo is paying, after all.”

I started stuffing them into my mouth—comically, by intention. But honestly, I wanted to get as much down as I could before I woke up, or someone kicked me out of here, or something exploded.

Bryn laughed. “She’s aggressive.”

“You have no idea,” Arturo said, smiling as she played with a curl of his hair.

Scud. It was criminal, how little I knew about my flightmates.

“Where’s Jorgen?” I said, talking around bites of food.

“He wouldn’t want to come,” Nedd said. “Too important for us.”

“You didn’t even invite him?” I asked.

“Nah,” Arturo said.

“But isn’t he your friend?”

“That’s how we know he wouldn’t come,” Nedd said. “Say, how’s old Cobb getting by? Has he said any interesting curses lately?”

“Spin gave him a bit of a black eye, last they spoke,” Kimmalyn noted.

I swallowed my mouthful of fries. “I was wrong to say what I did.”

“If you don’t say what you’re thinking,” Kimmalyn said solemnly, “then it will stay in your head.”

“You deconstructed him,” FM said, raising a finger. “He was relying on the very thing he was denying!”

I looked down at my basket, which was somehow already empty. FM swept it away and walked off to the counter, probably to get me another. I could hear the fryer, and the pungent, crisp scent in the room made my mouth water for more. This wasn’t too expensive, was it? Did I care right now?

I tried the drink again—still too sweet. FM set another basket of fries in front of me, fortunately, and I attacked them. The spices were just so good. Flavor that made my mouth wake up, as if from a long slumber.

The others continued to reminisce about Hurl—their voices tinged with the same pain I felt. They got it. They understood. I wasn’t alone, not here.