Romy stared at her friend in disbelief. She had to tilt her head slightly back to meet his gaze. Each of the space soldiers were around six foot. It would have made more sense to be shorter in a space ship. But all of their genetics were designed for an eventual return to a hostile Earth, so tall they had to be.

“I don’t even want to know what they did. Why does command always punish all of us?” she asked.

Romy and Thrym both knew the answer. Orbito One command was aware that Deimos and Phobos really only answered to three people: their knot. Very occasionally the twins listened to the commander. Usually in the wake of having done something wrong.

“I think they hope the rest of us will get annoyed and pull them into line.”

Romy smiled. “Pull Dei and Pho into line. . . .”

Thrym’s blue eyes lit up. “I know.” The light faded slightly and she knew he was thinking about their knot status being stuck at the bottom for the next two months. They’d been there for the better part of twelve years, but he never stopped trying to better their ranking. If it were based on his efforts alone, they’d be at the top. Alas, the sucky attitude of the others counted for more.

She dropped her gaze, and they walked silently into the gym.

Elara and the twins were already pounding away on the treadmills. The health centre had a long, narrow gymnasium filled with treadmills and weights. This was also where space soldiers came to be hooked to the medi-tech if they were sick or wounded.

Romy giggled at the large frown marring Elara’s face as she forced her legs to move. She struggled at the lowest speed allowed. At zero incline. You’d think after twice a day for twelve years, she'd get over her aversion to exercise, Romy thought.

Romy pulled on her exercise sneakers. The soldiers received one set of sneakers each year for exercise. Romy’s had holes all through them, and she had another three months to go. Elara would swap with her soon—her sneakers remained pristine from minimal use.

Jumping on the treadmill, Romy bent to pick up the two bungee cords attached to the machine and pulled them up, muscles straining with the strong tension. She clicked the tensioned cords onto her belt either side of her hips, and her knees immediately bent with the extra weight.

The entire ship was locked in place with Quantum Levitation, suspending them in Earth’s orbit with semi-normal gravity levels, but the additional weight through her legs during the run helped mimic the conditions on Earth’s surface.

Romy settled in to her rhythmic thud on the moving belt beneath her. She found the high-pitched whirring of the exercise machine to be soothing.