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happened…”
    The memory of Zed sits between us, heavy and painful. I know she’s hurting. I am too, and I need to do something about it. Zed would have expected it of me, his adored big sister. I stand. “Davyd said I was recommended specifically.”
    “Davyd said?” There’s an edge to her voice as she parrots me.
    My throat gets hot and I’m thankful for the dim light, I know what she’s getting at. While we never spoke of it directly, she knew about my feelings for Samuai and I’m certain she didn’t approve. She couldn’t be more wrong if she thinks I’m just going to transfer my affections to his brother.
    “Do I report or do we miss the opportunity?”
    She blinks at my rough tone. “Report.” Her hand brushes my arm and her voice lowers. “But be safe.”
    I nod.
    I change my slippers, feeling my mother’s gaze on me. It’s like her worry settles as an extra cloak across my shoulders. For the first time I’m not sure of her reasons. Does she fear for me as a mother who has lost her only son? Or as the leader of the Lifer rebellion who would wish for a better-trained gatherer of intelligence?
    I can do this .
    But I don’t say it aloud. As I’m about to exit the Lifer quarters, I glance over my shoulder. It should be too far to tell, but when I make out the shape of my mother standing by her bed, I know she’s still watching me.
    As I wait for the lift, there’s a flutter of anticipation in my belly. I’m taking action at last. I put my mother and her unsettling reaction out of my mind.
    He’s right where he said he would be, watching one of the sparring matches in the huge training room through the big windows by the lift. I cross quickly to meet him, resisting the urge to apologize for the time I’ve taken. My steps slow. I’ve avoided this place since Zed and Samuai died.
    Davyd doesn’t look away from the fight as I approach. It doesn’t bother him that our brothers died in a fight like this one.
    There’s a scuffle down the hall between two Lifers waiting to battle. The sounds of raised voices and fists on flesh send a few Fishies scurrying past us toward the upper levels. Fishies are now choosing to fight only amongst each other, scared of the pain their servants inflict. Except Davyd. He thrives on the battle.
    This match is between two Lifers but I can’t make out their faces as they move in the blur of low gravity. It’s set up to mirror our destination planet. We are allowed to train here if none of our superiors have booked the room, and only hand to hand combat. Obstacles are allowed; however, these combatants created a dangerous looking game space. Collisions with the polymer constructs are inevitable. My stomach churns in time to the spinning of the two combatants.
    I look away but can’t avoid hearing the crunch of impact. Game over.
    “Ready?” As usual, Davyd seems unaffected by other people’s pain.
    “Yes.”
    I stare straight ahead as he presses his wrist against the blood scanner. Moments later the lift dings and the doors slide open. Access to this part of the five-level ship is strictly regulated. It takes seconds to ascend to the level above, but it’s taken me over sixteen years to get up here.
    Davyd and I don’t speak on the short walk down the hall. Mostly, I’m trying not to obviously gape. My usual working shift rotates between the Farm, the sewing subsection of Manufacturing, and the minimal class time young Lifers are permitted.
    This is my first time in this part of the ship and it might as well be another planet. It’s bright and open. The hint of brown in the wall color adds a sense of class and warmth I’ve never experienced in the sterile rooms below. It reminds me of the mansions in the Earth recordings we’re forced to watch periodically about before the Upheaval. I couldn’t reach the ceiling here if I was standing on Davyd’s shoulders. Airtight seals remain around the doors like we have in the lower levels. But there’s no lingering