An Unforgiving Desert – Chapter 4

I stare at the practice exam on my datapad, willing the answers to come to me. The questions blur together, a jumble of technical jargon and theoretical scenarios.

What the fuck am I even reading right now? I have no clue.

I blink hard, trying to refocus.

“Skylar?” Amira’s voice breaks through my concentration. “You still with me?”

I look up, realizing I’ve been staring at the same question for the past five minutes. Amira sits cross-legged on my bed, her own datapad balanced on her knees. Her dark curls are piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she’s wearing the same oversized sweater she’s had on for the past three days.

We’re both running on caffeine and determination at this point. That bowl of ramen I had is a distant memory.

“Yeah, sorry,” I mutter, rubbing my eyes. “Just trying to wrap my head around this atmospheric entry calculation.”

Amira nods and tilts her head, cracking her neck. “Want to switch? I’ve been working on emergency protocols. We could quiz each other.”

I consider it for a moment. We’ve been at this for hours, my dorm room transformed into a makeshift study bunker. Empty coffee cups litter the desk, and discarded snack wrappers overflow from the trash can. The air is stale, but neither of us wants to fiddle with the air controls and risk breaking our concentration.

“Sure,” I say, stretching my arms above my head. My shoulders pop, a reminder of how long I’ve been sitting in this one position. “But let’s take a five-minute break first. My brain feels like it’s about to short-circuit.”

Amira grins, relief evident on her face. “Oh, thank God. I thought you’d never ask.”

She flops back on the bed, her datapad sliding onto the mattress. I lean back in my chair, tilting it on two legs. The familiar hum of the space station’s life support systems fills the silence.

“So,” Amira says, propping herself up on her elbows. “On a scale of one to ‘I’m going to throw myself out an airlock,’ how are you feeling about the exam?”

I snort. “Somewhere between ‘mildly panicked’ and ‘considering a career change to asteroid miner.’”

“That bad, huh?”

I shrug, letting the chair fall back onto all four legs with a thud. “I just… I can’t afford to fail, you know? This license means everything.”

Amira’s expression softens. “Sky, you’re the smartest person in our class. If anyone’s going to ace this exam, it’s you.”

I force a smile, not wanting to get into the pressure I’m under. Amira knows bits and pieces of my family situation, but I’ve never laid it all out for her. Some things are better left unsaid.

“Thanks,” I say. “You’re not so bad yourself, you know. Your family must be proud.”

A shadow passes over Amira’s face, there and gone so quickly I almost miss it. “Yeah, well, they’ll be prouder when I actually have the license in hand.”

She reaches for her wristlet, tapping the screen. “Let’s see what’s happening in the world outside our study bubble, shall we?”

I nod, grateful for the change of subject. Amira scrolls through the news feed, her brow furrowing.

“Oh, shit,” she mutters.

“What is it?”

She looks up, her dark eyes wide. “There’s been another hijacking. A cargo freighter off Palo Alto.”

My stomach drops. “Seriously? That’s the third one this month.”

Amira nods, still scrolling. “Yeah, it’s getting bad out there. Says here the crew managed to send out a distress signal, but by the time the authorities arrived, the ship was gone.”

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “Any leads?”

“Nothing concrete. But there’s speculation it might be the same group responsible for the recent string of hijackings in the outer system.”

I chew on my lower lip, thinking. “You’d think with all the advanced security systems these days, hijackings would be a thing of the past.”

Amira sets down her wristlet, her expression grim. “Yeah, well, the hijackers are getting smarter too. My uncle says they’re using some kind of advanced jamming technology now. Makes it almost impossible to track the ships once they’re taken.”

“Your uncle?” I raise an eyebrow. “The one who works for STRA?”

I’ve had countless run-ins with the Shipping and Trade Regulation Authority. Unfortunately, most of them have not gone my way.

She nods. “He’s been working overtime trying to come up with new security protocols. Says it’s like a game of cat and mouse, always one step behind.”

I lean back in my chair, thinking about the hijacking prevention techniques we’ve learned in our courses. They suddenly seem woefully inadequate in the face of real-world threats. Goodness knows none of them helped me.

“You ever wonder if we’re crazy?” I ask, voicing a thought that’s been nagging at me. “Choosing this career, I mean. With all the risks out there.”

Amira is quiet for a moment, her fingers tracing patterns on the bedspread. “Sometimes,” she admits. “Especially after… well, you know.”

I do know. Amira had told me once, late at night when we were both too wired on caffeine to sleep, about the close call her family had with hijackers a few years back. They’d been on a routine cargo run when their ship was ambushed just outside of Laguna’s orbit. If it hadn’t been for her mother’s quick thinking and her father’s piloting skills, they might not have made it out.

“But then I remember why I wanted to fly in the first place,” Amira continues, her voice growing stronger. “The freedom, the challenge, the chance to see parts of the universe most people only dream about. It’s worth the risk, you know?”

I nod, understanding completely. “Yeah, I get that. It’s just… sometimes I wonder if I’m cut out for it. If I’m tough enough to handle whatever’s out there.”

I brace myself, actually unable to believe that I said that out loud.

I’m not the touchy-feely type, and Amira is a new friend. This is not a tried-and-true friendship. Not yet, at least.

I probably went too far with that confession.

Amira sits up, fixing me with a stern look. “Skylar Kawabata, are you seriously doubting yourself right now? You, who managed to talk your way out of that bar fight on Ossun last month?”

I laugh at the memory. “That was different. I was drunk, and that guy had it coming.”

“My point is,” Amira says, grinning, “you’re tougher than you give yourself credit for. And smarter too. If anyone can outsmart a bunch of hijackers, it’s you.”

Warmth blooms in my chest at her words. It’s nice, having someone believe in me like this. Someone who isn’t family, who doesn’t have any ulterior motives.

“Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself, you know. I’ve seen you in the simulator. You’ve got skills.”

Amira preens, nodding like the capital-Q queen she is. “Well, naturally. I am pretty awesome.”

We both burst out laughing, the tension of the past few hours dissipating.

“Seriously, though,” I say once we’ve calmed down. “Have you ever had to deal with a real hijacking situation? Besides your family’s close call, I mean.”

Amira shakes her head. “Nah, thank goodness. But I’ve run about a million simulations. You?”

I hesitate, memories of the Amagi flashing through my mind. The panic, the adrenaline, the split-second decisions that meant the difference between life and death. But I push them aside. That’s not a story I’m ready to share, not even with Amira. We lost everything that day and had to claw it all back to get where I am today.

“Just simulations,” I lie smoothly. “But I’ve heard stories from my mom. She’s had a few close calls over the years.”

Amira leans forward, intrigued. “Really? Like what?”

I rack my brain, trying to remember one of Mom’s tamer stories. “Well, there was this one time in the Brazilianos System. They were transporting a shipment of rare earth metals when they were ambushed by a group of pirates.”

“What happened?” Amira asks, her eyes wide.

I grin, warming to the story. “Mom pulled some crazy maneuver, something about using the planet’s magnetic field to disrupt the pirates’ targeting systems. I don’t know all the details, but apparently it worked. They managed to shake off the pirates and make it to the nearest space station.”

“Damn,” Amira whistles. “Your mom sounds like a badass.”

I shrug, trying to ignore the complicated mix of emotions that always comes with thinking about my mother. “She has her moments.”

Amira must sense my discomfort because she quickly changes the subject. “So, what do you think about the new security protocols they’re teaching us? Think they’ll actually make a difference out there?”

I consider the question. “I don’t know. They seem solid in theory, but like you said, the hijackers are always adapting. I think the key is to be adaptable ourselves. To think on our feet.”

Amira nods. “Yeah, I agree. All the protocols in the world won’t help if we can’t apply them in real-time.”

“Exactly. It’s like that scenario they ran us through last week, with the sudden loss of comms during an attack. Half the class froze up because they were too busy trying to remember the exact steps from the manual.”

Amira groans. “Don’t remind me. I thought Instructor Chen was going to have an aneurysm.”

I laugh, remembering the instructor’s face turning an alarming shade of red. “To be fair, it was a tough scenario. But that’s the point, right? We need to be prepared for anything.”

Amira nods, her expression turning serious. “Yeah. Mentally prepared too. For the fear, the pressure, the split-second decisions.”

I think about the nightmares I still have sometimes, of being trapped on a ship with no way out. Of failing not just myself, but everyone who depends on me. I push the thoughts aside, focusing on the present.

“You’re right. Maybe we should be doing more psychological training along with all this technical stuff.”

Amira snorts. “What, like meditation and deep breathing exercises? Can you imagine Kalvin trying to find his inner zen?”

The mental image of arrogant and self-assured Kalvin attempting to meditate is enough to send us both into fits of laughter.

“Oh man,” I gasp, wiping tears from my eyes. “Thanks for that. I needed a good laugh.”

Amira grins, reaching for her datapad. “Anytime. Now, should we get back to it?”

I nod, feeling reenergized. The exam still looms large, but somehow it doesn’t seem quite as daunting anymore. “Yeah. Quiz me on atmospheric entry calculations first?”

Having a friend like Amira by my side? That makes all the difference.

We spend the next few hours quizzing each other, our voices growing hoarse as we recite protocols and run through scenarios. By the time we call it quits for the night, my brain feels like a pile of mush, but in a good way.

“I think that’s all I can handle for one day,” Amira says, stretching her arms above her head. “Anymore and I might start dreaming in binary code.”

I close my datapad with a satisfying click. “Same here. But hey, I think we made some real progress today.”

Amira nods, a tired but satisfied smile on her face. “Definitely. We’re going to crush this exam, Sky. I can feel it.”

As she gathers her things to head back to her room, I’m struck by a wave of gratitude. For her friendship, her support, her unwavering belief in me. It’s more than I ever expected to find here at the academy.

Geez, Skylar. When did I become such a softie?

“Hey, Amira?” I call out as she reaches the door.

She turns, eyebrow raised. “Yeah?”

“Thanks. For everything.”

She grins, understanding all the things I’m not saying. “Anytime, Sky.”

As the door slides shut behind her, I flop back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Tomorrow will bring more studying, more stress, more worries about the future. But for now, I let myself relax.

Relax, Skylar.

I don’t have to face it alone.

And that might just be the most valuable lesson I’ve learned here yet.