Small

DATE: Year 308-B, Sol 480

LOCATION: Aboard the Red Giant (En Route to Io)

Clara sat at a bolted-down table of the Red Giant mess hall, pushing grey protein mash around her tray.

Across from her, Okie and Tepp were playing cards. Okie was a massive Belter. Tepp was a silence-monk from Titan who only communicated in shrugs and grunts.

-Eat up, Little Bit, Okie grunted, slapping a card down. You need the mass if you’re gonna survive the gravity well.

-Don't call me that, Clara said sharply.

Okie raised an eyebrow. Little Bit? It’s a term of endearment.

-But I’ve got a name, Clara protested. Unlike my brother. Small, she said to herself.

Dr. Murray sat down next to her. She looked out of place among the roughnecks.

-It’s a sore subject, she said.

Okie sighed. He folded his hand.

-Look, kid. We’re happy to give you a lift to Io. The Giant needs the ballast anyway. But you gotta be realistic.

-I am realistic, Clara said.

-You’re going to Io because some guy who looked like he had a kid in his cockpit with a helmet on that your brother once had slang shot from Venus past Mercury to Jupiter?

-Yes, Clara said, as if nothing was surer.

-Even if that was your brother, he’s sold him by now. It was no use lying to kids.

-He didn't sell him, Clara insisted. He kept him.

-Even worse, Okie said. Why?

-Because Small is good with fixing things, Clara said. Her voice wavered. We grew up on a ship, before—

She paused. She didn’t want to talk about it.

-Our dad taught us how to do everything on a ship. Me and Small both, even at our ages.

Tepp grunted sympathetically.

She looked up at Okie. Her eyes were hard, burning with a ferocity that made the big Belter flinch.

-Phoenix has him.

-And he’s heading to Jupiter? Okie asked.

-The flight path matches a Solar Oberth maneuver, Dr. Murray interjected. If he survived the sun-skim, he has to brake at Jupiter. And Io is the only port that sells dirty fuel.

Okie looked at Tepp. Tepp shrugged.

-Io is a rough place, Okie warned. The JLF don't like strangers. And they definitely don't like kids looking for lost pilots.

-I’m not looking for a pilot, Clara said. She stood up, abandoning her food. I’m looking for my brother. Are you stopping there?

-Well, yeah.

She stormed out of the mess hall.

Okie watched her go.

-That is a scary little girl, Doc.

-She’s a survivor of the child raids in the Belt, Murray said.

-You think she’ll find him?

-I think, Murray said, opening her datapad, that no one can stop her from trying.