Masha let out a groan. “How many of those traps did you build, Tina?”
Tina shrugged. “Ten. I thought we could spread them around if we didn’t find the rabbit tonight. Why?”
Devi answered with a happy chuff. “There are lots of rabbits here. I thought you all knew?”
Masha shook her head. “No, Devi, we didn’t know. I’m glad we left so much food out now.”
Yana let out a little squeak when a pipe suddenly vented its steam upward. She aimed her flashlight toward the source of the noise and shuddered. “This place is creepy. I am glad Bai Hu stayed upstairs.”
Tina comforted her friend with a hand on her arm. “It’s okay.”
Masha opened the door that led to the storage area. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
They advanced into the storage area, flashlights at the ready.
Maxim brought the box with him, dumping it on a bench. The only light beyond the door to the storage area came from their tablets and the intermittent patches of tiny LEDs in red, yellow, and green which blinked on and off in the darkness.
“I can’t see a thing!” Ron complained.
“Hang on.” Masha shone her flashlight along the wall until she found the light switch. She flicked it and the overhead lights sputtered to life, revealing the platform they stood on, and the level below where pallets full of boxes and crates were laid out in a grid. “That better?” She leaned over to look inside the box. “So how do these work?”
Tina held up one of the traps, a simple box with a piece of twine attached to one of the sides and to a plate inside. She lifted that side up and let it drop again. “It’s simple. The rabbit goes for the bait and the pressure on the plate causes the door to shut behind it. You’ll have to come and check them if you’re thinking of leaving them down here.” She sighed. “I probably should have remembered to bring some food to use as bait.”
Masha nodded, showing Tina the bag of rabbit treats she’d brought. “I have carrots, bananas, and a few strawberries.”
“Those will do nicely.”
“I’ll help with that,” Ron offered.
Masha held the bag out to him. “Great. I’ll join Mish and Halli in the loading bay then.” She headed off with the rest of the group while Tina and Ron busied themselves loading the traps.
___
Bai Hu lay on his back looking up at the stars.
The galaxy projection had grown enormously since they’d crossed the Gate. Every time he came to visit Yana at the Academy there were more stars to add to his map.
He flipped over and sat up to get his notebook out, placing it beside him before he opened his tablet. He zoomed in on the multi-layered projection, focusing to examine a new system he’d noticed when they came in, jotting down the coordinates in his notebook after he’d taken a screenshot.
Later he would enter them into the simulation he was building with Nestor and Todd. The older boys knew all about computers, and Bai Hu was getting the hang of mapping the sky. He didn’t know a lot about the different types of stars just yet, but next year he would be old enough to take the Academy exam and then he would find out. It was a shame that Yana would have already graduated, but Nestor would still be around for a while.
Bai Hu grinned at the thought of his two friends. As the youngest in the group he, Nestor, and Todd were often left behind when the senior kids were wrapped up in their own dramas.
He sensed a presence behind him and looked round to see the Academy caretaker, Max, enter the lobby from the administrative wing.
Max waved. “Hey, Bai Hu. You staying with Yana tonight?”
“Yes, sir,” Bai Hu answered.
Max nodded. “Don’t be down here too late, okay?”
“Yes, sir. I will go up to the dorm as soon as I am done.” He returned Max’s nod and lay back again to observe the stars.
___
They spread out, heading off in ones and twos toward the corridors that branched off the main room.
“Stick to your assigned sections, and make sure you close off each area when you’ve cleared it,” Masha called after them.
She checked that her load was secure and moved off behind Mischa and Halli to the rear of the storage area, where the maze of corridors opened back up into a cavern carved into the rock. The high-ceilinged space, which served as a loading area, was ringed with shuttered bays.
Halli sighed as they opened the shutter of the first bay and began to search inside. “I wish Craig was here more. I hardly ever see him now that he’s a Guardian.”
Mischa narrowed her eyes at Halli. “Have things changed between you two?”
Halli nodded, quickly changing it to a wide-eyed shake when she saw the scathing look Mischa wasn’t fast enough to hide. “Not like that! Ewww, it’d be like dating my brother or something.” Comprehension dawned on her face. “Ohhhh, you do like Craig!”
Masha snickered as Mischa turned beet-red.
“You do!” Halli was practically dancing. “Wait, does he know that Masha wasn’t joking earlier?”
Masha snorted. “If he doesn’t, he’s even more of an idiot that I already take him for. No bunnies in here,” she told them.
They progressed to the next bay, which was open and empty, giving it a cursory glance before moving on to the next.
“Anyway,” Masha added, “you’re going into the Guardians, aren’t you? You’ll see him then. You might be in the same unit or something.”
Halli shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know how much time I’ll have when I’m going to be elbows-deep in keeping our vehicles rolling. Or flying. Or whatever. I suppose it’s the same as Tina and Ron, but without all the drama. We’re all going to grow apart after graduation when we go our separate ways. Like Tina said, it’s inevitable, and I hate it because we’ve only just found each other.”
Mischa rolled her eyes. “Did you forget we live on an asteroid? There’s only so far anyone on the Meredith Reynolds can go before they end up back where they started.”
Masha shook her head at her sister. “Misch, that’s not what she means. This place is worlds within worlds; a hundred thousand tiny pockets within the whole. It’s going to be easy to lose touch if we don’t make the effort.”
Mischa’s eyes sparkled. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Masha frowned. “That we need to make time to spend together?”
Mischa giggled. “That sounds like code for girls’ night if you ask me!”
Masha grinned. “It might be...”
Halli pumped her fist. “Yeah!”
___
Maxim marked the door with a dab of chalk as he closed it behind himself. “Craig?”
Craig came out of the next room, doing the same with his own stick of chalk. “‘Sup?”
“We’re wasting our time. There are no rabbits here.”
Craig lifted his hands. “What do you suggest we do?”
Maxim took his tablet out and sent a message to their group channel. “The scent is everywhere, so we can’t tell exactly where they are. We need to get smarter about it. I would like to get some sleep before tomorrow, since I’m visiting my father again.”
“How’s he doing?”
Maxim looked up and grinned. “He’s doing well, but he’ll be in Medical for a while longer. I am going to ask if he will be able to come to graduation. Anyway, stop avoiding the important subjects. What about Mischa? I know you like her.”
Craig screwed his face up. “What’s not to like? Except she’s still in school and I’m not. Ask me again after graduation.”
“Fair enough,” Maxim conceded. “What are we going to do about these rabbits?”
Craig tilted his head. “Wanna go wolf and sniff them out?”
The corners of Maxim’s eyes crinkled ever-so-slightly, and he began tapping his tablet again. “I think your influence is rubbing off on me.” He held up his tablet to show Craig the message he’d sent to tell the others that he and Craig were going to do just that.
Craig laughed and began to undress.
Maxim was about to do the same when his tablet buzzed. “Wait, I’ve got a message from Ron.”
___
Tina placed the last trap on the table. “Right, they’re all good to go.”
“Where are we going to put them?” Ron asked. “We should have gotten one of the Weres to stay and show us.” He paused to take his tablet out. “Maxim says he and Craig are having no luck. They’re going to shift and try to find them that way.”
Tina shrugged. “As long as we find the rabbits, who cares if it’s on two legs or four?” She ran a hand over her hair. “Actually, message them back. Tell them to come back here.”
Ron did as he was asked and a few minutes later Maxim and Craig turned up, still on two legs.
Maxim came over to the bench where the traps were laid out in a row. “What do you need us to do?”
Tina slung a coiled net over her shoulders like a scarf and started to stack the traps so she could carry them. “You’re going to show us where the rabbits have been hanging out so we can catch them.”
Two minutes later Tina and Ron each followed the low form of a wolf with its nose to the ground in a different direction.
Maxim looked back at Tina, his yellow eyes glinting as they caught the light from her tablet.
“We good?” she asked him, adjusting her hold on the traps.
The Maxim-wolf bobbed his head and loped off into the darkness.
___
Ron stopped as Craig paused to scent the air. “They been here, buddy?”
He cracked up as Craig very pointedly raised an eyebrow that he didn’t have, before nosing at a recess in the corridor wall. “Oh, man! I know you can’t talk while you’re in wolf form, but you’re still too funny.”
He set down the traps he was carrying and took one over to the recess. “So I guess you can’t tell me if Tina said anything to Halli about me.”
Craig tilted his head and blew out an exaggerated breath.
Ron shrugged and knelt to push the trap into the recess. “What? She said something?”
Craig let out a small whine.
“Nothing, huh?” He sighed, getting up and gathering his remaining traps. He laughed again as he looked back at Craig and saw the effort he was putting into conveying his need for Ron to change the topic. “Man, I don’t know what to do. I thought maybe the gifts would help. Don’t look at me like that, dude.”
Craig continued to roll his eyes at Ron as violently as possible, letting his tongue hang out to the side.
“All right, but I’ll remind you of this if our roles are ever reversed. How about I talk about Mischa, instead?”
Craig suddenly became interested in a spot directly ahead of them, focusing on it with laser-like attention.
“Like that doesn’t tell me everything,” Ron jibed. He was about to go on when Craig suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned, and ran back the way they’d come. “Dude, where are you going?”
___
Masha had blocked all the escape routes while Mischa and Halli had searched almost all the bays on the left-hand side of the cavern. They’d found nothing, despite the strong rabbit scent they were picking up.
Masha secured her end of the net to the side of the corridor leading out of the far end of the cavern. “They’re here somewhere.” She held it while Mischa pulled her end taut and tied it off. “We’re close.”
They moved on together, checking under and around the stacks of crates and pallets as they continued the bay-by-bay search.
“Hey, this one isn’t shut properly.” Halli pulled up the shutter and all three girls caught the scent.
“Stop!” Masha cried a moment too late.
The shutter rattled loudly as it rolled up, and the rabbits shot out of the bay before any of them could stop the animals from escaping.
“Chert voz’mi!” Masha’s curse echoed around the rock walls. “Quick, after them!”
___
Yana and Devi were speeding through their section, Devi’s sharp nose giving each room along the corridor the quick once-over and a chuff to tell Yana it was clear before Yana closed the door and marked it with her chalk.
“I don’t think that the rabbits are here, Devi,” Yana told the puppy.
Devi chuffed, “I could have told you that, but we have to complete our patrol even though we know there is nothing there. That’s why I patrol the Academy in the morning. Even though nobody gets into the Academy without permission, it’s my duty.”
Yana giggled. “So it has nothing to do with all the treats everyone brings you?”
“I’m just doing my job. If everyone wants to reward me for it, who am I to be rude and refuse? Wait, I heard something.” Devi’s ears pricked up as she picked up a sound beyond Yana’s hearing.
“What is it?” Yana asked.
“Somebody is running. Maybe they found where the rabbits are hiding? Let’s go and see!” Devi bounded away.
Yana ran after Devi. “Wait for me!”
___
Tina and Maxim walked side by side as they headed back. Maxim remained in wolf form, having left his clothing on the bench when he’d shifted.
As they walked Tina talked, her low murmurs punctuated by a soft whine from Maxim every now and then.
She stopped for a moment. “I just wish he could understand. I miss my friend, Maxim. Nobody else in school is on my level—except maybe Aleksei, but he’s a complete ass. And he prefers Galaxy Battles to Star Journey.”
Maxim pressed his furry head against her leg and she reached down and placed a hand on his back as they continued walking. “Thanks for the hug. It’ll be okay, won’t it? Graduating, the future?” She smiled tightly. “If it isn’t, we’ll have to make it be.”
Maxim looked up at her wordlessly.
Tina giggled. “Oh yeah, you can’t talk. I kind of wish you could? These last few weeks have been so crazy I feel like I haven’t been there for you as much as you’ve needed.”
She was startled from her thoughts by the wolf dashing past the far end of the corridor. Maxim glanced up at her. “What are you waiting for? Go.”
Maxim tore after Craig, leaving Tina to make her own way back. She turned the corner at the end of the corridor and collided with Ron, who was hurrying from the other end of the corridor with his head down, looking at his tablet.
She just managed to keep her feet. “Watch out!”
“Sorry!” Ron bent to pick up his dropped tablet. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
She tugged at the net around her body, pulling it back into place from where it had shifted. “What’s going on?”
“No idea. Craig just took off out of nowhere. I was following him when I bumped into you.”
Tina huffed, setting off again. “Maxim took off too. Come on, we’d better go and find them.”
Ron walked beside her, looking for something to say.
“Did you guys find any sign of the rabbits?” he offered finally.
Tina shook her head. “No, but they’d been there. How about you and Craig—any luck?”
Ron made a face. “Same story—” His voice cut off when he tripped over his feet and pitched forward. “Whaaa?”
Tina grabbed his arm to steady him. “Careful, Doofus.”
Ron smirked. “Easy, Tina. That almost sounds like you care about me.”
Tina shoved him, almost causing him to fall. “Who said I didn’t care about you? I’m still your friend, Ron.”
“Some friend,” he grumbled.
Tina snorted her disbelief. “So we can only be friends if we’re dating?”
“No,” Ron denied. “You keep twisting my words!”
Tina waved him off. “I’m not twisting anything. I just want to get past this so I can hang out with my Journey buddy again. I don’t want the weight of your expectations hanging over me anymore.”
“My expectations? What expectations?”
Tina sighed. “Like you’re wai
ting for me to turn around and tell you it was a joke and I want to settle down and play wifey. It doesn’t matter how I feel about you, I don’t want that, Ron. If you really cared about me, you wouldn’t ask me to give up my future and be unhappy.”
Ron swiped at his eye with his sleeve and shook his head. “I don’t want you to be unhappy. I just don’t want to lose you, Tina. You’re my best friend.”
Tina smiled through her own tears. “Then can we just get back to that? Please?”
Ron didn’t reply and they walked in silence until the end of the long corridor came into sight.
“How?” He sighed and stopped walking, sitting down with his back against the wall. “I want to, I just don’t know how.” He looked at Tina. “I still don’t understand what changed between us.” He drew in his legs and cradled them with his arms, looking away. “You... When you came into my life, it was like all my birthdays had come at once, you know? Nobody gets me like you do, Tina. How am I supposed to get over that? Find that again?”
Tina sat down beside him and touched her head to his shoulder. “You’re an idiot, Ronnie Diamantz. I’m going to say this again, and this time I want you to do more than listen. I want you to hear me. Could you try, please?”
Their eyes met and Ron nodded, seeing Tina’s sincerity.
She took his hand and squeezed tight as her tears fell, splashing their clasped hands. “We’re not breaking up because the way I feel about you has changed. We’re breaking up because I value your presence in my life so Gott Verdammt much that I would sacrifice our romantic relationship in an instant to preserve our friendship. I don’t want to live without you either, dumbass. You’re my best friend too, and I’m trying to save us!”
“I...”
Tina extricated her hand from his. “Don’t say anything right now. Just think about what I’m saying. I know that you know it makes sense, Ron.” She got up and dusted herself down. “Come on. We should catch up to the others.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Masha flung her remaining net over the escaping rabbits, missing by an inch as one end caught on the side of a crate and collapsed. The rabbits fled to safety.
“How many were there?” Halli’s voice was incredulous. “I thought they only had around six in a litter?”
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