Finally stepping into the shower in her quarters was the best feeling Amber had felt in months. Six symmetrically arranged nozzles blasted her with hot water from all directions, scouring away the exhaustion of the past few days. She dug her hands into her thick locks of ebony hair, forcing the water through it, losing herself in the warm fug of steam. For the next twenty-four hours she could stop being an operative.

She didn't know how long she stayed in the shower, but when she stepped dripping out into her room she felt like her whole body had been reset. The chambers given to the operatives were spacious, lightly furnished affairs, but over her time in the organisation Amber had added bits and pieces to make it feel more like home. Her eyes wandered to the picture of Illuvari's skyline that filled the wall above her desk. Conflicting emotions roiled through her at the sight. The artist had captured the majesty, the silver needles of the spires and the searing cobalt blue of the sky. It was a beautiful snapshot of a beautiful world.

But looking at it reminded Amber just how little she knew about humanity's reign across the stars. The journeys from planet to planet had opened her eyes and she didn't like what she saw. There were a lot of dark, deadly places out there that needed no help from alien entities or primeval monsters to fill her with dread.

Feeling her mood start to darken, she shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind and instead set about making herself look presentable for the first time in weeks. She dried herself off and started getting dressed.

Not being on duty also meant that for a change, she could dress like a normal person rather than donning the black fatigues of the Blink operatives. Amber opened up the single clothes locker embedded in the wall of her room and took stock. She picked out a top the colour of midnight blue, an expensive cloud-soft garment of pryo-silk from her collection back on Illuvari.

Sliding it over her head she smiled as the material hugged her body, cutting off just below her ribs and leaving her midriff exposed. The time training with Blink had left her body lean and toned, and she didn't get a lot of chances to show it off. She wasn't sure exactly who for, but being an operative for a covert enforcement agency hadn't changed the fact she was a teenager. Boys she knew from back home now seemed so out of sync with her world. There was so much she'd never be able to say; so much she would have to keep secret that it made the very prospect of a relationship with a normal person make her head spin. Which left her with the people who knew what she knew; who did what she did.

And Hekket's face came wandering unbidden into her mind's eye. She bit her lip. Their friendship had hit a rocky start after the mission in Titan Aquilla, but since then both of them had gotten over the awkwardness. More and more she felt like he was the one person in the squad whose thoughts aligned with hers. The deeper they plunged into this manhunt the more she saw Darien's violent streak start to push to the surface. She tried her best to balance it, to be the compassionate voice, and Hekket was always right there with her.

And he was attractive in a shy, reserved sort of way.

Amber sighed. The rules were clear and she knew them word for word: no romantic relationships between operatives serving in the same Blink Squadron will be permitted. If any such relationship is to develop, both parties involved must disclose this information immediately to their immediate superiors and appropriate action will be taken.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. Now probably wasn't the best time to dwell on it. They had a twenty-four hour respite, but she knew it wouldn't be long before Hammerhead Squad was hurled back into the fray. She buckled on a black leather skirt over grey leggings, and slipped her feet into a pair of ankle-length boots. They looked good, but more importantly they felt good. It had been a long time since she'd worn anything but the Blink issue combat boots.

Before she left the room, however, she clipped the comm bracelet around her wrist out of habit. She had learned, no matter what, it paid to be ready.

It felt a little odd walking through the passages of Blink Station Alpha clad in her civilian attire. She saw other operatives in full gear clattering back and forth as they were dispatched across the galaxy. Marines and administrative staff flowed past her in a constant reminder that his space station was a hub of interstellar policing. Right now she didn't need to pay attention to it.

It didn't take long to make her way to Leisure Suite Three where they'd agreed to rendezvous. She passed her hand over the sensor built into the right side of the doorframe and the ceramic plate slide aside with a barely audible hiss. Stepping inside, she quickly spotted Hekket, Uther and Idas gathered around a table, each of them hunched over a data slate. However, even from this distance she could see that they weren't doing work – the screens flashed with the coloured images of a game. They seemed to be taking turns, but she could see from their irate outbursts that Uther and Idas were getting the worst of the exchange.

On impulse she strode up behind Hekket and leaned forward, crossing her arms and resting them across his shoulders. Looking down she recognised the game on his screen – a dozen hexagon-shaped images were arranged in lines. Above them, another group of shapes sat, but the images were concealed. With a deft flick of his fingers Hekket moved two of his shapes to cover the opposing pieces. The blank shapes shimmered then winked out of existence, and both Uther and Idas cursed.

"Who's winning?" she enquired.

He glanced up at her, grinning mischievously.

"Saw-Bones here hacks like a pro," Idas grumbled, sliding his data slate away in disgust.

"And you complain like a sore loser," Hekket retorted.

Uther rolled his eyes and gestured for Amber to sit down. "Fancy a couple of rounds?"

"Where's Darien?" she asked as she took her place in the empty seat.

"Oh, he went down the firing range with Niamh," he chuckled. "Those two don't know how to switch off. They've always been like that."

Amber nodded sagely. "They're quite a pair."

Idas and Uther exchanged a knowing look at that, but before she could ask why, Hekket placed a data slate in front of her, set up and ready to play.

There were few things Amber couldn't turn her hand to, and this game was no exception. It didn't take long before she started extracting the same cries of frustration from her squad mates as she got to grips with the systems. It all revolved about memorising and positioning cards that would cancel out an opponent and when divided between four people it became difficult for even Blink operatives to keep track of everything.

Halfway through the game Uther stood up without explanation and strode over to the vendor in the far corner of the suite. He punched in a sequence and a moment later returned to the table with a selection of drinks – a rack of test-tube like glasses each filled with a different luminous liquid.

Amber looked up from her data slate dubiously. "What are those?"

"We call them Blindfolds," Hekket explained, leaning in to examine the array.

"And they're what? Alcohol?"

"We're not allowed to drink on station," Idas huffed.

Hekket nodded. "You mix them – drink two or three one after the other. When the chemicals combine they create a sort of...sensation of being somewhere else."

She gave him a blank look.

"Right, right. It's hard to explain." He reached forward and selected two glasses from the rack and handed them to her. "Just trust me, you'll love it. Drink the red then the yellow, one after the other, quickly."

Amber accepted the slender glasses reluctantly. She stared at them for a moment, then looked at Hekket. He gave her a nod of encouragement. Just trust me. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for...whatever was coming next, and in two quick motions jerked back first the crimson drink, then the yellow. Neither tasted unpleasant – the former a burning cinnamon and the latter a kind of sweet honey.

She waited as the cocktails buried their way down. Seconds ticked by. Then, just as she was beginning to think that the reaction wasn't working, she felt a strange warm bubbling sensation in her stomach. Her spine straightened involuntarily as the feeling suddenly surged to spread through her chest, then down her arms and legs. It was like being submerged in a hot bath...without the water. Amber became aware of a fuzzy edge in her peripheral vision, and the faces of her squad mates took on a dream-like, unreal quality, their outlines ever so slightly warped and shimmering.

"There she goes," Idas commented, smiling in satisfaction.

"Wow..." she breathed. "That's pretty cool."

Hekket nodded. "You feel okay?"

"Yeah, I feel great. It's just a bit...odd."

"It does take a little getting used to."

"How long will it last?"

"Oh, a few minutes maybe. Depends on how big the shots are."

Amber nodded slowly. Her mind seemed to be rattling along at its usual frantic pace, but her body felt totally relaxed, as though she could be poured into a bowl. She let herself drift back against the chair, cocooned in warmth as she watched the others take their own concoctions. Hekket and Uther seemed to go for the relaxing compounds. She saw their eyes glaze over; their bodies visibly loosen. Idas, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy giving his body a shock. Whatever it was he chose the results seemed to electrify him. When the effect faded he looked rejuvenated, as though the mixture had flushed out his system.

After almost an hour of mixing and matching with the drinks Amber felt like she'd just taken a trip through every climate in the galaxy. Her body tingled pleasantly as the latest effect seeped out of her and she looked at Hekket, staring into his eyes, unable to look away. He blinked a few times, still moving through the residual effect of his last drink. Then he noticed her looking and cocked his head to one side.

"You alright?"

"Perfect," she replied with a contented sigh. "Thanks."

"On that note," Idas rumbled, standing up with a groan of effort. "I'm getting out of here. I'll catch up with you guys later."

She looked up at him suspiciously. "Where are you going?"

To her amazement Idas's cheeks reddened. "Err, I'm...I've got to go see someone – you know, mission reports-,"

"Hell and roses!" Hekket shook his head in disbelief. "You are without doubt the worst liar I have ever seen." Uther burst out laughing and Idas's expression darkened. Without another word the burly operative turned and virtually ran from the room.

"So...what was all that about?" she asked once Uther had controlled himself.

The young man wiped tears of laughter from his eyes as he replied. "He thinks no-one's noticed, but he's about as subtle as a supernova. He's off to go see his girl."

"His girl? Idas has a girlfriend?"

"Hard to believe, I know." Hekket grinned. "She's in Panther Squad. They're not on the station together all that often, so he sneaks off to see her when he can. Don't really know why he's so secretive about it though. They're in different units so there's nothing in the regs to stop it."

"Well colour me surprised," Amber told them.

"That makes...all of us." Uther gathered up the empty glass tubes and deposited them back in the rack. "I'm gonna have to love you and leave you for a bit, though. Promised my folks I'd check in with them." He stood, inclining his head to the data slates now lying scattered across the table. "But I want a rematch when I'm back, Saw-Bones."

"Stop calling me that," Hekket grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the lanky young man. Uther winked mischievously then strode from the suite.

For a few minutes Amber sat in silence with Hekket, happy to wait for the last dregs of their drinks slip away. She could have fallen asleep there in that chair. She felt truly relaxed for first time in a long time. A dull bump stirred her from the daze and she realised Hekket had slung his feet up onto the table.

"I'd almost forgotten what having time off felt like," he joked, closing his eyes.

She smiled at that. Her mind drifted away from the room, from the station, across the void of space to her home. To Illuvari.

Is that really your home?

Amber didn't really know anymore. She was proud of her heritage, proud to have ties to one of the jewels of human civilisation. But every time she returned there she felt a little bit more detached from it. Now, since this mission had begun she'd started to see her homeworld as some of the downtrodden fringe colonials saw it: a place of wealth and privilege.

Was there anything wrong with that? She didn't make the decisions about who funded what colony and how much. She was just born there. Somehow that was enough to make her feel a twinge of guilt. From there her mind continued on its trajectory until she remembered her conversation with Darien, the day they'd returned from Alura with Bryn Harvard in tow.

"Hekket," she said quietly. "Have you ever heard of a colony called Ravine?"

He opened his eyes, giving her a perplexed look. "Huh?"

"Ravine, it's a colony. Do you know anything about it?"

"I know enough. You get the backwaters and then you get places like Ravine. It's more than just an under-funded colony on the fringes. I'm not sure of all the details, but I know the terraforming didn't hold properly." He ruffled a hand through his sandy hair. "Why are you asking?"

"Darien said he grew up there," Amber explained. "But I've never heard of it."

"There's a reason for that."

She waited, but it didn't seem like he wanted to volunteer any more information. Her eyes narrowed. "He never talks about it. I...did something happen to him there?"

"I'm pretty sure everything happened to him in that hell-hole," Hekket muttered.

"Well what is it? Some kind of warzone?"

"You could say that. It's right out on the Black Line, beyond the reach of most people, including the colonial powers." He sighed. "I know you've seen what can happen to Darien sometimes. When he gets pushed, I mean really pushed, he pushes back hard."

"Yeah. Sometimes...sometimes it scares me."

"Me too." Hekket shrugged. "But it's who he is now. Ravine made him that way. I don't know exactly what happened to him but I know what happened to the colony around the time he joined Blink."

"What?" she asked quickly.

"There was a bit of a...civil war."

"A what?!"

He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "The people on Ravine always had it tough. They're so far out the supply runs are dangerous. If they're delayed it knocks onto the entire planet's population. They're not equipped to be self sufficient – not completely. But they still have to contribute to colonial network – pay the tithes like everyone else."

"But the tithes are calculated on a planet-by-planet basis, on individual situations," she said.

Hekket smiled sadly. "That's only half-true. No system is perfect, Amber. In this case, the system screwed the people on Ravine so much that fully half the colony went into open revolt. The other half stayed loyal to the Colonial Navy and..." his voice trailed off and he shrugged.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "They went to war over the tithes?"

"Yeah. And they haven't finished yet."

"I didn't..." Amber couldn't believe her ears. "I've never seen anything about that. Not on the newscasts, in school, nothing!"

"Of course not," Hekket replied. "It's not something they want to advertise. The Navy scooted out there and did their best to restore order but the damage is done. That planet it is in a permanent state of war between Loyalists and Separatists. It's less overt now; no more pitched battles, but people still kill each other every day. And that is what Blink pulled Darien out of."

For a moment all she could do was stare at him. Her mind twisted and writhed at the revelation; an entire war that the colonial government had simply kept to themselves. She couldn't reconcile it: Illuvari had proved to her what the colonies could become. How had it spiralled so badly off course?

"Amber," Hekket said, shifting in his seat to look directly at her. "What's this really about?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't ask about Ravine for a history lesson."

She swallowed a deep breath, feeling her eyes well up. "I..."

"It's okay. If something's bothering you, you can talk to me. Just speak your mind, alright?"

Amber nodded, pressing her lips tightly together as she tried to find the words. Eventually she blurted out the first thing she managed to think of. "I feel ashamed." As soon as she said it she clapped a hand over her mouth, feeling a lump rise in her throat. Hekket got out of his chair instantly, moving over and dropping into a crouch right in front of her.

"Hey, come on," he said softly. "Why would you say that?"

"Because of things like what you've just told me," she choked out. "Because of this whole mission – all the colonies we've visited...I mean, have you ever been to Illuvari?"

He shook his head.

"It's perfect," she continued. "It's everything a colony should be. Until all this I didn't know things were so bad on the fringes, and now this – Ravine? I feel ashamed of where I'm from, of what it represents. Places like my home are the reason people hate the colonial government and I never even knew it."

"But that's not your fault," Hekket said and, before she could object, he reached forward and took a hold of her hand. She felt her heart begin to race at his gentle touch.

"I know it's not my fault but...I just feel so stupid. I thought every colony was a good place – that everyone had a good chance. Turns out I'm just a stupid little girl who doesn't know anything."

"You're not stupid," he told her. "Just...naïve." He winced as he said it and she could tell he thought he'd said the wrong thing. She sniffed and tightened her grip on his hand. "Sorry. Need to work on my bedside manner."

"It's alright," she muttered. "I am naïve."

"You were," he corrected. "But listen to yourself. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met, and around here there's some pretty stiff competition. So you grew up on a rich colony – big deal. No one's blaming you for that except you."

She smiled, blinking back tears that had threatened to come. "Thanks."

"I understand what you're saying, I do. You had a picture of what you thought life was like, and that picture has taken a bit of a knock. It happens to everyone sooner or later. It doesn't change the fact that you're a brilliant operative, and you've done a lot of good here."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He reached up and tapped her under the chin. "So just roll with the reality check, okay? You'll feel better."

"I feel a little better already," she laughed. "Sorry to...you know, drop all this on you."

"Hah, I've had to listen to a lot of stupid stuff since I joined Blink – you're fine." He looked at the ground for a moment and she saw his brow furrow as though he were deep in thought. When he met her gaze again he seemed pleased with himself.

"You're looking at this all wrong," he said, standing up and moving back over to his chair. Reluctantly Amber let his hand slip from her grasp. He sat down, slinging his feet up onto the table again. "Nobody's going to tell you that there aren't some planets out there that get a raw deal, least of all me, but I don't resent Illuvari, or Earth. I resent people who don't see the big picture."

Amber curled up on her chair, hugging her knees to her chest. "What's the big picture?"

"We made it to the stars. People lose sight of that now; they take it for granted," he told her and a twinge of sadness crept into his voice as he spoke. "Did you know that for the longest time no-one thought we'd even achieve inter-stellar travel? Look at us now, even without people like us cheating the universe, the human race made it. We're out here to stay and that...that amazes me." He turned his gaze on her and a smile slid across his face. "So don't be ashamed of Illuvari, and don't be ashamed of yourself. Don't be angry about the way things are. Just be proud that we're even out here to argue about it."

She shook her head in surprise. "Hekket Mozer," she murmured. "You, my friend, sound like a romantic."

He grinned. "I'll deny that if anyone asks."