Free Rebellion by Stephanie Diaz

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    Skylar steps around from the other side of the ship, her face and safety suit covered in grease. She throws her rag on the floor and screams in rage.
    “What’s with the smoke?” a voice says behind me. I turn as Buck walks through the doors leading to the mess hall, waving the air in front of his nose. He’s holding a piece of bread in his hand.
    Skylar storms at him. “You’ve got some nerve.”
    He throws up his hands in defense. “’Scuse me?”
    “Did you think I wouldn’t try another test run this morning? I knew you weren’t exactly on board with the mission, but I can’t believe you’d go this far.”
    He looks from her to the smoking jet and back again, then barks a laugh. “You think I did this?”
    “I don’t know anyone else who’s been having reservations. The fuel lines on my jet are completely busted—hell of a job you did there, buddy. Did you do it to all the ships? If you wasted even half our fuel supply, I swear I’ll carve your brains out with a knife.”
    Skylar circles around Buck, forcing him to take a step backwards in the direction of the smoking jet.
    We need a solid fuel supply to reach the Surface city in time. And we need enough left to be able to get back here, in case something goes wrong. Otherwise, we could be stranded.
    “Skylar, how can you be sure this was his fault?” Paley asks nervously.
    “Listen to her,” Buck says. “This wasn’t my doing, I swear.”
    “It was your shift all night in the command center, wasn’t it?” Skylar asks.
    He stutters. “Y-yes.”
    “Show me the tapes from this morning, then. Show me who did this.”
    “Well, now, the cameras went off for about an hour overnight due to a slight malfunction—”
    Skylar shoves Buck hard into a ladder leaning against one of the jets. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
    Fiona takes a step forward, her nostrils flaring. “Sky, I think you need to calm down.”
    “We should break them up,” I say to Logan.
    But before either of us can move, Skylar slams her fist into Buck’s nose. His back hits the ladder again and he curses loudly, cupping a hand over his nose. She flexes the hand she used, wincing.
    “What’s going on?” someone says behind me. Beechy hurries into the flight port, Sandy with him. “There was a small fire due to a fuel leak, thanks to Buck here,” Skylar says, her voice cool and her eyes narrowed, “but don’t worry, we’ve got it under control. Though we do need to do a thorough check of all the ship engines for part damage.”
    “You’ve got no proof it was me,” Buck says. He moves his hand a little, and I see his nose is bloody, if not broken.
    Beechy walks forward to examine the jet engine, which is still producing a thin stream of black smoke. “How did the fire start?” he asks.
    “I went to do a last-minute test flight and discovered all the fuel lines were fried, leaking all over the parts,” Skylar says.
    “They’d definitely been tampered with,” Fiona says, cutting in. “The engine sparked and the lines caught fire, but we helped her put it out.”
    “Our bigger problem is that the jet’s fuel supply is less than half what it should be,” Skylar says. “And whoever tampered with this ship might’ve messed with all the others.”
    “We need to examine them immediately,” Beechy says, moving around to the other side of the jet. “Fiona, Paley, if any fuel lines can be fixed, fix them. Sandy, if any mechanics are in the mess hall or the storage rooms, please inform them they’re needed here.”
    Sandy nods, tucks a strand of her short dark hair behind her ear, and hurries away.
    “Skylar, lock Buck inside your bunk room.”
    “Captain, please, I swear I didn’t do this—,” Buck says.
    Skylar grabs him roughly by the arm and hauls him across the floor, ignoring his protests.
    Beechy reappears from the other side of the jet, frustration in his eyes.
    “Is there anything we can do to help?” Logan asks.
    He shakes his head,