All rights belong to Marissa Meyer. Only the new characters and plot are mine.

CHAPTER 2

Nina had never been more excited in her life. The impending doom that was a media photo shoot couldn't reach her while she was working alongside Lynn. Not even the blistering heat that came with the market could put a dent in the satisfaction that flooded her every nerve with every stitch she completed.

What could bring her down, unfortunately, was her mother, comming a private link every few seconds to make sure she hadn't cut off her nose or accidentally given herself a piercing or whatever. It was all Nina could do to keep from actually doing everything her mom said not to, just because. If there was anything Nina knew how to do, it was use a needle. According to Ms. 'I'm just worried', that all changed when other people were involved. It was unbearable.

Nina turned off her portable and stuffed it in the nearest drawer as soon as Lynn left to get them lunch.

"No. What are you- Stop it!" The ShapingDroid stared at her with it's smooth, plastic face. "I said three centi- Stop shifting already! I haven't finished telling you. Not seven!" Nina screamed into her hands. The dumb droid had only been programmed for Lynn's orders and didn't much like to be bossed around by anyone else. She kicked at it.

Fine. If it was going to be that way, she'd just let Lynn handle it. Better to let it be punished than to argue with it.

Resigning to a corner with the most shade, Nina leaned against the cool metal. Sweat trickled down from behind her ear. She wiped at it with a rag. Wouldn't be good for business if she gave people their clothes drenched in her dripping sweat. Could Lynn really not afford a fan? Nina would have to get that later, too.

Padding back over to the table, Nina snatched a purple cotton… something. Nina couldn't exactly tell what it was supposed to be, only that it needed two-hundred white diamond shapes by next week. The little patterns were stenciled lightly across the entire thing. She would have to find a crewel needle…

"Hey!"

Nina jumped. A man waved her over from the window. The impatient scowl that marred his dark face was half hidden by too-long locks of brown hair. Nina sighed and trudged over to him, reluctant to reveal herself to the searing sun.

The man leaned over the counter, getting close to Nina's face. His breath smelled faintly of beans. "Where's that other girl? She has my stuff."

"She's out right now, but I can get it for you." Nina dragged her fingers across a screen embedded in the wall. "What name is it under?"

The bean man squinted at her with suspicious eyes. "Younge. Keyne, if you need that, too."

"Alright, Mr. Younge. Your total is three-hundred seventy-five univs."

"So much?" He stretched to swipe his wrist over the screen, the order label turning green as he did so.

Nina nodded and placed a folded coat between them. She never really understood why people insisted Lynn, and now herself, do repair work. It was far cheaper to replace most things, but she wasn't one to complain. Money was money. "Rush orders cost a bit more. Would you like it wrapped?"

The man scooped up his order and rolled his eyes like she was stupid. "I would have said so when I brought it in, wouldn't I have?"

Nina bit her lip. "Of course, sir. Sorry." She wasn't sorry to watch his retreating back. Rubbing her hands together, Nina prepared herself for the purple monstrosity that would most likely make her hands cramp long after she was finished.

Except she couldn't find it. It wasn't on the table, the floor, or even… The counter! That's where she left it. She ripped open the drawer just below it - the only one that had been opened that day - but it wasn't there. Neither was it on the ground outside of the booth.

Nina bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. She didn't want to dare think it, but she knew it was the only possibility. Not bothering to even close the door, Nina ran in the direction she has seen Mr. Younge go. No way was she letting him take such a big order.

For a brief moment, she could see him as she chomped down on a sticky bun.

"Hey! Hey, wait! You have- Sorry," she apologized to someone she had managed to step on. "Wait, Mr. Younge!" Nina grunted as an elbow dug into her chest. She was losing sight of him and standing on tip-toes didn't help short people much in a crowd. Of all days for people to block her!

He was far too fast for her to ever catch him, she knew, but she couldn't lose that order. First day or not, she wouldn't allow any mistakes.

"Move!" Nina shoved her own elbow into someone's ribs. She'd apologized later if they found her, but for now, stepping on a few feet was worth getting past all of them. She yelped as her pony tail caught on something. Her hand flew to her hair, freeing it from a baby's fist. The child giggled in their mother's arms, uncaring that they'd just snapped her hair band. She spat out a piece of her curly-beyond-reason hair from her mouth. Mr. Younge was getting further and further away. "Please, stop!"

He didn't. He made his way to the landing pad for waiting hovers, not knowing, or maybe just not caring, that he was being called for.

The crowd of people thinned by the launch pad, making easier for her to move, but also easier for Mr. Younge to escape. Out of breath, Nina spotted a strand of his hair as it disappeared behind a row of much larger ships. Ships made for long space travel.

"No!" she cried. "MR. YOUNGE!" She ignored the cramping of her legs and the dull pain from her bruised chest as her feet pounded into the ground as hard as she could.

A few people turned to stare at her, but none of them were the ones she actually needed to pay attention.

Finally, after what seemed far too long to be chasing down a bit of cloth, Nina skidded to a halt in front of a ship with its ramp lowered. Taking a deep breath, Nina yelled for the thief with as much power as she could muster. The ramp remained empty.

Nina groaned. Her first day and already she had been robbed.

Setting her jaw, Nina stepped forward. She had never been inside one of these ships, but the stupid man obviously wasn't going to come out and was probably preparing to set off at that very moment. She would just have to be quick.

Once up the ramp, the sharp twist of metal that drifted through the air reminded her of the market. For a second she could even detect the sweetness of the bun he had eaten. The inside body of the ship was decorated a lot better than Nina had ever thought possible for a long distance cargo ship. A plush couch lined one wall under a panel of blinking lights of all colors. A brightly lit corridor led directly to a dining area where wooden chairs were bolted to the floor. Another corridor, this one lined with wire and more blinking lights, led off in the other direction. Nina guessed that was where he was.

She moved to stomp down there and demand he return what he had taken, but before she could get far, the floor lurched. It was only a slight change, but it was enough to throw Nina off balance. She stumbled, her knees catching on the back of the couch.

The ramp started to rise.

Nina's chest tightened. "No!" She ran to her quickly closing exit, but she wasn't fast enough. A small sliver of the sky was the last thing she could see through it. Her breathing quickened and her pulse started to pound her eyes. "No. No, wait! Mr. Younge!" Nina's raced on sore legs to the wire hallway. The ship was starting to move again. For the first time, she could feel the engine rumbling deep in its belly. How long had it been on "Mr. Younge, wa-" Her stomach twisted and she fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around her abdomen. The walls and floor were moving around her. She squoze her eyes shut. Being jostled around in a cargo ship was not a pleasant experience, no matter how nicely it was furnished. A fresh wave of nausea swept over her like an ocean wave. It was all she could do to keep the bile down.

She didn't know how long she stayed in that position, only that after some time she had curled up on the floor in a way that made her stomach settle. A single thought ran through her mind.

Get out.

How, she asked herself, would it even be possible to do that? It wasn't like she could just bust down a steel door, no matter how much she wanted to. She had no idea where the ship was now, only that it wasn't on the ground, and she could hardly move.

Finally, Nina forced herself to her feet. She clenched her teeth, willing herself not to puke. On gelatin legs, she used the wall to steady herself.

Two seats matching the couch were settled in the front of the control room, both faced away from her. Under yet another array of lights and labels that may as well have been written in a foreign language was a wide window. Nina swallowed at the scene before her, pinching her lips together. She stared long enough for her legs to steady beneath her and her head to start feeling like it was still attached to her shoulders. She should be scared, she knew, but the sight was fascinating. Luna was the size of her pinky nail. If she hadn't know better, she would have thought it looked like a little glistening jewel. What really caught her eye was the speck just beyond it. It was… It was Earth, too far away to even see individual continents.

"I'm flying." She whispered.

"No, I'm flying. You're riding."

Nina jumped at the sudden comment, whipping around and moving into a defensive stance. "Mr. Younge!" She straightened.

He gave her a lopsided grin. Nina glared. Idiot. "Another stowaway, huh?"

"What?"

Mr. Younge gestured to a small huddle in the corner. Nina squeaked as a pair of eyes met hers. The pair of eyes shifted until Nina could make out the shape of a young boy. He must have been at least a couple years younger than her. "I get 'em all the time. Didn't expect you, though."

"That's because I'm not a stowaway."

"Oh, is that right? 'Cause it seems to me you're on my ship. Stowing away."

Nina crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not what happened. I'm not stowing away. I'm very happy with my life, thank you very much." Even as she said it she knew it was a lie. She would definitely be missing the photo shoot with her family and, to be honest, she was a little relieved. "I was calling for you for a full ten minutes, but you just ignored me."

"You were?" His eyes widened and he stuffed his hand in his pocket. "Oh, aces! I'm so sorry." He held out his hand guiltily, scratching the back of his head with the other. In his palm rested a set of small, plastic encased chips. "I was listening to a news feed. Don't really get much once you're past Luna, so I was catching up a bit." His face was so red Nina doubted it would ever return to its natural color. "I promise, as soon as I finish up, I'll take you straight home."

Nina screwed up her face. What the heck did he think he was doing? "You're taking me home right now! I can't just stay in space. I have school and no one knows where I even am!"

Mr. Younge shrugged. "Should have thought about that before you followed me. Which is kind of creepy if you think about it. Who does that, anyway?"

Nina's head felt like it was ready to explode. "Someone who's trying to get their work back from someone else who stole it when they took their order."

"What? Did I?"

"That's what I just said."

Mr. Younge hung his head. "Not a good day. Not a good day at all." He turned the unoccupied chair around and lifted his coat. There, crumpled up, was the diamond project. He held it out to her and Nina it snatched it away before he could do anything else. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm already way behind schedule. The trip-" He gave her an exasperated look as she went to protest. She nodded for him to continue, reluctant, but needing to hear what he was going to do. "The trip will be less than a week. Five days at most. Four if we're lucky."

He held up his hands as she opened her mouth to shout at him. Five days! They were already too far from Earth for her to contact her family and they would definitely notice she was missing for five days if Lynn hadn't already.

"I know, I know!" He dragged his hands down his face. "How about I give you something for the, uh, unexpected detour?" Nina rolled her eyes at his not-so-inventive name for their situation. "Say, five-thousand univs. I can pay up front, if you want." He held out his wrist, even though she didn't have her port.

Nina's eyes widened at the offer. Five-thousand univs. Oh, what she could do with all that. She bit her lip to hide a smile. Five-thousand univs closer to her own booth. With than much she could have enough saved up by the time she turned eighteen to buy her own shop, even.

"You're just going to pay me off after being kidnapped." She meant for her tone to be biting and repulsed, but both of them knew she wouldn't turn it down.

He shook his head. "Sit down, kid. Josiah refuses to sit next to me, so the seat's free."

Nina glanced at the kid before sitting. She wondered where he was from. How long had he been in here? She shook her head. It didn't matter.

She folded her project on her lap and placed her hands on top of it protectively. "So what are you? A space pirate?"

"Not really. The only people that call me that are… well, let's call them misguided friends."

"Okay, Pirate. Take me home."

He winced. "Just call me Key. Much better than 'Mr. Younge' and way better than-" he stuck out his tongue- "pirate."

"Kidnappers don't deserve to choose what they're called."

"I'm not a kidnapper."

Nina threw up her hands. "Well, you knew I was here and set off anyway!"

"Because you snuck onto my ship. People who do that usually are stow-" he cut off sharply as the ship jerked to the left. Nina clamped a hand over her mouth. She could faintly taste egg from breakfast.

"Sorry, sorry. I should probably focus on this. Gotta be careful, you know? My storage rooms are filled with precious… stuff."

Nina could think of a few other things he should be worried about over the merchandise, but keeping everything safe was a clear step towards not dying. "You do that." She groaned as her stomach lurched again. It was going to be a long five days.

I'm so sorry I took so flipping long to update this! I don't know if anyone will actually read this, but if you are: Thank You! I hope you liked it. I have pre-written chaps now and an entire outline, so updates should be smoother. Hopefully. Maybe like once a week. Anyways, hope you have a good day! -packgirlandi