"I've got it!"

I startled awake when Kolyver excitedly sat across from me at the table. I glanced down at my unfinished toast, pushing it away with a sigh.

Kolyver frowned, their excitement momentarily forgotten. "You okay, Xam?"

I shrugged. "Everything tastes like ashes."

"Gross."

"You can say that again."

My friend grinned at me. "Gross."

I rolled my eyes, but their bad joke made me smile. "What is it that you've got, Kol?"

Their previous excitement returned. "How we can go to Omega-Delta and get some answers. Why not organize a group of volunteers to go help clean up the colony? We can get a bunch of students and an instructor to head it. While everyone is busy, you, me, and Mae can sneak off and snoop around."

I contemplated the proposal. "Not the worst idea."

Mae took her seat next to Kolyver and raised an eyebrow. "What are you two up to now? I don't like it when both of you have that look."

Kolyver wrapped an arm around Mae's waist. "And what look is that?"

"That look that means we're all about to get in trouble."

Kol laughed slightly. "You aren't wrong. I'm thinking about how we can investigate the explosions in Omega-Delta. I think we can get a group together to aid in the cleanup effort and check things out."

Mae stared at him. "You're serious? How in the world are we going to convince our peers to volunteer to travel as far from home as possible without going to the surface and help people they don't care about."

I gave my toast another try but put it back down when the taste wasn't any better. "We all need community service hours to graduate. I think we can convince at least a few people. Instructor Evans would probably be happy to lead the effort. You know how passionately he advocates helping those in need."

Mae took a few silent bites of her eggs. "Okay. Say we organize this and somehow find a way to slip away unnoticed. How do you plan to gather clues? Do either of you know anything about explosives?"

"Pardon me."

We all looked up at the individual standing behind me. Ryka was a lithe, androgynous teen with eyes so dark there was no telling the iris from the pupil and the oddest shade of indigo hair I had ever seen.

"I apologize for eavesdropping, but if you need someone who knows explosives, I'm your local expert. Do you mind if I sit?"

I gestured to the seat next to me. "You understand this has a high probability of getting us in deep trouble, right?"

Ryka turned their otherworldly gaze at me as they sat next to me. "Something is rotten in Omega Sector. Has been for a long time. Not that the mainstream media has even covered half of the story. I can help you with your investigation in many ways."

I shared a look with my friends and we all nodded once. I smiled at Ryka and offered them my hand. "Welcome aboard, Ryka."

They looked at my hand as though they didn't know what they were supposed to do in return. They slowly placed their gloved hand in mine. "Thank you. I will try not to disappoint. Come to my room after class. All of my research and supplies are in there. If you need help convincing Instructor Evans to head the volunteer group, just let me know. Evans has good reason to acquiesce to my requests."

I decided not to satisfy my curiosity about what Ryka meant by that. "Can do. He should be pretty willing, but it's good to have an ace in the hole."

A small smirk broke Ryka's serious expression. "With me, you always have an ace. Not terribly fond of being in a hole, but whatever works." They glanced down at their watch when it beeped. "Hate to cut this short, but I need to get going." Ryka was up and out the doors before I could ask where they were going.

Make stood and slung her bag over her shoulder. "We should also get going. Don't want to be late for class. Again."

I made a final attempt at eating my toast, managing to choke down the ash flavored bread. "Yeah, Corik doesn't need more reasons to hate me. See you after class, Kol?"

Kolyver snatched up the remainder of my abandoned breakfast. "Sounds like a plan. I'll meet you two at Ryka's room."

Mae kissed the top of Kol's head. "No fighting, okay?"

Kol rolled their eyes with a grumpy look. "Only because you asked."

Mae ran her fingers through his hair. "Thank you. We can't pull off this hair-brained scheme without you." The pair touched their foreheads together before Mae and I headed out.

I made a fake gagging face. "You two are disgustingly cute."

Mae wrapped an arm around my waist. "You say that like you and I aren't just as disgustingly cute." She laughed as my face flushed. "Come on. Don't want to keep Corik waiting."