She flipped the chicken breast, the cold meat sizzling in the hot pan. Her mind was whirling with the number of things that she had to do to get ready for the start of the new semester but all in all Kristina could say she was excited. It felt good to be moving forward again and now that she had well and truly forged her own path, she liked to think that she would be happier. Certainly staying on Earth was not an option, because if she was but a transporter away from her mother, she’d never have peace. It was hard to see this side of her mother but perhaps that was what it was to truly grow up. You saw your parents for the flawed people they truly were. And that was okay. But in the last few years, since she had originally fled home to come to Oed, she had begun to see the way her mother could be vindictive and cruel, especially towards Halai. And pointing it out had never gone very well, so Kristina decided that space, a great deal of it, was the best way for her and her mother to maintain anything akin to a healthy relationship.

The new Lieutenant Governor has been announced and we are expecting to get to hear from Captain Tori Zei in the coming days.”

“Reports from the Science Division state that there will be future plans to explore the vast areas outside the dome in search of possible archaeological finds.”

“Police arrested a man outside Sloan Square earlier today after an attempted mugging. Such incidents have been on the rise but so far there’s been no reports made about the cause. Police presence has been expanded around the colony.”

Kristina flicked her gaze to screen where the news was being reported and snorted. “Hasn’t been a new phenomenon, folks.” Certainly her own experiences with that begged to differ given her first day on Oed resulted in her being admitted to the hospital after she had been mugged back in ‘92.

“And we have an unconfirmed but breaking report that former Head of Science & Terraforming, Halai Cosgrove has been admitted to Sacred Heart Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Due to confidentiality issues, the hospital would neither confirm nor deny if the former government official has indeed returned to the colony.”

The spatula clattered onto the stove as she stared at the screen. Shaking off her disbelief, Kristina at least had the presence of mind to turn off the burner and shove the pan off the heat before she hurried to grab her bag and rushed out of her apartment. It didn’t make any sense. Halai was on Treyllia. What the hell was her sister doing here? Unannounced? She’d find out soon enough!

~Kristina Cosgrove, Worried Sister