Lexis bolted up in bed, breathing hard.

Then she heard it again.

The booming in the distance, loud and low like thunder, but with occasional crackling sounds of electricity that told her this wasn't natural. It happened in spurts: a crack here, a bang there. As if somebody was fighting. And losing.

Lexis threw off the white sheets of her cot and got to her feet, careful not to bang her head on the top bunk. She didn't want to wake Ember or anyone else in their Division-- she was a very light sleeper, a fact she'd learned soon after joining the Project. Still, she didn't want to wake anyone if she didn't have to. This was probably one of those things Ember always told her she was too anxious about anyways.

She crept over to the round window and peered out into the distance. As usual, there was nothing but the empty void of black flecked with stars, the occasional sliver of light in the distance blinking red-- one of the delivery ships.

"Ember's right," Lexis muttered. "I do worry too much."

She turned, ready to flop back into her cot and scold herself for imagining things, when she suddenly heard another boom.

Lexis rushed back to the window. She pressed her fingers to the glass, squinting outside like when she was a child back on Earth, fearing rain. But so much worse.

It boomed again, and that's when she saw it. A bright green flare, followed by an explosion.

Lexis's eyes widened. Another boom. This one was so loud it jostled the entire ship, sending her crashing backwards into Ash and Zaire's bunk, the one beside her's and Ember's.

Ash jolted awake. "Whatwasthat?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

Ember sat up too. Her dark curls looked knotted and frizzy as she shoved her glasses onto her face. "Did... did the ship just move?"

"I think so," Ash said. He shook his head and stood. But just as he made it to his feet, the pod tipped to the left, sending him right back down again.

"Ships aren't supposed to move," Lexis whispered. She bolted back to her bunk and began rifling in the storage box under it for her uniform. "We need to go see the Division heads. Now. They'll know what to do--"

"The Division heads aren't here."

"What?" Lexis whirled around, surprised to find it was Zaire who had spoken. He rarely spoke to them at all, and when he did, his voice didn't sound like that. Deep. Shaking.

"I spoke to Misha yesterday. They said they were leaving for the night in one of the pods, something about a new part for the chemical freezer. It was supposed to take them all night."

"Well, what time is it now?"

Ember clicked her watch, and a hologram of the time projection projected into midair from the screen. "0-400," she read aloud.

"There's no way they're back yet," Ash said, stumbling to his feet again. He made his way to the window, peering outside. "Did anybody see anything?"

"A green flare," Lexis told him. "And an explosion."

Zaire contemplated this from his bunk, his emerald eyes glowing in the flickering lights of the pod. "A green flare..."

"What does it mean?" Ember asked.

Zaire looked grim. "It is a desperate cry for help. All allies within distance are supposed to assist."

The silence sank in around them. Lexis bit her lip. Whatever she hoped would happen whenever she joined the Project, it wasn't this.

"Are you sure it was a Project ship?" Ash asked Lexis.

She nodded. "We're the only ones in this galaxy who still use colored flares. Everyone else uses wavelocations."

"But that doesn't make sense," Ember cut in. "The Project can't be the only ones with colored flares, because ours is the only project ship in this segment of the galaxy. Unless..."

A chill swept through the room as the realization dawned.

"The Divison heads," Lexis whispered. "They must've taken some of the flares for emergencies with them in the pod. And if they know we're the only ones within distance--"

Another boom rattled the ship.

Ash gulped. "They need our help."