Freeze

“Join the fleet, they said. Experience all the adventure and excitement that comes with serving humanity.” Glancing around the small compartment, Sandra Bollingbrooke frowned. “Yeah, right.” Surprisingly, she thought, there had been a time when she’d believe what all those vids had claimed, which was why she’d enlisted right after graduation. Now, nearly five years later, she’d reached the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. She even had her first command, if you’d call it that, but that was as close to her dreams as she’d come. ...

“Join the fleet, they said. Experience all the adventure and excitement that comes with serving humanity.” Glancing around the small compartment, Sandra Bollingbrooke frowned. “Yeah, right.” Surprisingly, she thought, there had been a time when she’d believe what all those vids had claimed, which was why she’d enlisted right after graduation. Now, nearly five years later, she’d reached the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. She even had her first command, if you’d call it that, but that was as close to her dreams as she’d come. ...

“Come on, wind me up again!” “You know there isn’t *actually* a key on your back, right?” “Um… I *sort of* know that. But I can even feel it clicking when you wind me. And it feels so *neat* to be wound up. Please, will you do it for me?” “Well… you get a bit weird when you’re wound up…” “Oh, please! I’ll be good.” I paused, grinning. “How good?” ...