The first thing Nic did was sleep like a dead man.

He only allowed himself to retreat into Bedroom 1 with the knowledge that resting would make him a more effective player and a better leader. Once his head hit the pillow, his body didn’t allow him to agonize over the decision anymore. He passed out and didn’t wake up until the afternoon of Team Scarlet’s next day.

Nic decided to practice three rounds of Wargame in the Simnasium by himself. He adjusted the pain settings according to the advice he’d gotten on Ducenti—back to the default, TACTILE MOD., meaning getting shot in the simulation would feel more like getting poked firmly a bunch of times rather than real bullets penetrating his flesh. He drilled all three rounds on the highest difficulty setting and lost all of them. This still isn’t right, he thought. I’m still focused only on myself. Think about your squad, man.

Team Scarlet’s Corvette was intentionally adrift in space near an FTLCom beacon awaiting their next assignment. His squad was adrift, too, without his direction, aimlessly passing the time.

said RTIFIS as Nic climbed out of his SimSuit.

He remembered how he lashed out at Max and Perri after their first loss on Gwher. How close he’d been to decking Max in the face. Losing it all. Leaving them leaderless. He was grateful that he didn’t make the wrong choice in that moment.

But he still didn’t know what the right choice was now.

‘I’ve racked my brain trying to figure out how in the Milky Way you managed to land this gig... What do you bring to the table, Nic? The ability to delegate?’

‘It’s not you or them. It’s how you lead them.’

‘To what, Nic? What, are you going to hit me? ...What great leadership!’

Maqsud’s words still burned him on the inside, but Joe’s voice of reason was there to cool him off again.

‘A leader has to take a double portion of blame when his team loses and a half portion of credit when they win.’

“You really can be a jerk sometimes, dude,” Nic thought aloud, picturing the smug, self-assured little grin Maqsud got sometimes. “But...” He let his hands fall to his sides, relaxed his fists. “But I have to be held to a higher standard. I’m the leader. I have to...” He thought back to what Joe had told him in the repair shop. “I have to bring out the best in all of you. Not just boss you around. Before I can do that, I need to make things right.” He stood there thinking of how he might do that—and then inspiration struck. He made his way to the holo-UI near the door to the Simnasium. “RTIFIS!”

“Please display full ration crate inventory.”

***

The Corvette kitchen was soon abuzz with activity. Nic microwaved several bags of popcorn, burning one and undercooking another—they’d even out in the bowl, he decided—and used the blender, ice cubes from the freezer, and packets of sugary drink mix to craft a vintage recipe from Earth. There were different words for it in different dialects, but it was historically called a slushy.

Nic set up the living room screen and laid out the refreshments on the table. Then he summoned everyone from the rest of the Corvette. Jarek and Perri were in the gym, Shanti was in her room, and Maqsud, last of all, was heading down to the lower level with a basket full of dirty laundry. Nic had everyone drop what they were doing and congregate in the living room.

“Guys, if I could have everyone’s attention, please,” Nic announced.

“Ooh,” said Jarek, “you made pop—” and he reached for a kernel before folding his hands behind his back. “Sorry.”

Nic chuckled under his breath. “It’s okay, man. I made it for you guys. It’s part of my apology.” At these words, Maqsud raised both eyebrows, leaning back and sitting on the arm of the couch behind him. “Ever since we left Ayrus, I’ve been kind of all over the place as a leader. I feel like that came to a head after we lost Gwher. Not gonna lie—I was really angry. I was furious... Because we lost, because Edith was so sure of herself and told me that we were going to lose and she was right... Because we missed out on the bonuses we would have gotten, and now we’re at risk of being fired altogether... But mostly because I let you all down as a leader.

“See, I was most angry because I knew that we could have won. I knew we had it in us. 2-1 match, 3-2 final game... That’s not a blowout. That’s a brand-new squad making a squad of seasoned veterans work for their victory. And I know if I had done better as a leader, we would have beaten them. That’s what made me the most upset. But getting upset isn’t an excuse to take it out on you guys... even though that’s exactly what I did.

“Jarek and Shanti, you two are both great squadmates. You were very onboard with my ideas, but you also gave a great effort out there. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Maqsud... Perri...” Nic eyed them as he spoke, watching them watching him back. “...You’re both excellent squadmates as well, even if you gave me some pushback on some of my ideas. It was wrong of me to knock you for that. It’s good to ask questions and go against the grain sometimes. It’s what’ll help me improve as a leader—only my best ideas will stand up to scrutiny. And those are the ideas we need to be using on the battlefield.

“Max, Perri, I’ve done some reflection on what it means to be a good leader, and it’s not bossing you guys around—even if you were to do everything I said when I said it. It’s not about me shining. It’s about giving you the tools and the confidence that you need to shine. I can’t do it all by myself... And believe me, I tried in the Simnasium. I have the black eye to prove it.” Everyone but Shanti laughed at least a little. “In all seriousness, though, I was a jerk to you two. I’m sorry for what I said. And Max, I’m really sorry for getting up in your face like that and threatening you. That was extremely...” Nic felt his face flush in sudden shame. “It was just very uncool of me. Unprofessional. Unacceptable. And I promise it’ll never happen again.”

The air hummed with the energy of all that Nic had just said. The silence that followed was deafening at first, and his pulse pounded in his chest as he awaited their response. Perri looked at Maqsud, who lost his cocky veneer in one blink, nodding and relaxing his shoulders.

“Thank you,” said Maqsud. “I accept your apology.”

Perri shrugged. “I didn’t want to speak for Max, but that’s all I needed to hear.”

That went better than I expected, Nic thought, smiling. “Well, thanks. Now I was wondering if you guys w—” but he was cut off suddenly when Perri collided with him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Max and Jarek joined in after that, and even Shanti joined the group, albeit reluctantly. That settles it, then.

“I’m glad we’re all comin’ together as a team again,” said Jarek, “but you never explained what the snacks were for!”

“Oh, right!” Nic laughed. “Right, well, I thought we should start a team tradition and spend a little more time together as a unit. And I thought a great way to do that would be weekly movie nights. We’ll alternate who gets to pick the movie, and with how hard I was on Maqsud recently, I thought it was only fair to give him first pick. So, the floor is yours, sir. Take your pick, and everyone else get ready!”

Max rubbed his hands together excitedly, vaulting over the back of the couch and plopping into his seat. “I know just what to pick! Everyone, gather round. RTIFIS?”

“Please play Last Road Out of Dutton.”

“What is this?” Perri asked, sitting down next to him. Everyone assembled on the L-shaped couch and shared from two wide bowls of popcorn, Shanti sitting furthest from the group with her knees pulled up against her chest, but still watching.

“A fantastic film from the second half of twenty-first century Earth,” Maqsud explained, and Perri and Jarek groaned quietly. He went on singing its praises all the same. “It was just after the Superhero Age of cinema had ended. This movie is singlehandedly credited for revitalizing its own dying art form!”

“What’s it about?” Jarek asked skeptically.

Max thought for a moment, scratching his chin. “Death, mostly. It got a lot of things right about Climate Crisis 1 as well. It’s a drama—I don’t want to spoil anything about it, but I wrote a whole paper on it for AP Earth History in Year 12. It’s more of a thinker than a thriller, certainly.”

Jarek and Perri groaned louder this time, but Nic waved a dismissive hand. “Everyone will get a turn, guys. Tonight is Max’s turn. His input is just as valuable as everyone else’s.” The naysayers relented after that.

Nic sipped at his slushy, approaching the experience with an open mind, even though the description made the film seem boring to him at first glance.

And it was. He didn’t say so, though.

Making Team Scarlet whole again was well worth it in the end.

***

Later that night, as an additional act of contrition, Nic had offered to do everyone’s laundry that needed doing. He piled it all into a basket and hauled it down to the lower level of the Corvette to start the first load. On his way into the laundry room he passed Maqsud, who had a white towel wrapped around his waist and was running another one through his damp black hair. He gave Nic a friendly smile and wave as he walked past.

“Hey man,” said Nic, “congrats on the inaugural film of Movie Night.”

“Thanks, Nic,” Maqsud replied pleasantly. “I thoroughly enjoyed it. Already looking forward to the next one.”

Nic dumped a third of his basket into the washer and closed the glass door. “I just wanted to, uh, apologize again. One-on-one. I’ve been doing some soul searching about Gwher and just trying to do better as a leader. I’ve never really been in charge of anyone before and I was so focused on winning at all costs. I let my bruised ego get in the way of being a good friend, much less a good leader... And I think my ego may have cost us our first planet, too.”

“‘Pride goeth before a fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction.’ Sorry... Force of habit.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry for that. I deserve it. And, uh, hold on... let me guess... William Shakespeare.”

“Proverbs 16:18.”

“Uh...”

“The Bible? King James Version?”

“Oh, oh, right, the Bible! Duh.” Nic chuckled, slapping his forehead in realization. “Man, you are smarter than me. Maybe all of us. Shanti’s still a wild card, though.”

“It’s impossible to tell with her, isn’t it?”

“You all do bring something unique to the table. All four of you. That’s the point of a team. You’re all here because you have value. You all matter. And I was wrong to force my way on everyone else without hearing what you guys had to say.”

Maqsud nodded, averting his gaze to the floor in a look of humility. “I was wrong to say what I said as well, Nic. Quite honestly, I was just trying to lash out at you, saying what I thought would sting the most. You bring a level of determination and passion that I don’t think any one of us can match. Jarek probably comes the closest. I think I envy that about you, that this galaxy, this time we live in hasn’t made you cynical... yet. I hope, for your sake and ours, it never does.” He held out his hand for Nic to shake. “Friends?”

Nic accepted readily. “Friends.”

Max went to head up the stairs to the main level. “I like this Movie Night idea, Nic, I really do. Perhaps we can each pick a sim to play together, too! I mean, if you need ideas for more teambuilding. Anything to break up the monotony of drilling Wargame endlessly, right?” Suddenly, Nic dropped the basket of clothes onto the floor, where half its contents spilled out. “What’s wrong? Oh, that wasn’t a complaint—I just mean it can get a bit stiff doing the same thing over and over again, you know?”

“No, that’s... you’re exactly right,” Nic answered. “You just gave me a great idea. And it’s how we’re going to win our next planet!”